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diff --git a/45324.txt b/45324.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6891120..0000000 --- a/45324.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14734 +0,0 @@ - THE YOUNG O'BRIENS - - - - -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 http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - - -Title: The Young O'Briens -Author: Margaret Westrup -Release Date: April 05, 2014 [EBook #45324] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNG O'BRIENS *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - - THE YOUNG - O'BRIENS - - BEING AN ACCOUNT OF - THEIR SOJOURN IN LONDON - - - By the author of - "ELIZABETH'S CHILDREN" - - [Transcriber's note: Margaret Westrup] - - - - LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD - NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY, MDCCCCVI - - - - - _Copyright_, 1906 - BY JOHN LANE COMPANY - - _The Plimpton Press Norwood Mass. U.S.A._ - - - - - _By the same Author_ - - ELIZABETH'S CHILDREN - Fifth Edition - - HELEN ALLISTON - - - - - *THE YOUNG O'BRIENS* - - - - *CHAPTER I* - - -Inside the hired omnibus there was a dead silence. Outside the rain -lashed drearily against the window panes. From the corner where Molly -sat there came a dismal, despairing sniffle, drowned, before its finish, -by Denis's superlatively cheerful voice. - -"Sure, 'tis a rough night entirely!" he observed airily. - -Nell gave a sudden quick little laugh with a queer end to it. - -"So it is!" she said, and her effort after cheerfulness gave the remark -a surprised tone, as if she had not noticed before that the night was -rough. - -Sheila Pat sat silent in her corner, her slim little body stiff and -erect, a bag and a box clutched tight in her small arms. Afterwards, -later that night, she found that her arms ached. There was desperation -in that tight clutch of the bag and the box. - -Suddenly Mr. O'Brien spoke; he recognised the futility of ignoring what -was in everyone's mind. - -"Well," he said, "a year soon passes, after all, and I hope we shall be -back in about ten or eleven months." - -"But--but not--" came a watery stammer from Molly's corner, but Nell -broke in hurriedly. - -"I--I wonder will you look different, dad?" - -"Oh, yes," her mother laughed the pretty laugh that was just like -Nell's, "I shall be a horrid, stout old woman! Even Sheila Pat won't -acknowledge me then!" - -Sheila Pat said nothing. - -Mrs. O'Brien squeezed Nell's fingers tightly. There was another -silence. There was nothing to say. Everything had been said over and -over again. The wind sent the rain beating angrily against the closed -windows. The omnibus jolted and jarred over the road. - -A hoarse shout smote on their ears, and the driver's whip flicked one of -the panes. - -Denis jumped up and let down the small window in front. Then shouting -began; the wind howled derisively, drowning their voices. The driver's -hoarse yells, and Denis's impatient shouts, asked and answered questions -over and over again. At last Denis drew in his head: - -"If that's a specimen of the London driver, I don't think much of 'em! -The wind didn't get at you, did it, mother?" - -"No, dear, your broad shoulders kept it off." - -"Does he seem to understand the way now?" Mr. O'Brien queried. - -"I wouldn't like to answer for him. I've explained till I'm hoarse, but -the damp seems to have got to his brain--it won't work--rusty, you -know." - -"Isn't his voice funny?" observed Nell, doing her duty manfully. - -"Drivers often have those hoarse voices," responded her father, and for -just as long as they could make it last, they used that driver as a -topic of conversation. Certainly he did not seem of much use for any -other purpose. - -It was not long before there came another flick against the window, and -on Denis putting forth his head, there ensued more shouts and yells. In -a lull of the wind the driver waxed sentimentally despairing. "Never -been to these 'ere East Lunnon docks afore--eh, sir? Wot? Which -turning? Can't see no turning. It ain't a night as I'd turn a pore -blessed cat out--much less a respectable fambly man with little children -dependant on 'im! Eh, sir? Can't 'ear, sir! Wot? Poplar? Ain't -nowhere's near Poplar!" - -Denis drew in his head. - -"Of all the old fools! I'd better go up on to the box and direct him. -I know my way better than he does, anyway, though I've only been to the -docks once." - -"It's raining so, Denis," his mother put in. - -"But we don't want the death from exposure of the respectable fambly man -on our consciences, do we, mother? Not to mention the touching little -children--" - -It ended in his exit to the box. Nell watched him go with wide, -strained eyes; she crushed down a strong impulse to clutch at his coat. -Without her twin she felt feeble and deserted. - -When the omnibus stopped at last outside the dock gates, no one made a -movement towards getting out. Long and dreary as that drive had been, -each one, looking out at those gates looming so big and grim in the dim -light cast by a solitary lamp, wished it could begin all over again. The -parting grew, at that jolting stop, suddenly, acutely nearer. In spite -of the dread of it, perhaps no one had quite realised it. To get out of -the omnibus was to give it a hideous reality. A cautious voice demanded -their business. Denis appeared at the door. One by one they left the -omnibus. The policeman, to whom the cautious voice belonged, let them -through a wicket; then began a dreary march in the dark; the wind sent -the rain beating against them in angry little gusts. Laden with bundles -and packages, they stumbled along in the dense darkness, treading into -puddles, splashing, slipping. There were no friendly lamps to cast a -warning glimmer on the deep puddles left by the rain in the holes of the -uneven ground. They could barely distinguish the form of the diminutive -guide with whom the policeman had provided them. But they could hear -him. He was a small, sharp-looking boy, who heeded neither rain nor -wind nor dark, but trudged along, in and out the puddles, up and down -the hillocks, emitting a kind of dismal whistling below his breath. - -Nell laughed suddenly with an overdone hilarity. - -"The water's trickling down my neck!" - -Denis seconded her with, "It's running a regular cascade off my hat -rim!" - -Then the Atom spoke; it was the first remark she had made since they had -started from Miss Kezia's house in Henley Road. - -"Isn't is _London_?" she said. - -Her father was amused. - -"You know, we do see rain occasionally at home," he observed. - -"There's rain and _rain_!" the Atom declared sapiently, and relapsed -again into her dour silence. - -Molly, with a sudden sob, put the fear that was in everyone's mind into -words. - -"It's--awfully bad--for mother!" - -"Oh, I shall be all right, dear," Mrs. O'Brien insisted with tired -cheerfulness. - -"I've a good mind to drop my bag and carry you!" her husband declared. - -"Oh, Owen, what a first appearance for the wife of the ship's surgeon! -Let me at least be dignified." - -Beyond the small figure of their guide the _Albany_ loomed, slowly -taking shape in the dark, big, very mysterious. - -"I bet we came to the wrong entrance," Denis observed. - -Mr. O'Brien handed the guide a tip. "I'm afraid we did," he said. - -The guide disappeared with a "thankysir"; a steward's head bobbed up -from the hatchway and shouted out directions. Mr. O'Brien and Denis -helped the others along a wet, slippery board, and over the ship's side. - -The saloon looked more cheerful; deserted as it was, it wore quite a -festive air after the wet and darkness outside. - -In the cabin they hung up a few things, to give it a more homelike air, -and because it was easier to do something than not. They procured -coffee from the steward, but no one wanted it. Everyone pretended they -did, except Sheila Pat, who never pretended. Mrs. O'Brien made her -drink it. - -"You are cold and wet, dear; it--I--will--" - -She stopped abruptly. Nell saw and understood. She went close. - -"I--I will take care of her--" she whispered. - -She had promised it so often, but Mrs. O'Brien turned to her gratefully. - -"Yes, dear," she said; her eyes went from Nell back again hungrily to -the bit of brow and head that Sheila Pat's big coffee cup left exposed. - -"I know you will, Nell," she said gently, and kissed her. - -Several other passengers had arrived and sat or stood about the saloon -and cabins with an air of unsettledness, of uncertainty. The last -minute came suddenly at the end. There was a sort of breathless rush; -injunctions, good-byes, forcedly hopeful prognostications. - -"A year soon passes!" Mr. O'Brien said again. - -A little later they were in the omnibus once more. There were gaps now; -there was so much room to move about. Those gaps gave a poignant reality -to the loneliness. - -In Nell's mind there grew up a dull wonder whether anyone could -conceivably think that a year soon passes. To her the coming year -stretched long and interminable; at the moment she was incapable of -looking beyond it. Father and mother were gone, and home was gone too. -The wonder passed, and with aching iteration there dinned in her -ears--"So long as the shamrock's growing in Ireland, will there be -O'Briens in Kilbrannan." It was a prediction of an old gipsy's. She -had given it when telling Denis his fortune. That was last year, barely -a year ago, and now--Nell's lips curled with a sudden bitterness that -made her young, soft face look, for the moment, older--now there were -strangers in their home, and no O'Briens in Kilbrannan. She wondered -tragically how it was possible to live through months such as they had -lived through. Looking back, the failure of the bank in which most of -her father's money had been placed, and which had been the first -misfortune to fall upon them, seemed a small calamity. She remembered -the shock of it, the sorrow, with surprise now. What though they had -been obliged to retrench, to pinch and try to learn the lesson of -economy, they had still their home and were not separated. The grief of -parting with old servants, with some of the horses, had been sharp. But -they had still dear old Patsy; they had O'Leary and Gretta; and they -had--Nell's breath caught suddenly--they had Acushla, the Colleen Bawn. -Her thoughts chased each other over those unhappy months. The day when -her mother had so suddenly been taken ill stood out, sharp and grim. She -remembered the anxious worry she had experienced when she saw that in -spite of the doctor's hopeful words, in spite of the daily improvement -in the invalid, her father's face refused to lighten. She remembered -the slow growth of suspicion in her mind, so that when at last he asked -her and Denis to come into the study one day, she knew they were to hear -some bad news. Denis knew it too, but in their worst prognostications -they had never given one thought to the possibility of having to give up -their home for awhile. Even when their father had told them, they could -not comprehend quite. Nell remembered how she had stood staring -stupidly at the binding of one of Ruskin's works in the book-case, where -a ray of sunlight shone on it. She had found herself saying, "Sesame -and Lilies." Then her eyes had followed the ray of sunshine to the -windows--beyond the windows. She gave a little shudder at the memory of -that moment of sudden, sharp realisation. The study faced east; its -windows looked out on to great boulders of grey rock that led in a long -uneven slope to the seaweed-covered rocks and the sea. The heather had -been out then; the boulders were covered with it; there was a little -mist in the air, so that the grey and purple mingled in a lovely haze of -colour. The sea-gulls and the gannets were quarrelling over something; -their voices came in at the open windows. The scent of the seaweed had -come to her, too; and quite suddenly she had understood that they were -to leave it all. Her father had gone on speaking; she had felt vaguely -sorry for him, as she listened to his halting speech and saw the -strained look on his face. But in those first minutes nothing was of -moment, nothing was real, save the crushing blow that they were to leave -their home; that they were to go away; that strangers were to live in -it. But presently she realised that he was trying to prepare them for -some further bad news. She had smiled at his thinking it necessary to -prepare them; nothing mattered now. Denis had had the same feeling. He -had broken into his father's speech abruptly, roughly:-- - -"Tell us what it is. What does it matter, anyway?" - -But Mr. O'Brien had gone on skirting the subject, preparing them. - -"I have been anxious for months about those mine shares. They have gone -down and down, and now they have ceased to pay any dividends at all." - -He had said it before, had explained that it was because of these shares -that they must let their home. - -Denis said, surprised, "The Reve d'or shares?" - -"Why, yes! Oh, you mean I've told you that already? But I thought they -were such a good investment--" he broke off, and walked quickly to the -window. - -"Your mother isn't getting her strength back," he said suddenly. - -They realised at once that there were still things that mattered. He -went on quickly: "You needn't be anxious. Oh, no! But Dr. O'Donovan--" -he broke off, and started afresh. "You know that, as a young man, I -didn't expect to come into this--" he waved his hand impatiently around. -There was an air about him now of wanting to get it over as quickly as -possible; an irritated impatience made his words hurried. - -"Well, you know, I studied medicine. I was a qualified doctor. It's -all settled. I've got the post. There's no other way. Dr. O'Donovan -says your mother must have a sea voyage. We can't afford it. I've got -the post of surgeon on the _Albany_--starts at end of October for -Australia--sailing ship." - -They knew it all at last. Thinking it over now, Nell was struck with -the difference there had been from his usual manner of speaking. She -knew now what it had cost him to tell them. Then she had been too -absorbed in her horror to think much of anything beyond the news he had -told them. - -After that, in the weeks that followed, there had been the cruel -carrying into effect of the news. There had been much wearisome talk. -Amongst it Nell remembered one thing that had been clear and definite at -once. That was Denis's determination to do some sort of work. Mr. -O'Brien wished him to study shorthand and type-writing, with a literary -future in view. But Denis refused, beyond agreeing to study them in his -spare time. For the rest he intended to do work that would have -remuneration attached to it. Already he was fired with hope and -ambition to turn the strangers from their home. Mr. O'Brien secured him -a position as a clerk in a London bank, the manager of which had been a -schoolfellow of his. Nell cried miserably because she wasn't a boy. -Denis shook her, and painted, in glowing colours, the great academy -picture that in a few years' time was to win her fame and fortune. But -two or three years seemed such an interminable time that, mostly, her -mind refused to grasp the thought. - -There had been much discussion as to where they should stay while their -parents were away. They were singularly destitute of relations. They -had some cousins in America, and an aunt by marriage in London. They -had never seen the aunt; but she happened to live near the bank where -Denis had found employment. She had lately lost her mother, and with -her the annuity that had helped to pay the rent of the house. She wrote -suggesting that they should come to her. After much worried discussion -it was settled that they should live with her for the time. Mr. O'Brien -paid a small sum for their maintenance in advance, and they faced the -thought of a house in a street in London. - -Sheila Pat, before she left Kilbrannan, laid out a burying-ground. She -dug with a dogged face, and a mind black with pictures of a London where -it was always foggy--where there were nothing but muddy pavements; roads -crowded with poor tired horses carrying loads too heavy for them; and -tall houses packed so close together that you were stifled. She refused -to lighten the picture by the admittance into it of so much as one blade -of grass. She chose a spot for her burying-ground close by the little -stream that gurgled so softly sometimes and roared and rushed at others. -The smooth piece of grass, just by the boulders that turned the stream -into a little cascade, was sheltered on the other side by a hill that -rose up--grey rock, purple heather, bracken, and grass--till it seemed -to meet the sky. There Sheila Pat buried her treasures. She had always -scorned dolls; only once had she been presented with a doll, and within -the day it had been mercilessly drowned. But she had many treasures, -and she buried them, in an agony of renunciation. "Here you will have -the heather and the stream, and when the wind blows from the west you'll -get the scent of the turf smoke from Biddy's cottage." She laid a large -and grinning monkey tenderly down beside a one-legged driver. "Oh, my -dears, and when the wind's in the east, you'll get the sea,"--she hid -her face in a passion of woe--"and you'll be hearing the trees -whisp'rin' and singin' and your Sheila Pat far away in a great, dirty -London, dead with stiflin', and only streets to walk in!" - -She hugged up to her bosom a jaunty jockey, who had lost an eye and a -nose. - -"I'll put you on Mavourneen--your own Mavourneen--who won the Dalgerry -race for you." She seized up Mavourneen and hugged her too. "You won't -mind waitin' for me, under the earth; for isn't it Irish earth, -Mavourneen? And weren't you born and bred on it? But I was, too! Oh, I -was, too!" - -The old grey rock and the heather looked down upon a prone Atom--prone -and shaking in a storm of bitter weeping--midst dogs and horses, -jockeys, monkeys, and jaunting-car drivers. - -No one intruded on her there. Sheila Pat had not been known to cry -since her babyhood. She scorned tears; no physical hurt could break -down her sturdy self-control. In those last days she was often a -ludicrous Atom. Grave, self-contained, her pig-tail immaculate, she -would emerge from the burying-ground, facing the world with a brave -little countenance and all unaware that it was adorned with patches and -streaks of dirt. - -The pig-tail was generally crooked, but that was merely because Sheila -Pat invariably plaited it herself. No one would do it for her; they did -not approve of her mode of dressing her hair, but the Atom clung -obstinately to her pig-tail, and serenely wore it over her left -shoulder. - -Nell, in the omnibus, glanced across at the small, still figure opposite -her; a great ache seized her throat. - -Suddenly Denis made a valiant effort. He broke the silence with a -jocose-- - -"This rivals Dinny O'Sullivan's donkey barrow! My teeth are fairly -rattling in my boots!" - -Nell said "yes" with weary dutifulness. - -The silence fell again. He rubbed his brow, and recognised the -uselessness of worrying them with such palpably unreal cheerfulness. -All his castles in Spain were, for the time being, razed to the ground. -With the O'Briens there was no possibility of a story or two tumbling; -the whole edifice had to tower to the skies or fall flat to the ground. -The omnibus drew up outside No. 35, Henley Road. They got out, and -stood a moment--a forlorn little group--looking at the tall, narrow -house, with, to their eyes, such an unhappy air of being wedged in too -tightly between the two neighbouring houses. - -"Run in and knock, while I pay up," Denis admonished them. - -They trailed slowly up the flight of steps. Nell knocked. There was a -pause; then they heard a step approaching the door. With a sudden -spasmodic burst of awakened conscience and courage Nell drew herself -erect and tried to achieve a smile. - -The rattle of bars and chains that heralded the opening of the door was -hideous to their unaccustomed ears; it shocked them with its clang of -inhospitality--its suggestion of suspicion. - -Miss Kezia opened the door a cautious inch or two and peered out. Her -face appeared to them, against the light, very long and very black. - -"It's you," she said; "come in." - -Nell faltered, calling together all her stock of politeness, "I'm sorry -that you had to sit up for us." - -Miss Kezia waved it aside with a curt response that a little loss of -sleep would not hurt her. - -There was porridge waiting for them in the dining room. Too wretched, -too apathetic to make the necessary stand against it, they sat down to -the table and tried to eat. - -The dining room was furnished strictly for use and not for ornament. -Heavy chairs and a heavier sideboard constituted all the furniture, save -the table. The floor was covered with a cold linoleum. There was no -flower in the room. Only one gas-burner was alight, and it left gloomy -corners. There was a stiff look about it all, a poverty and bareness -that was bewilderingly new to them. A beautiful little cocker spaniel, -who pressed close to them with plaintive whimpers when they entered the -room, looked quite out of place there. Miss Kezia eyed her with -disfavour. She demanded, "Where will that dog sleep?" - -The want of due respect in the designation roused Sheila Pat. - -She said coldly, "Her name is Kate Kearney." - -"What a ridiculous name!" Miss Kezia ejaculated. - -The Atom was indignant. - -"Is it rickelous? And how about Kezia, then?" - -There was a pause. - -Denis interposed amusedly: "Perhaps you don't know the song, Aunt Kezia? -It's like this--" Gaily his voice sang out:-- - - "'Oh, did you not hear of Kate Kearney? - She lives on the banks of Killarney--' - -"Eh? Noise? _Noise_?" he murmured surprisedly. "Allow me just to -whisper the lines that fit K.K. so beautifully:-- - - "'For that eye is so modestly beaming - You ne'er think of mischief she's dreaming--'" - -Grim and portentous came an interruption. - -"Is it mischievous?" - -"Er--" said Denis, and his eye twinkled, "she was when she was a puppy, -you see." - -"Um," observed Miss Kezia. "If it works any mischief here, it will have -to be chained up in the garden." - -"Sure, then," burst wildly from the Atom, "'tis myself'll be chained -beside her!" - -"Sheila, do not be absurd!" - -"And she isn't 'it'! If you call her 'it' again, I'll be callin' you a -Scotch bannock!" - -Nell roused to a perfunctory-- - -"Oh, Sheila Pat!" - -Miss Kezia said coldly, "You are a very rude little girl." She turned -to Denis. "Will you tell me where that dog is to sleep?" - -"On the mat outside Nell's door." - -"I will not have a dog rampaging over my house to work what mischief it -likes while we sleep." - -"She shall sleep on my bed," put in a very disdainful Atom. - -"Certainly she shall not! Disgusting! Unhealthy! Spoiling my -counterpanes!" - -Nell looked at Miss Kezia, a weary wonder in her face. "She can sleep on -the floor beside my bed," she said. - -Miss Kezia hesitated; her eyes met those of the Atom--wide, defiant, -indomitable in her small, obstinate face. In her ears echoed some words -of Mrs. O'Brien's that Miss Kezia had privately labelled foolish. -"Sheila Pat is delicate. Perhaps we have spoilt her a little. She is -very strong-willed. She cannot be driven, but she can be led. Her -feelings use her up--exhaust her." There had been a little sudden -hopeless pause there; then--"I hope you will understand her." - -Miss Kezia had not noticed the pause or the pleading note--a note -vibrating with the struggle against the speaker's own conviction. She -would not have understood, had she noticed, any more than she would ever -understand the Atom of humanity who was defying her now. - -"Very well," she said, with a glance of dislike at poor K.K. - -Denis broke in with a solicitous air, and a tone reminiscent of the -Blarney Stone:-- - -"I do wish you would go to bed, Aunt Kezia! You do look so tired." - -Nell smiled suddenly. - -"Yes, do, Aunt Kezia," she urged demurely. - -Miss Kezia, after somewhat lengthy directions as to turning off the gas, -shutting, locking, and hanging a huge burglar bell on the dining-room -door, turned to leave the room. - -Sheila Pat, stiff, erect, followed her with warlike gaze. - -Miss Kezia paused and said:-- - -"See that that baby goes to bed the minute she has finished her -porridge. She ought not to have gone to the docks at all--" - -Nell flashed out a shaky interruption-- - -"Others--thought she ought!" - -The Atom observed calmly:-- - -"I am not a baby. At home, gerrels of six will not be babies. I'm not -wantin' the stirabout at all, thank you." - -"Sheila, you are speaking with an atrocious accent!" - -For the first time that night the Atom's sombre eyes lit with a gleam of -satisfaction. - -"Accent, is it? Sure and 'tisn't me own native accent I'd be ashamed of -then!" she retorted. - -"It isn't the accent of ladies and gentlemen, Sheila! You are a rude and -foolish little girl!" - -Calm and unabashed, the Atom responded with fervour. - -"'Tis the way many of my best friends spake at home--always--wakin' and -sleepin' they spake like that, and I'll be spakin' like it, too." - -With her black little head well up, and her absurd pig-tail at an acute -angle, she waited for Miss Kezia's response. - -But Denis interposed from the doorway with a judicious appeal to her -sense of economy. - -"I say, Aunt Kezia, I've lit your candle, and it's spluttering like a -dumb man asking for a tip!" - -Miss Kezia turned and hurriedly left the room. - -Molly suddenly pushed her bowl away with an angry clatter. She flung -her arms out over the table and hid her face in them. - -"Oh, I can't--help it!" she cried out wildly. "Everything's so--awful!" -and she burst into tears. - -Nell caught her underlip between her teeth and rose. - -"Shan't we go to bed, Denis?" she said wearily. - -"Yes, come along. K.K. may as well have the porridge. We've been -neglecting you, old lady, haven't we, then?" - -The Atom sat rigid, her shocked gaze bent stiffly on Molly's prone head. - -"Oh," sobbed Molly, "I shall die--in a week--here--I--hate Aunt Kezia--I -hate this house--I hate--everything! Oh, I want mother--and dad--" - -The Atom got down stiffly from her chair, her gaze never leaving Molly. - -Nell, in pity of the little white face, tried to put Kate Kearney into -her arms, but she drew back. "I don't want her," she said. - -They crept upstairs and bade each other good night. - -"I--I'm sure I'll be dead when I wake up in the morning!" Molly quavered -wretchedly. "I--can't breathe--in this place--there isn't room to -move--I shall suffocate." - -Sheila Pat was to share Nell's room. She followed her in in silence. -They undressed quickly. The Atom said her prayers and got into bed. -Nell knelt down, but no prayers would come. She knelt and cried into -the counterpane. - -After a while an austere voice smote upon her ear. - -"Nell O'Brien, I'm thinkin' you're keepin' God up very late!" - -Nell said a prayer--a somewhat incoherent one--and scrambled into bed. - -An hour later she sat up and turned her pillow. She looked across at -the little white bed that glimmered over by the window; then she -burrowed her head despairingly down into the dry side of her pillow. -The sight of it, as she had lifted it to turn it over, had brought to -her mind the stout old rector at home. She remembered how Sheila Pat -had once earnestly declared he was so nice to lean against--"just like a -pillow." She quoted him beneath her breath, a humorous dimple denting -her wet cheek. - -"'Let us now consider our blessings--never mind the bad things. Let -them go. Consider the good things. The bad things will have more than -their share of our thoughts, you may be very sure!'" So Nell got her -hands into position to tick off her blessings. "First, there's Denis." -She paused; her slim body grew tense with sudden horror, as the thought -gripped her: "Suppose Denis had gone, too!" - -With an impulsiveness that was characteristic she slipped from the bed -to the floor, seized up her dressing-gown, ran out on to the landing and -upstairs to his room. - -"Come in!" - -She opened the door and was nearly blown backward down the stairs by the -gale that met her. - -Denis was sitting up in bed. - -"You, old girl? Anything up?" - -She stood in the doorway, her dressing-gown streaming out around her, -her hair blowing across her face. She laughed uncertainly. - -"Come out of that! Shut the door, you goose. And why on earth don't -you furl your sails? Anything wrong with the Atom?" - -She shut the door with slow care. - -"No," she said; "she's pretending to be asleep." - -There was a little pause. She buttoned up her dressing-gown slowly. - -"You're not walking in your sleep, are you?" he suggested, with a little -laugh. He swung himself off the bed and came towards her; he put his -hands on her shoulders. "Now, twin, out with it! What did you come -for, eh?" - -She gave a little childish struggle under his warm hands; she looked up -into his face. - -"I had to, Denis! A dreadful conviction has come upon me that she'll -give us soft-boiled eggs for breakfast!" - -He swung her softly to and fro. - -"Well, you needn't have come to give me nightmare just because you're -going to have it! Was it the action of a twin, I ask?" - -She laughed softly, irresistibly. - -"Oh, oh, Denis, your floor's swamped! What will Aunt Kezia say?" - -He turned his head lazily and surveyed the floor over by the window. - -"It'll dry," he observed with equanimity. - -She eyed the window, flung as wide as it would go. - -"You _mustn't_ have it so wide, Denis! You really mustn't!" - -"D'you want to murder your twin? Why, I'd be dying of suffocation! -There're _roofs_ all round, Nell! Beastly houses stuck all on top of -us--almost in our back yard! I can't get a breath of air even now!" - -The toilet cover was wildly fluttering its corners; a towel had been -blown from the towel horse and danced merrily in a corner; one curtain -was streaming, a wet limp rag, out into the night, the other was -whirling in graceful curves across the room; Denis's tie had twined -itself round the leg of a chair. - -She gave a little laugh. - -"If you won't shut the window, I will! And," glancing down at her bare -toes, "I don't feel the least bit inclined to paddle just now." - -"Then don't." - -"But you _will_ shut it--" - -"But I won't!" - -She looked out into the darkness where the curtain waved forlornly. - -"Seriously, Denis--" - -"Seriously, Nell, it's in bed you ought to be, not to mention your poor -twin!" - -"You see, I've got a conscience." - -"More noodle you! Go and sleep it off." - -"Sure now, asthore, you'll not be refusin' your own twin?" she cooed. - -"You're a beastly little humbug!" - -He went across to the window and banged it down. The bang echoed -startlingly in the night. - -"Oh, Denis, you've shut the curtain out!" - -"Eh? Oh, well, it can stay out." - -A loud whisper hissed with disconcerting suddenness through the keyhole. - -"Denis O'Brien, are you asleep?" - -Nell turned to him with a little gasp. - -"Denis, I--I can't stand any more of her to-night!" Her small fingers -caught his arm with sudden desperation. - -"Here, in you go!" He picked her up and deposited her in the bed. -"Keep quiet," he said peremptorily. - -He emitted a loud and very realistic yawn. - -"Denis O'Brien!" - -"Is it dreaming I am?" he observed in a sleepy voice. - -"Apparently you are!" came the sharp retort through the keyhole. - -"Is that you, Aunt Kezia?" he queried in a surprised voice. "Isn't it -time you were in bed?" - -"I wish to speak to you at once!" - -"I'm here, close to the keyhole." - -"Open the door!" - -"Oh! Er--you know--my costume--rather primitive, you know--" His -absurd air of coyness brought an irrepressible giggle from the bed. - -"Please don't try to be funny! Unlock your door at once!" - -"It's never locked at all." He opened it so suddenly that Miss Kezia -nearly fell headlong into the room. He caught her in his arms. "Are -you hurt? Sure? Well, what is it now? A mouse? Let me go and kill -him!" - -Miss Kezia had righted herself; she stood, candle in hand, glaring at -him angrily. The light flickered over her gaunt face and weird -night-cap, over the severe and scanty folds of her sombre dressing-gown. - -"I heard a window closed," she began. - -"Window? I say, Aunt Kezia, don't be nervous, but--er--don't London -burglars generally open windows? Let's find a poker. I," quoth he, -bravely, "will protect you." - -"It--wasn't you?" Miss Kezia hesitated. - -Apparently he did not hear. He was gently but firmly ejecting her from -his room. Together they searched the house, but found no suggestion of -a burglar. Miss Kezia went back reluctantly to her bed. - -"Let us trust she'll be visited with a plague of nightmare burglars!" -Denis sent after her cheerfully. - -Nell, creeping back to her room, heard through the half-open door a -murmur. She looked in, and saw a small pig-tailed figure sitting up in -bed clasping something black to its bosom. - -"Oh, my own K.K.--did I say I wasn't wantin' you, asthore? 'Twas only -because I was frightened I'd cry, like that silly Molly. I didn't mean -it, K.K. Oh, I didn't! 'Twas cruel of me to say it, dear--" The murmur -was broken, full of tears. - -Nell went back softly up a few stairs; then came down again, with a -little stumble and an "Oh!" - -She could not help an apprehensive thought of Miss Kezia and burglars. -When she entered the bedroom Sheila Pat lay still, apparently fast -asleep. - -Trotting across the floor, back to the petticoat she had purloined from -a chair, went a sedate little Kate Kearney. - - - - - *CHAPTER II* - - -"Four and threepence," said Denis, with his head up the chimney. - -"Sure?" said Nell, doubtfully. "I've added it up three times, and it -hasn't come to that once." - -"Then there's no doubt about it; four and threepence 'tis, my dear!" - -A pause. A scream. - -"Oh, Denis, rescue them!" - -A horrible smell of burning ensued. Denis eyed the smoking stockings -with equanimity. - -"O dear," sighed Nell, "and there was only one tiny hole in them. It's -all your fault, Denis. You shouldn't be rude to me, when your head's -such a beautiful target." - -But Denis had emerged from the chimney, and was quietly smoking his -cigarette in the open room. - -"Jolly good idea, old girl. Twig? Every time I want to do a smoke, -we'll burn a pair of stockings--they'd out-smell Patsy O'Driscoll's -cigars!" - -"Denis," Nell spoke with a puckered brow, "how much _is_ five cakes when -they're four for threepence halfpenny?" - -"Nell, your grammar! It makes me feel faint!" - -"'Are,' then. You're only trying to gain time. Oh, Atom, don't move! -Kate Kearney's splendid like that. I _must_ get her." - -Denis looked over her shoulder as she dashed in a rapid pencil sketch. -He glanced across at Molly and winked. It was a family joke that -everything Nell began--accounts, sewing, tidying-up--ended, on the -slightest possible pretext, in a sketch. - -"Oh, Denis," Molly besought nervously, "I _know_ Aunt Kezia will smell -your cigarette!" - -He struck an attitude. - -"I defy her! Shall an O'Brien be cowed by a Scotch woman, and in his -stronghold, too? Shall a young man who is also a bank clerk be -frightened of a mere ignoramusess--oh, Lor', Molly, hide me--hide -me--here she comes!" - -Molly flung down the stocking she was darning. - -"Oh, Denis!" she gasped, jumping up and knocking over her chair. "Oh--" - -But Denis had subsided on to the old lounge, with his head buried in the -cushion, and Molly realised she had been "had." She made a wild rush at -him, K.K. joined in the fray, and Nell's model was gone. - -"Pommel me as much as you like," cried he, weakly. "That's the third -time to-day you've swallowed Aunt Kezia!" - -"I should think she would be rather indigestible," opined Nell, putting -in a few finishing touches. "Denis, what do you think of the way these -chrysanthemums have faded? Only two days, and they cost half a crown!" - -"I'll get you some more." - -Nell looked thoughtful; she stubbed her paper viciously. - -"I begin to fancy paupers oughtn't to indulge in flowers." - -"Oh, Irish paupers ought," he declared airily. - -The Atom arose, shook out her skirts, and proceeded to the door. - -"Where are you going, Sheila Pat?" - -"Downstairs," was the staid reply. - -Once outside, she stopped to smooth her hair; then she stood -considering, with a thoughtful brow. She went into her bedroom, dragged -a chair to the toilet table, scrambled on to it, and anxiously examined -the pair of slim legs displayed in the glass. What she saw displeased -her; she stamped angrily, and toppled off the chair with a crash. - -"What's up?" came a musical shout from the direction of the -"Stronghold." - -"Nothin' at all!" responded the Atom, with unabated dignity, though she -was obliged for the moment to stand on one leg. She waited a minute, -then lifting her loose frock, wiggled round and round in her efforts to -unfasten her petticoat. She managed it at last, shook it down to her -ankles, and mounted the chair again to view the effect. Her anxious face -fell; she sighed heavily, and slowly climbed to the floor. She fumbled -at the fastening of her petticoat, pulling it well up, then left the -room. She went down the stairs till she reached the last flight that -faced the front door. She sat down on the top stair and waited. The -dusk deepened; the clock ticked on and on down in the hall, but the -little pale face glimmered patiently at the top of the stairs. -Presently a key grated in the lock of the door; Sheila Pat rose. The -door opened, and a big broad man in a huge ulster came heavily in. -Sheila Pat took a dignified step forward, missed, in the dusk, the -stair, and rolled down and down to the big man's feet. - -"Ach!" exclaimed the big man, and then he made noises that interested -Sheila Pat, because they made her think of the hens in Biddy O'Regan's -cottage. She rose; her cheeks were scarlet with shame. - -"Are you hurrt?" exclaimed the big man. - -"Not at all. Please," said the Atom, with a dignity a good deal bigger -than herself, "please don't mention it. 'Tis a visit I've come to pay -you," she added. - -"Ach!" said the big man again. - -Over a large and very fierce mustache, all grey bristles, his eyes were -twinkling down at her. - -"Pray come in," he said, and opened the door of the room opposite the -dining room. The Atom's face kindled triumphantly as she looked round. -Miss Kezia's grim voice seemed to hover alluringly round the solid -mahogany chairs and table. - -"You are not to enter this room. Remember, I have forbidden you." - -Sheila Pat climbed on to one of the big chairs and sat down with a -complacent smile. - -Herr Schmidt eyed her anxiously. - -"You are quite sure you are not hurt, meine liebe? It was a bad fall, a -very bad fall." - -Sheila Pat looked surprised. As a matter of fact her left elbow was -smarting badly, and her left ankle bone, too, but in the O'Brien -phraseology, this did not signify a "hurt." Moreover she objected to -his alluding again to her undignified entrance into the hall. She gave -her skirts a pull, and turned the conversation. - -"How-d'you-do?" she said. - -He came forward and gravely shook hands. - -"It is ze fine day, hein?" he observed, with a curious elephantine -anxiety to be properly polite to his very polite visitor. - -The Atom's eyes turned to the window and studied the brilliant pink sky -beyond it. - -"The fine day, is it? It's not so bad for London," she observed in a -disparaging voice. - -"You come from Ireland?" - -"Yes." - -He peered into the rigid little face and understood. - -"I come from Shermany," he said gently. "Little one, you will return -some day." - -The Atom said nothing. - -"You haf ze nice little dog." Herr Schmidt changed the conversation -cheerfully. "What do you call him?" - -"She isn't a him at all," the Atom said scornfully; "'tis herself's a -lady! An' her name's Kate Kearney." - -"Ach!" said Herr Schmidt. - -Sheila Pat looked at him gravely. - -"I am very small for my age," she began in an anxious voice. "I'm not -very young really. I'm more than six. I'm quite nine weeks more." - -"Quite very old," he agreed heartily. "And now you will eat and drink -with me, hein?" He was opening a cupboard. "It is a very goot cake. I -am what you call an old sweet-teeth. And the drink will not harm you; -it is sweet and hot--it is made by my old mother." He poured out two -glasses and handed her one. - -"We will drink and be friends, eh?" - -She hesitated. - -"'Tis wondhring I am just what a lodger _is_," she explained. "I've -never met one before, you see. Nell turned up her nose at you and said -she'd never be dhramin' Aunt Kezia was so bad as to have a lodger." - -"Your aunt is a very kind laty; she allows me to live here, while I am -far from Shermany," he said gravely. - -The Atom looked interested; after a pause of wonder she dismissed the -question of her aunt's being a kind lady, and observed:-- - -"Is that all? We'll drink then and be friends. I hope you won't mind -if I don't love you _very_ much, because you're not Irish, you see." - -He declared he would be satisfied with what degree of affection she -thought fit to bestow on him. She lifted her glass. - -"'Tis Sheila Patricia Kathleen O'Brien I'm called, but _you_ must be -callin' me Miss O'Brien." - -"Ach, so, of course. And I," he bowed deeply, "am Herr Schmidt, Miss -O'Brien." - -The Atom's heart rejoiced exceedingly. She put down her glass and -slipped off her chair. Gravely she bowed her head, and the pig-tail -stuck out with a rakish air of enjoyment. Reseating herself, she -politely urged him to have some cake. - -"Now we are friends, I will interdruce you to my Snowy-Breasted Pearl, -Mr. Hair Smitt. He is very beautiful. I couldn't bring him with me, -because, he preferred to stay in his cage." She eyed a red tooth-mark -on her forefinger. "He is very high-spirited, you see. He is gold and -brown and he has a white breast like pearls and snow, and he is white -behind, too--just up over his extremes and both hind legs. Nell has -painted him lots of times. You see, in the song, 'the snowy-breasted -Pearl' is a lady, but my _dear_ guinea-pig was so _'zact_, I crissened -him that." - -"I wish you would be so goot as to sing the song to me, Miss O'Brien." - -"Is it me sing? Oh, yes. But it's rather long. Do you think you'd get -tired of it at all?" - -He denied such a possibility with horror. - -"My mouth is rather full of cake, Mr. Hair Smitt. Do you mind waitin' a -little?" - -The cake disposed of, she lifted up a sweet little voice, and sang:-- - - "'There's a colleen fair as May, - For a year and for a day - I have sought by ev'ry way - Her heart to gain. - - "'There's no art of tongue or eye - Fond youths with maidens try, - But I've tried with ceaseless sigh, - Yet tried in vain.'" - - -(Pause.) "I'm afraid I forget some," the Atom confessed, ashamed. "But -I know all the parts about my guinea-pig," she added anxiously. - -"Will you sing those parts?" he asked courteously. - -She began again:-- - - "'Oh, thou bloomin' milk-white dove - To whom I've given my love, - Do not ever thus reprove - My consancy. - - "'For if not mine, dear boy, - Oh, snowy-breasted pearl, - May I never from the fair - With life return.' - - -"It _ought_ to be 'girl' to rhyme with 'pearl,' but, you see, he _isn't_ -a girl, so I made up 'boy' myself. Doesn't the song fit him -_beautifully_?" - -The door had been left ajar; a small black nose inserted itself in the -crack with a pathetic snort. - -"It is your little dog!" Herr Schmidt exclaimed. "Come in! Come in!" -He gave a great fat laugh. "Come in!" - -Sheila Pat slipped to the floor. - -"She's shy," she explained, and went and opened the door wide. - -Kate Kearney trotted in, sleek and black, giving little scriggles of -love as she came. She rubbed herself against the Atom's legs, she -licked her hand, she lifted superlatively great innocent eyes. - -"Kate Kearney, what is it you've been doin'?" the Atom said. - -K.K. went into an ecstasy of adoration; she jumped and licked the Atom's -cheek, she wriggled, she ran to and fro, she gave short little whimpers, -and she turned a reproachful, widely innocent gaze upon the Atom's -suspicious countenance. - -Sheila Pat laughed proudly. - -"She always looks burstin' with goodness when she's been doin' somethin' -bad," she said. - -"She is a beautiful little dog." - -"She got first prize at the dog show, in the cocker spaniel puppy class, -an' a 'Highly Commended' in the open class." - -"Ach!" said Herr Schmidt. - -"Aunt Kezia doesn't like her. Molly says she would if she was a cat, -because old maids always like cats, but Sarah says she won't let her -give scraps to the poor starvin' creatures at all. Kate Kearney mostly -stays in the Stronghold with us. Denis 'gested the name. Isn't it a -good one? It's our very own room, you see, and Aunt Kezia's the enemy we -keep--" There was a jerk, a pause. - -Herr Schmidt, peering across at her, saw an agonised wave of red mount -to her very brow. - -"I--I think I'd better be goin' now," but she did not move. - -He took a step towards her. - -"Oh, oh, _please_ would you mind stayin' there?" she cried out in a -shrill little agitated voice. - -He stopped abruptly. - -"What is it, meine liebe?" - -"You have been very kind, indeed, Mr. Hair Smitt." The Atom's -exceedingly grown-up manner precluded any more questions. "Thank you -very much. Would you mind turnin' your back a minute?" - -He moved away and looked out of the window. - -Sheila Pat with trembling hands turned up her skirt and grasped the -dangling petticoat beneath, but as she did it, a wicked black head -emerged from beneath the table, and wicked white teeth closed on the -flannel and pulled--pulled. - -"K.K.! I'll _whip_ you! Drop it! Oh, _drop_ it, K.K.!" - -But whether it was that the Atom dared not raise her voice above a -whisper, or whether K.K. just felt specially naughty--anyway, she did -not leave go. - -And Sheila Pat's proud soul was filled with very real agony. With a -despairing "Please don't turn round--I'm goin'!" she fled out into the -hall, stumbling along, with K.K. and her petticoat dragging her -sideways. She sank on to the lowest stair and let her petticoat go; she -watched K.K. drag it down her legs, across the hall. He had treated her -so beautifully! He had behaved as if she were a grown-up. All had gone -so well--and what would he think of her now? A vision of Biddy -O'Regan's numerous babies trotting about with various garments dangling -about their legs rose up before her eyes. Only babies let their things -come down, the Atom thought, and she shuddered. - -K.K. brought the petticoat to her with a conciliatory wag, and laid it -gently in her lap. The Atom took no notice. She was sure he had -forgotten how she had tumbled down the stairs, and now--K.K. pushed a -moist nose into her hand. "Oh, K.K., is it lovin' me you are after -_that_?" She pointed to the petticoat with a short but tragic finger. -K.K. laid a sweet head on her knee, with upturned eyes adoring. - - - - - *CHAPTER III* - - -"I'm getting quite fond of our Stronghold," said Nell. "That's crooked, -Denis!" - -"What if it is, and you an artist! I'm not going to take the nail -out,--no, not if it's standing on its head. Isn't my thumb pathetic -pulp already?" - -"_Gerrls_ can't use a hammer! _Gerrls_ always hit more thumb than -anything else!" from the foot of the step-ladder came an impish voice. - -"That you, Atom?" Denis flung himself down the steps. Sheila Pat fled, -squealing, down the stairs and into the garden. - -"_What_ we would have done without this room to call our own, my brain -refuses to imagine!" Nell observed. - -"Wasn't it just like mother to think of it?" queried Molly, wistfully. - -Nell nodded. - -"And our teas! Thank goodness, Aunt Kezia desires us to have tea up -here, in case some of her friends turn up. It's something to be looked -upon as savages, after all, Mol!" - -She was digging a drawing pin through a mounted photograph of a -beautiful Irish wolf hound. She touched his head softly with her finger -before she turned away. He was Denis's dog, and he had been left at -Kilbrannan with friends. She picked up a photograph of her little -chestnut mare. She stood with it in her hands, then turned suddenly and -put it away in her drawer of the table. The hound was still Denis's, -but Acushla was sold--sold to the same friends who were taking care of -the dog. Nell clinched her teeth. The other horses had been sold, too. -She gathered up a pile of photographs taken by herself and Denis, and -laid them in her drawer. For a minute the sick longing for them all, -for her home, her father and mother, gripped her and held her silent. -Then she turned to Molly. - -"Hark at Sheila Pat's accent! Whose benefit is it for?" - -Molly looked out at the dingy scrap of garden. - -"There's that little boy in the garden next door. Denis is chasing -Sheila Pat." - -They reappeared in the Stronghold, the Atom's wild little face emerging -from beneath Denis's arm, her legs and arms kicking and struggling. -Denis seized the tablecloth, hauled it off with a clatter of falling -lesson books, drawing board, pencils, and paint-box. "Hang on, Nell! -We'll toss her." - -Miss Kezia, entering the room unnoticed, was surprised to find her -youngest niece bouncing in the air. - -"Aunt--Ke--" With a burst of terrified laughter Molly smothered the -rest of the word. - -Denis and Nell, holding the tablecloth, with Sheila Pat enthroned in its -middle, turned innocently to their aunt. - -"I came," said Miss Kezia, "to see if there had been any accident." - -"Won't you sit down?" suggested Denis, with a wave of his disengaged -hand toward a chair. "There's been no accident at all. What made you -think there had?" - -"The noise!" It was snapped out like the click of a box being shut. - -"Noise?" He looked surprised. Sheila Pat, tailor-wise in her -tablecloth, regarded Miss Kezia thoughtfully. - -"May I ask," resumed her aunt, "if you are playing a game?" - -"Jolly good game," Denis agreed smilingly. - -"And it necessitates the smashing and throwing to the floor of--those?" -pointing majestically. "And the ruining of the tablecloth?" - -"Not necessarily, Aunt Kezia; Sheila Pat's only an Atom--I don't expect -she'll tear the cloth." - -"You will not have another, in any case," Miss Kezia said. A little -flush rose to Denis's brow; his mouth shut into a thin line. Then he -looked at Nell. - -"Nell, amn't I right in understanding that this is _our_ cloth?" - -"Quite, Denis." - -"Have--" exclaimed Miss Kezia, suddenly, "have you been knocking nails -into my walls?" - -"We'll pull them out," said Nell coldly, "since you object to them." - -Miss Kezia actually smiled a grim little smile. - -"How very Irish! What good would that do, when the holes would still be -there? It is most tiresome! It ruins the walls! It really--good -gracious! Call your dog off!--Go _away_!" Miss Kezia, red-faced, -undignified, was striving wildly to extricate her skirt from K.K.'s -teeth. - -For a few moments Denis and Nell's attention was engaged elsewhere; each -was rearranging assiduously the folds of the cloth. And in the middle -of it Sheila Pat sat and chuckled softly. - -Then Denis turned. - -"K.K., drop it!" he said sternly, and K.K. obeyed with a sad little -wriggle. - -"It's a most objectionable dog," Miss Kezia said breathlessly. "I insist -that you make no more holes in my paper!" And she marched from the -room. Denis sank on to the lounge, stuffed the cushion into his mouth, -and wildly waved his legs in the air. - -The door reopened--Nell made a frantic dash at his legs. "Of course you -understand that I will not have that guinea-pig brought into the house!" -Miss Kezia said, her eyes on Denis, who at the sound of her voice -dropped the cushion and sat up with a ludicrous face of dismay. - -She retired once more, and for a minute there was dead silence in the -room she had left. Then Nell fell into Denis's arms. "Oh--you -gossoon!" - -On the floor, where she had been ignominiously dumped, Sheila Pat sat in -her tablecloth and hugged Kate Kearney. - -Denis arose and seized her pig-tail. - -"Let's attack the garden now, Atom." - -Nell was looking out of the window. - -"There's that pretty little lame boy next door. I'm going down to talk -to him." - -"I don't want to come, thank you," Sheila Pat said to Denis. - -"Eh? Why not?" - -"A person," quoted the Atom, "may have reasons." - -"You're a lazy Atom," said Denis, and strolled out of the room. - -"The little boy's gone in," Molly observed. - -The Atom slipped out of the room and downstairs after Denis. Denis sat -on an old up-turned wheelbarrow and studied a book on shorthand and the -garden alternately. - -"It's a problem that requires a good deal of thought," he observed -lazily. "A back yard: Item--a patch of bare ground adorned with ten and -a half blades of grass. Item--a narrow ridge of clay running parallel -with the walls, in which flowers are presumably meant to grow. Item--a -careless mosaic of china, etc. Item--a wheelbarrow. Item--a dustbin. -Item--a diminutive Atom ready to turn it all into an elysium of sweet -flowers." - -"Go on with your readin'," said the Atom, refusing to smile, and -valiantly beginning to pick up bits of china. - -"The spirit is willing, but the brain is weak. I've come to a -standstill. Hulloa, K.K.'s over the wall!" - -"It was a cat makin' faces at her. If that little boy's there, he'll be -very frightened." - -"Why on earth should he be?" - -"Oh, I know he will," with dire meaning. - -Nell came dancing out into the garden with Molly. - -"You're out of step, Mol! Kate Kearney, I saw you leap the wall after a -poor pussy!" - -She dug her toes into the wall and looked over. - -"Can you give me that wicked little black bogy?" she called. - -Sheila Pat turned and trotted towards the house. - -Denis, on his wheelbarrow, eyed her inquiringly. - -"Where are you off to? Going to exercise the Snowy-Panted Pearl?" - -The Atom refused to acknowledge the question. She always did refuse -when he miscalled her Pearl so rudely. - -Over the wall Nell accepted a limp Kate Kearney from the little shy, -fair-haired boy she had accosted, and held a conversation with him. - -"Nell!" came a faint voice. "Nell! I'm caught! Oh, _Nell_!" - -"Someone is calling," observed Denis, from his barrow. - -Nell looked round. - -"It's Molly. I thought she was here. Stewart, you hear that cry? It -comes from the mouth of my sister Molly. She has a predilection for -falling into slop-pails, jamming her fingers into doors-- _Coming_!" -she sang out in response to a louder cry. "Good-bye, Stewart. Another -time you must see my littlest sister." She dropped to the ground. - -Up in Molly's room she found wild confusion, and, in the midst of it, -Molly hanging out of the wardrobe. - -"I'm caught, Nell! Oh, it's killing me! You might have hurried--oh!" - -"Hair this time," observed Nell, untwining and pulling, while the house -echoed with Molly's screams. Her hair had caught in the hooks of a -blouse hanging on one of the pegs. They were safety hooks, which were -one of the trials of Molly's life. - -When she was freed at last, Nell looked round the room littered with -boots, hats, frocks, collars. - -"Whence?" she said, with a wave of her hand. - -"I was looking for my thimble." - -"Oh!" said Nell, expressively. - -"Nell," shouted Denis, from somewhere, "come up and look at these -beastly grey collars!" - -She ran up to his room. The laundress was a grievance of his. - -She sat on his bed and sympathised; then she observed, "Denis, tell me -what this Pennington is like." - -"Haven't I told you? I'll look a fine guy this evening in a dirty -collar!" - -"'Not half a bad chap. See him mimic old Tellbridge, his uncle--simply -ripping,'" mocked she, suggestively. - -He laughed. "Is that all I told you? Well, it's his chief -accomplishment. He's a little chap--very dark. I say, I told you old -Tellbridge apologised that his wife hadn't called, because she's abroad, -didn't I? He isn't a bad old chap, only he's got such a beastly pompous -manner. Pennington calls him Uncle Pom-Pom. Well, he hasn't got much of -a bargain with me!" He gave a quick sigh. "I do loathe figures, Nell!" -Then he laughed again. "Aunt Kezia has been talking to me about the -hours she expects me to keep! 'Pon my word, I believe she thinks I'm -not a day over eleven!" - -At ten o'clock he came meekly home. - -"Please, Aunt Kezia, I hope I'm not late?" - -"I told you ten o'clock. You are punctual." - -He went up to the Stronghold. He found Nell huddled over the -account-book. - -"Well?" she said. - -"Where's Molly?" - -"Just gone to bed." - -"What are you doing?" - -She laughed. - -"I'm _trying_ to do accounts. I've been trying more or less all the -evening." - -"More foolish you! What's the use of accounts, anyway? If the money's -gone, it's gone!" - -"Yes, but still--why, you see, Denis, we--we've just got to be careful -now, and I must see how our money dwindles when we never spend a -farthing! And I can't get to-day right. I come threepence short." - -"Put it down to stamps." - -"I do my accounts honourably!" - -"I'll help you. Read out items." - -"Woman with baby--india rubber--watch for boy," she enumerated glibly. - -"Eh? Woman with an india rubber baby and a watchful boy? How much that -little lot?" - -She was surreptitiously trying to tear a leaf from the account-book. - -"Fivepence," she said, "and there was the hair ribbon for -Molly--tenpence three farthings--that is one and threepence, three -farthings, isn't it?" - -He reached out a long arm and captured the book. On the leaf opposite -the items for the day, dangling, half torn out, was a pencil sketch of -Kate Kearney. - -"I--I forgot," said Nell. "I really didn't know I was doing it!" - -"You know it's forbidden in this book," sternly. - -"Plase, your Honour, I'm sorry." - -"You've got her expression splendidly. What had she been doing?" - -"Eating Molly's hair-brush." - -"Injured innocence. It's ripping, Nell! You'll be a second Rosa -Bonheur yet!" - -She sighed. - -He glanced at her quickly. - -"We'll manage it somehow, old girl!" - -"So we will! I'll sit on the pavement and draw pictures in vivid -chalks, as a beginning, and with my earnings--oh, up and up I'll go--" - -"To the Royal Academy--a studio in South Kensington--private -exhibitions--your photograph in all the papers--interviews--'The -charming young genius who has taken the artist world by storm greeted me -with a delightful amiability. She afforded me a glimpse of a dimple and -a half. I understand that her intimate friends are treated to three -whole ones--'" - -"Oh, be quiet. Tell me if I've done the adding and subtracting right." - -"You have! Nell, you're getting on. Meanwhile, we're threepence short. -Three whole pennies!" - -"Threepence is threepence." - -He looked surprised. - -"Are you sure?" - -"I _can't_ think what it is." - -"Account-book?" he suggested blandly. - -On the occasion of Nell's first essay at accounts, she had worried and -fought and wrestled over a missing sixpence, till Sheila Pat brilliantly -bethought her of the account-book, price sixpence. Thereafter the -account-book was a family joke. - -"_Chestnuts_!" said Denis, in solemn tone. - -"Oh, you jewel! That's it. Now I'm beautifully right." She scribbled -it down. - -He picked up a piece of stick, smooth and round. Nell glanced at it and -laughed. - -"That's Molly's! She's been sitting with a bit of hair rolled round it -all the evening!" - -It was the ambition of Molly's life to have waving hair like Nell's. -Secretly she tried many ways to make it curl. Pencils, pens, bits of -stick, all were requisitioned in guilty secrecy. - -"Now tell me about your evening, Denis. Who was there?" - -"Uncle Pom-Pom and Pennington, of course. Chap named Lancaster, and a -queer little man--Yovil, I think his name is--all grey and black -bristles. He used to be the elocution master at Pennington's school. -He writes, Nell!" - -"Oh, what does he write?" - -"There was an article of his in last month's _Imperial_ on Coleridge. -I'm going to get it. Pennington goes to his place every Tuesday--in the -evening; some of the other boys who used to go to his school go too, and -they talk and read and recite. No fee, you know; he just does it -because he likes it--has an idea that when you've got to leave school to -be a beastly clerk or something of that kind, you let your reading slip. -Pennington says he's cranky on Billy S.!" - -"Don't be so irreverent, Denis!" - -There was a pause. - -"And the other--Lancaster--what is he like?" - -"Decent sort of chap, I should think. Don't know much about -him--awfully quiet--hardly spoke to any one. Pennington seems to think -a lot of him. He beat me at billiards, anyway. Father's got a pot of -money. There, that's all I know." - -Nell sat gazing into the fire. Suddenly her mouth dimpled. - -"Denis, what do you think I've been doing this evening, beyond -accounts?" - -"Daubing." - -"No. I've been looking at things from Aunt Kezia's point of view." - -"Oh, lor'!" he said heavily. - -"And I've come to the conclusion it's pretty hard on her to have four -practically unknown relatives dumped down on her." - -"We're not sacks of coals," he remonstrated, "and she offered for the -post. And we efface ourselves as much as possible. And we're rather -nice, you know." - -"Sheila Pat went down to Herr Schmidt this evening, and requested him to -take her for a walk, as she felt stifled. He did take her, and Aunt -Kezia disapproved of that! Molly bet me I couldn't run up and down the -stairs six times without a pause. I did it, and she disapproved of -_that_. Poor Molly, trying to jump a hurdle,--two chairs arranged by -me,--fell and hurt herself badly. She disapproved of _that_. Certainly -she broke the chair," reflectively; "still, it seems to me Aunt Kezia -disapproves of everything." - -"And on top of all that you fall to pitying her! I can't rise to your -heights at all, my dear." Nell, chin in hand, puckered her brow -thoughtfully. - -"Why, you see, from her point of view we're a horrid nuisance--" - -"Oh, are we, indeed? I wish Sheila Pat could hear you! Nell, if I don't -go to bed at once, you'll arrive at the point of considering our -respected aunt a martyred saint, and us the bad little imps who got her -her crown! Well, anyway, the imps are useful! For isn't it a grand -thing to be a martyr, and aren't we helping her to be one? I'm going to -bed." - -"Lazy!" - -"My dear, remember I am now a working man. Remember what my earnings are -to go towards--" He broke off suddenly. "Nell, why can't I write a -book or a play, and make my fortune?" - -"You will soon." - -He shook his head. - -"I can see it's all rubbish almost as I write it. No, Nell, you'll have -to give us back Kilbrannan, alone!" - -"I won't, Denis! You know you're much too conceited to let me do it. -Mustn't you have your finger in every pie? And don't speak as if it -isn't ours still! It's only let--" - -"So it is!" He seized her round her waist. "We'll do it together--you -and I--turn 'em out--buy back all the horses--and meanwhile--meanwhile, -we'll economise like a couple of German Jews!" - -She looked at the jar of great golden chrysanthemums, at a large box of -Fuller's chocolates he had brought them that day, and at her -account-book where the money seemed to run away so mysteriously. - -"Oh," quoth Denis, "it isn't the things like that that use up the money; -it's the little things--copper here, copper there; 'Take care of the -pence and the pounds will take care of themselves,' you know. That's -sound commercial sense." - -"Is it?" said Nell. "It _sounds_ all right." - -"It's as right as your hand which isn't your left. I'm going to put out -the lamp." - - - - - *CHAPTER IV* - - -"Sarah," said Sheila Pat, "who's in the drawing-room?" - -"Mrs. Barclay, miss." - -"Oh!" said Sheila Pat. - -"Bread and butter--cakes--best milk jug--smallest spoons--that's right." -Sarah's muttering ended with a sigh of relief. - -"Sarah, are you very busy?" - -"I've took the things up, miss, and now I've got to wash up the dinner -things." - -"Sarah," wheedlingly, "let me help you." - -"Oh, no, miss, certainly not, and you oughter be upstairs, too." - -"I don't wish to be there," with dignity settling herself on the table. -"Sarah, haven't you any silver to clean now? I do like cleaning -silver." - -"Oh, no, miss, and you're making yourself dirty and all!" - -A pause, while Sarah bustled about and the Atom watched her. - -"Sarah," sternly issued the small voice, "I inquest you to give me some -work _at once_!" - -"Oh--oh, certingly, miss, yes, miss." Sarah, in a flurry, routed out -some shining pots and pans and gave them to the Atom to dust. Sheila -Pat took them and examined them carefully. There was a long silence, -while Sarah made up the fire and left the room to fill the coal box. -When she returned she saw the Atom sitting in stiff idleness beside her -pots and pans. - -"What, done them already, miss! Well, you _'ave_ been quick; and how -nice and bright you've made them look, to be sure!" - -The Atom fixed her with a stony eye. - -"I haven't touched them," said she. - -Sarah collapsed in dire confusion. - -"I may wear short dresses," resumed the Atom, coldly, "my fam'ly is -resisting about that,--but I am not a _baby_, Sarah Jane Jones." - -Meekly and in awe, Sarah provided her with real work in the drying of -cups and saucers and plates. The Atom unbent over her rubbing. - -"Have you any brothers, Sarah?" - -"Yes, miss, two." - -"How old are they?" - -"One's three and t'other four and a 'alf, miss." - -"Have you any sisters, Sarah?" - -"Yes, miss, three." - -"How old are they?" - -"Two and five and seving, miss. I'm a long way the eldest in the -fambly. There's three died between me and Gladys. Father, 'e died -eighteen months back, too." - -"Your mother has had a lot of trouble, Sarah." - -"Yes, miss, and she's mostly ailing." - -"Would she like some cough medicine, do you think? You see I've got some -in a bottle upstairs. I didn't use it all." - -"Thank you, miss. She takes in sewing when she's able, but they pay -that bad! Threepence for a blarse! Did you ever, now?" - -The Atom fidgeted uncomfortably. - -"I don't _quite_ know what a blarse is, Sarah, not _quite_, you see." - -"Why, a bodice as don't fit, miss, just 'angs loose, and you pull it in -round the waist with a belt or somethink." - -"Oh!" said the Atom, recognising "blouse" now, but too polite to -explain. - -"No," pursued Sarah, "_I'm_ the worker of the fambly!" - -The Atom eyed her gravely. - -"You're not _very_ big and strong, are you?" she queried doubtfully. - -"Oh, there's a lot of work in me, miss, more'n you'd think. I can go on -and on, you see. Why," proudly, "lots o' times when my back's just -aching all over and my legs and feet too, I can work just as well as -_hever_!" - -"That's spunk, Sarah," said Denis's voice round the door. - -"Oh, sir! Oh, Mr. Denis!" Sarah, in her confusion, let fall a plate. -"Oh!" she cried, "four pieces! Oh!" She wrung her hands. - -Denis laughed. - -"My fault, Sarah; put it down to me." - -But the poor little maid-of-all-work had no smile left in her; her sharp -little face was puckered and drawn into ludicrous lines of woe; tears -stood in her pale eyes. "'Alf a crown at least!" she moaned beneath her -breath. "I'd never match it under!" - -Denis glanced sharply at her. "What do you mean? You talk as if you -will have to pay for it!" - -"So I do, sir! Ten pounds--washing done out--pay your own breakages--no -beer--no followers," she rattled off glibly. - -"Do you mean Aunt Kezia makes you pay for everythin' you break?" -interposed the Atom. - -"Yes, miss!" - -There was scorn in Denis's eye; he drew a half crown from his pocket. - -"I broke it, Sarah," he said gently. "Would you mind getting the new -one for me? You'd bargain better than I should. Come on, Atom, -everyone's asking for you." - -Sheila Pat held back. - -"Is the goody-goo up there, too?" - -"The what?" - -"The little lame boy." - -"No; only his mother. Hurry up!" - -They left Sarah half weeping over his magnificent kindness. Denis -little knew how from that moment he was a young god--a prince in a fairy -tale--a hero--to the romantic Sarah. - -Up in the drawing-room a stiff little party sat nursing empty cups. In -vain Mrs. Barclay tried to unstiffen it. Her eyes met Nell's, and a -gleam of amusement shone in them before she discreetly veiled them -beneath decorous lids. - -Miss Kezia was cross. She had been taken unawares. With a queer kind of -heavy hospitality, she liked to know when a visitor was coming, that she -might have cakes and scones of all sorts freshly baked. To-day she had -not known, and there was nothing but bread and butter and half a dozen -small cakes. So she sat, stiffly disapproving, and refused to unbend. - -Sheila Pat marched in, calm and cool, greeted Mrs. Barclay with her most -pronounced accent, took her seat upon a chair, pulled down her skirt, -and surveyed the room. - -"I have a little boy not much older than you," Mrs. Barclay began -pleasantly. - -"Sure I'm knowin' that already." - -"He wants to know you very badly." - -Dead silence. - -"I hope you will be friends--you and he." - -The Atom wriggled on her chair; then, - -"I don't care for children much, thank you; that is," her hopeless -honesty impelled her, "not some children!" - -Nell broke in hastily, "I have spoken to him over the wall." - -"So I heard. He is rather lonely. We do not seem to know any nice -young people." - -Denis suggested, "_Used_ not to know?" - -She laughed. - -"I stand corrected. Well, I hope we shall soon know very well some very -nice young people!" She rose to go. - -"Will you come in to-morrow afternoon? Early--about three?" - -"Oh, thanks--if Aunt--" Nell looked inquiringly at Miss Kezia. - -"I have no objection." - -"When will _you_ come, Miss McAlister? It is so long since you have--" - -"I have not much time for gadding about, thank you." - -"Mind," Mrs. Barclay turned back to the others, "you are all to come!" - -Clear and distinct spoke Sheila Pat. - -"'Tis engaged I'll be, Mrs. Barclay." - -"What do you mean, Sheila?" demanded Miss Kezia, frowning mightily. - -"I shall be helping Sarah, thank you." - -"What maggot have you got into your head now?" - -"'Tisn't a maggot at all," calmly. "I wish to do it. Sarah's a very -good girl--for London, that is--and she has too much work entirely." - -"Sheila, when I wish you to help in the menial work of the house, I will -ask you to do so. Tell Mrs. Barclay at once that you will be very glad -to accept her kind invitation." - -The Atom heaved a most palpable sigh. - -"I will come, then, thank you," she amended her aunt's words. - -"Of all the rude little grumps!" Molly attacked her later on. - -"I don't care! I do erject to goody-goos!" - -"Who is a goody-goo?" - -"Why, that silly little Stewart, of course." - -"How do you know?" - -"Know, is it?" scoffed the Atom. "Hasn't he got big blue eyes and fair -hair and a lame leg? Sure I know the sort!" her pig-tail jerking -angrily. "And I just can't bear them, Molly O'Brien!" - -"I don't see how you can tell. Denis has blue eyes--" - -"Oh, _Denis_!" in a tone of strong contempt for Molly's lack of -understanding. "There are eyes and eyes!" - - - - - *CHAPTER V* - - -"Is my pig-tail quite tidy, Nell?" - -"There isn't a hair out of place, Sheila Pat. Atom, do let me do your -hair nicely just for once." - -"I prefer a pig-tail, thank you." - -Nell disappeared into the wardrobe in search of a skirt. When she -emerged she stared incredulously at the Atom. - -Sheila Pat was wriggling her head into a pink cotton frock. - -"What on _earth_ are you putting that on for?" - -"I prefer it to that," with a nod at a loose white cashmere frock lying -on the bed. - -"Are you mad, Sheila Pat? Why, it's November. Where did you dig it up -from?" - -"One of the trunks. Will you hook it, please, Nell?" - -"Indeed, I won't. Take it off at once. Don't be so silly." - -"I'm never cold. Do let me wear it, Nell." Sheila Pat laid her -delicate little face wheedlingly against Nell's arm. "Do let me." - -"I can't, asthore. You'd catch cold." - -When the Atom indulged in her rare coaxing she was hard to resist. - -"I'll put my coat on, too, Nell!" - -But Nell was firm. - -"No, Sheila Pat. And why do you want to wear it, anyway?" - -"It's just a little longer than that one. Why, I show my _knees_ in -that, Nell!" - -"What's it matter if you do, you goose?" - -"I do not _like_ showin' my knees. And I want pertickly to look -grown-up to-day." - -"Why?" - -"Persons," quoth Sheila Pat, austerely, "can't take liberties with -grown-ups. They can't talk to them if you don't wish them to," her -pronouns getting somewhat mixed. - -"Whom don't you want to talk to you?" - -"That little boy--Stewart." - -"But why not?" Nell peered at her laughingly through her hair. - -"I know him. I've got him at home in that book Mrs. Norton gave me," -laboriously wriggling out of the much-desired cotton frock. "He saves -up all his pocket money in a money box and buys himself a new coat with -it. And he'd sooner learn his Catchykism than play cricket. I know -him!" - -"Well," said Nell, tying on her hair ribbon, "of all the nasty little -hard-hearted wretches you're the worst!" - -"Oh, I'm very sorry he's lame," with belated consideration, "but I -_won't_ have him talk to me!" - -"I don't believe he's a bit goody, poor little chap, and, anyway, why -should he want to talk to you?" - -This aspect of the case had not struck Sheila Pat. She considered it as -she pulled on the cashmere frock. - -"Amn't I Irish, then?" she decided gloomily. "Of course he'll want to -talk to me." - -"I'm going to see how Molly's getting on," Nell said. - -In Molly's room chaos greeted her. On the floor stood a drawer, its -contents scattered everywhere. The bed was strewn with blouses, hats, a -pair of shoes, collars, while Molly herself, red-faced, dishevelled, -attired in skirt and petticoat-bodice, was wildly turning out another -drawer. - -"Ready, Mol?" inquired Nell, blandly. - -"Oh, don't, Nell! I can't help it! I _can't_ find my grey blouse--the -one with the white piping--I've hunted _everywhere_!" - -"In the box?" - -"N-no! I forgot!" making a dash at the dress basket. "Oh, don't laugh, -Nell. I looked _everywhere_ else!" - -"Of course you did, when we decided to keep all our nicer blouses in -there! Do hurry up. Here, I'd better do you up now. Fancy all this -fuss just to go next door! I was going in my blue flannel that I had on -this morning, but Aunt Kezia gave such stringent orders. Isn't it -absurd?" - -"Ridiculous. Oh, you're pinching a bit of neck in!" - -Nell, at the door, looked back. - -"Sure you've got everything? Your hair ribbon?" - -"Yes, everything." - -When Nell and the Atom were ready they went back to Molly's room. Worse -chaos than before greeted them. Molly was crawling under the bed. - -"I've lost one of my shoes! Oh, I'm _so_ hot! And now I suppose my -nose will get red!" - -The Atom, wise beyond her years, found the shoe in a hat box, and they -sallied forth. - -"Thank goodness, we're not needing hats and things," sighed Nell, "or -we'd never start at all!" - -"_Nell_," on the next-door doorstep came an agonised whisper from Molly, -"I've forgotten my waist belt!" - -In the drawing-room Sheila Pat ensconced herself behind a table, and -kept a wary eye on Stewart. Presently his mother sent him across to -her. He came and stood in front of her; the Atom gazed over his head. - -Nell caught her eye and frowned meaningly. - -"Sure, thin, haven't you a tongue at all?" Sheila Pat obediently opened -the conversation. - -"Y-yes." - -"Why aren't ye usin' it, thin?" - -"I--I--don't know." - -"Well!" said Sheila Pat. - -The boy's fair little face flushed scarlet. - -"I--I've got a rabbit!" he burst out desperately. - -"Um! what colour is it?" - -"Fawn and white. Come and look at him." - -Sheila Pat hesitated. Longing to see the rabbit fought with -disinclination to be alone with Stewart. - -"If you'll promise not to talk goody, I'll come," she said cautiously. -Suddenly he changed; he turned on her a small, passionate face. - -"I don't want you--you little beast!" - -Sheila Pat gasped, and grew slowly red. - -"You are very rude," she said with tremulous dignity. - -"I don't care if I am! D'you think you're the queen or what? _I_ don't -want to speak to you. I can't bear you!" - -He limped away to the other end of the room. - -Sheila Pat sat very still and quiet for a while, then she rose and went -after him. - -"I think, perhaps, I wasn't _very_ perlite," she said stiffly. - -"Come and see my rabbit," he rejoined. - -Sheila Pat went with alacrity; she was reflecting satisfiedly that the -goody-goo little boy of her imaginings would never have called her "a -little beast." Still she was not completely reassured. Together they -examined the rabbit, and the Atom told him all about her Pearl, and -nothing "goody-gooish" appeared about him. But as they went back to the -house for tea, she sounded him cautiously. - -"Are you fond of cricket?" keeping a stern eye on his face while she -awaited his answer. - -He hesitated. - -"No," he said. - -"_I knew it!_" - -"Awful clever of you!" he muttered sarcastically. - -"I s'pose," she went on as they reached the door, "you'd sooner be at -your Catchykism now than cricket?" - -"Yes," he said. - -"I knew it!" gasped the Atom, and fled into the house before him. - -From a far corner she presently accosted her hostess. - -"Is that a silk _blouse_ you're wearin', Mrs. Barclay?" - -"Yes, my dear." - -"Did you give more than threepence for it?" - -"Sheila Pat!" stammered Molly. - -"A little!" Mrs. Barclay's fair little faded face was vividly amused. - -"I'm glad you did," with grave approval. "But Sarah's mother only gets -threepence for the ones she makes, and she's always ailin', with a large -fam'ly of babies and her husband dead and three more dead between Sarah -and the next one." - -"Who is Sarah?" - -"She's just the little maid at Aunt Kezia's. She's a real good -worker--for a Londoner, of course, I'm meanin'!" - -"And her mother makes blouses?" - -"Yes, and only threepence for them, but perhaps they wouldn't be silk." - -"No, they wouldn't be silk, but it is shocking to hear how badly they -pay for such work." - -"Is it at sales?" Nell queried, looking very wise. - -Mrs. Barclay smiled. - -"Oh, no, my dear. The big shops and wholesale places buy hundreds of -blouses that they sell off cheap, and that is what they pay for the -making of them. What is that noise?" she broke off. - -"It's rats!" opined Stewart, shyly. - -But it was Kate Kearney scratching at the door. When she was let in she -came, wriggling and wagging, lifting great pathetic eyes to the faces of -her own people. - -"You bad little K.K.," laughed Nell. "What door did you get in at, I -wonder?" - -Kate Kearney trotted sedately over to the Atom's corner, and Stewart -followed her with a piece of cake. - -"Mind she doesn't bite!" jeered the Atom, rudely. - -He flushed, but did not answer. He gave K.K. two pieces of cake, then -turned politely to Sheila Pat:-- - -"Would you like to give her some?" - -He held out the cake. - -His politeness--to her a sure and distasteful sign of goodyness--riled -the stormy Atom past bearing. - -"Is it _afraid_ you are?" she cried scornfully. - -He raised his arm with a sudden fierce gesture and flung the cake -straight into her face. It bounced off her small nose and lit with a -thud on a chair. In silence they glared at each other for a minute; -then he turned to Kate Kearney, thrust his hand right into her -protesting mouth, and walked off. - -Sheila Pat sat trembling on her chair. Twice that afternoon she had -been insulted, and by the goody-goo! - -During the leave-takings Sheila Pat and Stewart coldly ignored each -other's existence. - -In the hall at No. 35 wrath awaited them in the shape of Miss Kezia, who -had just returned home from some shopping. She faced them dramatically, -her tall, thin figure drawn to its full height. - -"You mean to tell me that you left _my_ house, and made an afternoon -call on a friend of _mine_--like _that_?" she cried, pointing a long and -disapproving forefinger at her nieces. - -Molly clapped terrified hands to her waist. - -Through Nell's mind there darted two lines of one of Denis's nonsense -verses:-- - - "She stood, a tall, and bony queen, - And eyed her subjects very keen." - - -"What's wrong with us at all?" demanded the Atom, indignantly. - -"No hats! No coats! No gloves! House-shoes--" - -"Ought we to have put on our outdoor things just to go next door?" -exclaimed Nell, opening her eyes wide. - -"Of course you ought! It is most reprehensible! You are not in the -wilds now! No one thinks of going into the street in London without -being properly clothed--" - -Nell almost chanted aloud:-- - - "'Her tongue it wagged, her tongue it wogged, - Her subjects then she up and flogged!'" - - -"Eileen," Miss Kezia broke off sharply, "don't look so idiotic! You -look as if you think it is funny!" - -"Do I, aunt?" said Nell, meekly. - -"I cannot think how you, at least, did not know better," pursued her -aunt. - -"You see at home we are as often without hats and things as with them." - -"Well, please to remember you are in London now!" - -Miss Kezia turned and marched up the stairs. - - "'The Queen turned tail and up she went, - Her subjects then their clothes did rent!'" - -chuckled Nell, and sank down laughing on to a hall chair. - -The Atom disappeared in the direction of her Pearl. It was a cherished -conviction, on her part (and on no one else's), that the Pearl moped in -her absence. - -"Where's that boy Denis, I wonder?" Nell ran up stairs two at a time. - -In the Stronghold she found a torn slip of paper on the table: "Off to -Lancaster's to dine. Who sneaked my nail-brush?" - -"Molly, was it you?" - -"Oh, yes, I meant to put it back. Mine tumbled into the slop-pail full -of dirty water." - -Nell wandered into Denis's room. - -"Just like Molly's, only it's masculine chaos instead of feminine!" She -laughed softly, and began to tidy up. When Miss Kezia heard of his -absence she drew down her long upper lip. - -"Who is this Mr. Lancaster?" - -"A friend of Pennington's--" - -"_Mr._ Pennington, if you please. Is that all you know about him, -Eileen?" - -"Well," said Nell, demurely, "'decent sort of chap, I should think ... -awfully quiet ... father's got a pot of money--'" - -"Eileen O'Brien, how dare you speak vulgar jargon like that to me!" - -"Me, aunt?" with injured innocence. "I was only quoting Denis." - -"Then kindly do so no more. I object strongly to the tendency of the -modern girl to use slangy, slipshod, vulgar English. I will have none -of it in my house. - -"I hope Denis will not come home late," she pursued. "I do not like his -going out in this way--without my permission." - -"He isn't a baby, Aunt Kezia! And, anyway, you were out this -afternoon." - -"Some boy of whom I know nothing--" - -Nell interrupted impatiently, "He's a friend of Mr. Tellbridge's! Denis -met him there." - -"Why didn't you explain that before? Of course Mr. Tellbridge would -have no one--Sheila, are you feeding that dog again?" - -"Yes, Aunt Kezia." - -"Then leave the room at once! You really are a most tiresome little -girl!" - -The Atom arose and walked from the room. It was her way of obtaining -release when she considered a meal had lasted sufficiently long. - -"I will not have late hours kept in my house," said Miss Kezia, with a -final snap of her lips. - -When ten o'clock came and went without bringing Denis, Nell began to -grow anxious. Half-past ten was Miss Kezia's hour for going to bed. At -twenty-eight minutes past ten she "locked up." She never varied the -time by a minute, unless by special arrangement with Herr Schmidt. - -Listening behind the door of the Stronghold, Nell heard her lock up as -usual and retire to bed. She slipped out and down into the hall. From -beneath Herr Schmidt's door there came a thin line of light. - -She softly unbarred the chains and lifted down the burglar bell; then -she stood listening for Denis's step. Suddenly Herr Schmidt's door -opened. Nell, in the darkness of the hall, gazed expectantly at the big -figure outlined against the light of the sitting room. She crept back -and hid behind a coat hanging on the stand. The next moment hands -fumbled against her throat. - -"Ur--ur," she gurgled irrepressibly. "Oh, you tickled me!" - -Herr Schmidt stumbled back. - -"Himmel!" he gasped. "Ach, what is it?" - -Nell emerged from the coat. - -"Oh, hush! Aunt Kezia will hear you. She _mustn't_ catch me down -here." - -A door opened overhead. A voice called over the balusters. - -"Is that you, Herr Schmidt?" - -"Yes, Miss McAlister, it is I. I stumble and make a noise. I beg -pardon." - -"It is granted. Good night, Herr Schmidt." - -"You're a brick, Herr Schmidt," said Nell's pretty voice. - -"A brick? A good fellow, is it?" - -She nodded. - -She stood in the light now, and he looked at her benignly. - -"You are playing go-hide-and-find?" he suggested. - -She shook her head. - -"Hush! I'm waiting for my brother--to let him in. Aunt Kezia never -dreams he could be so depraved as to be out after twenty-eight minutes -past ten, so she has gone to bed with a serene mind." - -He looked rather troubled. - -"Your aunt is a worthy lady." - -"The horse is a noble animal." - -He peered at her through his spectacles in ludicrous bewilderment. Nell -was half sitting on, half leaning against, the marble slab of the hall -table. Her head was tilted back; the light caught the ends of her -roughened hair and turned them into gold, and they made a sort of halo -round her mischievous face. - -"Well?" she said. "You're not shocked, are you? Why, he's seventeen, -Herr Schmidt. And you know if they don't dine till--say--eight o'clock, -he can't very well be in by half-past ten, now, can he? Isn't it very -rude to rush away as soon as you've eaten all you want? I'm sure I've -seen that it is--in a copy-book or somewhere." - -"You will, perhaps, do me the great honour of waiting in my room, -Fraeulein?" he asked, giving up the other question in despair. - -"I can't, thanks. I want to hear him come, so that I can stop his -knocking, you see." - -"I will leaf my door open to gif you a little light, hein?" - -"All right, thanks; you might, if you don't mind." - -He stood looking down on her in obvious trouble. - -"You will be angry if I tell you not to be naughty to your aunt?" - -"Oh, no, I won't. It amuses me, Herr Schmidt." - -He sighed, and retired to his room. In a few minutes he reappeared, -beaming over his spectacles at her. - -"See, I haf ze sweets. Young laties like ze sweets, hein?" - -He was carrying a little crumpled paper bag with a few fruit drops in -one corner. His simplicity touched her. She took two with a hearty -"thank you." - -"Oh, there he is!" She ran to the door and softly opened it. - -"Whence this sepulchral--" Denis began cheerfully. - -"Hush!" - -He raised his eyebrows. - -"Bad little boy to be out at eleven o'clock, eh?" he whispered. - -"Be quiet, chatterbox!" - -"Goot night," said Herr Schmidt. - -"Eh?" Denis looked surprised. "I hadn't seen you." - -"Herr Schmidt has been keeping me company while I waited for you, -Denis." - -"Has he? I say, are _you_ allowed to be out after half-past ten, Herr -Schmidt?" - -"I haf no one belonging to me to care," he said pathetically. - -"We'd give him Aunt Kezia," suggested Denis, _sotto voce_. - -They retired upstairs. - -"I say, Nell, I'm beastly hungry," he declared. - -"Greedy, didn't they give you a good dinner?" - -"Rather! Lancaster did the thing in style. Old man's away. Lancaster -seems to pretty well boss the show." - -"Why are you hungry, then?" - -"Well, I've been out since then." He looked at her with twinkling eyes. -"Tearing around in a motor makes you hungry, I can tell you!" - -"A--motor!" - -He nodded. - -"Jolly fine one, too. And at this time of night when all the squares -are pretty well deserted it is fine." - -"How many dogs did you run over?" - -"Dozen or so." - -"I'd just have thought he'd have a motor!" She couldn't have sounded -more scornful if she had said a wheelbarrow. - -"Well, can't you give me something to eat, anyhow?" - -"The kitchen's unprotected. Let's try." - -Downstairs they crept. - -"Oh, more bolts!" groaned Nell. - -In the kitchen Denis stumbled over the coal-box and sent the coal -flying. - -"Oh, Lor'--and I've got no matches! _Nell_!" flinging out and catching -her as she stumbled forward. - -She subsided on to the chair she had fallen against. - -"Don't make such a row. Nell, there's a rat or something running up my -leg!" - -"Is--is it a _beetle_, do you think?" - -"Very likely." - -"Oh, Denis!" she drew her toes up on to the chair. - -"Where do people keep matches, Nell?" - -"I expect they're locked up!" - -"_No_! Well, I can't go to bed on an empty--um--chest." - -"Sleep on your back, then." - -"Unfeeling twin! Dash it all, what a beastly hard chimney this is!" - -"And what a soft head it came in contact with." - -"You're helping a lot, aren't you? Sitting in the seat of the scoffer. -Here, come out of that. You've got to help!" - -"Denis! Oh, _do_ be quiet!" - -He had seized her round the waist. "If you don't promise to help look -for those matches, I'll roll you into the scullery where the black -beetles live!" - -"I promise, Denis!" - -She came gingerly forward and gave a scream. - -"_Denis_! I trod on something horrid and soft! Oh, Denis!" - -"A rat, I expect. I thought I heard a squeak. Eureka! Got 'em! Now -for the larder or pantry or storeroom or whatever it is--" - -"I'm going to see what I trod on first. Light a match, Denis!" - -He lit one and discovered her standing staring at the floor, her skirts -gathered up. "Oh, 'twas an iron-holder!" she cried. "A dear, innocent -little iron-holder!" - -In the end they found half a loaf of bread and a pot with a little -raspberry jam in it. Nell found the jam and was immensely proud of -herself. - -"By all that's wonderful, a hap'orth of jam in the bottom of a pot! -Left out--unlocked--for the first thief to break in and steal!" - -"Don't call nasty names. That'll do. I'll be a cripple soon--I've -burnt all the tips of my fingers off already. Come along." - -Upstairs he sat on his bed and munched bread and jam. - -"He's got horses, Nell! One--a ripping chestnut--made me think of -Acushla." - -He picked a crumb off his knee and ate it thoughtfully. - -Her lip curled. - -"And he prefers a motor!" she ejaculated. - -He did not heed her; he still looked thoughtful. - -"But it's a gloomy house, somehow. I think London's a gloomy place. -But he's got a room--his own--quite different. You'd go cracked over -it. Crammed with carved wood things, Indian, Japanese--ivory, too. And -a jolly Grand-- Hulloa, what's that?" - -A sepulchral whisper came floating up the stairs. - -"Are you children not in bed yet?" - -He went out on to the landing. - -"Just off, Aunt Kezia. Let me carry your candle for you." - -"I can carry it myself, thank you. You ought to be in bed and asleep at -this time of night." - -"Me isn't s'eepy, auntie, weally," he lisped, and Miss Kezia almost -relaxed into a smile. - -"Nell," he said, returning to his room, "you're to go to bed at once--a -baby like you!" - -"Oh, oh, have you been talking to her like that?" - -"Like what?" - -"L-look in the glass!" - -He looked and grinned. - -"''Twas a grim and gory sight,'" he quoted. "'It hath a manly look -which pleases me.'" - -"A baby look, you mean. Babies always smear their cheeks with jam." - -He was engaged in twisting his tongue out and round in a vain endeavour -to catch the smear of jam. - -"Nell," advancing his cheek, "lick it off for a chap. Pity to waste it." - -She boxed his ear. - -"Now I won't buy you a box of Fuller's chocolates!" - -She sobered. She was discovering, to her amazement, that money, even -when never spent in larger sums than a few shillings or even sixpences, -had a mysterious and alarming way of dwindling. - -"No more sweets, Denis!" - -He went across to the wash-hand stand. - -"I was going to buy you a three-shilling box of chocolates, and yet not -make our fund a penny the poorer!" - -"Is it a riddle?" - -He nodded. - -"Give it up. It's too late to solve riddles." - -He was rubbing at his cheek with a sponge. - -"I won it. I, even I, Denis, the twin of Nell, won it in a sweep-stake. -Now see how businesslike I've grown, Nell. I pulled off six bob really, -but it was a shilling to enter each time--that's two bob--and the time I -lost, another, so I reckon I won three altogether. See?" - -"What a beautifully easy way to get three shillings!" - -"I might have lost two instead. Seems to me there's an idea somewhere -there, Nell--work it on a bigger scale, and you'd have me turning those -beggars out of Kilbrannan." - -"But suppose you lost?" - -"Oh, I shouldn't. Anyhow, I'd stand to win so much more than I'd lose. -I'm going to think it out. There are places abroad." - -"Denis, you'd get taken up! I remember dad reading about a case--" - -"Not me," airily. - -Nell punched his pillow thoughtfully. "I don't like it, Denis," she -decided. "It's too risky, and--and--" - -"Well?" - -"I'm sure dad and mother would call it gambling! There, I feel like a -goody little sister in a book." - -He laughed. - -"You don't look the character, anyway. And you're to go to bed." - -"But--but you won't--" - -"Oh, I may break the bank of England yet, who knows?" teasingly; "go to -bed and dream of me, asthore." - -"Is it nightmare you want me to have?" - -"Race you to your room--in the dark!" - -Two minutes later Miss Kezia's door opened once more. Dead silence -greeted her. She went a few steps up the stairs. All doors were shut. -Miss Kezia was sleepy, even more than she was cross. She went back to -her bed. - -As Nell laid her head on the pillow she muttered, "Of course it was that -tiresome Lancaster!" - - - - - *CHAPTER VI* - - -Molly was huddled up on the hearth-rug, chin on knees, staring with her -great soft eyes into the fire. - -"Nell, do you think I'll be like the ugly duckling and grow pretty?" - -"You're not ugly enough." - -Molly sighed. - -"I _wish_ my hair curled!" - -"Molly," said Nell, flinging down her pencil in despair of seeing any -longer without the lamp, "your soul is full of the vanities of life. -'Be good, sweet child, and let who will be--pretty.'" - -"It's so easy for pretty people to talk like that!" - -"I'm bowing, Mol, I really am--only it's so dark it's lost on you." - -"I've a good mind to start saying 'prunes and prisms' all day long, my -mouth's so huge!" - -"But it's so Irish, asthore!" - -"I hate you," said Molly. - -Nell stuck her elbows on the table, and her chin into her hands, and -studied in her mind the painting of the old cab horse. It was such a -glorious painting--there was such depth--his muscles--the veins in that -leg were wonderful--in her mind. She sighed. - -"Nell," in the firelight Molly blushed, "I'm going to soften Aunt -Kezia's heart!" - -"What? Soften her heart, is it? You'll have to soften her head first, -my dear." - -She began to laugh softly. - -"How are you going to set about it, Mol?" - -"Like they do in books. Oh, Nell," Molly's romantic soul lent -enthusiasm to her tone, "you know they always do! However hard and grim -and horrid she is, the niece, or whoever comes and stays with her, -gradually twines herself round her heart--" - -"She must be an acrobat, then," put in Nell, sotto voce. - -"And alters her whole nature. You see, I'll be awfully sweet and -nice--I'll do things for her. They always pick up her handkerchief and -fetch her spectacles and put down her shoes to warm when she's coming in -with wet feet, and things like that. You needn't laugh, Nell! It's -something to do--I'll try awfully hard. I think," Molly's pretty voice -trembled, "I think mother would like it." - -Nell jumped up. - -"All right, only don't go and put your great, noodlish heart into it, -Mol! For she's not the right material, old girl!" - -"I like her awfully grim and hard at first," enthusiastically. "It's a -pity I'm quite so frightened of her, though. I just can't help it--she -makes me shiver in my shoes!" - -"Nell," from a dim corner came Sheila Pat's voice, and a squeak as she -moved. - -"Where are you, Atom? Yes?" - -"Nell," in very judicial tones, "is it very rude to ask a person not to -talk goody?" - -"Rather riling, I should say." - -Silence. - -"Shall we light up?" said Nell, lazily. - -"Nell, is it very rude to ask a person if he's afraid?" - -"More than rude, Sheila Pat, downright insulting!" - -"Oh!" - -Pause. - -"But he wasn't an _Irish_ person," ingenuously. - -"Was he English?" gravely. - -"Yes." - -"No one can say Englishmen are cowards, Sheila Pat. They don't -understand us, but they're not cowards." - -"Is it rude to ask a person if he likes his Catchykism better than -cricket?" - -"It's unkind, Sheila Pat." - -Pause. - -"Is it more unkind if he--if he is lame, Nell?" - -"Miles worse. Downright mean." - -After a long pause: - -"May we have the lamp now? I wish to write a letter." - -"Who to?" inquired Molly. - -"To a 'quaintance." - -Nell rose from the hearth-rug. - -"Nell," the Atom pressed close and spoke in a loud whisper, "a person -can't be _very_ goody-goo if he calls you a beast and throws a piece of -cake at your nose, can he?" - -"Good gracious!" - -"Hush!" the Atom seized her arm, almost trembling with terror of her -dignity being in danger. "I didn't say _my_ nose, Nell! Or _my_ -beast!" incoherently. - -"Of course not. Where are the matches?" - -Sheila Pat took a long while over that letter. Her delicate little face -downbent over the sheet of paper flushed and paled several times before -it was done. Her heart and her dignity fought it out again and again. -At last she evolved the following:-- - - -"DEAR MISTER STUART - -"this leter coms hopin you are wel i do not bare maliss and perhaps i -was not very perlit which i regret bein a lady i hop. I therefore beg -to apologise and will never menson the cak or the beest but i shud dye -of rag if you tel anyone of that grate indignity with kind regards your -very truly Miss Sheila Patricia Kathleen O'Brien i must be honourable -and ad that this spelling is not qite all my one bein helped by Miss -Eileen O'Brien." - - -She addressed it to "mister Stuart barclay essire," and going downstairs -desired Sarah to take it next door. - -Sarah was forbidden to leave the house without permission, but, in face -of the Atom's tremendous weightiness, she fled. - -Sheila Pat returned slowly to the Stronghold, her face weary with -overmuch thought. Nell was surreptitiously studying a photograph of -Acushla jumping a stone wall, with herself on her back. Denis had taken -it with his Goetz camera. It had been a glorious morning in early -spring. She remembered the vivid blue of the sky, the wonderful golden -mist that had hung over the Ballymara hills, the feeling of utter fresh -joy of life that had filled her and Acushla-- - -"Hulloa! How quiet we are!" Denis invaded the room with cheery -breeziness. "Nell, rub noses! Mine's frozen. I say, the atmosphere's -too exalted altogether for me." - -"Perhaps we're doing penance," she laughed. "Denis," she broke off, -"whatever have you got?" - -He was swinging a large square hat box to and fro. - -"Catch hold!" - -He swung it across to her. - -"It's for you, old girl." - -"For me? Give me the scissors, Molly!" - -Presently she pulled from a nest of tissue paper a great soft brown felt -hat, with one long brown feather drooping on the brim. - -"_Denis_! Oh, isn't it lovely!" - -"Put it on." - -She put it on, and turned to him, irresistibly pink and pretty. - -"But 'tis _wicked_, Denis! And _why_ did you get it? And where--" - -"It's lovely," exclaimed Molly, with a big sigh. - -"Oh, I heard you talking to Molly about having to wear up a hat you -hated with your brown suit--" - -"I thought you were fathoms deep in your Latin!" - -"Ah, but I wasn't. So I asked Lancaster if he could tell me of a decent -hat shop, and he told me of one in Bond Street where his cousins go. -You should have seen his face when I asked him whether he wasn't coming -in with me! He never dreamt I was really going to get it. Don't see -why, myself. 'It's full of Frenchified women!' he gasped. So it was. -They were awfully sweet to me--tried on the hats, but, by Jove, what -hats they were, Nell! I found this one myself. Now isn't it just the -colour of your suit? Let me look at you." - -He turned her round by her slim shoulders, and eyed her critically. She -was adorable in it. - -"I--I shall take it back, Denis. I suppose they'd give me back the -money? How much was it?" - -"Don't ask rude questions. And don't be a goose! They wouldn't think of -taking it back." - -"Oh!" her voice rose with an irrepressibly joyful lilt. "Are you sure?" - -"Quite puffeckly sure. Don't I shop well, now?" - -"But I _could_ have made the old one do!" Her dimples refused to be -repressed. "Denis, what a dream that feather is! And the sweep of the -brim--" - -"Oh, stow it, Nell! Great Scott, spare me more! I've had enough of -hat-jargon to last me a lifetime. 'So chaste, isn't it? So pure--so -simple--but of an elegance so chic! A poem, Monsieur, an idyll--a -three-volume novel! It expresses so much! Worn so--cocked over the -right ear--it is gay, insouciante, of an impudence, Monsieur! So--down -in front--demure, sweet, to suit the freshness of a young demoiselle--'" - -"Denis, you're making it up!" - -"Oh, well, that's the sort of stuff they talked--more or less. Wish old -Lancaster had come in! He's gone off to meet his governor at -Paddington." - -"What does he _do_, Denis?" - -"Who, the old man? Used to sell pigs or tallow candles or something." - -His eyes twinkled. - -"He made his money in something like that. I forget what it was. -Believe it was lamp oil!" - -"That accounts for it." - -"Eh? Accounts for what?" - -"Oh, everything," vaguely. - -"What d'you mean, Nell?" - -His tone was peremptory. - -"Oh, I don't know," she hedged. "But I didn't mean his father, anyway. -I meant _him_. What does he do, Denis?" - -"Nothing, apparently." - -"But why isn't he at school or college or somewhere?" her voice was -scornful. "Do you mean to say he just hangs around all day, and does -nothing?" - -"Suppose so." - -"Well!" said Nell. - -"Suppose he knows his own business," suggested Denis, slamming his books -down on to the table. "Hadn't you better put that hat away?" - -Nell walked off with the hat. - -"Of all the great, lazy _boobies_! And he dare--he _dare_ make Denis in -a rage with _me_!" - -"Nell!" - -"Sheila Pat, I didn't see you. What are you doing?" - -"Sarah told me that she always lengthened her skirts by _letting down_ -the hem. What does it mean, Nell?" - -Nell explained absently. - -Sheila Pat looked thoughtful. - -Nell went back to the Stronghold and bent over Denis's shoulder. - -"Shall I dictate for you? Are you going to practise shorthand?" - -"No," grumpily. - -"Denis, asthore, the hat's _so_ lovely!" - -He burst out laughing. - -"You rank little duffer. Well, tell me why you were doing penance when -I came in." - -"We weren't. I merely suggested that _perhaps_ we were. I meant because -we've done nothing all day but get into Aunt Kezia's black books. -First," she ticked off the items on her fingers, "we heard a band -playing--" - -"Oh, Denis," interposed Molly, "it was playing 'The Girl I left behind -Me.'" - -"So we rushed out, as surely anyone with feet _would_ rush out to hear a -band. It was at the corner and we rushed along and stood and -listened--" - -"And - - "'By came a Flappyjack turning out her toes, - Forth she spurted anger like a garden hose.' - - -"Eh?" - -"But the rest doesn't apply-- - - "'But the boys of Bally more had kissed the blarney stone, - Soon her anger melted--she sighed, Asthore! Ochone!'" - - -"Well, she sighed neither the one nor the other. Oh, she _was_ angry! -No melting of her! Next," she ticked off another finger, "we conceived, -or I believe _I_ conceived, the brilliant idea of an obstacle race on -the garden walls. Oh, Denis, 'tis such fun! You see, the boughs of the -trees next door and the summer house are the obstacles, and then when -you try to pass each other, one is always bound to topple off. I'm -bruised horribly, and Sheila Pat fell into the garden next door, and -then of course Molly must needs roll off--" - -"Into the dust-bin for a wager!" - -"Of course; and the tin lid smashed in, and she went in after it, and -_yelled_! And I laughed so I slipped all down the wall into the garden -and scraped skin off everywhere. And Aunt Kezia came out!" She stopped -with a vulgar but expressive little whistle. - -"You see, Sheila Pat was in the garden next door; and halfway through -Aunt Kezia's lecture her head came bobbing up! That made matters hotter -than before. O dear, she has got a lot of breath to waste!" - -"Why," inquired Denis, judicially, "weren't you doing your lessons?" - -"We were. Those were the interludes. And oh, Denis, we've been locked -into separate rooms all the afternoon till a little while ago! It was -because we tried tobogganing down the stairs. We took a leaf out of the -dining-room table. Aunt Kezia was out, so 'twas quite safe. It's not -at all bad, only the leaf had silly little ridges, one at each end, that -caught on the stairs in jerks, so we had to put it shiny side down. -Molly kept getting stuck--wedged in between the balusters and the wall, -and of course she did it just when we heard Aunt Kezia's key in the -front door. It was such hard luck, because I'd tobogganed down once -straight into Herr Schmidt (we hadn't dreamt he was at home), and he -didn't mind a bit--" - -"He gave such a hop that all the house shook," put in Sheila Pat, with -deep enjoyment. - -"Well, I banged right into his poor shins," said Nell, reflectively. -"I've come to the conclusion that he's a dear old man, though he _is_ -the lodger! And he sat down rather suddenly on the hall chair. We had -to flee and leave the leaf wedged," she added sorrowfully. "We hoped in -vain that Aunt Kezia would turn into the dining room or kitchen or -somewhere, but she didn't. Not she! She smelt that leaf! And she -stumbled over it, which made it worse. And when she came to lecture us -her bonnet was all crooked. _Oh_, she was in a temper! Here's Sarah, -and tea!" - -"How," she asked pathetically, later on, "can I feel good and sorry when -she's scolding us with _such_ a long nose? Her upper lip comes down and -it drags her nose down with it. It's like a barometer--I can always -tell how her temper is by the length of her nose!" - -"You've tired the Atom out, anyway," teased Denis. - -Sheila Pat was on his knee: her head had lain motionless against his -shoulder for the last half hour. She sat up as if worked by a wire. - -"I'm not tired, Denis O'Brien! A person has things to think about -sometimes!" - -"Hulloa, thought you were asleep!" - -The Atom struggled to get off his knee, but he held her fast. - -"Please let me go, Denis!" - -"You're not angry with your one and only brother, Sheila Pat?" - -"You shouldn't be sayin' rude things," she wavered. She adored Denis so -deeply that she could never hold out long against him. - -"It was all her fault to-day, anyway," declared Molly. "She just -_wouldn't_ settle down to anything!" - -"Couldn't," murmured Nell, with a glance at Sheila Pat's great eyes. - -Denis suddenly began to laugh. - -"It was awful sport this afternoon! Lancaster came to the bank. Old -Tellbridge and Jackson were out, and we got fooling around. I was -standing on a chair spouting that thing I made up--you know-- - - "'Now Micky Magee wi' his piggy so wee - Went courtin' the fair Molly Moore--' - - -"Remember? Well, I put a lot of expression and action into it--chaps -were roaring, and as I finished, out from the manager's room burst that -little chap--Mark Yovil! Wasn't it killing? He had heard it all! Owned -he'd been listening. And he's quite struck!" He gave a shout of -laughter. "He is, 'pon my word! He says my voice is made for reading -aloud and reciting! I feel like a little saintly chorister or -something. Lancaster and I have promised to go to his place next -Tuesday. They're going to start on Henry V,' and I'm to be Hal himself! -_Now_ what do you think of your twin, Nell?" - -"That he's getting so puffed up that soon all that remains of him will -be a farewell pop--oh--" - -Along the passages her fleeing voice echoed, "I haven't any run--left in -me--_oh_, Denis!" - - - - - *CHAPTER VII* - - -It was a damp close day. Nell felt stifled and cross, and was ashamed -of the feeling. The deep depression that sometimes seized upon her held -her now. The longing for her home gripped her in a sudden fresh access -of misery. She sat on her bed and tortured herself by imagining -strangers in all the rooms--about the grounds. As she always did, in -these depressions, she lost sight of the fact that her home was let and -not sold. She told herself they had not a home now. She said that they -were outcasts, and would never set foot in Ireland again. She wondered -keenly why they did not all die. Turned out of home and country; father -and mother hundreds of miles away; poor and desolate, why did they -continue to live? And laugh! She was quite sure just then that she -would never laugh again. - -She rose to make her bed. The depth of her depression had a physical -effect, making the mere folding of her nightgown an act that required a -strong effort. At Kilbrannan no weather had affected her beautiful -young health and strength. She did not realise that the sudden and -tremendous change in her way of living was bound to tell on her, more or -less, at first. - -She made her bed languidly. When Molly burst into the room she actually -jumped. - -"I'm growing nervey in my old age! If I believed in presentiments, I -should think something horrid was going to happen. I feel -presentimenty." Of course she did not believe in presentiments; she -reminded herself so several times that morning. Just as, of course, she -wasn't the least bit superstitious. She knew a great many of her -country-people were, but not she! When she found herself inadvertently -walking beneath a ladder, she laughed. "If I were superstitious, I -should feel horrid that I had done that!" At luncheon Denis helped her -to salt, with a mischievous grin as he did it. - -"I shall bring you sorrow now, old girl!" he murmured, "unless," his -eyes twinkling, "you throw some over your left shoulder, you know." - -"It's likely I would!" said Nell. - -She fell to thinking how funny it was that all on that one day she had a -presentiment, first of all, that something bad was going to happen; then -she walked beneath a ladder, and then Denis helped her to salt. If she -were superstitious, how uneasy she would be! But she wasn't, so it -didn't matter. - -Miss Kezia picked up a letter that had come just then. Molly went a -fiery red, glanced at Nell, then blurted out, jumping up and knocking -her chair over, "Do let me fetch your spectacles, Aunt Kezia!" - -Miss Kezia turned her head slowly and looked at her, with a good deal of -offence. - -"I never wear spectacles, Molly; I do not require them. Pray sit down." - -"Oh!" gasped Molly, and sat down, covered with confusion. - -"I do not know," pursued Miss Kezia, "if you intended to be impertinent. -If so, it was very feeble." - -The whole table except Molly and her aunt were too convulsed to offer -the former any aid. - -Molly sat and stared into her plate, the fiery red of face and neck -refusing to die down. In books, she reflected miserably, the aunts -always wore spectacles. - -After luncheon, when Denis had gone back to the bank, Nell tried to go -on with a painting she was doing of Mrs. Barclay's tabby cat. - -"To think that I should have come to cats! To be so hard up for models -that I have to seek refuge in a _cat_! Oh, what a great, stupid, moon -face you've got, Tim! K.K., come here. You needn't be jealous, my dear. -You're worth all the cats in the world." - -Kate Kearney refused to budge. She sat in a corner, her back to the -room. It was her way of showing dignified disapproval. Denis called it -sulks. Poor K.K.--she had been called sternly to order when she teased -the cat. No one seemed to object to the cat's swearing at her. Very -well. It was an unjust world. She sat and presented the room with a -beautiful black shiny back and long drooping ears. - -For no obvious reason, except that it was a horrid day, somehow, and -horrid things seemed to come naturally into one's mind, Nell fell to -worrying over Denis and his ideas on the lottery question. He often -teased her on the subject, declaring that though he had not gone in for -any more just yet, he was working it all out in his mind, and would be a -millionnaire some day, in spite of her. - -"Oh, K.K., let's go out! Cats are too much for me! So are studies -to-day." - -A quiver tingled all along that sedate little black back. - -Nell laughed. "Very well, we'll go without her, won't we, Sheila Pat? -We'll go for a walk--a _walk_! Good-bye, Kate Kearney!" - -It was too much for her dignity or her sulks. With a frenzied howl she -hurled herself on them. - -"Nell," Sheila Pat looked thoughtful, "don't you think it would be -perlite to ask that little boy next door to come with us? But I won't -walk beside him," she added hastily. - -The breach had been healed between them, to a certain extent. Stewart -had responded suitably to her letter that she was "sorry," but the Atom -was still cautious; the Catechism and cricket question loomed always -before her. - -She planted herself between Nell and Molly, and walked along with a -certain aloofness that kept him in his place. He laughed and talked -with Nell, and the Atom listened. In her rigidly honest soul she -confessed that he did not sound like a goody-goo, but there was always -that question of the cricket and the Catechism. - -He came in with them and had tea. Denis did not appear. Nell found -herself making an effort to laugh and talk. It took her back, with a -little shiver, to those bad last days at Kilbrannan. Stewart avoided -the Atom's serious eyes shyly; he seemed much more at his ease with Nell -and Molly. - -When he was going, Sheila Pat went down with him into the hall. Nell -went, too, and Molly. But Sheila Pat slipped out on to the doorstep, -and accosted him in an earnest whisper. "Are you _sure_ you'd sooner -learn your Catchykism than play cricket?" - -"Yes," he said with an obstinate jerk to his small chin. - -Sheila Pat followed the others back to the Stronghold in silence. Sarah -came up presently with a slip of paper in her hand. - -"For you, miss," she said to Nell. Nell opened it wonderingly. - - -"Don't know what time I'll be in, old girl. Haven't a moment to write. -On the way to be a millionnaire. Tell you when I see you. Awful spree. -Don't let on to anyone. - -"Denis." - - -It was scrawled in pencil, evidently in a frantic hurry. - -"What is it?" Molly inquired. - -"Only a note from Denis--to say he'll be late." Nell spoke slowly. She -twisted the paper in her hands with a feverishness, a restlessness oddly -in contrast with her slow speech. She turned and went downstairs to the -kitchen. - -"Sarah, who brought that note just now?" - -"A boy, miss." - -"What sort of boy?" - -"A urchin, miss, up to no good, I should say." - -Nell wandered aimlessly to the dresser and played with a plate. - -"Did he look disreputable, Sarah?" - -"Awful, miss," delightedly revelling in her word-painting, "sort of boy -the pleece 'ud be after, I should say." - -"The police!" Nell gave a queer little jump. "Oh, Sarah, isn't it hot -to-day?" - -"You do look pale, miss; it's a nasty un'ealthy day, an unlucky day, my -mother 'ud say." - -"Unlucky! Oh, why, Sarah?" - -"Well, you see, miss, it was on just such a warm, unseasoning (Nell -supposed she meant unseasonable) day that father was run over and -killed." - -"Oh, don't, Sarah!" Nell hurried away into the hall. She stood a moment, -hesitating. A latch-key fumbled in the lock of the door. She waited, -knowing it was Herr Schmidt. Miss Kezia never fumbled. He came in with -his heavy tread. - -"Ach, Fraeulein, it is a bad day, eh?" - -"Horrible!" she said. - -He glanced at her and smiled. - -"Poor Mr. Weather," he said, chuckling. "We are angry when he is colt, -we are angry when he is warm." - -"May I--may I come and talk to you a little, Herr Schmidt?" - -"Oh, with such bleasure!" he beamed at her over his spectacles. - -Nell went into his room and stood looking out into the dark street. - -"I will light the lamp, Fraeulein. Zere, now you can see me. Will you -blease to sit down?" - -She sat down. "You--I suppose you know all about business and money, -don't you, Herr Schmidt?" She had seized an ink pot that was on the -table, and seemed to be clutching it meaninglessly. - -He smiled widely. - -"They call me a goot business head, Fraeulein." - -"Do you have good weather in Germany, Herr Schmidt?" - -He looked rather bewildered. The other question had seemed the opening -of a conversation on business matters. He replied with conscientious -length. Nell seemed to be listening absorbedly; she left hold of the -ink pot. She was wondering if she had artfully put him sufficiently off -the scent. Denis would never forgive her if she were to talk of his -lottery to Herr Schmidt. - -"I suppose," she remarked casually in a pause on his part for breath, -"there are lotteries and things like that in Germany as well as here?" - -Herr Schmidt had not finished about his climate. He blinked his eyes -several times, then turned his mind to the new question. He started to -give her a good deal of information on the subject. He spoke strongly, -because he felt strongly about all forms of gambling. Nell had clutched -hold of the ink pot again. - -"And--and are there gambling places like that in England?" in a pause on -his part. - -"Ach, yes, Fraeulein. In the bapers constantly one reads of the bolice -appearing at the scene and taking them all to brison." - -"Oh!" Nell jerked the ink pot suddenly and a few drops spattered her -hand. Herr Schmidt produced blotting paper, and wiped the spots off -carefully. - -"Thank you very much." She rose and went to the door. "Good-bye, Herr -Schmidt." - -"Goot-bye. You, berhaps," with a curious, wistful glance over his -spectacles that made him look like a great baby, "would not care to eat -a biece of cake?" - -"Not now, thank you. I--another time if I may." - -The evening wore on slowly. Nell twice put her ear to the little clock -on the mantel-shelf, thinking it must have stopped. - -Molly, fathoms deep in "Monsieur Beaucaire," was blind and deaf to -everything else, but Sheila Pat eyed Nell shrewdly. - -"Can't you be sittin' still at all, Nell O'Brien?" she demanded -impatiently. - -Nell started and grew red. - -"I like walking up and down." - -"Do you like pickin' up that jogglefry book and lookin' at it every time -you pass the table?" The Atom's sarcastic little tongue was sharp. - -But Nell squashed her with a guiltily unkind, "What's a jogglefry book?" - -The Atom grew slowly scarlet. After a little while she fetched the -dictionary, and wrestled with it indefatigably till bedtime. She -hunted, her mouth set firmly, her brows frowning, all through the "J's". -She went to bed unsatisfied. When Molly had been in bed a few minutes a -little night-gowned figure crept into the room. - -"Molly!" - -Molly gave a yell of terror. "Oh, Sheila Pat, you did make me jump! -What do you want?" - -The Atom stood shivering beside her bed. "Molly, how--how'd you be -savin' Jog--you know all about pennyshulars and capes and gulfs and -things?" - -"Geography, do you mean?" - -"Yes. Jography. Is that right?" - -"Yes," sleepily. "Go back to bed." - -In the Stronghold Nell waited for Denis. It was nine o'clock. She went -into a front room and looked out into the street. She wondered vaguely -why everything sounded so clear and loud; why the scent of a sandal-wood -box was so sharp. She did not know that every nerve was on the stretch, -that she was strung up till every sense was painfully acute. As she -stood at the window she heard a hubbub of men's voices; the noise of -many feet. They passed into the distance, across the top of Henley -Road. She saw them in her mind--men being taken to the police station. -She turned suddenly and ran into her bedroom. Sheila Pat was asleep. -She seized a hat and coat, flung off her shoes, put on others, and crept -down the stairs. Miss Kezia was not at home, but in the hall, just -going out, Herr Schmidt stood drawing on his gloves. - -"I haf to take a book to a friend," he said, his eyes questioning her -surprisedly, as his tongue was too polite to do. - -"Yes?" she said vaguely. She went to the door. - -"Is your brozzer outside waiting for you, Fraeulein?" - -Up went Nell's head. - -"No, Herr Schmidt." - -He moved a step so that he blocked her way. - -"He is coming down ze stairs?" - -"No. I am going out alone. Please let me pass, Herr Schmidt!" - -There was a little pause. Nell pulled restlessly at the throat of her -coat. - -"It is nine o'clock, Fraeulein. Young laties do not go out alone at -that time." - -"Let me pass!" her eyes blazed; she stamped her foot. "What business is -it of yours? How dare you stop me!" she said haughtily. - -"I am frightened," he declared simply, "but I dare because I see you are -young and a little girl who does not understand--" - -"But I must go, Herr Schmidt! Please, oh, please don't stop me! It is -important--" - -"Poor little one, no, I will not stop you. I will kom also." - -He moved aside and began to open the door. - -She said coldly, "It--it is a private matter!" - -"Zen take your bruzzer, Fraeulein." - -"He is out." - -"Zen I know. See, I will be blind, Fraeulein. I will be deaf. I see -noting. I hear noting. I do but take care of you, Fraeulein, hein?" - -"Very well," she said impatiently. "I want a cab." - -He beamed. "Zat is right, meine liebe. All will be well now." - -Nell was quivering with nervous impatience. She gave the driver Ted -Lancaster's address and sprang into the cab. She was conscious of the -heavy jolt as Herr Schmidt climbed in--so slowly, oh, so slowly! She -had lost all sense of proportion in her mind. She was absorbed in a -sort of wild terror, a foreboding, and her one idea was to get to Ted -Lancaster. It was all his fault. He would know. Probably, almost -certainly, it was at his house it was all going on. She did not wait to -wonder what Denis would think of her appearance on the scene. She had -only room for one thought--to get him away, to warn him, before the -police came. - -The cab stopped at last at No. 16 Gowan Square, and they got out. Herr -Schmidt rang the bell, and after an interval the door was opened by a -sleepy-looking maid. - -"Mr. Lancaster, miss?' He isn't at home. Oh, Mr. Edward--yes, he's at -home. Will you come this way?" - -They entered the handsome hall; the maid opened a door and showed them -into a small sort of anteroom. - -"What name, please?" - -But Nell was strung up to such a pitch now that she could wait no -longer. She followed the maid across the hall. In answer to her knock -a lazy voice responded, "Come in." Then, as she opened the door: "You -don't mean to say you've come, Thompson! Why, I've only rung once!" - -Over the maid's shoulder Nell saw a large, handsome room; a table still -littered with the dinner things; a huge fire, and in front of it a -chair, over the top of which she could see a piece of smooth, dark head. -On the mantel-shelf reposed a pair of patent-leather shoes; she had a -glimpse of the legs they belonged to, of a pair of black silk socks with -a little green pattern on them, and a haze of blue smoke. She saw it -all in a lightning flash, and Denis was not there! - -The pleasant, lazily sarcastic voice had drowned the maid's words. She -began again. - -"Thompson's out, sir, and it's a lady to see you." - -"A lady?" Neither the head nor the feet moved. "Oh, I say, Mary, it's -the Pater she wants." - -"She said you, sir." - -"Don't you know her?" - -"No, sir, and--and she's _here_," in a desperate voice, suddenly -becoming aware of Nell's proximity. - -"Here!" Down came the legs; up jumped Ted Lancaster. - -"Oh, I say!" He stood facing Nell, red and uncomfortable. He gave his -hair a surreptitious pat and flung his cigarette into the fire. Then he -turned on Mary. - -"Why did you show this lady in here? Where's Thompson?" he demanded -angrily. - -"He's out, sir, and--and--" - -The sudden apathy of disappointment that had come over Nell broke. - -"She didn't show me in here. I followed her. This room will do. I am -in a hurry." - -The maid disappeared. - -"Where is Denis?" Nell's voice broke the little silence in measured -accents. - -"If you will come into another room--" - -"No, thanks. This room will do." - -He pushed a chair toward her and gave his tie a pull. - -"Where is Denis?" she repeated, not noticing the chair. She stood facing -him, her slim figure drawn to its full height, her head thrown back. - -"I--I'm sure I don't know--won't you sit down?" He drew his hand -nervously over his hair. "Do you mean O'Brien?" - -"Whom else should I mean? Where is he?" - -"'Pon my word, I don't know! I--_won't_ you sit down?" - -"Hasn't he been here this evening?" - -His rueful brows mounted higher and higher till his forehead was all -little creases, which, oddly enough, Nell remembered afterwards. - -"No--no, he hasn't-- But I saw him--about--about--" - -"Oh, would you mind being quick?" she broke in irritatedly; her cheeks -were a vivid pink, her eyes shone. Ted, looking at her, suddenly burst -out, "I say, are you O'Brien's sister?" - -"Oh, no, his aunt!" - -It wasn't a dignified retort, but the extreme and very scornful -exasperation in the sarcastic inflection made him redden to the roots of -his hair. - -"When did you see him? Oh, do tell me quickly!" - -"I beg pardon. It's--er--a trifle disconcerting," a gleam of humour -shot into his grey eyes, "rather unexpected, you know, and--er--all -that. I saw him about three, I think." - -"Oh!" gasped she. "That must have been in the bank! You _know_--you -_must_ know--I don't mean that! Where is he _now_?" - -"I don't know," patiently. - -"Don't know! Don't you know anything, or don't you care? I must find -him. He--he maybe wearing handcuffs in prison now!" - -Ted Lancaster put up his hand and rubbed his nose. - -For the first time she noticed his coat. It was a pretty coat--a loose, -silk smoking-jacket--but in some unaccountable way it was, to her, the -last stroke. All her pent-up nervousness, her quivering impatience, -suddenly culminated in wild wrath against the wearer of that coat. - -"Oh!" she cried, her soft voice low and passionate. "It is all your -fault! You invite him here--you suggest this hateful lottery business. -What do you care? You make him gamble--but it doesn't hurt you. _You_ -don't need money--you aren't led on by the hope of winning a great heap -of money. You only dabble in it. It doesn't matter to you whether you -win or lose. And you don't care if he loses! Why should you? You -don't care if he gets into trouble--if he's taken to prison! Oh, no, -you're safe, so what does anything matter? And now he has gone--gone -somewhere to make money, and I--I can't find him. He is so careless--he -would laugh at the idea of a policeman coming after him. It's all a -joke to you--I expect," her voice suddenly lost all its fire; "you are -laughing at me now--" - -"I'm not! I'm not a cad, whatever else I may be!" - -She glanced at him, vaguely surprised. His face had lost its -ruefulness, its uncomfortableness. He looked suddenly older and -grimmer; his eyes stared at her angrily from beneath frowning brows. - -She turned to the door. - -"Where are you going?" - -"I don't know--to find him." - -In a few strides he was before her. - -"You're not going out alone to look for him!" he observed quietly. - -She drew a quick little breath. - -"Now look here," he went on before she could reply at all; "I don't know -where he is. I haven't an idea. But I'm a good deal more likely to -find him than you are. Whether he'll be pleased to have me coming around -after him as if I'm his nurse is another matter. I'll do it. He'd be -angrier if you did it. Although I'm the bad character you've just drawn -for my benefit, I promise I won't give information to the police you're -so afraid of. I shall go first to Pennington's. Anyhow, I'll find him -somehow. But you've got to promise to go straight home first." - -"Allow me to pass at once!" Her face was quite white now; she spoke in -a low, desperately quiet voice. - -"I'm not going to. What's it matter if I'm rude to you? Isn't it only -in accordance with your idea of me?" - -"Quite. But it matters, because I am _determined_ to go and find him. -I am not alone. I am with a gentleman," she added this unwillingly but -in despair. "He will go with me." - -"He'll take you home at once. You'll excuse my saying that you're -acting very unwisely. You're only keeping me--and doing no good. -O'Brien is probably at home now--or more probably," his mouth twisted -humourously, "out hunting for you. Hadn't you better go?" - -"Yes, I'll go!" her voice gave a little choke. "I'll go, but oh, how I -_hate_ you! If only I could show you how I hate you!" - -"If that's all, you're showing me remarkably well, Miss O'Brien." - -He turned and opened the door for her. She went across the hall and -rejoined Herr Schmidt. When she saw his broad, kindly face, his anxious -eyes peering over his spectacles at her, she felt a sudden fondness for -him, a weak inclination to cry. She ran to him and slipped her hand -into his arm. - -"Take me home, Herr Schmidt, please," she cried. - -In the cab the reaction came. Suppose she had been making a fuss about -nothing? What would Denis think of her? Two tears fell with a little -splash on her ungloved hands. She turned suddenly to her big, silent -companion. - -"Herr Schmidt, was I horrid to you about coming with me?" - -"Ach, mein Fraeulein! I intrude, I know---" - -"Oh, you don't, you don't! I think you have been beautiful! I'll never -forget it!" - -"Fraeulein, you are goot to say so, but I am troubled. I haf ze unquiet -conscience about you." - -"You needn't have, Herr Schmidt. I--" with a sudden wild Irish change -of feeling, "I believe I have just been making a fuss about nothing!" -She gave a quick little laugh. "Oh, Herr Schmidt, it's nothing at all! -Don't go making mountains out of it." - -"Fraeulein, I will think of it as a mere young maid's episode. Hein? A -mere naughty prank." - -She laughed almost hysterically. - -"That's it, Herr Schmidt!" - -She went up to the Stronghold and sat down wearily. Only five minutes to -ten now! It seemed hours since she had left that room. She sat doing -nothing--just waiting. She had not long to wait. In a very little while -there was a ring at the door; she sat forward, listening breathlessly, -but she did not go downstairs. Then she heard him coming up. He strode -into the room, laughing. - -"I say, old girl, such a spree! Never enjoyed myself so much since I've -been in London! Spoilt my gloves a bit! Given 'em quite the dear old -look--" - -"What have you been doing, Denis?" - -"Driving a hansom!" - -"A--is that _all_?" - -"Rather! Quite enough, too, with a brute like that! What's up, Nell?" - -She had risen and gone across to the window; she was looking out with -great interest through one of the slats of the Venetian blind. - -"Nothing. Tell me about it." - -"I'm ravenous, by the way! Still, here goes. I went with Pennington -about his camera--gone wrong--to the shop after I left the bank this -afternoon. When I left him I came upon a hansom--empty--no driver--ugly -brute of a horse, sort of pink roan. I was having a look at him when -out came cabby from the public house. He had evidently 'met friends,' -as they say at home, and he hailed me as a long-lost brother. Well, I -wanted to drive that hansom, wanted to see what it was like. He -wouldn't let me--swore he'd be taken up and so should I if we were found -out. I tipped him. He hesitated. I let out a flood of native -eloquence and another tip. I might drive it to the corner and up the -next road and back to him. I did. Then at the corner I called back to -him not to get anxious if I took a few hours getting to the end of that -road. Heavens, he did swear! He started chasing me, too, but gave it up -when he found a lamp-post in his way. I called out to him that all the -tips over sixpence I won by my eloquence I should stick to. By Jove, it -was a spree! I pulled my hat down over my eyes, turned up my collar, -and trusted to the darkness to hide my aristocratic features from the -bobbies. Then it struck me you'd get wondering where I was, and I -pulled out a letter I'd taken down for old Pom-Pom to some man, and -which I'd forgotten to send off, tore off the blank sheet, scrawled that -message to you, shouted at a boy, threw it at his head, and sent him off -with it. I've posted t'other half just now, by the way. Then I -prepared to enjoy myself! I've taken tons of people to the theatres and -restaurants. I made that brute go! But he nearly pulled my arms out of -their sockets every now and then--had a mouth like my boots. Guess what -I made--thirteen and six! Not bad, you know. But I needed it all to -soften cabby's wrath. He'd been in a dead funk that I'd made off with -horse and cab for good. Oh, I can tell you, he was pretty eloquent! -But I soothed him a bit with the thirteen and six. I wish I'd met -Lancaster a bit sooner," he broke off, "I'd have made him pay double -fare!" - -"Sooner?" Nell said. - -"Yes. Met him just now. He was apparently gazing at the house. Fallen -in love with Aunt Kezia, perhaps." - -"Did--didn't--he say anything?" - -"Not much. What d'you mean?" - -"I--I want to tell you something, Denis. I--I've been--mad, I think--" - -"Thought there was something up. What is it, old girl?" - -Nell suddenly turned and faced him. - -"You'll hate me," she said, and plunged into her story. - -When she had done there was a little silence. She had averted her eyes -from him in terror. She knew how a boy of his age would loathe the fuss -she had made--how he would resent her going to Lancaster. She turned -her eyes to him--he had buried his head in the cushion and was shaking -with laughter! - -"Oh, poor old Lancaster! Did you really slang him like that, Nell? I -can see him." - -She drew a deep breath. - -He sat up, rubbing his eyes. - -"Poor beggar!" he chuckled. "Oh, it's rich!" - -Then he sobered. - -"But--were you mad, Nell? To make up bogeys in your mind and go rushing -off like that--" - -"I don't know, Denis," she said humbly. "I don't know what was the -matter with me to-day. I--I never was so silly at home. I felt sort of -funny all day, I think." - -He was frowning. - -"I don't like it at all--your going off to Lancaster like that! It was -jolly decent of Herr Schmidt to go with you. You ought to have known -better, Nell." - -"Yes." - -He looked at her irritatedly. - -"Don't be so beastly meek! You know you've been awfully idiotic all -round. And you've made me look a most consummate fool, and"--his mouth -widened again in spite of himself--"you've slanged poor Lancaster most -unwarrantably. It was awfully rude, you know, and quite mad. He really -hasn't been leading your little twin astray. As a matter of fact, it was -he who squashed my idea of making money by going in for big lotteries. -He's got a level head, and he reasoned it all out on paper and proved -some way or other that I stood, ten to one, or a hundred to one, or -something, to lose in the end. I've only been teasing you when I talked -about going in for them. I didn't know you were bothering about it. -And I never thought of the beastly things when I scrawled that note off -to you. I've never been in for any sweepstake or thing of that kind -except that one I told you of. I hope you think you've made enough fuss -all round about nothing!" - -Nell was silent. She seemed to have no spark of spirit left. She made -no defence. Suddenly he rose and came to her. He caught her shoulders -and shook her. - -"There, never mind, you poor meek little goose! You'd better be off to -bed, and sleep some sense into your soft old head." - -She was struggling desperately against tears. - -"I--I'm awfully sorry, Denis--and ashamed--I--I do believe I was mad--" - -"Course you were," cheerfully, "temporary insanity. It's this beastly -London fog got into your brain. I'll make it all right with -Lancaster--tell him you're sorry and all that." - -She winced. - -"Yes--please," she said. "And--and you won't--feel that you--that I--" - -"I've forgotten all about it already, old girl!" he declared generously. - - - - - *CHAPTER VIII* - - -"What d'you think I'm let in for, Nell O'Brien?" - -"I don't know. I haven't a guess in me. Aunt Kezia has squashed me -flat. I've low instincts, Denis,--think of that! And no sense of what -is befitting a young lady, and all sorts of other things. Oh, I'm a bad -character entirely!" - -He flung down his hat. - -"Think I didn't know all that already? What made our respected aunt -discover it?" - -"I'm sick of having no models!" she burst out passionately. "I haven't -touched a horse for weeks! I--I'm just aching for the mere feel of -them! A cat! Beyond Kate Kearney I'm offered a cat! It's like -offering a starving man a piece of sugar-stick! Denis, try to draw a -cat! A heap of stupid, meaningless fur! No muscles--no veins--oh, a -horse is so glorious to paint!" She broke off with a quick little -laugh. "Twin Nell 'pletely sorry," she said, using an old baby formula. -"Tell me what you're let in for?" - -"Not till you tell me what you've been up to." - -"Oh, it was nothing. I saw a hansom waiting outside the corner house. -Ripping little chestnut, Denis," her whole-face kindled irresistibly; -"the driver told me she was almost a thoroughbred. When a car passed -along the top of the road, she played-up beautifully. Oh, the drawing -in her! Well, I saw her from a window and seized up my sketch-book and -bolted up the road. Now, is there any harm in that? I asked the driver -how long he thought he'd be, and he smiled and said his fare was a -solicitor who'd come to a client's house on business. 'They charge for -their time, miss!' he said meaningly, so I rejoiced and started -sketching her in. And he was such a nice man, too. He'd actually been -to the Dublin horse show a few years ago. We had an argument about our -horses. And he made her put her head as I wanted, and he told me how -he'd come across her, and then--oh, I'd left the hall door open, of -course, and Aunt Kezia--oh, Denis, you'd think I'd committed something -much worse than a murder!" - -"Show me the sketch." - -"I did one of her--and then several bits--quite rough. I'm going to -paint her into that picture I was doing." - -"It's splendid, Nell. What a cute little beast!" - -"Now tell me what you've been let in for?" - -"A speech! A lecture! Old Yovil has let us all in for it. You can't -say no to him somehow--he sort of works you up. Lancaster's swearing -like the wind round the Craffrone tower. He says he must have been out -of his mind to say he'd do it, but he can't go back now. It's to be on -the third. Choose any subject you like--write it up--no notes, -though--and spout forth in his drawing-room to a long-suffering -audience. There're six of us going in for it, and a ripping edition of -all the immortal Billy's plays for the winner." - -"Which will be you," annotated Nell with conviction. - -"Not it! There's one chap--Morley--poetical sort of ass, who wears his -hair too long--he'll beat me in a canter, my dear, not to mention the -others." - -"I'll come and hear you, won't I, Denis?" - -"Wish you could! But there won't be any ladies. Only us and Yovil, you -know." - -After luncheon a maid came to ask if the Atom might go and have tea with -Stewart. Sheila Pat, her Pearl clasped beneath one arm, and a -spelling-book beneath the other, interviewed her in the hall. - -"I'm not comin', thank you, Mary." - -The maid hesitated. "If you could, miss--" - -"I have reasons of my own for not comin', Mary." - -"Very well, miss, only--he's such a dear little boy, and you'd brighten -him up like." - -Sheila Pat looked worried. - -"Does he want me to come?" - -"Yes, miss." - -"Then I will!" She heaved a big sigh. "Unless," brightening, "Aunt -Kezia doesn't wish me to. I'll go and ask her." - -She came back sadly. - -"I can come," she said ungraciously. - -"Sarah! Sarah!" - -Down the stairs floated Miss Kezia's voice, stern anger in its tone. - -"Yes, ma'am." - -"Sarah, I cannot find my house-shoes! I have forbidden you to move any -of my things." - -"I--I haven't touched 'em, ma'am!" - -"She's getting trembly--like an earthquake, poor little hap'orth," -observed Nell. - -"Not touched them? Then where are they? They have disappeared! Are -you sure--" - -"Nell--oh, _Nell_, I--I put them on the dining-room fender to warm!" - -"Molly! Oh, you are too lovely for anything! Hadn't you better go and -tell her?" - -Molly cowered down in her chair. - -"I daren't!" - -"I will, then." - -She turned to the door, but Molly jumped up. "No, I'll go!" - -She came tearing back presently and flung herself down into a chair. - -"Well?" - -But Molly buried her head in the chair-back and said nothing. - -"Molly," Nell grasped her shoulder, "was she awful?" - -"Y-yes, she was!" sobbed Molly. "Oh, I did want to soften -her--and--and--oh, Nell," her voice suddenly shook with watery laughter, -"K.K. had been at her shoes and--_had eaten all the linings_!" - -"Oh, how _delightful!_" - -"It's awfully funny, but--oh, she's in a frightful temper! She--she -says I'm an interfering--busybody! And when she wants -coddling--she'll--she'll have a nurse in to do it for her--properly! -She--shut K.K. in the boot closet! She made Sarah clear it out first. -Can't you hear her howling? Oh, Nell, why did I go and forget all about -her shoes? I meant to take them to her directly she came in--all nice -and warm--" - -"She might be warm, but she wouldn't be nice, Mol." - -"Don't be silly! You know what I meant. Of course, it's all very funny -to you--" - -"My dear Molly, you must confess it is rather funny!" - -Molly began to shake with laughter. "Oh, Nell, and K.K. looked so -beautifully meek and innocent and the linings only little bits of -leather left sticking out--and they're _such_ big, flat shoes! And -K.K.'s toe-scratches all over them. Oh, and Nell--" Molly couldn't go -on for a while--"while she--was talking--so awfully majestic and -angry--oh, _Nell_!--K.K. seized a shoe out of her hand and fled with it, -shaking it--you know how she does! Oh, I'm glad you weren't there!" - -After a while Nell went upstairs. She listened outside the boot closet; -all was still. A good deal surprised, she went into her room. Sheila -Pat, in her petticoat, sat huddled up on a chair, scissors in hand, -bending over the frock she had just taken off. - -"What are you doing, Atom?" - -She lifted a worried face. - -"I'm just lengthing it," she said curtly. - -"Oh, Kate Kearney, how did you get out of the boot cupboard?" - -"I let her out," calmly. "I tried all the keys on the doors, and," -triumphantly, "Sarah's fitted it!" - -"Sheila Pat, I'm ashamed of you. My dear child, you're not unpicking -the stitches at all--you're merely cutting little snips in the stuff. -And, anyway, you're not to do it." - -"I like this dress, but it's rikkleously short. I don't think it's -_perlite_ to wear them so short, Nell." - -"Well, you'll have to be impolite then. Come along into the Stronghold, -sweetheart. You're frozen." - -"I did want to wear it to go and see that boy! Nell, wouldn't _you_ -just let down the hem?" - -"No, Atom, I won't. I hate long frocks for short atoms." - -Presently, uneasily, "Do you hate me for being so hard, Sheila Pat?" - -"The O'Briens," excessively grown-upedly, "don't hate each other so -easily, Nell." - -When the Atom came back after tea she was very quiet. Nell wondered if -she were tired; she answered all questions as to her afternoon's -enjoyment in her soft little voice that gave her curt sentences such a -quaintness, but she originated no remark of her own. An hour after she -had gone to bed Nell went into her room and peeped at her. She lay -wide-eyed, thoughtful. A little after that she appeared suddenly in her -night-gown at the door of the Stronghold. - -"Hulloa, Atom!" Denis seized her and swung her up; her arms went round -his neck. - -"Denis," the strenuous little voice sounded as if it were near breaking, -"I must go next door, please." - -"Now?" - -"Yes." - -"But you're in your nightie, old girl! What do you want to go for?" - -"It's a private reason." Her arms clung tighter; she pressed her cheek -against his. Nell met the great eyes looking over his shoulder, and -went up to her gently. - -"Can't you wait till to-morrow, Atom?" - -"Why, you'll have to," put in Molly. "If it's Stewart you want, he'll -be in bed." - -"I must go now, Denis; please take me now." - -"We can wrap her up," said soft-hearted Denis. - -The arms round his neck gave a little spasmodic squeeze. - -"Thank y-you," said the Atom. - -Laughing, he wrapped her in a great coat of his and a blanket, and -carried her down the steps and in next door. - -Mrs. Barclay was a good deal surprised to see them. Denis put the Atom -down, and she stood shivering, her small white face peering with a queer -intensity from out the blanket. - -"Stewart, my dear? Well, I am afraid he is in bed--" - -"Please may I go up to him?" - -"Very well; come along." - -"Please may I go by my _alone_?" - -"Oh! Yes, dear, if you like." - -"Thank you." - -She turned and went up the stairs to the room Stewart had shown her that -afternoon. She knocked politely at the door, then went in. The gas was -burning dimly. - -"You? Is it a fire next door?" He sat up in bed with joyful -anticipation on his face. - -"No. I--I want to speak to you." - -"Is the Pearl ill?" - -"No." She climbed on to his bed and sat silent. - -"Hurry up!" - -"I--you see, I think I have been very unjust. I am sorry. I--when you -said you would rather learn your Catchykism than play cricket, was it -because of your leg?" - -"Oh, don't bother! I want to go to sleep!" - -"Please tell me!" the tone was not pleading, but authoritative. - -"Yes, then!" - -"I--I'm very sorry," quavered Sheila Pat. "I'm not mostly so nasty," -she added extenuatingly. "I didn't think of that." - -Stewart was hugging his knees up under his chin. - -"You see, I kept thinking you must be a goody-goo because of that." - -"You see," he said haltingly, "I--can't run quickly--or field--" - -"No." - -There was a pause. - -"Do you think," came the quavering little voice, "you will ever be able -to like me?" - -"Rather!" - -"Do you like me now?" - -"Course!" - -"You may kiss me just once--round by that ear--if you like," said Sheila -Pat. - -"I'll kiss you twice if I like!" giving her two hearty smacks. - -"Oh!" said Sheila Pat. Suddenly she perked up. "I shall call you -Tommy," she said. "Stewart is like a book." - -"All right." - -"You see," her tone was rather uncomfortable, "I did mean--I had quite -dessided--you see, I thought I had been very nasty, and I thought you -would be very cross, and I did mean to give you--my Pearl--for a whole -week--but I don't want to now." - -"I wouldn't take her. Peter'd be awful jealous, you bet!" - -"So he would," joyfully. "Oh, Tommy, do let's have a pillow fight!" - -So it was that the listeners downstairs, with the memory of the small -tragic figure that had left them still vividly in their minds, were -startled by a sudden uproar of cries and bumps and laughter. Denis, up -the stairs in a moment, and joining in the fray in another moment, found -a wild Sheila Pat, shining-eyed, squealing with excitement, pelting -Stewart with a pillow. He was not surprised, but Mrs. Barclay felt -somewhat bewildered. - - - - - *CHAPTER IX* - - -Sheila Pat came thoughtfully into the room. "Nell," she observed, "we -give Sarah a lot of extra work." - -Nell looked up with an absent eye. She was trying to calculate how much -they would be able to spend on toys for their Dublin hospital this year. -They were determined not to omit their contribution to the annual -Christmas tree and festivities. - -"We make our own beds," said Molly, virtuously. - -"But she has to clean out this room to-day; it's cleanin' day. And -she's goin' home this evenin' to see her mother, and she walks all the -way there and back with her young man. You see, if she didn't, she'd -never be walkin' out with him at all. And she tidies up at home, -because her mother's mostly ailin', and she bathes every one of her -brothers and sisters. There now, Nell O'Brien!" - -Nell flung aside paper and pencil. - -"Come on, Atom, we'll turn this room out ourselves!" - -"I'll go and tell Sarah." The Atom trotted contentedly from the room. -"Aunt Kezia's out!" she called back. - -"How on earth do you begin?" asked Molly, looking helplessly around. - -"Oh, you put everything out in the passage first of all," said Nell, -confidently, "then you tie your head up in a duster or something, -because of the dust, you know, and then you begin to sweep and fill the -room with dust. Oh, and the big things you cover over with dusting -sheets. I'll get all the things we'll want from Sarah. You go and tie -up your head." - -"Oh, miss!" Sarah was in a state of horror bordering on lunacy. "You -young ladies to do my work!" - -But Nell got her way in the end. - -The Atom helped in a silence that was ecstatic. She pinned up her -pig-tail, and tied a clean duster round her head. Molly followed suit, -and then the supply being exhausted, Nell twisted a pale blue silk scarf -round hers, and they set to work. They brushed and brushed; silence -reigned in the Stronghold. Sheila Pat broke it to observe in a rather -breathless but deeply content voice, "We're gettin' a fine dust now!" - -Denis came in with a rush. "Hulloa! I say, old man," he called over -his shoulder, "rather a choking atmosphere!" - -Nell's greeting froze on her lips. Her laughing glance met a pair of -well-remembered grey eyes looking straight at her over Denis's shoulder. -She stood quite still; the hot colour dyed her face red. - -"I'll go--really, O'Brien, I'd rather--another time!" - -The uncomfortable murmur reached her ear; she forgot all about her -unfortunate visit--all about her sense of antagonism. She went swiftly -forward, hand outstretched, smiling charmingly. - -"Please don't go! Really, we've almost finished. The dust is dying -down already." - -"After manoeuvring the barricade outside successfully you've got to -stay, old man," Denis declared. "Tell us what you're doing, anyway, -Nell." - -But Nell was interested to see the ruefulness in her visitor's face -change suddenly to keen amusement. She followed his look to the head of -Sheila Pat, which, adorned dusterwise, was crowned with her pig-tail -sticking straight up on top out of the duster. She gave a little laugh, -and he laughed too. She turned to Denis and explained why they were -cleaning out the room. Then Ted Lancaster astonished them all. - -"I say," he burst out eagerly, "I wish you'd let me stay and lend a -hand!" - -Sheila Pat, squatting on her heels in the middle of the floor, with a -short brush, looked up at him approvingly. - -"Come along in and shut the door, there's a good boy!" - -The good boy's eyes twinkled as he obeyed. He removed his extremely -smart coat and professed his readiness to begin. - -"By the way," observed Denis, the corners of his mouth twitching -humorously, "I'd better introduce him first!" - -"Oh--yes," said Nell, blushing suddenly. - -Ted Lancaster bowed gravely to her and with almost deeper gravity to -Sheila Pat. - -"That's another sister over there in the cupboard," Denis remarked. -"Molly's fond of cupboards." - -The two boys set to work and raised a fearful dust. Nell observed -ruefully that the parts they were sweeping had been gone over once -already. - -Ted looked up earnestly, his brush pausing:-- - -"You must let us do it--O'Brien and me--every week, Miss O'Brien; our -arms are stronger." - -"I," said the Atom, weightily, "think you are a very nice boy." - -"And I think you are a very nice lit--young lady." - -"I'll show you my snowy-breasted Pearl afterwards." - -"Eh? Oh, thanks." - -"He's very sensertive; you mustn't mind if he bites you a little." - -"Oh, I'll like it. So your white-breasted Pearl's a boy, is he?" - -"I'll essplain to you about his name another time," she said with great -dignity. She came closer, and whispered: "Denis calls him somethin' -else. I'm 'fraid he might do it now. Promise you'll never, _never_ ask -him what he calls my Pearl!" - -He looked surprised into the beseeching face. - -"All right," he said gently, "I'll never ask him." - -"Thank you." - -She dusted a table leg in silence. - -"You are English, aren't you?" she said then. - -He nodded. - -"Perhaps you've lived years and years in Ireland?" - -"No." - -"Perhaps you've lived a little while there?" - -He was looking amused. - -"No." - -"Perhaps you've stayed for _heaps_ of visits there?" - -"No." - -"Perhaps you've stayed for just a _few little_ visits?" - -"No." - -Sheila Pat stared in disappointed wonder. - -"Haven't you ever been there at _all_?" - -"Never set foot in it." - -"Oh!" - -Presently, "Well, you're not at all bad--_for England_." - -"England," quoth he, gravely, "is the finest country in the world!" - -The Atom's eyes and mouth opened incredulously; a swift rush of delicate -pink dyed her face. - -"You--you're forgettin' Ireland!" she gasped. - -"Not at all. I believe Ireland's a very decent little place." - -"Decent, is it?"--the Atom forgot her dusting--"I'm just s'prised a big -boy like you should be such a--a _hignoramous_!" - -She waited proudly, then pursued, her voice trembling with earnestness: -"You're all the same--you English! You're jealous of us! You--oh, -you're all stupid donkeys!" - -It was a downfall from eloquence to rude vituperation. But she was, for -the moment, beyond realisation of that. She stood waiting, her eyes -shining. But interruption, in the form of Miss Kezia, broke in on Ted's -answer, and the discussion had to be postponed for the present. Miss -Kezia was somewhat amused, in a dry sort of way, at their room-cleaning. -She shrugged her shoulders over it; if they liked to amuse themselves -that way, it did no harm, and work never yet hurt anyone. She asked Ted -to stay to luncheon, and he accepted. He seemed to enjoy the roast beef -and jam roly pudding. He talked courteously to Miss Kezia, he -skirmished with the Atom, but he avoided Nell's eyes. - -Nell seemed absent-minded, sunk in thought. After luncheon in the hall -she seized an opportunity and approached him. - -"I--I want to beg your pardon," she said stiffly, "for--for that -night--" - -"Oh--ah--awfully good of you--_good-bye_! I say, O'Brien, you'll be -late at the bank--I mean," glancing swiftly at her and away again, "not -at all--of course--" He was out of the hall door, hustling in front of -Denis, down the steps, and into the street. - -"You're in a hurry, aren't you?" observed Denis, mildly surprised. - -"Er--yes." He turned his red face away, and strode on. - -Nell went up to the Stronghold, smiling unwillingly. She felt as if she -had known him for years, and she resented the feeling. She told herself -that it was most annoying--his having come in just that morning when -they were cleaning out the room; it was most unfortunate, for how could -anyone be politely distant and dignified under such circumstances? And -of course sweeping and laughing and having jokes _made_ you feel as if -you had known a person for quite a long while--even an objectionable -person like this Ted Lancaster, who spent his time lounging about and -doing nothing except visit his tailor. She was quite sure he visited -his tailor a great deal. And he preferred a motor-car to horses! By -the time she reached the Stronghold she was frowning. - -"Sheila Pat, come and write your dictation." - -"Nell," the Atom observed as she sat her down, "I'm very sorry for that -poor boy." - -"Why?" - -"He's _never been in Ireland_, Nell!" - -"Well, so haven't lots of other people." - -"I don't mind about them, but I like that boy, and all these wicked men -in Parlymint have--_diseased_ his mind about Ireland! I have forgave -all the nasty things he said because I'm so sorry for him, poor boy. -And you see," patronisingly, "he doesn't know anythin' about it." - -"He's not a bit good-looking," observed Molly irrelevantly; "he's got -rather a big nose." - -"Molly O'Brien, you're none so beautiful yourself that you need be rude -about other persons' noses," severely. "That boy's the best I've seen in -this London yet!" - -"What queer taste you have, Sheila Pat!" said Nell, with a curl of her -lip. - -The Atom did not heed her. She was sunk deep in thought. - -"I like him," she remarked after a while thoughtfully. "Sure I wouldn't -mind him about--when it's mistletoe time!" - - - - - *CHAPTER X* - - -Miss Kezia put her latch-key into the lock in a serene frame of mind. -She had spent a morning in giving advice. In any case that was a way -congenial to her of spending her time. Moreover, on this occasion her -advice had been taken; all the bare, unsweetened pills concocted of her -wisdom had been swallowed unmurmuringly. Miss Kezia smiled decorously -as she stood on her doorstep. Then she opened the door, and was greeted -with an emphatic: "Git out, you old meddlar! D'you hear? Git out!" - -The shock to her was considerable; it was the more considerable that it -came on top of her advice-given-and-taken morning. - -She paused, her hand on the latch of the door. She had a confused -impression that her Irish relatives were showing her a new side of their -character; the voice had come from the Stronghold. Hitherto, however -noisy, however tiresome, they had not been rude. Indeed, their soft -manners had oftentimes riled her, she being unable, in her rough -austerity, to disconnect the softness altogether from insincerity. - -She was not an imaginative woman; her mind was not formed even to -comprehend, or make allowance for, the quality of imagination in -another. But as her bonnet slowly rose from her head, she felt suddenly -as if she had been precipitated into an evil dream. For a moment the -solid aspect of everyday life, in which she moved and had her being, -lost its common-sense reality. She merely stood, feeling her bonnet -rise. Then, with a sudden angry gesture, she put up her hand to her -head. It encountered another hand, a little, soft, cold hand; gentle -little flabby fingers clung round hers, and even Miss Kezia's strong -nerves received a severe jar. She had no belief in ghosts, in spirits, -or any of "that sort of rubbish," under which designation she lumped -many occult subjects together, but a little gentle hand in mid-air, -clasping hers, was somewhat disconcerting even to her well-balanced -mind. She glanced up hurriedly, feeling suddenly very hot. She saw -nothing. She gazed, with a sort of angry anxiety, round the little hall. -The two chairs stood there as usual; the hat-stand looked no different. -Mechanically she counted, seizing unconsciously and with relief on the -everyday hats and coats. There was Herr Schmidt's bowler and Denis's -cap and coat. Her eye was arrested suddenly; from out the coat a little -wizened face looked down at her, inimitably wise, inimitably sad. Miss -Kezia took a step towards it; a long lean arm came softly out in the -direction of her bonnet. She drew back and went towards the stairs. - -"Hulloa!" shouted a voice. "By Jove, ain't she a disy! Oh, Lor'!" The -voice broke suddenly into shrieks of laughter. It was such intensely -rude laughter that Miss Kezia reddened hotly, and almost shrank, for a -moment, from it. The plaintive, long-drawn miaow of a cat rose above -the laughter. Howls--sudden, frenzied wails of woe rose above both. -Miss Kezia went upstairs and entered the Stronghold. - -As she opened the door something darted past her. There was a wild -shouting: "Shut the door! He's gone! Look out, she'll be off, too!" -Miss Kezia felt herself being pushed unceremoniously to one side; there -was a bang of the door, and she found herself alone in the Stronghold. -She drew her hand across her forehead. - -"Oh, Lor', here's the disy!" - -Miss Kezia positively jumped; she jumped quite badly. She found herself -staring into a grey old face, into a pair of eyes that seemed to have -looked into all the wickedness of the world. She was not alone in the -Stronghold. A grey parrot sat on the back of a chair and returned her -gaze with an insolent _sang froid_. - -"Get out!" he adjured her. "You're a disy, you are!" - -The dissipated wrinkles round his old eyes added to his _blase_ air of -knowing all things. - -"Old meddlar!" he screamed at her in sudden anger. "Old -meddlar,--meddlar-meddlar-meddlar," and he sank into sudden heavy -silence. He was a particularly ugly specimen of his kind; he was scarce -of feathers, on his poll there was a nasty wound, and one leg had very -obviously at some time been broken and very badly reset. His -self-admiration, nevertheless, was so absurdly apparent that it raised -an intense irritation in Miss Kezia's mind. His air of superiority was -aggressive; his little beady eye told her she was dirt. They stared at -each other. Then Miss Kezia's attention was drawn suddenly to a box on -the table. Under the circumstances she was not really much surprised to -observe that its lid was slowly rising. Across her mind there flitted, -with a vague discomfort, the memory of Irish superstition, of the Irish -belief in fairies and "such rubbish." She gave herself an angry shake -and approached the box. As she did so a small brown head appeared in -the aperture, a small brown body followed it, and a thin little mouse -scudded across the table and disappeared. Miss Kezia waged a deadly war -with mice; the faintest suggestion of a nibble anywhere in the house -resulted in traps--a whole army of traps--up and down stairs. But now -she stood and watched mouse after mouse push up the box lid, alight on -the table with a little thud, and disappear. She counted six -mechanically, and then she awoke to full realisation of the enormity of -what was happening. She approached the box, and with a firm hand pushed -down the lid and put a heavy book upon it. Of the fact that the box was -empty she remained in ignorance. Then she opened the door and went out -on to the landing. She looked down into the hall, and beheld the -decorous Sarah, capless, wispy, her apron torn, standing upon one of the -staid hall chairs and screaming. Perhaps that gave Miss Kezia as severe -a shock as any she had yet received. But it also acted as a swift and -very emphatic brain-clearer. No douche of cold water was ever more -effective in its action. - -"Sarah!" - -Now Sarah had not been aware of the fact that her mistress was within -the house. The knowledge, sudden and grim, found her quite unprepared, -and coming, as it did, a climax on top of mice, monkeys, cats, dogs, -parrots, tortoises, was too much for her equilibrium. Sarah fell with a -clatter and a scream, and took the staid hall chair with her. She also -took two umbrellas and a puppy. The puppy burst into howls and Sarah -burst into tears. Each made a considerable noise, and a mouse fled -appalled into Herr Schmidt's bowler. Some of the O'Briens appeared from -the kitchen (Molly had apparently been embracing the coal box). - -"Here's the puppy!" - -The joy in Sheila Pat's shout was the finishing touch to Miss Kezia's -wrath. It fairly blazed forth; she excelled herself. Her audience -consisted chiefly of Sarah, still weeping; Molly, also weeping; and the -wise-faced monkey, who sat in Denis's coat collar and listened with sad -attention. For the rest Denis and Nell and the Atom appeared and -disappeared at intervals in pursuit of the puppy, the cat, and the mice. -Miss Kezia's peroration was eloquent; wrath lent it fire. But her -eloquence began to fail at last, and then she demanded an explanation. -Unfortunately, only Molly and Sarah were present at that point. Molly -essayed an explanation, but evolved only the following:-- - -"We--we didn't mean--it--we didn't. They--they--oh--poor little -things--all cramped up--the--the cages were smaller--than -themselves--we--we--we--" - -Then Miss Kezia said something that was not at all like her usual method -of speech. In a voice thin and rasped with irritation and much -eloquence, she observed:-- - -"Apparently you think you are a pig! Eileen! Eileen! I _command_ you -to come here!" - -Nell, a struggling puppy in her arms, stopped short. She was breathless, -untidy, and hilarious. - -"We've got them all now, except three of the mice," she added. - -The jet ornament in Miss Kezia's bonnet quivered spasmodically. - -"Perhaps you will condescend to explain now how it happens that you have -turned my house into a menagerie," she said. - -Nell sat down on the lowest stair and kissed the puppy's ugly little -head. - -"We are going to send them all to Kilbrannan, Aunt Kezia. Duckie, stay -still then! You see--" - -"You cannot send the missing mice away! They will overrun my house." - -"They'll have plenty of room, anyway! If you had seen the cages, Aunt -Kezia! This blessed puppy--" - -"Was in a cage smaller than himself! I have heard that already." There -was sarcasm in her tone that was completely lost on Nell. - -"Yes! Just imagine! Oh, we just had to buy them all. And that poor -parrot was eating out of an empty pan! It was cruel! We just went in -and bought them all." - -"Bought--them--all!" Miss Kezia echoed her words quite faintly. - -"You _paid_ for these--these creatures!" - -"Why, yes! It was a horrid little shop, half full of papers and -magazines, half full of tobacco and pipes, and half full of these poor -dears. Of course it was a good deal of money, but what were we to do? -It was Jim who cost the most--oh, Denis, have you got the rest of the -mice?" - -"This beast of a midnight caroller has scratched a hunk of flesh out of -my hand, and all because I saved a mouse from her cattish jaws!" - -He was holding a thin and mangy tabby cat at arm's length. - -"Why didn't you let her catch it? It is perfectly ridiculous to be so -childish at your age!" Poor Miss Kezia could not find words to express -her utter disapproval and want of understanding. - -"Well," observed Denis, "'twould be playing it pretty low to buy -half-a-dozen tame mice and give 'em to the cat. I expect, if their -opinion were asked, you'd find they preferred even the old Jew's cage to -the cat's interior." - -Miss Kezia gave some final directions; there was a subdued fury in eye -and voice due as much to her inadequacy to the occasion as to her anger -at the havoc wrought in her well-ordered house. The monkey coughed -softly, and Sarah, still weeping in the background, screamed. Sheila -Pat appeared, climbed on to a chair, and lifted the monkey down. The -monkey put a thin arm round her neck in a horribly human way. Sheila -Pat kissed his face, and Miss Kezia called out in irrepressible horror. - -"I love him," the Atom said calmly. "He's just 'zact like my dearrest -Patsy O'Driscoll." - -The monkey's bright little eyes blinked knowingly. - -"I believe he's a first cousin," Denis declared. "Ever been to -Kilbrannan, old man? Played hand-ball on summer evenings on Patsy's -wall, eh? Driven Kate in the jaunting-car? D'you know the road -up-along by Dinny O'Sullivan's? Sure ye'll be meetin' the doctor's house -to the west--ah, yes, thin, ye're knowin' that all right. Look at him -smiling, Nell!" - -Miss Kezia turned a stiff back upon them and walked into her bedroom. - -"She doesn't appreciate you, Jim." - -Jim coughed delicately. It was a funny little soft deprecating cough. - -"He is just like Patsy," Nell said. "If we were to dress him up and put -him on the box seat of the jaunting-car, he'd be acknowledged by his own -mother!" - -Miss Kezia's bedroom door was opened. - -"You will please to send off all those creatures to-day--and at once!" - -It was several hours before her mandate was obeyed. The packing took a -considerable time. During those hours the monkey crept more and more -into their affections. - -"I think," opined Nell, "it's positively wicked to send him on a long, -cold journey with a nasty little cough like that!" - -"I shall feel as if I'm murdering one of my own relations," Denis -agreed. - -Sheila Pat put a protecting arm round the monkey. - -"Jimmy O'Driscoll," Denis said suddenly, "you have an artful -countenance. Could you make yourself scarce whenever our respected aunt -appeared on the scene? James, could you remember to remember that you're -actually and bodily in Kilbrannan?" - -"Oh, Denis!" Sheila Pat broke in ecstatically. "Oh, I do love Patsy's -cousin!" - -That night Miss Kezia said, "I am thankful that your _pets_ have left my -house, and I beg that you will not spend your money in that ridiculous -and wicked way again!" There was a sarcastic inflexion on the word -"pets." - - - - - *CHAPTER XI* - - -Denis stood upon a chair and declaimed. His audience consisted of -Sheila Pat and Jim O'Driscoll. - -"'Literature of the Elizabethan Period.' Pause, Sheila Pat, with an -inward gaze. By the way, how d'you gaze at your innards? Then you -fling back your hair," he tried ridiculously to fling back his short -locks. "Meant to let them grow long for the happy occasion. Then you -begin: 'The Elizabethan Period was one of grand, of glorious prolificacy -in the realms of literature. What names the mere mention of the period -conjures up, names that still ring, and will always ring'--ha! ha! ha!" - -He doubled up with sudden laughter. Jim, squatting in a chair, eyed him -with the same grave attention that he had given to the opening of the -speech. He was an earnest, if not a particularly appreciative, -audience. - -Sheila Pat demanded, "What are you laughin' at?" - -"I saw old Lancaster's face suddenly. He's dangerous. His scowl's -enough to turn the sunshine into a black frost. But he won't back out -now. He's too jolly obstinate. You should have seen his face when -Yovil told us his sister had persuaded him to make the evening a bigger -affair and invite ladies too. And his 'naughty little cuss words,' -Atom! What d'you think he said about your sex too? He said: 'What -meddlers women are! Why must they have their fingers in everyone's -pie?' Why, James there would be more gallant!" - -Sheila Pat did not respond to his nonsense. She said sombrely, "I'm -comin' to hear you speak, Denis O'Brien." - -"Sorry, old girl, but the invitation's only for Nell, you know." - -She shut her mouth obstinately. - -Denis approached Jim. - -"Jim, what have you got in your mouth?" - -The monkey, in a flutter of fear, opened his mouth and shot out a piece -of india rubber, a small tube of paint, a button off the chair, and a -thimble. He had a habit of putting things in his mouth and carrying -them about with him. Denis had taught him already to give them up. As -the thimble rolled on to the chair, Jim sprang away, up the curtains, -and sat glowering down from the curtain rod. - -"He asked Aunt Kezia to come," Sheila Pat said. - -"But when he heard that--ahem--unfortunately she was engaged for that -evening, he said he hoped I'd bring my sister myself,--only mentioned -one sister, you see. Fact is, he's full up--afraid his drawing-room -won't hold them all." - -The Atom stared out of the window. Jim, having, with a good deal of -ingenuity, extricated a curtain hook, dropped it on her head. She shook -it off impatiently. Jim watched, peering impishly over the curtain -rail. - -"I'm awfully sorry, asthore,"--Denis pulled her pig-tail -lovingly--"shall I put you in my pocket?" - -"I will hear you speak," the Atom said. - -"Well, I'll recite my speech to you and Jim here. Nell was saying she -wishes you'd take her place." - -"Don't be silly, Denis." - -A measured step approached the door. - -"Aunt Kezia--and Jim not in his cage!" he ejaculated, and strode to the -door. - -He glanced back at Jim--a dim little outline in the curtain. "If only -he stays there!" - -He swung out on to the landing, nearly upsetting Miss Kezia. - -"I wish to see Molly," she said. - -"Molly? She's not in there, Aunt Kezia." - -"One of my boots is missing. I conclude that Molly, for some purpose of -her own, has taken it." She moved towards him and the door. - -"Don't you trouble," he besought her; "you go and finish getting ready. -I'll find Molly and ask her." - -"I prefer to look for myself." - -She entered the Stronghold and gazed around. - -Jim peered inquisitively at her over the curtain top. Denis frowned at -him and shook his head. - -"There is my boot!" Miss Kezia dragged a large and solid boot from -beneath a chair. "Well!" she ejaculated, and the amount of indignation -she managed to compress into that one word was terrific. She held up -the boot--there was not a button left on it. But on the floor, ranged -in a neat little line, sat ten black buttons. The absolute regularity -of the line, the precision and neatness, somehow seemed to aggravate the -offence. - -"I--I would like to _whip_ Molly!" - -Miss Kezia's accents were not so judicial as usual; there was a hurried, -almost a pathetic, note about them. She was at a loss. "I will find -Molly," she said with dire meaning, and stalked towards the door. - -"I'll find her for you!" Denis exclaimed, and brushed past her. When -the door was shut, Sheila Pat, with a smile for what had occurred, went -back to the window and her thoughts. - -Jim crept stealthily down the curtain and across to the boot buttons, -which had been scattered by Miss Kezia's angry toe. He picked them up, -one by one, and laid them in a neat little row again. Then he sat and -regarded them with his head on one side. - -Sheila Pat's solitude was invaded presently by a very injured and -tearful Molly. - -"She thinks I'm mad! And he isn't worth it! I'm to--to sew them all on -myself! I can't!" - -Sheila Pat rose suddenly and left the room. She went into her bedroom.. -It was a bright, cold day with a brilliant sun sparkling on a -fast-disappearing frost. But Sheila Pat donned a dark blue raincoat. -She looked down with satisfaction on the neat little ankles and feet -that were all that emerged from that end. From the other end, above an -intensely sporting turned-up collar, her small face looked out with a -weighty seriousness. She put on a dark blue peaked sort of cap, also -rain proof, slipped downstairs, and left the house. With her hands in -big pockets, she walked staidly down the road, a quaint little -exceedingly tailorish figure. She stopped to accost a grey cob in a -milkman's cart, and on the milkman's appearing from a house fell into -conversation with him. Suddenly she broke out, appealingly young and -eager in spite of her coat:-- - -"Might I--oh, _please_ might I get in and hold the reins while you're in -the houses?" - -He appeared to hesitate. - -"It--" a little choke jostled the words--"it's weeks and weeks since -I've held the reins!" - -The milkman glanced dubiously down at the very small Atom, then at his -quiet old cob, and assented. As he politely helped her in he felt the -little tremor that shook her, but he did not understand it. He smiled -surprisedly at the workmanlike way in which she gathered up the reins. -He nodded kindly into the suddenly joyous face uplifted to his. Sheila -Pat let out a great big breath and clucked softly to the cob. - -"Plenty of work in him yet," she observed conversationally. "Pretty -shrewd, too," with a proud little laugh as the cob stopped outside a -house. - -"He knows the houses I supply as well as I do, miss." - -On his rejoining her, "Any special fad?" she asked. - -"Well, he's steady-going as a rule, miss,--don't mind motors, or trains, -or stone-crushers a bit,--but it's a funny thing he can't stand -wheelbarrers! Shies at 'em quite skittish." - -Sheila Pat listened with absorbed interest. The milkman came to the -last house on his list, and she drove him in style to the dairy. The -conversation on the way was strictly horsey. As they drew up she -mentioned where she was going. - -"Mr. Yovil? Oh, we supply him. I'll take you there, miss; it's close -by." - -So it came about that Mr. Mark Yovil, looking forth from his study -window, beheld his milkman driven to his gate by a very small and very -dignified driver, who, after bidding the cob a lingering and loving -farewell, shook hands with the milkman, and entered Mr. Yovil's gate. - -A few minutes later a rigidly grave maid announced: "Miss Sheila -Patricia Kathleen O'Brien," and the Atom walked in. - -"How-do-you-do? I am the sister of Denis O'Brien." - -Mr. Yovil took off his glasses and polished them with his handkerchief, -then he fixed them on the brown and bumpy bridge of his nose, and -regarded her through them. - -"I'm sure I'm very pleased to see you," he said in a particularly -charming voice. Sheila Pat would never have dreamt how exceedingly curt -and cutting that voice could be. "Pray sit down." - -"Thank you." - -There was a pause, while he watched her pulling down her long coat over -her ankles. - -"You see, I've come on business," she said presently, looking up -straight into his face. - -"Oh, indeed. I'm afraid," with a comical shake of his bristly head, -"I'm not much good on business matters." - -"It's not about money at all. I--" there was just a tiny pause--"I want -to know if you--if you would engage me as an extra hand on next -Wednesday." - -"An--extra--hand?" - -A little pink signal of distress lest he laugh at her flamed in her -cheek. - -"You see," the staid voice grew hurried, "I'm rather small for my age. -I'm not really very young. I'm quite six and fourteen weeks, and I--I'm -'ceptionally strong. I could wash the plates and knives and forks, -and--and run errings--and fill the water jugs. I'd do anythin', and I -wouldn't want any wages. The only stippleation I'd make is that I might -listen in a corner to Denis's speech." - -"It's very kind of you," the dark eyes behind the glasses were twinkling -a good deal, "but I really do not need an--er--extra hand." - -There was a pause. Sheila Pat swallowed twice, quite loudly. - -"P'raps," tremulous hope sounded in her voice, "p'raps you'd like me to -show people to their seats?" - -"N-no," he said slowly, "I really don't think there's any office I need -filling." - -He stared distressed at the woeful face of Sheila Pat. He polished his -glasses with a queer nervousness, this quick-tempered little man before -whom so many grown-ups had trembled. - -"I--" with a trembling burst of desperation, "I could fill the coal -skuttles!" - -He came over and, drawing up a chair, sat down beside her. - -"Will you tell me why you want to--er--fulfil all these menial offices?" -he asked gently. - -She slid off her chair. - -"It was to hear Denis, you see. Good-bye, Mr. Yovil." - -"But--why not come with your brother?" - -"Nell's comin', and you're full up. Molly doesn't want to, anyway, -because there'd be so many boys starin'." - -"I shall be very much hurt if you don't come, too." - -A little flush rose to her cheeks. - -"I'm not wishin' to intrude, thank you; I wasn't askin' for _that_! -Only, you see, I thought if I could be an extra hand, that would do." - -He took the hand extended to him, and with his other rubbed his brow -wildly. He realised that nothing would induce his small companion to -come on the Wednesday merely as a visitor. He stared at her in comical -distress. - -"Good-bye," he said absently. - -As she reached the door he gave a jubilant shout. - -"Could you be my Social Prompter, do you think?" - -She turned back. - -"Yes," she said. "What is it?" - -He smiled. - -"Come and sit down again. There, that's right. Oh, I shall want a -Social Prompter that evening!" he gave a quizzical little chuckle. "Now -listen, my dear. I'm a rude man. Oh, yes, I am," as she politely -refuted his statement. "A good many ladies have told me so. I never -speak to the people I should speak to, and I speak to those I shouldn't. -Well, there will be a good many ladies present on Wednesday, and I must -speak to them all and I must say just about as many words to one as the -other. Now, my sister was to have been hostess, and she gives me a sign -whom I'm to accost next, and so on. But her little boy has the measles, -and she won't come up to town. Do you see?" - -"Oh, yes!" Sheila Pat's face was intent. "I'll turn up my nose at the -ladies you've spoken to, and smile at the ones you haven't." - -"Well--hardly that. The ladies whom you turned your nose up at might be -hurt, you know. Let me see, now. I think if you come quietly up to me -every now and then, and suggest what group I shall join-- How will that -do?" - -"Yes," said Sheila Pat. She put out her hand and gave his arm an -ecstatic little squeeze. - -"I did want to see Denis get the prize." - -"But perhaps he won't." - -"Oh, yes, he will. He's Irish, you see. Good-bye. I'm very much -'bliged." - -"Not at all. It's I who should say that. I'm coming out. We'll start -together." - -With infinite tact he invented the need of tobacco, because he knew -there was a tobacconist's near the top of Henley Road. He never smoked -any but a particular brand that he procured at a particular shop, and -that evening his man was gratified by the present of a tin of tobacco. - -He bade the Atom good-bye at the top of her road, and looking after the -sedate little back, he smiled. Such an immense dignity was there in -that small back view of Sheila Pat that it was difficult to associate -her with the severe scolding to which she knew she was walking. - - - - - *CHAPTER XII* - - -"Four half crowns is ten bob. Sarah, if ever I catch you carrying that -heavy coal-box up to our room again, I'll give you a month's warning and -pack you off without a day's notice! - -"Nell," entering the Stronghold, "to-day is Saturday. Old Tellbridge, -gazing at my interesting countenance, pale from overwork and perhaps -tired of my unfortunate method of making two and two tot up to five or -three, let me off early. The pit of a theatre is peopled nowadays by a -most respectable and worthy--" - -"A theatre? Oh, Denis! Which? What?" - -"My dears, do not shout. 'Tis vulgar. You've heard of a play called -'Monsieur Beaucaire.' Softly--softly. And James, there are -no--er--butterflies in K.K.'s coat, I assure you. Yes, Atom, we _are_ -going! Yes, we must start _at once_! Lancaster says it's going very -strong. We'll have to wait outside ages. As our aunt is not at home, I -would suggest a raid on the kitchen, and then flight." - -Nell said demurely:-- - -"Yesterday Aunt Kezia was holding forth on the vulgarity of any but -grocers' assistants and 'sich-like' waiting in a queue outside a -theatre." - -Down in the kitchen a scandalised Sarah looked on while they "foraged." -She held a table-cloth in one hand and two table napkins in the other. -Agitatedly she sought to thrust them upon the O'Briens, while they sat -on the table and ate cold jam-tart, bread and cheese, and apples. -Later, as they hurried out of the gate--Molly, gloveless, working her -arms into her coat--she called after them:-- - -"You'll be faint with 'unger, missansir!" - -On the omnibus Molly discovered that she had brought odd gloves with -her. - -As they drew near the theatre they were overcome with a sudden fear that -they would be too late to get seats in the front row and they scrambled -anyhow down the omnibus steps. Sheila Pat took a flying leap that -brought down upon her shouts from the conductor and from the drivers of -two cabs. The Atom, safe and sound on the curb, drew herself up with -dignity. - -"Really, in this _London_ a person can't do a thing at all, without -being interfered with!" - -Then they ran. When they arrived at the theatre, they found only about -ten people there before them. Denis assured them they would get -front-row seats, and they exulted. - -The long wait did not seem long to them. But their money flew. There -was the poor man who tied himself into horrible knots; the newspaper -boy, who had blue eyes, and whom they thought might be Irish. When he -thanked them for the sixpence, his Cockney accent shattered their hopes. -They gave pennies to the little pink-nosed boy whose sister played the -flageolet, and to an old man who sang. - -Then the move began. A very big man directly behind Sheila Pat looked -down amusedly at that excessively small, but excessively determined -young person. He recognised the fact that the Atom meant no one to push -in front of her. In the front row Sheila Pat sat her down, and looked -around, quivering with excitement. - -Just before the curtain went up Ted Lancaster strolled into the stalls, -and sat down in front of the Atom. She bent forward and dug eager -little fingers into his shoulder. - -"Won't you be speakin' to me at all, then, Mr. Lancaster?" - -He turned. - -"Why, it's my lit--my Irish friend! How-do-you-do, Miss O'Brien?" - -"Oh, please," said Sheila Pat, "is there anyone _Irish_ in the play?" - -"I'm afraid not. But you'll lose your heart to Monsieur Beaucaire, -though he's only a Frenchman!" - -She shook an obstinate head. - -"I won't!" - -At the end of the first act he turned to her. A little faint pink -colour dyed her cheeks, her eyes were wide and bright. - -"Well? How about your heart?" - -"I--I _haven't_! I won't!" - -"I love him!" said Molly. "And oh, I _loathe_ that wicked Duke of -Winterset!" - -When the curtain went down at the end of the first scene of the second -act, he turned to her again. Her eyes were brighter, her cheeks pinker -than before. She refused to look at him. - -"It's only two minutes," Ted said. "Miss Sheila Patricia?" he finished -with an uplifting of brows. - -"I--I _haven't_! You are a very intruding boy!" - -The curtain went up, and he turned away. - -The moment when she finally and absolutely and openly capitulated was -when Monsieur Beaucaire came down the stairs, taking the old Countess of -Greenbury to supper. In the midst of the storm of applause, one ecstatic -little voice rang out. - -"He's _worthy_ to be Irish, anyway!" - -As they went out Molly managed to become separated from them and lost. - -Denis said, "You stay out here with Lancaster," and plunged back into -the crowd. - -Sheila Pat, excited, too restless to stand still, plunged eagerly after -him. - -Nell was left standing with Ted. Now Ted Lancaster was possessed of -some physical attributes that particularly displeased Nell, as being so -ridiculously untrue to his character. She fell to pondering the -strength of his rather thin mouth and of his chin; on the look of -cleverness about his deep-set eyes. The very breadth of his shoulders -displeased her. She told herself that a slack creature such as he must -be, who lounged about and did nothing except drive in a motor, had no -business with a face like his. Irritatedly she fought against a strong -inclination to like him. - -"Isn't your motor waiting for you?" she broke the silence in a bland -tone of voice. - -"No." He sounded a little surprised. "There're always hansoms, you -know," he added. - -"Oh! But you prefer your motor, don't you?" - -He gave her a quick, shrewd glance; there was just the suspicion of a -smile at the corners of his lips as he answered carelessly:-- - -"Well, they get you along quicker, you know." - -"Yes," she said, "and of course when you've a lot to do--when you are -very busy--that's a consideration." - -There was a little pause. She glanced at him and smiled maliciously. -He had flushed a little. - -"Yes," he agreed nonchalantly. - -She watched three women frantically tearing about in search of a hansom, -but she was thinking of Ted. What a cool voice he had! She wasn't sure -that it wasn't impertinent. And as for his looking tired and ill--well, -of course he would, living an unhealthy, self-indulgent, lazy life. -Suddenly she began to contrast his mode of life with Denis's before they -had left Kilbrannan. Impulsively she spoke her thoughts aloud, keeping, -in actual words, only to Denis, his prowess in the hunting field, -football, and so on; but her expressive voice and face pointed the -moral, drew the contrast, as plainly as if she had spoken it. There was -another pause when she stopped. - -Then Denis appeared with the others. The relief in her welcome was -unmistakable. - -"Got her! She was rushing off in a frenzy straight for the North Pole! -You're not going, Lancaster? Rot! Come along with us, old chap, and be -introduced to Jimmy O'Driscoll." - -Ted glanced at Nell; it was an odd glance, and his mouth twisted in a -sudden dry smile. - -"Yes, won't you?" she said carelessly. - -"Thanks, no, I've to meet a fellow!" - -He raised his hat and walked away. - -Sarah let them in at No. 35. She looked scared and spoke in a loud -whisper. - -"Oh, missansir, there's been murder done as sure as my name's Sarah -Jones! Hush! She's in! The poor little dog! Its dying 'owls were -pitiful! I allus knew that unchristian monkey-thing would do us a -'arm!" - -She managed to work on their feelings to a certain extent, although they -knew that Jim had conceived a deep affection for Kate Kearney, which -that young person returned with a disdainful and bullying sort of -tolerance. They hurried up to the Stronghold, Denis produced the key, -and they opened the door. The room presented a somewhat chaotic -appearance; bits of Denis's slippers strewed the floor; a fur rug -distributed itself in bunches round the room; the table-cloth had been -pulled off, and with it various books, papers, and a bowl of -chrysanthemums. With the chaos a dead silence greeted them; they could -see neither Kate Kearney nor Jim O'Driscoll. - -Molly gasped:-- - -"Oh--they're both killed!" - -Behind the easy chair they sat, two little mute, obstinate figures, -palpably worn out, and each still holding on grimly to a battered thing -of felt and ribbon that once had been a hat of Nell's. In Jim's thin -little hands, as they gripped the hat, bunches of black fur were -discernible, which told a tale. At their approach K.K. arose, panting, -and renewed the struggle. She was very strong and Jim was very small. -With her teeth fixed firmly in the felt, she pulled and pulled, backing -all round the room, and at the other end of the hat came Jim, hopping, -sliding, but never letting his hold slip. His pathetic little wizened -face added to the ludicrousness of the spectacle. In the end Denis -bethought him brilliantly of a way to end the struggle with fairness to -both sides. He took a knife and sawed Nell's hat in halves. -Immediately each went straight for the piece the other held, and as each -dropped its own piece, Nell picked them up, and the battle was perforce -at an end. - -Jim fled, chattering with rage, to the top of the curtain, and Kate -Kearney had resort to what no doubt she would have termed a hurt -dignity, but what looked considerably like a fit of the sulks. - -"Now," said Denis, "how did that little beggar undo his cage door?" - -Nell said, still laughing:-- - -"It's just struck me that it's rather hard on my hat!" - - - - - *CHAPTER XIII* - - -Denis was immersed, fathoms deep, in unutterable gloom. It was the -all-important day, at last. That morning he had risen in wild spirits. -"Don't believe my poor old essay is so bad after all! Anyhow, what's it -matter?" - -At luncheon time he was still hilarious; at tea time down, down in the -depths. His thermometer had been very much like that in regard to his -speech, up and down, down and up, for the past week. - -"It's tea time, Denis." - -"All right." He glanced up from his notes with his eyebrows up, his -forehead wrinkled. "T'won't make any difference whether I go on reading -up or not--it's awful rot, anyway." - -"It's grand," declared Sheila Pat, and the Pearl chattered his teeth -angrily at the enthusiastic squeeze she gave him. - -"Don't lose heart, Denis, it's a fine speech," said Nell. - -"It's stiff--stilted," he said, frowning. - -She flushed; he had put her own secret fear into words. - -"I'm quite sure you will get the prize," remarked Stewart, who had been -invited to tea. He spoke with deep earnestness; he had an intense -admiration for Denis. - -But Denis sat glum and gloomy while they pressed bread and butter on -him, and Stewart made him a slice of French toast. Then suddenly he -looked up, and he burst out laughing. - -"Oh, how you're all waiting on Sir Doldrums Gloomy-grump! Look at the -noble Stewart's flushed countenance, reddened in my unworthy service! -Not another word on literature! Let's forget that such things as -speeches exist!" - -But presently he began to laugh again:-- - -"I'm thinking of poor old Lancaster. Saw him this afternoon--talk about -gloom! He was in a vile temper! 'Pretty lot of fools we'll look! But I -deserve all I get!' he growled, and off he marched, though I wanted to -speak to him particularly!" - -While they were dressing, Stewart slipped away next door. - -He reappeared, oddly red and shy. - -Sheila Pat, in short white petticoat and stockinged feet, met him on the -landing. - -"Where have you been, Tommy?" - -"Just home." - -"What's the matter, Tommy?" - -"Nothing!" - -Sheila Pat considered him gravely. - -"Your face is very red." - -"Rot!" - -"And why are you keepin' your hand behind you?" - -"Want to!" - -She made a dart, but he turned, too. Round and round they went, and she -won. She was too quick and elf-like for him. - -"Oh!" she said. "It's a red rose. Is it for Nell?" - -"No!" - -"Is it for me?" - -"If--if you like--you can have it!" - -"Oh, yes, please, Tommy." - -He held it out to her, a lovely deep red rose with a spray of maiden -hair. - -"I'll pin it in front of my dress, Tommy, and I'll look so nice, won't -I? Janie and Benny Jones are comin' to look at us when we're dressed." - -"Sheila Pat! Sheila Pat!" - -She slipped away from him. - -Presently she reappeared in the Stronghold. - -"Tommy, _don't_ you think--with my button-hole and all--_I might be -seven_?" - -Stewart looked at her in her little loose, short white frock; at her -long, slim legs and little white heelless shoes. - -"Don't look at my _legs_!" she breathed. - -"Ten!" he said unblinkingly. - -"Oh, Tommy! I do so want to look old to-night! It's very -erportant--what I've got to do! And I'll put some cakes in my pocket -for you." - -Nell ran past the room and upstairs to see how Denis was getting on. He -had lost his collar stud. She found it for him; she put it in for him; -she sewed the bow on to his shoe; she rearranged his tie; helped him on -with his coat, and all he said in thanks was:-- - -"Oh, Jemima! how I pity the poor chap who marries you!" - -Nell pulled her hair a trifle looser, using his glass. She turned on -him, young, slim, radiantly pretty. "Do you?" she laughed. "I'll be an -old maid, then!" - -"You do look stunning, old girl! Bet I'll have the prettiest sister -there to-night." - -"Oh, I do believe you carry a chip of the blarney stone about with you. -Come down and let Janie and Benny look at you. Denis, there's a most -delicious scent in this room. What is it?" - -"Eh? Oh, a bit of lily of the valley I thought you might like. It's on -the wash-hand stand." - -He whistled a bar of "Widow Macree." - -"Oh, Denis!" She was holding up a lovely bunch of lilies of the valley -to her cheek. - -He turned with sudden irritation. - -"Don't start about it's being extravagant! It isn't! If you say a word, -I'll chuck 'em in the dust-bin!" - -She smiled demurely. The flowers had been behind the water-jug, with a -suspicious air of having been hidden there. - -"They're lovely," she said, tucking them into her soft folded belt. "I -must pin them in. Are you coming, twin?" - -"If it weren't for taking you two, I wouldn't come at all." - -"Oh, yes, you would." - -"What's the good? I haven't a ghost of a chance--" - -"If you _knew_ you were bound to make the worst speech there," her head -was up, "you would go. We never funk anything, Denis!" - -"Neither we do, old lady!" - -He seized her round the waist and ran her downstairs to her room. - -"Nell," called out the Atom, "aren't you ready? Janie and Benny have -come!" - -"O dear, then hurry I _must_! Molly, I wish you were coming, too!" - -"I don't! I wouldn't for anything," she whispered eagerly. "I shall go -and talk to Aunt Kezia!" - -"Molly, you're getting too good altogether for the likes of us! Don't, -in your exaltation, forget to shut Jim up. Benny, what big eyes! Janie, -how's the cold? Duckies, ask Sarah if we didn't leave two nice cakes at -tea. Coming, Denis! Good-bye, Aunt Kezia. Molly, there's a packet of -butter-scotch somewhere--find it for them. Good-bye!" - -Mark Yovil greeted the Atom as an old friend. - -"Of course," said Sheila Pat, anxiously, "I don't know which ladies -you've spoke to before I came." - -"Oh, that doesn't count," he reassured her. - -Nell looked round the room interestedly. There were not many people -there yet. Standing by a lounge talking to a girl with an elaborately -dressed head of colourless hair, she saw Ted Lancaster. Another girl, -younger, sat between her and an older, stouter edition of them both, -obviously the mother. Nell had a quick thought of a hairdresser's shop, -the three heads were so stiffly held, so carefully dressed. Then she -wondered, humorously, whether the husband and father didn't get tired of -seeing his wife in three stages of age and size. - -"Will you come?" Mr. Yovil asked. "I'd like to introduce you to Mrs. -Lancaster. She's Ted Lancaster's aunt, you know--he and your brother -are chums, aren't they?" - -"Y-yes." - -Mrs. Lancaster bent a stiff head, Miss Lancaster and Miss Gertrude -Lancaster did likewise. Ted shook hands. - -"Is your brother going to make a speech?" Gertrude asked as Nell sat -down beside her. - -"Yes. When are they going to start?" - -"I don't know. The whole thing is an awful bore, isn't it?" - -"No; I love it." - -"Really? Alicia," turning to her sister, "Miss O'Brien is actually -enjoying herself!" - -"Really? How queer! We only came because we thought dear Mr. Yovil -would be hurt if we refused." - -Up came Denis. - -"I say, can't you squeeze me in somehow?" - -Gertrude unbent and laughed as he sat down between her and Nell. - -Sheila Pat, always earnest, trotted gravely at her host's heels till he -released her. Even then she watched. He was standing talking to an -imposing matron when he felt a sharp little nip on his arm. He looked -down and met Sheila Pat's chiding eyes. - -"You've spoken to her _twice_! I would have thought you'd remember -her--_by her nose_!" - -The whisper was loud; he muttered a hasty excuse and fled. But he fled -in the wrong direction. After him ran Sheila Pat. - -"You haven't spoken _once_ to the lady in the bathing dress!" - -In her eagerness her voice rose, and several pairs of eyes glanced -instinctively across the room to where a lady in a red and white striped -silk gown sat amiably looking on, and several people hid smiles. - -"Ted isn't a bit nervous," Gertrude Lancaster confided to Nell. "He's -quite calm and cool. Now, that poor Cuthbert Pennington who's just been -introduced to you is all on wires about it." - -Nell looked across to where Ted lounged, talking to an old gentleman. - -"Is he convinced he'll win the prize?" - -"Oh, I don't know. But nothing ever troubles him, I think. Can you -catch his eye? I want to ask him about a dinner-party--I _can't_ make -him look this way!" - -"Isn't it unkind to disturb him? He looks so comfortable." - -"Oh, no--oh, that's it. Now he'll come." - -He came slowly and stood before them. - -"You want me?" - -Gertrude chattered about an approaching dinner-party, then she turned to -join in another conversation. - -Ted stood silent. - -Nell glanced up at him. "Nothing ever troubles him," rang in her ears. -She frowned impatiently. - -"Poor Mr. Pennington!" she said softly. - -He glanced across at Pennington, surrounded, the centre of a noisy -group, and raised his eyebrows. - -"He's nervous about his speech. He," there was the faintest accent on -the "he," "doesn't feel sure he will win the Shakespeare." - -"How queer! Surely each one in his heart is convinced he'll pull it -off!" There was an odd mocking note in his voice. - -"Only the conceited ones!" she laughed. - -There was a little pause. - -She looked up at him, smiling. - -"_You_ feel as if you will win it, don't you?" she said amiably. - -"Thanks. I take it, Miss O'Brien." - -"The speeches are going to begin," observed Gertrude, turning round. - -"I say," Cuthbert Pennington's dark face was trying to look injured, -"they've made me go up first! Wish me luck! I'm a-trembling all over. -Shouldn't wonder if I faint away in a swoond!" - -His speech was good, bright, and vivacious, and sometimes humorous. -There was a good deal of applause at its finish. - -Nell felt terribly excited. She glanced often at Denis, who looked gay -and debonnair enough. - -The two next speeches were not so good; in both there was a stiffness of -phrase that made her put them aside with a metaphoric wave of her hand. -Then came the poetic Morley's turn. He was inclined to be -grandiloquent, he brought in a great many poetical quotations, his -metaphors were inclined to run away with him; but he used fervid -gestures, he flung back his hair a good deal, and people seemed -enthusiastic. - -Nell felt uneasy; she did not herself care for his speech, but she -recognised a good deal of merit in it. - -Ted Lancaster was the next. - -He rose and strolled slowly to the end of the room. - -"Isn't he at his ease!" laughed Gertrude. - -Nell was conscious of a quick, uncharitable wish that his speech should -be bad--bad--that he should receive hardly any applause--that that -conceited ease of his should be ruffled--upset. He bowed to his -audience. A little hot spasm of shame went through her. Surely--surely -he was nervous! His face was quite white, and his eyes stared out -sombrely from beneath frowning brows. - -"The Influence of Music on Mankind," he announced in his deep, quiet -voice. He paused, looked down, then straight out before him again. - -"It is impossible," he began, "to exaggerate--" his eyes met Nell's, he -stumbled, stopped--"to exaggerate--er--er--the important part that--that -music--that music--has played in the--er--history of the world--" - -Nell was tingling all over with shame and pity; her cheeks burnt; she -bit her lip cruelly. She could see his hand, resting on the top of the -Grand piano beside him, shake; and then suddenly, abruptly, in the -middle of a sentence, he bowed and strolled back to his seat. - -There was an uncomfortable little silence. A few people clapped feebly. - -"Oh," whispered Gertrude in Nell's ear, "_poor_ Ted! He must have been -nervous, after all!" - -"You were rather ridiculously out in your opinion, weren't you?" -retorted Nell, hotly. - -"How could I know? He--" - -Some one said, "Hush!" It was a red-cheeked boy with a twinkle in his -eye, but it stopped Gertrude. Nell forgot Ted then, for it was Denis's -turn next. Head erect, he marched to his place. Nell's hands locked -themselves together; she hardly breathed; but when he turned and bowed -she drew a sharp breath. Denis was nervous! He stood there, tall, -broad-shouldered, his head flung back. His blue eyes looked very dark; -his mouth was shut tightly. And he stood there, silent. - -No one moved. No one seemed to breathe. The stillness was awful. Nell -felt as if she would shriek aloud. Then suddenly his eyes met hers; a -little flush rose to his brow: "Early morning--the world gleaming green -and wet through the blue haze--all the young things waking and stirring -about you--" his voice rang out, musical, assured, and left Nell -gasping. Dimly, with his talk of the stream glinting in the sunshine, -the scent of the turf fires, there mingled in her ears--"names that -still ring throughout all the lands--a grand and awe-inspiring age--the -literature of that day--" and the result was bewildering. And then she -was leaning forward, drinking it all in--for here was a bit of their old -life--of Kilbrannan--home itself. Something caught in her throat, and -for a moment Denis shone through a mist. - -Others were listening, too,--really listening,--absorbed, interested; -grave and smiling by turns, as he willed. He stood there, before them -all, unself-conscious, eager, making them see what he saw; and the words -came without stumble or pause--easy, fluent, enthusiastic. It was just -a bit of the old life he was showing them--a wild hunt made them laugh -aloud; the peasants, the scenery, kept them absorbed; and when he -stopped, there was a perfect storm of applause. The room fairly rang -with it. - -He glanced swiftly, anxiously, at Nell, and then he bowed with all his -own airy grace, again and again, laughing outright. One of the boys -shouted out, "Encore!" - -There was only one speaker to come after Denis, and the unfortunate boy -was received with yawns behind fans and barely concealed indifference. - -Of course Denis had won the Shakespeare. He received it in a storm of -clapping. Everyone smiled on him and paid him compliments. Unabashed, -he deftly returned them with interest to the ladies. The defeated boys -nearly shook his arm out of its socket. Sheila Pat forgot, for the time -being, her duties as Social Prompter, and went about informing everyone -that she was Denis's sister. - -"He doesn't mind me pinching him a bit!" she said proudly. - -But she remembered her duty presently, and when Mr. Yovil was talking to -Nell, down swooped Sheila Pat. - -"It's not her turn! I think you'd better go and talk to the jingle lady -now." - -He went, meek as a lamb. - -"Nell," said Denis, coming up to her a moment, "no, I won't answer any -questions." - -"But, Denis--" - -"I'll tell you when we get home. I want you to be sweet to poor old -Lancaster, Nell." - -She blushed guiltily. "I'd like to, but he won't come near me, I'm -afraid." - -"I'll manage. Don't you want some sandwiches?" - -"Awfully badly." - -"I'll send him along with them. Mind," warningly, "that you're nice to -him." - -She grew hotter still. - -Presently Ted came to her. - -"O'Brien asked me to bring you these," he said stiffly. - -"Oh, thanks!" She dimpled at him charmingly. - -"Don't you want anything to eat or drink? The coffee's awfully good." - -"No, thanks." - -He stood a moment. - -She wondered why he looked so terribly tired, why he was so pale, with -such dark rings round his eyes. All the mother in her wakened, and, -with her shame, swamped the old sense of antagonism and made her long to -make amends. - -He turned on his heel. - -"I--there's room for you here." She drew her skirt aside with a quick -little nervous gesture. - -He looked back at her surprised. She was smiling at him anxiously; -there was soft deprecation in her eyes. - -He hesitated. - -"I--thanks," he said, and sat down. - -She began chattering about Sheila Pat; about the Zooelogical Gardens, -where they had been that day. She rattled on about their own Zoo in -Dublin, in the Phoenix Park. She laughingly owned that the Regent's Park -Zoo was larger. "But it hasn't such a beautiful background, there are -no mountains, and ours is such a dear little Zoo somehow. The pelicans -and peacocks and seagulls wander about in the open. Sheila Pat scorns -your Regent's Park because they don't have polo matches there--" - -"Oh, Mr. Lancaster," a fair-haired girl stopped before them, "I _was_ so -sorry for you! It must be _terrible_ to be so nervous!" - -He stood up. - -"Very kind of you." - -Her mother joined in: "Oh, no, everyone is pitying you! And Mr. Yovil -is _wild_ about it! He won't _speak_ of it! So hard and unkind of him! -As if anyone can help being nervous. Come, Lucy, dear." - -Ted sat down again. - -Nell looked fierce; her lips were shut tight, her cheeks glowing. He -glanced at her. - -"Something has vexed you?" he said tentatively. - -"Yes." - -"Anything I can do?" - -"No! Oh, how hateful--_hateful_ people are! What idiots! Oh, I'm as -bad as they are! I didn't mean to worry you, but it--I never can keep -things in. I choke." - -"Please don't," he smiled rather bewilderedly. "Say what you like." - -"No, I won't. Only how anyone could be so idiotic--so thick-skinned--so -_aggravating_ as those two just now--" - -He looked at her incredulously. - -"You're angry with them--for me?" - -"Of course!" she sounded quite snappy. - -"It's awfully nice of you, you know." - -"Oh, no, it isn't. And I'm just making it worse--" - -"No, you're not, you--you've made it a lot better." - -"Have I?" She smiled radiantly. "Oh, I'm so glad!" - -"And you know," in an extremely casual tone, "it serves me right for -going in for it! And I was an awful fool, of course." - -"You weren't. Denis was only saved by being an Irishman. I'll tell you -a secret--he wouldn't mind...." - -"Well, he _is_ a clever chap!" - -"And now do have something to eat. I expect," shrewdly, "you didn't -have much dinner." - -"But I'm so comfortable here," he pleaded. - -"You are to go and get something," she commanded. "I'll keep your place -for you." - -At that he rose obediently. - -Presently up came Cuthbert Pennington. - -"I say, Miss O'Brien, don't you feel puffed up--reflected glory, you -know, and all that? That young sister of yours says she knew he'd get -the prize, because he's Irish. I said, 'Och, begorra, why doesn't his -nose try to look at his brow then?' and she boxed my ears! Did, really! -I've fallen head over heels in love with her. But she says she's going -to marry an Irish breeder of horses. Hard on me, isn't it?" - -His white teeth gleamed as he laughed out joyously. - -"I say, if I'd known we'd a second what's-his-name amongst us, I'd never -have fagged over books and notes till my hair went grey." - -She glanced at his crisp black locks. - -"What dye do you use?" - -"Oh, a family secret! Won't you have some more coffee? Poor old -Lancaster looks down, doesn't he? Never nervous myself--" - -"If you'll let me get a word in edgeways, I'd like to observe that that -seat is taken." - -"How unkind you are to me! If you hadn't tempered your words with a -smile, I'd have gone out and hanged myself. All right, I may stay here -till the owner turns up? Thanks. I won't talk," sadly. - -She dimpled mischievously. - -Pause. - -Someone passing smiled and nodded to him. - -"I say, Miss O'Brien, see her? Think she's pretty? Well, my mater beats -her hollow! Wish she was here to-night. I'd like you to know her--oh!" -He gave a roar of laughter. "I'm talking! Well, I don't care!" - -"I like you to talk," said she, sweetly, but rather absently. She was -looking across to where Ted Lancaster stood in conversation with some -friends. She was wondering when he meant to come and claim his place. - -Presently he left the people he was talking to and strolled across to -two boys. - -Nell's head went up a little. - -"Owner of this place doesn't seem to be coming," observed Pennington. -"Lucky for me. I'm an awfully lucky chap. Oh, you're not going?" - -"Denis is making faces at me. Everyone's gone or going. And we have an -aunt who objects to us keeping late hours." - -"Going, Nell?" Denis came up, laughing. "Look at the Atom shadowing -poor old Yovil! He was just having a chat with that grey-haired cousin -or something of his--awful nice old lady--and up came the Atom, 'You -_mustn't_ talk to her any more. Go at once and speak to the grumpy one -in green!' She was pretty autocratic, and he as meek as butter." - -"O'Brien," exclaimed their host as they reached his side, "I've been -trying to get to you, but," with a whimsical glance down at Sheila Pat, -"I'm under orders to-night. I've never been so polite before in all my -life. Now shake hands! You'll be heard of some day, O'Brien!" - -Denis flushed and laughed. - -"I'd like to tell you something--" - -"Eh?" The glasses flashed on him quickly. He drew him aside. - -"Well? Well?" - -Presently they heard him give a satisfied chuckle. - -"Good! Good! That accounts for a certain want of polish. The -sentences were at times crude--abrupt--rounded off carelessly. There -was tautology once or twice. Good! I'm glad you told me! I like your -family. Shake again! Ah, there's Lancaster. Young man," gripping -Ted's shoulder as he passed, "I have great hopes for you! For you have -made just the same beginning as I did myself many years ago." He -twinkled humorously and shook hands with great heartiness. Nell thought -of the little man's reported "wildness." She had decided that it was -very rude indeed of Ted not to trouble to come back to her when she was -keeping his place for him. So her good night lacked warmth. But then -so did his. - -Mr. Yovil turned to Sheila Pat; he tilted up her face and eyed her -amusedly. - -"Have I worked you too hard, my Social Prompter?" - -She shook her head. - -"You haven't spoken _much_ to the bathing-dress lady!" - -"Haven't I? I'd sooner speak to you." - -"Would you? Perhaps I'll come and see you all alone one day, shall I?" - -"I wish you would. And I wonder if I dare ask for a kiss?" - -"Your musstache looks rather prickly, I think," she hesitated. - -"Try it." - -He lifted her high in the air and kissed her. He put her down gently -and turned to bid other guests good-bye. At the door the Atom looked -back and waved her hand. - -"Good-bye, Mr. Yovil!" her voice rang out. "Don't forget the one in -the--you know--" An obvious nod at the red and white striped lady -completed the sentence. - -When they reached Henley Road the door was opened by Herr Schmidt. - -"My brother won the prize, Herr Schmidt." Sheila Pat's tone was full of -decorous pride. - -"Ach, I am glad! Come in. Hush, your aunt sleeps--" - -"You weren't sitting up for us, were you, Herr Schmidt?" Nell asked. - -"Nein, nein, Fraeulein! I sit up late always, and I tell your aunt I -will open ze door to you. You will come in and tell me about your -evening, hein?" - -Sheila Pat's gaiety had gone; her face looked pale and tired. - -Up in the Stronghold Molly lay in the arm-chair fast asleep, but Kate -Kearney flew to welcome them. - -Nell, looking at the Atom's weary little face, and hearing her sharp -responses to Molly's questions, cut the talk short. Molly went to bed -bewildered with sleepiness and hearing that Denis's speech hadn't been -his speech at all. - -To Nell he explained more fully. - -"It was your face, Nell! I stood there, and it had all gone--I couldn't -remember a word! Whether it was poor old Lancaster's bad example, I -don't know. And all of a sudden I met your eyes. Oh, Nell," with a -chuckle, "you did look so agonised, so beseeching! And it was exactly -how you looked at me that day when the Colleen Bawn knocked that hole -into her foreleg--d'you remember?--and you were trying to stop the -bleeding, when I came up. Well, I'd got to stop it for you, somehow, -and I did. And to-night I'd got to speak a speech, and I did." - -"Yes, you did." - -She was silent, gazing into the fire. - -"Poor little Atom!" she murmured softly. - -"I wish I hadn't done it!" He kicked the fender moodily. - -"Oh, don't, Denis! It was splendid. Isn't it a true sign of power to -move your audience? Besides--somehow it has done me good--it has made -me feel--_know_--that we're going back to it all some day!" - -"How?" - -Her beautiful eyes were misty; she gave a little radiant smile. - -"Oh, how should I know! But it _has_! And I'm sure it's done the same -to Sheila Pat!" - -But that night she had to turn her pillow round more than once. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIV* - - - Six gold watches at 1d. . . . . . . . 6 - Six gold horses at 1d. . . . . . . . 6 - Two dolls at 2d. . . . . . . . . . . 4 - Bottle of gum at 1d. . . . . . . . . 1 - Two drums at 4 3/4d. . . . . . . . . . 9 1/2 - \ -- - Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2 1/2 - - -Nell handed it over to Denis with an air of pride. - -"That's all we've bought for Christmas so far, Denis. We'd better hurry -up." - -"There's not much to get this year," he said gloomily. - -She stabbed the table with her pencil. - -"Sir William Harrison will give 'em all their Christmas 'comforts,'" he -pursued with a sneer. - -She sighed. - -"Nora says in the letter I had this morning that they're really very -nice people, only none of them can bear to see them in our home. She -says they're awfully good to the poor people, and--and haven't altered -anything--" - -There was a silence. - -"There's the hospital," she began; "we must send the box off in good -time, and I want to give Sarah's little brothers and sisters presents, -and now Sheila Pat has chummed up with that milkman, and he certainly -has two of the dearest little chubby girls! There's a good deal to get, -Denis." - -"So there is, asthore! To-morrow's Saturday. We'll go shopping -directly after lunch!" - -He picked up a chocolate cake from the table and ate it. It was one of -a lot he had bought for Sheila Pat, whose lunch, in punishment for some -misdeed, had been meagre and puddingless. Miss Kezia invariably -punished the Atom so, and Denis invariably bought her a substitute of -cakes and goodies to make up. - -"It'll have to be ingenious shopping this year, Denis," Nell said. - -He tapped his brow. "Here's an idea now! Surely in big toy shops some -of the toys must get broken! Eh? Here's the shopper. We'll buy the -broken toys, and I'll mend 'em. See, I'll turn carpenter for the nonce! -Oh, we'll drive wonderful bargains between us! What a head I've got!" - -The next afternoon they set forth. The first toy shop they came to was -a large and fashionable one. Molly elected to wait outside, but the -others marched gaily in. - -A tall and smiling damsel came gliding towards them, but at Denis's -debonair request for damaged toys, the smile froze, and the damsel -informed him coldly that it was not a second-hand shop. - -He smiled blandly, and responded that he could see that, but had thought -that even in such an elegant emporium things must occasionally be -broken. - -"We'll relieve you of tailless horses, armless and legless dolls, -sailless ships, funnelless engines, neckless giraffes, humpless camels, -trunkless elephants, even noseless tapirs," he ended with a flourish. - -The damsel's eye gleamed coldly. - -"I conclude when things are broken they are thrown away," she observed -with haughty nonchalance. - -He searched his pockets; his face was very grave. - -"Ah, I have not a tract with me bearing on this subject. But, my dear -young lady, it is a subject very near my heart. Waste! Ah, 'Waste not, -want not!' You have heard the wise old proverb? Waste! In thy name -how many sins are committed, daily, hourly, minutely! Think of empty -little arms--outstretched, clamoring--empty--while the dust-bin is full! -Think of armless dolls smiling in the midst of decayed vegetables! -Trunkless elephants sleeping in dust! And they might be hushed on happy -little bosoms!" - -He turned aside with a gesture of grief and opened the door for Nell and -the Atom to pass through. - -Outside: "Oh, Nell," cried Molly, "what are you laughing at? Oh! and -there are one--two--_three_ heads looking out of the door after us!" - -They were more successful in the next shop. In a few minutes the -shop-walker and three assistants were laughingly crawling about -searching for broken toys. Kate Kearney helped too, and demolished a -ball in the process. - -But the big success of the afternoon was the fourpence halfpenny shop. -They were enthralled. Shining pots and pans, gorgeous picture frames, -still more gorgeous pictures, vases, tea-pots, and toys, and all for -four-pence halfpenny each! What was fourpence halfpenny? Nothing. -Joyously they marched in. The tubby little woman who came forward to -serve them was delightful, too. When she nodded her head, the bobby -little grey curls at the sides of her face nodded too. - -Nell said: "Oh, what a lovely shop! Isn't _any_thing more than -fourpence halfpenny?" - -"No, dearie, that is, miss, all the same price. Twenty-four year 'ave -me and Jelks kep' this shop. We find toys and kitching utensils sell -best. That doll now is good valley for your money, miss. Will your dog -do any damage, sir? Oh," as Kate Kearney lay down at Denis's command, -"what a good-beyaved little man! I must fetch 'im a biscuit while -you're looking round like." - -The O'Briens were hilarious. - -Fourpence halfpenny! They had decided that they must only spend two or -three shillings more; but two or three shillings was untold wealth in a -fourpenny halfpenny shop. No need to be careful now. Gaily they chose -dolls, horses and carts, trumpets, Noah's arks filled with weird and -wondrous animals that Noah himself would never have recognised. Then a -customer came in. He was a small and puny customer, but he marched into -the shop with an air of grave importance before which his ragged clothes -seemed to fade into an abashed oblivion. Denis flung his hat away, and -came forward, rubbing his hands together in true professional style. - -"And what can I do for you, sir? Toys? Pots? Pans? Brushes?" - -"Ain't Mrs. Jelks in?" gasped the urchin; "'ere, none o' that," -recovering with Cockney speed. "You're a gent, you are." - -"A distant relative of Mrs.--er--Jelks. I'm taking charge of the shop -during her absence. Well, miss," turning to Nell, "have you chosen a -doll yet?" - -"I think I'll have this one." She seized recklessly upon a particularly -ugly specimen. - -"That's not such good valley for your money as this lady with the golden -locks, madam." - -"I'll look about a little longer," she declared demurely. - -"Certainly, madam!" - -He turned again to the bewildered but now convinced urchin. - -"Is it something for yourself you want?" he inquired blandly. - -The boy shook his head with an air of deep mystery. - -"Whom for, then? If you will tell me, I can help you to choose, you -know." - -He hesitated, glanced sharply at Denis's face, and suddenly blurted out -excitedly:-- - -"It's for Liz, sir! She's my sister what can't walk, you know. I've -got it--look!" opening out a grimy little palm with a penny, six -halfpennies, and two farthings on it. "Ain't it fine? And I put 'er -off--she thinks I only got a penny! She do, true as I stand 'ere! -It'll 'ave to be a secret till Christmas, too!" - -"Did you save it all up?" asked Nell. - -"Yes, miss! Every fardin'! And she don't know!" - -"You will have to choose very carefully, won't you? A doll, do you -think?" - -He shook his head. - -"Gals are so funny," with a puzzled little frown; "she's got a ole -wooden thing, 'as Liz, with no arms nor legs, and she 'ugs it like -anythink, and I ses to 'er t'other day, 'Liz,' I ses, that artful she'd -never guess what I was up to,--'Liz,' I ses, 'wouldn't it be fine if -Sandy Claws was to come and give you a fine new doll with arms and legs -now?' And she up with 'er face all red, and she ses quite angry like, -'I wouldn't 'ave it,' she ses, 'ugging 'er old wooden doll, 'I'd throw -it in the fire,' she ses, 'my _sweet_ Lily Vilet!'" - -"Well, then," Nell suggested, "something _for_ the doll?" - -"Yes, miss, that's it!" - -He was studying the treasures around him with solemn gaze. - -"This little doll's house?" suggested Denis. "Or this Noah's ark--it -seems to be filled chiefly with brown paper, by the way. Or this -beautiful cradle? All good valley," twinkling at Nell, "excellent -valley." - -The urchin looked from one thing to another. - -"It's differcult to know which, ain't it?" - -"Take your time, take your time. I'll be serving my other customers." - -He eyed Molly concernedly. - -"Don't you feel well, miss? You look sort of hysterical. Twenty-four -year 'ave me and Jelks kep' this shop and never 'ad our goods laughed at -before!" - -He turned his attention to Sheila Pat, who was rummaging earnestly for -broken toys. - -"That's a splendid ball you're looking at, miss. Let me show you how it -bounces." - -In an instant Kate Kearney was after it; there was a crash, a -tumble--and a horse, a donkey, a tin pail, and a box of bricks lay on -the floor. K.K., unabashed, seized the donkey and shook it. - -"Drop it! Drop it, K.K.!" - -The little urchin, after one glance round at the crash, went on staring -at the treasure of treasures he had found on the counter--a small wooden -table with pink and white cups and saucers, plates, tea-pot, milk jug, -and sugar basin set out invitingly on a spotless white cloth. The last -brick hunted out of the last corner and put back into its box, they -turned their attention to their small customer again. Nell whispered -quickly to Denis:-- - -"Quick, before she comes back--pretend its fourpence halfpenny for -_both_! _Don't_ let him guess--it would spoil it all for him!" - -"Chosen anything yet?" Denis queried. "Take your time. We are -accustomed to purchasers not being able to decide between the wondrous -bargains we display. Now this," he waved aloft a particularly awful tin -plate on which was painted in very vivid colours a big-headed little -girl caressing a dog several sizes larger than herself, "this is a -wonderful artistic product--after Landseer. You might think the animal -was perchance an elephant--" - -"They're fourpence ha'penny for the table, and fourpence ha'penny for -the cups and things, in course," the urchin interpolated with a big -sigh, and never a thought for Denis's nonsense. "They beat everythink -in the shop into fits!" - -"This table? This tea-set? Well, you're a born shopper. Fourpence -ha'penny for 'em both! Best valley I've got in the shop!" - -"'And 'em over, sir!" - -He held out his money in a grubby little hand that positively shook with -eagerness. Then his fingers closed on it suddenly. He said with -suspicion:-- - -"Yer sure it's for _both_? I ain't got no more money, so it's no use -trying to bluff me into buying more'n fourpenny 'a'penny worth!" - -"My dear sir, this shop is above suspicion. Twenty-four year 'ave me -and Jelks kep' it!" He had seized a newspaper and was rolling it round -the toys. "For twenty-four years has it stood in conscious rectitude--" - -"'Ere, don't I git a box to put 'em in?" the urchin interrupted, -unimpressed. - -"A box, is it?" - -Nell interposed, stern disapproval in her tone. - -"Of course you should have a box! He's a most careless young man! -There's the box that the tea things fit into just at his elbow!" - -She watched delightedly his vain efforts to fit the cups and saucers -into the shaped spaces cut into the cardboard. - -"Really," she observed to the urchin, "I wonder Mrs. Jelly has such a -very foolish young man to attend to her shop!" - -"J-Jelks," came from the background in Molly's voice and with Molly's -giggle. - -In dignified silence Denis sought valiantly to ram the sugar basin into -the place where the milk jug belonged; he put a cup into a plate hole, -the cup disappeared and ran about under the cardboard. - -"That ain't where it belongs! New to the business, ain't yer?" scoffed -the urchin. - -"That is where it is going to stay," Denis said firmly. "I never tempt -Providence." - -Nell came forward with an air. - -"Young man, hand them over to me! I really am surprised at Mrs. -Jel--Jelks! I will arrange the tea things." - -As the urchin took the parcel from her, he said in a confidential -aside:-- - -"Tell yer wot it is, miss, 'e's too 'igh and mighty for 'is business!" - -"I expect so. You can see that he is consumed with conceit." - -The urchin nodded his head towards Molly. - -"That young lidy's just laughing at 'im, ain't she?" - -Nell declared with an airy recklessness, "Oh, they're all maniacs!" - -He trotted off, parcel under arm, and the maniacs sent "Happy -Christmasses" after him. - -"Nell O'Brien," Denis exclaimed, "that for your impertinent pate!" - -The woolly rabbit bit her brow. A dog followed, a ball, an elephant, a -brush--then Molly burst out, "Mrs. J-J-Jelks!" - -Mrs. Jelks received a fur monkey on her plump shoulder. She was wiping -her eyes, but her laughter was dying, killed by her disapproval of the -toy storm. - -"Please, sir, I--couldn't afford to pay breakages! O dear! Well, it -was as good as a play, I do declare. I only come back because you was -getting too free with my goods. 'Ere's your biscuit, doggie." She bent -down slowly to K.K. Denis gazed at her back. - -"Jelly, valley, and twenty-four year 'ave Jelks and me," he murmured -serenely. - -Molly fled. - -"Were you list'nin'?" Sheila Pat demanded. - -"Did you think I'd leave my shop all that while, my dear? I've been -a-watching you through the spy-'ole. You've broke one or two things, -sir!" - -"Oh, we'll buy them. We like 'em broken." - -"Well, now, I've never 'eard anyone say that before. And you sold that -table and tea-set at half price--" - -"Oh, that's all right! We'll pay the difference." - -"I thought that was what you'd do, sir." - -They began choosing toys again. Sheila Pat, on whom the fever of -bargain-hunting had descended, asked earnestly if Mrs. Jelks hadn't any -broken toys. - -Mrs. Jelks nearly subsided on to a piled-up heap of pots and pans, under -the impression that they were a chair. - -"Well," she gasped, "_more_ broken toys! Well, I never did!" - -Molly crept back and took part in the choosing. - -"I think that's all," Nell said at last. - -"Yes, miss. I've kep' count. That'll be eleven and threepence." - -"_How_ much?" - -"Eleven and threepence, miss." - -They began to laugh. - -"Denis, we didn't mean to go beyond two or three shillings! I wouldn't -have thought if we'd bought _pounds'_ worth of fourpenny halfpenny -things, it could have come to that!" - -Mrs. Jelks did not deliver goods at houses, and she had no brown paper. -So the O'Briens marched forth laden heavily with weird-shaped newspaper -parcels. It happened that Ted Lancaster, in a silk hat, long fawn coat, -and immaculate patent-leather boots, came strolling across their path. -Over a large and bulging Noah's ark up went Nell's head. - -Hat in hand, he greeted them. - -"You'll let me carry those parcels, Miss O'Brien?" - -"No, thanks." - -"Please let me; and you'll let me carry yours, too," to Molly, "won't -you?" - -"Thank you," said Molly, shyly. - -"Good for you, old chap! I did my best, but I've only one pair of arms, -don't you know," observed Denis. - -"Newspaper parcels seem incongruous with you, somehow," said Nell, -unkindly. - -He flushed up. - -"Hand 'em over, Nell!" said Denis, frowning. "Don't keep us all -standing here!" - -Nell walked on quickly. - -"I like to carry them myself." - -Ted spoke to Sheila Pat. - -"Gigantic Atom, I bet anything you, too, prefer to carry your own -parcels?" - -She nodded. - -"But I'd like to hold your arm." - -"Honoured, I'm sure." - -Laboriously she freed her right hand and tucked it, and a lamb that had -escaped from a parcel, beneath his arm. - -Nell had grown penitent. She turned a charming and rather pink cheek -towards him. - -"I'm tired of carrying my parcels," she said plaintively. - -"You'll let me? _Thanks_!" - -They told him of their morning's shopping, and he listened with absorbed -interest. - -Then Nell, who hated to have a grievance hidden away, brought hers out -reproachfully. - -"I do think it was awfully nasty of you to go away and forget I was -keeping a place for you the other night." - -He promptly dropped a parcel. - -"Forget!" he exclaimed, standing on Noah, and surrounded by his -relations and his horses and his cows and his elephants and his trees. -"Why, Pennington took my place!" - -"Oh, but that was only till you should come back." - -"Fool!" he muttered savagely, and kicked Noah's aunt. - -"Be careful, boy!" shrilled the Atom, who was picking up Noah and his -impedimenta. - -"Sorry!" He stooped and helped her. - -"So," said Mistress Nell, "you thought I broke my word!" - -"I--I'm awfully sorry. I thought you'd forgotten." - -"I never forget a promise." - -"No, of course not! That is--I mean--I thought--hang it all, I was an -idiot!" He flung Noah's patriarchal oak into the box. "But when I saw -that fool of a Pennington--" - -"He's not a fool. I don't see why you should call him names. And -hadn't you better hurry? We're obstructing the pavement." - -"This--er--lady in the blue dressing-gown won't go in." - -"I'll take her," volunteered the Atom. - -Nell looked down into his face and laughed. - -"Oh, that's all right!" he exclaimed, relieved. - -"I say," Denis and Molly reappeared, coming back to look for them, -"aren't you ever coming?" - -Ted, once more clasping the newspapered Noah's ark and other toys to the -bosom of his fashionable coat, walked on. - -"Been to a concert with my aunt and cousins," he volunteered to Denis. - -"Like it?" - -He frowned. - -"I like going to concerts alone," he observed ungallantly. - -And Nell dimpled, as she mentally drew pictures. - -He could not come in with them, as he was due somewhere else, but the -real regret in his face and voice prompted them to insist that he should -come very soon. - -Up in the Stronghold Sheila Pat turned to Denis. - -"I'm thinking you make very unrespectful friends, Denis O'Brien," she -remarked austerely. "That boy--" pause--"_pulled--my--pig-tail_!" - - - - - *CHAPTER XV* - - -Nell stirred energetically. - -"Molly! Molly!" - -"Yes!" - -"Come and stir my toffee a minute. I want to run down and look at my -cakes." - -"Oh, miss," Sarah greeted her with a relieved and beaming smile, "I'm so -glad you've come. I'm that afraid they'll burn! And I darsent open the -oven door, 'cause you told me not to." - -"Don't they look good, Sarah?" - -"'Aven't they risen splendid, miss?" - -Sarah looked at the little golden cakes admiringly. "You can cook -beautiful! Those pitaters you showed me 'ow to do--they were -beautiful." - -"Oh, potatoes!" She laughed. "They're our national dish, you know. -Sarah, is your mother better?" - -"Yes, miss, and those books did cheer 'er you wouldn't believe, with all -the beautiful pictures of the birds and animals and flowers and trees -and reading about 'em; not," honestly, "that she reads all of 'em, her -not being a scholard, but there's one or two about the little birds and -'ow they builds their nests and all that that she's just read over and -over again, and she does enjoy the pictures--such a one she is for the -country ever since she went to Margate for a week on 'er 'oneymoon! And -she's that careful with them, miss!" - -Nell nodded. - -"Yes she is. I'm so glad--I do hate to have books mauled about." - -Sarah grinned delightedly. - -"This is how she does, miss. She gits out 'er black-edged handkercher -what she 'ad for father's funeral and Walter's and Gladys's,--what died, -you know,--and she puts it across the back of the book and round the -edges so as her fingers don't touch the pages at all, and she keeps the -book wrapped up in that funeral handkercher, and she says to the -children, 'If ever I ketch you a-touching of that handkercher, I'll beat -you till you're black and blue from head to foot!' So you see, miss, -that's 'ow it is." - -Nell, twinkling over the contrast between Mrs. Jones's fierce words and -herself, a meek little thin woman with watery blue eyes and no control -over even her baby, gravely declared she did see, and then hurried up to -the Stronghold again. - -"It really looks charming!" she said, standing on the threshold and -looking round the little, overcrowded room, with its pictures, its -books, its various treasures, its photographs, a good many of them in -beautifully carved Irish bog-oak frames, its two bronze jars with pink -chrysanthemums in them, its collection of bog-oak pigs of all sizes. - -Jim O'Driscoll sat thoughtfully in the large cage that Denis had made -for him. He had discovered that, by stretching out his arm to its -uttermost length, he could reach a cushion on the sofa; that, by -wriggling in a finger, he could pull the feathers out, and he was very -happy. - -"Poor Jimmy," Nell said as she passed him sitting innocently gazing -before him, "I wonder if you're getting used to earthquakes and -tornadoes that seize up your house and hurl it into darkness behind the -sofa! Aunt Kezia never used to come up here as she does now!" - -Molly shouted out, "Oh!" and a crash drowned her voice. - -In trying to fix some holly in a pot on a shelf, she had knocked the -shelf down, and with it a collection of pots, curious stones, -photographs, pigs. - -Nell prognosticated, "Now Ted Lancaster will come," and dived under the -table after a curious old fossil she had found one day in the little -stream at the foot of Belmarknock Hill. She picked it up, and sat back -on her heels, lost in a sudden dream of that misty day when she had -found it. The dear mist! She remembered what a vivid emerald green the -grass had been--and the golden shafts of sunlight that fell athwart the -mist--and the deep blue sky behind it. She remembered how clearly the -reflection of herself and her red tam-o'-shanter had shown in the -stream--and down the hill Denis's voice, singing and shouting to his -dogs, had come to her.... - -Ted Lancaster stood within the doorway and looked round the room with -bewildered eyes. - -Emerging from the lounge were a pair of long legs and a bit of skirt. -Up on a step-ladder, in the corner, he discerned the Atom. From beneath -the table trailed a piece of bright blue pinafore; that was all. - -"I've told the handmaiden to hurry up with tea," came Denis's voice -behind him. - -The legs beneath the lounge wriggled spasmodically, and out came Molly, -red and abashed. From the step-ladder descended the Atom, but Nell sat -on, serene and absorbed, beneath the table. - -"Where's Nell?" shouted Denis. "I say, bet you knocked that shelf down, -old muddle-head! What ever's Nell sitting under the table for?" - -Brought to the present, she crawled out. - -"How-do-you-do?" she said in an absent sort of voice. - -Ted looked at her. Her eyes were soft and looking far away; she quite -forgot to remember how queer he must have thought it to find her sitting -under the table. The suddenness of the change from the stream with its -music in her ears, and the hills and the mist before her eyes, to the -Stronghold was harsh, and made her feel bad. From her face he glanced -to the queer old fossil to which her fingers were clinging with -something of desperation in their hold, and he understood suddenly. He -turned his broad shoulders on her. - -"What were you doing under that lounge, Miss Molly? And you, Miss Sheila -Patricia Kathleen O'Brien--surely you should not have been at the top of -those steps?" - -Sheila Pat's great eyes fairly glowered at him. - -"Sure, thin, I was never dhramin' you were a--a spoilsport! Go away! -It's easy to see now that you've never been in Ireland!" - -"I've forbidden those steps to her," declared Denis, striving to look -severe. "Let's take them out, old man." - -"I--I wish you wouldn't call me 'Miss Molly'!" blurted out Molly, -suddenly. - -He looked at her surprised. - -"It's awfully good of you," he said in his quiet voice, and Molly's hot -cheeks cooled. "I shall be awfully pleased to call you 'Molly,' Molly." - -"You're not to call me Sheila Pat," declared the Atom, her pig-tail at -an acute angle. - -"I should not think of taking such a liberty, Miss Sheila Patricia -Kathleen O'Brien." - -"I've made some toffee," said Nell. "Are you fond of it? It's too soft -to eat yet," digging a knife into it. - -"Oh, I say, is it at the stage where it pulls into long strips when you -try to bite it, and catches on your nose and mouth and everywhere?" - -She nodded. - -"Let me have a bit, will you? I haven't had it like that since I was a -kid and my old nurse used to make it." - -Presently, with his teeth stuck together and his fingers all sticky, he -seemed supremely happy. - -"_I_ prefer toffee the proper way," observed the Atom, nose in air. -"_I'm_ not a baby to want it all soft for my teeth!" - -"Ah," said Ted, "you will soon, when your milk teeth begin to wabble -before they fall out." - -The Atom was observed surreptitiously feeling her little white teeth. - -"Nell," quoth Denis, "I've just washed my hands. Feed me, asthore. -Think I'm a little, little birdie--ah!" - -He stopped abruptly, and his cheek shone round and tight over Nell's -liberal interpretation of his request. But, liberal as it was, it did -not seem to affect his appetite for tea. Nell's cakes all vanished; -more toast had to be made, and Ted called down a good deal of laughter -at his clumsiness over the business of toasting. Once Miss Kezia sent -Sarah up to request that there should be "less noise." Ted's face of -whimsical amusement delighted Nell. - -Denis issued a mandate that it should be a "rhyming tea." He explained -to Ted:-- - -"You mustn't speak except in rhyme. Everything you say must rhyme -somehow--twig?" - -"Oh, I say," Ted's eyebrows were stuck up. "I can't, you know! Never -made a rhyme in my life!" - -"That's the fun!" declared Nell, and he pondered her cryptic utterance -ruefully. - -It was "fun." Ted's awful and desperate rhymes made them shout with -laughter. He mournfully dubbed Denis a beastly poet, and eyed him with -reproach. Then suddenly his face cleared. With a bland gravity he -asked Nell to have a cake, and left the request rhymeless. To the -chorus of "Rhyme! Rhyme!" he responded amiably that he was speaking in -blank verse, and from the refuge of blank verse they could not move him. -In vain the Atom, her metre waxing wilder and wilder, as her indignation -grew, in vain she strove to shame him into rhyming. He gazed at her -with ever increasing enjoyment. To her madly rhyming vituperation he -responded with gentle obstinacy. And he stuck to his blank verse like an -Englishman, and a very unpoetical one. - -"Oh!" exclaimed Nell, later on in the evening, "I want to show you -something. Now, you remember our broken purchases the other day? -Behold the legless doll!" - -Ted gravely took it and examined a pair of somewhat shapeless, but plump -white linen extremities stuffed with wool. - -"The shaftless cart! The paintless boat! The one-armed doll! The -headless lady! The three-legged cat!" One after another he examined -them. He was a good deal amused, but full of admiration; seeing which -Nell dragged out further examples of their art. - -"Tell me what that is." - -She held up a very corpulent, grey stuffed pincushion on four legs. - -Ted stared uneasily. - -"Be careful, old chap," warned Denis, from the armchair. "It's Nell's -pet admiration, and made by herself." - -"A pig?" he queried uncertainly. - -"Oh, 'tis the broth of a bhoy you are!" exclaimed Nell, in impulsive -triumph. "Now, then, Denis! Didn't I know all your scoffing was just -jealousy?" - -"It's a splendid pig!" declared Ted, with enthusiasm. "Look at its -tail!" - -"Do English pigs grow their tails on top of their off-hind legs?" -queried Denis. - -"No; but little Irish girls grow 'em over their left shoulders!" - -There was a spurt of appreciative laughter from an unwilling and -would-be dignified Atom. - -"Look at my bear!" said Nell; "and oh, do look at Denis's effort!" - -"Um! Is it an Irish animal?" - -"No; you know what it is, you duffer!" - -"An elephant, old man?" - -"Try again!" dimpled Nell. - -"A kangeroo?" - -"You're getting nearer. It's something that hops." - -"Hops? A lame giraffe?" He caught the cushion aimed at him by Denis. - -"It's a--_robin_!" cried Nell. - -"Great Scott!" - -"What's this?" he picked up another work of art. - -"That's a needle cushion," observed Denis. "It was going to be a cat, -but Molly's broken five needles into it already! Say, Lancaster, you -come over here and I'll show you a genuine work of art as compiled and -invented and built entirely by your humble servant!" - -"Did you really make it?" He knelt down and studied the doll's house. -"Um--might be worse!" - -"Four rooms," said Nell, thoughtfully. "Bedroom, kitchen, dining room, -drawing-room, or nursery?" - -"Nursery," Denis decided. "Girls are always cranky over horrid wobbly -babies!" - -"That's true," said Nell. "I mean," hastily, "girls do have the sense -to like nice little chubby babies, so a nursery it shall be!" - -Kate Kearney came pattering softly up to Ted, and stood gazing into his -face. He picked her up. - -"What d'you want, old girl?" - -She lashed her tail; she wriggled her head into his shoulder; she eyed -him with innocent adoration. - -"She's been up to something," observed Denis. - -"Oh!" ejaculated Nell. "Oh, K.K.!" She held up a half-demolished grey -pig. - - "'Oh! should you e'er meet this Kate Kearney, - Who lives on the banks of Killarney, - Beware of her smile, for many a wile - Lies hid in the smile of Kate Kearney. - Though she looks so bewitchingly simple, - Yet there's mischief in every dimple; - And who dares inhale her sigh's spicy gale, - Must die by the breath of Kate Kearney,'" - -sang Denis. "The poor piggy inhaled her sigh this time." - -When Molly and Sheila Pat had gone to bed, the others sat around the -fire and talked. Jim came down from the curtain rod, sat on the -hearth-rug, and gazed into the fire. Occasionally he glanced up with his -bright little eyes from one to another. He obviously took part in the -conversation. Nell began to feel that she had known Ted for years and -years. She discovered that he had no near relations except his father -and the aunt and cousins she had seen. Filling the gaps he left, she -made out that his father was absorbed in the game of speculation; that -he was always going to and fro between London and New York on business; -that Ted often did not even know his address. - -When Ted departed, Denis went with him to the corner. Coming back alone, -he lifted his beautiful voice in "The Wearing o' the Green," and, -oblivious of the heads thrust from windows, strolled slowly towards his -gate. - -Whereupon Miss Kezia was wroth on three counts: his being so absurd as -to have gone to the corner; his going with no coat or hat on; and his -singing in that disgraceful manner at that time of night in the streets. -Poor Denis! He had been used to sing always when he felt inclined at -Kilbrannan. Nell had often listened with delight to his voice as it -rang and echoed amongst their beloved hills. She had often joined in, -too. - -All his excuse now was--"It's such a glorious moonlight night!" And he -went up unabashed to Nell. She was standing staring thoughtfully into -the fire. - -"Denis," she said slowly, "all he could find to say good about his -father was that he 'gives him a jolly good allowance!'" - -"Yes, poor beggar." - -Silence. - -"Denis, he seemed to enjoy it all so!" - -"Yes." - -Longer pause. Then, tragically:-- - -"Denis, he--_doesn't hang out a Christmas stocking_!" - - - - - *CHAPTER XVI* - - -"Oh, Denis!" said Nell. - -"What have you been up to now?" - -"Jim and I have been dodging Aunt Kezia all the morning. He's very -exciting. Of course because I was with him in the garden she chose to -want me for some deep purpose of her own. Molly told her I wasn't in. -She said she wouldn't say I was out, because it didn't seem truthful. -Then she waved the red flag from the Stronghold window, so I knew I was -to lie low. I sat down on the path behind the dust-bin. I don't like -dust-bins, and Jim does, which makes it awkward. He persisted in -stretching out and picking out horrible bits of dirty paper and -cardboard and tin. Then Aunt Kezia, out of pure, native cussedness, -decides to come into the garden to mend that bit of broken lattice. I -heard her saying so to Sarah in the kitchen doorway, and I simply fled -over the wall. Denis, now I ask you, why couldn't the dust-bin be -against Mrs. Barclay's wall? I daren't cross the garden, so I had to -take refuge in the garden of the enemies of our aunt! And there Jim and -I crouched behind an inadequate laurel bush. At intervals I'd look up, -but always I could see the red handkerchief dangling from the window. -Sometimes I could see Aunt Kezia's head, too! I was frozen so stiff I -couldn't move. And Jim ate two buttons off my blouse. And that awful -old Mrs. Ponsonby next door kept appearing at one of the windows. Hair -by hair I felt my head going grey. But Jim must be exercised. That's -four times in two days Aunt Kezia has almost caught him!" - -"I'll mend the catch of his cage this very moment. We're going to St. -James Park this afternoon, you know, and we'll make sure he's safe." - -Sheila Pat suggested, "I think Tommy would like to come, too." - -"We'll ask him." - -That afternoon Sheila Pat was ready first. - -"Nell, may I go and ask Tommy?" - -"All right, only don't dawdle." - -Sheila Pat trotted off. - -Mrs. Barclay hesitated; she looked worried. - -"Please may he come?" Sheila Pat repeated. - -"I should like him to go, dear, but--but--" Suddenly she bent down and -kissed the serious little face passionately. "Be good to him, Sheila -Pat! He isn't strong--he has a good deal to bear. Sometimes he gets -into a bad temper, because he can't be quite like other boys. To-day he -won't speak. He hasn't spoken since breakfast." - -"Please may I go up to him?" - -"Yes, dear. He is in the schoolroom." - -She turned and walked staidly out into the hall, and opened the -schoolroom door. - -Stewart was huddled up in the window doing nothing. - -"Good mornin'," she said. - -He took no notice. - -She tiptoed across the room, an oddly worried look on her small face. - -"Tommy, will you come to see the horse guards with us?" she almost -whispered. - -He stared out of the window. - -"Denis is comin', too. And we're goin' on an omnibus, and you and me -will get front seats, and--and it's very windy," the soft little voice -went patiently on, enumerating all the delights of the expedition. "Do -come, Tommy, won't you?" - -He drummed on the window pane with thin little fingers. - -"I 'spect our hats will blow right off, and the horses and soljers are -grand, and--and p'raps it will rain, too--and--and--and Mrs. Barclay -says she would like you to go--" - -Suddenly he turned on her, the brilliant colour leaping to his cheeks. - -"_You_!" he cried stormily. "_You_! Why don't you sneer at me? Why -don't you call me names? _You_!" - -A little puzzled frown settled on her brows. - -"I--don't--know why I don't," she said slowly. - -"Go away! Go now! Go _at once_!" and before she could move he had -burst into a perfect storm of tears. Sheila Pat backed across the room -till she reached the opposite wall, and stood staring, wide eyed, at the -shaking little figure in the window, at the fair head prone on the -outstretched, despairing arms. - -Presently he raised his head. - -"Why don't you go, you hateful, beastly little pryer? Why don't you? -Oh, I don't mean it," he added wildly, "only--you--you'll despise -me--more'n ever--" His voice dropped dejectedly. He began fumbling -vainly for his handkerchief. Sheila Pat produced a clean folded one of -her own, and came across the room and handed it to him. "You'd better -go--they'll be waiting for you won't they?" - -"Please come, too, Tommy." - -He turned wondering eyes on her. - -"Look here, I--I'm going to tell you! It was a beastly boy--I went to -post a letter for mother this morning, and he--" his face flushed -scarlet, "he imitated me--he pertended to be lame like me, and I--I -tried to go for him, but he just ran, you see--and he--laughed--" - -Sheila Pat's face quivered. There was a little silence. - -"And--and he made me feel--wild--" - -"Please, Tommy, don't talk about that boy," her voice shook, "please -don't." - -He stared moodily out of the window again. She stood by, a queer little -motherly look on her serious face. - -"Will you come now, Tommy?" - -A loud rat-a-tat-tat-tat-_tat_ echoed through the house. - -"That's them!" exclaimed the Atom, with ungrammatical excitement. - -"Oh, Tommy, please be quick!" - -A minute later they ran down to the hall, where they found Denis -declaring he wouldn't wait any longer. - -Stewart gave his mother a shy little nod, and they started. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVII* - - -Nell hardly paused to breathe. Standing before her easel, the easel -dragged into the window, the curtains tugged back, she worked away with -a rapid brush. - -"Mr. Lancaster, missansir!" Sarah announced with an air. - -"Oh, how are you? Do you mind waiting a minute?" She did not even -glance round. - -Silence reigned. - -Then she flung down her brush with a sigh, stepped back and into Ted -Lancaster's arms. - -"Oh!" She gave a little laugh and turned round. "I've been rude, -haven't I? But I did so want to catch that bit of grudging daylight. -Denis is out with the others. He got off early to-day." - -"Yes, I know. I thought I'd catch him. I wanted to ask him if he'd -come round this evening." - -She held out painty fingers. - -"I can't even shake hands! And why did you stand there all the time?" - -"I've been watching you." - -"I hope you found it interesting." - -"I did. I like the little dabs you do with your brush on the front of -your pinafore up at the right-hand side." - -She laughed. - -"I make myself very painty." - -He was studying her painting earnestly. - -"It's just a study of an old white horse a milkman--a friend of Sheila -Pat's--has. I spent the morning in his stable. He's invalided home on -account of a lame leg. I was just putting a few finishing touches from -memory." - -"He's splendid." - -"He was a glorious model--but difficult. There's any amount of drawing -in him. I'm going again to-morrow, only you see, if Aunt Kezia were to -find out, I feel sure she'd forbid me, and--well, I suppose there would -be ructions then, because she'd forbid me to go, and I'm going to finish -him down to the last hair on his tail. I know she'll catch me. I walk -out, canvas and easel, paint-box and all, as bold as Larry Hoolahan -himself. Only Aunt Kezia's worse than any shape the fairies ever took!" - -"Who's the gentleman?" - -"Oh, he was a piper who was afraid of nothing." She picked up her brush -again, and worked a little on the head. "He wasn't afraid even of the -fairies, and actually won the good-will of the chief of them on -Knocksheogonna." - -"Would you mind saying it again?" he suggested. - -She smiled. - -"It means 'the Hill of the Fairy Calf.' I'm spoiling this," she put -down her palette and brush. "I'll show you my rendering of some of the -shapes the fairy took to scare the poor herdsmen away. They resented -cattle being herded on their ground, you see." - -She started rummaging in a big old untidy portfolio. She handed him a -sheet of paper covered with rough sketches in water colour. - -"By Jove, that Hooligan must have had a good nerve to stand those." - -"You're not to call him that. I like him. That's where she turned -herself into a man with a lame leg and a bull's head, with flames -playing all round it. There she's a big horse, with eagle's wings and a -dragon's tail, with fire coming out of her mouth." - -"This beats them all, I think!" - -"Oh, yes, she's a huge ape with a turkey's tail and duck's feet, there." - -"I don't need explanations, thanks," he observed with dignified -politeness. - -"No? What is that, then?" - -She pointed to a sketch. - -He studied it earnestly. - -"Er--it's a conglomeration--boots--" he paused, reddened, "and a -collar." - -She laughed. - -"It's meant for a salmon with a cravat round its neck, and a pair of -top-boots, only I can't draw a salmon to save my life!" - -He looked injured. - -"I knew what all the rest were!" - -She took the sheet from him. He moved towards the door. - -"Will you give O'Brien my message?" - -"You're not going! Please put up with me till the others come in. I'll -just go and wash my hands. Sit down." - -She came back presently, gave a piece of coal a poke with her foot, sat -down, looked into the red heart of the fire, then across at him. - -"Do you really like a motor better than a horse?" she said. - -He stared at her, astonished. - -"A motor--better than a horse? Great Scott, no! What made you ask?" - -"Well, you drive about in a motor." - -"Oh, yes, the governor has a ripping car. And for getting about the -country--real long trips, you know--they're splendid. But of course, -they don't come under the same heading as horses at all." - -"I've been hoarding that up against you," she declared frankly. - -"Have you?" He looked amused. "It seems so queer to me--I never look -upon them in the same light at all." - -"Motors are horrid things." - -"I don't think so." - -"The dust--the smell--" - -"Don't affect you when you're in one." - -"But they affect other people." - -He shrugged his shoulders. - -"They're real selfish things!" he laughed. "When you're motoring, you -don't care a hang for that sort of thing. You just go tearing -along--monarch of all you survey." - -"And--dogs?" - -He smiled. "I've never run over one yet, unless they die like martyrs -without a groan." - -"Well, they may be _useful_," she conceded. "But the feeling can't be -anything like the glory of a gallop--a canter--" - -"No, it isn't. Nothing can come anywhere near a decent mount, and a -good stretch of country before you." - -They fell silent for a while. - -Nell, furtively studying him, as he sat forward in his chair looking -into the fire, broke out at last. - -"Mr. Lancaster, you've no business to look so--so pale--so done up!" - -He flushed. - -"Do I? Overwork, perhaps." - -She bent toward him; she said softly:-- - -"Do you mind my noticing? Denis always lets me fuss if he cuts his -finger or anything like that." - -"I was riding this morning," the words seemed to be dragged from him -against his will; "I expect I overdid it." - -Her pretty eyes opened wide. - -"You needn't think I'm just a weakly idiot," he burst out angrily. - -"I don't. You've had an illness?" - -He nodded. - -She sighed suggestively. He looked at her, and smiled unwillingly. - -"It was nearly six months ago now." He frowned and paused. -"Accident--horse had to be shot." - -"Oh!" She waited. - -"It was a beastly motor omnibus--poor old Pilot bolted. We had a -fight--I'd nearly got him under--and a fool of a boy came tearing round -a corner yelling and waving a hoop in the air. Pilot bolted straight -into a shop window--had to be shot." - -She shivered. "And you?" - -"Oh, I broke a leg, and cracked my skull, and broke a few ribs. Went to -bed for a while. Then got up--went out for a walk--got drenched -through--pneumonia and pleurisy--eternal bed. Hard lines, wasn't it?" - -"Who nursed you?" - -"Two of 'em. When I was a bit off my head you wouldn't believe how they -worried me. You see, one had a red face and a blaze of red-gold hair, -and the other had a great, pale moon-face and black hair, and the -red-gold one was the night nurse, and the pale one the day nurse. I got -sort of mixed and thought one was the sun and the other the moon, and I -yelled and shouted and made such a row that they had to change! I -couldn't stand having the sun blazing at night, and the moon by day. -Funny, wasn't it?" - -Nell was looking into the fire. - -"Where were you?" - -"House in Gowan Square, you know." - -"But who--nursed you?" - -"Those two poor things. I believe I led them an awful life--when I -wasn't off my head, too! I got so beastly sick of it--" He stopped -abruptly. - -"Wasn't there anyone--I mean--your aunt--" But her voice died on the -word, as she pictured that lady, with her bangles, her chains, rattling -in a sick room. - -A twinkle crept into his eye. - -"They hate sick rooms, and," gravely, "they excited me." - -She smiled. - -"So you just had those two nurses?" - -"And the doctor. I've got an awfully decent cousin--second cousin--down -in Cornwall. She's married--has two little girls--she'd have come up, -but one of them was ill." - -She was silent. - -"I'm awfully strong, though," he protested anxiously. "Yesterday I -whined to the doctor because I can't do things same as I used to, yet, -and he said, 'If you weren't as strong as a horse, you'd have been dead -twice over by now!' He's got Irish blood in his veins, I fancy!" - -She smiled absently. - -"Why aren't you down in the country?" - -"I did go for a while, but you see--well, I'm going up to Cambridge as -soon as Dr. Murray will let me, and I don't want to get too far behind. -So I'm attending classes and that sort of thing--as much as I'm -allowed," with a rueful smile. - -"I think," said Nell, in her charming, softest voice, "you're just a -hero!" - -"A--a _what_? Good Heavens, what have I done? What have I been -saying?" - -She turned suddenly, unheeding his ludicrous dismay, and stretching -across, opened a little drawer in the table. She took out a bundle of -photographs and handed him one. - -"That's Acushla!" she said with a queer little breathless note in her -voice. "I had to sell her." - -He glanced at her swiftly, and looked down at the photograph. Nell was -making amends. In her rush of disgust at all the unkind things she had -thought of him, in the pity that made her heart ache, she instinctively -took him close as a friend. - -"That is the Colleen Bawn. She belonged to all of us. Dad bought her -for fourteen pounds of an awful old pedler! She looked dreadful; you -could count all her ribs--and dirty--and her tail! Well, it isn't very -grand there, but I don't believe it had more than fourteen hairs in it -when dad bought her--pound a hair, we always said. She was lame, and had -a great bare patch on her right shoulder. But we fattened her up, and -groomed her, and you wouldn't believe how she could go! And jump! She'd -jump anything, if she saw anything in front of her. That was her fad. -She couldn't stand anyone's getting in front of her. She's taken me -clear over a wall that even Denis's best hunter can't manage without -knocking down a stone or two. She's rather big and bony, but there's -something rather fine about her head, I think." - -He nodded. - -"That's a jolly colt!" - -"He is Sheila Pat's. We haven't sold him. We dared not. I believe it -would have made her ill--really ill, I mean. The parting nearly did, in -any case." - -She showed him all the photographs--even the dim ones that needed to be -looked at very closely, when, with time and patience, a horse, perhaps -several horses, mostly jumping or galloping, and riders would slowly -disentangle themselves from the surrounding gloom. - -"I confess that our climate isn't an ideal one for taking photographs!" -she laughed. "Most of those were taken in the rain or a mist." She -rose. "I want to show you something else." - -She fetched a little oil painting of Acushla. - -"By Jove!" he said, and studied it in silence. - -"Mr. O'Neil--my master--says it's the best thing I've ever done." - -"It's splendid! She's a beauty! Just look at her legs--and the colour. -What a glorious little beast she is! I don't know when I've seen a more -beautiful head and shape." - -"Mr. O'Neil came upon me just when I'd done that, and he burst out, -'Good! Good! Good!' He doesn't believe in praise, you know, and -directly he'd said that he pulled himself up. 'But might be better!' he -said, and he glared into my face, and groaned out: 'I believe you're -pleased with it! I wash my hands of you! You'll never be a painter! -Go away! You should be weeping that you can't do better!' It took all -my eloquence to convince him that I didn't think it was good, only -better work than I had been doing. But I made him laugh, by -representing how pleased he'd be if he always came upon me sitting -weeping into my pinny, and then he cheered up, and slanged my poor -little painting with tremendous energy!" - -"Beast!" - -"He's a dear old man, but he has a theory that complacency is the curse -of art. He declares that talent is choked by it, and so never rises. -You should always be dissatisfied with your work--always feel you _must_ -do better, or die in the attempt. Now, if I were to listen to your -praise, it would do me incalculable harm, according to him." - -He smiled whimsically. - -"I don't think even he'd mind my praise!" - -"I don't agree with him," she pursued thoughtfully, "unless, of course, -a person is naturally conceited and complacent, and then I don't think -it matters one way or the other; the person will remain complacent -anyway. But I think a little praise cheers one up! I'm just delighted -you think that good!" - -"It's more than good," earnestly. - -"Oh, if he could hear you! And me!" - -She stooped to pick up from the floor a sheet of foreign note-paper -scrawled over with large uneven writing. - -"Sheila Pat," she said, "to-morrow's mail day. We write an awful lot. -But we can't get any letters from them yet." - -She took the photographs from him and put them away in the drawer. - -"Thank you," he said quietly. - -She turned to him with a little laugh, and held out her hand. - -"I've been awfully mean--had mean thoughts about you--been rude to you." -Her words tumbled out in a soft little jumble. "I'm sorry." - -He grasped her hand. - -"Not you--I say--" he stammered. - -"I'm going to call you Ted, and you may call me Nell. I feel as if I've -known you for ages, and the other's so stiff, and we'll be friends 'till -the sun has burnt itself down to the bigness of a farthing rushlight,' -shall we?" - -"Er--yes--" - -She teased him, her dimples dancing. - -"Say, 'Yes, Nell!'" - -"Yes, N-N-_Nell_!" - - - - - *CHAPTER XVIII* - - -Christmas was drawing very near. The stock of stuffed animals was -growing large; toys overflowed the Stronghold. A pillow-case, purloined -from the bed in the spare room, did duty as a bag to hold some of them. -In a spasm of artistic joy Nell had painted a rough sketch of a hunting -scene on it, and they lived in terror that Miss Kezia would see it. - -The doll's house was furnished throughout; in the bedroom two little -dolls in white night-dresses lay in bed. In the dining room three sat -at the table. They had intended to dress two more for the nursery, but -Nell, having put in the last stitch on the fifth doll, flung it down on -to the table, jumped up: "Denis, come dance with me! Not another -hateful little doll will I touch! They drive me crazy! Little, fiddley -things! I'm doing enough sewing lately to canonise me as Saint Eileen -of the needle!" - -They waltzed out on to the landing and down the stairs, improvising -fancy steps to a tune Denis carolled out as they went. Into the kitchen -they came, round the table they danced, while Sarah gaped. - -"Bet I can do an Irish jig on the garden wall!" declared Denis suddenly. - -"So can I!" - -It was in the height of the jig that Miss Kezia and a friend who was -paying her an afternoon call looked forth into the garden. All along, -back windows were up, and heads looking out. For Denis had a beautiful -voice and he sang as he danced--rather spasmodically, as one foot and -then the other landed on space instead of the wall, but very heartily. - -Miss Kezia's friend was a somewhat prim and stiff-necked matron, and she -was a good deal scandalised. Miss Kezia was considerably annoyed; but -before she could open the window, the jig stopped abruptly, Denis leapt -from the wall and after him Nell, and both started in chase of a small -figure which had come out into the garden and defied them to catch it. - -Mysterious shopping expeditions took place about this time. The Atom, -not allowed to go out alone, chose Sarah as her escort while she -purchased Christmas presents. Miss Kezia unexpectedly gave her sanction -to the arrangement. A queer sort of mutual recognition of worth had -grown up between the Atom and Miss Kezia. Sheila Pat discussed her -gravely with Nell. - -"I do think she's worthy, Nell. Sarah says she is, and she says she -wouldn't leave here because you never know what you might get. She's -very _just_, you see. Some mistresses are awful; they blame you for -things like the taps leakin' and the chimney smokin', when they're -cross. Aunt Kezia never does. I think she's rather nice to talk to -sometimes," thoughtfully, "and she's very honest--she told me she was -always quite ugly, and she's got some beautiful animals all worked in -silk that her mother did when she was quite young, and you see, she -can't help bein' borned Scotch!" - -On her part Miss Kezia went so far as, "I do not understand Sheila, but -there is a solid layer of goodness beneath her eccentricities." The -truth was, Miss Kezia, angry, bewildered, worried, as she so often was -in these days, nevertheless found an unexpected partiality developing -within her for the young O'Briens,--an unexpected recognition of their -charm. - -What with finishing presents, buying them, packing up the hospital toys, -and fighting various little imps who whispered things about this time -last year, they found those days before Christmas pretty full. - -One evening some carollers came and sang lustily in the road outside the -house. As they began, the front door was opened and Miss Kezia's grim -voice bade them begone. But upstairs there was a wild scamper to a -bedroom window--it was flung up--and pennies came hurtling through the -air--"Go on! Please, go on!" and voices at the window joined lustily -in. For the song the carollers sang was "Rory O'More." - - "Young Rory O'More courted Kathaleen bawn, - He was bold as a hawk, and she soft as the dawn; - He wish'd in his heart pretty Kathleen to please, - And he thought the best way to do that was to tease. - 'Now, Rory, be aisy,' sweet Kathleen would cry, - Reproof on her lip, but a smile in her eye, - 'With your tricks I don't know, in troth, what I'm about; - Faith, you've teaz'd till I've put on my cloak inside out.' - 'Oh, jewel!' says Rory, 'that same is the way - You've thrated my heart for this many a day, - And 'tis plaz'd that I am, and why not, to be sure? - For 'tis all for good luck,' says bold Rory O'More." - - -The voices at the window started the next verse:-- - - "'Indeed, then,' says Kathleen, 'don't think of the like, - For I half gave a promise to soothering Mike; - The ground that I walk on he loves, I'll be bound.' - 'Faith,' says Rory, 'I'd rather love you than the ground.' - 'Now, Rory, I'll cry, if you don't let me go; - Sure I dream ev'ry night that I'm hating you so!' - 'Oh!' says Rory, 'that same I'm delighted to hear, - For dhrames always go by contraries, my dear.' - 'Now, Rory, leave off, sir. You'll hug me no more; - That's eight times to-day, that you've kissed me before.' - 'Then here goes another,' says he, 'to make sure, - For there's luck in odd numbers,' says Rory O'More." - - -As the last words rang out Nell flung down a sixpence. - -"A Merry Christmas!" - -"Shure and 'tis afther the same I'd be wishing you entirely, at all, at -all!" came the sonorous response. "Shure and 'tis the Oirish are afther -being the gradely folks on this earrth, me beautiful honour, your -leddyship!" - -"You're not Irish!" shrilled out an indignant little voice. - -"Och, begorra, and would yez be insulting us now, at all, at all, your -honour? Shure 'tis the Oirish we are, thin, and long may they live, -hoots toots! Ochone!" - -Nell flung down a piece of holly she was wearing in her waist belt; she -flung it waveringly, overcome with mirth. - -Denis shouted aloud. Of all of them the Atom alone refused to even -smile. - -"I object to hypocrites," she said dignifiedly. - -"I wonder how they found out we are Irish?" pondered Molly. - -"I suppose it was just an odd coincidence--their singing 'Rory O'More,' -and then they found out by our brogues!" laughed Nell. - -It was that same evening that, fired by "Rory O'More," they left their -toys and trooped down to the cold drawing-room and sang and played. -Sheila Pat, leaving the room for something, found Herr Schmidt on the -mat outside the door, listening. - -"I lof ze music so much!" he excused himself hurriedly. "It was so -beautiful--the lovely voices--full of music! You will pardon me, -Fraeulein?" - -Sheila Pat bowed. - -"With the greatest pleasure. Please come in." - -Later on he begged them to use his piano any time they wished. - -"We _must_ finish packing the hospital toys to-night!" said Nell, and -sped up the stairs. - -A few minutes later Ted came in. - -"How are you, N-N-Nell?" - -"Quite well, thank you, T-T-Ted." - -"Sheila Pat," tweaking her pig-tail, "don't they grow straight pig-tails -in Ireland?" - -"Please don't be foolish," said Sheila Pat, ramming a fur rabbit into -the box. - -He looked at Nell and raised his eyebrows. - -"Sheila Pat's cross still, aren't you, Atom?" Nell said. - -"I'm innoyed." - -"Tell me about it," he begged. - -Denis glanced up from a letter he was writing, then bent his head again. - -"Two wicked hypocrites came and they told stories, too. He said he was -Irish! _Irish_, was it? Sure 'twas sooner goriller-monkeys they'd be! -They sang outside, and we gave them some money. Did they think we were -unborned babies that they'd be sayin' they were Irish?" - -"What a double-dyed villain!" Ted said with grave disapproval. - -"I'd knew _you_ wouldn't be laughin' and thinkin' it funny." She paused -to watch Nell. - -Nell was coming straight at Ted; once in front of him, she pointed a -tragic forefinger first at a sixpence that dangled on his watch-chain, -and then at a spray of holly in his button-hole. - -He gazed back at her amusedly. - -"Sheila Pat! Molly! Out on him! Oh, the thraitor! The wicked -thraitor! Don't you see? It was Ted--_Ted Lancaster_! Behold, the -holly! Behold, my ill-gotten sixpence! Mine own familiar friend! What -shall we do to him? Girls, what shall we do to him?" - -Sheila Pat, her face scarlet, ran at him, and tried futilely to shake -him. He seized her and swung her aloft. From her lofty perch she -scornfully attacked him. "Sure I would have thought you'd be spakin' it -better than that! _How_ old are you? O dear, what great boobies these -English boys are! Hoots toots, indeed! And who was the other -monkey-kangaroo, then?" - -"Little Foster. You don't know him. Thought it looked better to have -two, and, you see, I was too shy to sing all alone! Aren't you going to -forgive me, acushlums? Och, begorra, I've been learning that 'Rory -O'More' a whole week all for your benefit!" - -"Nell,"--he began presently. - -"Bravo, Ted!" she interpolated. - -He flushed and laughed. - -"Well, Nell," he resumed, "how did you find out so quickly?" - -"That gossoon," nodding at Denis. "I saw by his face. He never can keep -anything in. And to think he _knew_! And let me waste my substance on a -wicked fraud of a Ted!" - -"I recognised him almost at once," observed Denis. - -Nell's eye had grown suddenly absent, preoccupied with thoughts of -something else. She rose and sidled, with what she thought deep -artfulness, but which a child could have seen through, toward the -artistic pillow-case. She had caught sight of the deep emerald green -silk tie she was knitting for Ted sticking up in full view, gazing -brazenly at Ted himself, she declared. - -Fortunately he was engaged just then with the Atom, so saw nothing of -Nell's transparent manoeuvring. - -"Sure the very babies themselves," said Sheila Pat, earnestly, "speak it -better than that!" - -"Do they, Sheila Pat? How clever the Irish must be!" - -"Of course they are," said Sheila Pat. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIX* - - -Christmas came with a rush in the end. - -"Santa Claus," said Nell, "has not a well-regulated mind. For the weeks -before Christmas he rides at a leisurely trot, looking about him, -smiling. Then suddenly he finds there isn't time for half he's got to -do, and off he gallops--over hedges of toys--ditches of sweets--up hills -of mince pies and puddings--sends us all scattering here and there on -his errands--I wonder why he always muddles it like that?" - -"Perhaps the old chap's Irish," suggested Ted. - -Christmas eve found her with the painting of Kate Kearney for Sarah not -finished; with Ted's tie in the same condition; with Denis's present -still unbought; with half Molly's not got yet, and innumerable little -bits and things to do. The others were in much the same case. - -But all the hospital toys had been sent off, and Mrs. Jones presented -with the doll's house and other presents for Benny and Janie and Susan. -On that last day Sheila Pat went out with Sarah. (Never had Sarah -enjoyed herself so much as on these shopping expeditions, during which -sometimes a smug-faced young man of an infinite respectability met them, -nearly overcome with surprise at the strange coincidence of his being -just there while they were just there, too.)--Sheila Pat went out with -Sarah and bought Ted's present. She came home, fairly glowing and -clasping a small parcel tight in both hands. - -"Oh, Nell!" she said. - -Nell bundled something under her pinafore and tried to look innocent. - -"What is it, Atom?" - -"I've got a present for Ted--I've been lookin' and lookin'--oh, Nell!" - -"Show it me." - -The Atom was unwrapping the paper. Beneath was a little cardboard box; -in it lay a vividly green painted shamrock with a large diamond in the -centre. It represented a tie pin, and had cost a shilling and a -halfpenny. - -For Stewart she bought two large cabbages. "Won't Peter have a lovely -Christmas dinner?" she queried ecstatically. "And he'll be so sad, you -see, with Tommy and his mother away a whole week!" - -That afternoon Nell and Molly came suddenly face to face in a draper's -shop, and exactly as they did it, up came the bland shop-walker to know -what they wanted. He stared with dignified disapproval, as they stood -there and laughed and laughed. Nell wanted a charming little useless -fancy box for Molly that she had seen in the window, and Molly wanted a -little handkerchief for Nell. - -"I--er--oh!" Nell laughed ridiculously and Molly turned, giggling, and -fled from the shop. - -Nell made a valiant effort, "I want a little bancy fox--oh!" and she -fled after Molly. - -Outside she stood and laughed helplessly. A little way farther up the -street she could see Molly, and the knowledge that she too was trying to -overcome her giggles made matters much worse. - -Neither she nor Molly alluded to that meeting till after Christmas. -There was a very strict O'Brien etiquette on such matters. - -On that Christmas Eve they gave pennies away recklessly to poor -children. They treated a whole family--mother two little girls, a -little boy, and a baby, all eminently clean, but hungry-faced--to a -hearty tea at a confectioner's, and presented them with a bunch of -holly, and a shilling over and beyond the tea. They bought an old man -with crutches half a pound of his favourite tobacco, because he was -gazing longingly at it in a tobacconist's window. His poor old eyes grew -very watery as he accepted it and declared with shaky fervour that "King -Edward himself couldn't have given him anything he'd like better." - -The account-book was thrust to the back of a drawer, and to the back of -everyone's mind as well. They locked themselves mysteriously into their -bedrooms; and there was a sudden dearth of paper and string. The whole -day was rush and hurry and bustle and fun. - -In the evening Nell put her last stitch into Ted's tie. - -"'Tis done! 'Tis done! Denis, go forth! Bring thy friend to our -hospitable portals and bid him enter. Guide him to this our Stronghold, -and leave him with us. Retire thyself to thy bedroom, where, secreted -beneath thy bed, thou shalt find a fair fat stocking, once a foot-ball -stocking that clad thine own unworthy leg. Take it to thy manly bosom, -creep down the stairs, and hie thee to the house of that same Ted -Lancaster, our very good friend. Crave speech with the stately -butler--" - -"Halt! Is thy servant without his proper complement of brains that thou -giv'st him his directions twice over? Or is it as thy servant with -humility suspects, merely to give exercise to the pendulum within thy -coral lips?" - -"Oh, hurry up!" Molly expostulated. "It's getting late!" - -"I go to fetch the British Ted!" Denis vanished. - -They found paper and pen, and Nell wrote, "Not to be looked into till -the morning;" then they began to collect their various presents to Ted, -and poke them well down in a foot-ball stocking of Denis's. - -"Now for the trimmings!" said Nell. "The rattle--in you go! Farthing -dolly. Packet of my toffee. Six little pink jube-jube mice. ABC -bricks. India-rubber tailless donkey. _Is_ that all?" - -"Pin a piece of holly on to it, Nell," adjured the Atom. - -"I can't find room for the donkey. Out you come, box of bricks--oh!" - -Her gasp was echoed by two other voices. K.K. pattered across to the -door, wagging her tail. There was a burst of smothered laughter; they -all knew that rap on the door. Then Nell reached out impulsively and -turned out the lamp. "Come in!" - -Ted Lancaster stumbled into the room, which was lit only by the glow of -a very small fire. - -"Oh!" he ejaculated. "Am I in the way?" - -A wild giggle from Molly. An ecstatic thrill in the Atom's voice as she -responded, "Sure you're always welcome, my boy!" - -"That's my acushlum, _I_ know! Any mistletoe about?" - -"It's nice to sit in the dark sometimes, don't you think?" Nell -suggested. - -"Oh--ah--yes. Are you telling stories?" - -At that Nell grew helpless; she couldn't keep her gravity any longer. - -"Oh, Ted--I feel so silly--I can't help it--" - -"I love to hear you," he replied with funny earnestness. - -"Do sit down," she said. "Oh, not there--that chair is--" - -He sat on the edge of the table, which was worse. - -"Oh," said Nell, "the table's rather crowded--" - -"Sorry!" Down he sat on another chair, and there was a fresh giggle -from poor Molly, who was really suffering a good deal. - -"Won't you come nearer the fire?" Nell suggested desperately. - -"No, thanks, I'm warm. It's a beastly night--all slush and wet." - -The door was pushed open. - -"I say, can't find him anywhere! What on earth shall we do if we can't -get--" - -"Ted's here, Denis!" - -Three frantic voices gave him the information at the same moment. - -"Oh, by Jove, is he? Why on earth are you sitting in the dark, eh?" - -Nell could hear the laugh in his voice. - -"It--it's nice, sometimes." - -He punched Ted on the back. "Beg pardon--thought you were the easel, -old chap!" - -Ted punched back. "Awfully sorry--thought you were the sofa cushion!" - -"Great Scott!" ejaculated Denis, with overdone dismay. "Won't be a -minute--forgot--" and he strode from the room. - -Nell sat down suddenly, and hid her face in her hands. She knew quite -well that Denis was now crawling about under his bed in search of the -stocking. - -Presently he reappeared, and worked his way round to her. Ted was urging -a political argument with the Atom. Under cover of it Denis began. - -"Beastly stocking isn't there!" - -"If it were, why would the lamp be out, you goose?" - -"Never thought of that!" He gave a chuckle. - -"It's under the table! It's not packed properly yet. Get Ted up to -your room. I'll put it in mine." - -"Right you are." - -"I say, what on earth am I kicking under here?" came from Ted suddenly. -"Ugh, it feels like a corpulent corpse." He stooped to peer under the -table. Molly cried out; he dropped the cloth and turned round. - -"Did you hurt yourself?" - -"I say, old man," Denis flung his arm round his shoulders and dragged -him towards the door, "you might come up now and look at that book of -Heller's I was telling you about. It's in my room." - -"All right, but I've a conviction it's Herr Schmidt under that table!" - -When they returned to the Stronghold all was light and innocent and -calm. Denis made some excuse and went away. - -Nell glanced several times at Ted. She guessed he had been doing too -much; his face was pale and there were dark rings round his eyes. All -the mother in her surged up; she smiled whimsically as she wondered if -he would be astonished if she were to go and stroke his head, as she -felt inclined to do. She went and sat on the rug by the fire and looked -at him softly. - -"Ted," she said, "I wish you were going to spend to-morrow with us." - -"Do you really?" He looked tremendously pleased. - -She nodded. "You'll spend New Year's day with us, won't you?" - -"Rather. But the Governor and I always spend Christmas with my aunt. -They have a large house party every year." - -"It'll be more fun for you than here." - -"Will it?" - -She pulled Kate Kearney on to her lap, and stroked her long ears -thoughtfully. - -"When did your mother die, Teddie?" - -"When I was four." - -"Do you remember her?" - -"A little. I can remember hiding behind a curtain and watching, with -all my head stuck out, a lady all in pale yellow hunting in the vases -and under the table for me. Other bits I can remember, too. And I -remember screaming and howling because I didn't like the black frock -they put me into." - -She gazed into the fire in silence. Then impulsively she stretched out -her arm and laid her hand on his knee. - -"Teddie, will you promise me to go to bed at ten to-night?" - -"At ten?" He lifted his eyebrows in surprise. - -"Yes. _Please_," she coaxed. - -"But why?" - -"If I tell you, you'll get grumpy." - -"No, I won't." - -"Well, then, you're done up." - -He frowned impatiently. - -"I'm not!" - -"There, I knew you'd get grumpy!" she replied pathetically; "boys are so -prickly." - -He smiled. "I'll promise, Nell." - -She dimpled joyfully. - -"That's a good boy!" - -"Nell," wailed Molly, "this trumpet for the milkman's little boy has -gone wrong! It won't make a sound." - -"Let me try," said Ted. - -Denis reappeared with winks and nods. "Let's have a concert," he -suggested. "Where's the milkman's drum?" - -They mustered between them the trumpet (which wheezed a good deal, but -did squeaks as well), the drum, and a mouth organ. Nell and Denis -procured combs, put paper over them, and led the concert. - -Ted sat through it bravely, even contributing squeaks and wheezes from -the trumpet; but Denis gave a yell suddenly. - -"I forgot he was real musical--a composer and all sorts of things!" - -"Stow that!" Ted came at him, blaring the trumpet. - -When he had gone Nell began at once:-- - -"Did you hang the stocking up, Denis?" - -"I did." - -"I hope you put it so that the paper showed?" said Molly. - -"I did." - -"I hope you told that butler to tell everyone not to touch it?" said -Sheila Pat. - -"For the third time--_I did_!" - -"What are you laughin' at?" the Atom demanded. - -"I bought something for Aunt Kezia this evening." - -"Oh, Denis, you know her strong objection to Christmas presents!" -exclaimed Nell. - -"She thinks we're wild savages because we hang out our stockin's," -observed Sheila Pat. "She said she thought no one older than three -years did it." - -Denis had gone across to his overcoat, and was rummaging in a pocket. - -"Behold!" - -He held forth a long white canvas stocking filled with little infantile -toys and sweets. - -"Oh, Denis!" - -Nell and the Atom were gleeful; Molly's glee was tempered. - -"She'll be awfully cross!" - -"I'm going to write that it's from Santa Claus with compliments and -respect, and then I'm going to hang it on her bed." - -At about half-past ten they prepared to go to bed. The -"this-time-last-year" imps were rather busy, but found themselves -combated fiercely. - -Nell hugged Sheila Pat a little harder than usual. - -"Good night, asthore." - -"I like you in your nightie, Nell," the Atom said. - -Nell put out the candle and got into bed. She lay very still, straining -her ears in the dark; but Sheila Pat made no movement. Dimpling with -glee, Nell at last slipped out of bed, slid her feet into her bedroom -slippers, flung on her dressing-gown, and took various parcels from -beneath her bedclothes. Then she felt her way, pausing to listen, -scarcely breathing, across to the Atom's bed. Reaching out for the -stocking she knew would be hanging there, she seized a foot. She held a -parcel up tight against her mouth to keep her laughter in. The foot had -not moved. Nell felt an admiration for the Atom's self-control. She -was quite sure she would have called out if someone from out the -darkness had suddenly caught hold of her foot. She found the stocking -and bundled in her parcels; then she crept across to the door, went out -on to the landing and straight into Denis's arms. - -"Bother these balusters!" ejaculated he. "One can't walk comfortably in -one's sleep for the beastly things!" - -She fled recklessly through the dark back to her bed. She had left the -door ajar. She lay waiting, determined to try again presently. It was -very still; her eyes tried to pierce the darkness. Suddenly something -seized the sleeve of her night-gown; she gave a scream. - -"Oh," giggled Molly's voice, "I thought it was a stoc--" The giggles -fled from the room. - -Nell thought how the Atom must be despising her. She determined that, -happen what would, she would, next time, make no sound. But when the -next minute something lit, with a thud, on her chest, she called out -involuntarily. A warm little tongue licked her cheek. "Oh, K.K.! You've -given me palpitations of the heart! And you know you're not allowed on -beds!" she whispered. - -She gave her a kiss and lifted her down to the floor. Then she slipped -off the bed, gathered up her parcels once more, and made another -attempt, K.K. trotting delightedly at her heels. She got a little way -along the passage and was suddenly confronted by Molly, outlined dimly -against a window. - -"Oh!" gasped Molly, and stumbled noisily back into her room. - -Nell drew herself up flat against the wall and waited. Presently -something brushed past her knees. She knew it was not K.K.; it was too -tall. She gave a little shiver, then stooped and softly put down her -hand; it fell on a tight little pig-tail, and Nell drew back with a -smothered laugh. So the Atom was crawling about her business! Presently -there echoed a frenzied scream from Molly's room; then wild excuses. - -"I don't care! You shouldn't crawl! You nearly scared me to death! -K.K.'s nearly killed me once already! Why don't you speak, Sheila Pat? -I _know_ it's you--I felt you! Oh, you little _beast--why_ won't you -speak? _Do_ just say it _is_ you, Atom! _Do_!" - -Kate Kearney barked suddenly; a door opened downstairs. Miss Kezia -demanded what was the matter. From overhead came Sarah's quivering -voice, declaring that she had a poker and they'd better look out. Then -Denis's voice soothingly: "It's all right, Aunt Kezia! Christmas time, -you know--excitement--nightmare--so sorry you were disturbed. Good -night." - -In Molly's room there was sudden silence. Nell had not moved. -Presently she crept along by the wall and went in. Just as she found the -stocking Molly's voice quavered out: "I know someone's in here! I never -minded at home--but--but it's different here--who is it?" - -To Nell's utter surprise a voice just behind her answered and made her -jump. - -"I am Santa Claus!" it said, deep and low. "What you felt was the -breeze my beard made as I flew past your bed. Do not be afraid, maiden; -I am the friend of all, and more especially am I the friend of the Irish -people! Now close thine eyes, and sleep till morning! Fare thee well!" - -Nell heard the sort of relieved, happy little chuckle Molly gave. Then -she slipped out on to the landing, expecting every moment to bump into -Denis, and upstairs to his room. The door was open; she crept in, -turned to the left, and stretched out her hand. It encountered only -space; she moved forward, hand outstretched, till suddenly it hit -against the wall. She stood still, bewildered. Where was the bed? - - "Turn round three times - To clear a Paddy's brain! - Once more to make sure - And now for luck again!" - - -"Five times is beyond me--in the dark. _I_ know! That horrid Denis has -moved his bed!" She groped round the room till she found it; she put her -last parcels into his stocking and prepared to go back to her own room. -On her landing, just in front of the window, she came face to face with -a big and shadowy Denis. - -"Ah," he said, "I thought I heard you moving. I've just been to your -room to see if you wanted anything. I was afraid you might be ill." - -"How queer! That's just what I heard and thought about you!" - -"Very queer!" - -"Yes, isn't it?" - -"Such coincidences do occur in the best-regulated families. You're sure -you _are_ all right?" - -"Quite, thank you. And you?" - -"Oh, quite. Good night." - -"Good night." - -They passed each other; he looked back over his shoulder. Nell had -stopped. He turned, went back, swung her up into his strong arms. - -"I'll carry you back to your bed, young lady, and lock the door on you!" -He took her and plumped her down on to her bed. He bent and rubbed his -cheek against hers. "Strange we should both be walking in our sleep -to-night, old girl!" - -"Very strange--_duckie_!" - -"Nell! I won't be called names. Atom asleep?" - -"I think so." - -Soon after he had gone the door was opened with a laborious care and -creakiness that proclaimed Molly. Nell smothered a laugh. "Of course! -Forgotten something." - -She could hear her creeping round the room; she heard K.K.'s tail go -thump, thump on the floor; then there was a pause--then thud! Something -fell on the carpet--thud! thud! - -"Oh!" came a breathless gasp--thud--thud--thud! - -"She's knocked my stocking down!" Nell shook with laughter. - -Thud! Scrape--bang--she could hear Molly crawling about the floor -picking up various parcels. Finally Nell was shaken up and down while -Molly adjusted the stocking once more. Then she crept away. Just as -she reached the door she blundered into a chair, and sent something -crashing to the floor. - -From Sheila Pat's bed came an irrepressible, long-suffering, "Sure I -_knew_ she'd do that!" - - - - - *CHAPTER XX* - - -"So this is the best they can give us for Christmas in London!" observed -the Atom, gazing frowningly out upon a yellow fog. - -"Get dressed and give poor old London a rest, Atom! We shall end by -being late." - -There was a knock at the door. "Come in!" - -In came a beaming Sarah, carrying a tray laden with parcels. - -"Oh, miss! Oh, miss Shelerpat!--Same to you and many on 'em--I'm sure -the picture's lovely--it just might be the dog 'imself--and the scarf -too--I shall wear it on my Sunday out, and I'm sure it's very kind of -you young ladies--thank you, miss--and mistress told me to bring these -round to your rooms--" So Sarah, in a breathless rush of excitement. -"Two for you, miss, and two for you!" - -"Well!" ejaculated Nell. "To think that Aunt Kezia--" She stopped -abruptly, with a little catch in her breath. She had caught sight of the -writing on the parcels; one was her mother's and the other her father's. -There was a long letter from each as well as the Christmas present. -Nell smiled as she read her father's plaint: "We wanted to leave -directions with your aunt to put these little presents into the various -stockings she would be sure to find waiting if she were to look. But -you see, mavourneen, she wouldn't look! And I'm rather frightened of -her, so I dared not insist. I tried to coax your mother into bearding -her about presenting these to you at any rate on Christmas morning, but -she (is she a dutiful wife?) pleaded her ill health, and declared she -could not stand the stony disapproval she would see in Aunt Kezia's eye. -So I threw back my shoulders and twirled my moustache, and faced the -enemy myself. I had to listen to a lecture on Irish thriftlessness, but -perhaps I deserved that. Poor Aunt Kezia, she's very dry and hard, and -very opposite to all of you. But she is a good woman, and wants to make -you all comfortable. But she doesn't approve of Christmas presents. A -twinkle comes into your mother's eye (but she sternly represses the -dimple you used to dig your baby fingers into) when I conjecture over -her aspect on Christmas day this year! For we're a very Christmasy lot, -aren't we, asthore? Be just as Christmasy as ever you can this year, my -dear, and when you think of dear old Kilbrannan and us--as I know you -will be doing--(a conceited old father, amn't I?)--well, just remember -too that the months soon skip by, and we'll be back, please God, in a -few months, and that Kilbrannan is still ours, and we have only kindly -and hospitably lent it to the Harrisons for a while! But there, am I -preaching? And to my brave little Nell! Don't I know she'll be making -herself and others see all the bright bits?" - -At breakfast Miss Kezia did not allude to her Christmas stocking. She -was very amiable, and had had fish cakes added to the porridge. But in -the middle of the meal Kate Kearney came into the room, looking -seraphic, and carrying jauntily in her mouth a limp white muslin -stocking. It was torn, and nothing remained in it now but a little -wooden whistle, three or four pink and white sweets, and the china head -of a doll. She carried it to Nell, and dropped it at her feet. - -Miss Kezia flushed a little, and drew down her upper lip. - -"I did not wish to allude to what I considered a foolish and -disrespectful joke, as it is Christmas morning, but you see now what a -disgraceful mess that dog must have made. I expect the stairs are strewn -with sweets and toys--" - -"She'd eat the sweets," interposed Sheila Pat. - -"Please go and pick up the debris!" - -Joyfully they all rushed from the room, and crawled about the stairs, -picking up splinters of wood, wool-stuffing, china legs and arms, but no -sweets. Kate Kearney had eaten them. She brought the stocking, with -its few little sweets rammed into the toe, and begged them to get them -out for her. - -"Sweets," said Nell, "are bad for you, but 'tis Christmas morning!" - -After breakfast the chief event for which everyone was waiting was the -advent of the postman. Miss Kezia exclaimed surprisedly:-- - -"Surely there can be nothing else coming by post! The postman has been -laden for you for this week past!" - -Before the postman came Ted appeared. He was surrounded in the hall, -and a babel of noise enveloped him. Miss Kezia's eyebrows went up, but -she smiled a grim little smile of uncomprehending amiability. Ted was -wearing his new tie, and valiantly flaunted the pin with which Sheila -Pat had presented him. - -"Come up to the Stronghold." - -On the stairs he hung back and turned to Nell. - -"I say, Nell, I haven't half thanked all of you--need I?" - -She laughed out. - -"You have--heaps and heaps!" - -He shook his head. - -She looked at him with a worried little frown. - -"You've no _business_ to be so grateful for silly little things!" - -He was mute. - -She laughed again. - -"Ted, I do think you're nice!" - -"Er--awfully good of you--" His face was flushed, his eyebrows up. - -Nell tucked her hand under his arm. - -"Escort me up to the Stronghold, Mr. Lancaster." - -At the door of the Stronghold Denis pounced on him. - -"Here, what are you up to?" - -"I say, old man, it's a gorgeous stocking, but--you might have given me -a pair!" - -"Come and look at everything," Molly besought. - -"Fripperies and all," laughed Nell. - -He took out his watch with a hurried gesture. - -"Afraid I can't stay long--" - -"Why not?" demanded the Atom. - -"Er--I've got to get back--" - -"I hoped you had come early so that you could stay a little while," said -Nell. - -"Oh, I say, did I come round too early?" - -"Ted, don't be a goose!" - -"Friend, do not put such a horribly inhospitable construction--" began -Denis. - -"How much?" interrupted Ted. - -"Come on!" cried Denis, doubling his fists. "You have insulted me! _A -outrance_!" - -"When you're quite finished, Mr. Lancaster," called out Nell, "perhaps -you'll condescend to look at this box!" - -He gave a final thrust and turned to her. - -"It is made of bog oak, and carved by a friend of ours--" - -"Was that the postman?" exclaimed the Atom, and scuttled out of the -room. - -No one heard her save Ted. - -"Isn't it a glorious design? Do you see how--" - -"I--I must go! Awfully sorry! Good-bye!" - -They stared after him in astonishment, then started in pursuit. In the -hall they caught him. He was standing looking rather red and foolish, -talking to the Atom. - -Denis seized him by his collar. - -"Search him! Search him!" - -"Don't ass, O.B.!" - -"Why did you run away like that?" queried Molly eagerly. - -"If it weren't Christmas morning, I should be deciding to be offended," -Nell declared. - -"I'm awfully sorry. I've to go to my aunt's, you know." - -"Aren't you in rather a sudden complexity of hurry?" Denis inquired. -"That's a favourite remark of an old Irishwoman I know!" - -"I am rather, old chap! Er--so sorry--" - -"Here comes the postman!" squealed Molly, flinging open the door. Ted -hurled himself through it, leapt down the steps, and with a vague -flourish of his hat turned to the left and disappeared. The postman -laughed as he handed package after package, letter after letter, into -various eager hands outstretched for them. "You'll lighten my load a -good deal, sir!" - -"Happy Christmas, postman!" - -"Same to you, miss." - -"To the Stronghold!" went forth the cry, and up they swarmed, all -heavily laden, K.K. gravely bringing up the rear with a parcel someone -had dropped. Everything was tilted on to the table, and then each one -pounced on various parcels--tearing of paper, cutting of string, noise, -delight, exclamations! - -Nell opened Ted's parcel last of all. It was an old ivory paper knife, -with a little hunting scene beautifully carved on its handle. - -"_Denis!_" - -He turned at her tone. - -"Isn't it lovely, Denis?" - -He nodded. - -"He knows what's what! It's ripping, Nell." - -She was examining it delightedly. - -"It's such a beautiful old thing--just look at the carving--that leg, -Denis, isn't it wonderful? And the manes and tails--" - -"_Do_ look what he's sent me, Nell," cried Molly. - -"And me--" - -"Are you ready for church?" Up the stairs floated Miss Kezia's voice. - -"A minute, Aunt Kezia!" - -There was a wild scattering and scramble. - -Church was a good deal of a trial: but once Nell smiled suddenly, -irresistibly. A thought had struck her. She whispered to Molly, "_I_ -know why he rushed off!" - -"Why?" - -Nell shook her head virtuously; and Molly went back to her own thoughts, -which made her eyes water and smart uncomfortably. Once back at No. 35 -Henley Road, Nell observed:-- - -"Oh, you dullards, don't you see why Ted rushed off? It was because he -was afraid of the postman--his _presents_!" - -"By Jove, so it was!" - -"He wasn't wantin' to be thanked," said the Atom. - -"O dear, won't we make him blush next time we see him!" cried Nell. -"I'll thank him and thank him and thank him!" - -"Nice way of showing your gratitude," observed Denis. "You know, it _is_ -trying to a chap to have a pack of girls hanging around thanking you! I -know I felt it this morning," he added bashfully. - -There was a perfect storm of laughter, and the pack of girls made for -him with one accord. - -They had an early dinner of turkey and plum pudding; and after it Sarah -went off home, wearing the new scarf, and a smile from ear to ear. They -roasted chestnuts, and actually prevailed upon Miss Kezia to eat two. -They played games, sang carols, and to please her, a Scotch one, -whereupon she remarked there was nothing like them, and a fine argument -ensued between her and Sheila Pat. They all set the supper table and -all cleared away. They allowed the Atom--a sleepy Atom, who desperately -tried to appear a very wide awake one--to sit up till eleven o'clock, -and then with big hugs they all went off to bed. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXI* - - -One morning, about a fortnight after Christmas, Miss Kezia was called -away suddenly to the bedside of an old friend in Tunbridge Wells, who -was ill. She packed and got ready in a perfect hail of her own counsel -which she poured into Nell's ear. Molly, in valiant endeavours to help -her aunt, hid everything she specially wanted, and poked things she -didn't want into her box, till she was banished from the room. When -Miss Kezia had at last taken her departure, Nell made her way to the -kitchen, smiling over Denis's last words, "I say, Nell, make us some -cakes for tea to celebrate the hap--mournful occasion!" - -Sheila Pat queried earnestly:-- - -"Is the friend _very_ ill?" - -"No; influenza--low-spirited--wants Aunt Kezia." - -"Aren't these Scotch people _queer_?" mused Sheila Pat. - -Ted looked in after a ride, hoping he would be in time to catch Denis. -The sight of his riding things brought a lump to Nell's throat, but she -smiled on him brightly. - -"I'm going to make some cakes, Ted, and you're to help eat them this -afternoon!" - -"Oh, I say--er--I'm always here--" - -"If you're tired of coming--" - -"You know I'm not!" - -"Well, then, don't be a goose." - -"May I watch you make the cakes?" - -She laughed. - -"You're like the lodge children at home. So sure as I went into the -kitchen to make cakes, yellow and black heads would appear round the -door, and beaming mouths would wait for bits! Come along!" - -He amused her greatly by wandering after her round the kitchen with a -chair. - -"You could sit down to do that!" - -"I'm never tired!" she declared, laughing. - -He eyed her admiringly. - -"I do like that! I thought girls were always feeling tired and faint." - -"Oh, Ted, how old-fashioned you are!" - -"You see, I haven't known many girls." - -"Your experience must have been very unfortunate," she said, and then -she thought of his cousins, and blushed. - -He smiled; he was thinking of them, too. - -"You see these tricky little channels through these long cakes? Well, -they're going to be filled with a little jam, and a great roll of thick -cream!" - -"Five hours to tea-time!" he sighed. - -Down the stairs floated a wail of woe. - -"I've upset the ink!" - -"That's Molly. Do go and help her, Ted!" - -To Nell presently there came the sound of Herr Schmidt's piano. She -propped the kitchen door open, and prepared to listen while she worked. -Hitherto she had only heard Ted play dances and jigs for them, but now -it was different. It drew her slowly from the kitchen up the stairs to -Herr Schmidt's room. She stood by the door and listened. He did not -see her. His legs were twisted contortedly round the old-fashioned -piano-stool; he was wrapt in his music. He was playing a waltz--soft, -dreamy, with a beautiful, pathetic refrain that made Nell's breath catch -in her throat. - -When the last note had died away she went softly in. He glanced at her -with a far-away look in his deep-set eyes then he flushed, and stood up, -frowning. - -"It was beautiful," she said softly. - -"Er--glad you liked it. Piano's a good one. Finished the cakes, Nell?" - -She shook her head. - -"They're all burning and spoiling, I expect, but that waltz just drew my -feet up here! What is it, Ted?" - -"Oh--that? Just a little waltz, you know," digging his hands into his -coat pockets. - -"Well, yes, I know so much. But what is it called?" - -"Oh--er--I don't quite know--" - -"Who composed it? It was lovely!" - -"Glad you liked it. I say, hadn't you better rescue your cakes?" - -"Edward Lancaster, _who composed that waltz_?" - -"Er--oh, I didn't see the composer's name--" - -"It doesn't by any chance begin with an E and an L? Oh," she laughed out -at his fiery face, "how funny you are! What is there to be ashamed of? -You should be proud--_proud_! Are all the English like that? Shake -hands, Ted! It's lovely!" - -"No--it's nothing!" But he looked delighted all the same. "You see, I -got this part," sitting down and softly playing the sad little refrain, -"I got that at home this morning;"--he had forgotten his shyness in his -interest,--"but I couldn't get a setting for it, and then suddenly down -in the kitchen just now, amongst the cakes, I got it!" - -"I'm glad it was the happy part that came to you while you were with -me!" she laughed, and fled down to her cakes. - -At tea that afternoon she nodded at Ted. "You're to take that burnt -one, please!" she said mischievously. - -"Honoured," he declared, and they both laughed. - -They had an evening of music, singing, and dancing down in Herr -Schmidt's room. They moved his table and chairs close to the walls, and -danced to their hearts' content. - -It was in the midst of a rollicking chorus that Herr Schmidt returned -unexpectedly. He stood in the doorway, unseen, unheard, while the -chorus rang out:-- - - "'Mush, mush, mush, tooral i-add - Mush, mush, mush, tooral i-ay! - There was ne'er a gossoon in the village, - Dare thread on the tail of me coat!'" - - -"By Jove, the owner!" ejaculated Ted, as Denis started on the next -verse. - -Denis nodded with gay insouciance at Herr Schmidt, and sang on. - -Nell went forward, laughing:-- - -"Oh, Herr Schmidt, we knew you wouldn't mind our using your room--_do_ -you?" - -"Nein, nein! It is a great unexpectful bleasure, Fraeulein! It is so -goot of you, meine liebe! I am so bleased, so very much bleased!" He -was patting her hand and beaming round his crowded room. "Ach, zere is -my little Miss Sheila! But zere is no fire!" His face fell -ludicrously. "How inhospital! Why did not ze maid light ze fire? -Fraeulein, we must light ze fire at once!" - -They persuaded him to sing, and his great rolling bass amused Molly so -much that she had to retire to the stairs to hide her mirth. Then he -joined their supper party, and his broad, red, beaming face, with its -kind little eyes twinkling over his glasses, was certainly indicative of -enjoyment. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXII* - - -"On, Denis!" said Nell, looking up from a letter from Miss Kezia. They -were at breakfast. In the middle of the table there was a great jar of -jonquils. In a tiny glass bowl were some precious snowdrops from home. -The room wore a rakish air somehow. Perhaps it was the different -arrangement of the furniture, which, instead of standing stiffly in set -places, was clotted about haphazard just wherever it happened to find -itself. On one chair lay a smock of the Atom's, with a needle and -cotton stuck into it where Nell had begun to mend a rent. On another -lay Molly's gloves. Books and papers were scattered about--James -O'Driscoll wandered about and picked out all the furniture buttons that -he could find. The sun peeped in and laughed and danced to think what -Miss Kezia would say. - -"Oh, Denis!" said Nell. - -He looked up from a letter. - -"What's up?" - -Nell bit her lip. - -"What's _up_?" - -With eyes cast down, she began rather tremulously:-- - -"It's--it's Miss Hadlow. She has it worse than Aunt Kezia thought. She -doesn't think she'll be able to be home for some days yet." - -"How many days, Nell?" queried the Atom, anxiously. - -"She doesn't know, but she says Miss Hadlow won't take proper -nourishment unless she's there to make her; and it is essential that -while the influenza runs its course, she should take sufficient -nourishment to keep up her strength. Denis, you're _not_ to laugh!" - -"How long does it take running its course?" asked Molly. - -"I don't know. A week--" - -"Oh, more than that," said Denis, cheerfully. - -"Poor Miss Hadlow!" said Molly, dutifully. - -They all began to laugh and laugh. - -"Aren't we h-h-horrid?" gasped Nell. - -"I don't see _why_," argued the Atom; "if she were _really_ ill, we'd be -sorry--I suppose." - -Denis shouted with laughter at her tone. - -"She isn't ill, you see," pursued Sheila Pat. "She's just like a baby -and won't take this and won't take that! So I don't see why we should -be sorry yet awhile--we will be when she gets worse, perhaps." - -"Denis," said Nell, "I'm going to give Sarah a holiday!" - -"To celebrate the joy--melancholy occasion?" - -Nell had been waving Aunt Kezia's letter with its reams of counsel and -advice over her head. She laid it down demurely. - -"Don't be silly, Denis. I consider Sarah deserves a holiday." - -"Prunes and prisms! So she does!" - -"And it's Saturday, so you can help after lunch." - -"I'm at your service, fair Eileen." - -When Sarah came to clear the table Nell waved her away. - -"Sarah, go and put on your outdoor apparel! You are to have a holiday. -We--the O'Briens--have decreed it so." - -"Yes, miss--_what_? A 'oliday? What for, miss?" - -"For general good conduct, Sarah." - -"But--" - -"Away! We stand no 'buts' in our family. Once a ram was slain for -butting, you know, Sarah," observed Denis, absurdly. - -"You're just wasting your time and you might be with your _sweetheart_, -Sarah!" put in the Atom, practically. - -Scarlet-faced, Sarah fled. - -Nell pursued her. - -"Sarah, you are not to return before ten o'clock to-night." - -"Oh, if you'll hexcuse me, miss, I must--there's 'Err Smitt's dinner!" - -"What were you going to give him, Sarah?" - -"A steak with boiled potaters and a cauliflower, and a jam tart," said -Sarah, dejectedly. - -"All of which I can manage," said Nell. "He has coffee after it, -doesn't he?" - -"And who'll answer the door, miss?" - -"Any of us. Now go and get ready, Sarah." - -After clearing away Herr Schmidt's breakfast Sarah took her departure -with many injunctions: "Leave the dirty plates and things for me, miss, -and would you please tell the baker to shut the gate after 'im, as -mistress do object so to it being left open, and 'e always forgets--" - -She went at last, joyful but full of anxiety. - -Denis had gone off to the bank. - -"Now," said Nell, "I'm going to concoct a dream of a lunch! -Chicken--oysters--jellies--such sweets! And we'll get hold of Ted, -somehow--he must be here!" - -He was there. They had the luncheon in the kitchen. "It saves carrying -things into the dining room," said Nell, but it was more for the fun of -it than anything else. It was a very successful lunch, and the cook -received quite an ovation. When the meal was over, she observed:-- - -"I do hate to give a person a holiday and then make her do her work when -she comes home." - -Ted looked at her inquiringly. - -Denis gazed at the ceiling. - -"I do," reiterated Nell, severely. - -"Of course," said Ted, vaguely. - -"Careful, old man! Any statement you make now will be used against you. -Nell's pathetic observation, translated into cold English, means that -we've got to wash up." - -"I will!" cried Sheila Pat. - -Denis looked at her enviously. - -"What it is to be young and energetic!" - -"I'll do it," said Ted. - -"Leave it to us," sighed Denis. - -"Oh, indeed," she laughed. "I wonder how many plates Aunt Kezia would -have left by the time you'd done?" - -Denis looked at Ted with an injured expression. - -"That's how I'm thrated in the bosom of me family, Lancaster! But we'll -heap coals of fire upon her ungrateful pate, and won't let her soil her -nasty little hands." - -"We will--we won't." - -The Atom carried the last plate into the scullery. - -Nell tilted her chin, and held out her hands. - -"Indeed, then, I _will_ wash up. These hands were made for work, and -not for play! Edward, what are you doing?" - -"Trying to see them," peering close. "I see them! So they were made for -work?" - -"That grin does not become your naturally saturnine countenance, Edward. -I wouldn't think of intrusting Aunt Kezia's china to two great clumsy -boys." - -Denis looked at Ted, then strolled towards the scullery. - -"I say, O.B.," said Ted, and followed him in a casual sort of way. The -next minute the door between scullery and kitchen was banged to, Denis -turned the key in the lock, and he and Ted stood grinning through the -upper part of the door, which was made of glass. Nell sprang forward, -but was too late. Then suddenly a twinkle crept into her eyes. - -"You watch!" she adjured Molly. "I wish the Atom would finish giving -her Pearl his dinner!" - -The two boys took off their coats, rolled up their sleeves. Denis hauled -down a big sauce-pan from a shelf. - -"_Dirty_ boy!" cried Nell, through the door. "Things are _cooked_ in -that!" - -Ted proudly brought forward a bowl for mixing the ingredients of cakes -and puddings. - -"It's for _cakes_! Put it away!" - -They found the right bowl at last. - -Nell's dimples deepened. - -Denis took the pan to the sink, stopped short, and looked at Ted. - -"No hot water!" they heard him say. "Tap's gone wrong!" - -"Won't cold do?" queried Ted, innocently. - -"Suppose so." - -"Oh," cried Nell, clutching Molly ecstatically, "you wait and _see_ the -grease!" - -They filled the bowl, then seized plates, big, little indiscriminately, -and plunged them into the water. - -"Oh, they'll make the pudding plates as greasy as the others. And they -haven't thought of the dish-cloth." - -Denis took a meat plate and bobbed it up and down in the water. The -grease refused to come off. He bobbed energetically, and whistled -"Widow Malone" airily. - -Then Ted bent forward and heroically put forth a finger and rubbed. He -made a long smear, and that was all. - -We studied his finger disgustedly. Nell tripped across to he fireplace, -lifted the steaming kettle, and carried it to the scullery door. - -Ted was valiantly rubbing now with two fingers. - -"Denis! Ted!" - -They saw a pompous, steaming kettle, hot, inviting. - -"Hand it over!" said Denis, advancing. "But promise not to come in!" - -"I suppose you don't think you need me?" - -"Most assuredly we don't. Do we, Ted?" - -"N-no." - -"I won't promise." - -He shrugged his shoulders. - -"As you will, my dear. Cold water's a lot fresher, anyway," and he -seized a plate with a savage shake. Ted put up his hand and ruefully -rubbed his head. Nell nearly dropped the kettle in her glee. He had -used his greasy hand, and his smooth hair stuck up in front in three -jaunty wisps. Denis turned and seized a tray-cloth, lying neatly folded -on the table, and dabbed it into the water. - -"Oh, you _dirty_ boy!" She pommelled excitedly on the door, but was -presented with two dignified backs, the dignity of Ted marred a good -deal by his airy locks, of which he was blissfully unconscious. She -watched the horrid smears they were chasing round the plates with the -poor little tray-cloth, and succumbed suddenly. - -"You may have the hot water! Oh, yes, unconditionally!" - -Truth to tell, she hated the idea of washing the greasy plates, and was -glad to get out of it so easily. - -"Mayn't I just come in to show you how to set about it?" she queried -sweetly. - -"We don't need showing, once we've got the hot water, do we, Ted?" - -"N-n-no," said Ted. - -Of course Denis burnt himself, but nothing was broken. Nell called -directions through the door, and the washing up was finished at last. -When Ted emerged into the kitchen, carrying some plates, she accosted -him demurely:-- - -"Have you _really_ finished? I want Denis to go down into the cellar -and fill the coal-box." - -"I will," he said, seizing on the scuttle. - -"No, really, Ted--it's horrid to let you do things--" - -"It's ripping, Nell!" he declared with an earnestness that somehow sent -her thoughts longingly to Kilbrannan--to have him there! - -He paused in the doorway, coal-box in hand. - -"What's wrong, Nell?" he asked uneasily. - -"Wrong? Nothing. Why?" - -"You--you looked--sort of--" he stammered, and fled. - -She stood a minute looking thoughtfully into the fire. A loud and -prolonged rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-_tat_ on the front door sent her -flying into the scullery. - -Denis was putting on his coat. - -"Royalty at the front door, Denis! You so! Hurry up!" - -Denis went to the door. No one was on the doorstep, but a tall footman -stood at the gate, holding it back for two white cloth and fur visions -to enter. - -"By Jove! Ted's relations!" - -His hospitable instinct prompted him to greet them as genially as he -could. He cast a whimsical glance at their hats pondering on the -relative size of them and the hall. - -"How-do-you-do? Is our cousin Ted here?" - -The hats sailed successfully into the hall, and then stopped abruptly -with a little jerk and flutter of chiffon, feathers, and velvet. For -before them stood an Object--a dirty Object in smeared shirt-sleeves, -with a black smudge across one brazen cheek, and hair sticking up in -three jaunty wisps over a coal-dust speckled brow. Moreover, the -Object--the Dirty Object--was carrying a very full coal scuttle, -swinging it gently to and fro, rather as if he were enjoying the -situation and found it funny. And it was their cousin! It was Edward -Lancaster! - -"Sorry I can't shake hands." He held forth his free hand, unabashed, -and it was very black. - -"Come in here, will you?" Denis flung open the door of the -drawing-room. - -Ted deposited the coal scuttle in the hall and followed them. Then -coldly came Miss Lancaster's voice:-- - -"Are you acting charades or what?" - -"Neither," said Ted, "work--real, honest work, you know. Have you come -to fetch me?" - -"Yes. Your father wants you. He's starting for South Africa to-night." - -"All right. I'll put on my coat." - -Nell came in, very pink, very demure. The response to her greeting was -very cold. She turned to Ted. - -"I see you've filled the coal-box. Thanks so much." - -"Governor wants me." Ted's face had grown grim, frowning. - -"We suggested he might be with his Irish friends," pursued Alicia, with -a nasty little emphasis on the two last words, "and as we were just -starting for a drive, we offered to--er--" - -"Look for Ted?" finished Nell. - -"Er--Ted?" Alicia said. - -"That's me," explained Ted, gravely. - -"If," said Alicia, "you can spare our cousin now, we should like to -drive him back." - -Nell turned to him. - -"Hurry up, _Teddie_!" - -"Let me see," observed Denis, thoughtfully, "can we spare him yet? He's -washed up--and filled the coal-box. There're the boots to clean, old -man, but if your pater wants you, you'll have to go!" - -"How kind of you!" sneered Alicia, angrily. - -"I shall have to go, Nell," Ted said; "my father's off to-night to South -Africa." - -"Oh, hurry, then! Denis, take him to your room." - -"There's the scullery sink. I saw a bit of saffron-hued soap there, and -a beautiful brush in a pail. Come on, old chap." - -Ted glanced frowningly at Nell and then at Denis. - -"Don't you come. I can find it." - -Denis nodded. - -"All right." - -Ted left the room. - -"What a good thing you thought of coming here for him," observed Nell, -politely. - -"Yes." - -"Mrs. Lancaster's well, I hope?" said Denis, cheerfully. - -"Yes, thank you." - -Nell dared not meet his eye. She bit her lip in terror she would begin -to laugh. - -"Is it the custom in Ireland to use one's friends as one's servants?" -inquired Alicia. - -"Oh, yes, invariable custom," he responded. "It's a good idea--does -away with the servant problem, you see. When you invite people to -dinner, the husbands go off to shoot pheasants, and the wives come in to -help cook 'em. When dinner's over they all help wash up; Ted's new to it -yet, but he's getting on!" - -"We'll soon be able to give Sarah a week's holiday, and have him in -every day," annotated Nell. - -"Oh, _have_ you a servant?" said Alicia, and Nell's eyes lit with -contempt of her petty ill-breeding. - -"Well, I wouldn't like to call her that," pondered Denis, thoughtfully, -"servantette would be better." - -"Will you have some tea?" Nell asked. "I won't be a minute getting it." - -"No, thank you." - -Ted came in, immaculate in long fawn coat. - -"Coming?" he said curtly. - -They rose, bowed coldly to Nell, and rustled from the room, accompanied -by Denis. Ted stood a moment, hesitating. Nell held out her hand. - -"Good-bye, Ted." - -"Good-bye." - -He turned and strode from the room. - -"Come early to-morrow!" she called, following him. - -"Say, Lancaster, you might have given these steps a rub if you'd been -able to stay," came Denis's musical voice. - -And Nell ran back into the drawing-room, subsided into a chair, and -laughed. - -Denis came back fairly shouting. - -"Oh, aren't they rich? Their faces!--I feel quite exhausted--have I -swelled with compressed laughter, Nell? Let's open the windows! I can't -stand that scent." - -She sat up, wiping her eyes. - -"I think it's horrid to laugh! Poor Ted!" - -"Hard lines for him. Sarah's more refined than they are." - -"I'm afraid he felt awfully bad, Denis. He looked so horribly grim. -I'm worried about him." - -"That's why you're weeping!" - -She began to smile again. - -"I can't help it. They were so horribly, rudely funny! Poor old Ted." - - - - - *CHAPTER XXIII* - - -"I was thinking, miss," said Sarah, "as 'ow the bit of beef would 'ash -nicely." - -"Beef bone, you mean, Sarah?" - -Sarah looked uncomfortable; she picked up a corner of her apron and -pleated it uneasily. - -"Well, you see, miss, we've been using up a lot of things lately--" - -Nell laughed lightly. - -"Sarah, are you telling me I eat too much?" - -"No, miss." Sarah sighed, hesitated. "But it do run away with things -'aving folks to meals!" she blurted out. "Oh, miss, I beg your parding!" -she gasped, aghast at the change in Nell's face. - -"We will have the beef bone for lunch, with potatoes and bread!" said -Nell, tragically, and marched upstairs to the Stronghold, where Denis -was mending a shelf before rushing off to the bank. - -"Denis,"--her soft voice rushed it all out in wild indignation,--"we -have been insulted! We're not to invite Ted here to meals any more! -Nor anyone else! We're to bundle them off without letting them eat or -drink beneath this hateful, mean, petty little roof! That's what it has -come to now!" - -"By Jove, Nell! what's it all mean?" - -"It means that we've been using up too much of Aunt Kezia's money! The -accounts were to run till she came back, whatever that means! But this -morning Sarah warned me--_me!_--that having folks to meals do run away -with things so!" She ended with a shaky little laugh. - -"That all? What on earth does it matter what a well-meaning but silly -little hap'orth says?" - -"But--Denis--it isn't our money, you see!" - -He banged a nail into the shelf. "I may be a thief, but I'll never turn -my friends away, Nell O'Brien!" - -She laughed gaily. "I know! I'll make Sarah tell me the exact amount -Aunt Kezia spends in a week, and we'll keep horrible accounts, and never -go beyond it! At least, with her money. When we get to the end of -that, we'll pay for the things with our own money, and live on bread and -water and all that sort of thing!" - -"We will, my twin, we will! You're a genius." - -He took out his watch, then frowned. "Good-bye, Nell. Hustle me out, or -I shall never go!" - -"Poor old Denis!" - -"That's not hustling. If you sympathise, I shall begin to cry, and -refuse to budge." - -She went down into the hall to help him into his coat. - -"It's poor old Tellbridge, too," he observed comically. "I don't fancy -I'm much of a bargain. Oh, Nell, aren't letters immeasurably more -interesting, more human, than hard and dry figures? That Pennington," -he added, "can tot up--subtract--fly around with figures, till he makes -my head spin. He's helped me out lots of times." - -"I'm going to figure, too, this morning--with Sarah! So you can think of -me drowning in a sea of curly threes and twos and fives, and -noughts--heaps of noughts." - -Ted did not appear that day. But the next morning Nell was standing in -the dining-room window, snipping off the dead jonquils from a bunch in a -bowl, when, glancing up, she saw Ted coming in at the gate. She nodded -and smiled, and he raised his hat. She dropped two or three dead -jonquils and ran out into the hall to open the door. - -"Well--" she began; she stopped abruptly--no one was there. She looked -to the right; she looked to the left; she gazed up at the sky as if she -thought Ted might have become possessed of wings and had flown away. -Then suddenly she gave a quick little nod, and off she started in -pursuit, clad in blue painting pinafore, and clasping the large pair of -old scissors. A good way in front of her there was a broad-shouldered -figure striding along at a terrific pace. Up the road went Nell, and -after her came an open-mouthed butcher's boy. Nell was a splendid -runner, but Ted's pace was swift and his strides long. He turned the -corner and disappeared. - -"Ted! _Ted!_" But he was too far off to hear. She rounded the corner -in her turn, and collided with a respectable old gentleman going -citywards. - -"So--sorry!" she gasped, not stopping. "Did I hurt you?" she called -back. - -"A--pleasure!" ejaculated the respectable old gentleman, who was little -and very rotund. He gazed dazedly after her and the butcher's boy. -Then--for he was a chivalrous old gentleman--he trotted after them. - -"If I--can help--" he observed breathlessly to a lamp-post as he passed -it. - -"_Ted!_" - -He heard at last, and turned and stood staring. Then he approached -stiffly, hat in hand. The butcher's boy and the little old gentleman -drew nearer. - -"Ted--" Nell clutched hold of his coat-sleeve. - -"If I--can help--" The little old gentleman had reached her side now. -The butcher's boy stood listening, mouth agape. - -"Oh!" Nell gave a breathless little gurgle. "Thanks, but--" - -"There's no necessity for anyone's help, thanks," said Ted, coldly. - -"It was very kind of you," she interposed charmingly, "especially after -I butted into you like that. But I've caught him, you see. That was -all I wanted." - -The old gentleman raised his hat, and retreated. - -"You'll catch cold," said Ted. "You must have my coat." - -"I'm not made of sugar! I _won't_!" - -He shrugged his shoulders. - -"You're to come back with me at once," she said imperiously. - -Dr. Hildersley, from the corner house, looked forth admiringly: "What -eyes! What a colour! I wouldn't mind betting the aunt isn't at home!" - -Mrs. Denbigh at No. 41 looked out and shrugged her shoulders and smiled: -"One of those mad Irish people! But _what_ a pretty girl she is!" - -Once back in the dining room Nell faced him. - -"Now!" she said. - -"What is it you wanted me for?" he asked. - -She leant, half-sitting, against the back of a chair; she swung herself -gently to and fro, and looked at him thoughtfully. - -"Ted, you've got a horrible temper, I believe!" - -"If that's all, I may as well go!" - -She made a dart toward him. "Oh, don't make me run after you again! -And Aunt Kezia has expressly forbidden me to leave the house in my -pinny. I've just remembered it." - -"Ted," suddenly, "what did you do yesterday?" - -"Rode." - -"What did you ride?" - -"Rowena--then Peter." - -"How long did you ride?" - -"All day." - -She nodded. - -"Sit down." - -"I don't want to, thanks." - -"Ted, tell me why you began to come in, and changed your mind." - -"Remembered something. Is O'Brien at the bank?" - -"Oh, no, he's reading in bed!" - -There was a little pause. - -She began suddenly: "You may go if you want to! If any little stupid -thing can make you never want to come near us any more, go! I shan't -run after you again, anyway. We don't understand that kind of thing, -but then we're not cold-blooded Englishmen!" - -"I say, Nell!" - -He had grown very red, but he looked rather amused. - -"Why don't you go? I'll tell Denis not to come round worrying you--" -Quite suddenly she stopped. The pink colour leapt to her cheeks; she -gave a little, shamefaced laugh, "Oh, Ted, it's just like--that--that -first night!" - -"Just what I was thinking." - -There was a little silence. - -"Nell, why _did_ you come after me?" - -"Because I wanted to ask you something." - -"Well?" - -"I wanted to know where you got that waistcoat," demurely. - -He glanced down at it. - -"Well, I was afraid it was rather gorgeous," he said slowly, "but I -didn't think it would shine through my overcoat!" - -"Oh, yes,"--she was quite unabashed,--"I saw the glow of it on thy manly -bosom." - -"I--I want to apologise for--" - -"Oh, no, you don't! _Please_ don't, Ted!" - -"They were so beastly rude," he said. - -She searched for excuses. "It really was rather--rather startling for -them! You see, they're different from us--I mean," catching sight of -his expression, "we're always having fun and that kind of thing--" - -He smiled at her. - -"Give it up, Nell," he said gently; "it's awfully good of you, but it's -no go, anyway." - -"Well, but--why _did_ you come to the gate, and then turn away?" - -He flushed. - -"I don't know. I was coming in. I saw you, and--I funked it suddenly! -I was so beastly ashamed. It was awfully good of you to come after me -like that, Nell," earnestly. - -"Oh, now he's a nice, sweet Teddie again, and he'll let me tell him to -come and sit up in the Stronghold while I paint, won't he? There's that -'Adventures of an Irish R.M.' you're halfway through. You can read -that." - -He opened the door for her. - -"I can hear my acushlum," he said. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXIV* - - -"Aunt Kezia says she hopes to be home in a few days, and that she trusts -we are all behaving ourselves, and she hopes I'm looking after Sarah, -and seeing that she uses up all the crusts and bits of bread for -bread-puddings and bread-crumbs, and that she doesn't go up into Aunt -Kezia's bedroom to look out of the window at her young man--" - -"By Jove, I _never_ knew Aunt Kezia had a young man!" - -"And she hopes--" - -"And she might let poor Sarah just look at him--he must be a curiosity. -Fancy Aunt Kezia being so jealous!" - -Nell put down her letter. - -"She gives a great deal of advice, and is very anxious, but since Denis -is so frivolous I won't tell you any more." - -"_I've_ got a letter from Tommy, and he sends his love to my -snowy-breasted Pearl," observed the Atom, "and he thinks they're comin' -home in about a week." - -"Oh, missansir," exclaimed Sarah, coming in to clear away the breakfast -things, "let me shut the winders! You'll catch your deaths of colds!" - -"Oh, it's a lovely morning," said Nell, leaning out. - -"When I die, plant a shamrock o'er my corpse, Sarah," begged Denis. - -Sarah sighed heavily. - -"It's a great responsibility me having to look after you all!" - -Nell put her head down on the window-sill and laughed. - -"Sheila Pat," said Molly, "what are you doing?" - -The Atom was standing, with absorbed countenance, one foot extended, -balancing a pin-cushion. On her head was the slop basin. - -"Don't--speak--to me!" - -The whisper was earnest and intense, but at that moment Kate Kearney -crept up, picked off the pin-cushion, and frisked away with it. The -slop basin fell with a crash. - -"Oh, we shall catch it," said Nell, eying the pieces. - -"I was tryin' to do the balancin' clown." - -On the previous Saturday Ted had appeared very casually with a box at a -circus going begging. - -"Pity to waste it," he had observed uncomfortably. - -He had not explained that he had booked for that box three weeks before, -and had never summoned up courage to mention it till the very day -itself. - -They had enjoyed every moment of that circus; and Sheila Pat had striven -to do many things since that she had witnessed that day. - -"Next time," advised Denis, from the hall, "you practise the clown, do -it with sofa-cushions, Atom. It will come more economical in the end." - -That evening Herr Schmidt went into his bedroom, and found a small -burglar walking off with the two tall candles from his toilet table. - -"Good evenin'," the burglar said calmly. "I'm glad you've come in, -because now I can ask if you've any injection to lendin' us your -candles, Herr Schmidt." - -"Not at all, my dear; it is a bleasure." - -He followed her into the hall. Suddenly she turned, looking gnomish. - -"I invite you to join our little party, Herr Schmidt!" she said with a -good deal of effect. - -"A barty? But I am old--" - -"Please come! I do so _want_ you to come!" - -He smiled delightedly. - -"You are a nice little girl! Ach, yes, I will come if ze rest wish it -also." - -"Oh, yes, they will! You see, it's to jump over candles!" - -"To joomp? Candles?" - -She nodded. - -"Nell," entering the dining room, which was cleared for action, "isn't -it lovely--Herr Schmidt's goin' to jump them, too!" Her wicked little -voice trembled with glee. - -"Oh!" said Nell, "oh, it's very good of him!" - -Herr Schmidt looked on with benign interest as they arranged twelve -candles, big, little, thin, fat, in a row on the floor, some in -candlesticks and a few stuck on pieces of wood. He listened earnestly -to Nell's explanation. - -"Yes, yes, I understand. Every candle represents a month. Yes. I -joomp--so!" He gave an elephantine leap in the air that sent Molly -flying from the room. "And if I blow out any, I shall be onhappy zat -month--ach, yes!" - -"And all you jump over without blowing out will be happy and prosperous -months." - -"So! I understant. Shall I begin?" - -He did begin. He stood before the first candle drew his feet together, -and--thud!--he was over and beaming round, breathless but triumphant. - -"Ach--he not out!" - -He smiled seraphically upon his rude, convulsed audience, which was -strewn around helplessly on chairs and sofa. - -Then he prepared to manipulate the second candle. With a thud that shook -the whole house, he cleared it triumphantly. - -"January, February! Ach, it is so easy!" - -"You're a fairy, Herr Schmidt!" declared Denis. "I believe you've got -gossamer wings hidden in your toes!" - -"You're a bit muddled, O.B., aren't you?" observed Ted. - -But the hackneyed and stale old saying that pride goes before a fall -held good now. Herr Schmidt, overconfident, leapt buoyantly at his -third candle and came down with a horrible squelch straight on it. - -"Ach, I've put--him out!" he ejaculated dismally. - -"No, have you?" said Ted. - -"Yes, I haf," he responded in all good faith, eying the flattened mass -of wax. "It is March; I shall be unlucky." - -Then warily he started once more. He surmounted successfully April, -May, June, and July. By that time his beaming smiles had given place to -a deep and solemn earnestness infinitely more ludicrous. His face was -very red, and his breath was very short. But on he went; came to grief -over August; on again, over September, October, successfully, put -November out, and leapt December with a bang that Denis declared made -his teeth rattle in his head. - -"Zere!" He looked round on his audience much as a conqueror might have -looked on the worlds he had conquered--with pride tempered by sadness -for losses. "I shall be unlucky in March and August and November, but I -joomp zem well, eh? Zo many not out, hein?" - -"Oh, beautifully," said Nell, wiping her eyes, "only three out!" - -They replaced flattened March, then Sheila Pat went earnestly at the -candles; bright and airy as a sprite, she skipped over them without -putting out one. Molly was not so lucky. Her skirts were longer than -the Atom's, her giggles more helpless. Her jumps were wild, hopelessly -crooked. She put out February and March, then stood on one leg, her -skirts all bunched up in front, shaking with laughter. - -"_Don't_ look at me! Oh, _mayn't_ I begin again? _Denis_--don't make -me laugh!" - -She gathered her skirts together--thud, thud, thud, thud! In a wild rush -April, May, June, July, were jumped triumphantly. - -"O dear!" She stopped again, breathless with giggles and frantic little -squeals at each candle. Denis was shouting aloud at her desperate hops. - -"You're like a one-legged frog, Mol! Go on! You mustn't stop!" - -"I'll _never_ do the rest! _Oh_!" She stumbled--kicked August over, -trod on September, and fell headlong on October, November, and December. -A horrible smell of burning arose. Herr Schmidt, with a torrent of -guttural exclamations, rushed to her assistance. Ted also helped her to -rise. The others simply collapsed and laughed. - -Two burnt holes in her skirt, and grease--grease--grease--were the -extent of the damages. Molly lay on the lounge and groaned out:-- - -"Oh, I _ache_! _Stop_ me laughing!" - -They cut a long candle in two and procured two fresh ones; then Nell -went forward, light as Sheila Pat but not able to control her laughter -so well, and jumped all successfully except February. - -A friend called to see Herr Schmidt and he went regretfully away. Denis -skipped airily over the whole twelve candles, without a pause, and -without putting out one. - -"Come on, Ted! It's as easy as sleeping with your eyes shut!" - -"Wait a moment--I've an idea!" exclaimed Nell. - -"_No!_" - -"It's not fair for you boys. How do you think I put out February? Why, -with the whiff of my skirt! _You shall wear skirts_!" - -They draped them artistically with rugs and shawls, pinning them up till -Ted declared ruefully that he moved in terror of his life. - -"Come on!" shouted Denis. "What's a rug when you've got a good pair of -legs! Houp la!" - -And he was staggering and stumbling helplessly, with January and -February both out. - -"Where are your good pair of legs now?" - -"_I_ can do better than that. It requires a calm dignity and caution," -observed Ted. "You were too rash, O.B., too Oirish altogether." - -He dragged his rugs and shawls together. - -"You've lit them again? Thanks. Now!" - -He jumped slowly, heavily, without any spring, cleared January -successfully, and put out February with a fliff of his draperies. - -"Hang it all! That's not fair. Why, it's out before I've jumped the -thing!" - -"Of course!" cried Nell, gleefully. "You're too English altogether, -Ted! You should be more careful with your skirt!" - -"Um." He eyed the candle reflectively, then cautiously stepped round -it. - -"I'm not going to jump it for nothing," he declared; "it's out and it -can't be outer. Now for March." - -He rolled his draperies into a ball in front, jumped blindly, the ball -projecting too far for him to be able to see the candle, and peered -round complacently. - -"He's all right!" - -But a storm of expostulations arose. - -"You jumped right on one side!" - -"You didn't jump over it at all!" - -"You must do it again!" - -He sighed. - -"I do call that jolly hard!" - -He looked appealingly at Nell, but got no sympathy. - -At that moment Denis gave a war-whoop behind him. - -"Go on! Let's rush 'em! I'm coming! Hurry _up_!" - -"Oh, I say!" He clutched wildly at his draperies, heard Denis clear the -candle behind him, and leapt forward desperately, his rugs held up -anyhow. - -Over March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November -they careered without a pause to view what success they had achieved, -stumbling, kicking, making the most awful noise; then Ted did not take -December quickly enough--Denis, unable to stop himself, with a yell -collided into him, and over they went, squashing December as flat as the -proverbial pancake. They lay, kicking, struggling, all muddled up. - -"Give us a hand!" shouted Denis. "Here, you idiot, you're hanging on to -_my_ rug!" - -"I'm not! A pin's digging into my calf!" - -"I tell you, you _have_ got hold of my rug!" - -"I haven't! It's my shawl you're pulling at." - -"Nell, I'll disown you as my twin forever if you don't come and separate -this fool from me!" - -Ted groaned dismally. "There's another pin--in my shoulder!" - -"Pooh, I've got 'em digging into me everywhere! I'm the latest thing in -pin-cushions! Nell O'Brien, when at the post mortem the verdict is -'Death due to an overdose of pins,' you'll repent, perhaps--" - -"O.B., _will_ you let that bit of shawl go? Or tear off the corner -you've taken such a fancy to!" - -"Oh, no, it's Aunt Kezia's," squealed Molly, "oh--_do_ be careful!" - -"Oh, _Lor'_," gasped Denis, in exhausted tones, "I'm done! And with my -last breath I maintain 'tis _my_ shawl." - -"There, now, I've let everything go. Twirl me--twist me--do what you -will with me," said Ted. "Get up, O.B.! I say, ware shins, old man!" - -They stumbled to their feet and stood and surveyed the row of -dilapidated candles--bent double, lying full length on the ground, -squashed flat, and one only still alight. - -"Ted, shake hands. In face of the sad and gloomy year I see before us, -I can harbour no ill feeling towards you; though _'twas_ my shawl, yet -let us be as brothers in misfortune." - -"January, February, March, April, May, June, July--July is to be our one -and only joyful month, O.B.!" - -"And now," pursued Denis, "let us bow to the ladies of the company. Our -awe and admiration--always intense--have increased by five hundred -yards, four inches, during the last half hour of sad experience. Amn't -I right, sweet brother?" - -Ted bowed; then his eyes twinkled as he fixed them on the Atom's long -legs. - -"My awe and admiration for Sheila Pat remain as they were," he announced -firmly. - -The Atom sat down suddenly on the floor. - -"Oh, the mess!" sighed Nell, "the awful mess!" - -"Who is it who speaks?" inquired Denis, in tragic tones. "I have no -twin. In my direst need she deserted me--her one and only twin--her -Irish boy--her brown-haired brother--oh, by Jove!" with a sudden shout -of laughter, _"suppose Aunt Kezia were to walk in now_!" - - - - - *CHAPTER XXV* - - -Nell conned her accounts and sighed worriedly. They were in a hopeless -muddle; the only clear thing about them was--the unexpectedness of the -size of the total. Then she turned to Aunt Kezia's books and her own -separate account of what they were spending. Finally she took a long -letter from the pocket of her pinafore, and studied it anxiously. Then -she rose and went slowly downstairs to the kitchen. - -"What'll you 'ave for lunch, miss?" queried Sarah. - -"There was some chicken left, wasn't there?" - -"Nothing to speak of, miss." - -"You might get it up and let me see it Sarah." - -Sarah left the kitchen, and Nell sat on the table and studied the -butcher's account, and her brow grew puckered. - -"There, miss, not more'n enough for two." - -Nell eyed the diminutive wing and leg and bit of breast anxiously. Then -she laughed. - -"Sarah, we'll have it curried--with plenty of rice!" - -"It'll never do, miss." - -"I shall be quite content with rice. It will have to do, and that's all -about it. We're spending too much, Sarah!" - -"Well, miss, it's the little things somehow. I don't know 'ow it is, -but you have such a _lot_ of extrys--pretty jim-crams I calls 'em to -myself." - -"And the baker's account is so much larger too, Sarah." Nell wandered -over to the bread-pan and looked in. Some words in Miss Kezia's letter -were in her mind: "Keep a strict watch on the bread, and see that the -stale is all used up. Servants never will trouble to do this." - -"Oh, Sarah, what a heap of stale bread!" - -"Well, miss, I can't help it. You all like new bread. Mr. Denis said -only t'other morning at breakfast when I tried to use up a bit o' stale, -'e said, 'I _wondered_, where that old pair of shoes of mine had got -to!'" - -Her tone was full of admiration of Denis's wit. - -"But--I don't understand--couldn't we order less, or something?" - -"Oh, no, miss, sure as you did that, you'd come short." - -"I know! I read once of a way to make stale bread new, Sarah, and I -tried it for fun, and it acted beautifully." - -Sarah looked sceptical. - -"I'll show you with a small piece. Now let me see--first you pass it -under the cold-water tap--like this--then you put it in the oven for -about ten minutes." - -At the end of the ten minutes she brought it forth triumphantly. - -"Well, I never!" exclaimed Sarah, admiringly. "I must tell mother that! -And oh, miss, I meant to tell you butter's gone up tuppence, and we do -use such an orful lot!" - -Nell sighed. "I've noticed we spend much more on it than Aunt Kezia -did." - -"Oh, yes, that's because you none liked the second best, miss, so I -hordered the best. Even Miss Sheilerpat said she would as soon 'ave her -bread buttered with candle grease, a little bit of a thing like 'er! -You see, miss, you've been used to country butter and the best, living -in a castle as you did--" - -Nell hardly smiled. - -"But which does Aunt Kezia have, Sarah?" - -"The second best. She's a Scotch lady, you see, miss, and different -and--it seemed to grow worse lately--" - -"It can't be helped, Sarah. Candle grease or lamp oil, we must have it, -if Aunt Kezia did. And--don't you think you could use less butter in -your cooking, Sarah?" She felt distinctly mean as she said it, but it -was only in accordance with strict injunctions in Miss Kezia's letter. - -"Oh, well, miss," Sarah's tone grew ruffled, "I couldn't cook proper -with less! And as for dripping--_you_ wouldn't like that!" - -"But you must use it if you do when Aunt Kezia is at home, Sarah," said -Nell, preparing to flee. Now dripping was to Sarah as a red rag to a -bull. Nell was pursued across the hall and into the morning room with -an avalanche of excited eloquence, the refrain of which was: "Castle -folk to eat dripping! Why, you'll turn sick at it, miss!" - -Nell, in a perfect excess of goodness, went up to the Stronghold once -more, and averting her eyes from a study of foxhounds on her easel, took -up the account-book once more. She sent Molly and the Atom out with -Kate Kearney, and then she wrestled. The end of it was flushed cheeks, -angry eyes, worried brows, and a ruffled head of hair. Then Nell flung -the book into a corner of the room. - -"That's where you ought to be, you nasty, sordid, money-grubbing little -worm!" - -"Hulloa," cried Denis, suddenly appearing with Ted. "Whom on earth are -you talking to, and swearing at, what's more?" - -"How-do-you-do?" said Nell to Ted. - -"Been washing your head, twin?" - -"No." - -"It looks like it, and you look pretty warm." - -"Oh, do leave my looks alone!" petulantly. - -Denis's eyebrows went up. - -Ted looked out of the window and whistled with soft energy to himself. - -"Silly old bounder wouldn't come in for ages," observed Denis, sitting -astride a chair; "says he was here to lunch yesterday." - -He paused, and waited for her to speak. She gave a little gasp, as she -remembered the curried chicken, and was silent. - -Denis's brows drew together in a great frown. - -Ted broke in with a laugh. - -"I'm not going to stay now! I only came in to pacify O.B." - -With a little flush of horror all her instincts of hospitality awoke. - -"Shut the door, Denis! Guard it! Don't let him go, except over your -dead body!" - -His brow cleared at once; laughing, he placed himself before the door. - -"Oh, but," expostulated Ted, "I--er--I--really, you know, I just _live_ -here!" - -"Wish you did, old man!" - -"It's awfully kind, you know, and all that, but--" - -"Oh, Ted, what a lot of breath you do waste!" ejaculated Nell. She -spoke heartily, because she felt that if he went away, she would be -shamed forever; but she was still cross, and inclined to make molehills -into mountains. - -She took her place at the table and watched Denis moodily as he peered -into the dish before him. - -"I say, Sheila Pat, fetch me the fairy spectacles of Karring Glen! I'll -need 'em! Bothered if my own unaided mortal eyes can find any meat or -snails or puppy-dogs' tails here!" - -"It's curried chicken," said Nell, austerely. - -"_Thanks_, my dear! But are you sure 'tisn't curried rice?" - -"I'm in luck," Ted observed quietly; "I adore rice." - -"Glad to hear it, old man! It's pretty well all you'll get to-day. -Sarah, are you trying to starve your youthful charges?" - -"It is my fault; I said it would do," Nell said clearly. - -"How awfully nice of you," Ted cut in; "you must have known I was coming -along." - -"Denis, I don't want any chicken--only rice, please." - -"You've got to have it, anyway." - -"I don't _want_ it!" - -"Leave it, then." - -She knew that tone. She frowned and bit her lip, but rather than make -more fuss, she gave in. - -"No one's cut any bread," observed Molly. - -Ted seized the loaf. Nell glanced at him, saw his face was red and -puzzled, looked at the loaf, which wore a somewhat grimy and cindery -appearance, leant forward, and gave it a squeeze. Then suddenly she -began to laugh and laugh: "Oh--it's an experiment!" she gasped. -"I'm--afraid--it isn't--a success!" - -Ted was smiling amusedly. - -Denis seized the loaf. - -"Great Scott, it's as hard as stone! Shake her, Ted, shake the -explanation out of her!" - -"I--I told Sarah--to wet it and put it in the oven--to make it new! O -dear!" - -He rang the bell. - -"You might experiment on lump sugar next time, old girl, 'twon't affect -me, you see!" - -"The rest's all the same, miss! I did it all at once just as you told -me to, and you said as I wasn't to horder any more till the stale was -used up--" - -"All right, Sarah," Denis broke in impatiently; "go to the nearest -baker's, and get a loaf at once." - -"Mistress won't 'ave nothink to do with Brown, sir; she says they give -short weight--" - -"Then go to Smith or Robinson's!" he shouted impatiently. - -"I don't know either of them, sir, if you'll hexcuse me--" - -"Go to the next nearest to Brown's, Sarah," he said in a gentle, -lamblike voice. - -"Yessir. I 'aven't any money." - -He found a sixpence and handed it to her with a bow. - -Ted was calmly eating his lunch. - -"Servants," observed Denis, "are born without brains, and with the bump -of unconscious aggravation dumped in the place where the brains ought to -be." - -Later, they found that the butter was rank. Before Nell knew what he -was going to do Denis had attacked Sarah about it and out came a voluble -and injured explanation about the best butter being so dear, and Miss -Nell had said they were to have the second best because they ate such a -lot and were spending too much money. Nell sat quite calm and quiet; -she made no attempt to stop Sarah. She had got beyond that. Ted -meanwhile had helped himself to the rank butter, and was heroically -eating it, his face stolid. - -Denis's brow was thunderous; in a curt voice that set poor Sarah weeping -in the kitchen he told her to go. - -Then there was an uncomfortable pause. - -Ted broke it with an anecdote. He told it, and Nell smiled politely. -Sheila Pat sat and considered awhile, then she observed clearly, "I -don't see anythin' to laugh at in that story at all!" - -Ted grew scarlet. - -"I--I believe I left out the point, acushlum!" - -"Please tell it me!" - -He did--laboriously, and with none of the dry humour that usually -distinguished his stories. - -Nell looked at him, heroically retelling his poor little anecdote, and -heroically eating his bread and rank butter, and she burst out laughing. - -"Oh, poor Ted, do give K.K. the rest of that crust!" - -"Should think it would poison her," said Denis, moodily. - -"I like it," declared Ted, with obstinate mendacity. "You're all so -particular!" - -And he ate it down to the very last crumb. - -After lunch Denis went off to the bank, and Ted went with him. - -"Nell," at the end of the afternoon Denis burst in, "I'm all bottled up! -Let me explode! Wasn't it a beastly lunch, old girl? I know we've got -to be poor,--horribly, beastly poor,--but I can't stand making a show -like that before a guest--making him think he oughtn't to be there at -all--hang it all, to be stingy to one's friends!" - -"You see," said Nell, in quite a weary old little voice, "poverty isn't -so picturesque out of books as in them." - -"Rice and rank butter--bricky bread! It's all rot! We can stint more -when we're alone." - -"I didn't know Ted was coming." - -"Good Heavens, are we to live like pigs, that we can't ask anyone to -lunch without an elaborate warning beforehand?" - -"You just said we could stint--" - -"I don't care what I said! It was a ridiculous and needless fiasco! -And you know it! Why are we living so much worse all of a sudden? When -Aunt Kezia's here we do have something decent to eat, though it _is_ -plain." - -Nell sprang up. She flung her palette, her brush, down. - -"Why don't you telegraph for her to come back since you miss her so -terribly? _I_ can't do any better! It's so beautifully easy to stand -and look on, and then grumble because you can't live on the fat of the -land! What do you care if the butcher's bill runs to a disgraceful -total--if we're spending six times as much as we ought--if we have, in -the end, to beg money of Aunt Kezia, because ours has all gone--if the -bread-pan is full of stale bread? No, you're the lordly male creature -who ordains impossibilities and expects them to be carried out with a -smiling face! Oh, I'm sick--_sick_ of it all! And I loathe and -_abominate_ housekeeping on farthings! It's sordid and hateful!" And -she fled from the room. - -Denis stood and stared at the door; then he gave a low whistle, and -walked slowly up and down the room. Finally, he strode out and banged -on to Nell's door. - -"May I come in, twin?" - -"Yes," said a very small voice. He rushed at her and butted his cheek -against hers, which was suspiciously wet. - -"I was a beast, mavourneen! I'm sorry, Nell--all through. By Jove, to -think I'm growing into a grumpy old curmudgeon all along o' these London -fogs! Why didn't we just laugh at it all, I wonder? I'm sure it _was_ -funny! You're not cross with poor bad-tempered old Snarly-Jaw, are you, -Nell?" - -"No! You know quite well that it was _I_--" - -"I say, Nell, stick on a hat! We'll go and get some kippers for tea! -Savory and economical and charmingly vulgar! I'm pretty hungry--I am. -And we'll haul Ted along, shall we? To get the taste of that grumpy -lunch out of him, eh? Here's a hat!" He seized one up from the bed and -stuck it on her head. She looked up at him from under its brim, her -pretty eyes still wet, her dimples dancing. - -He seized her face in his hands, and gave her cheek a great, hearty -kiss. - -"Denis," she said, "suppose Fate had given me Patsy O'Neil for a twin!" - -"You desecrate the annals of our house by such an infamous and -unalluring supposition." - -Ted was easily persuaded to come back to tea: he jumped at the -invitation before it was finished. He would have agreed to come and -stay for a week, a month, so terrified was he that he should betray -remembrance of that luckless luncheon. - -The Stronghold greeted them with a great, glowing fire, before which Jim -O'Driscoll sat eating a biscuit; the table glimmered in its light, set -out with a special daintiness; poor Sarah also was doing her best to -obliterate memories. There was a raid on the kitchen for forks; a -hustling and pushing for places at the fire in the Stronghold. Ted -pushed and hustled Denis with all his strength, but his politeness stood -in his way with the others. There was a food deal of noise and a good -many tumbles as they fought and elbowed each other, and of course -Molly's kipper fell into the fire. - -"Oh! Oh, _Denis_--get it out!" - -"I will!" cried Ted, and gallantly hied to the rescue. - -They shouted with joy at his wild plunges after the kipper, and when he -at last held it proudly aloft, minus a tail, and scorched and shrivelled -into a sprat, it was met with a torrent of rude remarks. - -Ted handed Molly his own kipper with an air of offended pride; in vain -she protested. - -"Here--catch, old man!" Denis flung a fresh kipper to him. "The burnt -one will do for your second help!" - -And sure enough it did. Ted found kippers, cooked by himself and eaten -for tea, so good that he ate up every blackened bit of the luckless -burnt fish, and declared he regretted the lost tail. - -He looked round on the scorched cheeks and smiled benignly. "Isn't it -good?" he said, with the simplicity that made Nell so fond of him. - -"Oh, Ted, what a dear old man you will make some day!" - -"Cantankerous old beast, I think!" observed Denis. - -"Isn't it funny that things one cooks one's self are always so much -nicer than kitchen-cooked things?" reflected Molly. "But I wish I -hadn't cooked my nose quite so much." - -"A cape is a promontory projecting from the land," suddenly declaimed -Denis, and they all laughed. - -"Ware noses!" exclaimed Ted, tenderly fingering his own. - -"I like big noses," Sheila Pat said thoughtfully. "There's a more--sort -of--_understandin'_ look about them--for boys." - -"Acushlum, _what_ made you think of big noses just then?" he urged -reproachfully. - -"Let's play hide-and-seek all over the house!" exclaimed Molly. Sheila -Pat slid from her chair. - -"The benighted Englishman shall be seeker first!" she decreed, and with -a little squeal of laughter darted from the room. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXVI* - - -"Seen any Irish pictures?" Ted's tone was labouredly casual. - -They were talking about the various picture galleries they had revelled -in. Nell turned a suspicious eye on him; she was beginning to know that -casual tone. He had used it when he had suggested that Denis might -exercise Rowena for him--"Pity to let her eat her head off in the -stable, and I'm off for the day to a cousin who's passing through town -on her way to Paris." He had used it too in connection with flowers and -sweets, and on appearing in a dog-cart one day had observed--"Struck -me--room for all--squeeze acushlum in anywhere--pity to waste it." - -So now Nell responded with a "Why?" - -"Oh, nothing. I was thinking--chap sent me tickets for private -show--pity to waste 'em--Neil O'Donoghue's pictures, you know--" - -"Oh, Ted, the Irish landscape man?" - -He nodded. - -"Teddie, you angel! Oh, I'll use your tickets. There's no false modesty -about me, when you hold out a bait like that! Can we go now--_now_?" - -"Rather! Look here, Nell, you--I mean you _will_ let me-- Jolly place -just close by--give you ripping luncheons! You will all come, won't -you?" - -"Oh! Well, you know--" - -"Oh, I say, be a brick, Nell!" - -She laughed out. - -"I was only hesitating because I felt I _ought_ to! I won't be polite -with you ever again, Ted! You do look so abjectly miserable. I'd love -to end up like that!" - -"That's all right. I'll just scoot round to the bank and tell Denis to -meet us outside at half-past one. Will you all be ready when I get -back?" - -"I should think we will indeed." - -When he came back they met him at the gate. - -"I'm not coming, Ted," said Nell, buttoning her glove. - -He smiled. - -"Good-bye, then." - -"You see, we've given Sarah a holiday, and Aunt Kezia would faint if she -knew we'd left the house unguarded." - -"There's Kate Kearney." - -"Oh! You cruel boy! Why, Sheila Pat took her into the maids next door. -You don't think we'd leave her all alone, do you? No, I'm going to stay -and guard the house. Do hurry, we're missing precious moments." - -Sheila Pat led the way into the picture gallery, lured on by a glimpse -of a large water-colour painting--just a bit of her own Emerald Isle. -How they enjoyed those pictures! - -"Oh, Teddie, they're beautiful--beautiful! Can't you see how he _loves_ -every bit he paints? He's got the spirit of it all--the meaning--so -beautifully! Look at that dear, misty bit, over there, with the sun -breaking through! Isn't it glorious? She never cries without a laugh at -the end of it, you know! And those mountains there--so mysterious--so -_silent_! And the little stream laughing up at them--it's such an -impudent little stream--all laughter and ripples and sun-flecks--no -awing _that_--" Her breath caught suddenly and she stopped. - -Sheila Pat said never a word from the moment she entered the gallery to -the moment she left it. She studied the paintings alone, her odd little -face absorbed. But when they left the place, and saw Denis just coming -towards them, she made a sudden, wild little run at him, and caught hold -of his arm. He lifted her up. - -"Take my hat off for me, asthore!" - -It was rather a silent luncheon party at first, but Denis soon altered -that. - -Ted insisted on presenting them with a huge box of chocolates at the end -of lunch. - -"Now for two hansoms," he said, when they came out. "There's the horse -for me!" - -"Um," observed Denis, as the cab drew up, "don't think much of him. -Forelegs a bit groggy. Hi! Here!" he shouted to another driver. "Now -that's a cute little beast if you like!" - -Ted preferred his own choice. - -"Race you to No. 35!" Denis exclaimed. "Bet I beat you!" - -"Done!" - -Nell, the Atom, and Ted hurried into one hansom; Molly and Denis into -the other. - -"Double fare if you beat that!" Denis shouted. - -"Same here!" yelled Ted. - -Off they went. - -It was a close and very exciting race. Denis's horse seemed the -likeliest to win at first. He led all along Regent Street; then in a -block at the Circus Ted's driver manoeuvred cleverly and got in front. -Then for a while they raced neck by neck. Round the corners they -rocked. - -"By Jove, this chap can drive!" ejaculated Ted, as they rocked round a -corner, shaving the curb, and gaining a yard or two on the other hansom. -From that came fragments of angry shouts. "Idiot!--drive a cow!--afraid -of-- 'Tisn't a _funeral_, man!" - -"This is Henley Road," cried Nell, "and we're still leading!" - -There was a final mad and unlawful spurt, and Ted's hansom leading by a -yard or two, they dashed up in style before a pair of incredulous, -horrified eyes watching their mad approach from Mrs. Barclay's -drawing-room window. Moreover, the window was open, and a pair of ears, -as incredulous and horrified as the eyes, listened to a babel of -laughter and talk, to arguments on the horses' and drivers' merits. - -Nell broke in suddenly, "Good gracious, _how are we to get in_?" - -There was a pause. - -"Allow me to scratchulate my head and ruminate," Denis observed. - -Ted suggested: "How about the old German? When does he come in? I -suppose he has a key?" - -"He's gone away till Monday!" - -"I have it," ejaculated Denis; "I, even I, will climb that passage gate -and effect a burglarious--oh, my prophetic soul, my--_aunt_!" - -A voice--an awful, laughter-killing voice, smote upon their startled -ears. - -"So," it said, in accents hard and cold, "this is the way you behave in -my absence!" - -She came slowly down the steps of the next-door house. Denis strode to -open the gate, hat in hand. - -"How are you, Aunt Kezia? Quite an unexpected pleasure!" - -Ted raised his hat. - -She took no notice of either salutation. - -"May I ask how you intend to enter the house?" - -"With your key, Aunt Kezia. Could things have happened more -fortunately?" The twinkle in his gay blue eye was irresistible. "You -arrive at the crucial moment--a ministering angel--a fairy godmother--" - -"Be quiet, sir! You are impertinent! And my latchkey," a dull pink -spread slowly over her face, "is packed in my box, and my box is coming -on this evening. I could not dream that I should need my key at -half-past two o'clock, the time I arrived home!" - -He winked at Nell. - -"Do you always pack your key, Aunt Kezia?" in an innocent little voice. - -"No! Once more, may I inquire how you intend to enter the house?" - -"You see that wooden gate? I will climb it--Excelsior--or perish in the -attempt! Once over that, I can enter by the kitchen or the passage -door." - -"So you did not even trouble to lock them?" - -"Sure, then, how would we be getting in if we had?" - -"It was me!" burst out Nell, and her voice trembled. - -"I!" said Miss Kezia. - -"Fare thee well! I go to attack bolts and bars for you!" - -He made for the gate, which only opened from the inside, swarmed airily -up, and disappeared with a wave of his hand. - -"Is Miss Hadlow quite well now, Aunt Kezia?" queried Nell, breaking the -awful silence. - -"No! When I read in your letter that still Mrs. Barclay had not -returned, I considered it my duty to come back! _It is well I did so_!" - -"I must be off," said Ted, turning to shake hands with Nell. - -"Will you please to remain, Master Lancaster? I wish to have some -questions answered once we get into the house." - -That emphasised "Master" tickled him hugely; he gave Nell's arm a -surreptitious pinch as he responded courteously that he would be pleased -to stay. - -"I'm sorry we kept you waiting, Aunt Kezia," began Nell again, -valiantly. - -"Eileen, I do not wish to speak to any of you till we get inside the -house!" - -Nell gave a little helpless gurgle, and tried to turn it into a cough. -So they stood in dead silence and looked at each other. Nell felt that -in another moment she would shriek aloud with mirth. Sheila Pat's small -shoulders shook every now and then, and Sheila Pat's eyes studied Miss -Kezia's face with a most unholy glee in their wicked depths. Suddenly -Molly, in a paroxysm of nervousness, burst out:-- - -"Did you enjoy yourself, Aunt Kezia?" - -There was a little dreadful pause. - -Then--"I do not go to nurse my sick friends for _enjoyment_, Molly!" - -Nell clutched Ted's arm despairingly, and then suddenly, glancing wildly -about to keep her eyes from the comical little group, she caught sight -of Denis's wicked face peering at them from Herr Schmidt's window. He -met her eye, winked, and rolled away from the window in roars of -laughter. - -She struggled--she pinched Ted's arm cruelly--and she glared, -fascinated, at that window. In a minute he reappeared, his eyes wet, -studied them a moment, and rolled away again, roaring. His face was -irresistible. She could see how he was roaring. She gave one last -frantic pinch of Ted's arm, and burst out into wild laughter--hopeless, -unmistakable, helpless laughter. - -Ted looked at her, then at Miss Kezia's crimson face, and leant -helplessly against the front door. Poor Molly made the most awful -sounds in her agitated efforts not to laugh, and Sheila Pat's face grew -momentarily more impish. Then the front door was opened with a -suspicious suddenness, and Ted went headlong in--Denis dodged--he -stumbled and staggered into the wall, where he recovered his -equilibrium, and stood ruefully rubbing his head. - -"All right, old man, I'll remember it!" he declared. - -Nell fled ignominiously, laughing and shaking, up the stairs and into -the Stronghold, and banged the door. Down to the others there floated a -long ripple of helpless laughter. - -They followed Miss Kezia into the morning room, and there she turned and -faced them. - -Ted looked about him interestedly. He was distinctly amused; to be held -up like this and lectured as if he were a naughty little boy was new to -him, and he enjoyed it immensely. - -"One of you go up and fetch Eileen--no, not you, Denis! Or you, Master -Lancaster! You go, Molly." - -Molly hesitated, in distress. She knew that, once alone with Nell, she -would never be able to regain her seriousness. - -Ted took a step forward, "_Mayn't_ I, please?" he asked meekly. - -"Did you not hear me, Molly?" - -"Y-yes, Aunt Kezia." - -She hurried from the room, banged her elbow against the door, and went -upstairs. She opened the door of the Stronghold about an inch, and -called through, all in one agitated breath:-- - -"You're to come down, and oh, _don't_ laugh, Nell!" - -"I _can't_, M-Molly! I s-simply _can't_!" - -"You must! Oh, _do_ be serious!" - -There was a pause. - -"What are you all doing down there, Molly?" - -"Standing--" - -There was a ripple of laughter from the other side of the door. - -"Oh, don't! I can see it! I--I can't come." - -Molly had started giggling directly Nell's laugh reached her. - -"Oh, Nell, don't be--so mean! You--you're making me laugh!" - -"Why don't you come in?" - -"I daren't!" - -Inside and outside the door there was laughter then. Then a despairing-- - -"You go down, M-Molly! I'll come in a minute!" - -Molly fled. - -"S-she's coming, Aunt Kezia." She gave a terrified giggle, and took her -place next to the Atom. - -There was a pause. All heard a light pattering step outside and glanced -towards the door. Nothing happened. - -Miss Kezia stood gaunt and grim; no one spoke. Denis's head drooped -low; he had folded his hands meekly before him. The door handle was -touched--there was another pause--then it was turned abruptly, suddenly, -and Nell marched in. Head back, looking straight in front of her, -biting her lip, frowning, she marched in, took her stand beside Ted, and -implored him in a shaky whisper not to make her l-laugh. Then Miss -Kezia began. She started on the vulgarity and danger of racing in -hansoms in London. She pointed out the trouble in which they might have -involved their drivers. She emphasised the scandal there would have -been had they been pursued by the police, and Sheila Pat's face grew -full of longing. From hansoms she went on to the awful iniquity of -having left the house unguarded; from that to Sarah's holiday, of which -she disapproved strongly. From Sarah's holiday she ranged austerely to -grease stains, untidiness, foolish hilarity, and hysteria. She threw in -various uncomplimentary remarks on feather-heads, untrustworthiness, -rowdyism, and other things of a similar nature, and then in a final tone -she wound up:-- - -"I shall forbid all intercourse between you and Master Lancaster for a -month!" - -There was a sudden movement, an uplifting of heads, a very definite and -unmistakable change in the faces confronting her. - -"Aunt Kezia--" Denis began, and his tone left nothing to the imagination -with regard to the nature of the thing he meant to say. Miss Kezia cut -in with sudden and very wise haste:-- - -"No, I shall not do that, but I shall write to your parents by this -mail, and tell them how you failed to behave with any decorum in my -absence. Now you may go." - -They did go. They fled. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXVII* - - -Nell rose with a headache. - -"I never," said she, "owned such a thing at home!" - -She went to the window and looked out. A dingy grey fog hung over -everything; the garden walls were wet. - -"The fourth day that has been foggy and raw and liquid with mud!" - -Sheila Pat trotted back into the room, her small face pinched, her teeth -shut tight to prevent their chattering. - -"Sheila Pat, you've had a cold bath!" - -"I let the hot tap run a minute." - -"And the hot water was tepid. Come here." - -"I'm busy, Nell." - -Nell went across and seized the shivering little body. Even through the -bath-robe she could feel how cold it was. She started rubbing her down -with a rough towel. - -"You're awfully tiresome, Sheila Pat. If you will be such a baby, I -shall have to come and get your bath ready myself." - -"Y-you all have cold s-sponges!" sulked Sheila Pat, with chattering -teeth. - -"And so will you when you've grown bigger and stronger. Didn't Dr. -McCarthy tell you so?" - -"Is it s-strong? Feel my muscles! I j-just _love_ icy-c-cold baths!" - -"You look as if you do!" - -"I think you're v-very rude, Nell O'Brien!" The Atom, after this -dignified retort, relapsed into a cold silence. - -"Now go and get Molly up, there's a good Atom," Nell said when Sheila -Pat was clothed. "I can hear she's not moving." - -The Atom departed. - -"She's up now," she announced on her return. - -"_Well_ up?" - -"I dipped her sponge in the jug, and squeezed it on her feet. She's -very cross." - -"I daresay she is. You're an ingenious little torturer, Sheila Pat." - -Presently a wild-haired Molly burst into the room. - -"Oh, Nell, I _can't_ find any hair-ribbons, and my comb has tumbled -down--I stuck it in the window to stop it rattling, and it's tumbled -out--" - -Nell interrupted, "Here's a comb and here's a ribbon." - -"And Sheila Pat's made my bed all wet!" - -"Hurry up! You've only three minutes, and you were late down yesterday, -you know." - -"Oh, Nell, _do_ wait for me! I simply _can't_ come into that room with -Aunt Kezia's eye on me and grim silence!" - -Sheila Pat had shut the door on her. - -After breakfast the fog deepened, yellowed; Nell, with her mouth set -obstinately, got out her canvas and brushes, and began to paint. - -"Nell, you _can't_ see to paint!" exclaimed Molly. - -"I know I can't." - -"Then what are you painting for?" - -Nell squeezed out cobalt blue recklessly. - -"My dear child, if we're to live in a place where it's always foggy, -I've got to learn to paint in a thick yellow atmosphere, with the gas -alight one minute and out the next. D'you think I'm not going to -practise for the next hundred years? Sheila Pat, _don't_ go near K.K.! -You'll rouse her! Oh, _why_ is she black? Do go on with your copy." - -"I don't wish ever to write like my copy," said the Atom, stiffening her -straight little back, "so what's the use of doin' it now?" - -"Well, you've got to!" said Nell. - -Sheila Pat arose. - -"Sheila Pat, where are you going?" - -"To fetch my snowy-breasted Pearl. I'm afraid he'll be breakin' his -heart, all alone so long." - -"You're to come straight back, then." - -"I don't want to, Nell!" - -"Well, you are to." - -"I want to take him to visit Herr Smit, Nell." - -Nell eyed the little heavy black mass that on ordinary days was Kate -Kearney, and savagely harked back with, "I don't think a lodger's -landlady's belongings should worry him at all times of the day!" - -She blushed and dabbed angrily at her canvas. - -Sheila Pat paused, and thought. - -Intolerable, biting irritation possessed Nell. The room cramped her -unbearably; painting drove her mad; everyone worried her; sick anger at -it all goaded her. - -"Sheila Pat, go and fetch your Pearl at once, and bring him straight -back here!" - -Sheila Pat eyed her interestedly. - -"Eileen O'Brien, you got out of your bed the wrong side this morning!" -she observed, and walked from the room. Molly looked at Nell -commiseratingly. - -"_I_ know," she said, "we never have these horrid yellow fogs at--" - -Nell stopped the word before it left her lips, with a wildly -impatient:-- - -"Oh, _be_ quiet!" - -"I only meant--" - -"I know you did! Go on with your history." - -"But--" - -Nell looked at her. - -"If you say another word, Molly O'Brien, I shall yell!" - -Denis came in. - -He looked at her with her hair pushed up and laughed. - -"Golliwog, what's happened to your hair?" - -She looked away from him, fighting a weak inclination to go to him and -cry. - -"Nothing," she said. - -"Painting in this light! Why, Nell, you must be crazy!" - -"I daresay I am. I'm sick of never being able to paint--" - -"But a dense fog!" - -"It's always dense fog in London." - -"Headache?" he queried. - -"It's my temper that aches, I think." - -She put down her palette, and gave a little laugh. - -"Head, too?" he persisted. - -"That I should have to own to such a thing! A little." - -"It's boiled mutton for lunch; Sarah just told me so. I'll go and tell -Aunt Kezia you must have something else. What would you like? Chicken? -Sole?" - -She laughed helplessly. - -"Denis, I see her face! No--really--" - -She stopped him. "I couldn't touch either. I'm not hungry. I'll have -some pudding." - -"It's rice puddin'," put in Sheila Pat, her words annotated by -protesting squeaks. The Pearl objected to being taken from his cage. - -Nell, feeling momentarily more sane, declared valiantly that rice -pudding would do nicely. - -Aunt Kezia was sorry that boiled mutton did not meet with her approval, -so she said. - -The Atom was the first to answer her. - -"Approval, is it? And would you be approvalin' it with a headache, Aunt -Kezia?" - -It was a Saturday. Denis had suggested Madam Tussaud's for the -afternoon. Now he declared he didn't think Nell was fit to come with -them. She did not feel fit herself, but she wouldn't own it. She was -very prickly, and somehow he rubbed her the wrong way,--"Oh, very well, -if they'd rather go without her!" Up flared one of those quick Irish -outbursts. Nell found herself alone. She sang loudly, listening -intently for the shutting of the front door. - - "''Twas down at Ballina Fair, - Cailins and boys were gaily tripping it there, - And I the soul of the spree, - When I set eyes on Kitty Magee. - Her smile so sweet, her step so neat, - Hide and seek her two little feet; - Gliding just like a swan at sea, - Handsome, winsome Kitty Magee. - - And now I'm dreaming all day, - Sighing from dark to dawn, and wasting away, - Like a lone bird on a tree, - Pining the long hours through for Kitty Magee, - At dance or wake no--" - - -Bang! - -The song died abruptly. - -The hopeless muddle on the easel was dabbed at, made more and more oily. - -"Eileen!" - -Nell went out on to the landing. - -"Yes, Aunt Kezia?" - -"Please clean your brushes and put away your paints and all that smells -so horribly, at once! The house reeks, and I have a friend coming to -see me this afternoon!" - -Nell said, "Yes, Aunt Kezia," and a gleam lit her eye. She went back to -the Stronghold, and washed her brushes with slow care in turpentine. -There was an air of waiting about her. She lifted Jim into his cage, -and dropped it behind the lounge. Presently an irate voice rang up the -stairs:-- - -"Eileen! _Eileen_!" - -Ah expression of grim satisfaction overspread her features. The voice -ascended with its owner. - -"How dare you, Eileen? What is this horrible smell?" - -"Smell, Aunt Kezia? Do you mean the turps?" - -"I suppose so! It is _filthy_! I told you I expect a visitor. It is -positively disgraceful--" - -"You told me to wash my brushes, Aunt Kezia." - -Nell's tone was as soft as butter. - -"Certainly I told you to! You are being unwarrantably impertinent! -You--" - -"But I am only washing my brushes as you told me, Aunt Kezia!" - -"What do you mean?" - -"You have to wash them in turpentine, Aunt Kezia." - -Miss Kezia had a moment of hesitation; her face reddened. - -Nell dipped a brush into the tin washer. - -"Then cease washing them at once! Open the window, and keep the door -shut." - -She closed the door behind her with such a very decisive click that it -might almost have been designated a bang. Nell smiled wryly. She -cleared up a little, then went to the window and looked out. Kate -Kearney came to her, and begged to look, too. Nell sat down, and K.K. -jumped into her lap. - -"They don't allow dogs at Madame Tussaud's, K.K. Bad taste. But they do -allow Nells--even bad-tempered ones; but she wasn't wanted, you see. -Oh, K.K., you must get off!" - -She rose restlessly. She looked down at a pathetic Kate Kearney, and -exclaimed suddenly:-- - -"We'll go for a walk!" - -The pathos of Kate Kearney vanished in a black whirl of ecstatic body -and tail. - -Nell went to put on her boots. - -"We'll go for a long, long walk, and we'll come back on top of an -omnibus, K.K. It's such a glorious day for a walk, isn't it? Oh, -heavenly! But we'll go." - -In the hall they came upon Miss Kezia. Nell's slim body stiffened -suddenly; a feeling of desperation seized her. - -"You are going to take that dog out on a day like this! I cannot allow -it! Think of its feet when it comes in!" - -Nell found that she had to moisten her dry lips; she took a moment or -two to choke back unexpectedly rude words. She said then in an even -tone:-- - -"I'll carry her upstairs, Aunt Kezia." - -"But when it gets there! The carpet! Ruining my carpet!" - -"I'll put her on her rug till she's dry." - -"Microbes!" Miss Kezia said. - -There was a little, pregnant silence. Nell's face had grown suddenly -hot; she felt she dared not trust her tongue to speak again; she was -shaken with longing to be very rude to Miss Kezia. - -Miss Kezia hesitated, then she said:-- - -"Very well. And make her _stay_ on her rug, and you had better not go -far; the fog is deepening again." - -Nell went out into the street. At the corner she met Ted. - -"You? Where are the others?" he asked innocently, showing faint -surprise. - -"At Madame Tussaud's. Good-bye," she said. - -"Where are you off to, Nell?" - -"A walk---a long walk--" Something prompted her to add, "just me and -Kate Kearney." - -"You needn't be afraid that I shall offer my escort. Am I allowed to -suggest that it's beginning to sleet, and that the fog is getting -thicker?" - -The deadly politeness of his tone afforded her a small satisfaction. - -"You may suggest what you like," she assured him, "only--do you mind -suggesting it to the lamp-post? It's cold standing here." - -"Oh, certainly. I've never come to embracing a lamp-post yet, but I -daresay it's better to talk to than some people are!" - -The grand sweep with which he raised his hat, and the dignified sarcasm -of his tone, lifted the words above mere childishness. - -Nell walked on down Gardiner Street. The fact that she could not help -feeling that it would be comfortable to have Ted's sturdy figure beside -her irritated her. - -She felt a touch on her arm. Through the yellowing fog Ted smiled at -her. - -"I say, Nell, I can't stand it! You'd be on my conscience. You know -you don't know your way about a bit, and if the fog comes down--" - -She began to smile warmly. - -"Since Denis has deserted you," cheerfully he blundered, "you'll let me -order you about, eh?" - -The "eh" held a suddenly surprised inflection, brought about by the -change in her face. - -"You're downright impertinent!" she stormed. "Do go away! How can you -thrust yourself where you're not wanted?" - -She hurried on, leaving silence behind her. - -The lamps were alight; they shone pale and blurred through the fog. The -lights from the shops made little pathways of misty light across the -pavement. It was very raw, the air was bitter, wet, laden with sleet. -She had not brought an umbrella with her; she was so unused to -umbrellas. She turned up the collar of her coat, and valiantly -suppressed a shiver. Kate Kearney trotted dejectedly at her heels. - -"We will go for a long walk, K.K., won't we? And then we will take an -omnibus back again. There are always omnibuses in London to take one -everywhere.... Some people are so fussy and frumpish, aren't they?" - -She was in dull, quiet streets; the effect of the tall houses, wet, -ghostlike in the fog, was gloomy, weird. They got on her nerves, set -them jarring. A deep depression seized upon her; she ceased trying to -fight it. She was too cold, too wretched. She found herself suddenly -in a dirty, noisy street, amongst innumerable barrows, innumerable -ragged children. Everyone was shouting, it seemed to her; their voices -were hideous. Everyone jostled her. She was afraid, horribly afraid. -It was all so squalid, so inexpressibly sordid. She shrank back -appalled. The noise set her head throbbing and aching. Through the fog -she could discern an unending stream of traffic; she could see -omnibuses. But to get to one she must slip between two barrows--venture -into that muddy road. She hesitated, went on nervously, at a loss. She -walked up the Hampstead Road, and came out upon Euston Road, where -numberless omnibuses were drawn up. The noise was worse than before. -She tried to find out which was her omnibus by listening to the -conductors' raucous voices. She was deafened by the din. - -"King's Cross! Baker Street! 'Ammersmith! Victoria!" - -She approached the nearest conductor, and asked if he went to Henley -Road. - -"What road, miss?" - -"Henley Road." - -'"Enley Road? Where is it, miss?" - -"It,"--she faltered, at a loss,--"oh," brightening--"it leads out of -Gardiner Street!" - -"Never 'eard of it, miss." - -"It's not very far from Horton Square." - -"Oh, we don't go anywhere near there." - -He hopped on to his step and rang the bell. - -She stood on the curb, looking at the other omnibuses with a weary -disinclination to ask again. She held Kate Kearney in her arms, in -terror of the traffic. A boy was shouting almost in her ear: "_Star_! -Daring burglary by d'ylight! _Star_! Murder in the West End! _Evening -News_! Duke of Oldchester run over by a motor! Great Strike in -Nottingham! Families starving!..." - -She turned from him with a sense of physical repulsion. She went forward -and accosted another conductor. - -"That dawg with you, miss? Can't take a dawg in a 'bus! Not allowed, -miss!" - -He shouted as a consolatory afterthought: "'E can run alongside, you -know!" - -She gave a sudden hysterical little laugh. She glanced at the crowded -road, and down at Kate Kearney, cowering in her arms. She moved forward -slowly, not knowing which way Henley Road lay. She was tired out; she -had never felt so tired and forlorn in all her life. The sea of people, -of traffic, the noise, the shouts, bewildered her, dazed her. She moved -away hurriedly from the newspaper boys, who seemed, to her shrinking -fancy, to be gloating with aggressive noise over endless horrors. - -"We--we've got to walk back, K.K. I've only sixpence, so we can't drive -at all. Oh, K.K.--I--I'm going to cry--" - -"Expect you'll bite my head off, but you've just got to put up with me!" - -Out of the yellow fog--out of the chaotic nightmarish hubbub--a -broad-shouldered figure, a gruff, sulky voice, suddenly became clear to -her. - -"Oh!" she gasped. - -Ted took hold of her elbow and shouldered his way through the crowd. -She submitted weakly, occupied chiefly in swallowing ignominious tears. -She found herself being helped into a hansom. She heard him say, -"Fuller's--Regent Street." Then he seated himself beside her. - -"Is it--a station?" she asked. - -"No. You're going to have some tea before you go home." - -"Oh!" - -There was a silence. She cudgelled dull brains for something to say, -then having found it, turned it over and over in her mind, distrusting -her voice, till it grew silly and meaningless, and she let it go. The -silence got on her nerves; she almost began to laugh helplessly; she -burst out in an odd voice:-- - -"W-what a funny action the horse has!" - -"Took the first that came. Couldn't wait to pick and choose." - -"Of course not," she hurried to agree with meek haste. - -The silence fell again. She cast a swift glance at Ted's profile; it -was very grim and very cross. She couldn't let the silence last; it -worried her past bearing. - -"Kate Kearney is getting perky," she said. - -"Yes?" said Ted. - -She began wildly:-- - -"Ted--I--I--" and stopped. - -He did not help her, and she said no more. - -Presently the cab came to a standstill, and he helped her out. They -went in, past the tempting sweets, on to warmth and lightness. The rush -for tea was over, and there were not many people left now. They secured -a little table and sat down. - -"What'll you have?" he said curtly. - -"Oh--anything." - -He ordered tea and tea-cake. The band struck up with a selection from a -popular musical play. She looked round quickly. - -"Oh, how lovely!" - -She poured out tea; he accepted his cup with a brief "thanks." She bent -across the table to him. - -"Would you mind listening? I'm sure I'm purring all over." - -There was a tentative smile in her eyes. - -"Tea-cake?" he said. - -She took a piece with a sigh. Suddenly her laugh rang out, deliciously -gay and glad. Coaxingly she bent towards him. - -"Don't be cross, Ted! I'm so happy!" - -He frowned. - -"It was ridiculous of you," he began. - -"I know it was!" with gay insouciance. "But this isn't the way to -punish me, is it?" Her voice sank softly; she was radiant in the joy of -the reaction. "You wouldn't be spoiling it all, Teddie?" she coaxed. - -Unwillingly, his mouth relaxed into a smile; he caught it back with a -quick, bad-tempered indrawing of his lips. - -"You'd better know--first--I followed you! Now bite my head off!" - -Her eyes opened wide. - -"All--the--way?" she said slowly. - -He nodded. - -"Why, Ted, how awfully _sweet_ of you!" in a soft and very unexpected -rush. "Fancy taking all that trouble! Bite your head off? Why, I think -it was just lovely of you!" - -His glum face cleared. - -"And my head's gone! gone! gone!" she laughed. - -He glanced at it inquiringly. - -"Oh, well, the ache thereof." - -Presently she sighed loudly and with suggestive reproach. - -"To think that all the time nice, cross, comfy you were there behind me! -I wish I'd known!" - -He compressed his lips humorously. - -"Don't be mean!" she laughed. "More tea?" As she handed him his cup:-- - -"Ted, you're not to be feeling superior just because I got into a muddle -and you pulled me out! If it had been a bog now, it would have been the -other way about! But yellow fog, and--" she gave a little shudder--"the -newspaper boys! But I ask you, how was a sane person, in other words, -an Irish person, to guess that omnibuses would refuse to allow dogs in -them? All the same," softly, "I'm feeling just now that man is a noble -animal, and woman a mere headless and rudderless cipher. But I warn you -it won't last." - -"Wish it would," he said, giving K.K. a piece of cake. - -"Ah, then, you are feeling superior! Ted, what would you have done if I -had had hysterics when I caught sight of you? Oh, I'm so happy!" - -"Eat something," he urged. - -She looked round the room, then out at the fog, and smiled on him. - -He looked at her with sudden seriousness. - -"Nell, remember another time if you're in a hole--" - -"The hole doesn't exist that'll ever get a chance of seeing me again!" -She dismissed it airily. - -"Well, anyhow, when that frame of mind's worn off--" - -"You mean when I'm in a howling temper again," she interpolated, pursing -her mouth. - -"Perhaps. Well, remember, _take a hansom_!" - -"But I couldn't. I'd only sixpence with me." - -"Doesn't matter. You pay up the other end. You could get it when you -arrived." - -"Oh, do you? I didn't know. You don't in omnibuses." - -"No, you don't in omnibuses." - -She rested her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands. - -"Shall I try to thank you, Ted?" - -He flushed in horror. - -"Good Lord, no! I say, have another cake." - -She laughed softly. - -"I don't want any more, thanks. I--" - -"Do have some more tea." - -She shook her head. - -"If you'll let me speak--" - -"You might give me some more, will you?" - -She poured it out. - -"I'm only trying to assure you I won't thank you!" she managed to say. -"I won't, really. You've been too nice. I'll do just whatever you -wish." - -"Um!" he grunted. - -She settled her elbows on the table again. She looked out straight -before her, and her face grew thoughtful. There was a little silence. -Then she looked at him and smiled; it was an odd little smile, -half-humorous, half sad. - -"I'm getting like that," she said, "all bad-tempered and horrid and -cross! I was horrid to you, and to Denis,--to everyone. I--I used not -to be grumpy and nasty. I'm just growing that way. In books they don't. -When there's trouble and things all go wrong, they get sweeter and -sweeter. I don't. I feel sometimes all shuddery with snappishness. I -never used to feel like that--" Her voice died away in a plaintive -little murmur. - -"Books are all rot!" he declared vigorously. - -"Oh, Ted, all of them?" - -She was laughing again, but the shadow of wistfulness still clouded her -eyes. - -"All those with goody-goody heroines hanging around like dying ducks in -a thunder-storm!" he asserted. - -"You don't mind if I'm horrid and grumpy, then?" - -"Not a bit," he declared cheerfully. - -She rose. - -"You know you ought to have said that I never am horrid or grumpy. But -no matter!" - -"I've got a conscience to think of, you know," he suggested. - -Outside, they found that the fog had cleared away, leaving a wet, cold -world behind it. - -"We'll choose our horse now," he said. - -"Oh, how lovely! Here comes a hansom! Poor thing, his knees are rather -awful. There's a better one--that big bay, Ted!" - -"Got a fare already." - -"Oh, I didn't think of that." - -"We'll walk along. You wouldn't sooner have a crock from the rank, -would you?" - -"Don't insult me, Ted! Look--that grey! Oh, he's a beauty!" - -"Put on the pace," Ted said to the man, and presently Nell was sighing -with joy. - -"I'd love to spend a whole day in hansoms! Ted, the moral's all wrong! -I'm enjoying myself much too much. And never so much as one -'I-told-you-so' glance from you! It's hopelessly wrong!" - -As they turned into Henley Road, she held out her hand. - -"Shake," she said, "and--I'm not going to thank you, but--oh, Teddie, -you _are_ a brick!" - - - - - *CHAPTER XXVIII* - - -Towards morning on March 17 Miss Kezia dreamed. She was not often -troubled with dreams, but on this occasion her dream was long and -peculiarly vivid. She dreamed that she was passing through a narrow -roadway, on either side of which great rocks rose high and precipitous. -On these rocks men were at work, cutting, chiselling, hammering, and -every sound they made rolled and rumbled and echoed amongst the rocks, -till, in her dream, Miss Kezia's ears sang and buzzed in agony. As they -worked the men sang and talked, and the rocks took up their voices, and -flung them from one to another, till the noise was deafening. On she -hurried, striving to get through the roadway, but it had the -interminableness of dream roads, and Miss Kezia struggled in vain. - -At seven o'clock she woke, because seven o'clock was the hour at which -she invariably rose. On the 17th of March she rose four minutes later -than usual, taking that time to ponder her dream and feel her pulse. -She looked anxiously at herself in the peculiarly unflattering mirror on -the toilet-table, but it showed her the same long Scotch face as usual, -and the green tinge imparted by the glass was no greener than it always -was. Miss Kezia considered dreams a weakness due to illness or a -diseased imagination, but halfway through her toilet a voice broke -out:-- - - "'Oh! Paddy dear, and did you hear the news that's going round? - The shamrock is forbid by law to grow on Irish ground; - Saint Patrick's day no more we'll keep, his colour can't be - seen. - For there's a cruel law agin' the wearin' of the green....'" - - -Miss Kezia stood, the cold water trickling down her face, and -experienced a queer sort of sensation. Where had she heard that -tune--sad even to her tough senses--quite lately? Why did her dream -suddenly descend upon her, the sense of it gripping her most -unaccountably? - -A scream of woe in Molly's most material voice, "Oh, I've hammered my -thumb into the middle of next month!" and the heavy fall of a hammer -roused her suddenly, sharply, to full realisation and understanding of -her dream. To the accompaniment of a steady hammering she finished her -ablutions with a grim and wrathful haste. She faced the unflattering -mirror with a gleam in her eye, and pulled and screwed her hair into its -accustomed tight knot. She finished her toilet, and then she left her -room. - -Green met her eye; whichever way she turned she encountered green. The -balusters were draped with green muslin. The austere photograph of a -long-faced ancestor hanging, a perpetual prim disdainer of the follies -of youth, on the wall opposite her door, looked out now disapprovingly -from beneath a coquettish green satin bow hanging over his very brows. - -Sheila Pat came marching down the stairs, holding aloft the Irish flag. - -"Are you all mad?" Miss Kezia queried wrathfully. - -The Atom turned an eye alight with a far-away scorn upon her. - -"It's St. Patrick's Day!" she said curtly, and marched on down the -stairs. - -Miss Kezia put up with a good deal that day. She sat at the -breakfast-table and faced, with strong but silent disapproval, a -green-draped window. She said no word even when Sarah wriggled shyly -in, her diminutive cap adorned with a great green bow. But her eye -followed the hot and abashed little hand-maiden with dire meaning. When -next Sarah appeared the bow had vanished. - -She watched, from beneath raised brows, Kate Kearney tumbling over her -own head in pursuit of the ribbon tied about her neck, but she did not -say anything. After breakfast a box came by parcel's post addressed to -Nell. It was a large box, and it was filled with shamrock. Miss Kezia -studied it amiably. - -"I suppose it is a pretty little weed," she said with affability. - -She went farther. She asked Sheila Pat for information anent St. -Patrick. - -Unfortunately Sheila Pat started with the little item of his having swum -across the Shannon with his head in his mouth. Miss Kezia remonstrated. -She pointed out the impossibility of his performing such a feat. - -Sheila Pat waxed indignant. She explained scornfully that anything was -possible to St. Patrick, and that, moreover, his being in Ireland at the -time had a great deal to do with his wonderful cleverness. - -Miss Kezia argued that it would have been nothing more or less than a -miracle. - -Sheila Pat retorted, "And why not?" Miss Kezia was shocked. A long and -hot discussion followed, of which the Atom had the last word. She -said:-- - -"Why, you can't know _any*thing! You don't even know what Ireland's -*like_! You're just a hignoramus!" - -Miss Kezia was angry. She was also genuinely worried. It was not the -first time that her young relatives by marriage had worried her active -conscience from a religious point of view. Their stories of fairies and -legends and miracles seemed, to her stern narrowness, profane. In the -course of her argument with Sheila Pat, the Atom had observed that she -thought it must be very nice for God to have St. Patrick for a -companion. The remark had left Miss Kezia gasping. - -Left alone with the rude epithet of hignoramus hovering scornfully in -the air, Miss Kezia sought to arrange the chaos in her mind. She was -still forming sound arguments to be used with effect on a future -occasion, when she heard the O'Briens going out. She went to the window -and received several further shocks. In the first place Denis was with -the others, when he should have been at the bank. In the second, third, -and fourth places, their costumes were most unseemly. To Miss Kezia -they appeared to be composed chiefly of shamrock and green ribbon. In -the fifth place Kate Kearney, all unchidden, was dividing her energies -in a vain attempt to rid herself of her bow, between the mud heap at the -side of the road and Miss Kezia's spotless door-steps. - -Miss Kezia flung open the window, and called out:-- - -"Ridiculous! I won't have it! Denis, why aren't you at the bank? My -steps!" - -Denis waved an airy farewell with his shillelagh. - -"Bank?" His voice was amazed. "It's a holiday, of course! Told them I -shouldn't be there!" - -"You are not to--" - -Miss Kezia's voice died away. She recognised the uselessness of calling -injunctions after fast-disappearing and obviously obstinate backs. - -She returned to her dusting. Her amiability had been sorely tried; it -was little more than a memory now. She approached the window to dust a -chair, and became aware of the fact that her house was an object of -interest and mirth to passers-by. She sighed angrily. She had a -genuine wish to make allowances. She understood dimly that the day -meant a great deal to them. She could not discover from the windows the -cause of the interest her house seemed to possess for the passers-by. -She donned her bonnet and coat and went out. From the pavement she -discovered only too quickly the cause of that interest and mirth. Her -respectable house wore a festive, even a rakish, air. The dingy bricks -seemed to shrink back apologetically beneath their gay adornments. -Green--green--green--Miss Kezia took a violent dislike to the colour -that day which never left her. The Irish flag held a prominent -position; green bunting was festooned across from window to window; a -basket of shamrock was slung by green ribbons from a water-pipe; there -were garlands and harps. From one window there hung a long, limp -object, professedly a dead serpent. Miss Kezia's eyesight was good; it -was better than her imagination. She saw at once that a thing composed -of some rolled-up strips of carpet that were her property hung from a -window. But she did not see that the thing was a serpent. The -realistic touches given by Nell's brush were, to her, merely so many -insults added to the injury. - -The O'Briens did not come home to lunch. Miss Kezia lunched alone. She -also said to Sarah, "You are not to keep anything hot, Sarah!" - -Sarah dragged the beef from the oven in such a temper that it fell into -the fender. - -Soon after lunch Miss Kezia went out. She glanced from the gate with -approval at the decorous, unadorned bricks of her house. When she -returned a few hours later, she glanced again at it approvingly. But as -she put her key into the lock of the door, the more amiable expression -of her countenance faded, and a look of disapproving horror took its -place. She entered the hall and was greeted with several disconcerting -things. Her ears were offended by the loud singing of many voices, -accompanied by a concertina and combs. Her nose was offended with the -unmistakable scent of tobacco. Her eyes--well, her eyes were offended -with the smoke and with many signs of untidiness, of riot, and of fun. - -Miss Kezia went upstairs. As she reached the door of the Stronghold the -voices and music were in full swing:-- - - "'You may take the Shamrock from your hat and cast it on the - sod, - But, never fear, 'twill take root there, tho' under foot 'tis - trod. - When laws can stop the blades of grass from growing as they - grow, - And when the leaves in summer time their verdure dare not show, - Then I will change the colour I wear in my caubeen; - But till that day, please God, I'll stick to wearin' of the - green.'" - - -Miss Kezia stood, unseen, unheard, within the door of the Stronghold, -and gazed. - -Round the table sat several men, women, and children. On the table were -the remains of a feast. Miss Kezia caught sight of a beef bone and -gasped; she saw poultry bones, remains of pies, tarts, and cakes. The -windows were flung wide, but the atmosphere of the room, thick with -smoke, offended her nostrils. - -A pair of bare little legs gave a sudden spasmodic leap to a sheltering -lap, and a shrill little voice exclaimed:-- - -"Lady!" - -There was a sudden lull. Denis turned to his aunt. - -"Hulloa, Aunt Kezia! These are a few friends we came across to-day." - -"In--deed!" said Miss Kezia. - -An old woman was heard to exclaim with deep sentiment: - -"Sure 'tis his honour's a rale gintleman entirely!" - -Miss Kezia, looking back afterwards, on the minutes that followed, -marvelled angrily at her strange and quite unsuitable behaviour. She -concluded, and rightly, that she was dazed with bewilderment at the -welcome she received. To her cold and austere nature it was -inexplicable. She found herself surrounded, called by terms of -endearment, her hands held and shaken, compliments paid to herself and -her nation. One old woman, half weeping over the joy that had been hers -that day, actually kissed her hand. She was not a particularly clean old -woman, and Miss Kezia wished that she wouldn't do it. But she did not -draw her hand roughly away. "Ten years," wailed the old woman, "have I -stood the whole day through beside me barrow, and me not able to put me -foot to the ground with the rheumatics!" - -Miss Kezia felt a passing inclination to point out that the two facts -were not compatible. Oh, these people were awful! And one had a -monkey, a horrible little monkey, sitting on his shoulder! And they -were dirty! - -"Sure 'tis herself's the kind lady, givin' the poor Irish immigrants the -welcome!" - -Welcome! - -Miss Kezia began to beat an ignominious retreat. She had to confess -herself unequal to the occasion. Her inclination set strongly toward -turning these undesirable guests from her house. But their gratitude -was so exuberant; they were so sure of her welcome, so childishly -hilarious. - -"'Tis herself's giving us the grand time entirely!" - -"Won't ye be sittin' down wid us, me dear?" The old woman who had -kissed her hand dragged a chair forward invitingly. - -"'Tisn't much we've left ye," she pursued, "but ye'll be havin' a piece -of cheese now?" - -Miss Kezia heard, amazedly, her own voice making excuses, as she edged -back into the doorway. A grimy little hand was thrust up in front of -her; a beguiling little voice suggestively besought God to bless her. - -Miss Kezia looked down into a smutty imp's face with eyes as blue and -innocent as Heaven. - -"God bless ye, lady! God bless ye, lady!" - -Slowly Miss Kezia opened her purse, slowly she took from it a halfpenny, -and dropped it into the little hand. - -"God send ye a good husband, lady!" rang out jubilantly. "God guard -every shtep of your way!" - -Miss Kezia found herself surrounded suddenly by bare legs, blue eyes, -outstretched hands, entreating voices. - -"God bless ye, lady! God bless ye, lady!" - -There were five halfpennies and two farthings in her purse. She -dispensed them automatically. - -"God send ye a good husband! God send ye a good husband!" - -Even the smallest imp, a scrap of a thing, about a foot and a half high, -shrilly called on Heaven to provide her with a suitable partner. - -Miss Kezia looked uncomfortable. She shut her purse with a snap and -retreated on to the landing. But they followed her, all talking at -once. Her hands were taken again. Disconcerting questions as to her -family, her parents, were asked. The old woman who had stood beside her -barrow for ten years without once putting her foot to the ground broke -out wailingly into an account of her trials, her sorrows, and pains. A -black-bearded man gave her a picturesque presentment of his life as a -father of eight children. His was the shoulder on which the -objectionable monkey sat. He came close, emphasising, with dramatic -gestures, his story. The monkey stretched out a thin little arm towards -Miss Kezia's bonnet. Miss Kezia backed precipitately. Why did her -bonnet possess a fascination for monkeys, she wondered shudderingly. She -hated monkeys. - -"Sure, thin, isn't he welcoming one of his own people?" the man with the -black beard observed. - -Miss Kezia thought the remark impertinent, and concluded that it was -intended to be funny. It wasn't. - -It gave her disapproval the necessary fillip, and she managed to beat a -retreat. Once in her bedroom, she shut the door, and, with a hurried -air not usual to her, turned the key in the lock. - -Miss Kezia possessed an uncompromising conscience. She never allowed it -to veil or excuse her motives. Yet, as she stood untying the strings of -the bonnet that possessed such a weird attraction for the monkey tribe, -she said to herself that she really must turn out and tidy a certain -drawer at once. To an outsider the drawer would have seemed tidy -enough, but Miss Kezia, sitting before it, the door still locked, -methodically sorted out and refolded every article it contained. As she -was refolding, for the third time, a certain scarf that was the last -article to be tidied, the noise that had been surging, high and low, -exuberant and sad, in her ears, as a never ceasing accompaniment to her -tidying, suddenly swelled into sharper sounds, and she understood that -the door of the Stronghold had been opened. She sat, rigid, a queer -dread on her face. The dread gave place presently to absolute -astonishment at the noise they managed to make. The rapid talk, the -laughter, the jokes, bewildered her. The great affection that evidently -existed between them and her young relatives surprised her. - -"Old tenants," she surmised. "How very fond they are of their -landlord's children!" - -She experienced a distinct feeling of gratitude towards the Albert Hall, -and the Irish concert that was to be held there that evening, and for -which her relatives had taken tickets. - -For a quarter of an hour by Miss Kezia's watch, the "tenants" bade their -landlord's children good-bye. Three times the door was shut, three -times there came bangs and thumps on it, and it was re-opened. And each -time all the noise and talk began again. - -Later on Miss Kezia ventured forth. On meeting the O'Briens, she -observed with forbearance that she trusted they would make things tidy -now that their father's tenants had gone. She went on to remark that it -was strange so many of them should be in London. They were a good deal -amused. They pointed out airily that they were no tenants of their -father's; that they had never seen them till that day; that they had -just come across them. It was the last shock poor Miss Kezia received -on that 17th of March. She was very angry, and very genuinely -bewildered. She watched them go off to their concert with a sense of -relief. She felt a newly developed fondness for the Albert Hall. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXIX* - - -The day after St. Patrick's day was a bad one for them. It was a -beautiful day, bright and cold; but, in the reactionary mood that had -gripped them all in a great gloom, the very brightness was a thing to -rail at. - -At the breakfast-table Miss Kezia gazed at them astonished. She was not -a keen observer, but even she, with the memory of yesterday in her mind, -marvelled at the sudden depression. - -Denis, in the hall, observed gloomily:-- - -"Wish I'd get run over, or save a millionnaire's life. Either'd make a -break." - -"Millionnaires only get their lives saved in books," Nell rejoined -bitterly. - -He kicked the hat-stand angrily. - -"Look here, Nell, I can't go to that beastly bank to-day. I'm sick of -it! I'll be committing suicide, or murder, or something, if I do!" - -A quick little sob caught suddenly at her throat. - -"Oh, Denis!" she whispered. "Oh, Denis!" - -He smoothed out a dent he had made in his hat. He looked up at her, a -humorous smile twisting his mouth. - -"Anyhow, I'll be a success as an author soon," he said. "Didn't I say -all this beastly bank business was copy? Well, my books'll be pretty -morbid and sordid, won't they?" - -She felt blindly for his coat; it danced before her eyes in a mist. He -began to laugh. - -"I say, old fumble-fist, wouldn't old Pom-Pom be rich while I was -murdering him? I can see him--'Excuse me, Mr. O'Brien, but you really -are going to work in an unnecessarily rough manner.'" He dived an arm -into the coat she held out for him. "Nell--think I shall ever want to -bring in a realistic murder into a book? If so, now's the time to get -it." - -"You're late. Don't dawdle." - -"Bet I'd get to the corner before you even if I gave you the steps in!" - -"Not you!" - -She flung open the door, jumped the long flight of steps, and vanished. -She came back laughing, flushed, and vanquished, into the disapproving -arms of Miss Kezia. - -She listened to the lecture that followed in a passion of dreary revolt. -When it was finished she observed tragically, "Next time I'll put on a -_veil_!" - -She went upstairs to Molly and French translation. She set Sheila Pat a -sum to work out. Sheila Pat sat and gazed awhile at the figures, then -she slid down from her chair. - -"I won't do it, Nell!" she said. - -She stood, a small figure at bay; a little quiver passed through her. - -"Very well, asthore," Nell said gently. - -The Atom went to the window and looked out. She came back to the table. - -"Give me something to do, please, Nell." - -Molly began, "Why, you just said--" - -"I'm not sayin' it now, Molly O'Brien!" - -"Duckie," Nell said, "will you write me a letter? I just feel I'd like -a letter." - -Sheila Pat got paper and ink and began:-- - -"My dear Nell--" - -She wrote for a few minutes, then she said:--. - -"May I say I've no time to write any more now, Nell? I don't want to -write any more." - -She went down into the garden and quarrelled violently with Stewart over -the rival merits of St. George and St. Patrick. In the very heart of -the argument she slipped and grazed her nose on the wall. But she -retrieved her position without loss of time or dignity, and went on with -the argument. - -Nell met her later wandering aimlessly up and down the stairs, in and -out the rooms. - -"Please don't touch me!" she said strenuously as Nell advanced, and she -ran away down to the kitchen. At luncheon she hardly ate anything; she -fidgeted, was rude to Miss Kezia. - -Afterward she refused to go for a walk with the others. She said with -forlorn dignity:-- - -"I am tired of walkin' between houses that squeeze you to death, thank -you." - -To omnibuses she made much the same objection. Nell, in pity, left her -alone. - -Later on Nell went out to buy a tube of rose-madder. She was painting -desperately, in a sudden wild accession of determination to get back to -Kilbrannan somehow. When she came back she found Molly deep in a book in -the Stronghold. - -"Where's the Atom?" - -"Somewhere about." - -Nell searched. - -"She isn't." - -"Oh, she's gone, then. I didn't know she'd gone yet. The maid came from -next door to ask her to go to tea with Stewart." - -"I'm glad." - -A little before six Miss Kezia came into the Stronghold. Denis whisked -Jim behind him, and faced her serenely. - -"Molly, I wish to know if it is to you I am indebted for--these?" - -She held out a pair of large, flat, square-toed shoes, and pointed -majestically to two frivolous-looking little bows on their toes. - -Molly grew scarlet. - -"Y-yes, Aunt Kezia! I--I--" - -"I thought so. I should like to know _why_ my property is never to be -safe from you?" - -"I--I saw--I saw there _had_ been bows--and I--I made fresh ones--" - -"Yes. I picked the bows off myself. I object to them." She stared at -Molly with a puzzled frown. "You are a very peculiar girl," she said, -and left the room. - -"I took _hours_ sewing them on!" wailed the discomfited Molly to an -unsympathetic and much-amused audience. - -"I believe our dear aunt thinks you're a bit wanting," declared Denis, -tapping his brow. - -Miss Kezia put her head round the door again - -"Where is Sheila?" - -"She hasn't come back yet." - -"Come back? From where?" - -"Next door," said Nell. - -"What has she gone there for? I object to her running in and out." - -"She went to tea." - -"No. I have come from there only half an hour ago." - -"Are you _sure_?" Nell looked bewildered. - -"Stewart had tea with us. She was not there." - -Nell looked at Molly; her eyes had widened suddenly, - -"Molly!"--her voice was quite sharp--"you said she had gone--" - -"I thought she had. A maid came and asked her--" - -Denis bounded down the stairs. - -"Sarah!" - -"Yes, sir!" - -"Do you know anything about a maid coming from next door to ask Miss -Sheila to go to tea?" - -"Yes, sir, but she said, 'No, thank you, she didn't wish to go.'" - -"Have you seen her go out, Sarah?" - -"No, sir. She's never out, and it pouring and that bitter cold and -windy!" - -In another minute he had on his coat, and had gone off to the milkman's -to see if she were there. The others waited. Molly tried guiltily to -comfort Nell, and to excuse herself. - -"Oh, do be quiet!" Nell interrupted her. "Can't you at least do that?" - -Denis returned with no news of her. - -"She may have gone to Mr. Yovil's or to Sarah's home--" - -"Or Ted Lancaster's--Denis," Nell's voice was desperate, "she's been -gone nearly three hours! I can't stay here. I'll go to Sarah's, while -you go--" - -"You will not! You cannot go out alone! It is dark and raining," Miss -Kezia interrupted. - -Nell gave a queer little laugh. - -"I'm going," she said. - -"Nell," Denis interposed, "I'll get you a cab. You go to Mr. -Yovil's--I'll go off to Lancaster's. Sarah will go home." His tone was -quietly authoritative. - -Miss Kezia found herself put aside and everyone obeying him implicitly. -In reality she was very uneasy and anxious herself, but she hid it -beneath a cold and disapproving manner. - -Nell returned a few minutes after he did. She shook her head. - -"He was out. She hasn't been there." - -"There's Sarah yet. She isn't back." - -"Must we wait, Denis?" - -"No. I'm off to the police station. If she should bring her back, I can -go and cancel orders." - -His hand was on the door latch. "Here's Sarah!" he said. - -Sarah hurried in, wet, breathless. - -"No, missansir--oh, and them crool moters--and she such a baby for all -her grown ways!" - -The wind and the rain beat in angrily. Denis closed the door, and -turned to speak to Nell. Something drove up and stopped outside. He -flung open the door. In the light of the lamp they could discern a -small figure standing by a horse's head. The horse was in a -four-wheeled cab, the driver was getting down from his box. The next -instant Sheila Pat was met at the gate and marshalled up the steps. -Into the hall she came, a small, weary figure, drenched through, her -face shining white in the lamplight. - -They closed round her; Nell's arms squeezed her desperately; there was a -babel of questions, reprimands, relief. - -"What a rikkledous fuss!" were the first words the Atom spoke, and a -strong odor of peppermint began to pervade the hall. - -"Where have you been?" demanded Miss Kezia for the third time. - -"Out," laconically. - -Nell cried: "Oh, Sheila Pat, you're soaked through! Come and get dry -things on!" - -"Directly her clothes have been changed I wish to hear an account of -what she has been doing," said Miss Kezia. - -Denis picked her up into his arms and held her tight. "You're eating -peppermint, you vulgar little ragamuffin!" - -"He gave it me--he says it keeps out the cold wonderful. He used to take -to drink to keep himself warm, but ever since his little baby was -borned, a year ago, he sucks peppermint instead!" The excited little -voice vanished up the stairs. - -"With whom have you been consorting, Sheila?" Miss Kezia's dire tones -followed her. - -"I haven't been con--con--doin' that at all!" was the indignant -response. - -Denis translated into the wet ear nearest to him:-- - -"Who was 'he,' duckums?" - -"Mr. Willie Riley," in a dignified voice. "And I shared his tea!" -triumphantly. - -"Hurry up, Denis!" Nell's face was worried, anxious. "I've her dry -things all ready. But I think she ought to go to bed--" - -"I won't! Sure, Nell O'Brien, I'm not a baby to go to bed at seven -o'clock!" - -Nell, rubbing her down, found she was shivering and trembling all -through her slim little body. She huddled her into warm, dry clothes, -rubbed her toes, hugged her. - -"Asthore, asthore, you've given us all such a bad time!" - -"But, Nell, I'm really not a baby! I don't see why you make such a -fuss." - -"You're absurd, Atom! We didn't know what might be happening to you. -We don't know now what was happening. You _must_ tell us--" - -"I went out, and--and I got lost, Nell." - -"But where did you go? And why?" - -"Oh, we were all so frightened!" interposed Molly. "And I felt so awful, -because I told Nell you were next door. I never dreamed you'd said you -wouldn't go, and I heard the maid say it to Sarah, and oh, Sarah cried -and said motor cars killed all the children, and I do think you're -awfully naughty--" She stopped, out of breath. - -"So do I." Nell's arms were round her again; she gave her a little -shake. "I'm dreadfully angry with you, sweet, and you shall have some -nice hot bread and milk presently." - -"I don't want it, Nell! I shared Mr. Riley's tea." - -"Tell me why you went out, Atom," she coaxed. - -The little body stiffened. - -"A person doesn't--always--want to--to tell things," she said, a note of -desperation in her voice. "I'll tell you all about Mr. Riley," eagerly. - -Denis came in. "I say, Aunt Kezia's waiting. Come and confess, Atom!" - -"I won't." - -"You've got to be a man. Come along." - -He had touched the right note. Downstairs marched the Atom and into the -dining room. Not pale was she now. Two vivid spots of colour glowed in -her cheeks; her eyes shone. She sat her down on a chair and began:-- - -"I wished to go out all by my alone, so I put on my things and I creeped -down the stairs and out of the door--" - -"Most wrong! Most naughty!" interpolated Miss Kezia, but the Atom went -on unheeding. - -"Sure I'll not be tellin' you anythin' I don't wish to, so it's no use -askin' undesirable questions about--" a halt, a momentary quaver, "about -things. This London is just houses and houses and houses and streets -like--" pause for an insulting metaphor, "like twin maggots! And I got -lost." She stopped abruptly. - -"It is very naughty and selfish to cause so much trouble to others while -you enjoy yourself roaming the streets!" said Miss Kezia. - -A curious expression came into the Atom's small face--a bitter little -expression that made it look oddly old for a moment. - -"Go on, asthore," Nell put in. "What did you do when you were lost?" - -"I walked and walked. I wouldn't ask a policeman the way, because -Sarah's young man says they're a bad lot and you can't trust them. And -then," her face kindled, "I came upon a cab-stand, and there was one -poor horse with his nose-bag slipped down,--the strap had come loose, -and he couldn't get his poor nose in at all,--and I ran across and I -kissed his nose--it had a white flame--he was a bay with a hog mane--and -I tried to get his bag up, but, oh, 'tis heavy they are! I tried and -tried, and I gave him a handful of oats to go on with, and then Willie -Riley came along--" She broke off. "Oh, Nell," she said, in a -breathless little aside, "all day long I'd been hearing all these -hidjous London people's voices, all shoutin'--and Willie Riley came -along, and oh, he called out, 'Sure and what's wrong at all?' Oh, but -'twas grand! All day I hadn't heard it. 'Sure and what's wrong at -all?' just like that." - -"The horse might have bitten you. It was a most foolish and foolhardy -thing to do," reprimanded Miss Kezia. - -Sheila Pat stared at her in a funny little considering way, then -pursued:-- - -"He soon put it right, and then we had a talk. Nell, he comes from -Cork! And he was tellin' me all about his home--" - -"Get on with what _you_ did!" put in Miss Kezia. - -"I'm tellin' you," obstinately, "I talked with him. And then he drove -me here." With a sudden abrupt movement she slipped from the chair. -"I'll go to bed now." - -There were great dark rings round her eyes; Nell saw her shiver. - -"Come on, then, Atom," Denis picked her up again. "I'll carry you up." - -The small arms went with sudden desperate clinging round his neck; -Sheila Pat pressed her cheek hard into his. - -"She must be punished," said Miss Kezia. "She has been wandering about -alone for more than three hours." - -"We'll see about that to-morrow," Denis said. - -Nell went towards the kitchen. - -"Where are you going, Eileen?" - -"To make her some hot bread and milk." - -"It is perfectly absurd the way you none seem to think she should be -punished--" - -"I shall make her promise never to go out alone again." - -"She shared that cabman's tea," grimly; "that is sufficient. I will not -have her coddled and fussed over as if she has done something clever." - -"She must have the bread and milk. She is tired and shivering." Nell's -eyes looked dark, her head was back. For a moment Miss Kezia hesitated -whether she should enforce her words. She glanced keenly at Nell's -face. - -"If it is to stave off a cold, I will say no more," she said, and turned -away. - -When Nell took the bread and milk up, she found Sheila Pat on Denis's -knee, flushed, heavy-eyed, half asleep. - -"I don't want it, Nell! Make her take it away, Denis!" Her tone was -peevish. - -"Not I. I want you to eat it. Come, try, old girl." - -But the Atom turned her head away, and buried it deeper in his chest. - -"I don't want it! I don't want it!" - -"But you've got to try and eat it, Sheila Pat! Come, don't be a baby." - -She sat up listlessly. - -"I'll feed you. We'll pretend you are a baby, shall we?" - -Halfway through it her heavy lids drooped, her weary little head fell -back against his shoulder. Nell took the basin away. - -"I'll get her to bed as quickly as I can," she whispered. - -"Molly, run and fetch her nightie--to warm." - -But the Atom clung wearily to Denis. - -"I don't want to go to bed. Denis, need I go to bed?" - -"Must, old lady." - -"May I go in my clothes, then? I don't want to get undressed." - -"You'll be so much more cosey, dear," coaxed Nell. "It won't take a -minute." - -Denis put her down. She stood gazing into the fire, her sleepy eyes -closing now and then. - -"Oh, Nell--why does a person have such a lot of clothes?" as her arms -were dragged out of various garments. - -"Oh--leave my chimmy on--" - -"Need I have my stockin's off?" - -In her blue flannel nightgown she knelt in front of a chair and said her -prayers. She roused over them. - -"I've got a new bit to-night," she said, and gave a curious little -shudder. "I'm goin' to pray it to Jesus as well as God." - -When she had finished Nell carried her into their bedroom, wrapped in a -warmed blanket. - -"Good night, Nell." Sheila Pat's arms clung tight. - -Three times Nell peeped in that evening, and found her tossing -restlessly, wide-eyed. - -When she came to bed, Sheila Pat was still awake. She sat up. - -"Nell, I've been very inceitful!" - -"You're going to tell me why you went out?" - -"Yes." - -Nell sat down on the bed and took her, blankets and all, into her lap. - -"Now, sweetheart." - -But the Atom was silent. She wriggled restlessly. - -"I feel--oh, someone's playin' tunes in my head, Nell! I--won't I ever -be sleepy again? My legs hurt, Nell. Is it all those steps?" - -"What steps, dear?" - -"The monnyment. Are you _very_ s'prised? I went up the -monnyment--to--Nell, do you think I've got a cold comin'? My nose feels -funny." - -"I'm afraid you have. Go on, pet." - -"The boy told me--I asked him--he had blue eyes and red cheeks and--and -I thought he might be nice like an Irish boy, and--and--I--I felt," with -sudden passion, "I would just _die_ if I didn't see it--just one tiny -bit! And he said I could--from the top of the monnyment--he said, 'Oh, -yes, you can see Ireland right enough from there, you can see all the -world,' but--I--couldn't--" - -Nell's arms tightened about her. - -"He was a wicked boy! He told a lie. I mustn't say 'lie,' but I will. -I could only see--dirty--smoke--and houses--" - -"How did you find your way there?" - -"I don't know. It was very differcult, and I kept goin' wrong, but I -asked people. And one woman gave me an apple off her barrow. It was -very kind of her. But there was only smoke and houses--" - -A sudden convulsive sob shook her from head to foot. - -"I--I _ran_ up a lot of the steps--" her fingers dug into Nell's -arm--"and it was three pennies--and the man told me there are three -hundred and forty-five steps--it was a long way--and," a little -terrified shudder shook her, "there's a nasty cage--he said it's because -people used to throw theirselves over to--because they wanted to kill -theirselves, Nell! I--I didn't know people ever wanted to kill -theirselves, did you?" - -The shrinking terror in her eyes hurt Nell horribly. - -"Don't, Atom--don't! Dear, it's only poor people who--who are mad--who -don't know what they are doing. If they knew, they wouldn't do it." - -The terror lightened a little. She lay quiet a little while in Nell's -arms. - -Nell hoped she was falling asleep, but presently the whole small form -was shaken by another desperate sob. - -"It was only smoke---and houses--" came a desolate little murmur of -utter weariness. - -"Try to go to sleep, darling--do try." - -"I'm not cryin', Nell! Only--I--you see shiverin' and a cold is rather -like cryin', isn't it?" - -"Very much, but you'll be better to-morrow. You must get better -quickly, because suppose our first letters from Australia were to come -with you sick! And they may come any day now, sweet. And there mustn't -be anyone sick here! Because how can we celebrate the occasion properly -then? If the letters say that mother is quite, _quite_ strong -again--and they will, darling, I know they will!--well, what shall we do -then?" - -She talked on softly, gently, and after a while the Atom slept. Nell -sat for some time with her on her lap, frightened to move lest she wake -her, but at last she laid her gently in her bed, and the Atom still -slept on. - -But the next morning Nell was wakened suddenly at six o'clock. She sat -up. The Atom was striving to pour some water from the bottle to the -glass, and it was the two clinking together that had waked Nell. The -bottle shook in the Atom's hands; Nell saw that she was shaking all -over. - -She slipped to the floor. - -"Go back to bed, asthore, I'll give you some water." - -"I--I'm so th-thirsty, Nell, and I c-can't keep still--I'm r-rather like -Mrs. J-Jelly!" with a shivery little smile. - -"You're frozen. Now, drink it quickly, and let me tuck you in again." - -"I'd sooner get up, Nell." - -"Not yet, Sheila Pat." - -"My bed's so c-cold, Nell. I don't like my bed." - -"Come into mine, dear." - -She snuggled into Nell, shivering and shaking. - -"Will I make you very cold?" - -"Oh, no, asthore. Now go to sleep." - -After a while Nell dozed. She woke suddenly to find Sheila Pat lying -beside her with all the bedclothes off. - -"I'm so hot, Nell! I just burn--I b'lieve I'll scorch soon." - -"You've caught a bad cold, Sheila Pat. You'll have to stay in bed." - -"I won't! I want to go out and get cool. I'll go and have my cold bath -now." - -But very soon she was shivering again. - -Miss Kezia sent for Dr. Everton. Sheila Pat was pronounced an invalid, -the fire was lit, and the restless little Atom condemned to bed. - -Dr. Everton looked grave; he murmured the dread words--rheumatic -fever--but hoped it might be merely a heavy, influenza cold. He told -them to be very careful. - -It seemed a long, long day. Sheila Pat, realising she was to be an -invalid, used all her sturdy powers to be a brave one. She was very hot -and feverish; her poor little head ached, and she ached all over her -body. - -"Nell," she said once, "I can't be very little, after all, because -there's such a heap of room for the aches! I feel most as big as the -giant Mahon MacMahon. Nell, I wonder if he ever caught cold?" - -But there was something that worried the Atom and tormented her far more -than the worst of the aches did, and that was a bewildering, -disconcerting longing to cry that had assailed her. Over and over again -the tears got as far as her eyes, and had to be hidden away in the -pillow. Once one ran down her cheek, and they caught her breath in her -throat and made it ache with a worse ache than that in her legs. She -lay tossing and turning, her brilliant eyes full of a desperation that -hurt the others to see. Every other minute she was sitting up, her -pig-tail sticking out, breathing hard. - -"Mayn't I get up, just for a _minute_? May I just put my legs over the -edge, then? Nell, I--I'm just tired of bein' in bed!" The poor little -voice shook despairingly. - -"Atom, _darling_!" - -"I will be good, Nell." Down she lay again. "Am I a very tiresome -invalid?" - -"You're a jewel, sweetheart, only you must try to lie quiet." - -"Yes, Nell." - -Pause. - -"When will Denis come, Nell?" - -"Directly he gets home from the bank." - -"Will it be _very_ long now?" - -"No, dear, not very." - -"How long, Nell?" - -"An hour and a half," unwillingly. - -Sheila Pat hid weak tears in the pillow. - - -"Nell." - -"Yes, asthore?" - -"P'raps those people who throwed theirselves off the monnyment thought -they could _fly_. Do you think they did, Nell?" - -"Very likely. Try not to think about them, Atom." - -"I--I can't help it, Nell. Do you think God would make the ground soft -so's it wouldn't hurt _very_ much?" - -"Yes, dear." - - -"Up again?" - -"I--I'm 'fraid I'll burn all up, Nell!" - -She took the hot little hands into hers. Sheila Pat rested her head -wearily against her arm. - -"Is Denis comin' now, Nell?" - -"In an hour, now, sweetheart." - -"I'm so thirsty, Nell." - -Nell fetched the toast water. - -"I don't want that! I want real water. Mayn't I have just _one_ -drink?" - -"Try this, dear. You mustn't have any more plain water." - -She drank a little. - -"Have you ever been up three hundred and forty-five steps, Nell? It -does make your legs ache, but I wouldn't have minded that--if-- There -was only smoke and houses, Nell--" - -She dropped back on to her pillow and buried her head in it. - -"Some day you'll see it,"--Nell's voice shook a little--"see the -greenness of it--the--" - -"I shouldn't wonder if I'm dead before then," the Atom told her pillow -with heartsick pessimism. - -"Oh, Sheila Pat! That's not like you. You've had colds before, and -been so brave!" - -"They were different colds." The pillow was dented deep as she burrowed -her head feverishly in her puzzlement. "I feel quite diffrent. I think -I've got a cold _inside_ as well as _outside_ this time, Nell." - -Nell looked at the dark little head in the pillow, and her eyes filled -with tears. - -Sheila Pat started kicking. - -"My legs ache so, Nell! I can't keep them still." - -"Let me rub them." - -"Where's Molly?" - -"I sent her away to keep you quiet. Do you want her?" - -She shook her head. - -"Isn't Denis comin' yet?" - -"Very soon now, dear. Does rubbing make them a little better?" - -"Yes, thank you, but I--I'm so hot, Nell! I feel as if it's never -rained for years and years! Please may I have my Pearl?" - -Nell fetched him. He squeaked angrily and protestingly. - -"I don't want him, thank you. S'pose I gave him my cold? Will you put -him back in his cage, please?" - -Nell took him away, came back, and tucked her in afresh. - -"Now try to sleep, sweetheart." - -"I don't b'lieve I'll ever go to sleep again. I feel most as if they've -burnt eye-holes all round my head." - - -She heard him coming. She knelt upon the bed quivering and shaking with -sick eagerness. - -"Well, poor little invalid!" His big arms went round her. "Wasn't it a -little goose to go and catch cold? And the people worrying over you! -Pennington sent his compliments, and Lancaster his love. Has she been a -good Atom, Nell?" - -"I--I'm very worryin'. I'm not very brave," she confided to his -shoulder. - -"Yes, she is, but she can't go to sleep." - -"Denis, might I get up--just for one minute?" - -"On to my knee. Come along. Plenty of blankets." - -"I do b'lieve I'll scorch you." Eagerly she snuggled into his arms. - -"When I smell burning, I'll put you back into your bed. Head ache, old -girl?" - -"Yes. I s'pose it couldn't grow any bigger in one could it? It _feels_ -so big and heavy." - -"That's because it's full of all the sleep you ought to have had." - -When he was going, she stopped him:-- - -"Denis, there aren't _many_ people who--who have throwed theirselves off -the monnyment, are there?" - -"Bless you, no! Only one or two poor lunatics who didn't know what they -were doing!" - -"Perhaps it wouldn't hurt a lunytic quite so much?" - -"Not it! You see, the poor things wouldn't be feeling the same as -ordinary people--they'd all be dulled and heavy. Don't think of them, -there's a good old Atom!" - -"Denis, will you come back before you go to the bank again?" - -"Why, yes, asthore! I won't be long over lunch." - -The long, weary day dragged slowly on. Sheila Pat set all her hardy -will to work, and succeeded in silencing her tongue. But Nell, looking -at the restless little head tossing, turning, burrowing into the -pillows; at the great heavy, weary eyes; wished her will were not so -strong. She was sure it would be better for the Atom to give way and cry -her cry out. The puzzled look that she met again and again in her eyes, -the seeking, despairing expression, wrung her heart. She knew that the -poor Atom could not understand; that she was at war with Providence in a -vague, bewildered way, and that she was heartsick for her country. - -Nell refused to leave her; but at last, in the afternoon, Miss Kezia, -with strong common sense, put matters before her, and Nell went for a -little walk with Molly. Miss Kezia betook herself and her knitting to -the Atom's room. The Atom was lying with all the bedclothes off and -trailing on the floor. Miss Kezia put them on again in silence. Sudden -wicked feverish battle leapt to the Atom's eyes. Directly Miss Kezia had -sat down she kicked them off again. Miss Kezia rose and rearranged -them. When this had taken place four times, Sheila Pat lay exhausted -and breathing hard, but in her eyes there still lurked battle. - -"Please will you fetch my Pearl?" She watched triumphantly. "If you -don't, I'll go and fetch him myself." - -Miss Kezia hesitated. - -"I will!" the Atom said firmly. - -"I'll bring him up in his cage." Miss Kezia rose. - -The triumph fell away from the flushed, restless face. - -"I don't want him, thank you. I'm afraid of givin' him my cold." - -"Very well," patiently. - -Sheila Pat watched her a minute. - -"May I have some toast water, please?" - -Pause. - -"I've dropped my handkerchief out of bed, Aunt Kezia." - -Pause. - -"Please will you readrange my pillow?" - -Pause. - -"May I have some more water, please, Aunt Kezia?" - -Then Sheila Pat chuckled hysterically at the idea of her being able to -make her aunt trot about just as she wished. But the amusement palled; -listless curiosity made her ask, "Why don't you tell me to be quiet, -Aunt Kezia?" - -Miss Kezia looked at her over her knitting. - -"You are feverish, and consequently restless. I conclude you would be -as quiet as you could." - -"No, I wasn't! I was doin' it to worry you." - -Miss Kezia went on with her knitting. - -"Are you cross, Aunt Kezia?" - -"No, my dear, but I should be very glad if you could sleep a little." - -"I'll try," said Sheila Pat, touched. She screwed her hot eyelids up -with earnest purpose. - -"Aunt Kezia, did _you_ know some people want to kill theirselves?" - -Miss Kezia looked across at the small face peering at her, excited, -shrinking. - -"Only a very few. It's not a nice subject for you to think about, -Sheila." - -"They threw theirselves down off the monnyment--right down--" - -"Not now. There is a--" - -"I know. It's only poor people who are mad, isn't it?" - -Miss Kezia hesitated. - -Sheila Pat was sitting up; her eyes were terrified, wretched. - -"Yes, my dear; they don't know what they are doing," Miss Kezia said -gently. "Lie down." - -The room began to grow dim. Miss Kezia knitted on in the dusk, hoping -the Atom would fall asleep. Suddenly her voice, shrill, impish, rang -out:-- - - "'The ould dame sat in a stiff'-backed chair, - Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack, click! - Sure she knitted of stockin's sixteen pair - Click-clack, click! - - Her face was long and her temper short - Piff-pouff, piff-pouff, piff-pouff, piff! - Sure she worked in bad words more than she ought - Piff-pouff, piff!'" - - -A chuckle. - -"Are you cross, Aunt Kezia?" - -"No." - -"_Why_ aren't you? Don't you think I asserve a cold?" - -"You were naughty and foolish, and you are paying for it, but--" after a -glance at the figure sitting up in the dusk, "I am sorry for you." - -"I don't _want_ you to be sorry for me!" - -Sheila Pat flung herself back. - - "'Her mouth was wide and her tongue was sharp'-- - -Oh, go away! Go away! _Quick_--" - -Miss Kezia, to her own amazement, found herself obeying the strenuous -voice, the note of real agony. As she hesitated outside the door she -heard a sudden storm of sobs--a breathless, wild weeping, a smothered -wail of woe. And she walked softly away, her face flushed, as if she had -been guilty of some meanness. She stood inside her room awhile, then -went back. She paused outside the door; all was silent. She turned the -handle clumsily and went in. Sheila Pat lay in her bed, quiet and -still; but Miss Kezia knew she was not asleep. - -"I've fetched my red wool for the border," she said, and she told the -falsehood--a thing abhorred of her rigid conscientiousness--with a -ringing cheerfulness. - -Nell came in presently with a bowl of bread and milk. The Atom sat up -listlessly. - -"Aunt Kezia has been very patient," she said gravely. "Nell, _please_ -need I have any?" She leant her head against Nell's arm, and her -fingers squeezed it lovingly. - -"Just a little, sweet. Has she slept at all, Aunt Kezia? - -"No. Perhaps she will after her bread and milk." - -But she didn't. And as the evening wore on her temperature rose; her -little burning face grew more desperate. She began to talk, feverishly, -excitedly. Dr. Everton called again. He gave a few directions, and -urged them to keep her mind as quiet as possible. - -"Her temperature is very high. She hardly knows what she is saying. I -believe she has something on her mind. I will call early to-morrow -morning. No talk, please; she _must_ be kept quiet." - - -"Nell, people never want to kill theirselves in Ireland, do they? -There's not a bad old monnyment there. It had three hundred million -steps. The man said so. It was _very_ high, you see, and I was glad, -because I thought I'd be able to see over all the roofs, and I thought -I'd see the sea and a blue mist and Ireland shinin' out--all green--oh, -I want to go home, Nell! I want to go home!" She broke out into -pitiful crying, too bad now to fight any longer. - -"You shall soon--you shall soon--" Nell's arms were round her; her -voice choked. - -"I want to go now! S'pose I'm dead before mother and dad come -back?--All green--and cool--I'm all scorchin', but I wouldn't be -there--Oh, I want to go home! I want just to _look_ at it!--I'll come -back quite quick--I b'lieve I'll _die_ if I don't go!--Molly O'Rourke -died, because she went to America. I'll die, too--I'm all _sick_ -inside--" She shook all over with sobs; her voice rose to a wail of -utter woe. "I _must_ see it--all green--and the colt--oh, he can -go--he'll be a fine horse, miss, entirely--look at the legs of him -already!--Where's the sugar, then, you bad boy? _He_ knows!--All dirt -and smoke and houses--and houses--and a great big monnyment where people -kill theirselves. Nell, where are you? _Nell_--I b'lieve you're -throwin' yourself off the monnyment--" - -She quieted down a little; her body shook with deep, silent sobs. She -began whispering to herself. - -"If I could just see you--just for one minute--just walk 'long on the -grass--by the stream--and up the Kilsparran hill--and go and see -Biddy--with the turf smokin' in my eyes--and smell it--" Then she broke -out crying again. - -"I want to go home! I want to go home!" - -Nell tried to soothe her. She was trembling herself; but the Atom's -little body was torn and shaken with her awful weeping. She clung to -Nell, crying out pitifully that she must go home--she must go home. - -"I can't bear it any longer--I'm stiflin'--_please_--just to let me -_feel_ it--I'll come back--so good--oh, _please_--I must go home! Oh, I -want to go home! Where's Denis? I want Denis--" - -"I'll go and fetch him, dear. Will you wait?" - -She went out on to the landing. He was walking up and down: he turned -quickly. - -She shut the door quietly, and went to meet him. Her face was quite -white; when she spoke, her voice shook. - -"She wants you. She--she's crying for home--" Her lips quivered so -that she could not go on. "I can't quiet her. She's--oh, I can't stand -it, Denis!" She broke into sudden passionate tears. - -"Don't cry, old girl. I'll see if I can quiet her." - -He went into the room. Sheila Pat was crouched up on her bed, moaning: -"I want to go home! I want to go home!" - -She lifted her head, and her heavy eyes leapt to his with a wild gleam -of hope. She stretched out her arms; she was shaking all over. - -"Denis--oh, Denis--I want to go home!" - -He put his arms round her. - -"Try to be good, Atom--try to be quiet, and go to sleep." His face -worked; he bit his lip. "You'll go--some day," he said huskily. - -"Let me go now---I'll be so good--I won't stay a minute--if I can see -it--just _feel_ it--and smell it--oh, Denis--Denis--I want to go home!" - -"You shall go, Atom." - -There was a sudden breathless lull. She gave a little shiver. - -"I--I didn't quite hear--" she whispered hoarsely. - -He glanced, his blue eyes desperate, across at Nell, then down at the -wild, incredulous little face upturned to his. His eyes cleared, grew -deeply tender. - -"I said that you shall go." His voice was clear, firm. "Directly your -cold has gone I will take you across for a few days if you still want to -go." - -She dropped suddenly forward against his chest. - -"Please hold me." Her faint little whisper told of sudden ineffable -peace. - -They wrapped her in blankets, and he took her into his arms and walked -up and down the room with her. She pulled her arm out of the coverings -and stroked his cheek with a gesture almost of adoration. - -"I don't think," a sudden passionate whisper came from her, "God _can_ -be quite so nice as you!" - -Up and down he went. - -"Try to go to sleep, Atom." - -"Yes, Denis." - -Presently she started trembling. - -"Denis?" - -"Yes, acushla." - -"Have--have I been asleep?" - -"No." - -"--I didn't _dream_ that you--you said--" - -"I said that when your cold is better, I will take you home for a few -days." - -She gave a little wriggle and a snuggle of utter joy. - -"I was 'fraid I'd dreamt it." - - -"Denis, _would_ you mind keep sayin' it every now and then?" - -Nell sat by the fire and watched him tramp the room. Once Molly peeped -round the door, but was frowned away. Once he tried to lay her down, but -she objected with drowsy terror. - -"_Hold_, me, Denis! Say it again!" - -Presently. - -"Denis, if we took all the poor mad people to Ireland, wouldn't they get -better, and not want to kill theirselves any more?--Please just say it -again." - - -"Where's Nell? I want to say good night to her." - -Nell came and kissed her softly. - -"Poor Nell--may she come, too, Denis?--All green--and cool--I--I can -most smell it already--I like lying my cheek on the -grass--like--this--it's so--cool--it smells--all--wet--Please--say -it--again." - -Up and down the room he went, while she slept in his arms. Nell signed -to him to put her down, but he glanced down at the small white face in -the blankets, and shook his head. - -But at last he put her into her bed, and covered her up. For a minute -they stood waiting, but Sheila Pat lay still, her breathing soft and -regular. - -Denis turned to Nell; he put his hand on her shoulder, marched her out -of the room, and into the Stronghold. - -Molly was there, frightened and sleepy. - -"She's all right now. Fast asleep. Go to bed, old girl." - -"It's been such a horrid day--is she really better?" - -"Yes. I hope she'll be all right to-morrow. Scoot." - -Molly went yawning out of the room. - -They stood a minute, looking into the fire. Then Nell said:-- - -"Denis, don't you think--it will make it worse--for her--after?" - -He answered without any hesitation:-- - -"There wasn't any worse then." - -She dropped tiredly into a chair. - -"No," she said. - -He seized the poker, and began hammering at a lump of coal. - -"I suppose the money--" she worried. - -"Can't be helped! Nell, I _couldn't_ do anything else! I--I couldn't -stand it!" - -They were silent a little while. Presently he said:-- - -"I don't believe she'll go. If I know the Atom when she's calm and all -right, she'll stick to her guns. If she doesn't--if she still wants to -go--I take her. The coming back--having it all over again--will be -awful for her, but there was nothing else to do." - -"No," she agreed. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXX* - - -"Good morning, Atom." - -Nell bent caressingly over the bed, and laid her hand lightly on a cool -little brow. - -"Good mornin', Nell." - -"You're better, asthore, you're better." There was a gay lilt to her -voice that told her relief, her joy, more plainly than her words. - -"Yes," the Atom said. "Will I get up now, Nell?" - -"Oh, no, dear, you must wait till Dr. Everton has been. Do you ache -anywhere now?" - -"Only a little." - -Nell looked down into the sombre eyes, then turned away. - -Sheila Pat lay stiff and still, her small face frowning a little, -solemn, mournful. - -When Denis came cheerily in, she looked at him quickly, nervously, and -her face flushed a little. - -"Well, invalidish Atom, you'll soon be up and worrying me again, won't -you?" - -"Good mornin', Denis." - -"Pardon. Good morning. Aren't you going to give me a kiss?" - -She turned her face to his languidly. He looked at Nell and raised his -eyebrows. Then he sat down on the bed and talked. - -Sheila Pat lay very quiet and answered monosyllabically. - -"You're very unkind to me, Atom, you know." - -She gave him another odd little glance, and her face grew scarlet. - -"I--I'm thinkin'," she stammered. "--I'm not unkind--" - -"Of course you're not! I was joking. I must be off now. Good-bye." - -"Good-bye." - -When he had gone, she lifted her head. - -"Nell, when is Dr. Everton comin'?" - -"Any moment." - -"Nell--" - -"Yes, dear?" - -"I--I wish to speak to him--alone, please." - -For a moment Nell looked startled. - -"There isn't anything--you don't mean there's some pain you haven't told -us of?" - -"No. I'm quite well now." - -"Very well. You shall, dear." - -"Thank you." - -Molly tiptoed into the room, knocked a photograph off the mantle shelf, -bade the Atom a loudly whispered good morning, stood on one leg, then on -the other, and tiptoed out again. - -"Nell, isn't Dr. Everton here yet?" - -"He will be presently, Atom." - -"Will he come straight up to me?" - -"Oh, yes." - -"Are you _sure_? Perhaps he's talkin' to Aunt Kezia now?" - -"I'll go and see," soothingly. - -In a few minutes he came. Miss Kezia came upstairs with him, but at -Nell's request she followed her presently from the room, and left the -doctor and the Atom alone. - -"Dr. Everton!" - -"Yes, my dear?" - -Pause. - -He looked down at her surprised. Sheila Pat was breathing hard; her -eyes were wildly eager. - -"Something is troubling you," he said gently. "Tell me what it is!" - -But she shrank back nervously into the bed. - -"You see--I--" - -"Well?" He felt the fluttering pulse again. "Tell me, little one." - -"Was I--" Pause; then, with a burst, "Was I 'lirious last night?" - -"Now, now, you mustn't get nervous--" - -Her face stopped him. He rubbed his chin and studied her perplexedly. -He was trying to discover what it was that she wanted. - -"Was I?" She sat up, clung to the bed knob with one hand. "I--I -_thought_ I was!" - -The expressive voice held a note of despairing doubt in the last words -that helped him. - -"Well, you were very feverish and," he was feeling his way, "you -certainly didn't quite know what you were saying--um! Yes, you _were_ -delirious!" he finished with sudden heartiness. There was no doubting -now what it was she wanted. At his words she sank down on to the pillow -with a sort of little croon of relief. - -"When a person's 'lirious she might say--say _very_ foolish things--she -might--_ask_ for things--she'd be 'shamed to if she _knew_--" - -He was sure of his way now. He pulled his chair closer, and his clever -face softened. - -"I should think so, indeed. Why, now, there was a young lady I was -attending,--she was quite grown-up, too,--and when she is well she's a -very sensible sort of girl, but she was delirious, and what do you think -she kept crying out for? Why, an elephant--a real, live elephant!" - -Sheila Pat laughed. - -He took her hand into his. - -"Oh, yes, people say and do very queer things when they are delirious. -I had a big boy once who wanted a doll, and another who wanted to start -for Australia." He paused as he felt the hand in his give a little -jerk. - -"Do persons--often want to--to go somewhere when they're 'lirious?" - -"Very often. It's one of the commonest wants, little one." - -Sheila Pat was smiling; she lay looking up at him, her face pale, tired, -but very peaceful. - -"You're going to be a good little girl, and keep very quiet, and take -all your medicine--" - -"I--I'm just goin' to be as good as--as snow-drops." - -"Why snowdrops?" - -She drew her brows together in thought. "I don't know: snowdrops are -just good through and through." - -He smiled. - -"I do think you're such a nice doctor," Sheila Pat said earnestly. - -When Nell crept in a few minutes later, she was fast asleep. When she -woke, she took her medicine without a murmur. - -"Is Denis home, Nell?" - -"I think he's just come in. Yes, here he is." - -He entered with a beautiful bunch of parma violets. - -"With Lancaster's compliments. Aren't you proud, Atom?" - -"They are very beautiful," but her eye was absent. - -Nell took them and buried her nose in them. - -"Denis, Dr. Everton says I was 'lirious last night." - -"Poor old Atom." - -"And--and he says when a person's 'lirious, they want elephants and -Australia and--and to go to places--" - -There was a pause. - -The Atom turned her face a little away on the pillow. - -"I remember--some--I--I didn't know what I was sayin', Denis--I--I -wouldn't--have--said--it if--" - -"Of course you wouldn't. We know that. But what I said holds good, -Atom. If you want me to take you home for a few days, I will!" - -There was silence in the room. Sheila Pat had turned her face to the -pillow and buried it deep. Nell stood, the violets pressed against her -cheek, waiting. - -"No--thank you." It came with a little catch between the two first -words, but firm, decided. - -Denis bent his head suddenly, and whispered in her ear. She turned, -stretched up her arms, and held him tight. Tears were running quietly -down her face and dropping on to her nightgown, but Nell caught an -ecstatically proud note in the whispered query, "Do -you--really-_truly_--think I'm all that?" - -When he had gone, she turned to Nell. - -"Am I very heavy, Nell?" - -Nell felt suddenly what a bit of a baby Sheila Pat was: she stroked her -cheek gently. - -"You weigh about as much as a good-sized robin. Why?" - -"I do feel," wistfully, "I'd like to sit on your lap a little while!" - -"Oh, petsums, come along." - -She fell asleep almost directly. - -That evening, wrapped in blankets, sitting in a large arm-chair, the -Atom received three visitors. - -Stewart came first. He was very subdued, shy of this white-faced Atom -in the blankets. - -He sat down and stared at her. - -"You're to intertain me," she told him peremptorily. - -Stewart, just about to speak, at this awful mandate flushed and -collapsed. - -Sheila Pat watched him relentlessly. - -"Sure you English _are_ queer! Mum! Mum! Mum!" - -"Do you feel better?" he burst out. - -"You know I do, else I wouldn't be receivin' visitors." - -Silence. - -"You're not intertainin' me," warned the Atom. - -"I don't know how! I've never done it!" - -"I think you're a very silly little boy, and you're not intertainin' me -at all! You'd better go, I think." - -He got as far as the door. - -"Tommy, come back!" - -He stood and faced her, his thin little body stretched to its utmost -limit. - -"I'm not a _little_ boy!" - -"Tommy, how's Peter?" - -He came back eagerly. - -"I say, what d'you think he swallowed yesterday?" - -Ted Lancaster came next. - -"Mayn't I pull your pig-tail?" he asked gently. - -"'Tisn't any manners you English have got at all!" Sheila Pat retorted. - -"Ah, that's all right. 'Pon my word, when I came in you looked so good, -I was afraid I'd never be allowed to be rude to you again. May I hide -that medicine bottle? I do hate medicine bottles. They carry me back -to a sick room of my own." - -She asked interestedly, "Were you 'lirious?" - -"Rather!" - -She sat forward, her face alight with eagerness - -"Did you want a elephant and to go to Australia?" - -"I don't know about the elephant. But I know I wanted to go to -Australia, or anywhere else, so long as medicine bottles and beef-tea -and thermometers didn't grow there." - -She hesitated, her eyes never leaving his face. - -"But--but did you--did you say things--" - -He smiled. - -"Yes, I said things, Sheila Pat!" - -"Awful things? Things you'd never, _never_ say when you were well?" - -"I hope I shouldn't!" - -A tired little frown creased her forehead. - -"Did you--did you _ask_ for things?" - -"Oh, yes, heaps of 'em! I nearly wept because they wouldn't give me my -organ into bed with me. And foot-balls--I was always begging for -foot-balls. And one night I insisted on its being imperative that I -should start off for Paris--" - -Eagerly she interrupted, "Did you worry and _worry_?" - -"They had to hold me down." - -She lay back in the pillows; she gave a little excited laugh. - -"Aren't persons _queer_ when they're 'lirious?" - -"Sheila Pat, catch hold!" - -He tilted a brown-paper parcel into her lap. - -"It's a book about horses, and there're plenty of photographs in it, so -will you forgive its not being Irish? And remember that I hate being -thanked, Sheila Pat. If you thank me for it, I'll kiss you. So now you -know." - -She was turning the pages with trembling fingers. He watched the -expressive face as she bent over the beautiful photographs. - -"Nell," Denis poked his head round the door, "may that conceited Atom -receive another visitor? Mr. Yovil wants to see her." - -"Yes, with great pleasure!" shrilled out Sheila Pat, excitedly. - -She turned to Ted; she lifted up her face. - -"I love it! I _love_ it!" - -"You're thanking me!" - -He bent and kissed her. - -"I'm jealous," Mark Yovil said sadly, as he entered the room. "He isn't -half so nice as I am, Sheila Pat! You ask my mother. She's down in -Devonshire, but we could send her a wire. And you've never been his -Social Prompter, have you? Please send him away, Sheila Pat!" - -"I will, anyway," Nell laughed. - -Mark Yovil only stayed a few minutes. He looked at the Atom's excited -face, her bright eyes, and talked quietly to Nell. Then he went. - -For a quarter of an hour Sheila Pat studied her precious book. - -Then Sarah appeared with a petition from Herr Schmidt for just a "beep -at the little Miss Sheila." - -He came in, laboriously tiptoeing, beaming. - -"Ze poor little invalid! You are better, hein?" - -Sheila Pat was very tired. - -"I'm quite well, thank you," she responded, her manner exceedingly -grown-up. - -"There's only one thing about her that troubles us, Herr Schmidt," -laughed Nell. "She's so good! She takes her medicine without a -grimace! She's so meek and good I'm quite uneasy." - -Sheila Pat fidgeted restlessly. She explained earnestly. "I'm not -_really_ good! I'm doin' it for--for a reason of my own." - -Herr Schmidt seemed to think that exquisitely funny. He chuckled like a -great fat baby. - -"Ze funny little child!" he chuckled, "ze very funny little child." - -He took off his spectacles, rubbed them with a gigantic handkerchief, -and said, "Ach, I forget!" He fumbled in his coat-tail pocket; he -dragged forth a limp and very much sat upon brown-paper parcel. He eyed -it proudly. - -"Ach, zat is why I zink her so nice for a bed! See, I sit on her, but -it does not matter!" - -"Great Scott!" ejaculated Denis in Nell's ear. - -Herr Schmidt handed the parcel to Sheila Pat. He stood watching, -beaming at her over his spectacles. Sheila Pat pulled off the paper; -she gave a little gasp. There was a tense silence. - -The present was a baby doll--a rag baby doll. - -Nell quavered desperately, "What a fine colour it has!" And she averted -her eyes hastily from the horrible, crimson-dabbed cheeks. - -"You like her, little one?" Herr Schmidt's tone was anxious. - -"Thank you," said Sheila Pat, in a subdued little voice. She stared -fixedly into the fire, her head averted from the Thing in her lap. - -"Ach, I zink berhaps she does not like it?" Herr Schmidt whispered -loudly to Nell. "And I zink it so sweet!" - -"She is tired. She has had too many visitors. It was so awfully kind -of you to bring it for her, Herr Schmidt. I want her to go to sleep -now." - -Sweetly Nell sped his departure. When he had gone, Sheila Pat, still -with averted head, dropped her knee till the doll slid to the floor. -She looked up at Nell, outraged dignity in every feature. - -"Please take the--carrion thing--away!" - -And to Kate Kearney she presently whispered:-- - -"Oh, K.K., he's never forgotten! He thinks I'm a baby! And it's all -that petticoat! I knew it!" - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXI* - - -These came a morning when Miss Kezia breakfasted in angry state, alone. -At eight o'clock she sat down, as usual, to the table. With down-drawn -lip she filled the five cups with coffee, then started on her porridge. -Every now and then her eye glanced at the four bowls of porridge with -their rapidly lessening issue of steam. From overhead there came, at -intervals, the banging of a door, the rush of footsteps from one room to -another, a burst of laughter now and then. Miss Kezia went on with her -breakfast. Once Sarah knocked timidly, and, with a scared face, dared -the whispered suggestion that she should take the porridge "to keep it -hot." Her courage failed before ever Miss Kezia's grim lips had begun -to frame an answer, and she fled back to the refuge of the kitchen. - -From above came Denis's voice, jubilant, a musical shout of joy. - - "'Miss Judy O'Connor, she lived forninst me - And tinder words to her I wrote--' - -"I say, Nell, did I leave my towels in your room?" - -Down came Miss Kezia's upper lip. - -From above:-- - -"A stud is an animate article, possessing the human attributes of legs -and devilment--got him, by Jove! Now thin ye young devil, is it hidin' -from me, indeed! I'll be teachin' ye a lesson--" - -"Denis, _have_ you seen my hair-ribbon?" - -"Oh," this was Nell's voice, "I wish I had a tail like a kitten, to run -round and round after!" - -Miss Kezia's expression grew painfully long-suffering. - -"If you were havin' a tail in this London, there wouldn't be room to run -round after it!" Scorn vibrated in this voice. - -A pause. - -Thud--thud--patter-- Then, with a startling suddenness, a wild Irish -whoop. - -Miss Kezia jumped badly, and the angry, shamed colour flooded her -cheeks. She rose--a quick succession of whoops sounded nearer and -nearer--she went out into the hall. Denis was coming downstairs, two at -a time, and performing an Irish jig at the same moment. The others were -behind him. - -"May I request that you cease making those horrible noises? I do not -want the police here, thinking murder is being committed." - -Unfortunately this struck their perverse minds as being intensely funny. - -Miss Kezia went back to the dining room, and they followed her to cold -coffee and congealed porridge. But coffee as cold as the ice round the -North pole, and porridge as congealed as lead, were powerless, as Miss -Kezia's disapproval was powerless, to quench the hilarity in the -atmosphere that morning. - -"May I inquire why you have chosen to be three-quarters of an hour late -this morning?" - -Heads were lifted from bowls of congealed porridge; laughter rippled -round the table. - -"'Twasn't we chose--it was the letters," Nell said, and her voice was -almost a song, so gay was the lilt of it. - -Denis said blandly, "Put the blame on the postman, and the cap will fit -him like a glove." - -Nell volunteered sweetly:-- - -"They're letters from Melbourne, Aunt Kezia! Mother is quite well and -strong--quite brown and well and strong!" - -"I am glad to hear it, but surely you could have read them after -breakfast." - -The gaiety was quenched momentarily by the sheer force of the surprise -that invaded them. Silence reigned, while their thoughts worked rapidly -over the waiting of the last months--the impatient suspense of the last -days, as the time drew near the date on which they had calculated they -could get their first Australian mail. Nell eyed Miss Kezia with a hint -of soberness in her face. - -Tucking Denis into his coat a little later, she said, "I pity her." - -"Who? Our austere relative?" - -She nodded; then tapped her brow and her left side suggestively. - -"There must be something wanting somewhere." - -"A good deal," laughed he, amused. - -On the door-step he paused, turned, and made a comical grimace. - -"Figures on a day like this! Don't start pitying me, too, or I'll never -go!" - -He was out of the gate. - -At lunch time he observed to Nell:-- - -"Suppose I get the sack?" - -"I could almost wish it, twin." - -He laughed. - -"Never did man be burdened with such a degenerate twin! Well, old -Tellbridge wants to speak to me this afternoon! In the manager's room, -Nell!" - -"A rise!" she ejaculated. - -"Or a fall! I was showing the chaps how to play handball. We'd cleared -the room a bit. Tellbridge came in. Lord, he did swell! I thought it -was a good thing we'd cleared the room. He asked a few questions--with -bland edges to them--and he wants to see me at half-past two in his -room." - -"Oh, Denis, suppose--" - -"A wrinkled brow to-day, Nell!" he laughed. "I refuse to suppose," he -observed gaily. "Even in my very innermost recesses, I don't suppose. -I'm horribly hungry. Let's see, there's no mutton from yesterday to be -eaten up, is there?" - -She flung her arms wide. - -"My innermost recesses are not supposing now!" - -When he came back that afternoon he brought Ted Lancaster, and both were -laden with parcels. - -"Celebration parcels, Nell!" - -Ted said, "I say," and wrung her hand hard. - -"Denis! Well?" - -"What? Oh, my interview with old Pom-Pom. My dear, I made a plain -statement of the facts of the case, and he actually smiled! Here endeth -the--er--_third_ interview!" - -Molly came in and poked about amongst the parcels. - -"I do wish Aunt Kezia were going out to-night." - -Denis pretended to feel faint. - -"_You_, Molly? You, the patent softener of a relative's hard heart?" - -Molly blushed and glanced abashed at Ted's amused face. - -"Well, for her own sake, anyway," she protested, and dropped her eyes -with a giggle over her hypocrisy. - -"Ted," Nell said, "here's a penny." - -"Thanks awfully." - -He took it and dropped it into his pocket. - -"It may come in useful some day. One never knows." - -"Well?" she said. - -"Well what?" - -"You don't think I'd give you a penny for nothing! It's for your -thoughts." - -He gave her a quick little glance. - -"Oh, my thoughts! And I hoped it was pure disinterested benevolence!" - -"Tell me your thoughts! I'm sure you were thinking of something nice -for us--" - -He interrupted flurriedly. - -"Something nice? I--I-- What made you think that? I wasn't! I -really--" - -"You looked sort of kind," she said, laughing. - -"Well, I wasn't!" - -"Give me back my penny!" He handed it back with an absent-minded air. - -Protests were sent and brought up to the Stronghold that evening. An -abashed and blushing Sarah brought them, and an austere and angry Miss -Kezia sent them. - -Sheila Pat marched downstairs, and knocked at Herr Schmidt's door. - -"Kom in!" - -Sheila Pat went in. Her eyes were very bright, her pig-tail was very -crooked. - -"Herr Schmidt," she said, "please will you walk out with Aunt Kezia?" - -Herr Schmidt's big face grew redder than its usual red wont. It chanced -that he understood the meaning of "walking out." - -"Ach!" he ejaculated. - -Sheila Pat eyed him severely. - -"Sarah says if you're walking out with a young man you must always go -when he asks you to," she explained. Her voice rose, "Oh, Herr Schmidt, -you could _always_ ask Aunt Kezia when we want to get rid of her, and," -impishly she glowed, "she could never say no!" - -"I'm sorry--" he began. - -She urged strenuously. "She's very worthy! She gives all her old -clothes to charity. And Sarah says she's very just, and she'd make your -wages go a very long way. Sarah says that's a great thing." - -He began to chuckle, but checked it in his distress at having to -disappoint her. She came down at last to a humble, "Well, will you -please just take her for a walk _now_?" - -She returned, chastened and severe, to the Stronghold. A visit a few -minutes later, from Miss Kezia herself, lent an added intensity to the -small figure that flung itself desperately at Mr. Mark Yovil, who called -to leave some book for Denis. - -"Take her away! Walk out with her! She's a wet counterpane on us!" - -Mark Yovil, known for his obstinacy, his firm will, was weak where this -Atom was concerned. - -"I'm going to a lecture," he declared hesitatingly. - -"Take her!" - -"But, my dear, it's nothing that would interest her. She would not -come--" - -"Oh, _please_! 'Magine us--up there--all quiet and still like dead -mice! And our letter-day! It--it's really very sad!" - -He looked down into her upturned face, into the wild entreaty of her -great eyes. - -Miss Kezia came into the hall and greeted him, surprised. - -He turned to her, and asked her if she would be so very kind--his sister -had lost her cook quite suddenly--not very experienced--advice-- - -Miss Kezia presently had gone upstairs to don her bonnet, her one -weakness, love of giving advice, enveloping her in a cloud of -complacency. - -"Now, small Sheila Pat, am I not a true friend? But, mark this, I have -told no falsehoods." He took her on his knee. "My sister has lost her -cook. She is inexperienced. She does want advice," he twinkled there; -"I don't know that it's the advice of your estimable aunt that she -particularly requires, but we'll hope so. Your aunt once whacked my -sister's baby on the back when it had swallowed a spoon or fork or knife -or something of the kind. Perhaps it was the soup-tureen. Well, now, I -shall have to leave your aunt in one room while I explain to my sister. -You'll have to love me for ever for this, Sheila Pat." - -A little later, and noise echoed with joyful abandon through the house. - -When Ted bade them good night, he said hesitatingly:-- - -"I say, Nell--er--" - -"Say on!" she encouraged him. - -"You don't think--I mean--well, you won't get thinking--er--will you?" - -"Oh, Ted, why? Have you noticed any grey hairs yet?" She put up her -hands to her hair. - -He smiled. - -"I mean--you know--" - -"By Jove, if she does know, they didn't divide the supply of brains -between us equally," Denis observed. - -"I only mean that I don't want you to--to get thinking that--you know -you said before that I looked as if I were thinking of something nice -for you--well, you won't think I was, will you?" - -"Oh, indeed, I will now! Denis, can't you see there's a secret -somewhere? Oh, how lovely! Ted, I do love secrets. Is it something -_very_ nice?" - -He looked into her teasing face with an expression of almost ludicrous -dismay. - -"I--wish you wouldn't!" he muttered so gravely that she stopped -laughing. - -"Well, I won't!" she said. "I'm quite sure there's nothing nice going -to happen anywhere or any time, and it'll be all the more a surprise, -won't it? Oh, Ted, I didn't mean it," she added remorsefully. "It was -all fun, all smoke--" - -"'There's no smoke without a fire,'" Denis told the ceiling. - -"Mine was pipe smoke," she rejoined. - -Ted still looked worried. His good nights were absent. When he had -gone, Nell observed thoughtfully:-- - -"I wonder what it is! Oh, I hope we won't have to wait long!" - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXII* - - -Down the stairs flew Nell, out into the street, up to a banana barrow, a -boy, and a puppy. - -"Could you lend him to me for a while?" - -The boy eyed her suspiciously. There was not much ground for suspicion, -since it was hardly likely she could be contemplating theft; the puppy, -though fascinating, was obviously incapable of proclaiming what breed he -was intended by nature to represent. Moreover Nell, in a long pinafore -and hatless, could scarcely run away with him. It was merely from force -of habit that the boy eyed her suspiciously. The puppy was more -discerning. He welcomed her as a long and ardently looked for friend; -he turned ecstatic somersaults over her feet; then stood up, and tore at -her pinafore with wild, soft little paws. She picked him up. - -"May I have him? I want to paint him." - -The owner of the bananas, for whom the boy and the puppy were waiting, -reappeared. He was quite a gallant gentleman, and assured Nell he would -be pleased to let her have the puppy for "a _h_our, miss," he said with -a good deal of effect. "And in a _h_our I shall be back this way, and -will fetch 'im if convenient." - -Nell smuggled the puppy into the house and up to the Stronghold beneath -her pinafore. - -He started the _h_our by persisting in looking upon Kate Kearney as a -butt, provided by Providence, for his especial benefit. He thought her -a tremendously funny joke and the more K.K. aired her dignity, the -funnier he thought her. He rolled over in uncontrollable mirth, kicking -up impertinent little legs right beneath her nose; he turned somersaults -over her staid body; he frisked up to her in ridiculous boxing -attitudes; he slapped her face, and he jeeringly incited her over and -over again to "come on." - -But K.K. refused to "come on." She was furiously jealous of the -unaristocratic little mongrel who had suddenly invaded her precincts. -She took refuge in a hurt dignity; she turned her head away at his -approach with an unmistakable suggestion. The puppy was not hurt; he -had, together with his dirt and his plebeian origin, a useful -thick-skinned philosophy. - -K.K. retired to a corner, back to audience, and Nell tried to sketch the -puppy. When held by Molly, he howled so pathetically that he procured -his release, which was exactly what he meant to do. Thereupon he licked -all available hands and waddled back to Kate Kearney. As interludes to -his worrying of her, he tugged a great hole into the table-cloth and -upset Nell's paint-water; he managed to get a pencil stuck into his -mouth, and screamed with terror; he, perhaps, after all, and in spite of -his plebeian philosophy, somewhat affected by K.K.'s suggestively -averted nose, essayed a bath in her drinking-pan. He upset the pan, and -his own feelings; dripping and whimpering at the shock of the water, he -ran round the room, and chose a wet oil-painting of Nell's against which -to dry himself. The result was bad for the painting, and for the puppy, -too. Adorned with patches of green and blue, he waxed pathetic, sat down -with a disconcerting suddenness, and put his head on one side. - -Nell exclaimed, "I can't give him back like that!" and had resort to -turpentine. - -All the puppy's instincts arose and defied her. He wriggled and kicked -and howled, and in the midst of it Sheila Pat appeared with Jim on her -arm, and the information that Aunt Kezia had returned home. The puppy -was released. The Atom put Jim down, and ran to him delightedly. But a -change had come o'er the puppy. On the floor Jim O'Driscoll sat, lazily -picking the shell from a nut. He took no notice of the puppy; his air -of complete indifference was positively insulting. The puppy stood for -a minute, petrified, then he pranced a little closer, and waited. Jim -scratched his left ear and ruminated. The puppy barked. Jim scratched -his right ear and ruminated further. The puppy made a nervous dash at -him, and fled with his tail between his legs. Jim drew in the foot that -the puppy had touched and went on shelling his nut. There was a pause, -then the puppy approached within a yard of the blase little figure on -the floor and barked. They tried to stop him, but that puppy refused to -be stopped; he had a good deal to say, and he meant to say it. That the -object of the rude things he was saying gave not the slightest heed to -him merely aggravated his eloquence to a louder pitch. - -Molly thrust her head round the door. "Aunt Kezia is coming!" - -Nell seized the puppy and poked him into the bottom shelf of the -cupboard. Sheila Pat dropped Jim's cage behind the sofa, picked Jim up, -poked him into it, tried to fasten the door, and Miss Kezia entered the -room. There was a dead silence while she gazed about and took in every -detail of disorder down to a dropped match. - -"Ow--yow--yow--_yo--o--ow_!" - -A long and distressful wail arose from the cupboard. - -Now it happened that Kate Kearney had so far foregone her dignity as to -approach the cupboard to dab at it with a triumphant and insulting paw. - -"There it is again!" Miss Kezia was wrathful, but there was also an -anxious glint in her eye. "What is the matter with the dog? Is it -ill?" - -Nell, fascinatedly watching the putting forth of a stealthy brown arm -from beneath the sofa, in the direction of Sheila Pat's shoe buttons, -responded with an irrepressible little laugh. - -"I don't see anything to laugh at, Eileen! I am afraid you are very -foolish and frivolous for your age." - -"Ow--yow--yow--yo--o--o--oo--_ow_!" - -The final "ow" was a veritable triumph of hideous nerve shattering. -Miss Kezia's voice rose angrily: "I believe it is going mad! Or has -distemper! I was foolish ever to allow it in my house! I hate dogs! -It will have to be sent away if it's ill!" - -The brown paw had reached and seized a shoe button. Sheila Pat was -kicking frantically. The paw darted back. - -"Oh, no--he--she isn't ill, Aunt Kezia--she's quite well--she's been -mad--I mean, had distemper, already--oh, I--I think I'm rather m-muddley -this morning--" - -"I hope you're not hysterical, Eileen! You are really astonishingly -foolish! As for the dog--" - -K.K. had turned; her head was now facing Miss Kezia. Nell recognised the -fact that the next howl could not, even by Miss Kezia, be put down to -her. For a moment she thought of hustling her aunt from the room; but -the detection of the puppy merely meant anger, punishment, a letter to -Australia. They could face that, and Jim's arm had disappeared. They -could not put up with his banishment. - -There was a sudden and portentous silence in the cupboard. - -Miss Kezia had a few more remarks to make. She made them. Once she -deviated from the main theme of noise and general untidiness, lured by a -rustle in the cupboard, on to mice. She declared that the kitchen was -overrun by mice, and all because they had wantonly bought and let loose -three in her house. She was going to buy new traps, as something had -evidently gone wrong with the springs of hers. Twice she had found the -cheese gone and the mouse, too! - -Sheila Pat sat and gazed down thoughtfully at the forefinger of her -right hand; a small smile flickered at the corners of her lips. The -finger was rough and red. She wondered would it be possible to grease -the lock of the kitchen door. It was not the pain she minded so much as -the risk attached to the noise the slow turning of a stiff key makes at -four or five o'clock in the morning. At the moment of her musing a -determined little hand seized again on her shoe; fingers picked at a -button. Sheila Pat kicked. Now, as a rule, Jim O'Driscoll was easily -cowed--easily induced to retire. A frowning shake of the head had -hitherto been sufficient to keep him still, in an attitude of petrified -thought, for several minutes at a time. Apparently a backward kick, -gentle because Sheila Pat could not, even for his own welfare bring -herself to make it otherwise, had lost its power of petrification; -anyhow Jim refused to abandon his tenacious hold upon her shoe button. -Sheila Pat wriggled her foot out of the shoe; it disappeared -immediately. Meanwhile Miss Kezia talked. She had never considered -herself, or been considered by others, a talkative woman. When she left -the Stronghold, there were worried lines about her face; she moved her -lips in an irritated manner. It was irksome to her to be obliged to -talk so much; it outraged Nature, and added to the irritation consequent -on the O'Briens' misdemeanours. But she considered it her duty to talk, -so she did it. And no one was grateful. - -Sheila Pat rescued her button from Jim's cheek, and Nell opened the -cupboard. The puppy certainly looked very charming. He lay in a nest -of oats, biscuits, ink, and torn paper; a long paint-brush stuck -rakishly out of the corner of his mouth. It was perhaps his expression -that was so particularly charming. He had feasted on biscuits; he had -tasted the flavours of oats, ink, and paper. He had had a meal to his -taste, and now he was sleepy. He looked up at Nell a little -mischievously and palpably with a supreme content with life. He was -sleepy, and willing to be petted. That he was adorned still with patches -of paint to which he had added smears of ink in no way detracted from -his adorableness. - -Nell said, "Oh, you bad puppy!" - -She picked him up and hugged him. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXIII* - - -Nell, carrying Jim O'Driscoll upstairs beneath her pinafore, nearly fell -down at the sudden loud rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat that echoed through the -house. - -Sarah came running to open the door. They peeped over the balusters; -Ted dashed in, up the stairs, and into them. - -"You seem to be in a hurry," Denis suggested. - -"Er--no--" - -He stood silent. - -"Police after you, old man? We'll hide you. Get into Jim's cage, and -they won't know the difference!" - -Nell was looking at Ted. - -She said quietly, "What is it, Ted?" - -"Oh--coming out? Nice day--" - -A snort came from the direction of the Atom's bedroom: - -"Only fog so thick that a person can't see an inch in front of her! And -whichever way you look, you see nothing but mud and mud! But sure 'tis -a nice day for London!" - -Nell's eyes had met Ted's; she understood. - -"Molly, go and put on your things. I'll get ready in a minute." - -She led the way into the Stronghold. She turned and faced him. - -"What is it?" - -But he had grown suddenly uncomfortable. - -"I hope you won't think--er--that I've been meddling," he said, with the -slight drawl Nell understood so well now. - -"Never!" she said. "Go on." - -"Well, you might. O.B. told me about those Reve d'or shares--" He -paused. - -Denis nodded. - -Nell put her hand out suddenly, and rested it heavily on the table. - -"What about them?" she said. - -Ted spoke quickly, giving the heart of what he had to say. - -"The governor says--'Hold on--don't sell.'" - -There was a little pause. Nell's face had gone quite white. - -"He--means?" she said. - -Ted glanced at her, and away again. - -"It may mean nothing--of course, you can't always tell--" - -"No, no! We know that," Denis broke in impatiently. "What made your -father say it?" - -"He's out there, you know--South Africa. He's got no end of a head. -And he's a shareholder. I asked him about them in a letter some time -ago. He wrote last week saying he believed they weren't as bad as he'd -thought, but he couldn't be sure yet--" - -"That was the night our Australian letters had come," Nell said. - -He nodded. - -"Just now I got a cablegram--saying, 'Hold on, don't sell.'" - -He paused. - -"He may be making a mistake," he said slowly. "The shares may not go -up--don't reckon on it--" He stopped. - -"We--we can't help it, Ted," Nell said shakily. - -"No." - -He walked over to the window and looked out. There was a little silence. -Then suddenly she laughed out, an excited, wild little laugh. - -"Oh, I _know_ it's true! I _know_ it is! We shall go home--Denis, -don't you _feel_ it? Ted, it's all you--all you, Teddie! You'll come -with us. You'll climb the hills with us--you'll love our home--" Her -voice broke. - -Ted grew very red; he turned his back on her, and spoke, in a tone of -elaborate unconcern, to Denis. - -"Thought you might come round to Bumpus's, old man, with me, about that -book--" - -"Oh, hang Bumpus! Hang the book!" Denis interpolated. - -Nell's charming face, laughing, was poked suddenly close to Ted's. - -"I'm not going to cry, Teddie! D'you think I'd repay you like that? -And I won't even try to thank you--" - -"Nothing to thank me for," he interposed. - -"Oh, no, it's nothing to hear that we're going back to Kilbrannan soon," -observed Denis. - -"Don't be such a fool, O.B.!" Ted turned on him angrily. "You're not a -baby! I tell you, those shares may never pay another dividend!" - -"Oh, Teddie!" - -The woeful change in her face made him add weakly:-- - -"But I've never known the Pater to make a mistake over that sort of -thing--" - -"Oh, _Teddie_!" - -She was radiant again. She started talking; her voice was breathless, -almost a song of joy. - -Ted said heavily, "It's an awful responsibility." - -She stopped in the middle of a laugh. - -"Anyway--in any case--" she said, "you--oh, how good you are, Ted!" - -"Good Heavens!" he ejaculated. "Why don't you put me up on a pedestal -and worship me?" - -He spoke with strong irritation. - -"Oh, how rude you are! You English are queer! Denis can do with any -amount of gratitude." - -"Well, I'm not Denis," he grumped. "Your father's not likely to sell -out, is he?" - -"No, no one'd buy the shares, you know," Denis replied confidently. - -But Ted had inherited somewhat of his father's business faculty. - -"Don't be an ass, O.B.!" he ejaculated. "Some chap might scent that -they're likely to go up, and offer to buy them of your governor." - -"Oh, Denis, and dad would sell them for _nothing_!" Nell cried. "Oh, -what shall we do? He'd never suspect--he thinks they're worth nothing. -Ted, tell us what to do!" - -"We must cable to him," Denis put in. "Where's my hat? I'm off!" - -"Oh, do wait for me. Do let me come, too!" - -She fled into her bedroom. She dragged out a coat. Sheila Pat was -folding up her nightgown. - -"Are you goin' out?" she demanded. - -"Yes. Find me a hat, there's a sweet." - -Sheila Pat crawled under the bed, and dived into a hatbox. - -"Where are you goin'? I'll come, too." - -Nell dissembled badly. - -"Oh, we--we're only going just out--for a little while. Give me a hat, -Atom." - -Sheila Pat handed it to her in silence; she studied Nell's superlatively -guilty face with calm disapproval. - -"Why don't you own up that you're doin' somethin' secret?" she queried -disdainfully. - -"Oh, don't be silly, Atom! Oh, why _won't_ my hat go on?" - -"I'm comin' too," Sheila Pat said, and she smiled a little triumphant -smile. - -"Oh!" said Nell. - -Sheila Pat went to the wardrobe, and lifted down her coat. Nell kicked -one of her boots beneath the chest of drawers. - -"I can see what you're doin'," said Sheila Pat, calmly. - -Nell began to laugh. - -"You can come if you're ready to start when we are, but we won't wait," -she said, and ran out of the room. - -A cold little voice pursued her. - -"I was only pertendin'; I never intrude where I'm not wanted." - -Nell hardened her heart. She burst into the Stronghold. - -"Do come! Oh, every moment's precious!" - -As they went downstairs Denis said, "Lancaster's been pointing out that -of course we may be advising the Pater quite wrong--" - -"How, Denis? Oh, _how_?" She wrinkled her brows anxiously. - -"The shares mayn't go up, you see." - -"Oh, that!" she cried relieved. "Yes, I know." - -"But, by telling him to hold on, we should stop his selling if he got a -chance and if they don't go up--oh, you see, don't you?" - -She nodded. - -They let themselves out into the street in silence. - -"I wanted you to understand," Denis said. - -"Yes." - -She looked down abstractedly at her thin house-slippers, which she had -forgotten to change. - -"I want to send the cablegram," she said. "I want to take the risk." - -"That's all right. So do I." - -"It's four and tenpence a word to Melbourne," observed Ted, prosaically. -"What shall you say?" - -"'Hold on to Reve d'or shares,' I think," Denis said. - -"'Don't sell' would be a word less," Nell suggested. "'Do not,'" Ted -amended. "You mustn't put 'don't' in a telegram." - -'"Hold on to' is more emphatic," Denis opined. - -On the way back Nell said hesitatingly:-- - -"Denis, do you think it'll frighten them dreadfully to get a cablegram -from us?" - -"Only for a second, and it can't be helped, worse luck!" - -"We won't tell Molly or the Atom, will we?" - -"No. We'll wait. It would drive the Atom mad to wait." - -"Yes." She looked as if she thought it might drive her mad, too. - -When she and Denis were alone in the Stronghold that night, she observed -elatedly, and with considerable confidence, "And we'll be able to manage -so beautifully, because we've had such practice in economising lately." - -He nodded. - -"We'll live on potatoes, old girl! I must say I prefer to economise on -praties rather than on porridge." - -"I've been thinking it all out. We'll have to be very careful, of -course, but what does it matter--what does it matter? I'll sweep and -clean and groom the horses! I'll have one dress a year--oh, Denis! -Denis! I'm all in a wuzzle. I'm so happy that--" - -"Let's go out! Come along. I shall burst if I don't." - -"We'll find a quiet square and _run_!" she cried. - -It was ten o'clock. At eleven o'clock they remembered that they would -be locked out. They returned and threw small stones at Herr Schmidt's -window. He let them in. - -"Ach," he exclaimed, looking at Nell, "you make my dry heart glad!" - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXIV* - - -Miss Kezia entered the dining room. - -Molly, hastily and with a very red face, slipped the sheet of paper on -which she had been writing beneath the blotting paper. She looked up, -and the giggle that had started to her lips died away. - -"Oh! Oh, can I do anything for you, Aunt Kezia?" She jumped up and -kicked over her chair. - -Miss Kezia replied stiffly that she required nothing from her. She -looked at her thoughtfully. - -"I suppose it was you who put my everyday bonnet into the wrong box?" -she queried. - -"I--oh, was it the wrong box? I--I'm very sorry--" - -"And it was you who sewed a black button on my glove, while the others -are white, I suppose?" - -"I didn't think it would matter--" - -"And may I ask where you have hidden my keys?" - -"I--I haven't touched them!" Eagerly she seized on the small bit of -relief. "I haven't seen them." - -"You surprise me!" Miss Kezia said, with a strong inflexion of sarcasm -in her tone. "Hadn't you better pick up that chair?" - -Molly stooped and set it erect; she blinked back tears. - -Miss Kezia said: "You are a very peculiar girl, Molly. I should be -obliged if you would leave my things alone. You puzzle me, but I -understand that you mean well." - -Molly's downcast face lightened. Impulsively she burst out, "Oh, thank -you, aunt--_auntie_!" - -"I," said Miss Kezia, "object to pet names!" - -She walked from the room, leaving a scarlet and abashed niece behind -her. - -She went into Herr Schmidt's room to see that Sarah had dusted it -thoroughly. She found Sheila Pat sitting at the table, with paper, -pens, and ink of Herr Schmidt's before her. - -"What are you doing in here, Sheila?" - -"Writin' a private letter," said Sheila Pat. - -"Take it up into your room! You have no business in here at all." - -"Has," said Sheila Pat, in very judicial tones, "has Herr Schmidt ever -told you that you're like a little sunbeam in his room, and just as -welcome?" - -Miss Kezia seemed a little disconcerted. - -"N-no," she said. - -"Then you'd better go," the Atom observed. "He's said that to me." - -She bent over her writing. - -Miss Kezia came closer. - -"Please," said Sheila Pat, "don't read what I'm writin'. It's very -private." - -"May I ask," said Miss Kezia, "if Herr Schmidt has also given you -permission to use his writing materials and paper?" - -"He hasn't given me _permission_," said Sheila Pat; "he asked me to do -him the _honour_ of placin' them at my disposal." - -It sounded very grand. Miss Kezia left the room. - -She went upstairs to the Stronghold to speak to Nell. Nell was seated at -the table, writing. She started up guiltily as Miss Kezia entered the -room. - -"You all appear to be very busy writing this morning," Miss Kezia said -crossly. - -For some reason or other this seemed to amuse Nell considerably. She -began to laugh. - -"Oh, are they writing, too? I wonder--" She broke off, and went on -laughing. - -"Eileen, I am constantly obliged to chide you for your frivolity. You -laugh at nothing; or, at least, I can see no cause for laughter?" - -There was a pronounced query at the end of her sentence. Nell strove to -answer it. - -"Well, you see--you see--we're writing--private letters--at least, I am, -and now you say--so I suppose they are, too--you see--oh, I c-c-can't -help it, it's s-so f-f-funny!" - -Miss Kezia gave the message she had come to deliver; she gave it in an -austere voice, and with a face of disgust. The she went. - -"Oh, I'm a w-worm!" Nell chuckled, crawling beneath the sofa to speak to -James. "But, oh, Jimmy, I feel all mad these days! If--if it comes to -nothing--but it won't! it won't! Oh, Jimmy!" - -The next morning was bright and sunny, with a gladness in the air, a -song of spring. It was the first of April, and even in London it was a -glorious day. - -"I won't even _think_ the thought, 'What it would be like at -Kilbrannan,'" Nell declared to Denis, when she met him on her way down -to breakfast, "because--shan't we soon be there?" She broke out -singing:-- - - "'There blooms a bonny flower, - Up the heather glen; - Tho' bright in sun, in shower - 'Tis just as bright again. - I never can pass by it, - I never dar' go nigh it, - My heart it won't be quiet, - Up the heather glen. - Sing O, the blooming heather! - O, the heather glen! - Where fairest fairies gather - To lure in mortal men--'" - - -She broke off; she turned to him on the last stair, hung on to his arm. - -"Denis, if only, _only_ we might tell them! My hair fairly rises with -the weight of the secret! I know Sheila Pat is wondering what has come -to us!" - -"Eileen, come in to breakfast!" - -They went in. On the table there lay a great pile of letters. Molly -and the Atom came hurrying in; Denis tossed letters to them all, and -kept a few himself. - -"I cannot understand why there are so many letters this morning," Miss -Kezia observed. She looked round the table, surprised. - -"Why do you not open them?" she asked. - -"Anticipation is the soul of wit!" observed Denis, absurdly. - -They fingered their letters, laughing, glancing at each other. - -"Have you all gone mad?" Miss Kezia demanded. - -"That's a good suggestion," Denis opined thoughtfully. "They do look -somewhat abbreviated in the top story. As for me, I will open my -letters at one minute past twelve, noon." - -He airily tucked them away in an inner pocket. - -"I request an explanation of these horribly addressed letters!" Miss -Kezia cried. - -The laughter broke out hilariously. Denis stretched out, picked up one -of Sheila Pat's letters, and eyed it with pride. - -"I thought that rather good," he observed. "Look at the curly little -heads, and those tricky Greek _e_'s!" - -"Molly!" Miss Kezia turned to her with an air of finality, "Molly, will -_you_ vouchsafe me an explanation?" - -Molly, at once proud and horrified, plunged forthwith:-- - -"Oh, yes, Aunt Kezia, you see, it's April the first, and you're a fool -if you don't know it--" - -She made an unfortunate pause, flustered by a burst of laughter. - -Miss Kezia's cheek reddened a little. - -"Molly, your language--" - -"Oh, no! Oh, I didn't mean that! I mean that if you don't know it, you -get caught, and if you do, you don't, and--and--you see--we wrote -letters to each other--we didn't know the others were remembering the -date, too, and of course if it had been our own handwriting we'd have -known, you see. So we disguised them, and we can't open them before -twelve or we'll be fools." She stopped, out of breath. - -Miss Kezia said slowly:-- - -"Do you mean that you have wasted all those stamps, that paper, those -envelopes, on a ridiculous childish game? That you have thrown away -honest pennies on such tom-foolery?" - -She proceeded to deliver a lecture on thrift which lasted throughout -breakfast. Just before Denis started for the bank, a telegram came for -Nell. Sarah brought it up to the Stronghold. She looked at Nell with -scared pity in her face. - -"It's for you, miss!" - -Nell seized it, tore it open, burst out laughing. - -"I'm caught! It's from Moira McCarthy! Oh, I _wish_ I could catch -her!" - -She crumpled it up and threw it at Denis. - -Sheila Pat picked it up and studied it. - -"April 1," she read thoughtfully. She smoothed the paper out with a -tender little hand, then folded it carefully, carried it to her room, -and locked it in the box where she kept such treasures as she had -brought to London with her. They were in the hall a little later, Denis -had just gone, when there was another loud double knock at the door. -Sarah came running, but Nell was before her. She opened the door; a -telegraph boy stood on the step. She took the telegram from him. "For -you this time, Sheila Pat!" - -Sheila Pat took it. She looked at it. - -"And 'er so little!" Sarah murmured from the background. - -"Molly," said the Atom, "wouldn't you like to open it?" - -"No, thank you!" - -"I know it's from that Ted!" opined Nell. "Open it, Atom. The boy's -waiting to know if there's an answer!" - -From the dining room issued Miss Kezia. - -"A telegram? And for you, Sheila? Why do you not open it?" - -Sheila Pat hesitated. Longing to see if it were by any chance another -telegram from Ireland, and determination not to let Ted Lancaster catch -her, fought within her small bosom. - -"Are you afraid?" Miss Kezia said, coming forward. "I will open it for -you." - -Now at the opening words of her sentence Sheila Pat's head had been -uplifted with a disgusted jerk, but as Miss Kezia finished speaking, a -sudden impish glow shone in her face, and gravely she held out the -orange envelope. Miss Kezia took it. They watched breathlessly. She -tore open the envelope, she read what was written on the form inside. A -great and triumphant satisfaction illumined the Atom's small features as -she watched the expression that overspread her aunt's countenance. - -"It is, I suppose, intended to be witty," Miss Kezia observed at last. -"I consider it a vulgar and sinfully wasteful joke. Sheila, did you -know what the telegram contained?" - -"I thought it was somethin' like that," the Atom said. "Please give it -to me." She turned to Nell. "There can't be two April Fools over _one_ -thing, can there?" - -The telegram was long; it was addressed in full to Miss Sheila Patricia -Kathleen O'Brien, and it said: "Shure and isn't it afther being the 1st -of April then, och begorra, and isn't it meself will be having the laugh -of ye entoirely at all at all, for when ye rade this, won't ye be afther -being taken in ochone acushla!" - -"That telegram," said Miss Kezia, in awful tones, "cost four shillings -and eightpence to send." - -Nell eyed her admiringly. - -"How quickly you can add up!" she said. - -A little later Molly stole guiltily away up to her room. She locked the -door, and sitting down on her bed began to tear open envelopes. -Presently to her through the keyhole came a whisper:-- - -"Molly O'Brien, I hear the rending of note-paper!" - -Molly jumped; her face grew scarlet. - -"Oh, Nell! I!--I--" - -Through the keyhole there was a ripple of triumphant laughter. Molly -stood, red, and stammering futile excuses, and heard the laughter die -away down the passage. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXV* - - -"Denis," said Nell, "let's!" - -She turned to him; her cheeks were flushed pink, her breath came in -quick little pants between her lips. - -"Right you are!" - -She ran towards the door, but Ted barred her way. - -"I'm a mere cautious Englishman," he said, with an uncomfortable little -laugh. "I want to remind you--" - -She danced before him, her hands over her ears. - -"I know it all by heart, Teddie. 'Tis mere waste of breath to tell it -me all over again. And if you died for want of breath through telling -me, I shouldn't understand any more than I do now, not if you went on -and on for ever! 'The shares,'" her laughing voice sobered, echoed his -ponderously, "'have only gone up a little. It is true that they -continue to go up, but they may never pay a high enough dividend to -enable you to return to Kilbrannan.' There, don't I know it all?" - -Suddenly she dropped her hands, her lips quivered. - -"I must tell them, oh, I must! Even if--if--it comes to nothing,--oh, -we must risk it, mustn't we, Denis? Sheila Pat--" - -She turned and went over to the window. - -Ted looked as if all the cares of the state sat upon his shoulders. - -Denis said:-- - -"We've kept it from them till it's pretty well certain--" - -"You can't tell," put in Ted, moodily. - -"Well, they'll face it somehow, whatever happens. And meanwhile--why, -man, think what it'll mean to them! Come along, Nell!" - -Molly and Sheila Pat were downstairs trying to play a duet on the piano. - -When Nell and Denis went in, Sheila Pat glanced round; her eyes widened -suddenly, her hand fell with a little crash of notes on the keyboard. -She sat staring at Nell; a little quiver went through her. - -"Yes--yes--oh, Atom!" Nell cried out. - -She left Molly to Denis. She went closer to Sheila Pat, and told -her--told her breathlessly, almost incoherently, her words hurrying one -over the other. - -Sheila Pat sat awhile, rigid on the stool, then suddenly she slipped to -the floor, she ran at Nell, her arms held out: "Nell--oh, Nell!" - -Nell held her close, whispering to her, and Sheila Pat cried, with never -a thought of the hurt to her dignity. - -That night when ready for bed she turned to Nell. - -"Nell," she said in very dignified tones, "please don't wait." - -She stood, a small figure in her white nightgown, her face very tired, -her eyes very bright. Nell, looking at her, thought suddenly of the -time she had been so ill. A little shiver went through her. - -"Why not, sweet?" she said. - -"I shall be a long while over my prayers, you see. It worries me to -have you waitin'; I've got a good deal to say to God to-night." - -As Nell left the room, the Atom's voice pursued her:-- - -"Nell, I do want to be very perlite to-night. Don't you think I'd -better call him _Mister_ God?" - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXVI* - - -It was on the 9th of May that the letters came. They came in the middle -of the morning, when Nell and Molly and Sheila Pat were wrestling with -their studies. It was a real wrestle to fix their minds on their work, -for they knew it was mail day, and they knew that they might get an -answer to their cablegram that week. The Reve d'or shares had gone up -and up. That alone was sufficient to make any study a weariness of the -flesh. The wild hilarity in the atmosphere lately had been borne with a -considerable amount of fortitude by Miss Kezia. There had been storms; -there had been lectures; but Miss Kezia found herself making excuses for -her Irish relatives. She was not given to making excuses for people, -any more than she would have made them for herself; but she certainly -took to reminding herself during these hilarious days of such facts -connected with the O'Briens, as their youth, the peculiar circumstances -attending the Reve d'or shares, and largest excuse of all, their -nationality. Had she possessed nerves, they would have suffered -acutely. She wished sincerely that her relatives would not make such -undesirable acquaintances. She came upon Nell in the hall one day -holding a diminutive baby. It was enveloped entirely in an old shawl, -and Nell told her it was Irish! Miss Kezia had no fondness for babies, -but being in an amiable mood, she came forward to examine this one. But -Nell drew back with all the appearance of anxious alarm. - -"Do you think you'd better come near, Aunt Kezia? He's fretful--perhaps -he has the measles or scarlet fever." - -Miss Kezia had been very angry, and considerably alarmed. She had -ordered his instant return to his parents. - -"Who is he? Where does he come from? Where are his people?" - -Nell had told her that the baby's name was James O'Driscoll, that she -did not know where his people were, but would take him to some friends -of his. - -Miss Kezia had been a good deal worried. For several days she -scrutinised her relatives' countenances, dreading to find them flushed -or spotted. But the weeks slipped by and not a spot appeared; not one -face was unduly flushed. Then the 9th of May dawned. It was a -beautiful 9th of May; the hilarity of these spring days was mixed with a -great restlessness; no one could settle down to anything. The -letters--there were four of them--came in the middle of the morning. - -The first Miss Kezia knew of their arrival, was when she was swept aside -in the hall by an advancing trio, making for the door. She asked -questions. She received answers, breathless, wild, glad answers that -left her with a dazed understanding that something very wonderful had -happened, that they had received letters of marvellous import. Then -they swept out of the door. They left Miss Kezia calling out that -Molly's gloves were odd; that Sheila Pat's hat was on back to front; -that Nell had left her painting pinafore on, and it showed beneath her -coat. They laughed and waved back to her airily; they started, to her -consternation, running. She would have been more concerned had she -known where they were going. They made straight for the bank where -Denis worked. They ran all the way; they pushed open the swing doors, -they hurried in waving their letters above their heads. - -Mr. Tellbridge was there, giving instructions to a clerk. Both he and -the clerk looked startled. Mr. Tellbridge also looked disapproving. - -"Good morning!" Nell cried out breathlessly. "Oh, where is Denis? -Where is he, Mr. Tellbridge?" - -"Here I am! What's up?" - -From round the partition he came. - -"Letters, Denis! They're coming home! In about two weeks! They got -the cablegram! He was just going to sell out! P.&O. boat! In a -fortnight they'll be here!" - -Mr. Tellbridge pushed his spectacles up on his brow, and eyed them with -a mild surprise. He seemed to find the study of them and their joy -bewildering. In the babel his somewhat pompous, but not unkindly, "Dear -me, I cannot allow this!" passed unheard. - -At last Nell turned to him:-- - -"Denis may come with us now, mayn't he, Mr. Tellbridge? You see, he -couldn't do any work now, possibly." - -"Pennington will do my share, when he comes in," observed Denis, easily. - -Nell looked at the bank manager, gave a little laugh. - -"We're being awfully rude," she said. "I will try to explain." - -She did try. She tried to speak soberly, plainly, but her words sang, -jostled each other, grew picturesquely extravagant. - -Mr. Tellbridge's mild disapproval was not proof against her eloquence. -He professed himself delighted at the good news. He gave Denis a -half-holiday, his benignity tempered by a drily expressed suggestion -that the work would not suffer much from his absence. - -They went straight to Gowan Square, found Ted in, and dragged him off to -lunch. - -At No. 35 Henley Road, boiled mutton and a bread-and-butter pudding -awaited them in vain. At the Express Dairy in Oxford Street four -perfectly happy people lunched that day. Ted was quieter. He seemed to -derive a certain amount of satisfaction from watching and teasing Sheila -Pat. Sheila Pat was very Irish, her sharp little tongue very quick, and -very broadly accented. She was never at a loss for a repartee. Her -great eyes fairly glittered with excitement; a faint pink flush glowed -on either cheek; her pig-tail, owing to constant rude tweaks, stuck out -at an aggressive angle. Halfway through lunch, Ted said:-- - -"And now, suppose some one explains what it's all about." - -"Explain!" - -"One at a time, please. Oh, not just yet, perhaps. I thought I'd given -you time for the effervescence to have subsided a little--" - -"Time? An hour or so?" laughed Nell. "Why, we shall go on effervescing -like ginger beer for the whole of the next fortnight!" - -He sighed. - -"I wonder if Miss Kezia's effervescing, too! Why do you laugh? I'm -thinking of applying to her for an explanation of your state." - -Nell bent toward him. - -"Ask," she said softly; "after all, it's you--you--you--who did it all! -Oh, Ted, dad says he had had an offer for the shares, and had just -decided to sell out when he received the cablegram!" - -"How'll they be home in a fortnight?" he put in quickly, warding off her -gratitude. "Question No. 1." - -"Why, mother's quite strong and well now, so she doesn't need the long -sea voyage, by sailing vessel now, you see!" - -"But I thought the passage was booked--" - -"Dad managed to exchange on to a P.&O. boat." - -"Ah, now I begin to understand." - -"Time you did," Denis remarked. "Your skull must be a foot thick." - -It was later, up in the Stronghold, that Nell drew near to Ted. - -"Mother and dad are so surprised and inquisitive," she began. "They -can't think _how_ we knew about those shares, you see." She paused. -"If it hadn't been for you, dad would have sold out--I don't understand -a bit--but he says it would have been for quite a little, we--we -couldn't have gone back to Kilbrannan." - -There was a little pause. - -Denis strolled up to them. - -"Ted," Nell said, "you will spend all your vacations with us, won't you? -Except just a week here and there for other people--won't you?" - -He laughed uncomfortably. - -"I know I've been pretty good at poking myself in here--" he began. - -"_Teddie_!" Nell ejaculated. - -"Don't be such a fool!" Denis exclaimed angrily. - -"Well, anyhow, your people--" - -"Will be delighted if you'll make Kilbrannan another home," finished -Denis, proudly. - -Nell held her letter out to him. - -"It's true, Teddie. Read what mother says about you. She knows all -about you. There--at the top of the page." - -He took the letter and read:-- - -"I know you would not have cabled to us as you did unless you had very -strong reasons for your opinion that the shares were going up; that, and -the fact that your father had an offer for them--oh, Nell, he is telling -Denis about that! He very nearly accepted it!--well, this makes me hope -that we shall be able to return to our home. Won't we all be willing to -economise? Bread and potatoes and Kilbrannan are not to be despised, -are they, asthore? You and Denis must make your friend, Ted Lancaster, -promise that, if we only can go back, he will look upon it as a second -home. Tell him we shall want as much of his time as he can spare to be -spent at Kilbrannan, and we'll manage to add a trout or two, perhaps -even a salmon, to the bread and potatoes when he is with us. With these -extras, and the hearty welcome he will receive from us all, I hope he'll -find Kilbrannan so bearable that all his vacations will be given to us!" - -Ted grew very red as he perused the letter. He handed it back in -silence. - -"Well?" Nell laughed. - -"I say--er--why, it's no end kind--" - -"That'll do. You needn't say anything, except--you will, Teddie, won't -you?" - -"By Jove, yes!" he said. - -He stood looking out of the window. He felt then the first liking for -Mrs. O'Brien that afterwards developed into such devotion that she -always declared she had two sons. - -Once he approached Nell. - -"I say," he said, "you know--I--I mean a lot!" - -She gave a little laugh. - -"So do I," she said. "Oh, Ted--" - -"But you say it!" he remonstrated, and strode across to Sheila Pat, -whose pig-tail he proceeded to pull. But Sheila Pat was very dignified. - -"Please don't intrude. I'm thinkin'." - -Presently she came to Nell. - -"Nell," she whispered, "Kilbrannan's very healthy, isn't it?" - -"Why, yes, sweet!" - -"I'm thinkin' maybe it'll make Tommy's left leg grow as long as the -other one!" - -"I'm afraid it won't do that, asthore." - -Her face fell. - -"I'm glad I didn't mention it to him," she said earnestly. "I didn't on -purpose, because I wasn't wantin' to give false hopes to him, you see." - -Nell bent and kissed her. - -"It will make him strong and well, anyway." - -Sheila Pat nodded. She went across to James O'Driscoll. - -"In a fortnight and two days we'll introduce you to your cousin!" she -said. - -That evening Nell went into her bedroom. She came upon an absorbed -Atom, kneeling before her treasure box. - -"What are you doing, Sheila Pat?" - -Sheila Pat lifted her head; her small face was full of a restless joy. -She said staidly:-- - -"Sure, Nell O'Brien, and what would I be doin' then? _I'm packin'_!" - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNG O'BRIENS *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45324 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the -General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and -distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works to protect the -Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and trademark. 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