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diff --git a/old/54132-0.txt b/old/54132-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c52e774..0000000 --- a/old/54132-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7392 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Loyal Little Red-Coat, by Ruth Ogden - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: A Loyal Little Red-Coat - A Story of Child-life in New York a Hundred Years Ago - -Author: Ruth Ogden - -Illustrator: H. A. Ogden - -Release Date: February 26, 2017 [EBook #54132] -Last Updated: March 13, 2018 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LOYAL LITTLE RED-COAT *** - - - - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - - - - - - - - -A LOYAL LITTLE RED-COAT - -A Story of Child-life in New York a Hundred Years Ago - -By Ruth Ogden - -Fourth Edition - -Illustrated by H. A. Ogden - -New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company - -1890 - -[Illustration: 0001] - -[Illustration: 0006] - -[Illustration: 0007] - - - - -PREFACE. - -In the introductory chapter of “The History of the People of the United -States,” Mr. McMaster announces as his subject, “The history of the -people from the close of the war for Independence down to the opening of -the war between the States.” It seems at first thought improbable that -a history excluding both the Revolution and the Civil War should prove -in any great degree interesting, but the first twelve pages suffice to -convince one to the contrary. With consummate skill in selection and -narration, Mr. McMaster has brought to light information of a singularly -novel character. Impressed with this unlooked-for quality, it occurred -to me that here was ground that had not been previously gone over--not, -at any rate, in a story for children. “A Loyal Little Red-Coat” has been -the outcome. Whether I have succeeded in transferring to these pages -aught of the peculiar interest of the history remains to be seen. This -much may be said, however, that every historical allusion is based -upon actual fact. The English Circus, the Captain's letter, Harry's -Prison-Ship experiences, Alexander Hamilton's successful defence of a -Tory client, the treatment of the Bonifaces at the ball--all find their -counterpart in the realities of a century ago. For much of the minor -historical detail I am indebted to those rare and quaint old volumes, -carefully treasured by our historical societies, which make possible -the faithful recounting of the story of bygone days. In my attempt to -reproduce the child-life of a time so far removed, I have probably been -guilty of some anachronisms. If, however, I have woven a page of history -into a story that, by any chance, shall interest the children, for whom -it has been a delight to me to write it, I shall be sincerely grateful. - -Ruth Ogden. - -Brooklyn, N. Y. - - - - - -A LOYAL LITTLE RED-COAT - - - - -CHAPTER I.--ON THE ALBANY COACH - - -[Illustration: 9013] - -AZEL BONIFACE was a Loyalist, which means that she was a hearty little -champion of King George the Third of England, and this notwithstanding -she lived in America, and was born there. It had happened to be on a -crisp October morning of the year 1773 that Hazel's gray eyes first saw -the light, and they no sooner saw the light than they saw a wonderful -red coat, and just as soon as she was able to understand it, she learned -that that red coat belonged to her papa, and that her papa belonged to -King George's army. So, after all, you see it was but natural that she -should have been a little Loyalist from the start, and quite to have -been expected that she should, grow more and more staunch with every -year. - -Now it chanced one midwinter afternoon, when Hazel was about six years -old, that she came into the city--that is, into New York--on an errand -with her father, and that she stood for a while watching a merry party -of boys, who were having the jolliest sort of a time coasting down -Powder House Hill, and skating on the clear, crystal ice of the Collect. -The Collect and Powder House Hill! You never heard of them, did you, and -yet may have lived in New York all your life; but you may believe the -little New Yorkers of those days knew them and loved them. - -The Collect (though where it got its name no one knows) was a beautiful -sheet of water connected with the North River by a creek crossing -Broadway, where we now have Canal street, and the hill where the Powder -House stood was one of the pretty heights that bordered it. Wouldn't -some of the little people who live in that crowded part of the city -to-day be surprised to know, that only a hundred years ago ponds and -hills took the place of the level city streets, and that a boy could -start way over east of Broadway, skate under the arch at Canal street, -and then strike out across the broad Lispenard meadows straight to the -North River? But those boys of the olden time, who were spending their -short afternoon holiday there on the ice, were exactly like the boys of -to-day, in that they were cutting up the very silliest sort of capers. -Hazel, however, thought it all very funny, and longing for the time when -she should have a pair of skates of her own, wondered if that boy with -the pretty name--that boy the other boys called Starlight--would teach -her how to use them. And so one time when he came gliding her way she -called out, quite to the surprise of her father, whose hand she stood -holding, “Will you teach me how to skate when I grow old enough, -Starlight?” - -“Bless your heart, yes,” came the answer, as soon as the finest little -skater that ever buckled skates on the Collect could put the brakes to -his winged feet, “but you must tell me your name, so that I shall know -you when you grow up.” - -“Hazel, Hazel Boniface,” she replied; “and is your name really -Starlight? It's a beautiful name.” - -“Yes, Starlight's my last name; my other name is Job; that isn't so -pretty, is it?” - -“I should think not; I shall always call you just Starlight.” - -And Hazel had been true to her word, and had always called Job just -Starlight, and Job had been true to his promise, and had long ago taught -Hazel to skate, for she was ten now and he fourteen, and they had been -the best of friends this long while, notwithstanding Job was as zealous -a Whig as was Hazel a Loyalist. - -And now, for fear you should not happen to know just what is meant -by Whig and Loyalist, you must--there is no help for it if you are to -understand this story--put up with a solid little bit of history right -here and now. You see Hazel was born in 1773, and as she has just scored -a tenth birthday, that brings us to 1783, and 1783 found affairs in New -York in a decidedly topsy-turvy state. A great war had been going on for -eight long years called, as you know, the war of the Revolution, because -the colonies in America had _revolted_, declaring their determination -to be independent, and that King George of England should no longer be -their king. And all that while, that is, during those eight long years, -King George's soldiers had been in possession of New York, and many of -the Whigs--and Whigs, remember, are the people who sided against King -George--had fled from their dwellings, and scores of Loyalists, pouring -into the city to be under the protection of the English soldiers, -had made their homes in the Whigs' empty houses. But now matters were -beginning to look very differently. The great war was over, the colonies -had been successful, and although the English soldiers were still in -New York, they were soon to go, every one of them, and the Whigs were -returning in great numbers, and trying to turn out the Loyalists, whom -they found living in their homes. Most of these Loyalists, however, were -very loath to go, some of them, indeed, avowing that go they would not! -No wonder, then, that affairs in New York in 1783 were in a decidedly -topsy-turvy state; and this brings us to the real commencement of our -story, and to Hazel, sitting alone on the porch of her home at Kings -Bridge, and with a most woe-begone expression on her usually happy face. -Suddenly a new thought seemed to strike her, and she started on a brisk -little run for the gate; but it was simply that, hearing the sound of -wheels in the distance, she knew that the Albany coach was coming, and -the Albany coach was what she was waiting for. That was long before the -days of railroads, and when all the travelling must needs be done in -that “slow-coach” fashion. - -The Albany stage was generally full inside, and, as Hazel expected, this -morning was no exception; but that did not make the least difference in -the world to her, for what she wanted was a seat beside Joe Ainsworth, -the driver. Indeed, it was not an unusual thing for Hazel to ask for a -ride into town, nor for Joe to grant it, so that the moment he spied her -standing in the road ahead of him, he knew what it meant, and reined up -his four dusty white horses. - -Hazel looked very sweet and fresh, no doubt, in the eyes of the wearied -travellers, who had journeyed all night in the jouncing stage, and, in -fact, she would have looked sweet and fresh in the eyes of anybody -whose eyes were good for very much. She wore a quaint little gown and -kerchief, as yet without rumple or wrinkle, for it was but nine o'clock -in the morning, and breakfast and a quiet little “think” on the porch -had not proved in the least damaging to either skirt or kerchief. To -tell the truth, Hazel had an intense regard for a fresh and dainty -toilet, and somehow contrived to scale the side of the coach without in -any way begriming her pretty dress, although she was obliged to make use -of one great dusty wheel in ascending. First she planted both feet on -its hub, and then by aid of Joe's hand fairly bounded to her seat beside -him with quite as much grace as a little deer of the forest, and a -“little dear” she was in point of fact, if you alter but one letter in -the spelling. - -“Well, Miss Hazel,” said Joe, after he had started up his horses, “how -are you this warm morning?” for it was early September, and the sun was -already shining hotly down upon them. - -“Oh, I'm very well then,” after a moment's pause, “No, I don't believe I -am very well, either, because, Joe, I feel very blue.” - -“Blue!” exclaimed Joe; “you blue! Why, you ought not to learn even the -meaning of the word these twenty years yet.” - -“Some children learn it very young, Joe,” with a real little sigh. - -“But what in creation have you to be blue about, I'd like to know? -Perhaps you have gotten a spot on that pretty Sunday frock of yours,” - for Joe knew Hazel's little weakness in that direction. - -“Joe!” said Hazel, indignantly, and with such a world of reproof in her -tone that Joe had to pretend to cough to keep from laughing. “If you -think a moment, Joe, I'm sure you will remember that I have reason to -feel very, very blue indeed.” - -Hazel was so serious that Joe felt in duty bound to put his thinking-cap -on, and ransacked his brain for the possible occasion of her depression. -Hazel, with childish dignity, did not offer to help him in the matter, -and they drove for a few moments in a silence broken only by the creak -of the weather-beaten stage, and the regular, monotonous rattle of -the loose-fitting harness. Down through the dusty yellow leaves of the -roadside trees the sunlight filtered, to the dustier hedges below, and -there was little or no life in the air. Indeed, it was a morning when -one had need to be very much preoccupied _not_ to feel blue, as Hazel -called it, and a discriminating person might have deemed the weather -in a measure responsible for her down-heartedness. Meanwhile the horses -jogged along at the merest little pretence of a trot, and, missing the -customary, “Get-up, Jenny!” and “Whist there, Kate!” subsided into a -walk, varied more than once by a deliberate standstill, whenever the -“off-leader” saw fit to dislodge a persistent fly by the aid of a -hind hoof. “Look here, driver!” called one of the passengers at last, -“there's a snail on the fence there, that will beat us into town if you -don't look out.” The fact was, Joe had not only put his thinking-cap on, -but had pulled it so far down over his ears, that he had quite -forgotten all about his horses and Hazel, and his thoughts had gone -“wool-gathering,” as old people's thoughts have a fashion of going. “Get -along with you,” he called to the tired team, thoroughly roused from -his reveries, and spurring them into greater activity with his long -whip-lash; then, turning to Hazel, he said--“Come to think of it, I -should not wonder if you are blue about that little Starlight matter.” - -“Little Starlight matter! Do you think it's a little matter, Mr. -Ainsworth, to be kept out of your house and have a lot of soldiers -living in it?” - -“But they are King George's soldiers; that ought to make it all right in -your eyes, Miss Hazel.” - -“Oh, the men are not to blame; they have to do as the officers tell -them; but I hate that old Captain Wadsworth. Sometimes I think I'll -write and tell King George what a dreadful man he is, for I don't -believe he knows. But, after all, they say it's an American, our own -Colonel Hamilton, that's most to blame.” - -“Alexander Hamilton! Why, how's that?” exclaimed Joe, knowing well -enough, but wishing to hear Hazel grow eloquent on the subject. - -[Illustration: 0018] - -“Well, this is how it is, Mr. Ainsworth,” and Hazel folded her hands and -composed herself for what promised to be quite a long story. “You know -the Starlights. Well, they've lived right on that same piece of land -ever since Job's great-great-grandfather, who was an Englishman, married -a Dutch wife and came to live in New York. Why, there weren't more than -half-a-dozen houses here when they came, and if anybody has a right -to their land and their house, they have. They used to be a very big -family, the Starlights did, but now there's only Job left and his Aunt -Frances. She's the loveliest lady, Joe, and so very fond of Starlight -(that's Job), and Starlight is just as good to her as a boy can be. -Well, one night, nearly two years ago, a party of English soldiers (some -of them were awful bad fellows, Joe, even if they were the King's -men) went about the street doing just about as they pleased, and Miss -Avery--that is, Aunt Frances--was very much frightened, as well she -might be, and the next day she packed up and took the ferry to Paulus -Hook, to stay with some friends of hers, who live over there and own a -big farm.” - -“You mean the Van Vleets, don't you?” questioned Joe, now wisely -dividing his attention between Hazel's narrative and his horses, who -were only too quick to detect any lack of vigilance on his part. - -“Yes, do you know them, Joe?” - -“Know 'em like a book, Miss Hazel. Old Jacob Van Vleet has been over the -road with me scores of times.” - -“Well, they're very kind people, Joe, and Starlight and his aunt are -living there still, only now that the war is over they want to come -back.” - -“And that's not an easy thing to do, is it,” laughed Joe, “when your -house is full of English officers and their men?” - -“But the soldiers have no right there, Joe, and the worst of it is, -Captain Wadsworth says he is going to resign his commission and stay -after his men go back to England, and make it his own home. He says it -belongs to him. It was given to him, after Miss Avery left it, by what -they call a military order. But, military order or no, Joe, that house -belongs to Aunt Frances.” - -“Of course it would seem so, Miss Hazel--” - -“And if it hadn't been for Colonel Alexander Hamilton she'd be in it -to-day, Joe. You see she went to law about it, and they say Colonel -Hamilton, who took Captain Wadsworth's side, is so smart and so handsome -that he just talked the court into deciding against her.” - -“It certainly was mighty queer in Lawyer Hamilton,” said Joe, -meditatively, “to turn against his own side in that fashion; but, Miss -Hazel, why don't you go and see him about it?” - -Hazel looked up a moment with a questioning gaze to see if he Were quite -in earnest. - -“That is just what I am going to do this very day,” she answered, -reassured, “and first I want to see Captain Wadsworth. Let me down at -the Starlights' gate, please.” - -So a few moments later the Albany coach reined up in front of the -Starlight homestead, and Hazel, jumping quickly down from the coach with -a “Thank you for the ride, Joe,” swung open the old Dutch gate with an -air well calculated to make the heart of Captain Wadsworth quake. - - - - -CHAPTER II.--HAZEL SPEAKS HER MIND. - - -[Illustration: 9021] - -ORE than one pair of ears heard the creak of the clumsy Dutch gate as -it swung on its hinges for Hazel, for every door and window of Captain -Wadsworth's quarters stood wide open to catch all there was of any -little cooling breeze which might bestir itself that close September -morning. And more than one pair of eyes glancing in the same direction -saw Hazel coming up the path and brightened at the sight of her. They -knew her well, all those English soldiers, for she had often accompanied -her father when he had come among them on business, and while he was -busy here and there, had chattered in her frank, fearless way with one -and another. Indeed, owing to her loyalist principles and a little red -coat which she was in the habit of wearing, she was familiarly known -among the rank and file of his Majesty's service as “Little Red-Coat,” - and often addressed by that name. But this was her first visit all by -herself, and, to tell the truth, Hazel had some misgiving as to its -propriety, and as to her own behavior in running off in this fashion, -for she had announced her departure to no one. Her sister Josephine, -however, had happened to see her taking her seat on the Albany stage, -and wondered what she was up to. But “runaway” or no, the eyes that saw -Hazel Boniface did nevertheless brighten at the sight of her, from those -of Captain Wadsworth's old body-servant, who was brushing the Captain's -clothes very vigorously from one of the dormer-windows in the steep -sloping roof, to those of the Captain himself, who sat tipped back in a -great arm-chair in a corner of the wide piazza. - -“Good-morning, Hazel,” said the Captain, rising to meet her. “Have you -come on some errand for your papa, or simply to pay us a nice little -visit and cheer us up a bit? English soldiers need cheering nowadays, -you know.” - -“Yes, I know,” said Hazel, sympathetically; for, true to her Loyalist -sentiments, she felt sorry enough that these same English soldiers had -not been successful in the war they had been waging; but her mind was -intent at present on her own private business. - -“I have come just to make you a little visit, Captain Wadsworth,” she -continued, “and to talk to you a little, and I don't believe I can cheer -you up at all, because I am pretty blue myself.” - -The corners of Captain Wadsworth's mouth twitched at the thought of -such a fair and youthful little specimen indulging in the blues; but he -succeeded in asking gravely, as he led the way indoors, “Why, how ever -can that be? Come right into the office here and tell me all about it.” - -“This isn't the office at all,” she said, emphatically, as she took her -seat on a little Dutch rocker that had been Aunt Frances's sewing-chair. -“This is the sitting-room, and it's dreadful, Captain Wadsworth, to see -it so dusty.” - -Captain Wadsworth looked decidedly puzzled and astonished for a moment, -then he added, slowly, “Oh, I see! I suppose you knew the people who -used to own this house?” - -“Yes, sir, and I know them now; they're the very best friends I have; -and, if you please, this house belongs to them still, and they would -like to come back just as soon as you can move your men out, and,” - noting a few unfamiliar objects in the room, “your furniture and other -things.” - -It must be confessed that this was rather a bold speech for a little -maid to venture quite upon her own authority, but Hazel had made this -visit for no other reason than plainly to speak her mind, and speak -it she would, though she did have to screw her courage up to the very -highest pitch in order to accomplish it. - -“Do _you_ mean to say, Miss Hazel, that you think we have no right -here?” questioned the Captain.. - -“Yes, sir,” Hazel answered warmly, feeling, somehow, that Captain -Wadsworth was open to conviction. “You see you really have no right here -at all, and I thought that as soon as you understood that you would not -stay another minute.” - -“But the trouble is, I don't understand it; the law says it belongs to -me, you know.” - -“Then I guess the law does not tell the truth, Captain Wadsworth, -because even the law cannot make a thing so that isn't so, can it?” - -“Why, no, certainly not, and it isn't supposed to even try to do that -sort of thing, I take it.” - -“But that's just what it does exactly,” said Hazel, and in her eagerness -she deserted the little rocker and came and leaned on the desk near to -the Captain. “You know,” she said, confidentially, “I'm just as true to -King George as true can be, and I am awful sorry his soldiers have been -beaten, and I don't think a country without a King is any good at all. -Sometimes I'm almost ashamed that I was born here; but still, some very -nice people, like Miss Avery and Starlight, do not think just as I do, -and I think their rights ought to be respected.” - -These were pretty big words, and the Captain looked as though he thought -so; but even a very little woman, when she is very much in earnest, -sometimes finds language at her command quite as astonishing to herself -as to her hearers. “Rights ought to be respected”--certainly that did -sound remarkable. Hazel herself wondered where she had picked up so fine -an expression, and one that suited so well. - -“Who is Starlight?” asked the Captain, willing to digress a little from -the main point. - -“The owner of this house,” said Hazel, not willing to digress at all. - -“Why, I thought it used to belong to Miss Avery; the property certainly -stood in her name.” The Captain was careful to use only the past tense. -According to his way of thinking, that Starlight homestead was just as -rightfully his as though he had bought and paid for it. - -And so Hazel said, “Good-by, Captain,” and the Captain bowed her out of -his office as gallantly as though she had been a little princess. Four -or five of the men had gathered on the porch outside, thinking to have a -chat with her when she should have finished her errand with the Captain, -but Hazel, absorbed in her own thoughts, was about to pass them by -without so much as a word. - -“Look here, Miss Hazel, aren't you going to speak to a fellow?” one -of the men called after her. “Yes, of course I am,” Hazel replied, as -though that had been her full intention, and, going back, held out her -hand to Sergeant Bellows, the man who had called to her, and then, as -it seemed to be expected of her, shook hands in a friendly way with the -other men, all of whom she knew by name. But it was easy enough for the -dullest among them to discover that her greeting lacked all its wonted -cheeriness. Indeed, Hazel had not yet learned the need of disguising -her real feelings, and always “carried her heart on her sleeve,” as -the saying goes, so that you were at perfect liberty to share all its -sentiments, whether of joy or sorrow. So it was not strange that for -the third time she was questioned as to the reason for her evident -depression. “Feeling a little down this morning, eh?” asked Sergeant -Bellows. - -Hazel nodded her head in assent. “There's nothing an old sergeant could -do for you, is there, Miss Hazel?” - -“Nor a corporal?” asked one of the other men. - -“Nor a high private?” asked another. Hazel took their offers of -assistance in perfect good faith, and would not have hesitated to call -upon any or all of them, but she really did not see how they could be of -any use to her, and shook her head hopelessly. - -“No, I think not. The only man who can help me now is Colonel Hamilton, -and I don't expect very much of him. What I came down for was to ask -Captain Wadsworth if he would not let the people who own this house come -back to it; but he does not think they own it at all any more, and I -don't see what they are ever going to do. How would you feel, I'd like -to know,” she asked, eagerly, “if you were an aunt and a little boy, and -had to run away from your home, and, when you wanted to come back, found -an English Captain living in it, who said he was going to stay there?” - Some of the men looked as though they could not possibly tell how they -would feel if they were “an aunt and a little boy,” but they were saved -the embarrassment of being obliged to answer such a difficult question -by Hazel's abrupt departure? She had suddenly spied a familiar hat -lurking behind the shrubbery near the gate, and was off in a flash. -“Good-by,” she called back, “some one is waiting for me.” Some one was -waiting for her--some one had been waiting for her quite awhile and had -grown rather impatient in the waiting. - -[Illustration: 8025] - -“I thought you would never come, Hazel,” said the owner of the hat, as -soon as she swept down upon him in his retreat behind the bushes. - -“Why, I did not see you till a moment ago. How long have you been here, -and when did you come?” - -“I came over on the earliest ferry this morning. I pulled an oar and -worked my way over. You know, Hazel, I do not like to ask Aunt Frances -for money now if I can possibly help it.” - -“Yes, I know,” she answered, sadly. - -“I can't tell you how it makes me feel, Hazel, to look up at the old -house there with all those soldiers in it,” said Job, rather savagely, -for, of course, the new-comer was none other than Starlight himself. -“I'd just like to rush right in and choke every one of 'em.” - -“And I'd like to help you,” Hazel replied warmly. - -Starlight looked up astonished. It was something new for Hazel to side -against the Red-Coats, and he gave a low whistle of surprise. - -“Yes, really, I would,” Hazel reiterated. “If King George's men had -beaten you Americans, I suppose you wouldn't have expected to get your -home back again; but to think that you have beaten, and yet that Captain -Wadsworth says he is going to stay in it, and that a great lawyer, and -one of your own officers like Colonel Hamilton, says he has a right -to--well, I can't understand it.” - -“Neither can I,” said Starlight, indignantly; and both children -seriously shook their heads from side to side, as there was no -gainsaying that great man. By mutual consent the children had turned -their backs on the homestead and their faces in the direction of Hazel's -home. - -To say that, side by side, they strolled up the Bowery, and that now and -then Hazel would pause a moment to pick a plumy spray of asters, growing -by the wayside, must sound funny enough in the ears of any one who -knows what the Bowery is to-day. Can it be possible that that great -busy thoroughfare, with its block after block of cheap shops, crowded -tenements, dime museums, and who knows what, less than a hundred years -ago was a country lane? and where to-day train after train goes whizzing -by on its mid-air track, birds sang in apple-tree boughs and children -gathered daisies in spring-time and golden rod in autumn? Yes, my dear, -it is possible; for who can measure the great transforming power of even -a single century, and Father Time has never wrought vaster or more -rapid changes than in the self-same hundred years which lie between the -childhood of Starlight and Hazel, in 1783, and yours of to-day. - -So, true it was that our little friends strolled up Bowery Lane, for -that was the pleasantest way home, and true it was that the lane was -skirted with orchards and the gardens of old Dutch homesteads, where -almost every variety of autumn flower was blooming, in a blaze of color, -in the early September weather. - -At the prospect of a visit from Starlight, Hazel had at once abandoned -all thought of an immediate call upon Lawyer Hamilton. Even that -important matter could be postponed for the delight of companionship -with this old friend, a companionship sadly interfered with by all the -untoward circumstances of the times in which they lived. - -“And Colonel Hamilton says,” Starlight resumed, after five or ten -minutes, which had been devoted to a plying of eager questions regarding -each others general welfare, “that Captain Wadsworth can stay in our -house, does he?” - -“I don't know exactly what he says; something like that, I guess; but -I am going to find out for myself, and ask him the reasons, too. I was -going there this morning if you had not come.” - -“You are awfully good, Hazel.” - -“I'm glad you think so, Starlight, 'cause I know some people who don't,” - and Hazel indulged in a little sigh. “I suppose I shall have a scolding -when I get home, this very morning, for I sort of ran away. I saw the -Albany coach coming, and I had to hurry so in time to stop it, that I -did not think to ask Josephine's leave or anybody's.” - -“But Josephine saw you go. That's the way I found you. She saw Joe -Ainsworth help you on to the coach, and I thought perhaps you'd gone -down to the homestead, for that's where you always used to come on the -Albany coach, you know.” It was Starlight's turn for a sigh now, and he -drew such a heavy one that it seemed fairly to come from the bottom of -his boots. - -“Say, Starlight,” said Hazel, suddenly, and, no doubt, with a desire to -brighten matters up a bit, “an English circus came to town to-day. They -open to-morrow. Can you stay over tomorrow?” - -“Yes, till the day after. I heard about the circus. I've never been to a -circus in my life, and I'd give--why, I'd give anything I own to go, -and if that wouldn't do, I half believe I'd almost hook something.” The -question of ways and means was ever present nowadays to poor Job with -his sadly depleted pocket-book. - -“I don't believe you'll need to _hook_ anything, Starlight,” answered -Hazel, with an implied rebuke, which was, of course, quite proper, “I -have a little money of my own.” - -“Of course, I don't mean I really would, Hazel. I should think you'd know -that I'm rather above that sort of thing. If you don't, you ought to, by -this time. I only meant that I should very much _like_ to go.” - -“Then next time you had better be more careful to say just what you -mean, Job.” Whenever Hazel had any little reproof to administer she -thought it much more impressive to make use of Starlight's solemn little -first name. - - - - -CHAPTER III.--THE CIRCUS, AND WHAT CAME OF IT. - - -[Illustration: 9031] - -LOWLY out of the great ocean rose the sun the next morning, shooting his -long rays over level Long Island, spanning the East River and touching -with rosy light the hill on which Captain Boniface had built his -comfortable home. What a wonderful tale, provided his memory is good and -his eyesight strong, this same old sun could tell, particularly if he -had the moon to help him, for, whether shining brightly, or peering -through mists of heavy clouds, between them they have seen most of this -world's doings. One thing is certain, however change, change, change -would be the theme of all their story. Old ocean alone remains always -the same; for even the “everlasting hills” may be pierced by boring -tunnels and disfigured by the shafts and engines of unsightly mines. And -this that is true of the whole world is true of every inhabited corner -of it, and doubly true of that particular corner where we find New York -mapped out to-day. Row upon row of dwellings--mansion and hut crowding -close upon one another; mile after mile of stores, warehouses, and every -conceivable sort of structure, and yet only a hundred years, and lo! -there was none of it. - -Do you chance to know where St. Paul's Church stands on Broadway, on the -block bounded by Fulton and Vesey streets? Then let me tell you that no -longer ago than 1784 St. Paul's was on the very outskirts of the city. -Just above it were two fine dwellings, which now form part of the Astor -House, and a little farther on a highway leading to the right bore the -weather-beaten sign, “The Road to Boston,” and another turning to the -left, “The Road to Albany,” and Hazel's home was a mile or more out on -this Albany road. Beyond were only open fields, with here and there a -farm-dwelling or country homestead, and an occasional “mead-house” - or “tea-garden,” for the refreshment of jaded travellers, or -pleasure-seeking parties from the town. Nearly on the site of the -present City Hall stood the almshouse, and in close proximity the jail, -while sandwiched in between them were the gallows, not exactly affording -what might be called a cheery outlook to the poor unfortunates obliged -to seek such food and shelter as the almshouse offered. These gallows -were enclosed in a building shaped like a Chinese summer-house, and -painted in all the colors of the rainbow, as though trying thereby -to overcome any mournful associations which the place might otherwise -possess. A platform within this remarkable building supported various -contrivances for conveniently “dropping malefactors into eternity.” - while a row of hooks and halters adorned the ceiling, so that at least -half a dozen offenders might be dispatched by the same method at one and -the same moment. - -Wall Street, in 1783, was a street of residences. Here was the bachelor -homestead of Daniel McCormick, upon whose stoop, on a mild and pleasant -afternoon, you were likely to find a goodly little company of cronies -and toadies, each and all of whom made it a point never to refuse an -invitation to remain to dinner and enjoy his excellent pot-luck. - -The court end of the town lay in the region extending from Pearl Street -around to the Battery, and up to Trinity Church, while the shops and -offices were confined to Maiden Lane. On Great Dock Street, now a part -of Pearl Street, lived the widow of John Lawrence, who, during his -lifetime, was widely known as “Handsome Johnnie.” There, as Dr. Duer -puts it, in his “Reminiscences of an Old Yorker,” the genial widow kept -open house for her relatives, or rather her relatives kept open -house for themselves, and were entertained in the roll of “transient, -constant, or perpetual” visitors. All this and far more could the sun -of to-day tell of the sights of the last century; but on the morning of -which we are writing, he looked down upon nothing of greater interest to -the average boy and girl of all time, than when he flashed suddenly upon -the preparations going forward for the circus that had lately arrived -from across the water, and because of whose arrival there was a flutter -in all the child-hearts throughout the length and breadth of the town. -Some were fluttering joyously with actual anticipation, and some with -grave doubts as to their gaining even a peep at the wonderful show. - -As for Hazel Boniface, she was not only up with the sun, but up before -it; as for Starlight, he was dressed, and “trying to kill time” a full -hour before breakfast, for it had been settled the previous evening that -they were to be allowed to attend the performance, and Captain Boniface -had slipped the coins necessary for their admission into Starlight's -safe keeping. Josephine, Hazel's older sister, was also early astir, -stowing away the most inviting of luncheons within the snowy folds of -a napkin, which in turn was committed to the keeping of a little wicker -hamper. - -Joyous and beaming the children set forth, Josephine accompanying them -as far as the gate. “I wish I were going with you,” she said, as she -held it open. - -“I almost wish you were,” Hazel answered. “Almost, but not quite,” - laughed Josephine; “for it would spoil the fun a little, now wouldn't -it, Hazel, to have a grown-up sister in the party? But you need not -worry, dear, the big sister must stay at home to mind the baby sister; -it's only the little middle-sized sister who can roam abroad, and go to -the circus, and do whatever she likes all day long.”. - -The color came into Hazel's cheeks. She knew she did do pretty much as -she wished from week's end to week's end, but that was not her fault. If -nobody told her to do “things,” it was hardly to be expected she should -do them. “Will you go in my place?” she asked, ruefully, of Josephine, -who stood leaning on the gate with a merry, teasing look in her gray -eyes. - -[Illustration: 0034] - -“No, of course I won't, dearie, and you come straight back and give me -a kiss, and know that no one wishes you quite such a jolly time as your -own sister Josephine.” - -And thus speeded on their way, the children's figures grew smaller and -smaller in the maple-shaded distance of the roadside path, and with a -little sigh Josephine turned back to her duties within-doors. There -was a foreboding of coming evil in her heart, and in Hazel's and -Starlight's, too, for that matter. Children though they were, they were -still old enough to know, that, now that the war had ended in the defeat -of the English, those who had sided with them, as Captain Boniface -had done, would have to suffer for it; but for to-day every worry was -utterly forgotten. Hazel had no thought for the coming interview with -Colonel Hamilton--which, it must be confessed, she rather dreaded--nor -Starlight for the soldiers in the old homestead. - -Right before them lay all the delights of a wonderful English circus, -and with the lightest of hearts they set forth upon their happy -expedition. Having strolled along in leisurely fashion, the old town -clock struck eleven as they pressed in through the clumsy turnstile -which barred the circus entrance, and the regular performance was not to -commence until one. But two hours were none too much for the inspection -of the wonderful sideshows, and wide-eyed they passed from one to -the other, instinctively turning quickly away from two or three human -monstrosities in a close, unsavory tent, to spend an hour of intense -merriment over the antics of a family of monkeys in a cage in the open -air. Indeed, they doled out most of their luncheon to the mischievous -little youngsters, actually forgetting that there was any likelihood of -their ever being hungry themselves and repenting of such liberality. - -A great deal of fuss over a circus, you may be thinking, my little -friend, having yourself been so many times to see “The Greatest Show on -Earth” but if you had lived in the days of Hazel and Starlight, and never -seen a circus in your life, nor a show of any kind--either great or -small--then, perhaps, you would have been not a little excited too. - -Long before it was at all necessary, and after much consultation and -numerous experiments at different angles, the children seated themselves -at the precise point which they had concluded, on the whole, offered -greatest advantages, and then they impatiently watched the uncomfortable -benches become gradually filled, and certain significant preparations -going forward on the part of the gayly-liveried lackeys. - -At last the orchestra of three ill-tuned instruments struck up a -preliminary march, the low, red-topped gates of the ring swung open, and -the gorgeous company pranced in, dazzling and brilliant indeed, in the -eyes of the children. What did it matter if tinsel were tarnished, and -satins and velvets travel-stained and bedraggled. They saw it not. -It was all glitter and shimmer to them, and, oh, those beautiful, -long-tailed horses with their showy trappings! Hazel silently made up -her mind on the spot, that she would be a circus-rider herself as soon -as she was old enough, _if_ her father would let her. She changed her -mind later in the day, however, owing to certain unexpected experiences, -and was thankful enough that she had not openly expressed her resolution -of a few hours before. - -Midway in the performance, as the clown had announced, for they did -not have printed programmes in those days, there was to be some lofty -tumbling by the Strauss brothers, and at the proper moment in they came -leaping and jumping. They were all attired in the regulation long hose, -short trousers, and sleeveless jackets of the professional tumbler, but -it was easy enough for any child to detect at a glance that it was quite -impossible that they should belong to the same family. They were of all -ages and sizes, but the youngest performer did not appear to be -more than twelve; he was a handsome little fellow, with a fine dark -complexion, and from the first both Hazel's and Starlight's attention -centred upon him. He proved himself the most agile of all the brothers, -eagerly watching for his turn every time, and apparently enjoying the -performance almost as keenly as the audience. But it happened after a -while, that when he had just accomplished the feat of turning a double -somersault from the top of a spring-board, he did not attempt to rejoin -the other leapers and tumblers, but crept from the place where he had -landed in the sawdust to the edge of the ring, seated himself, with his -little slippered feet straight out before him, and leaned comfortably -back against its rail. The spot he had chosen was directly underneath -where Hazel and Starlight were sitting, and being in the first row -they naturally leaned over to investigate matters. He sat there so -comfortably, and his older brothers seemed so indifferent to the fact -that he had dropped from their number, that the children came to the -conclusion that he was simply taking a little permitted rest. - -At last Starlight made so bold as to ask, “Say, Straussie, you didn't -hurt yourself any way, did you?” - -At the sound of Starlight's voice the little fellow looked up surprised. -“Yes, I did,” he replied, “I often slip my knee-cap, or something like -that when I take that double 'sault.” - -“Does it hurt you now,” asked Hazel, with real solicitude. - -“Yes, a little. I can't jump any more to-day. The men know what's the -matter with me. I'll be all right in a little while.” - -“Do you like being in a circus?” continued Starlight, for it was even -more interesting to converse with a member of the troupe than to watch -the performance of the troupe itself. - -“I like the jumping and tumbling; that's all the part I like,” ending -with a sigh. - -But it was not easy to carry on a conversation at the distance they -were from each other, particularly as the tumblers, as if to add to the -excitement, kept up an almost ceaseless hallooing and shouting. Now it -happened that the ring, with the exception of the gates of entrance, was -formed by a short canvas curtain suspended from a circular iron rail. -Observing this, a happy thought occurred to Starlight. - -“Look here, Straussie,” he said, in a penetrating whisper, “I'd like to -talk with you. Couldn't you creep under the curtain there, and I'll drop -down between the seats.” - -“Yes, I could,” answered the little tumbler, grasping the situation at -once, and suiting the action to the word. - -“I wish I could drop too,” urged Hazel, longingly. - -“No, you stay where you are. It wouldn't do, Hazel; folks might notice,” - and Hazel was sensible enough to see the wisdom of the remark. As it -was, every one was by far too much absorbed to take account of the fact -that a little fellow inside the ring and a little fellow outside of it -had disappeared at one and the same moment. And so it happened that -all unsuspected a very important conversation was carried on, and -a remarkable scheme planned under the crowded benches of that day's -performance. Meanwhile Hazel “sat on pins and needles.” Even “the most -educated elephant in the world” failed to rouse much interest in a -little maiden who knew an absorbing conversation to be going on almost -within earshot and in which she longed to have a hand. - -“What is your name?” asked Starlight, as soon as he had dropped safely -to the dry grass, and had stretched himself beside the little tumbler, -who sat with his knees gathered close to him and his hands clasped round -them. - -“Flutters,” answered the boy. - -“That's not your real name?” - -“That's what they call me.” - -“You mean the circus people?” - -Flutters simply nodded “yes.” Somehow he did not seem at first inclined -to be quite as communicative as Starlight would have wished. - -“It must be fun to wear clothes like those,” he said, after a pause, -eyeing his new friend from head to foot with evident admiration. - -“Oh, it's kind of fun for a while, but there isn't much real fun. -Everything's only kind of fun, and there isn't any fun at all about most -things.” - -Starlight couldn't quite agree with these sage remarks, although he had -himself of late been seeing a great deal of the darker side of life. - -“I guess you're not very well, Flutters,” he said, seriously; “or -perhaps you're tired.” - -“Oh, I'm well enough, but I'm not over-happy,” answered the boy, who, -from little association with children and much with older people, had -formed rather a mature way of speaking. - -“What makes you feel like that?” asked Starlight. - -“Oh, lots of things. There's no one who cares for me 'cept to make money -out of me. That's kind of hard on a fellow. - -“Don't you get some of the money yourself?” - -“Not a penny. You see, I'm 'prenticed to the manager till I'm eighteen.” - -“Who apprenticed you?” said Starlight, taking care to speak correctly. - -“The manager, I suppose; but I did not know anybody had to 'prentice -you. I thought you just 'prenticed yourself by promising to work for -your board.” - -“Not a bit of it. You oughtn't to have made such a promise. If you -were worth anything to the manager you were worth part of the money you -earned. Besides, I don't think anybody can apprentice a boy except his -parents or his guardian, or some one who has charge of him.” - -“Well, nobody's had charge of me this long while.” - -“Is that big man with the great black moustache the manager?” asked -Starlight. - -“Yes, he is, and he's a tough one,” and Flutters pressed his lips -tightly together and shook his head by way of emphasis. - -“He doesn't look kind.” - -“Folks doesn't look things what they never are.” - -“Why don't you cut the circus, Flutters?” - -“Would you, really?” - -“You mean run away?” - -Starlight nodded yes. - -“Where to?” was Flutters's pointed question. - -“Oh, anywhere,” somewhat vaguely. - -“That's all very well; but board, you know, and a blanket to roll -yourself in at night is a little better than nothing at all.” - -“That's so,” said Starlight, and then sat silent a few moments, drawing -his fingers, rake fashion, through the dry grass in front of him, and -evidently thinking hard. - -“Flutters,” he said at last, “if you ran away I believe you'd find a -home and somebody to care for you--we'd look out for you ourselves, Aunt -Frances and I, till something turned up.” - -[Illustration: 0039] - -“Would you, really?” and Flutters leaned very close to Starlight in his -eagerness. - -“Yes, I'm sure we would. Will you do it?” - -“Yes, sir, I'll do it now,” and Flutters got straightway on to “all -fours,” as if he deemed that the most silent and effective mode -of escape, although the benches were hardly so low as to render it -necessary for a boy of his size. - -“But you'll be caught in a minute in those--fixings.” Starlight did -not think there was enough of them to deserve the respectable name of -clothes. - -Flutters sat down in despair. “Then there's no use; I may as well give -it up if I have to go back for anything.” Flutters stood in such fear -of the manager that he felt sure he could read his very thoughts. He -honestly meant that he would abandon the whole scheme rather than face -Mr. Bradshaw with such a design in mind, and he looked down at his -spangled slippers and bedraggled tights in most woe-begone fashion. - -“I have it,” said Starlight, after a moment's serious cogitation; “wait -here a minute,” and taking hold of a board directly under the seat where -he had sat, he pulled himself up to his place beside Hazel. She was -ready with a host of eager questions, but Starlight, in the most -imperative of whispers, gave her quickly to understand that there was no -time for anything of that sort. “Just do as I tell you, Hazel,” some one -overheard him say, but more than that they fortunately did not hear. - -A moment later Starlight disappeared, and a little red cloak, which -Josephine had made Hazel carry with her, had disappeared too. - -Not long afterward, but it seemed a very long while to Hazel, the -entertainment came to a close with a wild sort of farce, which everybody -seemed to think pretty funny, but Hazel did not so much as smile. She -had neither seen nor heard what was going on; she had an important -little piece of business ahead of her, and could hardly wait to be off -and about it. If her seat had not been quite in the middle of the row, -so that she would have been obliged to crowd past a long line of people, -she simply could not have waited; and now that the performance was -actually over, she energetically pushed her way through one group after -another, lingering about as if loath to desert the charms of the circus, -and was clear of the great tent in almost less time than it takes to -tell it. Off she darted down the road--down Broadway one would say -today--for the gateway to the circus enclosure was exactly on the -spot where Niblo's Theatre has for so many years set forth its varied -amusements. - -There was only one farm-house in the immediate neighborhood, and thither -Hazel flew, bringing up at the threshold of its old Dutch kitchen in a -state of breathless excitement. “Mrs. V an Wyck,” she cried with what -little breath she had left, as she peered over the half door that barred -her entrance. - -“In a moment, Hazel,” came a voice from the depths. “I am putting some -curd in the cheese press; I'll be up in a minute.” - -The minute afforded Hazel a much-needed breathing space, and when a -rosy-cheeked Dutch Frau emerged from the horizontal doorway of the cool, -clean-smelling cellar, Hazel was able to make known her request in quite -coherent fashion. - -“Oh Mrs. Van Wyck, _will_ you let me have a pair ol Hanss trousers,' and -some shoes and a coat, and please, please don't ask me what I want them -for!” for she saw the question shaping itself on Frau Van Wyck's lips; -“I'll bring them home safe to-morrow, and tell you all about it.” - -The little woman looked decidedly astonished, but the child was so -urgent, and withal such a little favorite of hers, that she could but -accede to her request, and in a trice Hazel was off again with the -coveted articles, in a snug bundle, swinging from one hand as she ran. - - - - -CHAPTER IV.--FLUTTERS. - - -[Illustration: 9042] - -T may seem at first somewhat improbable that Flutters should have been -able.. to make his escape from the circus grounds without being noticed, -but escape he did under Starlight's cautious guidance. Every one -was still intent on the performance itself; outside were only a few -straggling employees of the company, and they were too much preoccupied -with the special duties assigned to them to pay any heed to the fact -that a couple of boys were making their way through the grounds. Indeed, -it was decidedly too common an occurrence to excite any suspicion. To -be sure, Hazel's cloak concealed neither the head nor feet of little -Flutters; but velvet cap and satin slippers were tucked safely away, and -the absence of hat and shoes was by no means unusual among the boyish -rabble that found their way into the circus. The most dangerous, because -the most conspicuous move in their plan of escape, would be the scaling -of the high board fence, so they naturally made their way to its most -remote corner. It needed but a moment for Flutters to scramble to its -top and drop on the other side. Starlight made more clumsy work of it. -It was not an easy thing to keep one's hold on the slippery inside posts -of the fence, and when he was near the top he heard some one calling at -his back, which did not tend to help matters. Astride the fence at last, -however, he glanced down and saw a forlorn old man close at his heels, -one of the drudges of the circus, whose duty it was to keep things -cleared up about the grounds. - -[Illustration: 8043] - -Look you there, cried, in a cracked Flutters and Starlight were safe out -of sight now, and smiled at each other with supreme satisfaction. - -“That's Robbin's voice,” chuckled Flutters, as they walked off through -the woods that grew close up to the circus; “he could get over a -mountain as easily as over that fence; he has the rheumatics awful bad, -and he's very old besides, He's the only one I mind about leaving.” Poor -old Bobbin stood gazing up at the fence, and seemed wisely to come to -the conclusion that there was no harm in a boy's leaving the circus in -that manner if he chose. The harm would be if he attempted to come in -that way; and so hobbled off to his dreary, back-breaking task of -gathering up the papers and stray bits of rubbish constantly -accumulating on every side. It is possible, too, that even if he had -recognized Flutters, and guessed his motive, he would not have tried to -detain him. He had once been a tumbler himself, and knew enough of the -trials of circus life to be willing, perhaps, that a promising little -fellow should escape them. - -The grove in which the boys found themselves was the only piece of old -forest land that remained in the near vicinity of the town, and was -fitted up with rude tables and benches for the use of picnic parties. - -Starlight led the way to one of these tables, sat down, and comfortably -rested his folded arms upon it, as though they had reached their point -of destination. Here was where Hazel was to meet them and, while they -waited, the boys entertained each other with little scraps of their life -histories; but Starlight did not for a moment forget to keep eye and -ear on guard for any one approaching. There was a hollow tree just at -Flutters's back, into which he could tumble in a flash and be securely -hid should it become necessary. But the sound of their own low voices -and the occasional fall of a pine cone or crackling of a branch was all -that broke the stillness. At last they heard a footfall in the distance, -but Starlight knew that quick, short little step, and there was no -need for Flutters to take refuge in the tree. Hazel had come with the -precious bundle, that was all, and Flutters was straightway arrayed in -Hans Van Wyck's clothes, his dark little face not at all agreeing with -the Dutch-looking coat and trousers; but they answered the purpose of -complete disguise, and what more could be wished for? So the children -set out for home at a brisk pace, not by the way they had come, but, so -far as possible, by cross cuts and quiet lanes, to avoid observation. -That their little tongues moved even faster than their feet was not at -all strange, for, of course, they wanted to know all about each other. - -“Are you an Italian, Flutters?” asked Hazel, in the course of the -cross-questioning. - -Flutters smiled, and shook his head in the negative. - -“Then I guess you're Spanish,” remarked Starlight. - -“No, not Spanish.” - -Hazel and Starlight looked mystified. He was certainly neither American -nor English with that dark skin of his. - -[Illustration: 0045] - -“What kind of people does that sort of hair grow on?” Flutters asked, -running his hand through his tight-curling hair. - -“On--on darkeys,” answered Hazel, ruefully. “But it does not curl so -tight as--as some darkeys,” hoping there might be a mistake somewhere. - -“So much the better for me,” Flutters answered, cheerily. - -“Are--you--a regular--darkey--really?” questioned Starlight, with a -little pause between each word. - -“Well, I'm what they call a mulatto; that's not quite so bad as an -out-and-out darkey, perhaps.” - -“Oh, Flutters, don't you mind?” asked Hazel, who was disappointed enough -that the hero of this thrilling adventure should prove to be only a kind -of negro. Hazel had an idea as, sadly enough, many far older and wiser -than she had in those days--and, indeed, for long years afterward--that -negroes were little better than cattle, and that it was quite right to -buy and sell them in the same fashion. - -“What would be the use of minding?” said Flutters, in response to her -sympathetic question; “minding would not make things any different, Miss -Hazel.” - -It was the first time he had called her by name, and Hazel, born little -aristocrat that she was, was glad to discover that “he knew his place,” - as the phrase goes--so far, at least, as to put the Miss before her -name. - -After this the children trudged along for a while in silence, each busy -with their own thoughts. Starlight was beginning to have some misgivings -as to the course he had taken. It might, after all, become a serious -question what to do with Flutters. He began to wonder how Aunt Frances -would look when he should go back to the farm-house next day with his -little protégé in tow. She would be pretty sure to say, “What are you -thinking of, Job dear? It is not at all as though we were in our own -home, you know. We cannot allow the Van Vleets to take this strange -little boy into their home for our sakes; though no doubt they would be -willing to do it.” - -Yes, the more he thought of it, the more he felt sure that would be -just what she would say; strange that all this had not occurred to -him before, and a little sickening sensation--half presentiment, half -regret--swept over him. So it was that Starlight trudged along in -silence, for, of course, such thoughts as those could not be spoken with -Flutters there to hear them. - -As for Hazel, she was turning over a fine little scheme of her own in -her mind. She was a hopeful little body, and it did not take long for -her to recover from the despair into which the discovery of Flutters's -nationality had thrown her. “Why, look here,” she thought to herself, “I -believe I'm glad he's a darkey after all. It was awful cute to hear -him say 'Miss Hazel;' how nice it would be to have him for a sort of -body-servant, just as so many officers have body-servants! He could -brush my clothes, and groom the pony, and tend to my flower garden, and -just stand 'round, ready to do whatever I should wish,” and so it was -that Hazel trudged along in silence, for she thought it wiser not to -announce, as yet, the exact nature of her thoughtful meditation. - -And Flutters--well, it would have been hard to tell about what he was -thinking. He was a most sensitive little fellow, and strong and intense -were the emotions that often played through his lithe frame, so -strong and intense at times as to find no other expression than in a -perceptible little tremble from head to foot; it was this peculiarity -that had won for him the expressive name of “Flutters” among the circus -people. Now, of course, his state of mind was joyous and satisfied. Kind -friends and a home in this new land! What more could be desired, and the -happiest look played over his handsome face, for Flutters was handsome, -and the dark olive complexion was most to be thanked for it; but -the light went out of his face when, after a while, he glanced toward -Starlight and saw his troubled look. - -Instantly he divined its cause. “Are you sorry you took me?” he asked, -coming to an abrupt standstill in the brier-hedged lane. - -“No, not exactly;” Starlight was betrayed into a partial confession of -the truth by the suddenness of the question. - -Oh, how that hurt poor little Flutters, with his sensitive temperament! - -“It is not too late,” he said, turning and looking in the direction they -had come; “I think I can find my way back. They'd never know I'd regular -runned away;” but there was a mistiness in the bright little darkey -eyes, and an actual ache in the poor little heart. - -“Flutters, _I_ am not sorry then,” said Hazel, warmly; and laying a -firm hand on each shoulder, she turned him right about face again in the -direction of her own home. “Just you trust to me, Flutters, and you'll -never be sorry you ran away from that miserable old circus--never.” - -And now, so completely was all gloom dispelled by these kind words, that -back in a flash came the glad look into Flutters's face, and from that -moment he was Hazel's sworn servant. Starlight looked rather ashamed -of himself, but, after all, his fears had some foundation, and he was -thankful enough thus to have Hazel take matters into her own hands, -and more than share the responsibility. The sun was already down as the -children neared the house, standing in clear-cut outline against the -September sky. There were no clouds, only a marvellous gradation of -color, shading imperceptibly from the dark, dark blue of the river and -the hills beyond, up into the red glow of the sunset, and then again -by some subtle transformation into a wonderful pale turquoise high -overhead. - -It was indeed a beautiful fall evening, and Captain and Mrs. Boniface -and Josephine, seated on the wide, pillared porch, were waiting for -the coming of the children, and the exciting narrative that was sure to -follow. “Kate, the bonny-face baby,” as they used to call her, was there -too, a sunny, winsome little daughter, almost three years old, and Harry -Avery besides, Job Starlight's cousin, a good-looking young fellow, and -who lately had managed to spend a good deal of time at the Bonifaces. -He had sailed over that morning from Paulus Hook (which, by the way, was -the old name for Jersey City) with a fine little plan in mind for the -day--a plan which he had already promised Hazel should some time be -carried out; but the absence of the children had made it necessary to -postpone it for at least twenty-four hours. This Harry Avery was the -oldest of a varied assortment of little brothers, and his home was -in New London, Connecticut. But two years before he had enlisted as a -volunteer on board a brig named “The Fair American,” and not one of the -little brothers had ever had a sight of the big brother since. He had had -a sorry enough time of it, too, for eighteen months of the twenty-four -since he left home had been passed in the prison-ship “Jersey,” and he -had only been released within the last few weeks, when the success -of the American armies compelled the English to discharge all their -prisoners of war. The old ship where so many brave men had lost their -lives by privation and disease now lay a great deserted hulk in the -waters of Wallabout Bay, and what Harry had come over to propose was a -sail over to have a look at her. He knew it would interest the children -immensely, and he had proposed to Mrs. Boniface that Josephine should -go with them, and Josephine, only too glad to fall in with any plan that -involved being out on the water, had that morning concocted some very -delicious little iced cakes with a view to the luncheon they would take -with them on the morrow. Meanwhile, the children were almost at the -gate. “Why, there's Cousin Harry!” exclaimed Starlight, whose eyes were -good at a long range. - -“So it is,” said Hazel, excitedly; and when they had passed a few steps -farther on, she added, “Now, Flutters, this is the best place for you -to stop, and remember, when you hear me call, come quick as anything.” - Flutters smiled assent, and stepped into the deeper shadow of one of the -maples that edged the road. - -“Well, here you are at last,” called Captain Boniface a few moments -later from where he sat smoking in a great easy-chair on the porch. - -“Yes, here we are,” answered Starlight, and they marched up the path and -took their seats on the porch, Hazel having first kissed the family all -round, not at all reluctantly including “Cousin Harry,” for his prison -experience made him a wonderful hero in her eyes. - -Of course they right away began to give an account, interrupted by -a good many questions, of all they had seen and done. Mrs. Boniface -thought, and thought rightly, that she detected a little sense of -disappointment in their description, but did not know that that was -easily accounted for by the insight they had had into the inner workings -of a circus. They had indeed been greatly impressed with the velvet and -spangles, but only until they had learned through Flutters what heavy -hearts velvet and spangles could cover. - -Finally, at the close of quite a vivid description on Hazel's part of -the grand entrance march, which had proved to both the children the most -impressive feature, Harry Avery remarked, just by way of taking some -part in the conversation, “that they ought to have brought a bit of -the circus home with them for the benefit of people who had not been so -fortunate as to see it.” Could there have been a better opportunity for -the introduction of Flutters? - -“We did bring a bit of it home,” cried Hazel; and then, stepping to the -edge of the porch, she called, “_Flutters, Flutters_,” at the top of -her strong little lungs. Of course the Bonifaces looked on astonished at -this performance, while Starlight, from suppressed excitement, bit his -lip till he almost made the blood come; but in a second, head over heels -in a series of somersaults up the path, bounded a remarkable little -creature in satin slippers, velvet cap and all, as real a bit of a -circus as Cousin Harry or any one else could have desired. The little -tumbler was, of course, acting under orders, and brought up at the step -of the porch with the most beaming smile imaginable, and a most gracious -little bow. - -[Illustration: 0050] - -“Come right up, Flutters,” was Hazel's reassuring invitation, and -nothing abashed, but still beaming and smiling, so great was his -confidence in Hazel, Flutters mounted the steps, swung himself into the -hammock that was strung across the porch, and drew the netted meshes -close about him, as though conscious of the scarcity of his apparel. - -There was a pause for a moment--that is, no word was spoken, but the -four pairs of eyes belonging to Captain and Mrs. Boniface and Josephine -and Harry were riveted upon Hazel, asking as plainly as words, “What -does this mean?” while Starlight's eyes were urging her in an -imploring fashion to tell about it all right away. As for Flutters, the -complacent, trustful gaze with which he regarded his little benefactress -implied that he was sure she would proceed to explain matters to the -entire satisfaction of everybody. Meantime little Kate looked on in -admiring wonder, but fortunately her pretty head did not need to trouble -itself with “explanations of things.” She only knew that that little -fellow in the hammock was “awfully funny.” and extended her pretty hands -toward him as though she would very much like to touch him. - -“Well,” Hazel began at last with much the same air as a veritable -showman, “this little boy is named Flutters, and he did belong to the -circus, but he does not belong to it any more. He has run away, and -we've helped him to do it. Somehow he's quite alone in the world, and he -has to s'port himself, so he joined the circus 'cause he found he could -do what the other tumblers did, and'cause he heard they were coming to -America. But he has not been at all happy in the circus,” and Hazel, -pausing a moment, looked toward Flutters for confirmation of this sad -statement, and Flutters bore witness to its truth by gravely shaking -his head from side to side. Indeed all through her narration it was most -amusing to watch his expression, so perfectly did it correspond with -every word she spoke. Little folk and old folk have a fashion of letting -each passing thought write itself legibly on the face. It is only the -strong “in-between” folk who take great care that no one shall ever know -what they chance to be thinking about. - -By this time Starlight began to show a desire to take a share in the -telling of the story, but Hazel would none of it. She thought, perhaps -unjustly, that he had proved somewhat of a coward in the latter part of -the transaction; at any rate, he himself had pushed her to the front, -and there she meant to stay. “No, he has not been at all happy,” she -continued; “indeed, the manager has often been very cruel to him; but -I will tell you about that another time” (for her eyes were growing a -little tearful at the mere remembrance of some things Flutters had told -them); “and the way we came to know about it was this: sometimes when -Flutters takes a great jump from the spring-board and turns a somersault -two times in the air, he slips his knee-cap--that's what you call it, -Flutters, isn't it?” (Flutters nodded yes), “and then he has to slip it -back again himself, and it hurts a good deal, so that he can't jump any -more for a while. Well, to-day he slipped it, and then he crawled over -underneath where we sat, and we talked with him a little; then Starlight -told him to creep under the benches when no one was looking, and -Starlight dropped down between the seats and talked with him some more.” - -“And then we arranged,” Starlight now interrupted in such an -unmistakably determined manner that Hazel allowed him to continue, “how -he should run away, and he didn't even go back for his clothes, because -he says that the manager can almost see what a fellow's thinking about, -and he didn't dare. So when we had fixed everything I climbed up to -Hazel and told her what she was to do, and then I dropped down again, -and Flutters put on Hazel's cloak so as to cover him up a little, and -we scooted. We came near being found out once, but we got over the great -fence safe at last and into Beekman's woods. There Hazel was to meet us -with some of Hans Van Wyck's clothes, if she could get them.” - -“And I did get them,” chimed in Hazel, for it was surely her turn once -more, “and--but, oh!” stopping suddenly, “the clothes! Starlight, do -hurry and get them, or some one coming along the road may run off -with them.” Starlight obeyed, frightened enough at the thought of the -possible loss of the borrowed articles, and quickly returning with them -to the great relief of both Hazel and himself. - -Then the story went on again, turn and turn about, Flutters gaining -courage to join in now and then, till at last, when the twilight had -given place to the sort of half darkness of a starlight night, and the -fire-flies were flashing their little lanterns on every side, they had -told all there was to tell, and three foot-sore little people confessed -they were tired and sleepy and hungry, and glad enough to go indoors and -do justice to a most inviting little supper, which Josephine had slipped -away some time before to prepare. - -“Bonny Kate” (as she was called more than half the time, after a certain -wilful but very charming young woman in one of Shakespeare's great -plays) had long ago fallen asleep, and lay just where her mother, -running indoors for a moment, had stowed her away in a corner of the -great hair-cloth sofa in the dining-room. One pretty hand was folded -under her rosy cheek, and such a merry smile played over her sweet face! -She surely must have been dreaming of a remarkable little fellow, in -beautiful velvet and spangles, coming head over heels up a garden path. - - - - -CHAPTER V.--CAPTAIN BONIFACE RECEIVES AN ANGRY LETTER. - - -[Illustration: 9054] - -T is one thing to help a much-abused and unhappy little member of a -circus troupe to run away from his unhappy surroundings; it is quite -another thing to provide for all his future, particularly if, like -Flutters, he has not a penny to his name nor a stitch to his back, none -more serviceable, that is, than the ring costume of a high and lofty -tumbler. And so it was that Mrs. Boniface and Josephine and Harry sat up -well into the night, laughing heartily now and then over the funny side -of the children's adventure, but talking gravely enough most of the time -of its more serious side. - -“As far as I can make out,” said Harry, “Starlight rather expected to -bring Flutters over to the farm to-morrow and ask Aunt Frances to care -for him, at least till he found somebody else who would. I imagine his -heart rather failed him later, as it ought to. Aunt Frances has enough -to bother her at present.” - -“But you don't blame the children for helping the poor little fellow, do -you?” said Josephine, warmly; “I think almost anyone would have done the -same thing under the same circumstances.” - -“Very likely, Miss Josephine, but that doesn't dispose of the -troublesome question, What is now to be done with him? - -“Unfortunately, there are questions to be met more troublesome than -that,” said Captain Boniface, joining for the first time in the -conversation, and he had only too good reason for speaking as he did. -Early in the evening a letter had been brought him, to which no one had -paid any attention. It was a daily occurrence for a messenger to turn in -at the gate with a note for the Captain, since he had been for the last -eight years the principal furnisher of supplies to the English soldiers -stationed in the city, and had need both to write and receive many -letters. Indeed, so loyal had he been to King George that, at the very -commencement of the Revolution, he had joined the English army, but had -had the misfortune to be very seriously wounded in the first battle that -was fought. When at last, after weeks of constant suffering, he was able -to be moved, General Gage, under whom he served, had contrived to send -him home by easy stages along the Boston post-road, under protection of -an English escort; and Captain Boniface always declared, and no doubt -he was right about it, that nothing short of his wife's careful nursing -would ever have brought him through. But after that it was out of the -question for him to rejoin the army, so he must needs stay quietly at -home and aid the King's cause as best he could by helping to feed the -King's soldiers. All this, of course, had made enemies of most of the -Captain's old friends. Harry Avery was almost the only exception; and -now that the Colonies had been successful, matters were looking pretty -serious for him and for every American who had sided with the King. The -note that had just been brought to him proved a very threatening one. It -as much as ordered him to leave the country, saying “that there was but -one safe course for him and his, and that was to be gone instantly; that -New York had no further use for him; that the sooner her streets and -coffee-houses were rid of him the better, and that he would simply be -taking his life in his hands if he stayed.” It was truly a terribly -alarming letter, but Captain Boniface, knowing that sooner or later his -wife and Josephine would have to know about it, now broke in upon the -conversation and read it to them. - -“Who has dared to write you that?” asked Mrs. Boniface. - -“Four old friends, Mary; that is the saddest part of it.” - -Mrs. Boniface sat pale and silent, looking straight before her, and not -hearing another word that was said. She knew her husband well enough to -feel assured that no such letter would move him a step from his home. -Not he! He would remain and live the bitter persecution down. But would -he be allowed to live it down? There were cruel words in that letter. -“By remaining you simply take your life in your hands,” it said, and the -terrible threat sent all sorts of dread possibilities thronging through -her mind. - -With anxious faces, and quick-beating hearts, Josephine and her mother -listened, as Harry Avery and the Captain talked late into the night. -It was a great comfort to realize that although Harry was a Whig, and -a strong one, too, he did not harbor any bitter feeling against them. -“Perhaps,” thought Josephine gladly, “there are others like him.” - -It seemed as though Harry must have seen the gratitude in her expressive -eyes, as he continued again and again to reassure the Captain of his -full sympathy, and his determination to be of assistance to him in every -possible way. - -“Well, what will you do about it, father? Josephine asked, as just at -midnight, she leaned over his chair to say good-night. - -“Do about it, child?” he said, taking her hands in both of his, - -“Why, stay just where I am!” - -Mrs. Boniface shook her head gravely, as she and Josephine left the room -together. She had known so well beforehand that he would say exactly -that. - - - - -CHAPTER VI.--OFF FOR THE PRISON-SHIP. - - -[Illustration: 9057] - -HAT a queer sort of thing it is, this regularly going to sleep and waking -up again once in every twenty-four hours; but people who have had a -little experience in not going to sleep regularly, and in waking up at -most unheard-of and irregular hours, will tell you that that experience -is a deal queerer, and not so pleasant by half. Some of the little folk -who have need to be coaxed and urged to bed six nights out of the seven, -would hardly dare to fret, I imagine, if they only knew that to be -a sound sleeper is an accomplishment sorely envied by some of those -grown-up people who may sit up as late as they choose. And if one of -those wakeful, grown-up people should some day ask you, “What is the -secret of your sound sleeping, my little friend?” just tell them that -you think it is because you do not worry. Then if they say, “That's all -very well; children have no need to worry, they have fathers and mothers -to lean upon tell them that they, too, have a Father, One far more kind -and loving than any earthly father, and that they could lie down at -night as free from worry as any child if they would;” and who knows but -they will learn a blessed lesson from you that will be well worth the -learning. - -Now this little reverie has all been suggested by the fact that the -Boniface household was waking up, all save old Dinah, the cook, for she -had been up for an hour or more. She had once been Hazel's nurse, and, -since the beginning of the war, was the only servant the Bonifaces could -afford to keep. How comfortable she made them, that faithful old Dinah, -so that all one had to do was to waken and wash, and brush and dress, -and then sit down to steaming coffee, delicate rolls, and the most -savory little rasher of bacon, which Dinah always added as a “relisher,” - as she called it, to the more substantial part of the breakfast. Yes, -they were waking, all of them, from anxious Captain Boniface to happy -little Flutters, for Dinah's vigorous ringing of the rising bell had -thoroughly done its work. - -Each busy brain was taking up again the manifold threads of thought -which had slipped from its hold when sleep had stolen across it so -gently the night before. Captain Boniface instantly remembered the angry -letter, as, of course, did Mrs. Boniface and Josephine, and so their -waking was rather heavy hearted. Harry instantly remembered it too, -but his second thought was of the pretty sail-boat moored down at the -Boniface wharf, and of the plan for the day, and he was glad to open -his eyes on blue skies and the sunshine that flooded his eastward room. -Flutters woke with a smile. Indeed, he doubted if he should ever do -anything but smile again, so sure was he that he had turned a very -happy corner in his life. Starlight roomed with Flutters, and his first -thought when he opened his eyes was how they were to manage to return -those clothes of Hans Van Wyck's, that Flutters was getting into with -such an air of complacent ownership. Hazel's little mind took its first -morning flight in the same direction as Harry Avery's. The sail-boat, -the bay sparkling in the sunshine, the visit to the old prison-ship--it -all meant so much to her enthusiastic, pleasure-loving temperament. A -certain uncomfortable and premeditated call upon Colonel Hamilton -could easily be postponed to an indefinite future, with such delightful -anticipations in the definite present. - -“It seems heartless to be going off for a day's jaunt, when father has -so much to trouble him,” Josephine said, when, soon after breakfast, the -little party of five, basketed and equipped, were starting down to the -wharf. - -“Not at all, Josephine,” answered her sweet-faced mother, holding bonny -Kate by the hand as she spoke. “We will try and keep dear old papa -cheery, won't we, little daughter?” then, seeing that Josephine still -lingered, as though reluctant to go, she added, cheerily, “nothing would -be gained by your staying, Josephine. Your father has some office work -that will keep him in the house, so you can think of him as safe at home -all day, and we are both of us glad enough to have you enjoy a little -change.” So, somewhat relieved in her mind, Josephine hurried down and -joined the Others, and soon the “Gretchen,” with her white sail spread -to the crisp morning breeze, sped out on the river, fairly dancing along -the crests of the white caps that splashed against her prow with such a -continuous and merry little thump and splutter. - -[Illustration: 0059] - -Wind and tide favored them, and Harry was an excellent sailor, so that -in a comparatively short time they had left the waters of the Hudson -behind them, had rounded Fort George, the Battery of to-day, and were -headed up the East River, with New York on the one side, and the then -scattered town of Brooklyn on the other. Skilfully tacking in long -slants from shore to shore, the wharves and shipping were soon exchanged -for the sloping banks of Manhattan Island on the left, and of Long -Island on the right, and then suddenly the dismasted hulk of the old -“Jersey” loomed up before them. - -She was a dreary enough looking object to any one, but if, like Harry, -you had been a prisoner aboard of her for eighteen long months, you -would, like him, no doubt, have shuddered at the sight of her. Josephine -shuddered too. “Oh, do not let us go any nearer!” she said. - -“All right,” was Harry's quick response, for, in point of fact, nothing -pleased him better than to comply with Josephine's slightest wish, so -the “Gretchen” veered off again. - -“Oh! can't we go aboard?” cried Flutters, with a world of disappointment -in his tone, for in imagination he had already scaled the gangway ladder -that hung at her larboard side, and turned more than one somersault on -the wide sweep of her upper deck. - -“Why, no, child!” answered Hazel, who was fast assuming a most -patronizing air toward her little protégé; “no one would think of going -_aboard_ of her, would they, Cousin Harry?” - -“Why, why not?” Flutters asked, half-impatiently, for Harry, giving his -attention for the moment to the management of the boat, did not at once -reply. - -“Because,” he said, finally, “there has been far too much sickness in -that old hulk for any one to safely venture aboard of her; she has -been responsible for the lives of eleven thousand men. I doubt if the -strongest and longest of north winds could ever blow her free from the -fever that must be lurking in her rotten timbers.” - -That was a new phase of the matter to Flutters, and he subsided at once -into thoughtful silence. - -“I think this would be a good place to anchor,” suggested Harry, but -waited a moment till Josephine had given her consent before letting -the anchor run the length of its rope and bury itself in the mud bottom -beneath them. - -As soon as the “Gretchen” had settled into the position determined for -her by the tide, the little party of five ranged themselves about the -boat, so as to be as comfortable as possible, for there they meant to -stay for the next hour, or two, or three, as the case might be. It had -been for some time a thoroughly understood matter between Hazel and -Harry Avery, that whenever the day should come for this trip to the -“Jersey,” they were to anchor their boat in _full sight_ of her, and -_then_ and _there_ he was to tell them the “whole story”--from the day -he volunteered till the day of his release in the previous summer. - -Flutters, who had been made acquainted with the object of the -expedition, waited, with a charming native sense of the “fitness of -things,” until the others had chosen their places; then he threw himself -at Harry's feet, in one of the graceful positions so natural to him, and -which even Hans Van Wyck's rough, homespun clothes did not altogether -succeed in hiding. It was wonderful to look into Flutters's upturned -face--such complete satisfaction, such tranquil happiness shone out -of it. Even in those exciting moments when every nerve and tissue was -thrilling under Harry's narration of the dark features of his prison -life, a smile still seemed to be lurking in the corners of his -expressive mouth. Yesterday, a lonely little tumbler in a dreary, tawdry -circus company; to-day, one of a blessed circle of warm-hearted friends. -Whatever fears others might have as to the disposal to be made of him, -Flutters had none for himself. Of course he was to be Hazel's faithful -little servant from that day forward, and it was almost worth while, he -thought, to have “darkey blood” in one's veins for the sake of rendering -such happy service. Farther than that he did not trouble himself, -literally taking no thought for the morrow, nor for what he should put -on when his present habiliments should have found their way back to -their rightful owner. The “Gretchens” little company made a pretty -picture against the blue gray of the bay, and when at last there was no -more arranging to be done, and all had repeatedly declared themselves -“perfectly comfortable,” there was a breathless, momentous little pause, -as in the moment at a play between the significant and abrupt cessation -of the orchestra and the rolling back of the curtain. “_Please_ begin,” - said Hazel, with a great sigh, as though the intense anticipation of -that supreme moment was quite too heavy for child-nature to endure, and -Harry, looking sadly over to the old “Jersey,” commenced his story. - - - - -CHAPTER VII--HARRY'S STORY - - -[Illustration: 9062] - -I am to begin, Hazel, and at the very beginning, too, if I keep my -promise. Well, this little chapter of my life began with a thought, as -happens with most everything that is done in this world, and the thought -was not one I had reason to be very proud of. I suppose all of you know, -even Flutters, that since the commencement of the Revolution American -vessels have been cruising about, hoping to capture English vessels. - -“Now it chanced about two years ago that the 'Hannah,' a very rich -prize, was brought into New London. Some of the men who had taken part -in her capture had sailed out of New London as poor as could be, and -here they came sailing back again, with a prize in tow rich enough to -fill all their empty pockets. So it was not strange, perhaps, that the -capture of the 'Hannah' turned a good many young heads, nor that mine -turned with the rest, and that, as soon as possible, I joined the crew -of the 'Venture,' a privateer that was being rapidly fitted out for a -cruise. At length everything was in readiness, and away we sailed with -the highest hopes, and with our pretty brig so crowded with musketry -that when in action she looked like a great flame of fire. Well, we were -not long at sea before we gave chase to an English ship, in appearance -as large as ours. We exchanged a few shots, then we ran alongside -of her, and with one salute of all our fire put her to silence, and -fortunately, too, without losing a single life. I can tell you I was a -happy fellow, Hazel (Harry seemed to consider Hazel his chief listener), -when it fell to my lot to be one of the crew who were ordered to man -the prize and bring her into port; happy I was, and as proud as a -turkey-cock; but that state of things did not last very long. It was -our purpose not to attempt to make a landing until we should reach New -Bedford; but before we had even cleared the shores of Long Island an -English ship of war, the 'Belisarius,' of twenty-six guns, bore down -upon us, and in less than an hour from the time she had sighted us, -those of our number left on the 'Venture,' and those of us who had -manned the English brig were all prisoners together and in irons in her -hold.” - -“Bless my stars! were you really?” exclaimed Flutters, quite unprepared -for this turn of affairs. - -“Yes, Flutters, sixty-five of us, and on our way to the old prison-ship, -yonder.” - -“How many did you say?” asked Hazel. She had been thinking she must -teach Flutters not to say “Bless my stars!” and things like that, and so -her attention had wandered for a moment. - -“Sixty-five, and in less than five months we were reduced to -thirty-five.” - -“Did thirty die?” she asked, incredulously. - -“Yes, thirty did die,” interrupted Starlight, setting his lips firmly, -for he knew what he was talking about, “and you old English as good as -murdered them.” - -“Starlight, don't you dare to speak like that to me,” was Hazel's quick -retort, while the blood flashed hotly into her face. Flutters gazed at -her with astonishment. Perhaps, thought he, it will not always be an -easy matter, after all, for even the most faithful of body-servants to -please such a spirited little mistress. - -“Good for you, Hazel,” laughed Harry; “I would not stand such incivility -either, if I were you; but then I must tell you one thing, not all -English hearts are as kind as yours and Josephine's. If they were, the -old 'Jersey' would not have so sorrowful a tale to tell.” Harry paused -a moment. Starlight and Hazel were feeling a trifle uncomfortable. They -could not resist the temptation to give each other a little home-thrust -now and then on the score of their political differences: The result, as -a rule, was a half-acknowledged admiration for each other's patriotism, -and an extra touch of mutual consideration in word and manner for the -time being. - -“Flutters,” said Hazel, solemnly, perhaps by way of disposing of the -pause that seemed to reflect somewhat upon the conduct of herself and -Starlight, “Flutters, _what_ are _you?_” Flutters looked down at his -queer little Dutch outfit, and then up at Hazel, with a smile, which -said as plainly as words, “I give it up.” - -“I mean,” continued Hazel, “who do you side with? Are you a stanch -little Loyalist like me? That is, do you think, as I think, that it is -very wrong to take up arms against the King?” - -Flutters was lying flat in the bottom of the boat now, his dark little -face propped between the palms of his hands, at a loss to know how -to answer. He was a trifle embarrassed by the directness of Hazel's -question. - -“I would rather side with you, Miss Hazel,” he replied, at last, “a -sight rather; but mulatto boys what has passed most of their time in a -circus don't know much 'bout those things. I'm going to hear Mr. Harry -out, and then I'll make up my mind.” - -“Very well,” Hazel replied, with chilling dignity; “please go on,” she -added, turning to Harry. - -Harry hesitated a moment, evidently trying to recall just where he had -left off. - -“You were in irons on the 'Belisarius,”' suggested Josephine, whose -thoughts, judging from the far-away look in her eyes, had been with the -poor prisoners all the while rather than with what had been going on -about her. - -“Oh, yes, there we were! and fortunately with no idea of the suffering -in store for us. Early the next morning we were led on deck. The -'Belisarius' had dropped anchor over yonder (pointing to the New York -shore), and two boats were coming toward us, for she had signalled the -'Jersey' that she had prisoners to transfer. Oh, how our hearts sank -within us as the little boats that were to carry us came nearer and -nearer, and do you wonder, children, that we dreaded to board the old -craft? Did you ever see a drearier-looking object, with never so much -as a spar or a mast to remind you of the real use of a vessel? Even her -lion figure-head had been taken away, leaving nothing but an unsightly -old hulk, and yet I believe the Englishmen who were in charge of her -thought the place, wretched as it was, too good for us. It seemed we -were not even to be treated with the consideration due to prisoners of -a war with a foreign nation. Having risen against the Mother Country, -in their eyes we were simply traitors. Hopeless and despairing we were -rowed over to the old prison, marched up the gangway ladder, ordered -down the hatchway, and then, with the brutal exclamation, -'There, rebels! there is the cage for you,' we found ourselves prisoners -in the midst of a very wretched company.” - -The story was growing pretty painful, and likely to grow still more so, -provided Harry told them _all_, as he had promised. Besides, it was -so terribly real, sitting there aboard of the “Gretchen” with the old -“Jersey” right before them. - -By way of affording a little relief from what she felt was yet to be -told, Josephine asked: “What was that canvas-covered place there in the -stern used for?” - -“Oh, that was a shelter put up for the guards on the quarterdeck. Just -below that, and reaching from the bulkhead of the quarter-deck to the -forecastle, was what they called the spar-deck, and it was there that -we were allowed to take such exercise as we could. We used to walk in -platoons facing the same way, and then all turn at once, so as to -make the most of the little space. The gun-room, right under the -quarter-deck, was where I was imprisoned, and it was a trifle more -comfortable there, if you can use that word in connection with anything -on the 'Jersey,' than the crowded place between decks where most of the -prisoners were herded together. I had fortunately been chosen second -mate on the English brig during the little while that we were masters of -it, and to that lucky fact I owed my assignment to the gun-room with the -other officers. But for that, I do not believe I should be here to-day -to tell the story. I do not see how I could have endured any more and -lived. As it was, you know, I was very ill.” - -“Yes, I know,” said Hazel, laying her hand affectionately over one of -Harry's and looking sympathetically into his face; “perhaps you had -better not say very much about that part. Josephine and I cry very easy; -don't we, Josephine?” - -“Then please don't, Harry,” urged Starlight; “I'd rather have a good -thrashing any time than see a girl cry,” recalling one occasion in -particular, when his own misconduct had moved Hazel to tears, and -she had refused for the space of one long half hour to be in any-wise -comforted. - -Flutters had not paid the least attention to this last interruption. -He was thinking that, after all, the life of a friendless little circus -performer, sorry and comfortless and forlorn as it was, might be less -full of hardship than a prisoner's. It was a very grand thing to have -one's freedom, and he had always had that--that is, he might at any time -have run away if he chose. - -“What did they give you to eat, Mr. Harry?” he asked, by way of -comparing bills of fare. - -“Little that was fit to eat, Flutters; but I can tell you exactly if -you would like to know,” and Harry drew from his pocket-book a scrap of -folded paper. “This was our list of supplies. I wrote it down the first -week on board, and knew it quite by heart all too soon. I think I could -repeat it now.” - -“Suppose you try,” and Josephine taking the paper from his hand, -Harry at once began to recite, with the satisfied air of a child that -perfectly knows its lesson: - -“On _Sunday_.--1 pound of biscuit, 1 pound of pork, and 1 pint of peas. - -“On _Monday_.--1 pound of biscuit, 1 pint of oatmeal, 2 ounces butter. - -“On _Tuesday_.--1 pound of biscuit, 2 pounds beef. - -“On _Wednesday_.--1 1/2 pounds of flour and 2 ounces suet. - -“On _Thursday_.--Same as Sunday. - -“On _Friday_.--Same as Monday. - -“On _Saturday_.--Same as Tuesday. - -“There, how is that?” he asked, “any mistakes?” - -“Not one,” answered Josephine; “but really, Harry, is that all you -received?” - -“Why,” exclaimed Flutters, “seems to me that's considerable. Circus -folks often don't fare no better than that, and don't get things so -reg'lar, either.” - -“And yet, Flutters, that is only two-thirds of the allowance of an -English seaman. However, we would have managed well enough to exist if -the things had been good in themselves or decently cooked, but all -the provisions were of so wretched a quality that many a poor 'Jersey' -prisoner died from starvation through sheer inability to eat them.” - -“Who cooked the things for you?” asked Hazel. - -“Whenever we could manage, Hazel, we cooked them ourselves. Do you see -that big derrick on the starboard side? Well, that was for taking in -water, and we each had a scanty allowance of so much and no more each -day. But, as a rule, we contrived to save a little of it with which to -do our own cooking, because only the toughest men on board could so much -as swallow the food prepared by the ship's cook. Under the forecastle, -there in the bow, hangs a great copper divided in the middle and holding -two or three hogsheads of water. In one side they cooked the meat, in -the other the peas and oatmeal--sometimes, I believe, in salt water, but -always in water so stale as to be absolutely unfit for use. So five or -six of us would club together, each contributing our portion of water -to the cooking supply, and then, by begging a little wood from the cook, -now and then, and splitting it very carefully and economically with our -knives, we could manage to keep a fire going that would soon set our -little pots boiling. It was a great day for us, I remember, when a -tangle of driftwood came bumping against the ship's side, and we were -allowed to haul it on board for our fires.” - -“It must have been very hard only now and then to have had a little -butter for the biscuit,” remarked Hazel, to whom this particular feature -of Harry's story appealed most pathetically, so very fond was her own -little ladyship of the variety and sufficiency of a well-appointed -table. - -“But the butter was not forthcoming, Hazel; they gave us rancid -sweet-oil instead, which refused to pass muster with our Yankee -palates, so that we were able to bestow a double portion upon some poor -Frenchmen, who were very grateful for it.” - -Flutters had changed his mind about the adequacy of the “Jersey's” bill -of fare, and was growing not a little indignant over Harry's narration. - -“Miss Hazel,” he said, while the color flashed through his dark skin, “I -am siding with the Yankees very fast.” - -“I do not blame you very much, Flutters; I never heard of anything like -it;” which was quite a concession for so loyal a little Red-Coat as -Hazel. - -“But, Harry,” asked Josephine, who could scarcely bear to hear of such -barbarous treatment at the hands of her own kinsmen, “do you think King -George and the English nation, generally, knew about it?” - -“No, I don't, nor do I believe they know it now; but they will some day. -It was their business to know it, Josephine, and not to leave thousands -of human beings at the mercy of a few merciless British seamen. Your own -father would scarcely credit all I could tell him of our treatment, nor -many another English officer; but it was the clear duty of some of them -to have looked into the matter.” - -“You don't mean it was my papa's duty, do you?” Hazel asked, bristling -up a little; she was not going to allow even “Cousin Harry” to utter a -word that would seem to reflect upon her father even for a moment. - -“No, of course, I don't mean anything of the kind. If I thought Captain -Boniface in any way responsible for those horrors, do you think I could -be on such friendly terms with him? No, Hazel, your father is a true, -brave man, and no one knows better than I how much he has given up in -King George's service. It was not his duty to inspect the prison-ships. -Furnishing supplies for the English troops called for every moment of -his thought and time, and taxed all his strength and energy; but there -are some men--men whom your father knows--whose names we need not -mention, who _are_ very culpable in the matter, if you know what that -means?” - -“I suppose it means very much to blame,” sighed Hazel. - -“Oh, I wish you would just go on telling about things!” urged Flutters, -beseechingly, for to him the story itself was far more interesting than -any side remarks. - -Harry remained silent a moment. Since Josephine and Hazel “cried very -easy,” he had need to be careful just where he began again. “I must not -forget to tell you,” he said, “something about 'Dame Grant,' as we -called her, for her visits to the old 'Jersey' constituted almost our -greatest blessing. She was a fat old woman, who dealt in sugar and tea, -pipes and combs, needles and pins, and a few other of the necessaries of -life. Every day or two her little boat would push out from the Brooklyn -shore, and, rowed by two boys, over she would come to the ship's side. -Those of us who were fortunate enough to have any money were then -allowed to go to the foot of the ladder and make some little purchases, -obtaining everything--so she always assured us--'at cost price.' But -sometimes I was almost sorry that I had a cent to spend. It was so -terrible to see the longing in the faces of the poor fellows who had no -money. I will say this much in our favor, however; I think there was -hardly a man among us who did not share with some one else fully half of -whatever he had bought. But suddenly the visits came to an end. One -morning the little boat put out from the shore as usual, but with no one -in it save one of the boys who used to row it, and he brought us the sad -news that the old 'Dame' had caught the fever from the hulk of the -'Jersey' and died. After that no one else was ever willing to run the -risk of contagion for the sake of the profits of our little purchases. -But one of the happiest experiences that ever came to us in those long, -dreary days, was to be allowed to become a member of the 'Working -Party.' It was composed of twenty men, and all the prisoners who had any -strength left were always eager to join it. It was the duty of these men -to wash down the upper deck and gangway, to spread the awning, and to -hoist wood, water, and other supplies on board, from the boats that came -alongside. Then, in the case of any deaths--and there were often three -or four during a single night--some of the party would be assigned the -duty of burial, and sent to the shore for that purpose, but always -closely watched by two or three guards. Strange as it may seem, this sad -duty was considered the most desirable of all. It meant setting ones -foot on dear old Mother Earth again, for, at least, a little while, and -even the mournful work in hand could not quite offset that pleasure. -Only once was I so fortunate as to be chosen, and so keen was my delight -in treading the ground again, that I actually took off my shoes for the -sake of feeling the sand fall away from my feet as we pushed along with -our sad burden. Now and then it would happen that, notwithstanding the -watchfulness of the guards, a prisoner would succeed in making his -escape when sent ashore with one of these interment parties. Near the -spot where most of the 'Jersey's' prisoners were buried was a -comfortable homestead belonging to a miller. The men used to call it the -'Old Dutchmans, and always looked toward it with a sort of veneration as -they passed, particularly as they knew that the miller's daughter was -deeply interested in us. She kept account of all the poor fellows who -were brought to the shore to be buried, and I think many of us cherished -a vain sort of hope that deliverance might possibly come through her -some day.” - -“That was strange about caring to feel the sand against your feet,” - remarked Starlight; “that is the last sort of thing you'd think a fellow -would ever really care for.” - -“Very likely; but if you ever spend even a month on shipboard you'll -find yourself longing for some of the things that you never so much as -gave a thought to while you had them. Why, when the men returned to the -'Jersey' from the shore they would take back with them as much common -turf as they could carry, and the little fragments would be greedily -sought for and inhaled with more pleasure than if they had had the -fragrance of a rose. - -“Did they pay you in any way for the work? asked flutters, still anxious -to compare experiences. - -“Not in money, of course, Flutters, but we had the privilege of going on -deck early in the morning, and were allowed to stay till sunset. All -the other prisoners were ordered down to the foul air between decks two -hours earlier, there to stay, come what would, for ten wretched hours, -with the iron gratings of the hatchways firmly fastening them in. Then -we were granted a full allowance of provisions, such as they were.” - -“Tell about when all the 'Venture's crew were at last exchanged -excepting you and Tom Burnham,” suggested Starlight, in a pause that -offered. - -“No, don't, please,” Josephine exclaimed; “we all know about that, and -it was so very dreadful. Besides, it's all right now.” - -“What,” said Flutters, eagerly, sitting bolt upright “what's that? _I_ -don't know about it.” - -“I'll tell you,” Hazel whispered, motioning him closer to her; meanwhile -Harry pointed out different parts of the ship in answer to certain -questions of Josephine's. - -“You see,” explained Hazel in a melodramatic whisper, “that Cousin Harry -was taken sick one day very suddenly, and then he had the fever so badly -that he was carried over to Blackwell's Island to die. But he didn't -die.” - -“Didn't he, really?” asked Flutters, mischievously. - -“I wouldn't joke about a thing like this, Flutters. No, he didn't die; -but while he was getting well very slowly a cartel--that's a kind of -boat--was sent from New London, with some English prisoners on board, to -exchange for the crew of the 'Venture;' but there were not quite as many -English prisoners as were needed for an exchange, so they decided they -would have to leave Cousin Harry and a friend of his, Tom Burnham, who -were sick over on the island, behind, and as soon afterward as those -two poor fellows were well enough, back they had to go again to that -dreadful old 'Jersey.' Wasn't that pretty hard?” - -“Gosh, yes,” exclaimed inelegant little Flutters, and Hazel excused the -word because the occasion seemed to demand something strong. - -“And there they stayed, Flutters, one whole year longer, till last -August, when the English had to let all their prisoners go free; but -understand, Flutters, it was just those _few_ bad men in charge of -the 'Jersey' who were so cruel. In other places we did not treat our -prisoners badly at all. Besides, it was very wicked indeed to take arms -against the King, though, of course, men like Cousin Harry thought they -were doing right.” Hazel, as usual, wound up with a defence of her own -loyalist principles. - -And so the story of Harry's hard prison life was all told, or, rather, -as much of it as was suited to his audience or was not too heartrending, -and at once the little party agreed to weigh anchor and sail quite out -of sight of the dreary old ship before opening the well-filled luncheon -baskets stowed away in the “Gretchen's” narrow hold. - -And then, of course, every one kept on the lookout for the best point -to come to anchor again; but Flutters was the first to discover a most -attractive spot on the New York side of the river, where some fine old -trees grew close to its edge, and already cast their shadows far enough -out on the water to shade the “Gretchen” from bow to stern. Thither they -sailed, quickly dropped anchor, and soon sitting down to cold tongue and -biscuits, peach jam and sponge cake, endeavored to banish all thoughts -of prisoners and prison-ships. It was not hard work, for Flutters was -funny, and Starlight and Hazel actually silly. Indeed, all of them felt -a sort of reaction from the gloomy, depressing thoughts of the last -hour, and, to my thinking, a little silliness was perfectly allowable. -After a most leisurely luncheon, Hazel and Starlight moved to the stern -of the boat. There was one important matter they had need to discuss -confidentially--the return of Flans's clothes. Hazel had not forgotten -her promise to surely bring them back to Mrs. Van Wyck the next day; -and now the next day had come, and with no better prospect of any other -equipment for Flutters. Entirely unconcerned, Flutters, growing drowsy -in the noontide stillness of the river, had stretched his lithe little -body along one of the boat cushions and fallen asleep. Josephine, after -stowing away the emptied baskets, had seated herself again with her back -against the mast. Harry had moved to a seat by her side, and they were -talking together of what filled both their hearts--their anxiety for -Captain Boniface; and Harry was doing his best to calm Josephine's -fears. He spoke most cheerily and hopefully, for he honestly did not -believe the antagonism against her father would amount to so very much; -and watching her lovely face brighten at his encouraging words, no doubt -thought how very beautiful she was. You would have thought so too could -you have seen her, with her wide-brimmed hat pushed far back on her -head, and the airiest of little breezes playing with the pretty light -hair that lay in curling wisps about her forehead. Starlight happened to -glance toward Josephine just as he and Hazel had settled the matter -they had in hand, and seemed more impressed with her beauty, as she sat -there, than ever before. - -“You don't often find a girl like your sister Josephine,” he said; -“she's lovely herself, and she's lovely to look at. Those two things -don't generally go together--in girls.” - -“What do you mean?” asked Hazel, bristling a little, as usual. - -“I mean that most lovely girls know that they're lovely, and that spoils -it. The good-natured girls are most always homely.” - -“No, of course, you're not homely, Hazel, but then you're not”--a long -pause--“so very good-natured either;” Starlight's love of mischief -having gotten the better of his discretion. - -Hazel gave him one look of indignant condemnation. Then, without a word, -she moved away, took her seat at Josephine's feet, and for the remainder -of the afternoon treated Starlight with all the studied coolness -offended dignity could muster. - -About four o'clock the “Gretchen” again weighed anchor and steered out -into the river, homeward bound. It had been arranged that she should -touch at the foot of Beekman Street, and that Starlight should leave them -there, so as to stop at Mrs. Van Wyck's and see what could be done about -Flutters's clothes, or rather Hans's; and from there he would no doubt -be able to beg a ride out to the Bonifaces'. “Good-bye, Hazel,” he -called back, as he bounded on to the little wharf. Hazel vouchsafed no -answer. Josephine wondered what was up, and so did Harry, but were wise -enough not to ask any questions. Flutters was not so wise. “Miss Hazel, -did you hear Starlight call good-bye?” he queried. - -“I'm not deaf, Flutters.” - -“Then why didn't you answer?” with innocent directness. - -“I had my own good reasons. And, Flutters, _you_ must not ever ask _me -why_ I do things.” - -“All right, Miss Hazel,” Flutters answered cheerily, for her word was -law to him; but Josephine and Harry found it difficult to conceal a -smile. - -It proved rather a tedious sail homeward, for the wind that had blown -them so finely down river in the morning had not been so accommodating -as to change its direction, and only by dint of much “tacking” was any -headway to be made. At last, however, the Boniface homestead came in -sight, and in the stillness of the twilight the “Gretchen” was safely -moored to her own little dock. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII.--A CALL ON COLONEL HAMILTON. - - -[Illustration: 9075] - -OOD-BYE, Hazel,” - -“Good-bye, Starlight,” - -“Good-bye, Josephine,” - -“Good-bye, Cousin Harry,” - -“Good-bye, Flutters.” Quite a medley of good-byes, to be sure, but no -more than were needed, for Harry and Starlight, once more aboard of the -“Gretchen,” were fast gliding out on to the river, and Josephine and -Hazel and Flutters were being left behind on the wharf. The little -prison-ship party had had their supper, and now Harry and Starlight were -off for Paulus Hook; it was high time, too, that they were, since they -had already been absent a day longer than Harry had planned, and Aunt -Frances would naturally begin to feel worried. Little Flutters cut a -queer figure as he stood there on the boating dock in the moonlight. -Hans Van Wyck's clothes, done up in a snug bundle, were already on their -way back to their lawful owner, so that he had need to resort once more -to the spangles and tinsel of his circus costume. By way of making up -for insufficient clothing, Mrs. Boniface had thrown a shawl about him, -one end of which Flutters allowed to trail behind, pinning the other -close about his throat, with one corner thrown over his left shoulder. - -“We must do something about some clothes for you, Flutters, right away,” - Hazel remarked, as they turned to walk up from the wharf, when, amid -the darkening shadows of the river, the “Gretchen's” sail was no longer -visible. “Starlight and I _hoped_ Mrs. Van Wyck would offer to _give_ -us that suit of Hans's to keep when he stopped to see her this afternoon -and told her about you, but she did not propose anything of the kind. -She only said 'it was very inconvenient for Hans not to have them, and -she hoped we'd manage to get them back to-night.'” - -“And you have managed, haven't you, Miss Hazel?” Flutters answered, as -if the managing were a matter to be proud of; and, mimicking a sort -of stage stride such as he had often witnessed in tragical circus -pantomimes, he apparently bestowed far more attention on the sweep of -his majestic train than on what Hazel was saying. - -“Yes, of course, I sent them back; what else could I do?”--this last -rather impatiently, because of Flutters's exasperating unconcern __“but -how are you going to manage without them is what I'd like to know.”.. - -Flutters gave Hazel a comical little look. “With tights and shawls, I -s'pose, Miss Hazel, unless the Captain felt like as he could buy some -for me.” - -“No,” said Hazel decidedly; “I am not going to bother father 'bout -things like that, 'specially now when he's so worried and his life's in -danger.” - -This remark brought Flutters to a stand. “Is the Captain's life -in danger, really, Miss Hazel?” - -“Yes, it is. Josephine said he received a very angry letter the other -night from some old friends of his. They as much as told him that he -must go away, and that his life wasn't safe here; and lots of people are -going, Flutters; people who, like father, have sided with King George.” - -“Where are they going, Miss Hazel?” - -“To England, most of them.” - -“And will the Captain go?” - -“No, Josephine thinks not. You see he built this house, Flutters, and -he loves it, and he loves this country, too. Josephine says she believes -he'll just stay, and try and live the angry feeling down.” - -“Miss Hazel,”.said Flutters, stopping to gather the trailing shawl over -one arm, for he was ready now to give his whole mind to the matter in -hand, “it's a very puzzling thing 'bout me. When Mr. Harry was telling -those sad things of the prison-ship, I thought I was a Whig, and now -when you are talking 'bout the Captain, it seems as though I was a--a -what do you call it?” - -“A Loyalist, Flutters?” - -“Yes, a Loyalist; but I reckon folks what has friends on both sides, had -better not be anything particular.” - -“Perhaps that would be best,” Hazel replied, smiling in spite of -herself. - -“Miss Hazel,” Flutters said, after a little pause, stopping and looking -round him somewhat cautiously, as though he feared his question might -be overheard, “did Starlight hear of any 'quiries for me, when he was in -the city this afternoon?” - -Hazel nodded “Yes” in a most mysterious manner. - -“There's no danger of their 'quiring round here, do you think?” and -Hazel saw the involuntary little tremble shoot through Flutters's frame. - -“No, indeed, Flutters, and we wouldn't give you up if they did. Mrs. Van -Wyck told Starlight that a forlorn old man, who belonged to the circus, -stopped at her gate and asked if she'd seen anything of a little mulatto -boy what had deserted from the troupe, or knowed anything about him, and -Mrs. Van Wyck said, 'Lor', no!' never dreaming that her very own little -Hans's clothes were on that same little boy that very moment.” - -“That must have been good old Bobbin,” answered Flutters, fairly -chuckling over the thought of the entire success of his escape. - -“Miss Hazel,” he added, after a moment's thoughtful meditation, “I've -been thinking how I might earn the money for my clothes by doing a -little tumbling for folks round here, only I'm so awfully afraid of -being heard of by the circus people.” - -The suggestion instantly flashed a new scheme through Hazel's mind. - -“Flutters,” she said, very slowly and seriously, “I've--thought--of -something. Yes, it's the very thing. I'm going to town tomorrow, to see -Colonel Hamilton about an important matter, and I'll make all the -'rangements.” - -“'Rangements 'bout the clothes, Miss Hazel?” - -“Yes, 'rangements 'bout everything; but, hush! 'cause nobody else must -know about it.” They had reached the porch where Mrs. Boniface was -sitting, and Josephine was close behind them, which was the occasion -for Hazel's “Hush” and so little Flutters tumbled into bed half an hour -later, still in ignorance as to what the scheme of his “little Mistress” - might be, but with perfect confidence in her ability to make any -arrangements under the sun. - -***** - -Joe Ainsworth found his little friend waiting in the sunshine the next -morning, and, almost without intimation from him, the leaders came to a -standstill, and Hazel mounted to her seat beside him. “Business in -town?” ventured Joe. - -“Colonel Hamilton's, please,” all intent on getting comfortably seated. - -“Oh!” exclaimed Joe, with elevated eyebrows, “haven't fixed that matter -up yet, eh?” - -“Not yet. I haven't had time to see to it until to-day.” - -“Haven't had time,” said Joe, with a significant smile. - -“No, I haven't, really. Yesterday I had to go on a sailing party and the -day before to the circus.” - -“My lands, Miss Hazel! I guess if you had to drive this Albany coach -every day of your life, week in and week out, and was ever able to take -so much as a day off for a circus or a sailing party, you would call -that having lots of time. I would, I can tell ye.” - -“Well, then, perhaps it was because I couldn't do both things, Joe, so I -chose the sailing party and the circus.” - -“I don't blame you, Miss Hazel. Besides, there can't be anything very -pleasant for such a loyal little Red-Coat as you to look forward to, in -calling on our American Colonel.” - -“I'm not afraid of any American Colonel,” with the air of a grand -duchess. - -“No, of course not, Miss Hazel, but I'd have a care to that little -tongue of yours.” - -Hazel did not answer. She would not have allowed many people to offer -that unsolicited advice without some sort of a rejoinder, but she had -always a most kindly side toward Joe Ainsworth, not entirely accounted -for, either, by the fact of the free rides. - -For some reason or other the coach horses kept up a good pace that -morning, and it was not long before they came to a halt at Hazel's -destination. - -Colonel Hamilton's law office was in just such another wide-porched -double house as the Starlight homestead; and, like it, had been vacated -by its rightful owner during the progress of the war, and so had shared -the similar fate of being immediately claimed by the English. They -were most comfortable-looking dwellings, those old colonial homesteads, -cheery and clean without, in their buff coats of paint lined off with -generous bands of white, and most hospitable within, with their wide -halls running from front to back straight through them. It seemed a -shame that such a homelike place should ever be converted into a mere -bevy of offices, but, after all, that is but one of many desecrations -that follow closely in the train of wretched war. The very sight of the -house, and the evident misuse to which it had been put, stirred Hazel's -indignation. She did not know who had lived there, but she felt very -sorry for them all the same. - -It chanced to be her good fortune to find Colonel Alexander Hamilton -alone in his office, something that did not often happen in the -experience of that great man, and it was also perhaps her good fortune -to be altogether unconscious of how truly great he was, else she might -not have marched so boldly into his presence and told her story in such -a frank and fearless manner. Yet, who knows, there are big and little -women the world over, who will stop at nothing, and know neither fear -nor shrinking where a friend's interests are concerned, especially such -a brave, true friend as Starlight had always proved himself to be. - -Colonel Hamilton allowed Hazel to make her statement without -interruption, save to ask some lawyer-like question now and then, when, -in her childish eagerness, she had failed to put the facts quite clearly; -but, notwithstanding her eagerness and the importance of her errand, -she took time to note that he was “a lovely-looking gentleman,” and to -draw a little sigh of regret that so fine a man should not have been a -Tory like herself. When at last she had cleared her mind of all she had -to say, she folded her little hands together in her lap, and scanning -his handsome face closely, waited for his answer. - -But Colonel Hamilton did not answer. With his elbows resting on the arms -of his office chair he sat for a few seconds gazing down at his hands, -the fingers of which, with thumb pressing thumb, were clasped in -meditative fashion before him. Hazel gazed at them too. She thought they -were very nice hands, and noticed how fine were the linen frills falling -over them from the circle of the tight-fitting, broadcloth sleeve. She -was not at all concerned that he did not hasten to reply. She had heard -that lawyers gave a great deal of thought to “things,” and she would not -hurry him. Meanwhile she sought the arms of the chair in which she was -sitting as a support for her own elbows, and endeavored to lock her own -little hands together in imitation of his--so will the feminine mind -occupy itself with veriest trifles even on the verge of most decisive -transactions. But the chair-arms were too wide apart and the child-arms -too short by far to successfully accomplish the imitation. Colonel -Hamilton noted the attempt and smiled. “My little friend,” he said at -last, “I'm thinking I am the very last man you should have come to about -all this. How did you happen to appeal to me?” - -“Because, sir (Hazel grew a little embarrassed)--because sir, as I told -Joe Ainsworth, who drives the Albany coach, _you_ were the gentleman who -talked the court into deciding the case against Miss Avery and in favor -of Captain Wadsworth.” - -“And how did you learn that?” - -“Oh, I have heard my father talk about it; I am his little daughter -Hazel.” - -“Naturally, but who may your father be?” - -“Captain Hugh Boniface, of his Majesty's service,” with no little -dignity. - -“Indeed!” exclaimed the Colonel, with surprise, “and what did your -father say?” - -“He did not think you were right about it, Colonel Hamilton, but he -said you were smart enough and handsome enough to make a jury believe -anything you wanted to.” Hazel did not know why the Colonel walked over -to the window and looked out for a moment, but one might surmise that it -was simply to conceal a very broad smile. - -“That is rather doubtful praise, Miss Hazel,” he said, coming back -again, “but I can tell you one thing, I certainly would not try to make -a jury believe anything that I did not believe myself.” - -“No, of course not,” Hazel answered warmly, “only I thought you could -not have understood about things. That is the reason I have come to ask -you to change your mind.” - -“But, unfortunately, lawyers' minds when once made up cannot be changed -very easily, and I am sorry for that, for there is nothing I would -rather do than be of service to you and your little friend with the -pretty name--what do you call him? Starlight? You see, the bother is, -I honestly think the English have a right to dispose of Miss Avery's -house, for they did not take it from her nor compel her to leave it. She -left it of her own accord, now more than two years ago, and entirely -unprotected. Now I do not see why she should expect to come back to it -and turn out its present occupant just when she chances to see fit, and -the court agrees with me in this. - -“But doesn't it seem too bad for a lot of great, strong men to side -against a lovely lady like Miss Frances Avery?” and Hazel gave a very -deep sigh. - -“Yes, in one way it does, Miss Hazel,” said Colonel Hamilton kindly, -“and the great strong men felt very sorry for her. Unfortunately hers -proved to be a sort of test case. There are scores of other people who -want to come back and turn people out of the homes where they have been -living, some of them for the last six or seven years--indeed ever since -New York fell into the hands of the British, and now the court has -decided that they ought not to be allowed to come, and that under these -circumstances, 'possession is not only nine points of the law,' but ten. - -“I do not quite understand what you mean about the points of the law,” - said Hazel, frankly; “but I do not think about it as you do at all,” - and, in fact, there were many people in those days, and many, too, in -these, who could make Hazel's words their own, never having been able to -comprehend how it was that the great lawyer took the stand he did. - -“Besides, it is queer,” Hazel added, after a moments cogitation, -“that such a Whig as you are, Colonel Hamilton, should have sided with -the Tories.” - -“Not a whit more queer, it strikes me,” laughed the Colonel, “than that -a stanch little Loyalist like yourself should be pleading so warmly for -the Whigs.” - -“But if your best friend _was_ a Whig and you felt sorry for him?” - pleaded Hazel, in extenuation. - -“Well to be sure, that does put matters in a different light; but truly, -I do not see what you are going to be able to do about it. If Miss Avery -can fix matters up with Captain Wadsworth, all well and good, and--” - -“No, she can never do that,” interrupted Hazel, decidedly. “I have seen -Captain Wadsworth myself. He looks like a kind man, but he isn't. He -told me to come to you about it; but it seems there's no use going to -anybody, and I guess Miss Avery and Starlight will just have to live -and die over at Paulus Hook, and never have a home of their own -again--never!” - -It must be confessed that Hazel's efforts in behalf of the Starlight -homestead had apparently met with no success whatever. But she had done -what she could, _all_ she could, indeed, and there was some comfort in -that, at least so she thought, as she walked slowly away from Colonel -Hamilton's office. She paused in a meditative way as she reached the -gate. “Poor little girl,” thought the Colonel, who sat watching her -from his office window, “I fancy she had an idea I could go right up -to Captain Wadsworth's and turn them all out if I wished to, and half -believed I would do it. As it is, I will speak to the Captain. Perhaps -he might be able to make some sort of a compromise with Miss Avery.” - -***** - -So after all Hazel had at least succeeded in making a friend of the -Colonel, and of Captain Wadsworth, too, for that matter, and it was not -altogether improbable that something might result from this state of -affairs, though she herself little dreamed it. But Hazel had had a -double purpose in coming into the city that morning, and did not stand -there at the Colonel's gate because, as the Colonel thought, she was the -most sorrowful and hopeless of little suppliants, but because she was -trying to decide just what she had better do next. - -“Better do next?” was the question that always confronted that restless -and active little woman whenever the completion of any one plan left her -free to launch upon another. If the little plan had utterly failed, that -did not matter. It was her life to be busy about something, though the -something might be of no more importance than the making of a doll's -dress or the mending of a toy teacup. But now the something to be done -was important, and having made up her mind what to do, she suddenly -started off at a brisk little pace that would have surprised the -sympathetic Colonel could he have seen behind the boxwood hedge that -grew close up to the gate on either side. - -So great indeed was the change in her bearing, he might with reason have -suspected her of a little “old soldiering” while in his office. - -Hazel's destination was the Starlight homestead, and the man she wanted -to see was Sergeant Bellows. She “Do you remember?” found him seated -alone on a bench under a tree in the front garden, and this suited her -exactly, for her interview had need to be a private one. The old -Sergeant was cleaning some sword-handles, but was glad enough to have -his work interrupted by the unexpected arrival of his little friend, and -made room for her on the bench beside him. - -[Illustration: 8083] - -“Do you remember?” Hazel at once began, without waiting to command -sufficient breath, “that the last time--I was here--you asked--if there -was anything--an old sergeant could do for me?” - -“Yes, I remember, Miss Hazel.” - -“And do you think the other men meant what they said when they asked if -there was anything they could do for me?” - -“Yes, I'll wager they did.” - -“Well, now, there is something, Sergeant Bellows, a real important -something, and this is it,” and straightway Hazel's voice subsided into -such a confidential whisper, that even the Sergeant lost a word now and -then, but he smiled and nodded assent all the while, to Hazel's great -delight. - -As for us, it is needless to bother our heads with all she told him, -particularly as we shall see what came of it in the very next chapter. - - - - -CHAPTER IX.--FLUTTERS HAS A BENEFIT. - - -[Illustration: 9085] - -HE warm and hazy September days were over. The first of October had come -in by the calendar, but although its sun had not yet peeped over the -horizon, there were unmistakable signs in the east which heralded its -coming. As for Hazel, she was up “with the lark,” as the saying goes, -and with good reason, too, for never did any mere little feathered -songstress have as much in hand as had she for that first day of -October, and it _all_ depended upon the weather. - -What wonder, then, with so much on her mind, that the first ray of -daylight succeeded in shimmering in beneath the long lashes of her eyes, -first setting their lid a-tremble and then prying them open, so that -their little owner soon found herself wide awake, and that the eventful -day had dawned. But what sort of a day was it going to be, that was the -all-important question. Hazel threw open the shutters of her window. The -vine that crept along its sill was dripping wet--could it be raining? -She stretched out a little brown hand that was all of a tremble with -excitement, to test if rain were really falling. No, not a drop. It was -dew on the vines, of course; how foolish not to have thought of that! -But what made the sky so gray? Was it cloudy? Then she tripped over to -the clock. Why, so early as that! Then perhaps the sun was not up yet. -No, come to look again, of course it wasn't, it was just daylight. - -Having reached this conclusion, Hazel, wisely slipping into a flannel -wrapper and a pair of bedroom slippers, sat down to wait the rising of -that very lazy sun, and soon he came. She watched till he was full above -the horizon, then assuring herself that there were no threatening clouds -anywhere, crept back into bed, wrapper, slippers, and all, with a mind -quite at ease, and in just the sort of a mood for the most refreshing of -little morning naps. - -One, two, one, two, Company F was marking time preparatory to marching -on again, and Sergeant Bellows was in command. - -It was two o'clock now, and the sun, for whose dawning Hazel had watched -so eagerly, was well on his journey, and shining down on the burnished -flint-locks and scarlet coats of Company F, coats which looked bravely -in the morning sunlight, notwithstanding many a stain and mark of active -service. But not for any skirmishing with their enemies were those -English soldiers under marching orders, for never again were they to -wage battle with the colonists on American soil. It was now nearly two -years since the great battle of Yorktown, when the British soldiers had -laid down their arms, and Lord Cornwallis's sword had been surrendered -to General Washington, and it would not be long before the whole army, -under command of Sir Guy Carleton, would go sailing homeward down the -harbor, and not a British roll-call, nor a soldier answering to -it, would be heard anywhere in the land. But, somehow or other, -notwithstanding all this, Company F, of His Majesty's service, did not -look very crestfallen, as they stood there marking time, until a great -overhanging load of hay should leave the road clear ahead of them. They -had had plenty of time to get used to the thought of not having beaten -the Yankees; in fact, some of them went so far as to openly express -their honest admiration for the plucky, desperate fashion in which those -some poorly equipped Yankees had fought, and did not begrudge them their -hard-earned victory. Then in seven weeks more they were to turn their -faces toward home and England; toward England, which some of them had -not seen for eight long years; toward home, where little children had -outgrown their childhood, where dear wife faces had grown worn with -waiting, and where white-haired mothers, wearied with watching, had -perhaps been laid at rest in the little village churchyards. But, come -weal or woe, they were soon going home; you could see their faces daily -grow brighter with the thought, and happening this morning to have a -most novel entertainment in prospect, what wonder that almost every one -wore an amused smile, and that every eye twinkled merrily. The clumsy -hay-load slowly moved out of the way, and then came the order, “For'ard, -march!” from Sergeant Bellows, and off they went, with even swing up -Broadway, turning off at the Albany coach road, and then on out into the -country. “Halt!” called Sergeant Bellows at last, and Company F halted -right in front of Captain Boniface's cottage. It could not have been -that they were not expected, for Hazel, with beaming smile, stood -holding the gate wide open, and the men filed in and took their seats in -chairs which had evidently been placed in rows in the garden for them. -The chairs fronted the porch, and were grouped in semicircular shape -about the wide steps leading up to it, at the top of which a curtain -(for which two blanket shawls had been made to do duty) hung suspended, -the cord that held it being fastened to the fluted column at either end. -That the shawls were of widely differing plaids, and at great variance -in the matter of color, only added to the generally fantastic effect. -Without doubt there was going to be some sort of a performance, and it -was easy now to guess that Hazel's “'rangements” had been in the line of -preparation for it, and easy now to understand why her little ladyship -had been up with the lark, to ascertain, if possible, what sort of a day -it was going to be. Somehow or other I should not in the least wonder if -the “Old Man of the Weather” loves to have a little child place implicit -trust in him now and then'; surely he does, if he is at all like some of -the rest of us whom you little folks call old. At any rate the weather -not only favored Hazel's project, but seemed just to give itself up to -making everything comfortable for everybody. The sun saw to it that the -old house cast a broad square shadow in front of it that was more than -large enough to cover the space where the men were seated, and the wind -saw to it that a sufficiently strong little breeze was blowing to temper -the early afternoon sunshine, and everything conspired to make it a -perfect October day, a sort of good example, as it were, for the thirty -other October days that were to follow it. - -At last it was time for that mysterious many-colored curtain to be -drawn aside, and certain vigorous jerkings of the shawls showed that an -attempt was being made in that direction. What did it matter to Company -F if it did not work with all the smoothness to be desired, since it -finally disclosed to them as fair a little specimen of humanity as the -eyes of most of them had ever rested upon. In the centre of the stage, -or rather of that portion of the porch which had been divided off for -it, sat Hazel's little sister in an old-fashioned high-back chair, her -pretty slippered feet reaching but a little way over its edge, and her -little dimpled hands folded in her lap in most complacent fashion. She -wore a short-waisted, quaint little white dress, barely short enough to -show the prettily slippered feet. - -Not at all dismayed was little Kate at the sight of so many soldiers -seated there in such formal array before her. What was every beautiful -Red Coat but another embodiment of her own dear papa; and not in the -least alarmed was she by the loud applause which the mere sight of her -elicited from admiring Company F. She turned her pretty head on one side -and then on the other, her little face wreathed in smiles, and seeming -to say in silent baby-fashion, “Thank you, gentlemen.” Not that she -could not talk. No, indeed, do not think that for a moment; her baby -tongue could move with all the insistent chatter of a little English -sparrow; but the right time had not come yet. As soon as the applause -had somewhat abated, Hazel herself appeared on the scene, arrayed in -a jaunty little riding-habit, and with cheeks aglow with excitement, -looking prettier, perhaps, than ever before in her life. As was to be -expected, her appearance was the cause for renewed applause; but finally -all was quiet, and she stepped forward to deliver a little speech which -had been carefully thought over. She had insisted upon wearing her -riding-habit, because, as she had told her mother, she was to be a sort -of showman. Of course she did not want to wear boys' clothes, but the -riding-habit seemed sort of a go-between, “and more like the thing -a lady who managed a private circus would wear.” So Mrs. Boniface -consented, and Josephine, in helping Hazel to dress, had added an extra -touch or two. Her habit was made of gray cloth, with a long, full skirt -that came within a foot of the ground when Hazel was on her pony; but -in order that she should be able to move about the platform as freely as -was necessary, Josephine had caught the skirt up on one side, fastening -it with two or three brilliant red chrysanthemums, and pinning a bunch -of the same bright flowers against her waist. On her head she wore a -black velvet jockey cap which had been sent her by her grandpa from -England, and which completed the jauntiness of her costume. - -[Illustration: 0090] - -“Members of Company F,” Hazel began, holding her riding-whip in both -hands before her, “I wish to thank you for coming here this afternoon, -and to tell you that I hope you will feel repaid for your long march out -from the city.” - -“No doubt about that, Miss Hazel,” Sergeant Bellows called out, -heartily.. - -“Thank you, Sergeant;” but Hazel's manner was somewhat stiff, as though -she preferred that more formality should be observed. “But before -commencing our performance,” she continued, “I must ask you to bear -in mind that it is not an easy thing to get up a regular circus in a -private family, 'specially at such very short notice. There was no time -to teach anything new, even to the baby, who learns very easily, and it -was just by good luck that Prince and Kate and Delta knew some little -tricks already. As for Flutters, it will not take you long to discover -that _his_ part of the performance needs no apology.” - -Hazel concluded her little speech with a graceful bow, and, turning -toward Kate, who still sat smiling, announced: “I have now the pleasure, -gentlemen, of introducing to you Miss Kate Boniface, as fine a little -three-year-old as ever was reared in Westchester County. Miss Kate is -quite a favorite with the management, being, what we consider, a most -gifted little lady. She has an original little dance of her own, one -little song, and one little piece, which she speaks with dramatic -effect.” - -“Which s'all I do first, Hazel?” asked Kate, in a most audible whisper, -when she saw that it was time for her to commence. - -“Why, the dance of course, child,” Hazel answered, forgetting their -relations of manager and artiste. - -“But where's de music?” - -Sure enough, where was the music? “Job,” called Hazel, blushing up to -the roots of her hair with embarrassment, “we are waiting for you.” - -“Coming, Mrs. Manager,” came the answer, and a moment later Starlight -bounded through the green boughs, which had been arranged at the back of -the scene, violin in hand, and in a costume befitting the clown of -the performance. His resemblance to the real article was truly quite -remarkable, for Cousin Harry had taken a great deal of interest in his -“make-up,” and the result was a face as white, with cheeks as red and -eyebrows as high, black, and arching, as were ever attained by Mr. John -Dreyfus, the English clown of world-renowned reputation. Starlight was -able to play half-a-dozen tunes on an old violin which had belonged to -his grandfather, and this formed a most attractive and most important -feature of the Boniface circus. Otherwise Company F would have been -obliged to forego little Kate's dancing, than which nothing was ever -daintier or prettier. But not an inch would her little ladyship move -from her chair till Starlight had gone through a series of scrapings -called “tuning up,” and a merry little dancing tune was well under way. -Then she jumped down, and running to the front of the platform made the -most bewitching of conventional little bows, pressing the fingers of -both hands to her lips, as if generously to throw the sweetest of kisses -broadcast. It was very evident, then, to the Red Coats--Miss Hazel to -the contrary that there had been time enough to teach little Kate one -new trick at any rate; but the glancing itself was a matter of Kate's -own creation, and of a sort that baffles description. - -[Illustration: 0092] - -She had never seen any one dance, no one had taught her, but as -naturally as a little duck takes to the water, had her little feet -taken to dancing on that evening when, for the first time, Starlight -had brought his violin to the Bonifaces'. For fully ten minutes, to -the great delight of Company F, little Kate kept time in a variety of -intricate and pretty little motions to the rhythm of the old violin a -sort of dancing in which slow and graceful gestures of dimpled arms and -hands played almost as important part as the little feet themselves. -Indeed, the whole proceeding was a deliberate one, owing to an inability -on Starlight's part to play any faster; but to my thinking “The dancing -was a matter of Kate's own creation;” all the prettier for that, and far -more becoming to such a dignified little maiden. - -As for Company F, it would have liked nothing better than a whole -half-hour of dancing; but “Mrs. Manager” wisely protested, and after -the little song had been rendered with “violin accompaniment,” and the -little piece spoken “with dramatic effect,” Miss Kate Boniface tripped -from the stage 'midst hearty peals of applause, and Mrs. Manager, as -Starlight had called Hazel, came once more to the front. - -“I shall now have the pleasure of acquainting you, gentlemen,” she said, -with all the superiority of a veritable showman, “with my own little -thoroughbred, one of the most knowing and accomplished of Shetland -ponies. Mr. Lightfoot, will you have the kindness to bring Miss Gladys -into the ring?” whereupon Starlight, otherwise Mr. Lightfoot, led -the pony on to the stage, or, I should say, “into the ring,” as Hazel -preferred to regard it from a strictly professional point of view. -Gladys had been groomed by Starlight and Flutters to within an inch -of her life, in preparation for the occasion, and, indeed, she sorely -needed it. The fact was that she had been turned out for the last two -months owing to an unfortunate gall on her back which had refused to -heal under the saddle; so, while her mistress had been dependent upon -Albany coaches for such excursions as she wished to take into the city, -Miss Gladys had been kicking up her heels and running races with herself -in the most inviting of clover fields. Only yesterday had she been -enjoying all this freedom, with burrs in her tail and burrs in her mane, -and with never so much as a halter, and here she was to-day tricked -out in blue ribbons, with her coat smoothed down to look as silky as -possible, and with her four pretty little hoofs oiled up to a state of -shiny blackness, but without the sign of shoe on any one of them. There -had been no time, indeed, to have Miss Gladys shod, nor was there any -need of it, as, after today's performance, back she was to go again, for -at least another month more, to all the wild dissipation of pony life -in a clover field. Of course she was astonished at the sight of the -soldiers, but she had been rehearsing with Starlight and Hazel for a -whole hour that morning in that sort of “box stall” which formed the -scene of the circus, and so, being somewhat familiar with the place, -contented herself with an occasional pricking-up of her black-pointed -ears, which only gave her a more spirited look, and, on the whole, was -extremely becoming. - -“Now, Miss Gladys,” said Hazel, when she had-succeeded in getting her -posed to her liking, “I would like you to answer a few questions, and -for each correct answer you shall have a beautiful lump of white sugar. -Mr. Lightfoot, have you the sugar ready?” - -“Yes, Mrs. Manager,” answered Starlight, who, in his capacity of clown, -was endeavoring all the while to keep up a funny sort of byplay, and -sometimes succeeding; “yes, Mrs. Manager, the sugar is all ready. I have -placed, as you perceive, five lumps upon either extended palm, and would -like to make this arrangement, that when the pony makes a mistake I may -be allowed to eat the sugar.” - -“Very well, Mr. Lightfoot, I am quite agreeable to the arrangement; -but, if I am not mistaken, the pony thinks you are likely to fare rather -poorly; how about that, Miss Gladys? Do you intend that Mr. Lightfoot -shall enjoy more than one of those lumps of sugar?” Hazel stood leaning -against the pony's side, lightly swinging her riding-whip in apparently -aimless fashion in her left hand, but in answer to her question, Miss -Gladys shook her pretty head from side to side with as decided an -assertion in the negative as though she had been able to voice an -audible “No.” - -“There! what did I tell you, Mr. Lightfoot?” - -“Why! did Miss Gladys answer? I didn't hear her.” - -“Of course you did not hear her. She answered by shaking her head. -Ponies can't talk.” - -“What! can't Miss Gladys say a word?” - -“No, certainly not.” - -“Not even neigh?” - -“That's a _very_ bad pun, Mr. Lightfoot. Don't you think so, Miss -Gladys?” Up and down went the pony's head in ready assent. - -“Two questions answered with remarkable judgment. Now, two lumps of -sugar, if you please, Mr. Lightfoot.” - -Gladys eagerly ate the sugar from Hazel's gloved hand (for sugar was one -of the few creature delights a clover field failed to offer, that is, -in any form more concrete than the sweetness of a withered clover head), -and looked as though perfectly willing to continue the process for an -almost indefinite period. Indeed, for a long time Hazel continued to ply -her with questions of great moment to Company F, such as, “Is Sergeant -Bellows the best sergeant in his regiment?” - -“Is 'Company F' the finest company?” and so on, to all of which Miss -Gladys gave only the most complimentary of answers. Just when this part -of the performance was coming to a close, Mr. Lightfoot stepped up to -the pony, and said, in beseeching fashion, “Look here, Miss Gladys, -on the whole, you think I'm a pretty good sort of a fellow, now, don't -you?” The pony looked at Starlight a moment, and then shook her -head, “Yes,” in a most decided manner. “That's a darling,” Starlight -exclaimed, swinging himself on to Gladys's back, in compliance with an -order received from Hazel, and with his head resting on her mane and -his arms clasped round her prettily-arched neck, rode off the stage. The -soldiers, of course, were at first considerably astonished at the pony's -intelligent answers, but it did not take most of them long to discover -that the shakings of Miss Gladys's head were in every case controlled by -a touch of Hazel's whip. A gentle application of the lash on the right -foreleg for yes and the same motion on the left one for no. Hazel -had tried to conceal this little motion as best she could, but it was -naturally not an easy matter, and when Miss Gladys had been kind enough -to answer “Yes” to Mr. Lightfoot's question, it was only because Hazel's -whip was in Starlight's hand, and the pony, felt the same familiar -sensation upon her left foreleg. - -Perhaps you wonder how it was that a little country pony was so -unusually accomplished. Well, to tell the truth, Captain Boniface -deserved all the credit of it, and Hazel none at all. When Hazel herself -was but a week old that pony had been bought for her, and, as soon as -she was able to take notice of anything, Gladys used to be trotted out -daily for her inspection. And so it happened that while Captain Boniface -was waiting for his little daughter to grow large enough to ride her, -he used to amuse himself, and Hazel as well, by endeavoring to teach the -pony a few knowing tricks. They had required a world of patience, and -with none of them had he been so successful as with what he called the -“pony shake,” and which just had been exhibited to so much advantage. - -“That Miss Hazel's a cute un,” said one of the soldiers, in the little -intermission that followed the exit of the pony. - -“Cute's no name for it,” answered Sergeant Bellows. - -“She reminds me of my own little girl at home, whom I haven't seen in a -five-year,” said the other, while a little mistiness betrayed itself in -his soldier eyes. - -“She may mind ye of her,” answered the Sergeant, not unkindly, “but -there isn't a child anywhere, I'm thinking, that can hold a candle to -Miss Hazel.” You see Sergeant Bellows was an old bachelor, and without a -relative in the world whom he cared for, and perhaps that accounted in -a measure for his adoration of Hazel, though, no doubt, the little -daughter of the red-haired soldier, who-was probably red-haired too, was -just as charming in the eyes of her father as Hazel in the eyes of the -lonely old Sergeant. But further discussion as to comparative merits -was brought to an end by the reappearance of Starlight on the stage, -accompanied by his dog, Lord Nelson, who, much against his will, had -been dragged aboard of the “Gretchen” that morning, and imported from -his kennel at Paulus Hook especially for the occasion. Lord Nelson -possessed quite a varied set of accomplishments, none of them very -remarkable, however, and after Lord Nelson came Flutters! Flutters -in velvet and spangles, Flutters of The Great English Circus, and who -straightway proceeded to make the eyes of Company F open wide with -astonishment at his truly wonderful tumbling and somersaults. There was -no slipping of the little knee-cap to-day. It seemed to Flutters quite -impossible in the happy life he was leading, that knee-caps or anything -else that concerned him should ever get much out of order again. - -As may be easily imagined, the audience would not be satisfied -till Flutters had favored them with repeated encores, but when the -performance was at last concluded, there was a call for the entire -troupe, and, in response, out they came, hand-in-hand, Hazel and Kate, -Starlight and Flutters; Starlight leading Lord Nelson with the hand -that was free, and Flutters Miss Gladys. A low, smiling bow from them -all--for even Gladys and Lord Nelson were made to give a compulsory -nod--then the line retreated a foot or two, the shawl-curtain dropped -into place, and the entertainment was over. At least so thought -Company F, but it was mistaken, for no sooner had Hazel and Starlight -disappeared behind the curtain, than out they came in front of it, and -then down among the soldiers, Starlight carrying a tray full of glasses -filled with the most inviting lemonade, and Hazel following with an -old-fashioned silver cake-basket heaped high with delicious sponge cake -of Josephine's best manufacture. Then for half-an-hour they had quite -a social time of it. Captain and Mrs. Boniface, who had watched the -performance from two comfortable chairs at the rear of Company F, were -talking with some of the men; Flutters, who, for very good reasons, was -still in costume, was the centre of another little group; while Kate, -from the safe vantage point of Josephine's lap, chatted away, to the -great entertainment of old Sergeant Bellows. Suddenly the Sergeant -seemed to recall something important, for he jumped up, seized his hat, -and began passing it from one to another of the men, all of whom had, -apparently, come prepared for this feature of the entertainment. - -Hazel was greatly relieved when she saw the hat in active circulation. -She had felt afraid that the Sergeant had forgotten this part of the -programme, and did not fancy the idea of having to remind him of it. -Indeed he had come pretty near forgetting it, so absorbed had he been in -the charms of little Kate, but as a result of the collection taken up -by the Sergeant, Hazel found herself in possession of a contribution -sufficiently generous to purchase a fine little outfit for Flutters. -And so it came about that Flutters had a “benefit” and Company F an -afternoon of what they termed “rare good fun.” - - - - -CHAPTER X.--DARLING OLD AUNT FRANCES. - - -[Illustration: 9098] - -ERHAPS you think that is a queer title for a chapter. You would not -think it queer at all if you had known her, for that is exactly what she -was, and now and then it is just as well to call people by their right -names. She was not old, however, in the sense of being wrinkled and -white-haired and thin. Sometime, when somebody has been very kind to -you, and has done you a “good turn” in real reliable fashion, haven't -you just rushed up to them and exclaimed, “You dear old thing,” as -if any mere young thing would be quite incapable of such a deed of -loving-kindness? Well, in just the sense of being very kind and very -reliable, Aunt Frances was old, and in no other. To be sure, she was -nearing her fiftieth birthday, and there was a generous sprinkling of -gray hair on her temples, but the gray hair only made her face softer -and sweeter, and her heart was no older than bonny Kate's. - -Well, Aunt Frances sat knitting in a high-backed rocker on the wide step -in front of the Van Vleet's door, a step that was made from one great -unhewn stone, but whose roughnesses had been rounded down by the rains -and storms of a hundred summers and winters. On the edge of the step, -with his back against one of the large tubs of hydrangea which flanked -the wide door-step on either side, sat Harry Avery. He had been silent -for a long while. He was trying to get his courage up to say something -to Aunt Frances, something that he knew it would grieve her to hear, and -she had had so much to bear lately, he could not easily bring himself to -it. “Aunt Frances,” he said, at last, “I know you'll be sorry about it, -but I think I shall have to go away to-morrow.” - -“Why, Harry, what do you mean?” while the tears gathered as quickly in -her kind eyes as the clouds of an April shower darken an April sky, “and -besides, where will you go?” - -“Home, I suppose,” and then it would have been an easy thing for Harry, -grown fellow that he was, to have mustered a few honest tears on his own -account. - -“You see I am not willing to stay here any longer since you have to pay -my board. And then you have so little money coming in now.” - -“But the Van Vleets only allow me to pay a very small sum, and, Harry, -you are such a comfort to me. Starlight's a dear, good boy, but he is -not old enough for me to burden him with all my troubles as I do you. -Tell me this, do you want to go home?” - -“No, I do not want to go home in the least. You know what I mean. I'd -give a great deal to see father and mother and the youngsters; but -there's nothing for me to do in New London--that is, not the sort of -work that I think I am equal to, and, after leaving it the way I did, I -hate to go back empty-handed. Then, I'm sure, father would much rather -I'd find something to do in New York. He believes there is a good deal -more of a chance for a fellow here.” - -[Illustration: 0100] - -“And you have heard of nothing, Harry; nothing whatever?” Aunt Frances -let her knitting fall in her lap, and looked straight at Harry as she -spoke. There was something strange about this direct look from Aunt -Frances. It seemed to compel the exact truth from everybody, even from -Pat, the Van Vleets' hired man, who did not ordinarily hesitate in -telling an untruth if it would make things more comfortable. And so -Harry did not even succeed in making an evasive reply, as he should like -to have done, but just answered, very simply and honestly: “Yes, Aunt -Frances, I did hear of something--a clerkship in a lawyer's office--but -I decided not to take it.” - -“Decided not to take it? Why, that is the very position you said you -would like above all others!” - -“Did I say that? well, fellows are queer sometimes, aren't they?” - -“Harry Avery, there is something mysterious about all this. What was the -name of the lawyer?” - -“Oh, no matter, Auntie! The whole matter's decided. I made up my mind -not to take it, and that ends it.” - -Aunt Frances was not to be silenced in this fashion. She had a right to -search this matter out, and search it she would. “Harry,” as if she were -speaking to some little child, “Harry, look me right in the eyes, and -tell me, was it Colonel Hamilton?” - -Yes but Harry looked off at the river. He had not the sort of courage -to look Aunt Frances “right in the eyes,” as she bade him, for if there -was a man anywhere whom she had a right thoroughly to despise, surely -it was Colonel Hamilton--Colonel Hamilton, whose skilful reasoning had -deprived her of the home that was almost as dear to her as life itself. - -“Is the position still open to you?” Aunt Frances was now gazing off to -the river, and with the mark of deep thinking on her face. “If it is, -you must take it. Colonel Hamilton is a great lawyer. It is as fine -an opening as you could possibly desire. I, for one, have no notion -of standing in your light, Harry, and you must not do yourself the -injustice of standing in your own.” - -“But, Aunt Frances--” - -“No, don't interrupt me, Harry; only listen, like a good boy, and do -just as I tell you. Take the 'Gretchen' first thing in the morning, go -straight to Colonel Hamilton's office, and apply for the place. Tell -him all about yourself, and answer every question he may ask in the most -straightforward manner, but do not volunteer the information that you -are a relative of mine. It would not do you any good and it might do -harm--that is, it might incline the Colonel less kindly toward you. -Unless some one has gotten ahead of you, you will secure the place, I -am sure of it, and no one will be more glad for you than just my very -self.” - -“Aunt Frances,” said Harry, watching the needles that were again -flashing in the afternoon sunlight, “you are the dearest old trump that -ever knitted stockings for a fool of a fellow like me.” - -“If I thought this stocking was really to grace a fool's leg”--and Aunt -Frances feigned great seriousness--“not another stitch would I take; -but, begging your pardon, you would have been a fool indeed if you had -not told me about all this, although I perfectly understand that your -motives for not telling me were anything but foolish. No, Harry; somehow -I am sure it is only providential that you should have heard of this -place. Promise to try for it.” - -“I promise,” and Harry's lightened heart unconsciously betrayed itself -in voice and look. He had wanted the situation, oh! so much, more than -he would admit even to himself, but he had decided he must forego any -attempt to secure it. It would be, he thought, at too great a cost to -Aunt Frances's feelings, and he simply must not ask it. - -“Look, Harry,” she said, shading her eyes with one hand, “isn't that the -Boniface boat about a mile to the left of the point?” - -“Yes, it is,” Harry answered, merely glancing in that direction; “but -tell me one thing before I go down to the wharf: tell me, Aunt Frances, -do you think Colonel Hamilton an unprincipled man?” - -“Unprincipled! Why, Harry, do you suppose for a single moment that I -would urge you to seek a situation under him if I thought that? No, I -believe that he honestly felt that the English ought to be allowed to -keep possession of the houses that we had abandoned, and so perhaps it -was only natural that when Captain Wadsworth took his case to him, he -should bring all his eloquence, which is very great, to bear on that -side of the question. Nevertheless I confess, as that eloquence cost me -my home, I cannot but feel pretty sore about it, and would go a long way -out of my way to avoid meeting him, brave officer and brilliant lawyer -as he is.” - -Harry felt considerably relieved by this assertion, and strolled down -to the boat-landing with even more admiration for “darling old Aunt -Frances” than he had ever felt before. It was so unusual, he thought, to -find a woman who could reason fairly, independent of her heart. - -But Aunt Frances was not quite so 'independent of her heart,' -as Harry put it, as Harry and the rest of the world thought, and for the -very good reason that her heart was as big as herself. And so when Harry -had left her, what did she do but lay aside her knitting, go straight up -to her own little room in one of the gable ends of the house, shut the -door of it, and then, sitting down in a low little rocking-chair, bury -her face in her hands and cry. It had not been by any means an easy -thing for her to urge Harry to seek a position under a man who had -wrought her so much harm, but it had been her plain duty, at whatever -cost to herself, and she had done it. Now when Aunt Frances cried, it -was because that great heart of hers had had one little ache crowded -upon another little ache till it could bear no more, and then the hot -tears _must_ (there was no choice at all in the matter) be allowed -to flow for a while and ease it. But for all this, do not think for -a moment that Aunt Frances was an unhappy sort of person. Each little -experience of her life and of the lives of others had a very deep -significance for her, because she believed with all her heart that God -watches over every life and guides it, and no one who believes that -can ever be unhappy long at a time; life is to them too beautiful and -earnest. But this was the way of it with Aunt Frances: she had a great -capacity for loving, if you understand what that means, but she did not -have as much of a chance to spend that love as many another, who had not -half as much to spend. She would always be Miss Frances Avery, she felt -sure of that; yet what a tender, loving wife she could have made for -somebody! She should never have any one nearer to her than Harry and -Starlight (bless their hearts!) but oh, what a mother she might have -been with her great passionate love for little children! And so it was -that Aunt Frances trod the round of the life God had sent her, because -He had sent it, contentedly and happily, and yet it would happen now and -then that some thoughtless word or deed would almost unaccountably set -one little spot to aching, and something else would set another, till -her heart was all one great ache, and the pent-up tears must come. Aunt -Frances could always tell perfectly well when there was need to retreat -to the little room in the gable, the little room that had been hers now, -for the two years since she had fled from her own home across the river; -and while she sat there on the step with Harry she knew well enough what -she should do the moment he was gone. It was not that she did not mean -every word she said to him; it was only that somehow that little talk -had overcharged the brave heart. - -Afterward, when the Boniface's boat had touched at the dock and all the -Van Vleets were flocking out of doors to welcome them, Aunt Frances was -in their midst, with the sunshine of her presence all the brighter -for the storm of troubled feelings that had just swept over it, but -Josephine Boniface thought she saw just the faintest trace of recent -tears in Aunt Frances's eyes as she stooped to kiss her. “Dear old Aunt -Frances,” she whispered, as she put her arm about her neck, “I would -give all the world ever to be such a blessed ministering angel as you -are to everybody. - -“Why, Josephine, darling, what foolishness,” whispered Aunt Frances; but -it needed only those few sweet words to banish even the trace of tears, -and to make her thoroughly light-hearted once again. - - - - -CHAPTER XI.--THE VAN VLEETS GIVE A TEA-PARTY. - - -[Illustration: 9105] - -HE Van Vleet family was composed of seven individuals. There were Father -and Mother Van Vleet, who had been married while both were in their -teens, and their five children, Gretchen, Heide, Francesca, Pauline, and -Hans Van Vleet, who had been born in the order named in the seven years -immediately succeeding their parents' marriage. So, in point of fact, -now that they were grown, there was scarcely any perceptible difference -between this comfortable Dutch couple and their children, save that the -children were taller, which made it seem more of a joke that they -should actually belong to a father and mother who looked almost as -young themselves. All this combined to make them a united and congenial -family, and they lived in a comfortable old Dutch homestead and were -very well-to-do, owing to the well-tilled acres that stretched down to -the river in front of them and back to the ridge of the Jersey Flats -behind. But there was one minor chord in the otherwise cheery harmony -of the Van Vleet household. Pauline, the youngest sister, now about -twenty-two, was not “quite bright,” but she was serene and, as a rule, -perfectly happy, which is a deal more than can be said of many people, -be they ever so bright. There were two reasons for this serenity of -Pauline's: her own naturally placid temperament and the tender care with -which all the others watched over her. But one thing must be confessed, -they were not a patriotic family, and the blood in their veins coursed -somewhat sluggishly. They had rather hoped that the colonists would win -in the war of the Revolution, thinking, no doubt, it would be more to -their interest, yet it had never once occurred to Hans or his father to -shoulder a flintlock in place of a hoe and go and help them. They were a -good, narrow, stay-at-home family, with their thoughts moving in one and -the same channel, and with interests bounded by their own acres, their -own experiences, and those of their nearest neighbors. - -But there was one delightful feature about their neutrality: they could -be the best of friends alike with Whigs and Royalists, and were able -to invite the Bonifaces to a tea party just as cordially as they could -offer the shelter of their home to poor fugitive Aunt Frances. And a few -days before they had invited them. Kind old Mrs. Van Vleet, knowing -that these were very lonely days at best for Captain Boniface's family, -determined to do all that lay in her power to brighten them, and so a -formal invitation, written by Heide in the stiffest of little cramped -hands, was sent them. Mrs. Boniface had accepted most gladly. It meant -so much to have this evidence of true friendship at a time when many old -friends were looking askance and turning a cold shoulder. - -***** - -And now Saturday afternoon had come, the first Saturday in October, and -the Boniface boat was tacking across the river in the teeth of a bracing -west wind. They were all there, the entire household, from Captain -Boniface, at the helm, to Flutters, in his well-fitting corduroys, -seated astride of the bow. Flutters loved to be in the “front of -things” generally, but in the present instance it frequently became -necessary for him to draw his knees quickly up to his chin, being quite -too newly shod to run the risk of contact with the salt water white caps -that now and then thumped plumply against the bow. Harry Avery was at -the wharf long before the little boat touched it, and stood whittling -a brier-wood stick as he waited, and dreaming the while the happiest -dreams about the future that might open up before him if he should -secure that position with Colonel Hamilton. Somehow or other Harry felt -almost certain he could get ahead in the world if it would only give him -any sort of a chance. - -“Halloo there, Harry! a penny for your thoughts,” called Captain -Boniface, bringing his boat about and alongside of the wharf in true -sailor fashion. - -Harry jumped to his feet and blushed like a school-girl, as if he -half feared the thought of his heart could be read by them all. “It is -fortunate that I am not bound to tell them,” he answered, catching the -rope which the Captain had thrown him, and securing it to a staple. - -“No, not bound, of course, but thoughts ought to be of a pretty high -order that make you unmindful of the coming of the 'Grayling' and the -Bonifaces.” - -Harry was glad to find the Captain in this lighter vein, for life had -been too serious and complicated a matter lately for him often to forget -its seriousness. As for Mrs. Boniface, she had been both surprised and -delighted when she found her husband willing to accept the Van Vleets' -invitation, for lately it had been quite impossible to get him to take -any interest in anything of the sort, and she feared a kind but absolute -refusal. But no sooner had the “Grayling” cleared her dock than the -Captain seemed to regain his wonted good spirits, and to leave all his -heavy-heartedness behind, and glad indeed was his little family to see -him in a cheery mood once more. - -As soon as the Bonifaces commenced to ascend the beautiful grass-grown -meadow, which swept down to the water's edge, out came all the Van -Vleets to meet them and escort them up to the house; and it was a -remarkable old dwelling, unlike anything one would see nowadays, if it -were not that two or three such homesteads have chanced to survive -the ravages of a century, by grace of having once been dignified as -“Washington's Headquarters.” - -[Illustration: 0108] - -It was a double two-story house, or rather three-story, if you count the -little rooms in the gables. It was built of stone, coated with a rough -sort of plaster, and faced the river; its large square stoop, flanked -with its two benches, being protected by the overhanging eaves of the -roof itself. The front door, seldom opened, was ornamented with a huge -brass knocker in the shape of a lion's head, and was daily burnished -with as much thoroughness as though in constant use. Indeed, it must -be confessed that in front everything was severe and prim and painfully -stiff, but fortunately at the side things were different. Indeed, the -house, in its two entirely different aspects, resembled an old army -officer, always stern and arbitrary with his men for the sake of -discipline, but 'another fellow altogether' when off duty and in the -company of his brother officers. At the side it was as though you -surprised it in undress uniform. In the first place, there was -always, in the season, a great profusion of flowers; not, however, in -conventional flower beds, but parading their blaze of color from painted -tubs, mounted here and there on the table-like tops of old tree stumps, -which had evidently survived the first clearing of the land. Fortunately -for general effectiveness, these tubs were not filled with a promiscuous -assortment of plants, but each held the luxurious growth of some single -variety--here a hydrangea, with its wealth of heavy-headed blooms, -fairly concealing its leaves; there a great cluster of peonies or -brilliant scarlet geraniums. As might be expected on the first Saturday -of October, many of these plants bore only a few tardy blossoms, and -some of them had evidently lost all heart with the first intimation -of frost; but in the centre of the old-fashioned grass plot was a -contrivance that from June well into November presented a remarkable -blaze of color, varying with every month, and always beautiful. This -contrivance, called by the Van Vleets “The flower fountain,” was -composed of a series of five circular shelves, each shelf a little -smaller in circumference than the one below it, and terminating, at the -height of about five feet from the ground, in a round flat top. These -shelves were constantly crowded with pots of plants in full bloom. -Indeed, Hans kept a sort of nursery for no other reason than to supply -the fountain, and the moment a plant took it into its head to bloom no -longer, or only in a spiritless way, back it was marched to the nursery, -and another took its place. What a fine thing it would be if some of the -little folk too, who are not blooming out into just the sort of grown -folk we could wish, might simply be remanded to the nursery, there to be -restarted, after the manner of Hans's plants, and perhaps coaxed into a -more satisfying growth than they now, alas! give promise of! But if it -had not been for this flower fountain, who knows but Hans might have -gone to the war? You can see how it would not be an easy thing for a -placid, kind-hearted Dutchman, who loved the training and slipping -and potting of plants above everything else in the world, to turn his -pruning-knife into a sword. - -On the afternoon of the tea-party this fountain was ablaze with -chrysanthemums, varying in color from the darkest red to the palest -pink, and from orange to pure white. The plants of one shelf hid the -pots of the shelf above it, and the lowest shelf of all was sunk so low -in the ground as to be concealed by the grass. But what gave this side -of the house the “homiest” look of all was the row of shining milk tins -ranged in a row on a low bench, and tilted against the wall. Then, just -beyond them, the kitchen door opened, and such a kitchen! with -tables and dresser and every wooden thing in it scoured to immaculate -whiteness, and with white sand daily sifted upon the floor in most -remarkable patterns. In this kitchen the Van Vleets not only ate, -but lived, and so it possessed that undefinable charm which sometimes -belongs to the living-room of a family, and never to any other. In -preparation for the Bonifaces' coming, large, high-backed Dutch rockers -had been ranged round this kitchen door, and here the little party -seated themselves under the uncertain shade of a half-leafless oak-tree, -that allowed the warm sunshine to slant gratefully down upon them, and -where they could enjoy the flower fountain to the full. The Misses -Van Vleet were busy within doors attending to the preparations for -supper--that is, with the exception of Pauline, who was always at -liberty to do pretty much as she chose; and what she had chosen to do -this afternoon was this: After the Bonifaces had come up from their boat -she had noticed somebody still moving about in it, so down she went -to investigate. Then, when she reached a point near enough to be quite -satisfactory to her ladyship, she sat herself down on the low, straight -limb of a stunted apple-tree, and waited. - - - - -CHAPTER XII.--AN INTERRUPTION. - - -[Illustration: 9111] - -HE somebody moving about in the “Grayling” was Flutters. He was -arranging boat cushions, folding up wraps and shawls, and putting things -generally to rights. Dear little fellow! No one had told him he ought to -do this; he did it quite by grace of his own thoughtful intuition, and -he found so many little things all the while to do, and did them all -so gladly, that he wondered a trifle proudly how the Bonifaces had ever -managed without him, and the Bonifaces wondered too. - -Finally, when Flutters had gotten everything into literally ship-shape -condition, and quite to his mind, off he started up the bank, bending -far over, as one must when one attempts to scale a steep place rapidly. -So it chanced that he did not see Miss Pauline at all until she spoke -to him, and he was himself directly under the scant shadow of the -apple-tree. - -“Not so fast, sir,” said Pauline, in an authoritative way, which brought -Flutters, surprised and breathless, to a standstill. - -“Sit down,” she added in a moment, pointing to a rock covered with gray -moss, and confronting the limb where she was sitting. - -Flutters mechanically obeyed. He knew she must be one of the family, and -as he had met many queer people in his day, did not marvel that here was -somebody, to all appearances, a little queerer than the rest. She -looked very pretty balanced there on the low limb of the tree, in her -full-skirted gray gown, and with the western sunlight shining on her -back and turning her curling yellow hair into a sort of halo about her -forehead. Flutters sat and stared at her. - -“Do you like my looks?” she asked complacently. - -“Yes,” replied Flutters, astonished; “you are a Miss Van Vleet, aren't -you?” - -“Yes, I'm Miss Pauline Van Vleet.” - -“I thought so,” Flutters remarked, just by way of saying something. - -“It is best _never_ to say what you think,” said Miss Pauline solemnly. -“Folks get themselves into trouble that way.” - -Flutters felt inclined to suggest that people would be very stupid -and uninteresting if they did not sometimes say what they thought, -but wisely concluded it was better not to start an argument with this -peculiar young person. - -“Are you a new Boniface?” asked Pauline, scanning him closely. - -“No, not exactly,” laughed Flutters. - -“I did not ask what you were exactly; are you a new Boniface at all?” - -What a queer question, thought Flutters, and then went to work to answer -it to the best of his ability. - -“No, I am not a Boniface at all, but I am new in this part of the -country. I used to live in England.” - -“What is your name?” - -“Flutters.” - -Miss Pauline seemed very much amused at this, saying it over to herself -two or three times. “Did your father use to call you Flutters?” she -asked presently, looking at him searchingly. - -“No,” he answered, the color rushing into his brown face, for no one had -asked him that direct question before. - -“What did he call you?” - -“He called me--he called me--but that is one of the things I do not tell -to anybody.” - -“But, Flutters, child, you will tell me, just me,” and Pauline looked at -him with a look as pathetic as though she were pleading for her life. - -“But I can't, Miss Pauline, really I can't;” whereupon Miss Pauline -buried her face in her two pretty hands, and began to cry like a child. - -[Illustration: 0113] - -“Why, you're not crying for that, surely?” Flutters asked, never more -astonished in his life. - -“Yes, just for that--just for that--and I'll cry harder and harder until -you tell.” - -The truth was, all the Van Vleets were so in the habit of humoring this -poor sister of theirs, and never crossing her will if it could possibly -be helped, that this refusal on Flutters's part truly seemed to her most -preposterous, and she was shedding actual tears. Flutters saw one or -two of them find their way through her fingers, and, like other heroes, -relented at the sight; besides, what else was to be done? - -“I will tell you, I will tell you,” he said softly; “my real name is -Arthur Wainwright;” and the mere sound of it, whispered though it was, -made him start. It was so long now since he had heard it on the lips of -any one! Indeed, it did not seem as though it belonged to him at all. - -“That's a pretty name,” replied Pauline, beginning to be comforted and -to dry her tears; “now tell me _all_ about you.” - -“Oh, I can't,” replied Flutters, pained at the need of refusing; “I -_must_ keep it a secret.” - -“You can keep it a secret all the same,” said Pauline sadly, and with -that insight into her own deficiencies which sometimes flashes across a -distraught mind, “for, you see, I cannot remember it long enough to tell -it to anybody, so tell me, please--please tell me; nothing makes Pauline -so happy as a real true story.” - -The entreaty in her voice was too much for Flutters, and he dreaded more -than he could express a fresh outburst of tears, therefore he decided to -run the risk, and try if he could to make Miss Pauline happy, especially -as he thought it highly probable that what she said was true, and that -she really would not remember anything long enough to repeat it. - -“There is not much about me,” he began, “but I will tell you all there -is.” It did not occur to his honest little soul that any story he -might have chosen to concoct would have answered just as well for Miss -Pauline. He neither added to nor in any way digressed from the exact -truth. - -“My father was an Englishman,” he continued, “and he lived for a while -in India, for he had some business there, and my mother was a colored -woman.” - -“Oh, dear me!” said Pauline, “I would not like a father of one sort and -a mother of another; which kind did you like best?” - -“I do not remember my mother at all, but my father said she was -beautiful and a good woman, but not just what people call a lady. She -died when I was two years old, and then my father took me to England, -and then after a while he married a real lady, a white English lady like -himself, and they had some lovely white children; but the English mother -never liked me. I think she couldn't somehow, Miss Pauline”--he seemed -to reason as though he were afraid of blaming anybody--“and I thought I -was in the way--in the way even of my father; and so one day I ran off -and joined a circus that was coming to America. But I did not care for -the circus very much, and so Job Starlight and Miss Hazel helped me -to run away from that, and now I'm Miss Hazel's body servant, and the -Bonifaces seem to like me, and I never was so happy in all my life -before.” - -“That's a very nice story, too nice for a secret. Why don't you tell -it 'round?” - -“Oh, because I don't want my father ever to hear of me, for then he -might send for me, and I want to stay with the Bonifaces always. You -won't tell, will you, Miss Pauline?” - -“I would if I could,” she answered, with a spirit of mischief, “but -you can't tell things if your head's like a sieve, and lets everything -through, can you? Now is there nothing more?” - -“No, there isn't,” Flutters answered, a little shortly, indignant at her -answer. It hardly paid, he thought, to be kind to a young lady who acted -like that. But fortunately Pauline did not notice the curtness of his -reply. - -“Then give me your hand, Flutters, and we'll go up to the house.” - -“No, I thank you. Boys as big as I am don't need to be helped along by -the hand.” - -“Flutters,” she said solemnly, “give--me--your--hand or I'll--I'll cry -harder than before.” - -“Oh dear, dear, dear,” thought Flutters, “is there no way out of this?” - and he looked furtively down the bank toward the boat, as though he -seriously contemplated taking to his heels and launching out upon the -river as the only adequate means of escape. But suddenly Miss Pauline -put one hand to her ear, and Flutters, looking in the direction in -which she pointed with the other, saw that some one up at the house -was ringing a bell, and at the same time too heard its tinkling, which -Pauline's keen hearing had been quick to detect. - -“Flutters,” she said, gazing down at him with the most satisfied smile -imaginable, “that means supper. Come on up;” then away she flew -toward the house, leaving Flutters to follow at a reasonable gait, and -profoundly thankful to be relieved from the alternative of either being -led by the hand or taking refuge in ignominious flight. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII.--MORE ABOUT THE TEA-PARTY. - - -[Illustration: 9117] - -O one had noticed the _tête-a-tête_ which Flutters and Miss Pauline had -been holding at a distance, only when Flutters came on the scene Hazel -asked what had kept him so long, and he made some evasive reply. He -hoped no one would ever know of the encounter. In the first place, -because he foolishly felt he had somehow been gotten the best of, and, -in the second place, because Miss Pauline had heard what he had fully -intended no one of his new friends ever should hear. - -As a member of the Van Vleet household, Starlight naturally felt a share -in the responsibility of entertaining, and, taking Flutters under his -wing, presented him to one and another of the family as “Flutters, the -new boy over at the Bonifaces'.” - -“No such thing,” said Miss Pauline when in turn Flutters was introduced -to her; “he's not a new Boniface at all; I know better than that, don't -I, dear?” - -“Oh, what shall, what shall I say?” groaned Flutters inwardly; but -Starlight dragged him away with the explanation that the young lady was -not right in her mind, and so there was no necessity of saying anything. - -[Illustration: 0118] - -It proved a most inviting table that the Van Vleets had spread for their -Royalist friends. Two deep apple pies graced either end of it; a great -platter of doughnuts or “oly keoks,” as the Dutch has it, had been -placed in the centre, towered above, on one side, by a long-stemmed -glass dish of preserved peaches, and, on the other side, by a similar -dish of preserved pears. Frau Van Vleet presided over a large Delft -teapot ornamented, as Washington Irving describes a similar pot, “with -paintings of fat little Dutch shepherds and shepherdesses, tending pigs, -with boats sailing in the air and houses built in the clouds, and sundry -other ingenious Dutch fantasies.” As the kitchen table was not of the -extension variety, and so not capable of accommodating the entire party, -places had to be set for Hans, Harry Avery, and two of the Van Vleet -sisters at a separate table in one corner. - -At the back of Frau Van Vleet's customary seat at the larger table was -the great open fireplace, which was roomy enough to accommodate two -people on each of the benches lining either side of it. On a crane, -suspended over the crackling logs, hung a huge copper tea-kettle, from -which Harry, since he had been staying with the Van Vleets, had taken -upon himself the duty of refilling the Delft teapot whenever needed -during the progress of a meal, and indeed had completely won the -heart of the kind old Frau, as soon as he had come among them, by his -eagerness to serve her in every possible way. To-night he was kept busy, -for both Van Vleets and Bonifaces were famous tea-drinkers, only they -managed the matter differently in those days. The lump of sugar -was placed beside the cup, not in it, and people nibbled and sipped -alternately. The principal hot dish of the tea-party was broiled ham, -and, done to a turn and deliciously savory, was delicate enough to tempt -almost any appetite. Then there were two blue china plates heaped with -biscuits, every one of which, from very lightness, had risen and risen, -till top and bottom were a long way apart; but notwithstanding -these generous proportions, the two blue plates had been emptied and -replenished more than once before all were satisfied. - -Miss Pauline's seat at the table had been placed at quite a distance -from Flutters, but, without daring often to look in her direction, -Flutters felt with considerable nervousness that her gaze was riveted -almost constantly upon him. Finally, to his astonishment, and at a -time when there had been a pause of several seconds, she announced very -calmly, “Wainwright's a nice little boy. I like his looks and he likes -mine; don't you, Wainwright?” - -Flutters kept his eyes on his plate, and in his embarrassment swallowed -two or three morsels of ham that were far too large in far too rapid -succession. “She'll tell it all, if they only give her time,” he thought -savagely, but he did not intend to make any reply. - -“She means you, Flutters,” whispered Miss Heide, who sat next to him. -“You had better answer her, 'that you do like her looks.' We never -differ with her. It is just a fancy of hers, this calling you -Wainwright; but where could she ever have heard the name?” - -“If it only were a fancy,” thought Flutters, while Miss Pauline sat, -with her teacup poised in her pretty hand, waiting his reply. - -“Yes, I like your looks,” said Flutters in a compulsory sort of way that -made every one smile, while the color surged over his brown face. - -“That's right,” she answered complacently, “and I wouldn't mind at all -about your mother being colored, because that's how you come by your -dark skin, and your dark skin is the beauty of you.” - -Miss Pauline was growing rather personal, and it certainly did look -as though she knew what she was talking about; but fortunately no one -attached any weight to what she said, and as she seemed inclined to -follow up a line of thought which must at least be annoying to poor -little Flutters, the sister who sat nearest her tried quietly to divert -her, while another started a new topic of general conversation. - -At last the meal was over, and Flutters was glad; nor was he the -only one that felt relieved. Captain Boniface had finished his supper -sometime before the others, and for the last ten minutes had been -nervously taking up his tumbler and setting it down, and shifting his -position in his chair, as though unable longer to keep his long legs -penned under the narrow table. Mrs. Boniface had noticed it and wondered -at it, and felt thankful when Frau Van Vleet pushed back her chair and -so gave the signal to the others. - -“Oh, dear, what can the matter be?” screeched a great green parrot -hanging in its cage by the doorway, and who had apparently been roused -from deep reverie by the scraping of the chairs on the sanded floor. -Mrs. Boniface gave a start of surprise, for the parrot had given exact -expression to her own thoughts. She was watching her husband closely, -and knew by experience that something was troubling him, and yet he had -been so gay that very afternoon. “I believe it was all assumed,” she -thought to herself, and the more she thought, the more assured she felt -that she was right. Oh, how she longed to steal over to him and question -him; but no, that would not do. Frau Van Vleet had arranged two chairs -side by side for a neighborly chat, and there was no way out of it. - -Now that the supper was over, the Misses Van Vleet's domestic duties -were over too, the clearing of the table being left to “Rhuna,” an old -crone of a negro servant, who had been with them many years. Then, as -was their wont, the young ladies resorted each to her particular rush- -bottomed chair and the knitting of her own woollen stockings, while -Josephine, with little Kate upon her lap, endeavored to make her exhibit -some of her pretty accomplishments for their general amusement. Hazel, -Starlight, and Flutters had accompanied Hans Van Vleet and his father -off to the barn for the milking, while Captain Boniface and Harry, in -close conversation, walked off toward the river. Harry had joined the -Captain at a signal that he would like to speak to him, but he had not -noticed his altered manner, and under the impression that he was in the -best of spirits, was altogether unprepared for what he was about to -hear. - -[Illustration: 8121] - -“Harry,” began the Captain seriously, “I have received the most -distressing news within the last twenty-four hours.” - -“You don't mean it, sir,” with evident surprise; “I thought matters were -looking brighter for you every day. I have reason to know that at least -two of the signers of that insulting note you received are heartily -ashamed of their behavior, and are actually on the look-out to atone for -it in some fashion.” - -“So I hear, and I am very grateful; but all that good news is offset by -other news which has reached me this morning: some Tory friends of ours -in South Carolina have just been brutally murdered by the Whigs,” and -then the Captain excitedly narrated all the sad details of the tragedy -so far as he knew them. - -Harry listened attentively. “It is certainly very dreadful,” he said at -last sadly; “but,” he added with characteristic honesty, “I have heard -of some of the doings of those South Carolina Tories, and many of -them, though possibly your friends were not among them, deserved harsh -treatment, Captain Boniface.” - -“Harry,” said the Captain abruptly, as though too busy with his own -thoughts to have heard what was said, “tell me frankly, do you suppose -this community will ever again treat me as a decent member of society?” - -“Yes, Captain Boniface, I do, and I have something with me this moment -that points that way,” and he handed him an unsealed envelope. It -was addressed to the Captain, and he found it to contain a card of -invitation, which read as follows: “The Executive Committee of the -Assembly respectfully informs the ladies and gentlemen of New York that -a dance will be given on Monday next at the City Assembly Rooms, to -begin precisely at five o'clock. Price of tickets, six shillings.” - -“So they ask us to the Assembly, do they?” said the Captain, glancing -over it with evident surprise. “They have contrived to leave us very -little heart for dancing,” he added sadly. - -“But you will go,” urged Harry; “that invitation means even more than -you suspect. It means, I think, that there is an organized effort on -foot to fully reinstate you, and some other Tories as well, whom they -have treated so uncivilly.” - -“So you think it implies all that?” said the Captain, smiling -incredulously at his enthusiasm. - -“Yes, I'm sure it does, and you will go and take Mrs. Boniface and Miss -Josephine; promise me, Captain.” - -The Captain did not reply at once, and Harry had time to realize that in -his earnestness he was rather overstepping bounds. - -“Of course I do not mean to ask you to promise me,” he stammered, -coloring up to the roots of his hair, “but you know what I mean. I am so -anxious you should meet them half way.” - -“And you think we really ought to go? Why, a Dancing Assembly is the -last thing in the world we care to have a hand in. But Mrs. Boniface -will not stir a step when she hears about this wholesale murder of the -Bentons, so that settles it.” - -“And you feel that you _must_ tell her?” - -“No, of course there is no must about it. I will think it over,” and -then the Captain and Harry entered into a thorough discussion of the -events that had led up to the sad consummation in South Carolina, and -Harry had some facts at his command by which he succeeded in partially -convincing the Captain that, in many cases, the Tories had been treated -very much as they deserved. - -“Well, Harry, you may be right, you may be right,” sighed the Captain, -“but that does not make the sacrifice of my old friends any easier to -bear.” - -“Not a whit, sir, I can understand that,” and then they started toward -the house, for they could see that Mrs. Boniface and Frau Van Vleet were -taking formal leave of each other. - -Twilight was settling down upon the river, and in those days, when it -was the custom for fashionable dancing parties to begin at five -o'clock, it was surely fitting that the same hour should conclude an -unfashionable Dutch tea-party. Indeed, by the time darkness had fairly -mastered the twilight, all the Van Vleets were snugly in bed, and only -one light could be seen in the whole farm-house; that was in the window -of Aunt Frances's gable room. There she sat reading, by the light of a -plump little Dutch candle, certain familiar passages from some dearly -loved books. She knew most of them by heart, and yet to much pondering -of the noble, uplifting thoughts of these comforting little books was -due much of that cheerful courage which was such a help to everybody. - -Meanwhile the “Grayling” sailed “up river” and “cross river,” and -reached her dock. She had one more name on her list of cabin passengers, -however, than when she had sailed that morning, for how could Aunt -Frances say “No” when Hazel had come to her and begged that she would -please be so very good as to let them have Starlight for over Sunday? - - - - -CHAPTER XIV.--HAZEL HAS A CONVICTION. - - -[Illustration: 9124] - -TARLIGHT,” said Hazel, seriously, next morning, as they sat side by side -on the porch, “I've been thinking.” - -“Yes,” said Starlight, dryly; “most people do.” - -“I've been thinking, Starlight,” Hazel continued, “that perhaps I am not -doing quite right by Flutters.” - -“You're doing mighty kind by him, I'm sure, and he thinks so, too. You've -given him a home and clothes and plenty to eat, and all he has to do is -to wait on your ladyship and take charge of the pony. I shouldn't call -that work, nor Flutters doesn't, either. He says it is all just fun, -and if there's a finer family anywhere than the Bonifaces he'd like to -see'em, only he knows he never shall see'em, because there isn't such a -family.” - -“Are you making that up, Job Starlight?” - -“Well, I guess not. Flutters says something of that sort every -time we're left alone together. It seems as though his heart was so -overflowing that he just had to ease it whenever he got a chance.” - -“Well, it's certainly very pleasant to have him feel like that.” - -“Why, he just worships the ground--” - -Starlight paused to shy a stone at a guinea hen that was encroaching on -one of the flower beds--“your _mother_ treads on.” - -Starlight knew well enough that he ended this sentence quite differently -from what Hazel had expected; but Hazel was wise enough not to show her -surprise, and besides, if there was any worshipping to be done, she was -about as glad to have Flutters worship the ground her mother trod on as -that over which her little feet had travelled. - -“No, but I've been thinking,” she said, resuming her own line of -thought, “that, for all we know, Flutters may be a regular little -heathen, for I have an idea that the mulattoes are a very savage tribe. -Did you ever hear him say a word about religion, or what he believed, -and things like that?” - -Starlight scratched his head, by way of helping his memory. “Never a -word, come to think of it.” - -“Well, now, Starlight, that is very strange, and I believe I'll take him -to church this very morning, and see how he acts.” - -“Yes, let's,” said Starlight, taking most kindly to the project. “If -he's never been in one, it will be awful fun to see how he takes it.” - -“People don't go to church to have awful fun. If that's what you're -going for, you had better stay home.” - -Starlight clapped his hand over his mouth, as though to suppress a most -explosive giggle. “My gracious, Hazel! What has come over you?” - -“Nothing has come over me, and you know it. I always love to go to -church, and I love everything they do there; and I think it's beautiful -where they sing, 'Lord, have mercy upon us,' after the commandments, and -everybody keeps their head bowed.” - -Starlight did not answer. It was evident Hazel was launching upon one -of what he called her “high-minded moods;” and, indeed, child though she -was, Hazel did have times when she thought very deeply--times when the -soul that was in her seemed to reach out after things eternal. It was -not at all an unusual experience. It does not always need even ten round -years to bring a child to a point of knowing for itself that there is a -longing that this world, all wonderful and beautiful though it be, does -not fully satisfy. Such a knowing does not make a child less a child, -or rob it of an iota of its joyousness, only sometimes lends a sweet and -earnest depth to the little God-given life. But to matter-of-fact -Job Starlight, it must be confessed that such a mood was not at all -satisfactory. He did not comprehend it, and standing in awe of Hazel's -“high mindedness,” always endeavored to bring her down to his own level -as quickly as possible by means of some diverting subject. This time -he fortunately spied it in the shape of two prim little maidens, -Prayer-Book in hand, who came demurely walking, side by side, down the -path that skirted the roadway. - -“Why, there come the Marberrys,” he remarked. - -“Sure enough,” said Hazel, flying to the gate. “Are you going to church?” - she called over it. - -“Yes,” answered the little Marberrys simultaneously; indeed, they were -a pair of simultaneous children. In the first place, they were twins; -in the second place, they were as alike in appearance as peas in a -pod, and, in the third place, one little brain seemed to be the perfect -fac-simile of the other. It was no uncommon thing for them to utter the -same thought, in the same words, at the same time; and when this did not -happen, one would generally echo what the other had said. They had been -christened Mathilde and Clothilde; but Milly and Tilly had been the -outcome of that, and of course the similarity in the sound of the two -names led to much confusion, since the initial letter was all that -distinguished them. - -Hazel had come to the wise conclusion “that, so far as possible, it was -best just to say things that would do for both, because, like as not, if -you meant to say something to Milly--it not being so understood--Tilly -would answer, and _vice-versa_.” But these two little Marberrys were -warm friends of hers, and in those days, when so many people were -estranged from the Bonifaces, she set a specially high value upon their -friendship. Not that the Marberrys were in any sense Tories; only, as -Dr. Marberry was rector of St. George's, they felt it their duty, as a -family, to be kind to everybody in the church. Besides, it would have -caused the twins a real pang to have been parted from Hazel, for, as -they frequently asserted in the presence of less favored playmates, -“Hazel Boniface was the cutest and nicest girl they had ever known.” - -Starlight's announcement of “Here come the Marberrys” had suggested -to Hazel the idea of joining forces and all going along together. The -children were delighted with the plan, as with any plan of hers, and -sat down for a friendly chat with Starlight, while Hazel hurried away -to summon Flutters. She found him feeding some withered clover heads to -Gladys, as he sat comfortably on the top rail of the fence, enclosing -the meadow where Gladys was allowed to disport herself on high days and -holidays. She waited till she got close up to him, then she announced, -“Flutters, you are to go to church with me this morning.” - -“To church!” he said, surprised, for he had not heard her coming. - -“Yes, go put on the other suit, and meet me at the gate quickly.” - -She did not say “your other suit,” feeling, naturally, a certain sense -of personal ownership, as far as Flutters's outfit was concerned. - -“All right, Miss Hazel,” he answered, moving off with the alacrity of a -well-trained little servant. - -“Perhaps you will not care to go with me, girls,” Hazel remarked, as she -came down the path, some five minutes later, and looking very pretty in -her dark red Sunday dress. “You see I am going to take Flutters.” - -“And why should we mind that?” chirped Milly Marberry in a high musical -little key, and Tilly remarked, “Yes, why should we mind that?” - -“Because I have no idea how he will behave. When I told him just now -that he was to go to church with me, he said, 'To church!' as though he -was very much surprised and had never been in one in his life.” - -“I suppose he'll sit still, though, if you tell him to,” said Milly. - -“Of course he will not speak if--” but Tilly's sisterly echo was -interrupted by a significant hush from Hazel, and the next second -Flutters was with them. Then the little party set off, the boys ahead -together, and the girls behind. - -“Where does Flutters come from, anyway?” asked Tilly. - -“Yes, where from?” piped Milly. - -“From England,” Hazel answered, softly, “but he's a mulatto.” - -“A what?” simultaneously. - -“A mulatto. They're a kind of negro tribe.' - -“Goodness gracious!” - -“Gracious goodness!” - -“Are the mulattoes wild and dangerous?” asked Milly, tremulously. - -“Yes, I believe so; but then, of course, Flutters isn't so now. -Civilization has changed him.” - -The Marberrys looked at Hazel with admiration; these occasional big -words of hers constituted one of her chief charms in their eyes. - -“But the truth is,” Hazel continued, “I do not know very much about -Flutters. He does not seem to like to talk about his history, and mother -says I have no right to pry into it.” - -“I shouldn't think anybody who had been wild and savage could speak such -good English,” said Tilly, thoughtfully. - -“Neither should I,” said Milly. - -“Well, that is queer,” and Hazel looked puzzled. “I hadn't thought of -that; but I'm certain his grandfather, if not his father, must have been -wild and savage. I'm very sure the mulattoes used to be very ferocious.” - -“Where do the mulattoes live?” asked the Marberrys. - -“I don't know,” was Hazel's truthful answer. The fact was, as you have -discovered, Hazel did not know what she was talking about. She had -a trick of mounting an impression, and then of giving rein to her -imagination and letting it run away with her, so that the first thing -she knew she was telling you something she really quite believed was -fact, but which was nothing of the sort. As a result she was sometimes -credited with fibbing, and got into many an unnecessary scrape, but, you -may be sure, Mrs. Boniface was doing all that she could to correct this -unfortunate tendency. - -Meantime the boys walked ahead, conversing with no little earnestness -as to the comparative merits of two tiny sloop yachts, one of which was -taking shape under Starlight's hand, and the other under Flutters's, -and whose same comparative merits were to be put to the test, when -completed, by a race on the waters of the Collect. At this point in -their walk a turn of the road brought St. George's into sight. - -“Ever been to church, Flutters?” Starlight asked, quite casually. - -“Oh, yes, often.” - -“Episcopal?” - -“Ye' ep,” was Flutters's unceremonious answer; “but how large are -you going to make your foresail?” not willing to be diverted from the -all-engrossing subject. - -“I shall give her all the sail she can carry, you may be certain.” - Starlight did not intend to furnish this rival yachtsman with any exact -measurements. And so they talked on till they reached the little stone -church, where service had already commenced. The Marberrys walked -straight up to their pew, the very front one, but before they reached it -each little face flushed crimson. At one and the same moment their two -pairs of blue eyes met their father's, for he was leading the General -Confession, and did not need to have them upon his book. Judging from -the crimson on their faces, the look must have said, “There is no excuse -for this, my little daughters; I am ashamed that you should be so late.” - -Hazel and Starlight and Flutters had the Boniface pew to themselves, -but Hazel allowed Starlight to precede them into it, while she detained -Flutters in the vestibule for a little seasonable advice. She had -intended to administer it slowly and forcibly by the way. Now she had -to compress it all into one hurried little moment. In her excitement -she seized hold of Flutters's brown wrist, as she whispered, hurriedly, -“Flutters, this is a church, where people come to worship. You will have -to sit very still and not speak, only get up and sit down when I do, -because part of the time it's wrong to sit down. So, Flutters, watch me -very closely. I will find you the place in the Prayer-Book, but you had -better not say the things that are written there, even if you can read -them, 'cause they're probably things you do not understand at all, and -don't know anything about, so it would be best not to say you believed -them. You can sing the hymns, though; there won't be any harm in that, -only sing very softly, for fear you don't get the tune right. Now that -is all, I believe,” putting her finger to her lip in a meditative way, -and with an anxious frown on her face, as if fearing she had overlooked -some important instruction. “Yes, that is all; now follow me in;” and -Flutters following her, took his seat with a most decorous air, and -without staring about with such gaping astonishment, as might, perhaps, -be looked for in a boy of fourteen, who had never seen the interior of a -church before, so that Hazel at once felt much relieved. Her first duty, -of course, was to furnish him with the proper page in the Prayer-Book, -and her second to anticipate all irregularities in the order of service, -by taking the book from his hands in ample time to supply him with the -right place at the right moment. Now it must be confessed that all this -was accomplished by Hazel in rather an officious and patronizing manner, -but, unfortunately for her, there came a time when she herself was at a -loss. - -She did not know which Sunday it was after Trinity. Flutters _did_, and -seeing her confusion anticipated Dr. Marberry by whispering, “_It's the -eighteenth Sunday, I think._” - -[Illustration: 0130] - -Hazel thrust Flutters's Prayer-Book back into his hand, giving him one -look, and such a look! It was dreadful to think that a thorough-going -little church-woman could _ever_ look like that, much less while the -service itself was actually in progress. - -Flutters felt “queer.” He saw how much there was in that look of -Hazel's, and wondered if he had been greatly to blame in the matter. -Starlight, of course, witnessed the whole proceeding, and heard -Flutters's whisper (as did every one else in the neighborhood), which -betrayed his familiarity with the service, and Starlight himself -wondered how he managed to be quite so well up on the subject. - -But it was an awfully good joke on Hazel. When they had been discussing -the matter, and he had said, “It would be awful fun to see how Flutters -would act in church, provided he had never been there,” Hazel had, of -course, been quite right in saying that “People did not go to church to -have awful fun,” but he could not help thinking that he had had a little -fun all the same, only at Hazel's expense, and not Flutters's. - - - - -CHAPTER XV.--FLUTTERS COMES TO THE FRONT. - - -[Illustration: 9132] - -HERE were five of them abreast. The Marberrys, Hazel, Starlight, -and Flutters, but no one was saying a word. The Marberrys had twice -religiously tried to start up matters, but had failed utterly, and new -they were anxiously bothering their little minds with the same question, -so often reiterated by the Van Fleet parrot, of “Oh, dear, what can the -matter be?” Starlight was chuckling inwardly, like the inconsiderate -youngster that he was. Hazel was very angry, as she imagined with just -cause, and Flutters was inwardly fluttering, almost outwardly, in fact, -so sorry was he to have offended his adored little mistress. If she -would only say something. It was not his place to speak first, but he -feared he would have to, for to his sensitive nature the silence -was unbearable. Fortunately, however, just at this point, Hazel's -indignation found vent; she came to a sudden stand-still, and although -naught save the one word “_Flutters_” escaped her, it doubled the -five-abreast parallel line into a circle in less than a second. - -“What have I done, Miss Hazel?” - -“Done!”--then impressively lowering her voice--“you have lied, Flutters” - (the Marberrys winced). “Yes, I know it is a dreadful word, but there is -no other word for it.” - -“What did I lie about?” Body-servant or no, Flutters knew when his -little mistress was overstepping all legitimate bounds. - -“You told me you had never been to church, and let me find all the -places for you, when you knew all about it just as well as I did,” and -the little mistress was so greatly excited, that she felt very much -afraid she should break right down and cry, which would certainly prove -a most undignified proceeding. - -“_Did_ I tell you, Miss Hazel, that I had never been to church?” - Flutters was able to speak calmly and was astonished at his own -self-control, but then he knew he was in the right, and calmness comes -easier when you know that. Hazel grew uncomfortable under Flutters's -direct gaze. She had hardly expected this courageous self-defence. Come -to think of it, _had_ he actually said he had never been to church. -Could it be, she wondered, that her imagination had led her off on -another wild chase in the wrong direction? Yes, it could, foolish little -Hazel, though you yourself are not yet ready to admit it. - -“Perhaps you did not tell me so, Flutters,” Hazel answered, “but you -_let_ me think it, which was very wrong and mean of you.” - -“Look out, Hazel,” chimed in Starlight, shaking his head significantly, -“ten to one you never gave him a chance to say a word about it. You have -an awful, rushing way, sometimes, of taking things for granted.” - -So Starlight was siding against her too, and Hazel looked toward the -Marberrys for sympathy; but they were so ignorant of the facts of the -case, and always so kindly disposed toward that little waif, Flutters, -that both of them wore the most neutral expression possible. - -Flutters's face flushed gratefully under Starlight's warm championship. - -“No, Miss Hazel,” he said, slowly, “you never gave me a chance to tell -you, and until you caught hold of my wrist in the vestibule, and told me -what I must do and what I mustn't, I did not know that you even thought -I had never been to church.” - -“Didn't you really? Well, that's very queer,” for when an idea was -firmly implanted in Hazel's mind, she felt as though every one ought, -somehow or other, to be intuitively aware of it. However, she was going -to try to be reasonable, and so she descended from a tone of evident -displeasure into one of grieved forbearance. - -“But, Flutters, if what you say is true”--Flutters straightened up under -this insinuation, but unbent right away as Hazel wisely added, “and of -course it is, then why, when I found the first place in the Prayer-Book -for you, did you not whisper, 'You need not bother, Miss Hazel, I know -about the Prayer-Book,' or something like that, instead of letting me go -on and find place after place for you?” - -For a moment Flutters seemed at a loss what to answer, then looking her -frankly in the face, he said, with charming simplicity, “I thought it -would be more respectful not to say anything; and better to let you, -being my little mistress, do just as you pleased without interfering.” - -Hazel showed she was touched by this confession; but Starlight could not -resist the temptation to add, “besides, I warrant you, you told Flutters -not to speak, when you collared him there in the vestibule.” - -“Yes, you did, Miss Hazel,” said Flutters, truthfully. - -“That maybe,” Hazel admitted with much dignity, “but, Job Starlight, I -never _collared_ anybody, if you please.” - -“Don't be touchy, Hazel. You know what I mean.” - -[Illustration: 0134] - -All this while the children had stood in a little circle right in the -middle of the road, and more than one passer-by had looked on with -an amused smile, wondering what was the cause of so much evident -excitement. The Marberrys had noticed this, and now that matters were -cooling down a trifle, suggested that they should walk on, so as not to -attract so much attention. So they walked on, but of course they talked -on too, and although Hazel was fast relenting toward Flutters, she was -not quite ready to cease hostilities. One or two matters still required -explanation. “Look here, Flutters,” she said, “if you thought it was -more respectful not to say anything, why didn't you keep quiet; and -there's another thing I _should_ like to have you tell me, and that is, -how did _you_ know it was the eighteenth?” - -“Miss Hazel, when I saw you did not know what Sunday it was, I thought -that as I happened to know, I _ought_ to tell you.” - -“Oh, that was it; but, Flutters, people don't just happen to know -things. They generally know _how_ they came to know them.” - -Flutters looked troubled, and the Marberrys and Starlight felt very -sorry for him, and wished Hazel would stop. But Hazel wouldn't. That's -one of the troubles with strong and independent natures, no matter -whether they belong to big or little people. They feel everything so -deeply, and get so wrought up, that on they go in their impetuosity -hurting people's feelings sometimes, and doing lots of mischief. To be -strong and independent and to know where “to stop,” that is fine; but -Hazel had not yet learned that happy combination. But Hazel's heart was -all right; she wanted above everything else in the world to grow some -day to be a truly noble woman, and there is not much need for worry when -any little body really hopes and intends to be that sort of a big body. -But you need not think that while I have been saying this little word -behind Hazel's back (which, by the way, is not meant at all unkindly), -that you have been missing any conversation on the part of our little -church-goers. There hasn't been any conversation for ever so many -seconds. Hazel is waiting for Flutters to speak, and Flutters is getting -ready. At last he attacks the subject in hand, in short, quick little -sentences, as if it was not easy to say what must be said. - -“Miss Hazel, when I was at home I used often to go to church. I had a -little Prayer-Book of my own. _Somebody_ gave it to me; somebody that -I loved. When I was in the circus I kept my Prayer-Book with me. Every -Sunday I read it, from love of the somebody. Once in a great while when -we would put up near a church I used to get leave to go to it. I went -the very Sunday before I left the circus. I went to that very church -where we have been to-day. I sat in the back seat, and I heard their -father preach (indicating Milly and Tilly). It was a lovely sermon 'bout -bearing things. That was five weeks ago, and that was the thirteenth -Sunday after Trinity, so I calculated up to to-day, and, Miss Hazel, -when I ran away from the circus and dared not go back there were only -two things I minded about--the Prayer-Book and old Bobbin. To run away -from a dear little book that you loved, that's been a real comfort to -you, when you hadn't scarce anybody to turn to--why, it seems just like -running away from a dear old friend.” - -So that was the explanation of it all. Even Starlight felt touched by -Flutters's narration, while actual tears stood in the little Marberrys' -eyes. Hazel felt humiliated, an uncommon, but most beneficial sensation -for that hot-headed little woman. - -“Who gave you that Prayer-Book, Flutters?” asked the Marberrys--being -blessed with less tact than sympathy. - -“Flutters would have told us if he had wished us to know,” said Hazel. -And that considerate remark completely re-established the old friendly -relations between Flutters and herself, and then for a while the five -children trudged along in silence. Four out of the five were probably -pondering over all that Flutters had told them, and wishing that they -knew more about him. Flutters, feeling greatly relieved, was turning -over in his mind a perplexing question suggested by something the Rector -had said in his sermon that morning, for he was a thoughtful little -fellow, and when a matter bothered him was not content to dismiss it -without settling it to his own satisfaction. - -“Do folks believe?” he said, after the manner of one who has slowly -thought himself up to the point of putting a question, “do folks believe -that God makes everything happen?” - -“Of course they do,” said Milly Marberry. Tilly pressed her lips firmly -together and nodded “yes,” in a way that meant there was no doubt -whatever on the subject. - -“Well, suppose a poor woman had just one little boy, and the little boy -took the scarlet fever and died, did God make that happen?” - -“Yes, He did,” replied Milly and Tilly together, feeling, perhaps, that, -as daughters of the Rector, the answering of such a question belonged to -them. Starlight and Hazel willingly kept silent. They thought Flutters -was leading up to something, and preferred not to commit themselves. - -“Well, then,” said Flutters, but not irreverently, “I'd like to know -what He did it for.” - -Milly and Tilly showed their surprise at this question, but did not at -once reply, trying, perhaps, to decide what answer their good father -would make under similar circumstances. - -“Perhaps God saw the little boy would not grow up to be a good man,” - Milly ventured, feeling sure she had heard something like that said. - -“Perhaps,” said Tilly, for occasionally the twins did launch out on -independent lines of thought, “perhaps she loved the little boy too -much, and so God took him to make her trust more just in Him.” - -Flutters waited a moment, as though to consider matters; then he said, -seriously, “No, I do not believe what you say at all. I believe the -little boy caught the scarlet fever from somebody, and just died because -he wasn't strong enough to get over it.” - -“I don't believe it's right to think like that,” Hazel volunteered, for -the Marberrys looked very much shocked, “it's not believing in God at -all.” - -Now Flutters had not set out upon this discussion without first having -thought it out pretty clearly for himself, and so he was ready to -answer--“You are mistaken, I think, Miss Hazel,” with the same little -air of respect he always assumed in speaking to her, “because I believe -in God just as much as any boy could, and yet I think that. I think God -_lets_ things happen instead of making them. He lets sickness and -trouble come into the world, and so the sickness and trouble find the -people out, and sickness kills them if their bodies are weak, and -trouble kills them if their hearts and heads are, and--” - -“But, Flutters,” interrupted Starlight, “don't you believe God watches -over people and cares for 'em?” - -“Why of course I do, Starlight. If I hadn't thought that I don't know -what I would have done sometimes; but this is what I think--I think He -watches over us by helping us to bear things, and to get the best out -of 'em, and although I'm not very old, I'm old enough to know that -sometimes there is more good in a trouble-some thing than in a thing -that isn't troublesome at all. The people who are the kindest are often -the people who have had the most trouble.” - -“Well,” said Tilly Marberry, with considerable censure in her tone, “I -never heard a little boy talk like this.” - -“Neither did I,” sighed Milly, “and I should say such things ought to be -left to grown-up people.” - -“Well, then,” Flutters replied, “thinking 'bout things ought to be left -to grown-up people, too, but it isn't. I may think _different_ when I'm -grown up, but I don't believe I'll ever think harder than I do now, and -I can't help it either.” - -Meanwhile Hazel had been ransacking her brain for a half-remembered -text, and now she had it. “What do you make out of that verse about the -Lord _chastening_ whom He loves?” she asked. - -For the moment Flutters looked puzzled. The Marberrys signalled each -other by elevating their eyebrows as to the meaning of this last big -word of Hazel's, and asked, simultaneously, “What's chastening?” Then -for the moment Hazel looked puzzled, but Starlight came to her rescue. - -“I think it's taking away from a fellow lots of people whom he loves. -Having his mother die, and then his father, and then his little sister, -and things like that.” - -This remark of Starlight's flashed the light again in upon Flutters's -mind, and he found to his glad surprise that he was thoroughly prepared -to answer Hazel after all; but he began by asking Starlight a question. - -“But why, Starlight, does the Lord do that, do you think?” - -“Why--so as to make a fellow resigned. I think that's what they call it. -To make him just give up his own will.” - -“Excuse me,” said Flutters, with the air of one whose convictions are -very strong, “but I don't believe _that_ either. I don't believe the -Lord would take my father and mother and sister out of the world just -because He loved me and wanted to make _me_ better. I don't believe -I'm important enough for that, nor anybody else. If they all died close -together I should think it was because God's time had come for them, -quite outside of me, and that then the thing for _me_ to do, the thing -that He meant, was just to bear it as bravely as I could.” - -This was a long speech for Flutters, but the children were sufficiently -interested to follow every word of it, and Hazel asked, when Flutters -ceased, “But then what _does_ the chastening verse mean? It's in the -Bible, and I suppose you believe the Bible?” - -“Of course I believe it, but I know chastening doesn't mean anything -like that. Perhaps it means letting all sorts of bothersome things come -so as to have you get the best of them. A person what had never had any -bother wouldn't be much of a person, I suppose.” - -“Well, we _have_ had a talk,” said Starlight, for at this point the -discussion seemed to come to a natural close; and besides, they had -almost reached the Boniface gate. A moment later the Marberrys took -an affectionate leave of Hazel, with a “Good-bye” to Starlight and -Flutters, and trudged on to the rectory, half a mile farther up the -road, wondering, perhaps, if what Flutters had said had been wrong, and -provided they could remember it, if they ought not to tell their father. - -“Heigh-ho!” sighed Hazel, carefully putting away her Sunday cloak and -hat, “and to think that I thought the mulattoes were a savage tribe! -Why, really, I believe I never knew a boy who seemed to think so right -down into a thing as Flutters.” - -[Illustration: 0140] - - - - -CHAPTER XVI.--COLONEL HAMILTON “TAKES TO” HARRY. - - -[Illustration: 9141] - -RIGHT and early on the Monday succeeding the Van Vleet tea-party, Harry -Starlight set out for his call upon Colonel Hamilton. It proved to be a -clear, bracing morning, the kind of a morning to inspire hope in hearts -five times as old as Harry's, only fortunately there are _some_ hearts -that never grow old at all, and to whom hope is just as true and -beautiful-at sixty as sixteen. The moment he closed the door of the -kitchen behind him, he drew one great, deep breath, as though longing -to take in, in a permanent way if possible, all the exhilaration of the -invigorating air, all the marvellous beauty of the wonderful out-of-door -world. There had been a heavy frost the night before, but almost the -first flash of sunrise had transformed it into an army of glistening -drops, save where here and there, under the protecting chill of sombre -shadows, the grass-blades still were cased in sheaths of crystal. The -river was gray and white-capped, for the west wind would not leave it -still enough to reflect the cloudless blue overhead, and the “Gretchen” - tugged at her chain with various little creaks and groans, as though an -anchor and a furled sail were more than sail-boat nature could endure -when such a breeze was blowing. Indeed, as Harry freed her from her -moorings, she fairly seemed to bound out into the river with the keen -enjoyment of a creature alive in every part. It is hard to picture that -East River as it looked a hundred years ago, with wooded and grass-grown -banks in place of wharves and warehouses, and with only an occasional -sail, where to-day the great, unwieldy ferry-boats plow from shore to -shore, and an army of smaller craft steam noisily hither and thither. -Now and then Harry would pass a market-boat loaded to the water's edge -with a tempting array of vegetables, and rowed by a marketwoman in her -close-fitting Dutch cap, who would either wish him a cheery good-morning -in matronly fashion, or bend lower over her oars, as became a young -maiden. Half reluctantly did Harry hear the “Gretchen's” keel scrape the -pebbly shore, and exchange the breezy breadth of the river for the -city street, notwithstanding that street led straight up to Colonel -Hamilton's office. Then, somehow or other, he did not feel quite so -buoyant as at the start, for hope has a trick of wavering a little, -as she actually nears the verge of any decision. What if some one had -already secured the place? What if the Colonel should not take to him? -for Harry had great faith in and great respect for what may be called -“taking to people.” - -It so happened that he found only a boy in the Colonel's office, a very -dark little specimen of the negro race, who was brushing and dusting -away in a manner that said very plainly, “I's behin' time dis mornin',” - which, by the way, was the rule and not the exception in the life of -lazy little John Thomas. - -“What time does Colonel Hamilton usually come in? asked Harry, when he -saw that the boy was by far too busy to pay any attention to him. - -“'Long any minit; dat's how I's so flustered,” he replied, breathlessly, -and with that sort of haste which invariably makes waste, he -succeeded in upsetting all the contents of a generous scrap-basket -exactly in the middle of the office floor. “Glory me!” was his one -inelegant exclamation, and, dropping on to his knees, he began punching -the accumulation of trash back into the basket, but with an energy that -landed half of it upon the floor again. - -“Look here, I'll tend to that,” laughed Harry. “You see to your other -work.” John Thomas looked up surprised, but seeing the offer was made -in good faith, took Harry at his word, and flew to the office washstand, -which was sadly in need of attention. - -Just at this point there was a step in the hall, and glancing up from -his homely, self-appointed task, Harry's eyes met those of Colonel -Hamilton, while the color flushed over his face. - -“Well, my young friend,” said the Colonel, evidently much amused, “who -set you at that work?” - -“I was waiting for you, sir,” said Harry, putting the basket at one -side, “and as your boy seemed to have been delayed, I was trying to lend -a hand.” - -“Very kind of you, sir; and as John has a way of being delayed every -morning, he would no doubt like to make a permanent engagement with -you.” - -“I had rather you would do that, sir,” was on Harry's lips, but he -feared it might sound familiar; but Colonel Hamilton seemed to read his -thoughts. - -“Possibly you came to see about making an engagement with me,” he said, -kindly, looking for the moment most intently at Harry in a way that -showed he was mentally taking his measure. Meanwhile he had hung up -his coat and hat, and dropped into a high-backed, uncomfortable and -unpainted wooden chair, very different from the upholstered, revolving -contrivances that we find in offices nowadays. - -“Yes, sir,” said Harry, in answer to the Colonel's question, and -still standing; “I heard that you wanted a clerk, and I should be very -grateful if you would let me see if I could fill the place.” - -“What is your name?” - -“Harry Starlight Avery, if you wish it in full, sir.” - -“Will you be seated, Mr. Avery?” said the Colonel, with his habitual -kindly courtesy; whereupon John Thomas flourished a bedraggled feather -brush over a dusty chair--the same one upon which Hazel had sat during -her recent important interview--and placed it near the Colonel's, with -all the importance of a drum-major on parade. - -“I have heard the name of Starlight before,” Colonel Hamilton said -thoughtfully, “but where I cannot remember.” Then, and as though he had -no time to devote to mere rumination at that hour of the morning, he -asked, “Are you a native of New York, Mr. Avery?” - -“No, sir; my home is in New London.” - -“Then you are a long ways from it now” (for distances were distances in -those days); “how does that happen?” - -“I enlisted on a privateer,” Harry answered, coloring slightly. - -“So that is how,” and the Colonel gave him the benefit of another -scrutinizing look. - -“Have you ever had a position in a lawyer's office?” - -“No, sir; I am sorry to say I haven't; but it's just the sort of -position I have always wanted. Of course you would have to tell me just -about everything at the start, but not more than once, I hope, sir.” - -This is the right sort of spirit, thought the Colonel, beginning to run -through some papers on a letter-file, for, as usual, he had a very busy -day before him. - -“How long ago did you enlist on the privateer?” making a little -memorandum of some other matters on a sheet of paper as he spoke. - -“Nearly two years ago.” - -“How long were you aboard of her?” - -“Only a month, sir.” - -“And where were you the remainder of the time?” - -“On the 'Jersey,' sir.” - -There was no dividing of attention now, and the Colonel laid aside the -quill pen he had just filled with ink. - -“Do you mean to say you were a prisoner aboard of her?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“For nearly two years?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“That is enough for me. Any poor fellow that has braved the horrors of -that den for even a month ought to have the best sort of a chance. I -will engage you on the spot, Mr. Avery. If you have been a 'Jersey' -prisoner, that is enough for me. I am willing to try a 'green hand,' who -has had to endure that experience.” - -“You are very kind, Colonel Hamilton,” and Harry's grateful appreciation -showed plainly in his face. - -“Could you stay to-day,” asked the Colonel, “and let me set you right to -work at some copying? I think we can come to a satisfactory arrangement -about terms when I am not so hurried.” - -Of course Harry stayed--stayed through one of the busiest and happiest -days of his life; and not until twilight had long settled down on the -river did he step aboard of the “Gretchen” and set sail for the old Van -Vleet Farm. - -When the wind is right in your favor, and you have little to do but mind -your helm, you have a fine chance for a quiet think--that is, if you -are any sort of a sailor; and Harry improved the opportunity and thought -hard--thought of all that the day's good fortune might mean to him: of -ability to pay his own way for the first time in his life; of a little -money to be sent off now and then to the younger brothers in New London, -and then, in a vague sort of a way, of a home of his own some day. -Meantime all the while there would be the constant daily companionship -with Colonel Hamilton himself, who seemed to him (as indeed to many -another, and in the face, too, of his extreme youthfulness) at once the -noblest, the kindest, and by far the greatest man he had ever met. What -a pity, he thought, that he should have sided against Aunt Frances! - -But of one thing Harry felt sure, which was that he had certainly “taken -to” Colonel Alexander Hamilton; and there was another thing just as sure -which he did not know about, and that was that the Colonel had decidedly -“taken to” Harry. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII.--IN THE LITTLE GOLD GALLERY. - - -[Illustration: 9146] - -HE night for the first Dancing Assembly had come, and old Peter, John -Thomas's father and the janitor of the Assembly room, had done more -work in the last week than in all the whole five months between the two -seasons of social gayety. In an hour now it would be time for the guests -to arrive, and, arrayed in his best coat and knee-breeches, and with -nothing further to do, Peter sat on a three-legged stool at one end of -the hall, surveying his work with evident satisfaction. - -Presently there was the sound of several pairs of feet on the flight of -stairs that led up to the Assembly rooms, and Peter, craning his neck, -tried to make out who it might be without taking the trouble to get up, -for his old knees were very stiff from the unwonted exertions of the -week. - -Who it might be was quickly determined, for in a flash there stood -before him what seemed to him a veritable crowd of children, though in -point of fact there were only the two Marberrys, Hazel, Starlight, and -Flutters. - -“What you chilluns doin' heah? Dis heah ain't no place fur chilluns. You -better go right 'long home agin, I reckon.” - -Peter tried to speak gruffly, but they were not in the least -intimidated, knowing that it was all assumed. - -“Peter, we have a great favor to ask of you,”' said Hazel, who seemed -to be the ringleader of the little party. - -“'Tain't no sort o' use, Miss Hazel; can't 'low it no how;” for Peter -knew well enough what the favor was; “if I let you chilluns into dat -gall'ry, you'll keep up such a snickerin' and gigglin', you'll 'sturb -the whole Assembly. No, Miss Hazel; can't t'ink of it; can't 'low it no -how.” - -“Peter,” said Hazel, looking at him very searchingly, “are you going to -let anybody in there?” - -“Not a soul, Miss Hazel--dat is, not a soul 'ceptin' my John Thomas.” - -“Ah! I thought so,” said Hazel, exultingly; “and it isn't fair, Peter, -to do for Thomas what you won't do for us. We've come all the way into -town just to see the dancing, 'cause mother said she was sure there -wouldn't be any objection to our peeping through the gallery railing.” - -“Did she say dat, sure 'nuff, Miss Hazel?” And Peter put his head on one -side, and looked at Hazel in a very suspicious manner. - -“Yes, she did,” said Tilly Marberry, coming to the rescue; “I heard her -myself; and, Peter, we'll promise not to snicker.” - -“Nor giggle, either,” said Tilly's other self. - -“Which of you is which?” said Peter, slowly looking at the twins with -knitted eyebrows. - -“Oh, Peter, please don't stop to bother 'bout that now,” pleaded Hazel, -impatient of any digression from the main point; “but you _will_ let -us in, won't you?” whereupon the other children chimed in with such -imploring entreaties that the old janitor relented, and, getting on -to his feet with an evident twinge in his rheumatic knees, felt in his -coat-tail pocket for the coveted gallery keys. The good deed had its -reward then and there, in the beaming and grateful faces of the troupe -of little beggars. - -The gallery in question was a sort of balcony, projecting from the wall -at one end of the hall, midway between floor and ceiling, and to which -access was had by a steep little spiral stairway. This gallery was -intended for the musicians only; but between its gilded, bulging front -and the part of the platform on which they sat was a space where half a -dozen children might be comfortably accommodated. More than once, -when some reception or dance was in progress, Hazel, with a few chosen -friends in her train, had begged her way into this most desirable -retreat, and that was why Peter knew “what was up” the moment he saw -her. - -When they entered the little gallery, they found John Thomas there -before them, complacently installed in the most desirable place; but -they were far too thankful to have gotten in at all to grudge him his -privileged position. - -It was a funny sight to see the little company established in a row -behind the heavy gilded stucco work, which completely concealed them, -yet offered such convenient little loop-holes and crannies, from which -everything going on on the floor below could be plainly viewed. To be -sure, the arrangement of the platform obliged them all to sit tailor -fashion--rather a constrained position for those unaccustomed to it--but -what did it matter about one's legs and back when one's eyes were to be -feasted with lovely ladies and gallant gentlemen and the music they were -to dance to would be ringing in one's ears. - -“Doesn't the hall look lovely?” said Hazel, when at last she had -adjusted her lower extremities as comfortably as circumstances would -admit. - -“Lovely!” answered the Marberrys, each with a sigh of deep appreciation, -for it had not been an easy thing for them to gain permission to -accompany Hazel, and this was to be their first introduction to the -glories of a dancing assembly. - -“How everything shines!” said Flutters, quite lost in admiration of the -glittering brass sconces, with their bevelled mirrors and beautiful red -candles, and wondering greatly how any floor could ever be brought to -such a high state of polish. - -“'Course it shines,” said John Thomas. “It ought to shine. My father -hasn't been reachin' and rubbin', and kneelin' and polishin' fur free -weeks fur nuffin, I reckon.” - -“Did you help him?” asked Flutters, with admiration. - -[Illustration: 0149] - -“No, sah, I did not. I hasn't no time for polishin'. I assists in -Colonel Hamilton's law office,” and John Thomas proudly drew himself -up till his woolly head grazed the ridge of the gallery rail above -him. - -“What,” said Starlight', “are you the boy in Colonel Hamilton's office?” - -“I assists Colonel Hamilton,” John Thomas repeated, not being willing to -bring himself down to Starlight's offensive way of putting things. - -“Yes, I've heard about _you_!' said Starlight, with a mischievous -twinkle in his eye. - -“W'at you heard, I'd like to know!” - -“John Thomas,” came a voice from below, “don't let me hear anoder word -from you dis ebenin', else home you go to mammy right smart, I can tell -you, and de oder chiliuns long wid you too.” Old Peter had shambled out -to the middle of the floor to take one more satisfactory view of things -in general, and just in time to hear John Thomas's excited tones. His -words had the desired effect; the little gallery instantly relapsed into -absolute silence, the six children fairly holding their breath for fear -of the threatened banishment. People were beginning to come now. A few -gentlemen were already on the floor, and the musicians, who had taken -their places on the gallery platform, were drawing instruments, which -would look funny enough to-day, from the depths of clumsy green baize -bags, and beginning to “tune up.” - -“Tell me w'at you heard?” demanded John Thomas of Starlight, as soon as -he dared to speak again. - -“Oh, John Thomas, please don't!” begged Milly Marberry, putting her -little hand most beseechingly on his sleeve; “we've never been to an -Assembly before. We'd cry our eyes out if your father sent us home.” - -John Thomas yielded to this entreaty, but sullenly, as though he meant -to have it out with Starlight some day or other. Any slur upon his -character was just one thing that that young gentleman was determined -not to endure, and the sooner Job Starlight and the rest of the world -came to that wise conclusion, why, so much the better for everybody -concerned--at least, so thought john Thomas. - -It was a pity that at the commencement of the Assembly Hazel, Milly, -and Tilly could not have been in two places at once, for while only an -occasional couple strolled on to the dancing floor, the dressing-rooms -were crowded. There would have been a peculiar pleasure for those little -lovers of finery to see the pretty toilets gradually emerge from the -concealment of long cloaks and shawls, and to have studied the charming -vanities of peak-toed, high-heeled little slippers as the protecting -pattens were shaken off into the hands of maids, upon their knees before -their “ladies.” But at last the Assembly floor offered more attractions -than the dressing-room, and a long line of couples, constantly -reinforced by new arrivals, were promenading in stately fashion around -the hall. - -“There come the Van Vleets,” exclaimed Starlight, as Miss Francesca and -Miss Heide entered, each on the arm of an escort. - -“And if there isn't Miss Pauline,” whispered Tilly Marberry; “does _she_ -dance?” - -“Dance!” said Starlight; “well, I guess you'll think so when you see -her. She's just as graceful as a fairy.” - -“She's just as queer as a fairy, too,” remarked Flutters. “I wouldn't -care to be the one to dance with her; there'd be no telling what she -might fly off and do next.” - -“It's very distressing about Miss Pauline,” said Hazel, reprovingly; -“and, Flutters, you have no occasion to speak like that.” Hazel always -seemed to be specially successful in mustering large words when she felt -called upon to administer any reproof to this little servant of hers. - -“No occasion!” said Flutters, significantly, for the recollection of an -apple-tree and a crying maiden was not so far removed as to lose any of -its poignancy. - -“What do you mean?” questioned Hazel, with a puzzled frown. - -“Oh, nothing particular,” Flutters said, quickly, seeing what an -explanation might lead up to, and then he succeeded in changing the -subject by announcing the arrival of Captain and Mrs. Boniface. - -“Oh, doesn't mamma look lovely!” and Hazel's happy little face flushed -with pride. - -“Yes; and just look at Josephine!” sighed the Marberrys, simultaneously, -for those little women were so overcharged with delight as scarce to -be able either to speak or breathe in quite regular and commonplace -fashion. - -“Ah! _she's_ the girl,” said Starlight, who, whether from honest -admiration or a spirit of mischief, never lost an opportunity for -extolling the virtues and attractions of Hazel's older sister. - -“And she's drawn Harry Avery,” added Hazel, for once in her life adroit -enough not to betray any annoyance; “I don't believe she minds, either.” - -“Well, Harry doesn't mind, I know that much. Shouldn't wonder myself -if he managed to have it come that way.” Starlight evidently spoke from -knowledge of facts, for, like as not, Cousin Harry had foolishly taken -that small boy somewhat into his confidence. - -This “drawing” that Hazel spoke of was a queer custom of the olden days. -Partners for the evening were chosen by lot; they danced, walked, and -chatted with no one else, and when the dancing was over partook together -of such modest refreshment as rusks and tea. This arrangement was most -advantageous for the young ladies who were not specially attractive, for -by means of it the fairest and the plainest were treated exactly alike. -Now, for all this information, and much more beside, as I told you in -the preface, we are indebted to that delightful first chapter of Mr. -McMasters's History; but although you may not be old enough to care to -read that chapter for yourself, nor half old enough to be allowed to -attend a Dancing Assembly, nor fortunate enough to gain entrance to a -little mid-air gallery, where you could watch all the fine goings on -unobserved, yet I believe you are quite old enough to understand one -thing--and that is that the pleasure of those old-time assemblies must -have depended altogether upon the partner that fell to one's lot. A -wretched sort of a time, or an indifferent sort of a time, or a very -good time indeed--all lay within the possibilities of that one little -chance. So do you wonder very much, or do you blame them very much, -if those old-fashioned beaux, with their powdered hair, velvet knee -breeches, and silver shoe-buckles, “sometimes managed things,” as -Starlight said? At any rate, Harry Avery was supremely happy to have -Josephine Boniface fall to his lot, and if he hadn't been guilty of -“managing things” at all, why, all that remains to be said is that he -was a very lucky fellow. Miss Pauline formed the only exception to this -rigidly observed rule, as it was always an understood thing that her -brother Hans should be her partner, but being, as Starlight said, “as -graceful as a fairy,” and quite as light on her feet, it often happened -that some friend of the Van Fleets would beg a dance of Pauline, and -give the faithful brother a chance for “a turn” with his partner in -exchange. - -“Why, there's Aunt Frances,” exclaimed Starlight, suddenly spying her -seated in a chair at the farther corner of the room. “Did she come in -with the Van Vleets?” - -“Yes, I think so; and doesn't she look a picture!” said Hazel, fairly -feasting her eyes upon that much-loved lady. “And her dress, girls! -_isn't_ it lovely!” and Hazel, in her eagerness, gave Tilly Mar-berry, -who sat next to her, a good hard hug. “When I am forty or fifty, or -whatever age Aunt Frances is, I shall wear black velvet and soft old -lace about my neck just like that. Now I shouldn't wonder”--Hazel spoke -slowly, as if really giving the matter most thoughtful consideration--“I -shouldn't wonder if Aunt Frances was as pretty as Josephine when she was -a real young lady.” - -“I half believe I think she's as pretty now,” answered Starlight, -notwithstanding his constant championship of Josephine's superior -charms. - -“Who's she talking to, Starlight?” - -“I'm sure I don't know,” said Starlight. - -“Why, dat's Major Potter, a lawyer what practices down our way,” - volunteered John Thomas, “and dere! dere comes _my_ Colonel and Lady -Hamilton. Isn't she a booty? Where's your Aunt Frances now, Mars -Starlight?” - -“Just where she was before, John Thomas, the loveliest-looking lady in -the room. Lady Hamilton _is_ very handsome, though.” - -“Handsome! well, you'd better believe it; and de Colonel! now jus' look -at him, chilluns. Isn't he just too elegant! He jus' ought to be a king, -Colonel Hamilton ought ter, and he's dat kind, he wouldn't speak cross -to de laziest pickaninny in de land.” - -“Then I suppose he never speaks cross to you, John Thomas,” said Hazel, -significantly. - -“Dere ain't neber no 'casion, Miss Hazel,” and John Thomas looked as -though he considered her remark altogether uncalled for. - -“Ain't dere neber no _'casion?_” asked Starlight, perfectly imitating -the darkey dialect. “How 'bout dat mornin' when you upset de trash -basket in de middle of de office flo'?” - -“Dat mornin' was a 'ception, Mars Starlight, and it seems to me your -cousin, Mr. Avery, might fin' somethin' better to talk 'bout dan to be -detailin' de little events of de office.” - -It was great fun to hear John Thomas go on in this fashion. He had the -reputation of being the most amusing little darkey in the city, and when -they were not completely absorbed in watching the dancing, Hazel and -Starlight managed between them to keep him “going,” to the delighted -amusement of the Marberrys. - -Meantime the minute hand of the great white-faced clock at the end of -the hall was marking quarter to eight in no uncertain characters, and -Hazel had faithfully promised that at eight o'clock her little party -should turn their backs on the festivities, no matter how alluring and -absorbing they might happen to be at that particular moment. But it -sometimes happens that matters of considerable importance come to pass -within the limits of fifteen minutes--often, in fact, in much shorter -time than that, and this was true of the particular fifteen minutes in -question. - -And now, as this is already a pretty long chapter, I propose that we -stop right where we are, make a new one, and call it---- - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII.--MORE OF A RED-COAT THAN EVER. - - -[Illustration: 9155] - -HILE Hazel and Starlight, Flutters, John Thomas, and the Marberrys were -so hugely enjoying watching the people down there on the floor of the -Assembly, it so happened that some of the people were not enjoying -themselves at all. Indeed, quite the contrary; for not a few were acting -unkindly, and others were being treated unkindly; and if there is any -enjoyment for anybody in that sort of a proceeding, one ought to be -thankful not yet to have discovered it. - -You know how it came about that Colonel and Mrs. Boniface went to the -Assembly; it was simply because they felt they ought to. If the old -friends were truly sorry for having been so unfriendly, would it not be -ungracious for them to decline this invitation? Would it not look as if -they themselves were still harboring ill-feeling? And you also know that -Harry Avery had been consulted in the matter, and that his urgent advice -had been, “Go, by all means.” So the Colonel and his wife had decided -to accept quite in the face of all their preferences, and dreading the -ordeal far more than either was willing to confess to the other. But -alas! for the decision that cost them such a personal sacrifice, and -alas! for the hopefulness of Harry's buoyant temperament; for if Colonel -and Mrs. Boniface ever had reason abundantly to regret any step they had -ever taken, it was going to this Dancing Assembly; and if ever two proud -and sensitive hearts were stung to the quick, theirs were that evening. -It seems that Harry was mistaken in thinking that the invitation had -been sent because of a general desire to make amends to the Bonifaces. -True it was that two members of the Assembly Committee had insisted upon -their being invited, hardly thinking, however, that they would come; but -alas! in case they did come some other members had resolved to make -it very uncomfortable for them. Somehow or other nothing seems so -completely to change a warm human heart into something as cold and hard -as a stone as what men call a strong party feeling, and party feeling -ran very high in those days in which our great-grandfathers lived a -hundred years ago. That is to say, men felt so sure that their own -opinions were the only right ones that they fairly hated those who did -not agree with them. - -And so it happened that, with cheeks crimsoned from the insults they had -received, and with blood tingling to their very finger tips Colonel and -Mrs. Boniface left the room, sending word to Josephine (who had been -screened from any insult by Harry's chivalrous devotion) to follow them. -Hazel suddenly missed them from the crowd below, and knew in a flash -what had happened. Indeed, the color had flushed into her own round -cheeks as she thought she saw a Mrs. Potter, whose husband was a leading -Whig, pretend not to see that Mrs. Boniface had made a move toward -shaking hands with her. But “No,” she thought, “I must be mistaken; no -lady would be so rude.” So it would seem, little Hazel; but it often -happens that things are not what they seem in this queer world of ours; -and as Hazel's dear mother learned to her sorrow, several others who -called themselves ladies could be just as rude as Mrs. Potter, and some -of them yet more rude. Fortunately for the Mar-berrys and Starlight and -Flutters, the clock was just on the stroke of eight when Hazel made -her unhappy discovery, for she could not have borne to have sat there -another moment looking down on that brilliant company, many of whom, -looking so fine and attractive, were at heart so cruel. - -“Time's up,” said Hazel, starting to creep round to the little door at -the back of the gallery, and not trusting herself to say more than that -for fear a trembling voice should betray her suppressed excitement. - -Hazel was the acknowledged commander-in-chief of that little party, and -difficult as it was to turn abruptly from the fascinating scene, the -children dropped obediently on to all fours, and followed in her train. -The Marberrys' carriage was waiting at the door, and Flutters, after -helping the others in, climbed onto the box beside Jake, the driver. It -was wonderful the way in which he seemed always to know intuitively the -“proper thing” to do. He was constantly placed on such an equal footing -with the other children that it would have been only natural for him -to have frequently forgotten that, after all, he was only Miss Hazel's -little servant; but somehow or other he never did forget it; perfectly -free in his manner, and never in any sense servile, yet always betraying -a little air of respectful deference that was simply charming. Indeed, -body-servant or no, all the Bonifaces had grown to actually loving -little Flutters, and Flutters knew it and was radiantly happy. - -All the way home Hazel tried to be as merry as before. It would be such -a pity, she thought unselfishly, to spoil the Marberrys' good time; but -she did not succeed very well. - -“Are you tired, Hazel?” asked Milly, as they neared home. - -“Yes, awfully tired,” and with this admission the tears sprang into her -eyes; but fortunately it was too dark in the carriage for any one to -see them. “It's very uncomfortable,” she added, “to sit with your legs -curled under you so long as we had to there in the gallery.” - -“Do you think so?” exclaimed Tilly; “why, I could have sat there till -morning, and never known I had a leg, it was all so lovely!” - -“So lovely!” echoed Milly in a tone of evident regret that it was over. - -“Here we are,” said Hazel, as Flutters leaped down and opened the door -for her; “good-night, Milly” (a kiss); “good-night, Tilly” (another -kiss); “much obliged for the ride.” - -“Much obliged for the lovely time,” the Marberrys called back, for Jake, -impatient to get home and to bed, had immediately driven on. - -“Why, it looks as though your father and mother were home,” Starlight -exclaimed as they walked up the path. - -“Yes, they are home, I know that,” said Hazel, excitedly, “and Josephine -is home, and I know too that they've had a horrid time, and that -they'll never go to anything in New York again--never; and if there is a -cowardly set of creatures in the world it's the spiteful old Whigs.” - -Starlight and Flutters stood aghast, while Hazel flew past them into -the house, slamming the front door after her, as much as to say that no -exasperating Whig should ever enter it again, not even if his name was -Job Avery Starlight. - -The boys sat down on the step of the porch and conversed in dazed, -excited whispers as to what it could all mean. - -Hazel flew up the stairs into her mother's room and into her mother's -arms with one great sob. - -[Illustration: 0159] - -“Why, Hazel, my little daughter, what is the matter?” and Mrs. Boniface, -whom Hazel had found sitting in a low rocker at the window, still in -the dress she had worn to the ball, drew Hazel's brown head on to her -shoulder, and soothingly stroked the brown wavy hair; but the tears were -in her own eyes, and her heart was very heavy. - -Hazel could not speak at first for crying, but the caressing touch of -that dear hand was wonderfully calming, and presently she was able to -say, “I know all about it, mother. I know they treated you shamefully. I -saw that horrid old Mrs. Potter when she--” - -“Hazel! Hazel, dear, you must not talk like this.” - -“But it's true, every word of it is true, and tell me” (and Hazel -straightened herself up and looked through blinding tears into her -mother's face), “didn't they insult you? didn't they treat you very -rudely, and didn't you all come home on that account?” - -“Well, they certainly were not very kind, Hazel, and it seemed best for -us to come home; but it is not worth caring too much about, you know.” - -“And to think how friendly Mrs. Potter _used_ to be, and how much she -pretended to think of you, mother,” and Hazel becoming a little less -excited, thoughtfully turned the little turquoise ring on her finger -round and round, and shook her head sadly from side to side, as though -her faith in human nature was forever shaken, as indeed it had reason to -be. - -It was a pretty picture, albeit a rather sad one, the mother and -daughter, in the graceful costumes of a hundred years ago, sitting there -in the low studded room, dimly lighted by the little rush-light on the -mantel--a high narrow mantel, with the glowing embers on the andirons -beneath it crackling loudly now and then, after the manner of a good -fire that is slowly dying out. An oblong mirror, hung at a wide angle -from the wall, surmounted the high mantel, and reflected the little -rocker with its double load, and the pretty old-fashioned drapery at the -window. It was not often that that little mirror, nor any other mirror -for that matter, had the chance to frame a picture for itself full as -lovely as ever artist dreamed of. - -But while Hazel and her mother were talking, and Hazel herself was -growing calmer and Mrs. Boniface's heart lighter with the effort -to cheer her, some other things were happening in which we have an -interest. Captain Boniface was striding along the road that led on to -the Marberrys, trying to walk off the angry feelings that threatened -to get the mastery over him. There is nothing like a good brisk walk in -bracing air to get a feverish, excited mind into normal condition, and -the Captain knew it; but when the force of the angry mood had spent -itself, there still was left to him a sense of sad hopelessness for -which he saw no remedy. To have a little family on one's hands and no -money to care for them is enough to make the bravest heart heavy; but -to have reached that point, and at the same time to see every chance -of ever getting on one's feet again absolutely taken away, is enough -to break a man's spirit. And matters had come to just that pass that -evening with Captain Boniface. If the old friends had at last shown -themselves friendly, he would have felt there was a hope of his making -his services valuable to some of them, as indeed there would have been, -for every one acknowledged Captain Boniface to be a man of rare ability. -But it had now been shown him very plainly that there was no use -in longer trying to stem the tide of hate and prejudice that set so -strongly against him, and with the future a hopeless blank, he finally -turned his face homeward. But the other thing that was happening, and -in which we too have an interest, was of a cheerier sort, and was taking -place at the Assembly, which had only fairly gotten under way when the -Bonifaces left it. - -That old-fashioned law of a partner for the evening, to be chosen by -lot, of course applied only to the young folks, and the more staid, -middle-aged, and elderly people were free to chat with each other, else -why should they have cared to go to the ball at all? - -Now it happened that Aunt Frances, who was quite in ignorance of the -sad experiences of the Bonifaces, was having a most satisfactory -conversation with a Mrs. Rainsford, a near neighbor, whom she had -not seen since her flight from home nearly two years before, for Mrs. -Rainsford was able to answer a great many questions which Aunt Frances -had been longing to ask about her own home, and the care it was having. - -“No, I should not think the place had been greatly abused,” said Mrs. -Rainsford, while Aunt Frances sat, an eager listener. “Captain Wadsworth -moved his men down to the barracks at Fort George a month ago, and since -then he has been giving the house a thorough overhauling. You know he -has resigned his commission, and intends to remain in this country.” - -“Yes; and I know, too, that he intends to remain in my home,” sighed -Aunt Frances. “I wonder if he would sell it to me, though, for that -matter, it's as much mine to-day as it ever was. But there's no use to -talk about that either, for I have saved from the wreck barely money -enough to live upon.” - -“But, Miss Avery,” said Mrs. Rainsford in a serious whisper, that was -scarcely audible above the music, “I'll tell you one thing: I do not -believe Captain Wadsworth _will_ remain in your house very long.” - -“Indeed! why not?” and Aunt Frances's elevated eyebrows betrayed her -surprise. - -“Why, because it is going to be so very uncomfortable for all Loyalists -here in the city.” - -“I do not quite see what you mean, Mrs. Rainsford.” - -“No, of course not, dear,” replied Mrs. Rainsford (seeming to regard -Aunt Frances in the light of an older daughter, though, in point of -fact, there was but little difference in their ages.) “No, of course not; -your kind heart would never dream of such things as are happening on -every side. The leading Whigs, now that the Revolution has been -successful, say that they'll make this town too hot to hold a single -Tory, and, mark my words, they'll do it, too. Perhaps you haven't -noticed how the Bonifaces were treated tonight; they went home some time -ago.” - -“Why, Mrs. Rainsford, can that be possible?” questioned Aunt Frances, -looking vainly about the room in search of her friends; “I call that -cruelty of the most unwarrantable sort.” - -“Yes, it must be very humiliating to say the least; but then they have -brought it upon themselves, you must remember,” for Mrs. Rainsford was -herself a most ardent Whig, and thought the Loyalists, whether English -or American, should be made to pay very dearly for their behavior. - -“You ought to have seen your garden this summer, Miss Avery,” continued -Mrs. Rainsford, reverting to their former subject. “Captain Wadsworth -must be very fond of flowers. He took the best of care of it.” - -“I think I could not have borne to see it, Mrs. Rainsford.” - -“No, perhaps not, dear child; and to think that you really have -Alexander Hamilton to thank for it all. You must hate him. He is here -to-night, you know, with his young wife. I don't wonder she turned the -heads of the officers at Morristown. You know she went to visit her -aunt while Washington had his headquarters there, and Hamilton was his -aide-de-camp, and fell in--” - -“Sh--” interrupted Aunt Frances, who saw that Colonel Hamilton was not -very far off, and might easily overhear what they were saying; and, -indeed, he was not far off, for the very good reason that, in the -company of his friend, Major Potter, every step was bringing him nearer. - -Imagine, if you can, Aunt Frances's surprise when Major Potter, whom she -knew quite well, paused before her, and bowing low, with old-time grace -and courtliness, said slowly, “May I take the liberty, Miss Avery, of -presenting my friend, Colonel Hamilton?” - -[Illustration: 0163] - -Aunt Frances was, of course, greatly confused, though too much of a lady -to betray it; but Mrs. Rainsford, astonished beyond measure, and not -always at her ease, was quite glad to slip away from an interview that -promised to be, to say the least, embarrassing. - -Colonel Hamilton took the seat she left vacant. “I begged the favor of -an introduction, Miss Avery, and am very glad to meet you,” he said, -politely. - -“I must not doubt your sincerity, Colonel Hamilton,” Aunt Frances -replied with no little dignity, “but perhaps you do not recognize in me -the Miss Avery whom you lately defeated in the courts.” - -“On the contrary,” replied the Colonel with a deferential air, for Aunt -Frances was by many years his senior, “that is the very reason why I -wished to meet you. I feel myself to have been the cause--” - -“Excuse me, Colonel Hamilton, but I desire neither apologies nor -sympathy.” For with all her sweetness, Aunt Frances was high spirited; -she thought the Colonel's manner was a little patronizing. - -But Colonel Hamilton was high spirited too, and was on his feet in a -moment. “It was not my intention to offer either sympathy or apologies. -I bid you good-evening, Miss Avery.” - -But Aunt Frances said quickly, “In that case I should prefer you to -remain, Colonel Hamilton.” - -“Thank you,” and the Colonel, with no little dignity, resumed his seat, -while Aunt Frances condescended to add: - -“I did not mean to be rude, but I wished you to understand my position.” - -“It was because I wished you to understand mine that I sought this -interview, Miss Avery; but I see I have need to be very careful as to my -choice of words.” - -Aunt Frances smiled, as much as to say, “Quite right, Colonel Hamilton.” - -“I hope you realize,” he said, “that my argument in Captain Wadsworth's -case was founded on the most sincere convictions;” and the Colonel half -betrayed the admiration which Aunt Frances somehow inspired in him, -notwithstanding her high-spiritedness. - -“I never questioned that, Colonel Hamilton.” - -“So I felt I had reason to believe, when I found you had urged your -nephew to make application for the vacancy in my office.” - -“Why, I told Harry it was hardly necessary to volunteer the fact of our -relationship,” said Aunt Frances, with unconcealed surprise. - -“He evidently did not agree with you then, for he had been with me -scarce twenty-four hours before he told me he was your nephew. I suppose -you thought, if I knew it, that it might count against him; on the -contrary, let me assure you it has helped him. It is no light thing, -Miss Avery, to have done any one an injury, whether from conscientious -motives or not; and I shall welcome every chance to atone for it that -comes within my power. I can imagine, in part at least, what it -must mean to be banished from the home of a life-time under any -circumstances, and especially when you feel that you have still a -perfect right to be there.” - -This looked a little like sympathy on the Colonel's part, but it was too -kindly meant to be rejected. They were treading, however, dangerously -near the region of Aunt Frances's proud sensitiveness, so she changed -the direction somewhat by asking, “But Harry is able to rise on his own -merits, is he not, Colonel Hamilton?” - -“Abundantly; that was one thing I desired to tell you. He has unusual -capacity, and is remarkably efficient. I think his future assured. -As for me, it is a great satisfaction to know you do not question my -sincerity. And now, Miss Avery, I will not detain you longer, and will -say good-evening.” - -“Good-evening, Colonel Hamilton.” - -And so the Colonel went back to his pretty young wife in the farther -corner of the room, and Aunt Frances, with a tumult of thoughts in her -heart, rejoined the Van Vleets, and was glad to find them making ready -to go down to the clumsy barge, which, manned by two of the farm hands, -was waiting to carry them home across the moonlit river. How much she -had to think over; and what had Colonel Hamilton told her but that he -would lose no chance to atone for what his duty, as he understood it, -had compelled him to do. But one thing Colonel Hamilton had not told -her, but which was very true, nevertheless, and that was, that one of -the strongest impulses toward this same atoning had come to him in the -form of a call from a very earnest and winsome little maiden one sunny -September morning. “Yes, what may it not mean?” thought Aunt Frances, -and a hope that she had not dared to cherish for a long, long time -shaped itself once more before her. Perhaps it might come about that she -should have her home again some day; surely it was not impossible, since -Colonel Hamilton himself was enlisted in her favor. And _this_ was the -man whom she thought her worst enemy--whom she had said she would go a -long way to avoid meeting. Very thankful was she now that the Colonel -had given her no opportunity to carry out her intention. So there is -this comfort: if some sorry things happened at the Assembly, some other -things happened that were not sorry at all. - -Meanwhile poor Starlight and Flutters sat shivering on the front porch. -Captain Boniface had come home, but had quietly entered the house at the -rear, and the children had not heard him. - -“Really, I think we had better go in now,” said Flutters, as though he -had brought the same inducement to bear upon Starlight several times -before. - -“You may go if you like,” answered Starlight. “It's different with you, -you live here; but you don't catch _me_ going in at a door that's been -slammed in my face, unless the some-one who slammed it comes out and -gets me.” - -So Flutters stretched and yawned and shivered a moment longer, and then -decided to quit the dreary scene. - -“Now, don't you tell Hazel that I'm out here, Flutters. Promise me.” - -“Not if she asks me?” - -“No, not if she asks you fifty times.” Starlight was angry, and not -without reason, but he did not believe impetuous Hazel would give -him another thought, and so he looked about to see how he could most -comfortably pass the night on the porch, for he knew nowhere to go at -that late hour. Perhaps it _was_ a pity for a fellow to be so proud, but -he could not help it. He wondered if other people's pride made the blood -rush so hotly through their veins, and made their hearts thump like trip -hammers; there was one good thing about it, though: it helped to keep -him a little warmer out there in the chill November evening. - -Flutters groped his way forlornly to bed, for all the lights were out -in the house. He longed to knock at Hazel's door and tell her about -Starlight, and his hand actually doubled itself in a preparatory way -as he passed her door; but no, it would not do. Starlight would never -forgive him; besides, he had promised. - -But fortunately it was not to be an out-all-night experience, after all, -for Starlight. Hazel's room was directly under the roof of the high, -pillared porch, and as, just before getting into bed, she leaned out to -close the blinds, so that the morning sun should not wake such a tired -and sorrowful little body too early, she saw some dark thing lying under -the mat on the porch. At first she thought it was the Marberrys' dog, -who occasionally made them a visit, so she called, “Bruno! Bruno!” in a -penetrating whisper, but the dark object showed no signs of life. Then -she said, “Who is it?” and the dark object moved a little and replied -sullenly, “Who do you suppose?” - -“Why, Job Starlight, what are you doing out there; you'll catch your -death of cold.” - -“I know it,” said Starlight, for by this time even his pride had cooled -down a little, and his teeth were chattering, “and there'll be no one to -blame for it but yourself, Hazel Boniface.” - -“What do you mean?” asked Hazel; but as she spoke a conviction of just -exactly what he meant swept over her. “Haven't you been in since I left -you on the porch?” - -“No, I haven't been in since you slammed the door in my face and said if -there was a cowardly set of spiteful old creatures in the world it was -the Whigs.” - -“I did not call _you_ a----” and then Hazel realized that it was very -foolish, as well as very cold, to stand talking there in that way, so -she called down, “But wait a minute, and I'll come and let you in.” - Then she closed the shutters and hurriedly slipped into her wrapper and -slippers, and in a twinkling the hall lamp was lighted and the hall -door thrown open; but Starlight was in no hurry to enter--not he; he -was going to see this thing through in right dignified fashion, -notwithstanding, now that the prospect looked more cheerful, he could -himself see a funny side to the proceeding. - -“I did not mean _you_ were cowardly or spiteful, Starlight,” Hazel said -again. “I meant all the other Whigs. Do, please, come in.” - -“Then why did you slam the door in this Whig's face, I'd like to -know,” and Starlight was so gracious as to advance as far as the broad, -old-fashioned door-sill; “besides, all the other Whigs are not spiteful -and cowardly. Aunt Frances isn't, and----” - -“Starlight,” interrupted Hazel, “this is very mean of you. If you knew -what we'd had to bear to-night you wouldn't blame me for anything. I was -very angry, I know, but I am very sorry, and now--won't you please come -in?” - -Certainly this was as much as the most aggrieved of individuals -could desire, and Starlight walked in, and dignity and resentment and -everything else were forgotten as Hazel with tearful eyes told him of -the evenings experiences. “Yes,” she said at the close of her narration, -“I saw Mrs. Potter with my own eyes refuse to shake hands with mamma, -and if it hadn't been time then to come home I do not know what I ever -should have done.” - -Starlight drew a deep sigh, but Hazel had grown a full inch in his -estimation. It was real plucky in her to have kept her forlorn discovery -to herself all the way home; he could almost understand now how she had -slammed the door when she reached it. But what a shame it was that a -family like the Bonifaces should be so shamefully treated! “Well, it's -too bad, Hazel, that's all I can say,” he said; “but I suppose we may as -well go to bed. It must be very late.” - -“Why, where is Flutters?” asked Hazel, for the first time recalling his -existence. - -“Here,” answered a voice from the top of the hall stairway; “I was just -coming down to see if I could not make Starlight come in.” - -“I don't believe anybody could have _made_ him,” said Hazel; “the -Starlights must be a very proud family.” - -“So must the Bonifaces,” answered Starlight, with the shadow of a smile; -“but, then, I like proud families.” - -“And so do I,” said Hazel. - -A few moments afterward the little trio separated, and with the thought -of “Better late than never,” Starlight crept gratefully into the bed -of the little hall room, whose blankets and coverlid had been carefully -folded back for him, full five hours before, by Dinah's kind black -hands. - - - -CHAPTER XIX--A SAD LITTLE CHAPTER - - -[Illustration: 9169] - -OT a bright outlook certainly, but then, you see, it is to be only a -little chapter. - -Some people think that children's books ought to be cheery and bright -from cover to cover, and so they ought--that is, for the very little -children; but when they have gotten beyond the days of rhymes and -jingles and colored pictures, and have wit enough and appreciation -enough to enjoy a chaptered story, then I, for one, think the stories -should be true to life. To be sure, the charm of such delightful and -purely impossible tales as “Alice in Wonderland” and “Water Babies” lies -in the fact that they do not pretend to be true to anything in the world -save the enchanting-caprice of the people who write them; but when one -comes to place a story in a real time, and put real people in it, then -it is bound to be true to the real things. - -Then one certainly does not need to be, say, more than seven years old -to get at least an inkling of the truth, that the real things of life -are not always bright things. But there is no use of dwelling at too -great length upon these same sorrowful experiences, and so for that -reason we are going to try to make this a short chapter. And now, to -tell you right away what the sad thing was, for fear your lively -imagination should be conjuring up something yet more sad than the -reality, though the reality was sad enough, since it was nothing more -nor less than that, when Captain Hugh Boniface woke on the morning after -the Assembly, he found that he could move neither hand nor foot. The -eager mind worked as actively as ever, but not a muscle would respond to -the great, strong will, and the Captain knew--knew beyond all -hoping--that he was completely paralyzed, and that in all probability, -as far as ever rendering any real service to that blessed little family -of his was concerned, he had better, from that time, be out of the world -than in it. - -It is needless to tell you very particularly with what foreboding the -alarming news spread through the little household, nor how breathlessly -they all waited for old Dr. Melville's verdict as he came from -the Captain's room a few hours later. Nor of how, in spite of his -encouraging words, that bade them be hopeful, they read that in his kind -old eyes which plainly told them that he felt there was little enough to -ground any real hope upon. - -“Yes,” said Dr. Melville, gravely, as Mrs. Boniface followed him to -the door, at the close of one of his professional visits, “I feared -something of this sort might be in store for the Captain. He has been -into my office several times complaining of certain wretched benumbing -feelings that we doctors dread to hear acknowledged. But it's not -strange, Mrs. Boniface, not strange at all; he's been through enough -to break down the strongest constitution. There was a sight of mischief -already done when they brought him home from Lexington in '75, and then -all these years of worry and excitement have not helped matters.” - -“But, doctor,” said Mrs. Boniface, nerving herself to ask the question, -“do you think he will never be any better?” - -“I doubt if he ever walks again, Mrs. Boniface.” - -“Do you mean, Dr. Melville, that it is your opinion that he never _will_ -walk again. You must be very frank with me, else I cannot tell how to -plan for the future.” - -“Well, then, since you are a brave woman, and I know you mean what you -say, I will give you my honest opinion, which is this: that your good -Captain will probably, at least in a degree, regain the use of his hands -and arms, but never, I fear, of his lower limbs.” - -It was not easy for Mrs. Boniface to hear her fears put thus plainly -into words, but it was best, she felt sure, that she should know the -worst. - -Meantime the days dragged wearily along for Captain Boniface, and yet -brought with them one glorious revelation. Never before had he known -quite so fully what an all-powerful love there was in his heart for that -dear wife of his. It was a privilege simply to be able to watch her as -she moved so quietly about the room, and to listen to the sweet familiar -voice; and was it not abundant cause for thankfulness that he was still -in the same world with her, though no longer able to move about in it. -But what were they going to do? That, of course, was the thought that -gave him greatest anxiety. The sum of money in the bank had been growing -more and more slender with every year of diminished income, until now -there was scarce enough left to tide them over more than another twelve -months, and then only with the strictest economy. But the good Captain -did not have to meet this dread question alone, and in the twilight of -a November afternoon he had talked it all over with his wife, and as -the result of that long, quiet talk they had decided that Mrs. Boniface -should write for aid to her father, a clergyman, living alone in a -little ivy-grown rectory in the South of England. But it was not easy to -come to this decision. They hesitated to intrude their heavy anxieties -upon the good old man, whose own income was by no means ample. But there -was simply no one else to whom they could turn, and they knew he would -gladly give them any help within his power. - -“And now, Hugh, there is nothing for us to do but to wait till the -answer to my letter comes, and do let us try not to worry,” said -Mrs. Boniface when the long talk was over, and they did try, and they -succeeded, and right in the face of the heaviest trial they had ever -known there was peace and even an added sweetness in the Boniface home -life. The new trouble knit all hearts closer together; they realized -more keenly than ever before how much it was just to have each other, -and they cared far less than such a little while ago they would have -thought possible for the insults of people who, after all, had been -friends only in name. But half the secret of the bravery of the little -household lay in the fact that the Captain himself was so brave; but -often, of course, his courage was strongly tested; seldom more strongly -than when little Kate would come running to the side of his bed, and he -felt himself powerless to lift her to a seat beside him or to romp with -her as he used to love to do. - -One afternoon, when he was alone in the room, he heard the patter of her -little feet on the stairway. He could count each step, for, after the -necessarily slow fashion of very little walkers, she had need to plant -both feet on one step before attempting another. But at last the patient -little climber was where she wanted to be, and said, without stopping to -think, “Lift me up, papa, please.” - -“Ah! Kate, you always forget papa can't do that,” and the Captain's eyes -grew misty. - -“Oh, yes, I did fordet,” Kate answered, with a world of regret in her -tone; and then she laid her chubby head on her father's arm and tenderly -stroked the great brown hand as though she loved him more than ever now, -and for the very reason that he was so helpless. - -“Kate,” said her father, when he felt sure that he could speak and yet -keep his voice steady, “you are such a darling, Kate.” - -“Mamma said that a little while ago,” answered her little ladyship -calmly, “and Josephine said it yesterday twice, and then Hazel said -something like it too. I _dess_ I was never quite so nice as lately.” - -“I guess you were never quite such a comfort,” smiled the Captain. “But -then you must not grow too set up about it.” - -Kate did not pay much attention to this last remark; she had decided on -a little plan, and was putting it into execution. She pushed a chair to -the side of the bed and mounted, by aid of its round, to its seat; from -there it was an easy climb to the bed; and then, shoving the chair away -with a push of her little foot, she turned to her father with a sigh of -honest satisfaction, such as no mere “lifting up” could possibly have -occasioned. - -[Illustration: 0173] - -Evidently she had come to stay, the blessed little sunbeam, and -straightway the Captain began to rack his brain for the story that he -knew well enough in a moment would be asked for, and for the sort that -would be likely to keep her attention longest. No one could tell so good -a story as the Captain, and no one could tell it as well--at least, that -was the verdict of Starlight and Flutters, of Hazel and the Marberrys, -and a few other little folk who now and then had the pleasure of hearing -him. Little Kate was delighted with the fact that she was to be favored -with “the first story since papa fell ill,” and, I fear, took a little -selfish delight in the fact that she was the only listener. As for the -story, it proved a fine one, with some very queer little people in -it, who did most outlandish things, and Kate sat entranced till it was -finished, and then, laying her head down on her father's shoulder, “just -to think it over,” fell fast asleep instead, and did not waken, even -when the Captain, hearing Josephine's step in the hall, called her in -to throw something over her. And then, after a while, what with Kate's -regular breathing as she lay on his helpless arm, and what with the -light in the room growing dim and yet more dim as the glow faded out -of the sunset, the Captain fell asleep too, and all was so tranquil and -peaceful that it seems almost as though we had made a mistake in calling -this “A Sad Little Chapter.” - - - - -CHAPTER XX--FLUTTERS COMES TO A DECISION - - -[Illustration: 9175] - -LUTTERS had something on his mind, and this in addition to all the cares -and anxieties of the Bonifaces, which he took upon himself every whit as -fully as though he actually belonged to the family. But the something -in question was a little private affair of his own, an affair, however, -that insisted upon filling most of his waking thoughts, and finally, -after looking at it in every possible light, he arrived at a decision. - -When a person has been thinking about a matter and turning it over and -over in his mind, a decision is a glorious thing to come to. It is -such a relief, after standing helpless in a perfect maze of doubt and -hesitation, to find a straight path opening up before you. At any rate, -Flutters's sensations were quite of that order, as late one afternoon he -went to Mrs. Boniface and asked if she could spare him to go into town -for a few hours. - -“Certainly, Flutters,” if it is necessary for it was the first time -Flutters had made a request like that, and she wondered what the little -fellow was up to. - -Flutters seemed to read her thoughts and answered, “It is necessary, -Mrs. Boniface, but I would rather not tell you what I want to go for, if -you are willing to trust me.” - -“Certainly, I'll trust you, Flutters,” was the answer that made his -heart glad; for it is such a fine thing to be thoroughly trusted, and -the haste with which he donned his coat and hurried from the house -showed that, at least in his estimation, the something to be done was as -important as necessary. - -Along the frosty road, in the November twilight, the little fellow -trudged at a brisk pace, now and then breaking into a full run, as -though in his eagerness he could not brook the delay of sober walking. -White, fleecy clouds were scudding across the sky, as though making -way for the moon which shone out whenever they would let her, and whose -silvery beams were following so closely in the wake of the daylight as -to create one earth night in which, as in Heaven above, there was to be -no darkness at all. - -But Flutters, like many another preoccupied fellow-mortal, saw naught -of its beauty, only noting his surroundings sufficiently to take the -straightest road to his destination. - -Finally, he brought up at the barracks of Company F at Fort George, -which company, as you remember, we learned from Mrs. Rainsford, was no -longer quartered at the Avery homestead. - -“Is Sergeant Bellows here?” Flutters asked, breathlessly, of one of the -first men he met. - -“He be,” answered the man, with provoking slowness, “but I doubt if -he'll see ye the night, he turned in early with a headache.” Flutters -looked crestfallen. “You sail for England day after to-morrow, don't -you?” > - -“We do that,” answered the man, “and it's with pleasure we'll be after -shaking the dust of the place off us.” - -“But I must see Sergeant Bellows before he goes,” said Flutters, -pathetically. “Do you think he'd mind if I disturbed him just for a -minute?” - -“Maybe not,” said the man, “the Sergeant's that good-natured. You'll -find him in bunk No. 6, in the front room above-stairs.” - -So Flutters climbed the stairs and entered the great cheerless room, -with its row of uncomfortable-looking bunks lining the wall. A candle -was burning in a tin candlestick at one end of the room. Flutters went -on tip-toe and brought it so as to inspect the numbers of the bunks, and -make no mistake, for he could see that two or three other men had also -“turned in.” - -“'Who's there?' asked Sergeant Bellows.” - -No. 6 was half-way down the room. “Sergeant Bellows,” said Flutters, in -a penetrating whisper, screening the candle flame with his hand, so that -it should not shine in the Sergeant's face. - -[Illustration: 0177] - -“Who's there?” asked Sergeant Bellows, raising himself on one elbow and -bewildered at the sight of his unexpected visitor. - -“It's only me, Flutters, and I hope your headache isn't very bad, 'cause -I wouldn't have disturbed you for the world, only I almost had to.” - -“Oh, that's all right,” said the Sergeant, kindly, “but it'll take me -a moment to get my wits to working, although I wasn't rightly asleep -either. Here, set the candle on the shelf, and run get that stool yonder -for yourself.” - -Flutters felt relieved thus to have the Sergeant take in the situation -at a glance, and realize that he had come with a purpose. - -“I was coming up to Kings Bridge to-morrow to say good-bye,” the -Sergeant said, rather sadly, when Flutters had seated himself beside the -bed. “How are they up there?” - -“Why, they're not well at all--that is, you know, don't you, about the -Captain's being paralyzed all over?” - -“No, by gracious! paralyzed! Do you mean he can't move hand nor foot?” - -Flutters sorrowfully shook his head yes, as though words failed him. - -“You don't mean it,” said the Sergeant, sorrowfully; “but tell me all -about it,” and then Flutters told him everything about the Bonifaces -that he thought could by any possibility be of any interest to him, till -at last he felt justified in introducing his own little matter. - -“But what I came to see about was this--” - -“Oh, to be sure,” said the Sergeant. “I had almost forgotten to wonder -what brought you here.” - -“Well,” said Flutters, solemnly, “I have a great favor to ask of you, -Sergeant.” - -“You're not giving me much time to do it, then,” said the Sergeant, -“seeing as every British soldier quits the city day after to-morrow.” - -“That's the reason I came,” answered Flutters, excitedly, “it's in -England that I want the favor done.” - -“Why, what have you to do with England, I'd like to know?” with evident -astonishment. - -“Why, England was my home,” Flutters answered, rather proudly; “don't -you know I belonged to an English circus?” - -“Why, so you did; I'd forgotten about that.” And then there was a little -pause, while the Sergeant waited for further developments, and while -Flutters was meditating how he had best put his case. - -“I once heard you say, Sergeant, that your old home was somewhere in -Cheshire, and that's where my father lives. His name is Wainright.” - -“Then your name is Wainright, too,” said the Sergeant; “Flutters -Wainright, eh?” - -“No, Arthur Wainright's my name. Flutters is a name they gave me in the -circus, because I used to be so scared when I first began to have a hand -in the tumbling.” - -“But look here,” said the Sergeant, in rather gruff, soldier-like -fashion, “if you've a father and he's living, why aren't you living with -him 'stead of being away over here among strangers? Ye're not a runaway, -are ye, Flutters?” - -“Yes, I am,” said Flutters, scanning the Sergeant's face closely to -watch the effect of his confession. “I had to do it, Sergeant. I was in -the way at home. My mother was a colored lady, but she died in India, -and then my father took me to England and married a white lady, and -there were some white children and I wasn't wanted. They used to say I -was such a queer, dark little thing.” - -“Blest if I blame you, then!” said the Sergeant, whose heart was touched; -“but does your father know you're in good, kind hands. I suppose he -cared more for you than the rest of 'em did?” - -“Yes,” said Flutters, “and so I felt I ought to let him know, and I -thought perhaps if you didn't mind, you'd hunt him up when you get over -there, and tell him 'bout me, and how happy I am, and that I send my -love.” - -“But then he might be sending for you to come back. Have you thought of -that, Flutters?” - -“Yes, I've thought of it, but it isn't likely, Sergeant. He knows I'm -not wanted there; but anyhow, it seems to me I ought to let him know now -that I'm so well cared for.” - -“That's so,” said the Sergeant, pausing a moment to give the matter due -consideration. “I think you're right about it, and I'll hunt your -father up just as soon as I can get my furlough and run down to see my -relatives in Cheshire.” - -“Here's my father's name and address,” said Flutters, taking a slip of -paper from his pocket, “and when you write to me just direct 'Flutters,' -care of Captain Boniface. I don't want them to know about me up there. -I just want them to think of me as an ordinary little darkey, and not -above any sort of work.” - -“That's very good of you,” replied Sergeant Bellows, tucking the -precious little paper under his blue gingham-covered pillow; “not every -boy would be so considerate as to think of that, but then it's a mighty -nice berth for you, too. I'd give a good deal myself to live with the -Bonifaces.” - -“But you are glad to go home, aren't you?” Flutters asked, with some -surprise. - -“No doubt I shall be glad to see old England again, but once I've seen -it that's all I care for. It's different with most of the men. Some of -them can hardly speak for joy at the thought, and that makes some of -the rest of us who haven't any homes to go to very wretched with--well -I guess you'll have to call it not-any-home-sickness. It's half what is -the matter with me to-day; and Andy there in the next bunk, who lost a -wife and baby years ago in England, he'd a sight rather keep his back -turned on everything that belongs to it. But there's no help for it. -A soldier had best not have any will of his own, nor any preferences -either, if he knows what's good for him.” - -Flutters did not know what reply to make to all this, though feeling -very sorry for the old Sergeant, and so he began to button his coat -together, and said: “I guess I'd better go now. I hope I haven't made -your headache any worse, Sergeant?” - -“Never you fear. It's done me good to talk with you, Flutters. It was -more of a heartache than a headache, you know. I had one of those blue -streaks, when a fellow feels he isn't of any use in the world; but if I -can carry a message from you to your father 'way across the great ocean, -I must be of a little use still, so I'll turn over and go to sleep as -a sensible old codger should,” and, suiting the action to the word, -Sergeant Bellows rather unceremoniously “turned over” and pulled the -gray army blanket half over his head. - -“Good-night, then,” said Flutters, rising and taking the candle from the -shelf. - -“Good-night,” yawned the Sergeant, as though already half asleep. “I'll -be up to the Captain's in the morning.” - -Flutters set the lighted candle back where he had found it, and then -made his way out as quietly as possible, and the moonbeams and the quiet -once more had the room to themselves; and, unless thoughts were too -active or hearts too heavy, there was no reason why Andy and the -Sergeant should not have dropped off into the soundest of naps, at any -rate, until the rest of the men should turn in an hour or two later, -when there would, no doubt, be noise enough to wake the best of -sleepers. - - - -CHAPTER XXI--SOME OLD FRIENDS COME TO LIGHT - - -[Illustration: 9182] - -T was a comfort to have that matter off his mind, and, whatever might -come of it, he had done the right thing. Such were Flutters's thoughts, -as with hands plunged deep in his overcoat pockets, he started for home. -To be sure, there was no knowing what might happen. What if his father -should write to Captain Boniface and tell him that he (Flutters) was a -naughty little runaway, and advise him to have nothing more to do with -him? or suppose he should direct to have him sent right back to England, -what would he do? Why, then, he thought he'd simply run away again, -only that would not be an easy thing to do after having been treated so -kindly by the Bonifaces. But, as he had himself told the Sergeant, it -was not at all probable that this would happen; and so, like the logical -little philosopher he was, he decided to think no more about it, and, if -taking the advice of the old hymn, he “gave to the _winds_ his fears,” - it was no time at all before they were blown far behind him. During the -half hour that he had spent with the Sergeant, a cold northwest blow had -set in, making it far more comfortable for him to bend his head downward -as he ran, and not take the wind full in his face. And this same -northwest wind was playing all sorts of pranks with every pliable thing -it could get hold of. The bare branches of the trees were swaying and -crackling, withered leaves were swirling round in eddies and rustling -loudly, gates were creaking on their rusty hinges, and, just as Flutters -had reached a point in the road where an old hut stood, the blustering -wind caught the only shutter remaining at one of its windows, and -slammed it to with a bang that fairly made him jump. Looking toward the -hut that had been deserted for years, Flutters saw a faint light shining -out through the half of the window that was not screened by the closed -shutter. - -“That's queer,” he thought; “who can be living there?” and then, instead -of running on without giving the matter another thought--as some boys, I -think, would have done--he walked softly in at the gateway that had long -lacked a gate, straight up to the window and peeped in; nor was it mere -curiosity that prompted him to do it either. Flutters knew that no one, -under ordinary circumstances, would be there; nothing short of utter -homelessness would make anybody seek shelter in that wretched place, and -so he felt the matter ought to be investigated, and he was not afraid to -be the one to do it. And what do you suppose he saw through the -broken pane? Something that would have made the tears come into almost -anybody's eyes, but something that made Flutters's heart fairly stand -still. - -The only furniture of the room was a three-legged stool on which a bit -of candle was spluttering, fastened to the stool by the melting of its -own tallow, and there beside it, on a bundle of straw, lay an old man; -and it took but one glance from Flutters's astonished eyes to see that -the man was Bobbin, the old circus drudge. In another second he had -pushed the door open and was kneeling at his friend's side, and stroking -his cold, wrinkled hand. - -“Why, who is it?” asked Bobbin, in a cracked, weak voice; “I can't -rightly see, somehow, but it's good to know some one has come.” - -“Why, it's me, Bobbin, don't you know me?” said Flutters, scarcely able -to speak with emotion. - -A bright smile lighted up the old man's face. “Ah! I thought He'd send -somebody. He did send you, didn't He?” - -“No, nobody sent me, Bobbin. I was just going by, and I saw the light, -and I peeped in and then I saw you.” - -The old man shook his head, as much as to say that he believed that the -good Father had sent him, nevertheless. - -“I'm glad you were the one to come,” he said, presently; “there's nobody -I'd rather have had than you, Flutters. You were always a kind little -chap to old Bobbin.” - -Flutters did not say anything--he couldn't. He just pressed the wrinkled -hand a little harder as it lay in his. - -“You see, Flutters,” said Bobbin, presently, “I think I am going home -to-night, and it was kind of lonely not to have somebody to care for me. -Not that I mind going. I'm not a bit afraid, Flutters. I have done the -best I could with the poor chance I had, and God will forgive the rest; -don't you think so, Flutters?” - -Flutters nodded his head, and then he said in a moment, when he thought -he could control his voice: “But, Bobbin, I do not believe you are going -to die. You need food and fire and clothes to warm you, and I am going -right off to get them for you.” - -“Oh, no, please don't,” pleaded the old man, putting what little -strength he had into his hold on Flutters's hand. “I don't want food -nor anything. I just want to go, and it won't be long. Promise me you'll -stay till morning, Flutters.” - -There was no gainsaying the entreaty in Bobbin's voice, and so Flutters -said: “I promise you, Bobbin;” and, with a gratified sigh the old man -turned on his side and soon fell asleep. After a while, when Flutters -dared to move a little, he piled the loose straw that lay about him as -closely as possible over Bobbin, and finally decided to dispense with -his own warm coat, for the sake of stuffing it in the hole of the little -paneless window through which the wind was keenly blowing. - -Then, after another hour of motionless watching, during which Bobbin -still lay sleeping as quietly as a child, it occurred to Flutters to try -and make a fire in the blackened fireplace. Some old bits of board were -lying in one corner of the room, and, piling them on the hearth, he -easily succeeded in kindling them with a bundle of straw lighted at -the candle. At first he was afraid that the crackling of the wood would -waken the old man; but, undisturbed, he slept quietly on as though his -mind was perfectly at rest, now that Flutters had come to care for him. - -“I do not believe he is going to die,” thought Flutters, after he had -again sat motionless for a long time, and then he crept close on hands -and knees to look into his face, and to listen if he was breathing quite -regularly; and there, bending over him, what did he see but something -that made his heart bound for joy, though it was nothing but the corner -of a little book showing itself above the ragged edge of one of Bobbin's -pockets. And no wonder he was glad, for he knew in a moment that it was -his own little Prayer-Book. - -[Illustration: 0185] - -At first he thought he ought not to touch it for fear of waking - -Bobbin, but how could he help it, and so, as gently as possible, he drew -it out from its hiding-place, and crept back to the candle. I suppose -we can hardly imagine what the finding of this old friend meant to -Flutters. There was his own name on the fly-leaf, in his mother's -writing, together with the date of his birth. Here was the proof, if he -ever cared to use it, that he had once known a mother's love, and that -was a deal more than some of the world's waifs could lay claim to, and -besides, he loved the book for its own sake, for the beautiful words and -thoughts that were in it. And to think Bobbin had kept it safe for him -all these weeks; Flutters began to think that perhaps the Lord had sent -him to Bobbin after all. And so he fell to wondering, as many an older -head full often wonders, as to how much mere chance has to do with the -happenings of this world, and how much the careful guiding of a Heavenly -Father; but that the Father above has a great deal to do therewith is no -longer a question in the minds of many of us. - -Meantime it was growing very late, for the clock on the town-hall was -on the verge of striking twelve, and the moon was high over head. But -Bobbin still slept on, and Flutters dared not leave him. What would Mrs. -Boniface think, and how disappointed she would be to find that he was -not to be trusted; but there was his promise to Bobbin, and he could -not go, so he did the next best thing, he lay down by his side under -the protection of the friendly straw and himself fell asleep, while the -red-hot embers in the fireplace glowed and crackled as though anxious to -make the place as comfortable as possible. - -Bobbin did not die that night; he woke with the first ray of sunlight -that reached the hovel, but he found his faithful little watcher awake -before him. Flutters thought he looked surprised, and perhaps a little -disappointed, to find his eyes opening again in this world; at any rate -he sighed a little wearily as he seemed slowly to realize where he was, -then he looked up to Flutters's face and said, with a grateful smile, “I -knew you would keep your promise. I knew you would not leave me.” - -“But you will let me go _now_, Bobbin, won't you?” said Flutters, with a -world of entreaty in his voice, and wondering what he would do if Bobbin -still proved obdurate; “you see I haven't lived so very long with the -Bonifaces, and they'll think I've run away, and be sorry they ever -trusted me. I'll make up the fire before I go, and I'll be back soon -and bring you something to eat and something perhaps to make you more -comfortable.” - -“Yes,” said the old man, after what seemed to Flutters a long pause, -“I'll let you go, but not for long, mind that, Flutters; 'cause now -that I can't do a thing for myself, I believe the Lord says, 'Flutters, -you're to take care of old Bobbin till the time comes for me to take him -away and care for him myself.'” - -“I believe so, too,” answered Flutters, pushing the thin, gray hair back -from the old man's forehead, and trying to make him look a little less -unkempt and neglected, “and never you fear but I'll do it, Bobbin.” - -Then in a moment Flutters was gone, fairly flying home along the -road, and when he reached the house not stopping so much as to say -good-morning to old Dinah, who was opening the kitchen windows, and -started back as though she had seen a ghost; but straight past her, and -straight up to Captain Boniface's room. Mrs. Boniface slept on a little -cot in the corner of the room nearest the door, and Flutters thought, -and, as it proved, thought rightly, that he could give a gentle knock, -and waken her without disturbing the Captain. - -“Who is there?” asked a sweet, low voice, a voice whose every intonation -Flutters had grown to love. - -“It's only me--Flutters,” came the ungrammatical whisper, “but I wanted -you to know that I'm home all right. Nothing happened to me, but I came -across an old friend of mine, and I had to stop and take care of him.” - -“Wait a moment, dear,” Mrs. Boniface answered, not caring in the least -that it was by no means customary to address little mulatto servant-boys -in that familiar fashion. Like dear old Janet, in McDonald's beautiful -story, Mrs. Boniface was “one of _God's_ mothers,” with a mother-love -broad enough and deep enough to shelter every little creature who, like -Flutters, needed and longed for the protection of a brooding wing. - -Flutters sat down on the wood-box in the hall and waited, and in a -moment Mrs. Boniface in her soft, blue wrapper, was seated beside him -and he was outpouring with breathless eagerness the night's experiences, -winding up, when all was told, with, “and I promised to go back as soon -as ever I could.” - -And Flutters did go back as soon as he could, and Josephine and Hazel -went with him; and food and clothing, and blankets and towels went too, -and a dozen other things, such as any one would know would add greatly -to the comfort of a sick old man who had lain down, as he thought, to -die, in an empty and wretched dwelling. Later in the day, when some of -the nearer neighbors had heard Bobbin's sad story, they were anxious, -too, to do something for him, and before nightfall you would hardly have -known the poor little shanty. One of them had sent a cot, and Bobbin had -been lifted on to it; another, two or three chairs, one of which was a -comfortable old rocker, and a third a table and some necessary cooking -utensils. Indeed, Bobbin's story, as he narrated it to the little group -gathered around him that morning after Flutters had found him, was sad -enough to touch anybody's heart. - -“I kept on with the troupe,” he told them, “till we got almost to -Albany, but I was getting weaker almost every day, and I missed Flutters -dreadfully. I never knew till the boy was gone how much hard work he -had saved me in one way and another. So at last, and just as I knowed it -would be, the manager came to me one day and said, 'We ain't got no use -for you any more, Bobbin. Ye can stay behind when we move on to-night.' -An' I just looked him the eye an' said: 'All right, sir; but I'm -wondering if you'll not be left behind when the Lord's own troupe moves -on to the many mansions.' I knowed I ought not to have spoke like that, -but there isn't a harder heart in the world than his, and that's the -truth.” - -“And what did you do then, Bobbin?” Josephine asked, as she sat beside -him with tears of indignation standing in her eyes. - -“Why, right away I began to make my way back to Flutters; somehow I knew -I should find him, only when I crawled into this hut last night after -three weeks of being on the road, I thought it might not happen in this -world.” - -And so it came about that Bobbin was made perfectly comfortable in -the old shanty, for in those days there were no well-ordered Homes and -Hospitals, for sick and homeless people, and Flutters, greatly to -his heart's delight, was established as attendant-in-chief to his old -friend. - - - -CHAPTER XXII--GOOD-BYE SIR GUY - - -[Illustration: 9189] - -LEAR and cool dawned the twenty-fifth of November, and, joy to the heart -of every Whig, before nightfall not a member of the King's army would -be left on American soil. Never, I ween, had the break of any day in New -York found so large a number of its inhabitants awake to greet it. Too -excited to sleep, with the thought of going home, were scores of English -soldiers, and too excited to sleep, at the thought that they were soon -to be rid of them, was well-nigh every loyal Whig throughout the length -and breadth of the city. So, at a remarkably early hour there was an -unwonted stir everywhere, and it seemed as though the very horses and -cattle in their stalls must have divined that something remarkable was -in the wind. But this great day of consummation had not arrived without -weeks and months of active preparation. - -Affairs in New York had been sadly mismanaged, and the arrival of Sir -Guy Carleton, in the spring of 1782, had proved a precious boon, alike -to Whig and Tory, and during the seventeen months intervening between -his arrival and the evacuation, of the city, on this same twenty-fifth -day of November, 1783, Sir Guy had had his hands full. One of the -heaviest labors he had had to perform was the transporting of twelve -thousand Loyalists from all parts of the colonies, to Nova Scotia, the -Bahamas and Great Britain, for New York was not the only place where the -offending Tories were made to feel, and very pointedly, too, that their -room was considered vastly better than their company. - -But finally all was ready, the “Royal Order” to evacuate had arrived -some two months before, and as soon as possible Sir Guy had named the -day for departure. Now at last the day itself had come, and there was -scarce a man, woman or child who had not planned to enter in some -way into its festivities. But up at the Boniface's there was a strong -conflict of feeling in one little Tory breast. Hazel was naturally in -a “perfect state,” as girls say nowadays. It was most improper that -she, an indignant little Loyalist, should be a witness to all that day's -jubilation, and _yet_ Starlight and Flutters and the Marberrys were -going over to Bowery Lane to see the American troops march in from -Harlem, and then into the city to see the English troops embark from -Fort George, and were going to make a fine long day of it, and, after -all, what good would it do anybody if she stayed at home? So it happened -that Hazel's love of military bands and streamers and all sorts of -public demonstration got the better even of her Tory principles, and -after much urging on the part of the Marberrys (which she had felt from -the first could be relied upon), she yielded, and Mrs. Boniface prepared -a luncheon for _five_, instead of “just for four,” as Hazel had that -morning directed. But none of the little party setting forth looked -forward to the day's pleasure with quite so keen a relish as Flutters. -He still remained quite neutral, not finding it easy, owing to his -peculiar circumstances, to side either with Whig or Tory. So it did not -matter much to him who were going or who were coming, the one dominant -thought in his boyish heart simply being, that he was off for a day's -fun, of which he had not had a great deal lately. For the last week he -had been in constant attendance on old Bobbin, and before that there -had been such very sad hearts in the Boniface household, owing to the -Captain's illness. But for to-day Josephine had volunteered to care for -Bobbin, and Bobbin himself had consented to spare Flutters, and so, -free in every sense to give himself up to whatever enjoyment offered, -Flutters was ready for “a lark.” And in just this very sort of thing, -you boys and girls, who are like Flutters, set us older boys and girls -an example, for boys and girls we are, all of us, in a way, so long as -we keep a vestige of naturalness about us. Real sorrows may weigh down -a child's spirit, and real trials beset him, but, give him the chance, -even for an hour, to forget the sorrow and the trial, and he forgets it; -and when God puts just such opportunities into all our lives, is it not -for this very purpose of helping us to forget for a while? - -Mrs. Boniface watched the five little friends file down the pathway, -Flutters bringing up the rear with the capacious lunch-basket, and was -thankful that there were pleasures, even in such unfavorable times, -which children might enter into; and then, perhaps with thoughts akin to -those we have been writing, about forgetting trouble, she turned with a -bright smile to the Captain, and proposed that they should try and have -a happy day too, unmindful of what was going on down in the city, and -thankful for the serenity of their home, still left unmolested. And so -Dinah was directed to prepare a favorite dish of the Captain's, and the -Captain's favorite books were brought out, and Mrs. Boniface, resolutely -putting aside every household claim, read aloud for two hours at a -sitting, and then little Kate came in for a romp and had it, and at -one o'clock Dinah brought in luncheon for all three on a great japanned -tray, and they had a very cosey time eating it together. Who would have -thought, to have looked in upon them, that Evacuation Day was, in point -of fact, a very sorry day for the Boniface's? - -Meantime the children gained the Bowery Road, mounted a rail fence in -a row, like a flock of sparrows, and, with full as much chatter, waited -for the coming of the troops. - -[Illustration: 0192] - -It seemed strange enough to everybody to think that the entire British -Army, which had been scattered broadcast throughout the vicinity for so -many years, was now congregated down in the city, and that before -many hours there would not be a trace of it left. Hazel had certain -apprehensions that it was going to seem very lonely without them, and -when a small detachment of English soldiers marched past (the last of -a company that had been quartered at Kings Bridge) and cheerily called -out, “Good-bye, Whiggies,” to the children, as they sat on the fence, -her heart entirely misgave her. Was it really loyal for her to be abroad -on a day of such rejoicing, and how insulting to be called a “Whiggie,” - when she was every whit as strong a Tory as the soldiers themselves. But -just then the inspiring strains of an approaching band reached her, and -the misgivings took to themselves wings. Nearer and nearer came the -music, and soon Starlight recognized General Knox in command of two -companies of American soldiers. They were marching into the city in -compliance with a request of Sir Guy Carleton's, so as to be on hand in -case of any disorder among the Whigs while the English were embarking. -Now as soon as these American troops should have gotten out of the way, -the Marberrys had planned a little surprise for the rest of the party, -which they knew would prove a great addition to the day's pleasure. So, -just as the children had begun to scramble down from the fence, with the -intention of getting into the city as best they could, up drove old -Jake, the Marberrys' coachman, with a farm wagon piled high with straw. -“Whoa! whoa, da!” called Jake to the Rector's old black horse, and then, -bowing and smiling, he said, importantly, “At your sarvice for -Evacuation Day, chilluns.” - -Of course Hazel and Starlight and Flutters were delighted at this -undreamed-of luxury, of being driven about all day, from one point of -interest to another, and before they climbed into the wagon Hazel gave -vent to her appreciation by giving both Milly and Tilly such a hug as -sent the color flushing gratefully into the cheeks of those amiable -little sisters. - -For once in his life old Jake was in a thoroughly good humor, but it is -extremely doubtful if anything short of all the pleasurable sensations -of Evacuation Day could have brought about that delightful state of -affairs. As for the children they were quite ready to do anything in the -world for Jake, out of sheer gratitude for his kindly mood, a state of -affairs, by the way, which should have made that old party feel very -much ashamed of himself. To think that it should be such an unusual -thing for a man to be kind, as to make even children open their eyes for -wonder. - -It is impossible fully to describe all the varied enjoyment that that -day held for the little party, although from the nature of things it was -hardly to be expected that Hazel was able to get as much pleasure out -of it as the others. Down into the city they went in the wake of General -Knox's men, who came to a halt at the Collect, and then passing them, -Jake took his stand at a point near Fort George, from which the children -could watch the English soldiers file down into the barges and push off -for the vessels lying at anchor in the Bay. - -“There comes Company F,” Starlight at last exclaimed, and in a moment -the children tumbled out of the wagon, much to old Jake's astonishment, -and in another moment were crowding round Sergeant Bellows, as he stood -waiting his turn to step into the boat. - -The Sergeant had been up to the Boniface's for a more formal -leave-taking the day before, but the children had promised to be on hand -at the moment of departure, if they could in any wise manage it, and -the Sergeant's face showed his delight, when he spied them come bounding -toward him. - -There were tears in Hazel's eyes as the boat veered off from the dock, -and tears in the Marberrys' eyes out of sympathy for Hazel, but of -course the boys pretended they saw nothing whatever to feel sorry about. -In the excitement, however, Flutters called out in a very significant -tone, “Don't you forget, Sergeant,” and the Sergeant replied in rather a -husky voice, “Never you fear, my boy!” - -“Forget what?” questioned Hazel, feeling somehow that a little -body-servant ought scarcely to have any private matters on hand. And -then Flutters, realizing how foolish he had been to make public his -affairs in that fashion, felt constrained to answer, “Oh, nothing,” to -Hazel's question, which disrespect on his part offended the dignity of -his little mistress, and caused her to treat him with much coolness for -the space of the next two minutes, at the end of which, however, she -resumed her wonted manner, having forgotten by that time any reason for -acting otherwise. - -Company F had come about mid-way in the order of embarking, and as -it neared one o'clock, the extreme rear guard began to file into the -barges, while the American troops moved silently forward and took -possession of the Fort, and then it was that General Knox, with a chosen -few, galloped back to meet and escort General Washington and Governor -Clinton into the city. For old Jake's party this in-between time seemed -to offer the most favorable opportunity for luncheon, and with appetites -keenly whetted by their long morning in the open air, the children “fell -to,” and as soon as Jake had tied a bag of oats over black Jennie's -head, he took his seat at the back of the wagon, and was himself regaled -with a much larger portion of the Boniface luncheon than he in any wise -deserved. If a body chances to be very hungry, and at the same time -so fortunate as to have the wherewithal to satisfy that hunger, it is -astonishing how absorbing the process of eating may become, and so -I doubt if, for a while, the thoughts of the little company in the -Rector's wagon, rose above the level of the biscuits they were enjoying -or were otherwise occupied than with the great acceptableness of -cookies, apple jelly, and some other inviting edibles; and yet, only -think! this was the 25th of November, 1783. Out there beyond them on -the broad sunshine of the Bay, the last of the English Army were turning -their backs upon America, and above them toward Harlem, a large company -of loyal Americans were joyfully forming into rank and file to take -public possession of the city so dearly loved, and that had been for -years under English rule. Yes, American history was making very fast -during that eventful November noontide, and yet so imperative are the -demands of poor human nature, that even such a thorough-going little -Whig as Starlight became for the time being so deeply absorbed in bread -and cheese as to grow unmindful of exultant Whigs and departing Tories. - -But after the luncheon was all disposed of, save a few crumbs thrown -over the wagon side to a stray dog, who had long been beseechingly -eying the children, their minds at once reverted to matters of general -importance, and it was decided to drive back to some point on Broadway -from which they could watch the procession, and Jennie was urged into a -clumsy canter by way of making up for lost time. As it was they had some -difficulty in gaining even a fair position on the line of march, and -secured that none too soon, for the sound of music in the distance was -growing more and more distinct, and in another second the head of the -procession came into view. And what a procession it proved! although -there was no show of military pomp or glory. That was quite impossible, -since the greater part of the American Army had already been disbanded, -and those that were left to participate in the day's jubilation owned -nothing better than shabby uniforms which had seen hard service, and -in many cases even these poor remnants had need to be supplemented with -coats or trousers of most unmilitary aspect. - -[Illustration: 0196] - -But, notwithstanding all this, it was a grand procession. General -Washington and Governor Clinton on horseback, followed by their suites, -were at its head; then came the Lieutenant Governor and the members of -the Legislature; following them, the officers of the army, and a -large body of prominent citizens, and lastly the military, whose very -shabbiness, because of its significance, served but to add to the -interest they excited. - -The sun was setting behind the New Jersey hills before the procession -was truly over, and then, as there was nothing more to be seen, and -they were thoroughly weary besides, the children assented to Jake's -proposition to turn Jennie's head homeward. When they neared the -vicinity of old Bobbin's shanty, Flutters crept to the back of the wagon -prepared to drop at the right moment. - -“Where's Flutters going?” asked the Marberrys. - -“Oh, he has to take care of old Bobbin, now,” Hazel explained with a -sigh; “but you 'can't imagine how inconvenient it is for me,” for her -ladyship had taken very kindly to this having a willing little servant -at her beck and call. Rather too kindly, Mrs. Boniface thought, and she -was not sorry to have Flutters's time so fully-occupied as to leave none -of it at Hazel's disposal. Soon after Flutters's departure the little -party relaxed into silence, talked out and tired out, and as Jake showed -some signs, now that the excitement of the day was over, of resuming his -wonted surliness, Starlight and Hazel were not the least sorry when old -Jennie, in the perfect stillness of the early November twilight, came to -a standstill at the Boniface gate. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII--FLUTTERS LOSES ONE OF THE OLD FRIENDS - - -[Illustration: 9198] - -OSEPPIINE had stood in the doorway of the little cottage half a dozen -times within the last hour peering anxiously down the road in search of -Flutters, and now that she discovered him coming cross-cut through the -meadow near which he had left the wagon, no one could have told how -relieved she felt. - -“Oh, Flutters, I'm so glad you've come!” she called softly, as soon as -he came within speaking distance, and then immediately turned back into -the room. Flutters followed her on tip-toe, for she had motioned him to -come in quietly. “What is the matter?” he asked, going close to Bobbin's -cot. - -“Oh, I don t know,” Josephine whispered, with tears of anxious sympathy -filling her gray eyes; “we had had a lovely talk together, and then he -asked me to read out of a book, your Prayer-Book, he said it was, and so -I read ever so many psalms from the Psalter, till suddenly looking up I -saw that he was in great pain, and when I spoke to him he seemed neither -to see nor hear me. In a little while the pain passed over, and ever -since he has lain there so still that I have had to put my ear down very -close to make sure that he was breathing.” - -“Dear old Bobbin,” said Flutters, stroking the thin gray hair. The -well-known voice, or perhaps the gentle touch, seemed to rouse him, for -he slowly opened his eyes and seeing Flutters, smiled. - -“You'll not try to keep me this time,” he said slowly, looking up -at Flutters beseechingly, but in a voice too low and weak for even -Josephine to hear. - -“He said not to try to keep him this time,” Flutters explained, “but -don't you think I ought to go right away for a doctor?” - -Bobbin moved his head entreatingly from side to side, so Josephine said: -“Well, perhaps not yet, Flutters, he seems so much more comfortable -now,” whereupon Bobbin looked the thanks he felt. After a while, when he -had once again mustered strength, he said: “Flutters, the little book.” - -Flutters, knowing well enough what he meant, took the Prayer-Book which -had been soon restored to Bobbin after that night when he had -first joyfully discovered it, and turning to the selections for the -twenty-fifth day of the month began to read. Josephine drew a chair to -the fireplace and sat listening, with her hands folded in her lap, while -Bobbin never took his eyes from Flutters's face, as he sat close beside -him so that he might hear distinctly. - -The little hut looked very cheery and cosey, converted as it had been -into such a comfortable shelter, more comfortable indeed than Bobbin had -ever known, and at a time, too, when a warm room and a quiet one meant -more to him than it could have meant at anytime in all his life before. -But the light in the room was momentarily growing more and more dim, and -Flutters had to hold the book high in his hand toward the little window -in order to see at all. Gradually Bobbin's tired eyes closed, and the -last words that fell on his ears were these: “My soul has longed for -Thy salvation and I have a good hope because of Thy Word. Mine eyes -long sore for Thy Word, saying, Oh, when wilt Thou comfort me?” Flutters -finished the selection and looked up. “Miss Josephine!” was all he -found words to say, but both of them knew in a moment that in very -truth “Evacuation Day” had come for Bobbin too, evacuation from all the -sorrows of a long, hard life. - -“I am not sorry,” said Josephine, looking down on the calm face from -which all the care seemed at once to have vanished. - -“Nor I,” said Flutters, “but he was such a good friend to me when no one -else cared,” and then, unable to keep the tears back, he laid his arm on -Bobbin's bed, and burying his face upon it, cried bitterly. - -There was something sacred about this deep sense of personal loss that -was finding vent in Flutters's hot tears, and for a while Josephine -hesitated to intrude upon it. She moved quietly about the room setting -its few little articles to rights, and then when there was nothing else -to be done, and Flutters had gotten himself somewhat in hand, she sat -down by his side. - -“What do you know about Bobbin's history, Flutters?” she asked. - -“Not much,” trying to master the emotion that made it difficult to speak; -“he never liked to talk about himself, but he told me once he had -always been sort of alone ever since he could remember, and that he -hadn't a relative in the world.” - -Two days afterward, Bobbin was laid away in a corner of the little -cemetery surrounding St. George's Church, Mr. Marberry having gained the -consent of the Vestry to have him buried there. Mr. Marberry read the -service from Flutters's own Prayer-Book, and about the grave of the old -man whose life had been so lonely, gathered at the last a little company -of loving friends. It seemed to Flutters as if, with Bobbin's death, -the chapter of his life that had to do with the wretched circus had been -forever closed, but, oh, how thankful he was to have been able to make -so calm and peaceful the last days of the only friend it had ever given -him. Once again the road-side cottage was dismantled of everything -that made it homelike, and as the bleak wintry winds whistled round and -through it, who would have thought that such a little while ago an old -man had been comfortably housed there, and that it was only now left -tenantless, because its occupant no longer had need of any earthly -shelter. - - - -CHAPTER XXIV--TWO IMPORTANT LETTERS - - -[Illustration: 9201] - -VACUATION DAY, with all its excitement, was soon followed by that day -well nigh as eventful, when on the Fourth of December General Washington -took final leave of his officers “in the great historic room” at -Fraunces Tavern, a leavetaking that proved a very touching and trying -ordeal both for him and for them. Starlight and Flutters, who had -contrived to be in the forefront of the crowd that looked on, could have -told you how plainly strong emotion was betrayed on the brave General's -face, as he passed out from the tavern, and down to the barge that was -waiting to convey him to Paulus Hook on his way to Congress. - -But after that day, affairs settled down into much quieter channels than -they had known for some time--that is, at any rate as far as the people -with whom we have most to do are concerned. The Van Vleets had asked -Aunt Frances to make her home with them indefinitely, and though still -faintly cherishing the hope that she might have her own home back again -some day, she had accepted their invitation, and opened a little school -among the farmers' children in the neighborhood. Starlight was one of -her most promising pupils, and so his visits to Kings Bridge were of -necessity less frequent than they used to be. In that matter, Cousin -Harry had a great advantage over him, for having moved to New York in -order to be near his office, what more natural, and, as Harry would -have said, “what more delightful,” than to spend all his evenings at -the Bonifaces? And what a blessing those visits were to them, only they -themselves could have told you. As soon as he arrived he would first -go upstairs and have a talk with the Captain, ransacking his mind for -everything that could by any possibility interest him; then when he had -told the little or much that he had to tell, or saw that he was tiring -him, down he would go to the sitting-room, have a romp with Bonny Kate, -if she had managed to stay up past her bed-time, or possibly a game of -some sort with Hazel and Flutters, but it generally happened that after -a while there was no one left to talk to save Josephine, and of course -you know better than to think that Harry minded that. Josephine had -generally some bit of work in hand, and could not afford to simply laugh -and chat the evening away, with her pretty hands lying idle in her lap, -as perhaps is the case with your older sister, when some friend comes to -call. No, indeed! it was necessary in those days for her to stitch, and -stitch industriously in every available moment, if the Boniface needs -were to be in any wise met; nor did these two young people laugh and -chat very much either--the times were rather too serious for that; not -that they did not have a happy time of it, and sometimes were actually -merry, but, as a rule, they seemed to have something of importance to -quietly talk over. - -Meantime the winter came and went, and spring began to be felt in the -air, and an occasional early bird note, or a bunch of pussy willow by -the road-side, bore witness to the fact that it was slowly but surely -coming. - -It had seemed a long, long winter to Mrs. Boniface. For many weeks she -had lived the most retired life possible. Few had come to see her, and -there were but one or two friends left whom she cared to go and see. -If it had not been for Harry Avery, they would scarce have had any -communication with the outside world. - -There had been no further threats made against Captain Boniface. Even -the most bitter of his enemies would hardly have found it in his heart -to persecute a man who was so hopelessly paralyzed as never to be able -to walk again; but there was something very significant in the fact -that they simply left him alone. None of them in a relenting spirit had -called to inquire how he was, and if any of the old friends, who had -treated him so cruelly that night at the Assembly, ever felt ashamed -of their behavior, they never had the grace to own it. Indeed, it is -terrible to think how that great mastering passion, which we proudly -call patriotism, sometimes seems to smother every noble and natural -impulse. - -Soon after the Assembly, in fact that very night, Captain Boniface had -told his wife of the murders in South Carolina, and it seemed to her -then as though every spark of sympathy with the colonies and colonial -interests had that moment died within her. She was by far too noble to -let actual hatred take its place; but she longed with all her heart for -old England, where she had been born, and to turn her back on this new -country which had treated her so harshly. So Mrs. Boniface waited, -with no little anxiety, for the arrival of the long-looked-for letter, -cherishing the fervent hope that her father would send for them all to -come to him, planning thoughtfully all the details of their journey, and -yet never once daring to put her hope into words. It might happen that, -although willing enough to help them, he would not propose to do it by -having her little family sweep down upon him and rob the old rectory of -the quiet it had known so long, and which must be very grateful to -him in his old age. But at last the letter came, and Mrs. Boniface -straightway carried it off to Flutters's room, and closed the door and -locked it. Her hands trembled as she broke the seal. What were they to -do? that was the question that had anxiously confronted her for several -long, weary months; but always she had simply to postpone any attempt -to answer it, waiting for this letter; and now it was in her hand what -would it tell her? - -It proved to be a long, long letter, and she read it slowly through, -word by word; then she buried her face in her hands and cried; but -sometimes people cry for joy and not for sorrow. - -Late in the afternoon of the same day, Flutters was grooming - -Gladys in the barn, accompanying the process with a queer, buzzing -noise, such as I believe is quite common to grooming the world over. - -“Flutters, where are you?” called Hazel, coming into the barn in search -of him. - -“Here with Gladys, Miss Hazel.” - -“What do you think, Flutters?” and then Hazel climbed up and seated -herself on the edge of Gladys's trough, before adding: - -[Illustration: 0205] - -“We are going to England to live with grandpa. Mother says he's just the -dearest old man, and he's sent for us all to come. He lives in a lovely -rectory in Cheshire.” - -“You don't mean it, Miss Hazel!” said Flutters, his breath quite taken -away. - -“And of course you will go with me, Flutters. Mother says you may.” - -“It's very kind of you to be willing to take me,” Flutters managed to -reply, but at the same time realized that he would do almost anything -rather than go back to England, and to the very same county, too, from -which he had come; and he leaned down, apparently to brush some straw -from one of Gladys's legs, but really to hide the tears of bitter -disappointment that had sprung unbidden into his eyes. Fortunately, -the ruse succeeded very well, Hazel never dreaming but what he was as -delighted with the news as she herself. - -“I can't tell you how glad I am to go, Flutters, although mother says -we probably never should have gone, if it had not been for father's -illness. Things are getting so much quieter now that she thinks people -would have let us alone, and father could, perhaps, have found some way -to make a living, because, you see, we haven't much money left since the -war; but you knew that, Flutters?” - -Flutters sort of half nodded yes, seeing that something was expected of -him, but he was not paying close attention to what Hazel was saying. -How could he bear to have them go and leave him alone in America, and -whatever should he do? were the thoughts that were filling his mind. It -seemed as though every hair on Gladys's back was bristling with the same -sad questions, and then the thought came to him that Gladys herself -would probably be left behind, too, and he laid his hand affectionately -on her prettily arched neck. - -“I shall be glad to live in a King's country,” Hazel resumed, after a -little pause, “and not where everybody's as good as everybody else, and -where they don't have princes and princesses, and lovely palaces for -them to live in. But there's one thing I mean to do as soon as ever -I reach there, and that is, to get presented at Court, and tell King -George how the prisoners were treated on the 'Jersey,' He ought to -know about it, and when he does, I just guess those men will get the -punishment they deserve;” and her cheeks glowed with excitement at the -thought of the forthcoming interview. “Flutters, do you know anything -about the South of England--about Cheshire?” - -“Yes, something,” answered Flutters, getting a little better command of -himself. “In what part of it does your grandfather live?” - -“Feltstone, I think.” - -Flutters gave a sigh of relief. Feltstone was several miles from -Burnham, his old home, but it wasn't worth while to think of that; for -back to England he would not go. To be sure, there was a chance that if -Sergeant Bellows had found his father that he might be sent for; but he -could not bear to face that alternative, and would not till he had -to. And then, wondering if he ever would hear from the Sergeant, he -remembered that he had half-hoped and half-feared that the “Blue Bird,” - which had brought Mrs. Boniface's letter, would also bring one for him. - -As was to be expected, Hazel chatted on with much volubility about the -numerous arrangements for the coming journey, and how they would all -have to try to make everything as comfortable as possible for her -father. Now and then she felt conscious of a lack of enthusiasm on -Flutters's part, but the thought was only momentary, and her active -little mind at once travelled off in some new line of delightful -anticipation. All Flutters had to do was occasionally to answer a -question. He thought best not to say anything to Hazel about not going -with them until he should have talked with Mrs. Boniface. Meantime -Gladys's grooming was completed, and as her pretty mane had been plaited -by Hazel, as she talked, into half a dozen tight braids, she looked -quite as prim and trig as a little old maid on a Sunday. - -“Let's go up to the house, now,” said Hazel; “or, no, I'll tell you, -let's go up to the Marberrys and tell them.” - -“I can't go, Miss Hazel; your mother said she had something for me to -do in the house.” Whereupon Hazel pouted a little, thinking it more -fitting, no doubt, that body-servants should obey their mistresses -rather than their mistresses' mothers, but at the same time seeing that -it was useless for her to contend against the force of circumstances, -which in those days of much to do and few to do it, made Flutters a most -useful member of the household. - -“There are the Marberrys, now,” she cried, discovering them coming in at -the gate in their usual two-abreast fashion. - -“Flutters,” cried Milly, as they both broke into a little run, “here's -a letter for you; it came up with our mail by mistake.” Flutters reached -for it eagerly. > - -“It's directed just 'Flutters,' care of Captain Boniface,” ventured -Tilly; “that's queer, isn't it? Haven't you any other name, Flutters?” - -“Not now,” was Flutters's rather remarkable answer, and then he ran -back to the barn as if he had forgotten something important, but really, -because, like Mrs. Boniface, he did not want to have any one “round” - when he read his letter. He chose, too, to take his seat just where -Hazel had been sitting, before he opened it. Gladys looked on with -wide-eyed pony astonishment at this unwonted appropriation of her own -individual stall, but seemed, notwithstanding, to regard the matter -good-naturedly. - -If it were feasible to have schools for ponies, and Gladys had had the -benefit thereof, and at the same time no better manners than to have -looked over Flutters's shoulder, this is what she might have read “just -as easy as anything,” as you children say: - -The Bunch of Grapes, - -Burnham, Cheshire, England, - -February 23d, 1784. - -My dear Flutters: As perceived by the heading of this letter, I write -from the inn in your father's village, to which place I made haste to -journey so soon as I was favored with my furlough. And now, my dear -Flutters, I have sad news to break to you, and for which you must nerve -yourself, like the plucky little fellow that you are. Your good father -is no longer a sojourner in this sad world of ours. He died after a very -short illness, on the third of last September. I went to see his widow, -told her I had some knowledge of you, and that if your father had left -any message I would send it to you. She said she could not remember any, -save that he used sometimes to say that he would like to know if you -were well cared for. She does not seem to have as much heart as most -women, and blest if I blame you much for running off as you did. I think -your father left very little money, as folks say that your stepmother -will have to do something to support herself and her children. Wishing -I had better news to send you, Flutters, and with my dutiful respects to -the dear Bonifaces, I close this letter--the longest I ever wrote in my -life--and I hope never again to be obliged to write such another. - -Yours dutifully, - -R. A. Bellows. - -“Oh, Gladys,” cried Flutters, when he had finished reading, and, leaning -his head against the pony's head, he sobbed aloud. Such a whirl of -emotion as that letter awoke for Flutters could not be put into words, -and in his imagination he seemed to see his fathers grave and old -Bobbin's side by side. The Bonifaces were all he had left now, and they, -they were going to leave him; but, no, and a new light seemed to flash -in on his mind--what was there now to hinder his going with them? His -stepmother would never claim him. Indeed, she need never know he was in -England, and so there was a bright side to Flutters's sorrow, and after -a while he walked quietly out from the barn with the Sergeant's letter -in his hand, and straight to Mrs. Boniface, whom he found in the -Captain's room, and then and there he told them all his story, and after -the telling felt he was even nearer and dearer to his new friends than -ever he had been before. - -Only Gladys ever knew how intense had been Flutters's first sorrow on -reading the Sergeant's letter, but she was such a harum-scarum pony that -probably the memory of it went out of her head full as quickly as the -hairs, wet by Flutters's tears, dried on her forehead. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV.--A HAPPY DAY FOR AUNT FRANCES. - - -[Illustration: 9209] - -OOD news or sorrowful news does not always come to one in the form of a -carefully worded letter, as with Mrs. Boniface and Flutters, nor when, -because a letter of some sort is expected, one is in a way prepared for -it. More often it comes when you are least on the lookout for it, and -when life is running on uneventfully in worn grooves, as though it must -so run on forever. - -And in this same unanticipated fashion some very good news came to Aunt -Frances. - -It was just at sunset, and she was out on the river in a little boat -with Starlight. It had been one of those days that sometimes come in -the latter part of May as harbingers of summer. The school-room had been -close and warm, and Aunt Frances had left it with a headache, so that -Starlight, with a loving thoughtfulness that always went straight to her -heart, had proposed a row in the cool, early-evening air of the river, -and Aunt Frances had accepted. - -“Do not row hard, dear,” she said; “just paddle around leisurely not far -from the shore. I like it just as well;” and Starlight, who also felt a -little enervated by the languid day, was glad to take her at her word. -Indeed, none of the people of this little story were feeling very bright -and cheery just then. 'Rather heavy-hearted,' would have described them -all in greater or less degree, and the fact that the Bonifaces were -going away had much to do therewith. Even Hazel's rosy anticipations -of life under Old England's glorious monarchy, paled a little, as she -realized that such dear friends as Aunt Frances, Starlight, and the -Marberrys must be left behind, as well as everything else familiar to -her childhood. It had been decided that the Bonifaces should sail in the -“Blue Bird,” when she returned to England in the middle of June, and the -sight of her, as she lay at anchor in the harbor, was such a depressing -one to Starlight, that he contrived, as they rowed about on the river, -to keep his back turned toward her as much as possible. - -“Then it is really settled, Starlight, that the Bonifaces are going?” - said Aunt Frances, looking over toward the ship, and breaking a long -pause, during which they had both sat thoughtfully silent. - -“Yes,” Starlight answered resting on his oars. “I feel awfully sorry for -them.” - -“But they are not sorry for themselves, are they?” and Aunt Frances -drawing up her sleeve put her hand over the boat's side that the cool -water might splash against it. “I imagined that Mrs. Boniface was glad -to go back to England and to her father, whom she has not seen since she -was married, twenty-five years ago.” - -“Oh, yes, of course, she is glad on some accounts, but after all they go -because they must; and, besides, it's hard to go back to the country you -came from without having made a success of things. - -“But the war is entirely responsible for all the Captain's -troubles--everybody knows that well enough, and if any one deserves a -pension from the Crown he certainly does. He has sacrificed health and -friends and property in the service of the King.” - -“That's so,” said Starlight, “and it's a cruel shame that people like -the Bonifaces shouldn't be treated decently, and that people like us, -Aunt Frances, shouldn't be allowed to live in the houses that belong to -us.” - -“Sh--, Starlight,” said Aunt Frances, “there are some things you know -that it is better not to talk about any more; it only stirs us up and -to no purpose;” whereupon Starlight obediently lapsed into silence, and -nothing more was said till Aunt Frances, discovering a row-boat in -the middle of the river, coming toward them, exclaimed, “Who's that, I -wonder!” for boats were not so numerous in those days as to come and go -without notice. Starlight wondered too, but continued to row about in -an aimless fashion, till first thing they knew the approaching boat was -quite close upon them. - -“Who can it be?” said Aunt Frances, softly, and Starlight had only time -to reply, “It looks a little like Captain Wadsworth,” and Aunt Frances -to see that he was right in his conjecture, before the boat came within -speaking distance, and the Captain, touching his hat, said politely, -“Miss Avery, I believe.” - -“Yes, Captain Wadsworth;” for although Aunt Frances and the Captain had -never before exchanged words, their faces were well known to each other. -“Did you wish to see me?” she added, somewhat coldly. - -The Captain was too much of a gentleman to show that he noticed her -chilling manner, and remarked quite casually, “I merely came over to -tell you that I have decided after all to give up the idea of making my -home in this country, and that your home is at your disposal.” - -“What do you mean?” said Aunt Frances, unable to believe that she -heard aright. As for Starlight, he lost an oar overboard from sheer -excitement, which the man who was rowing Captain Wadsworth was kind -enough to fish out for him. - -“I mean,” said the Captain, “that you are free to enter your own home at -once; I propose to sail for England very soon and have already vacated -it.” - -“I do not understand you,” for Aunt Frances was more confused than she -had ever been in her life. “I can pay nothing for it. If you consider -that you have a right to live in it, you must consider that you also -have a right to sell it.” - -The Captain bit his lip, at a loss what to say, and Aunt Frances -realized that she was acting unkindly and perhaps rudely. - -“Do you mean,” she asked, “that there is nothing for me to do but simply -to walk into my old home?” and her face brightened unconsciously as she -spoke. - -“That is exactly what I mean, Miss Avery.” - -“You are very kind, Captain Wadsworth. You can hardly wonder, I am sure, -that I cannot find words in which to thank you.” - -“Why should you thank me?” the Colonel replied half mischievously. “You -have felt all along that the place rightfully belonged to you.” - -“But you had the law on your side, so what did it matter how I thought -or felt?” - -“It mattered a great deal, Miss Avery; so much that, law on my side or -no, I confess to you that I have not felt very comfortable in your home, -particularly since I moved my men out, and have had the place to myself. -Indeed, I've never really felt at home in the country, and half regret -having resigned my commission.” - -“You can imagine that all this is a great surprise to me,” said Aunt -Frances, never looking handsomer in her life, “though I acknowledge -having cherished just a faint little hope lately that it might come -about some day.” - -“Why lately, if I may ask, Miss Avery?”. - -“Because,” said Aunt Frances, blushing a little, “Colonel Hamilton told -me at the Assembly that he was sorry to have been the means of depriving -me of my home, and that he would endeavor to make any reparation -within his power. Will you think me rude in asking if he has in any way -influenced your decision?” - -“Colonel Hamilton? No, not in the least; but I believe the arguments of -a certain little woman, who came to me several months ago, have had much -to do with it.” - -“I know who it was,” exclaimed Starlight, eagerly, unable to keep silent -another moment; “I believe it was Hazel Boniface.” - -“And I believe you are her friend, 'Starlight,'” said the Captain, -having made up his mind to that fact much earlier in the conversation. - -Starlight said “Yes, sir,” with a beaming look which plainly declared -that he was proud to have that honor. - -All this while Peter, the Captain's man, had sat an interested listener, -enjoying everything with much the same relish perhaps as you or I would -enjoy the happy ending of a rather harrowing play, only this was by so -much the better, because it was real and not “make believe.” To keep -the boats from drifting apart, Peter kept a firm hand upon the rail of -Starlight's boat, and Starlight's upon his. Indeed, I think there was a -tacit understanding between them that on no account were those two boats -to be allowed to diverge a hair's-breadth until this whole delightful -matter should be unalterably settled. - -Of course Starlight's remark about Hazel had been another surprise to -Aunt Frances, and when Captain Wadsworth went on to tell her all about -Hazel's call in the warm September weather of the preceding autumn, and -how deep a hold her childish earnestness had taken upon him, it seemed -to Aunt Frances as though she could not wait to give her successful -little champion such a hug as she had never had in her life before. - -“She went to see Colonel Hamilton too,” said Starlight in the pause that -followed Captain Wadsworth's narration. - -“Then perhaps that partly accounts for Colonel Hamilton's kind feeling,” - said Aunt Frances slowly, as a new light seemed to shine in upon the -whole transaction. - -“I think it highly probable, Miss Avery. The old prophecy that a little -child shall lead them is more often fulfilled, even in this world, I -think, than most of us have any idea of.” - -Meantime the current of the river had carried the boats close into -shore, and Aunt Frances, with the charm of manner that was always -natural to her, asked the Captain to come up to the house, and he came -up, and accepted the Van Vleets' cordial invitation to stay to supper, -and not until the moon was high over the river did he call to Peter to -row him back to New York; and if the Colonel's body had grown as light -as his heart, old Peter's load would have been scarce heavier than a -feather. - - - -CHAPTER XXVI--THE “BLUE BIRD” WEIGHS ANCHOR - - -[Illustration: 9214] - -O, Starlight, I'm sorry, but I do not see how you can possibly be of the -least use in the world.” - -Captain Lewis tried to speak kindly, but, big boy or no, real -tears stood in Starlights eyes. “Why, do you feel as badly as that, -Starlight?” - -Starlight gave a nod which meant that he did feel just as badly as that, -and at the same time succeeded in choking down what he feared might have -proved an audible little sob. - -“Well, then, let me see,” and the Captain leaned forward on his rude -desk and thought a moment. They were in the cabin of the “Blue Bird,” - whither Starlight had rowed over that morning, with such a favor to ask -of the “Blue Bird's” Captain as he never yet had asked of anybody. - -“And yet you _could_ do little odds and ends for me now, couldn't you?” - continued the Captain, after what seemed to Starlight a never-ending -pause. - -“Yes, sir,” he answered frankly, brushing away his tears with his sleeve -in awkward boy fashion; “I'm sure I could save you ever so many steps. -You know I wouldn't think of going unless I really felt I could work my -passage.” - -“You are a proud little fellow, Job, but, then, I like your spirit, and -if you won't take the voyage as a cabin passenger at my invitation, why, -then, you shall go as you propose. Of course your Aunt has given her -consent.” - -“I have not asked her yet, sir. I thought it would be half the battle to -have your permission first.” - -The Captain laughed heartily over Starlight's diplomacy, and then they -talked on for a quarter of an hour longer, arranging the details of the -journey that was to be, if only Aunt Frances could be persuaded to -give her consent--a pretty big if, by the way. At the end of that time -Starlight, remembering that the Captain must have many things to attend -to, said good-afternoon, shaking his rough sailor hand with a world of -gratitude in his happy face. Then he clambered nimbly down the “Blue -Bird's” ladder, and jumping into his boat, rowed off toward New York and -toward home, for, scarcely able to believe their senses, Aunt Frances -and Starlight were back in the old house, with everything so nearly -restored to what it had been before that those two years in the Van -Vleet homestead already seemed half a dream. - -And now the 15th of June had dawned, and as the “Blue Bird” was to sail -that afternoon, everything was in readiness for the departure of the -Bonifaces, and everything was in readiness for something else, too, -which was nothing more nor less than a wedding at Aunt Frances's. -And who do you suppose were going to be married? Who, to be sure, but -Josephine and Harry, and Josephine was to stay in America, and her -home was to be right there in the old house with Aunt Frances. Strange, -wasn't it, that she should be willing to stay behind, when all the -family were going away across the ocean to live in England? But that is -one of the things that is often happening in this queer world of ours, -and the beauty of it is that it is all right and beautiful, and just as -the good Father Himself would have it. And so Josephine was married at -noon in Aunt Frances's parlor, and even her father was there, for it had -been arranged that the ceremony should be performed when the Bonifaces -were on their way to the “Blue Bird,” and when it would be an easy -matter simply to carry the Captain in and lift him on to the broad -lounge in the sitting-room. - -There was something sad in the fact that, so strong was party feeling -everywhere, that it had been difficult to find in the neighborhood the -four men needed to accomplish the moving of Captain Boniface into the -city and then out to the ship; four men, that is, who did not feel that -they had some sort of grudge against the English officer. But Jake, the -Marberrys' man, had at last pressed into the service three others of his -race, who bore Captain Boniface no ill-will. It was touching to see with -what tender care the four strong fellows lifted their helpless burden, -for although the Captain had recovered, as Dr. Melville said he would, -partial use of his arms and hands, he was still powerless to take a -single step. - -Mr. Marberry naturally officiated at the wedding, and the twins, -of course, were there, smiling and sweet, though possibly a little -self-conscious, in their new white dresses, with soft silk sashes, tied -in two exactly similar bows in the middle of their straight little -backs. And the Van Vleets were there, and Miss Pauline, who looked -rather mystified at the whole proceeding, and Captain Wadsworth besides, -and Colonel and Mrs. Hamilton, the two latter of whom were invited -because of Harry's position in the Colonel's office. - -It was doubtless a real satisfaction to Captain Wadsworth and Colonel -Hamilton to be present, though, when you come to think of it, it was -rather a remarkable state of things. - -Here they were attending a wedding in the very house that they had -lawfully succeeded in wresting from Miss Avery, and here she was -permanently established in her own home again, with the Captain out of -it, and of his own accord too. It was strange indeed how it had all come -about, and stranger still to think that a little girl of ten, mustering -up sufficient courage to call upon two strange gentlemen several months -before, had had much to do with bringing about this delightful change -in affairs; but, as we all hear so often that we do not half take in the -blessed truth of it, “God's ways are not as our ways,” and the trifles, -as we think them, are likely to prove anything but trifles. - -It was more than a delight to Harry to have Colonel Hamilton present -at his wedding, for although his employer was his senior by only a few -years, Harry looked up to him with an admiring veneration amounting -almost to worship. There was something about Alexander Hamilton that -inspired this sort of devotion, an air, some have said, of serious, -half-sad thoughtfulness, as though the cruel and unnecessary sacrifice -of his life, which he felt in honor bound to make in 1804, cast long -shadows of presentiment before it. - -[Illustration: 0217] - -When the ceremony was over, and Hazel had been the first to press the -lovingest sort of a kiss on Josephine's lips, all the rest gathered -around to congratulate the young couple, trying for the moment to forget -the sorrowful parting so soon to follow. Then when they had eaten, or -pretended to eat, some of the good things Aunt Frances had prepared -in honor of the occasion, it was time to go down to the barge that -was waiting at Fort George to carry the “Blue Bird's” passengers. -Josephine's good-byes were all said at the house. She could not bear to -have any strangers near when she took that long farewell of her father -and mother, and Hazel and Bonny Kate, and then, going up to the room -that Aunt Frances had fitted up for her, and burying her face in the -pillows of the sofa, it seemed to her as though her heart would break. -Sad enough for a bride, you think--so different from all the joyous -cheer that ought to belong to a wedding; and yet many happy days were -in store for Josephine, many happy years in the old homestead, never so -homelike and attractive as since Aunt Frances had regained possession of -it. There was quite a little company of them walking down to the barge, -so much of a company, indeed, that some boys, who noticed them, wondered -“what was up,” and having nothing better to do, followed in their train. -Captain Boniface, of course, was driven down, and so was Mrs. Boniface -and Kate; but Hazel preferred to walk, and with a “teary” little -Marberry on either arm made her way along with the rest. There was but -one bright spot on the otherwise dark horizon of those little Marberrys, -and that was that Hazel's pony, Gladys, had taken up her abode in the -Rector's stable, and was to be theirs from that day forth; and they took -a sort of gloomy comfort in determining that as soon as they had said -goodbye to Hazel herself they would go straight home and into Gladys's -stall, and ease their heavy little hearts by doing what they could for -the welfare of Hazel's pony. There was no doubt about it, the Marberrys -were the most devoted of friends; but there was one thing that puzzled -Hazel: Starlight was not as downcast as the occasion seemed to demand. -On the contrary, he seemed more cheerful than for many days, and the -nearer came the hour for the departure, why the more light-hearted. -It was most inexplicable. Could it be, she thought, that she had been -mistaken in him all these years, and that, after all, he was a boy with -no more feeling than “other boys”? - -It seems that Aunt Frances had finally given her consent to Starlight's -scheme to make the round trip on the “Blue Bird,” and see the Bonifaces -safely landed on British soil, not, however, you may be sure, until she -had talked the plan well over with Captain Lewis; but it had all been -kept a carefully guarded secret from Hazel, and even Flutters did not -know of it. At Fort George final leave was taken of Milly and Tilly, -Aunt Frances and the Van Vleets; but we will not say very much about -that. There are quite too many good-byes in the world for most of us as -it is, and yet, where were the happy meetings were it not for these same -good-byes? - -Harry Avery and Starlight went over in the barge to the vessel, and as -Starlight earlier in the day had stealthily stowed away his baggage, -consisting in greater part of an old violin, there was nothing to betray -that he had any thought other than to return in the barge with Harry -when the time came. - -It was not an easy thing to get Captain Boniface aboard of the “Blue -Bird,” but finally it was safely accomplished to the great relief of -everybody, including even Bonny Kate, who had been very much afraid the -men would let him fall. - -But no one watched the proceeding with greater evident anxiety than -Flutters, for Flutters had given himself over mind and body to the -Captain, anticipating his every wish, and trying to be both hands and -feet to him; and Hazel had been sufficiently gracious to resume without -demurring the brushing of her own clothes and sundry other little duties -which had of late been performed for her by Flutters. - -As for Flutters, now that his father was dead, it mattered not to him -where home might be, if it were only with the Bonifaces; but he thought -he should like some day, when they could spare him from the Rectory over -there in Cheshire, to run down to Burnham, and without letting them know -who he was, perhaps have a chat with those little white children of his -father's, that were babies when he left England, if he should happen to -find them playing in the garden of the house where he used to live. - -It was a beautiful early-summer day, that 15th of June, and the bay lay -sparkling like silver in the sunshine. The “Blue Bird” was booked to -sail at three o'clock, and at the exact moment the sailors began pulling -hand over hand with their “Yo, heave O,” and the “Blue Bird's” anchor was -weighed. - -Harry Avery had kissed Mrs. Boniface good-bye, and once again promised, -with a tremble in his voice, “to take the best care of Josephine,” and -now he was climbing down the ship's side, and the rowers of the barge, -bending to their oars, were simply waiting to “give way,” till he should -have stepped aboard. - -Starlight, with hands in his trousers' pockets, stood on the “Blue -Bird's” deck, apparently unconcerned. Flutters, wondering what the -fellow could be thinking of, with an excited gesture gave him a shove in -the direction of the barge, while Hazel, with a strong accent on every -word, cried, “Another minute, Job Starlight, and you'll be left.” - -[Illustration: 0219] - -“It can't be helped, Hazel; I'm left now,” Starlight answered, and -indeed truthfully, for the barge was already yards away; then, seeing -how real was Hazel's anxiety over what she deemed a most distressing -accident, he hastened to announce, his face wreathed in smiles, “But -it's all right, Hazel; I am going to see you safe to England, and Aunt -Frances is in the secret.” Hazel, as weak as a kitten with delight and -astonishment, leaned against the ship's rail, and could not find voice -to speak for two whole minutes; while Captain Lewis looked on, rubbing -his palms complacently together, and thinking what a grand thing it was -to have had a hand in a surprise like that. - -[Illustration: 0221] - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Loyal Little Red-Coat, by Ruth Ogden - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LOYAL LITTLE RED-COAT *** - -***** This file should be named 54132-0.txt or 54132-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/1/3/54132/ - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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