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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6860-h.zip b/6860-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..09f87f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/6860-h.zip diff --git a/6860-h/6860-h.htm b/6860-h/6860-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b2fb911 --- /dev/null +++ b/6860-h/6860-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8318 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en"> + +<head> + +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> + +<title> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Keineth, by Jane D. Abbott +</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +body { color: black; + background: white; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +p {text-indent: 4% } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.t1 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 200%; + text-align: center } + +p.t2 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 150%; + text-align: center } + +p.t3 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + text-align: center } + +p.t3b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t4 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + text-align: center } + +p.t4b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t5 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 60%; + text-align: center } + +h1 { text-align: center } +h2 { text-align: center } +h3 { text-align: center } +h4 { text-align: center } +h5 { text-align: center } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; } + +p.contents {text-indent: -3%; + margin-left: 5% } + +p.thought {text-indent: 0% ; + letter-spacing: 4em ; + text-align: center } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.footnote {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.transnote {text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.intro {font-size: 90% ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.quote {text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Keineth, by Jane D. Abbott + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Keineth + +Author: Jane D. Abbott + +Posting Date: March 17, 2014 [EBook #6860] +Release Date: November, 2004 +First Posted: February 2, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KEINETH *** + + + + +Produced by Brandon Sussman, Tom Allen, Charles Franks and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by +Al Haines. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1> +<br /><br /><br /> +KEINETH +</h1> + +<p class="t3"> +BY +</p> + +<p class="t2"> +JANE D. ABBOTT +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3"> +TO ALL THE LITTLE GIRLS I KNOW THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3b"> +CONTENTS +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +I. <a href="#chap01">KEINETH'S WORLD CHANGES</a><br /> +II. <a href="#chap02">KEINETH DECIDES</a><br /> +III. <a href="#chap03">OVERLOOK</a><br /> +IV. <a href="#chap04">KEINETH WRITES TO HER FATHER</a><br /> +V. <a href="#chap05">PILOT COMES TO OVERLOOK</a><br /> +VI. <a href="#chap06">THE MUSIC THE FAIRIES PUT IN HER FINGERS</a><br /> +VII. <a href="#chap07">ALICE RUNS AWAY</a><br /> +VIII. <a href="#chap08">A PAGE FROM HISTORY</a><br /> +IX. <a href="#chap09">THE CAPTIVE MAIDEN</a><br /> +X. <a href="#chap10">PILOT IN DISGRACE</a><br /> +XI. <a href="#chap11">PILOT WINS A HOME</a><br /> +XII. <a href="#chap12">A LETTER FROM DADDY</a><br /> +XIII. <a href="#chap13">CAMPING</a><br /> +XIV. <a href="#chap14">THE TENNIS TOURNAMENT</a><br /> +XV. <a href="#chap15">NOT ON THE PROGRAM</a><br /> +XVI. <a href="#chap16">AUNT JOSEPHINE</a><br /> +XVII. <a href="#chap17">SCHOOL DAYS</a><br /> +XVIII. <a href="#chap18">CHRISTMAS</a><br /> +XIX. <a href="#chap19">WHEN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT WORKED OVERTIME.</a><br /> +XX. <a href="#chap20">SHADOWS</a><br /> +XXI. <a href="#chap21">PILOT GOES AWAY</a><br /> +XXII. <a href="#chap22">KEINETH'S GIFT</a><br /> +XXIII. <a href="#chap23">SURPRISES</a><br /> +XXIV. <a href="#chap24">MR. PRESIDENT</a><br /> +XXV. <a href="#chap25">THE CASTLE OF DREAMS</a><br /> +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap01"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER I +</h3> + +<h3> +KEINETH'S WORLD CHANGES +</h3> + +<p> +Keineth Randolph's world seemed suddenly to be turning upside down! +</p> + +<p> +For the past three days there had been no lessons. Keineth had lessons +instead of going to school. She had them sometimes with Madame Henri, +or "Tante" as she called her, and sometimes with her father. If the sun +was very inviting in the morning, lessons would wait until afternoon; +or, if, sitting straight and still in the big room her father called +his study, Keineth found it impossible to think of the book before her, +Tante would say in her prim voice: +</p> + +<p> +"Dreaming, cherie?" and add, "the books will wait!" +</p> + +<p> +Or, if father was hearing the lessons, he would toss aside the book and +beckon to Keineth to sit on his knee. Then he would tell a story. It +would be, perhaps, something about India or they would travel together +through Norway; or it would be Custer's fight with the Indians or the +wanderings of the Acadians through the English Colonies in America, as +portrayed in Longfellow's Evangeline. +</p> + +<p> +But for three days Keineth had had neither lessons nor stories--she had +not even wanted to go out into the park to walk. For her dear Tante, +with a very sad face, was packing her trunks and boxes, and Daddy had +gone out of town. +</p> + +<p> +To-morrow the little woman was going to sail on a Norwegian boat for +Europe. The trip seemed to Keineth to be particularly unusual because +Tante and Daddy had talked so much about it and Tante had waited until +Daddy had gotten her some papers which would take her safely into +Europe. So much talk and the important papers made it seem as though +she was going very far away. Perhaps she did not expect to come back to +America--she stopped so often in her work to kiss Keineth! +</p> + +<p> +Keineth could not remember her own mother, she had died when Keineth +was three years old; and as far back as she could remember Tante had +always taken care of her. These three, the golden-haired delicate +child, the serious-faced Belgian gentlewoman, who had given up a +position in one of New York's schools to go into John Randolph's +household, and the father himself, living for his work and his +daughter, led what might seem to others a very strange life. The man +had kept his home in the old brick house on Washington Square in lower +New York even after the other houses in the square around it gradually +changed from pleasant, neat homes to shabby boarding-houses or rooming +houses with broken windows and railless steps; to dusty lofts; to +cellars where Jews kept and sorted over their filthy rags; to dingy +attic spaces where artists made their studios, turning queer, +dilapidated corners into what they called their homes. The third story +of the Randolph house had been let for "light housekeeping apartments"; +Keineth herself had helped tack the little black and gilt sign at the +door. The tenants used the side door that let into the brick-paved +alley. Keineth had always felt a great pride in their home--it was +always neatly painted, their steps shone, and there were no papers +collected behind their iron gratings. Even across the park she could +see the bright geraniums blooming in the windows under Madame Henri's +loving care. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth and Tante had two big sleeping rooms facing the square and +Daddy had a smaller room in the back. Dora, the colored maid who kept +the house in order and cooked breakfast and lunch, went away at night. +The rooms were very large, with high ceilings. The windows were long +and narrow and hung with heavy, dusty curtains. The furniture was very +old and very dull and dark, but Keineth loved the great chairs into +which she could curl herself and read for hours at a time. +</p> + +<p> +There were few children in the square for her to play with. Next door +was an Italian family with eight girls and boys, and Keineth sometimes +joined them in the park. Their father kept a fruit stall in the +basement on one of the streets running off from the square. Francesca, +one of the girls, sang very sweetly, often standing on the corner of +the square and singing Italian folk-songs until she had gathered quite +a crowd around her and had collected considerable money. Keineth loved +to listen to her. But Daddy had asked Keineth never to go alone outside +of the square nor out of sight of the windows of their own home, and +Keineth, all her life, had always wanted to do exactly as her father +asked her. +</p> + +<p> +The evenings to Keineth were the happiest, for, after his work was +finished, Daddy always took her out somewhere for dinner. Sometimes +they would go into queer, small places; rooms lighted by gas-jets, +where they ate on bare tables from off thick white plates. She would +sit very quietly listening while her father talked to the people he +met. It seemed to her that her father knew everybody. Other times they +would go up town on the bus, Keineth clinging tightly to her father's +hand all the way, and they would find a corner in a brightly lighted +hotel dining-room, where the silver and glass sparkled before Keineth's +eyes, where an orchestra, hidden behind big palms, played wonderful +music as they ate, where the air was sweet with the fragrance of +flowers like Joe Massey's stall on the square, and where all the women +were pretty and wore soft furs over shimmering dresses of lovely +colors. Sometimes Tante went with them, looking very prim in her +tailor-made suit of gray woolen cloth and her small gray hat. On these +picnic dinners, as Daddy called them, Daddy was always in rollicking +spirits, keeping up such a torrent of nonsense that Keineth was often +quite exhausted from laughing. Then, when they were back in the old +house, Daddy would pull his big chair close to the lamp, Tante would +take her knitting from the basket in which it was always neatly laid, +and Keineth would sit down at the piano to play for her father "what +the fairies put in her fingers." This had been a little game between +them for a long time--ever since her music lessons with Madame Henri +had begun. +</p> + +<p> +Now--as the child sat balanced on the edge of an old rocker watching +Tante tenderly and carefully placing her books into a heavy box--she +felt that this beloved order of things was changing before her eyes. +For, with Tante gone, who was to take care of her? And heavy on the +child's heart lay the fear that it might be Aunt Josephine. +</p> + +<p> +Aunt Josephine was her very own aunt, her father's sister, and lived in +a very pretentious home at the other end of the city, overlooking the +Hudson River. At a very early age Keineth had guessed that Aunt +Josephine did not approve of the way her Daddy lived; of the tenants on +the third floor; of the sign at the door; of Tante and the +happy-go-lucky lessons; and most of all, her intimacy with the Italian +children. Twice a year Keineth and her Daddy spent a Sunday with Aunt +Josephine, and Keineth could always tell by the way Daddy clasped her +hand and ran down the steps that he was very glad when the day was over +and they could go home. However, Aunt Josephine was pretty and wore +lovely clothes like the women in the big hotels uptown and was really +fond of Daddy, so that Keineth loved her--but she did not want to live +with her! +</p> + +<p> +"Why do you go away from us?" Keineth asked Madame Henri for the +hundredth time. +</p> + +<p> +The little woman dropped a book to kiss the child--also for the +hundredth time. +</p> + +<p> +"I have an old mother, and a sister, and six nephews and nieces over +there--they need me now, more than you do, cherie!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth knew that she was very unhappy and refrained from asking her +more questions. Daddy had read to her of the suffering in Europe as a +result of the great war, but it seemed hard to picture prim Tante in +the midst of it--perhaps working in the fields and factories, as Daddy +said some of the women and children were doing. Tante had read them +parts of a letter telling of the wounding of her sister's husband at +the battle front and of his death in an English 'hospital, but that had +seemed so very far away that Keineth had not thought much about it. Now +it seemed nearer as she pictured the six little nephews and nieces, the +poor old grandmother--perhaps all hungry and homeless! Keineth suddenly +thought how good it was of Tante to leave their comfortable home and +their jolly dinners and Dora's steaming pancakes to go back to Belgium +to help! +</p> + +<p> +Then--as if the whole day was not queer and different enough, Keineth +suddenly heard her father's quick step on the stairway. He had said he +would not be home until that night! She sprang to the door in time to +rush into his arms as he came down the hallway. He kissed her, on her +nose and eyes, as was his way, but when he lifted his face Keineth saw +that it was very serious, which was not at all like Daddy. +</p> + +<p> +"Run out in the park for a little while, dear. I must talk to Madame +Henri!" +</p> + +<p> +The sun was shining very brightly on the pavements of the streets. The +little leaves on the trees were quivering with new life and the birds +were chirping loudly and busily in the branches, fussing over their +housekeeping. But Keineth's heart was too heavy to respond! She walked +around and around the square, staring miserably at the people who +passed her and always keeping in sight of the long windows where the +pink geraniums shone in the spring sunlight. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly her heart dropped to her very toes and she had a great deal of +trouble keeping the tears back from her eyes, for a very bright yellow +motor car had stopped at their door, and Keineth knew that it was Aunt +Josephine! +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap02"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER II +</h3> + +<h3> +KEINETH DECIDES +</h3> + +<p> +Keineth waited what seemed to her hours; then retraced her steps to the +house and walked very quietly into the hall. Daddy heard the door close +behind her and called to her from the study. He was sitting at his +desk, tapping the pad before him with the point of a pencil Aunt +Josephine sat on the old horse-hair sofa, looking very excited, and +Tante, a pile of books still clasped in her arm and a smudge of dust +across her straight features, stood near the window. +</p> + +<p> +"I think it's high time you used a little sense in the way you bring up +that child, John. You'll ruin her!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth's father smiled across at Keineth as much as to say: "Never +mind, dear," but he listened gravely as his sister went on: +</p> + +<p> +"I think it's the best thing that could happen--Madame Henri going away +and you called on this trip--" +</p> + +<p> +"Wait a moment, Josephine; Keineth does not know yet--" +</p> + +<p> +"Daddy!" cried the child, running to him. +</p> + +<p> +"Just a moment, dear," he whispered, as he drew her between his knees +and laid his cheek against her hair. +</p> + +<p> +Aunt Josephine looked very much in earnest. Keineth could not remember +a time when she had seemed more concerned over hers and Daddy's +welfare! +</p> + +<p> +"Now I can take Keineth with me until July. Then when I go on that +yachting cruise she can go to some camp in the mountains--there are +ever so many good ones. And next fall I can put her into a school. +She's too old to go on living as you are living." +</p> + +<p> +Now the world had turned upside down! Keineth pressed suddenly close to +her father. He tightened the clasp of her arm. +</p> + +<p> +"Wait a moment, sister. We have two or three days to talk this over. I +must get Madame Henri safely started and then Keineth and I will make +our plans." As he said this he squeezed the child's hand. "You're +awfully good to offer to take my little girl and I know you'd try your +best to make her happy." He stepped toward the door. Aunt Josephine +rose, too. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, you'd better follow my advice," she said crisply. She almost +always concluded their interviews in this manner when they had to do +with Daddy's household. This time she stopped on her way to the door to +place her hands on Keineth's shoulders and let her eyes sweep Keineth's +little face. +</p> + +<p> +"I'd make an up-to-date child of her, John. She's got her mother's eyes +but the Randolph features. With a little grooming she'd make a beauty. +And the first thing I'd do would be to put a decent frock on her!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth knew that Aunt Josephine meant to be kind but, hurt at her +criticism, she drew away from her aunt's clasp. As her aunt and father +went out she looked down wonderingly at the simple blue serge she wore. +Tante had always had her dresses made at a little shop on lower Fifth +Avenue and Keineth had always thought them very nice. +</p> + +<p> +Madame Henri, muttering to herself, went out of the room. Keineth stood +very still until her father came back. He shut the door and went to his +desk. She ran to him and hid her face on his shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +"Daddy--are you--going away?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, child--I must." +</p> + +<p> +"For all summer? For all winter?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, dear. I think it may be a year." +</p> + +<p> +"Daddy--" began Keineth, then stopped short to hide her face. Father +must not see her cry! +</p> + +<p> +"I'll make a little picture for you, dear. This country of ours is like +a great big house. It's like all the homes all over the United States +put into one. And it must be tended just as we'd tend our own little +home--it must be kept in repair. It must be kept clean and have pretty +spots, just like Madame Henri's geraniums! And it must be guarded, too, +from those who would break in and steal what belongs in the home--or +tear it down and make a ruin of it! And it must know its neighbors and +work with them to keep everything peaceful and tidy about the whole +street of nations! Don't you remember how I had to argue with Signora +Ferocci to make her clean up her back alley?" +</p> + +<p> +They both laughed together over the recollection of their efforts to +persuade their next-door neighbor of the joys of cleanliness! +</p> + +<p> +"Every person, big and small, should do his part toward the +home-keeping of this big land of ours. And I have been asked to do a +service. Soldiers can't do it all, my dear--only a very small part of +it! There are a great many others--men like myself--who are going out +over the world to work for the Stars and Stripes. And when I have been +asked to go on a mission for our country that is very important, even +though it takes me very far and keeps me away a very long time, I am +sure my loyal little American girl will be the first to bid me go!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth's eyes were quite dry now and were very bright. She sat up very +straight. She had entirely forgotten herself. +</p> + +<p> +"Will you wear a uniform, Daddy?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, dear me, no--my work is not of that sort, In fact, I must go about +in the quietest manner possible. I cannot even tell my little girl +where I am going." +</p> + +<p> +"You mean it's a secret?" the child cried. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, until I return. I must ask you to tell no one that I have gone +for the government. We may fail--the newspapers must not know yet. +Everyone must think I am simply travelling." +</p> + +<p> +Keineth was silent and perplexed. It did not occur to her to ask her +father why she could not go with him. He had often gone away before and +she had always stayed in the old house with Tante. But it had never +been for a whole year! +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly she cried out: "I'll be very brave, but--oh, Daddy!" +</p> + +<p> +He laughed, although he held her very close. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you think, my dear, I would go away until I felt very certain that +you were going to be happy? I'm not sure how well you'd like it at Aunt +Josephine's--it would be very different. Still--you'd have that French +maid of hers for a nurse and go out with her and Fido for his walk and +ride in the yellow motor and have all kinds of frilled dresses and +feathered hats--" He was imitating Aunt Josephine's voice in a very +funny manner that made Keineth laugh. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth thought very quickly of all the things she loved to do that she +knew Aunt Josephine would not allow her to do, but she did not want to +speak of them, for it might make her Daddy unhappy. Her father went on, +more seriously: +</p> + +<p> +"But I have another plan. I will tell you about It and you may choose +between that and Aunt Josephine's." (Keineth suddenly felt very grown +up.) "Coming up from Washington I ran into Mr. William Lee, an old +friend of mine--a man I knew in college. I used to think the world of +him. I hadn't seen him for fifteen years! He lives in the western part +of the state. I knew Mrs. Lee, too,--she was a friend of your mother's +and they were very fond of one another. We talked for a long time over +old times. He showed me kodak pictures of his children--he has four. Do +you know what I thought when I looked at them?" +</p> + +<p> +"What, Daddy?" +</p> + +<p> +"That I was cheating my little girl out of a great deal that every +child has a right to--the pure joy of giving. When I looked at those +youngsters of his--husky, bare-armed, round-cheeked children, I knew +they were getting a lot of happiness you'd never know in this little +corner of ours--the kind of happiness you can only have when you are +young." Keineth was puzzled. "What do you mean, Daddy?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, running, jumping, swimming--tennis--baseball! Why, the knowing +other children well--even the quarrelling," he stopped, frowning. "I +had it all when I was little and here I am cheating you. Aunt Josephine +is right when she says I'm not fair to you--but I don't think you'd get +it even with her!" +</p> + +<p> +"But I don't know anything about all those things, Daddy." +</p> + +<p> +"That's just it! You can learn, though. I told Mr. Lee that I had to go +away, and about you, and he asked me if I wouldn't let you go to them +for the year. They have a summer home on the shore of Lake Erie and +almost live out-of-doors. I said no at first--it seemed too much to ask +of them, but he persisted and wouldn't take no for an answer. He is +coming here to-night to talk it over. I think now--it might be the +thing to do. Mrs. Lee loved your mother very, very dearly, and I know +would be very good to you." +</p> + +<p> +He gently lifted her down from off his knee, which meant that he had +work to do and that Keineth must leave the room. She sought out Tante +upstairs. The good woman had closed her last box and was dressed ready +to start on her long trip, although the boat would not leave until the +next day. She was knitting, so Keineth took a book and sat near the +window pretending to read. Her eyes wandered off the page and her poor +little mind was busy at work trying to decide which she would dislike +the least--living with Aunt Josephine and walking with Fido and the +French maid and going to a strange camp and a strange school, or going +off to a strange place and living among strange people and playing +strange games! She wanted dreadfully to cry, but Tante was so quiet and +so miserable, and Daddy was so serious that she could not add in any +way to what seemed to trouble them. +</p> + +<p> +So--although Francesca, the little Italian singer, was skipping rope on +the pavement below the window, and a robin was calling lustily to its +mate in a nearby horse-chestnut tree, and a vender was peddling his +wares down the street in a voice that sounded like a slow-pealing bell, +poor Keineth felt as if she could never be really happy again! That +night Daddy and Keineth went uptown for dinner. In one of the hotels +they met Mr. Lee. Keineth's heart was pounding with dread beneath her +neat serge dress and she was almost afraid to look at the man. But when +he took her hand in his and spoke in a kindly voice, she ventured a +timid glance and saw a big man, taller and heavier than her father, +with a jolly smile and eyes that laughed from under their shaggy +eyebrows. Then she felt that she liked him--and the more because he had +such an affectionate way of laying his hand on her father's shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +While they talked together Mr. Lee watched her very closely. Once he +said to her father: +</p> + +<p> +"My wife will love the little girl--she is so like her mother!" There +had been a long silence then, and Keineth had seen the look in her +father's eyes that meant his thoughts were back in the past. Later Mr. +Lee had added: "Why, John--you won't know the child after a summer with +us--those cheeks will all be roses and her little body plump. And how +the kiddies will love her!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth had been shown the kodak pictures and had studied them closely. +The very big girl was Barbara, who was seventeen. The boy was Billy, +aged fourteen. Peggy was Keineth's age--twelve, and the little one, +Alice, was eight. They all wore middy blouses in the picture and Peggy +and Alice were barefooted. Keineth thought, as she looked at their +laughing faces, that they were very unlike any children she had ever +seen anywhere. +</p> + +<p> +They took Mr. Lee to their home. Keineth played on the piano for +them--not her own fairy things, but a simple little piece she had +learned with much precision from Madame Henri. Then she and Tante went +upstairs. Daddy had whispered to her as she kissed him good-night: +</p> + +<p> +"You must decide yourself, dear!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth had thought that when she was quite alone in her bedroom she +would cry, for then it would disturb no one and she really had a great +deal to cry about. But Madame Henri lingered a long time by her bed, +standing close to it with a very white face. Finally she knelt beside +it and laid her cheek against Keineth's hands. Keineth felt hot tears +which surprised her, for she did not know that Tante knew how to cry. +Then Tante began to pray--a queer sort of prayer, all broken: "Oh, God, +oh, God, keep this little girl safe from the things that hurt! Keep all +the little ones! Why should they suffer? Where is your mercy?" Then she +said a great deal in French so fast that Keineth could not understand +her and finally, sobbing violently, she rushed out of the room, leaving +Keineth very disturbed. She thought that poor Tante must love her very +much and she supposed the prayer was for the little children in Europe +who were starving, as well as for her--Keineth Randolph! Madame Henri's +good heart so moved her that she jumped out of bed to kneel beside it +and add what she had forgotten in her concern over herself! +</p> + +<p> +"God bless dear, dear Tante and keep her safe!" +</p> + +<p> +Then, feeling very excited, Keineth went to sleep without crying and +dreamed of running barefooted with Peggy through fields all white with +daisies, while in the distance at a fence like the rail fences in +pictures, stood Aunt Josephine's awful French maid with Fido under her +arm, screaming at her in French. +</p> + +<p> +So vivid seemed the dream that it awakened Keineth. She listened for a +moment. She could hear the click of her father's typewriter. She +pressed the button that lighted her bed lamp, found her slippers and +stole noiselessly downstairs. Never in her whole life had she disturbed +her Daddy when he was writing, but now she did not even rap--she pushed +the door open and ran to him. +</p> + +<p> +"Daddy, Daddy--" she cried as though still pursued by the screaming +French maid. "Please--I'd rather go to the Lee's!" +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap03"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER III +</h3> + +<h3> +OVERLOOK +</h3> + +<p> +"The next station is Fairview, Keineth--watch out for the kiddies," +said Mr. Lee, rising from the car seat. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth had been sitting for a half hour with her nose flattened +against the car window, not seeing at all the fields and farmhouses +that flew past her, but trying to picture what Peggy would be like! +Keineth was very excited and a little tired from the night in the +sleeper; she was fighting back the thought that she would not see Daddy +for a long, long time. Daddy had gone with them to the station the +night before, and had helped her undress in the queer little shelf he +called a berth and had himself pulled the blankets close around her +chin and kissed her again and again. +</p> + +<p> +"Little soldier--right face," he whispered--and Keineth knew that he +meant she should be very brave over it all. Then he had hurried off the +train, for the conductor was shouting: "All aboard----" and Keineth, +peeping from under her curtain for a last look, had seen his tall +figure go down the dimly-lighted platform. +</p> + +<p> +The engine whistled and slowed down. Keineth took up the new bag which +had been Aunt Josephine's present to her, and followed Mr. Lee to the +door. Around the corner of his arm she saw a freckled-faced boy running +close to the car step, and beyond him two little girls. +</p> + +<p> +The taller of the two must, of course, be Peggy! Keineth saw a +bob-headed, slim child of about her own height, brown as a berry. +</p> + +<p> +"Dad--Dad," they cried, running forward as Mr. Lee stepped down from +the train almost strangled in Billy's hug. In their joy at seeing their +father the girls did not notice Keineth, who stood shyly back, wishing +the ground would open and swallow her up. +</p> + +<p> +But the ground under the station platform was unusually solid! In a +moment Keineth felt three pairs of eyes upon her as Mr. Lee turned and +said: +</p> + +<p> +"Here is the little stranger I have brought with me." +</p> + +<p> +"Hello," said Peggy, smiling. Alice smiled, too, but hung back a +little, and Billy swept a critical glance over Keineth's city-clad +little figure. Mr. Lee, holding Alice's hand in his, was walking toward +an automobile in which sat the eldest daughter. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm awfully glad you came," began Peggy as the children followed. +"It'll be such fun!" +</p> + +<p> +"Is this Keineth?" cried the girl in the automobile, jumping out to +greet her father. Keineth had pictured Barbara as quite a young +lady--she had always thought seventeen very old--but Barbara was +dressed in a blue skirt and a middy blouse like Peggy's and wore her +hair in a long, thick braid. She had her father's kind eyes and the +friendliness of their glance warmed poor little Keineth's homesick +soul. She gave the child a little pat on the shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +"We're just awfully glad you're here," she said, taking Keineth's bag. +Then, to her father: "We didn't think Genevieve would run! She's been +acting awful--but we just made her crawl up here to meet you." +</p> + +<p> +"Genevieve's the name of the automobile," giggled Peggy as the smaller +girls cuddled into the back seat. Billy rode on the running board and +Barbara took the steering wheel. +</p> + +<p> +"Mother's fine," Barbara was saying while, at the same time, Billy was +pouring into his father's ear a great deal of information concerning +his wireless. Peggy in breathless, excited words was pointing out to +the bewildered Keineth the sights of Fairview. +</p> + +<p> +Genevieve, with many puffs and snorts and queer noises from under her +bonnet, crawled gallantly along the smooth road, up a hill, turned in +between two stone posts and stopped. Down the steps ran a woman who +seemed to Keineth only a little older than Barbara, She kissed Mr. Lee, +then, pushing the eager children aside, turned to Keineth. +</p> + +<p> +"Here she is, mother," called out Peggy, drawing Keineth forward. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Lee took Keineth in her arms and held her very close for a moment. +When she released her she put her hand under Keineth's chin to lift her +face. +</p> + +<p> +"It's like seeing your mother again," she laughed, although there was a +queer little catch in her voice. +</p> + +<p> +"You'll be Peggy's twin," she added, starting up the steps. "Bring in +their bags, Billy. Barb--let's give Dad a nice hot cup of coffee! +Peggy, you make Keineth perfectly at home." +</p> + +<p> +Keineth took off her hat and coat. Very willingly Peggy took her in +charge. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll show you the garden," she said. +</p> + +<p> +"Let's go down to the beach!" cried Alice, following. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you want to see my wireless set?" invited Billy. +</p> + +<p> +"Billy thinks that's the only interesting thing about Overlook!" +</p> + +<p> +"Wait a moment, children," suggested Mrs. Lee to them, "one thing at a +time! Keineth is tired, perhaps. Take her upstairs, Peggy, and let her +slip on a blouse and your old serge bloomers--then go outside and +play!" +</p> + +<p> +Overlook really wasn't like a house at all--Keineth had never seen +anything quite like it. There was one big living-room with a veranda +running around it and with big doors opening from three sides upon the +veranda so that the room itself was just like out-of-doors. One end of +the veranda was enclosed in glass and used as a dining-room. Flowers in +boxes were on the sills of the windows and over them the sun streamed +through chintz-curtained windows. Upstairs were two rooms over the +living-rooms, and opening from these were screened sleeping porches, +with rows of little cots. Peggy explained that the rooms were used as +dressing-rooms and that each one of the family had a little chest of +drawers for their own clothes and that mother had brought the oak one +in the corner out from town for Keineth's use. +</p> + +<p> +"But where do you sleep when it rains?" cried Keineth. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, out there," laughed Peggy; "you see, the roof slants down so far +that it keeps out the rain. That's your cot--between Barb's and mine." +</p> + +<p> +Keineth caught a glimpse of a great blue stretch of water glistening in +the bright sunlight a quarter of a mile away. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh--is that the lake?" she exclaimed, eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes--we'll go down to the beach in a little while. Can you swim? +Mother will teach you--she taught each one of us. I'm going to try for +the life-saving medal this year! We have sport contests at the club in +August. Can you play tennis?" Keineth said no. Peggy's manner became +just a little patronizing. "Oh, it's easy to learn, though it'll take +you quite awhile to serve a good ball, but you can practice with Alice. +Can you play golf?" +</p> + +<p> +"My Daddy can." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, you can walk around the links with Billy and me. Barbara plays a +dandy game--she can beat Dad all to pieces. Let's go down now and see +the garden." +</p> + +<p> +Beyond the neatly-kept lawn with its bricked walks bordered with +nasturtium beds was the stretch of garden in which the children had +their individual beds. Peggy explained to Keineth that Billy this year +had planted his bed to radishes and onions; that she had put in her +seed in a pattern of her own designing which, when she separated the +weeds from the flowers would look like a splendid combination of a new +moon and the Big Dipper. Barbara and Alice had planted asters and +snapdragon because mother liked them for the house. Back of the flower +beds was a patch of young corn, and behind that the vegetable garden +which supplied the table. At one side of the garden was the barn where +poor Genevieve was now resting her rickety bones, and next to that was +a shed. +</p> + +<p> +Billy was busy at work repairing the door of the shed. As the girls +came in sight he waved to them. They started on a run. +</p> + +<p> +"Let's give Ken a ride on Gypsy," he called out. He dropped his hammer, +disappeared in the barn and came out leading a shaggy pony. +</p> + +<p> +At the sound of the nickname carelessly bestowed upon her Keineth drew +in her breath quickly. Right at that moment she wanted more than +anything else in the world that these children should not think she was +a bit different from them! Already her plain serge dress had been hung +away and she was in a blouse and bloomers like Peggy's! +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know," began Peggy doubtfully. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, please, let me have a ride," broke in Keineth in a voice she tried +to make as careless as Billy's own. +</p> + +<p> +"We always ride Gypsy bareback--climb up here on these boxes!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth stepped upon the boxes, Billy wheeled the pony around and +Keineth bravely swung one leg over the pony's back, taking the halter +in her hand as she did so. Billy gave the pony a sound slap on the +shoulder and off they flew! +</p> + +<p> +Never in her life had Keineth been on a horse's back, but she had +caught the challenge in Billy's laughing eyes and her soul flamed with +daring. She clenched her teeth tightly and, because she was in mortal +terror of slipping off from the pony, she gripped her knees with all +her might against his shaggy sides. In a funny little gallop--very like +a rocking horse--he circled the house, while from the shed Billy and +Peggy shouted to her encouragingly. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth's first ride would have ended triumphantly if she had not laid +her hand ever so lightly on a certain spot in Gypsy's neck! For Gypsy, +having reached an age when he was of no further use in their business, +had been bought a year before from a circus company by Mr. Lee and +taken to Overlook, and at the time of the purchase no one had explained +to Mr. Lee that Gypsy's training had included quietly throwing the +clown from her back in a way which had always won screams of laughter +from the spectators and that the little act came at the moment when the +clown touched a certain spot on her neck! All the young Lees had ridden +Gypsy but had not happened to discover this little trick. But Keineth, +just as she had safely passed the kitchen door and was galloping toward +the shed, suddenly felt herself flying over Gypsy's head! Her fall was +broken by a pile of sand which had been hauled up from the beach for +the garden. Keineth was more startled than hurt, though she felt a +little stunned and lay for a moment very still. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, are you hurt?" cried Peggy, running quickly to her with Billy at +her heels. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, I s'pose she'll cry and bring mother out!" Keineth heard Billy say +behind Peggy's back. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth's cheeks were very red. She stood up quickly and, though for a +moment everything danced before her eyes, she managed to laugh and +speak in a queer voice she scarcely recognized as her own. +</p> + +<p> +"'Course I'm not hurt! A little fall like that!" she brushed the sand +from her blouse. +</p> + +<p> +"Peggy," cried Billy, joyfully, "she's a real scout!" and Keineth knew +then that she was one of them. +</p> + +<p> +Even Peggy's tone was different. "Let's ask mother if we can't go down +to the beach before lunch!" she called out over her shoulder, starting +houseward on a run. +</p> + +<p> +That night a very tired little girl crept into her cot between +Barbara's and Peggy's. Alice was already asleep on the other side of +Peggy. Barbara was still on the veranda talking with her mother and +father. A soft land breeze, all sweet with garden smells, fanned their +faces as the girls lay there. What a day it had been to Keineth--she +had played in the sand, waded in the warm shallows of the lake, raced +with Peggy and Alice through the fields all white with daisies and had +gathered great bunches of the pretty flowers! She thought, as she lay +there watching the little stars peeping under the edge of the roof, +that she had never been so happy in her life! She loved Overlook and +all the Lees--and Peggy, best of all. +</p> + +<p> +In whispers, reaching out from their cots to clasp hands, she and Peggy +opened their hearts to one another. She told Peggy all about poor, nice +Tante and about the old house and Francesca Ferocci and Aunt Josephine +and Fido and the French maid, and the tenants on the third floor and +her Daddy--who'd gone away on a secret. Peggy, very sleepily pictured +what they'd do on the morrow and the day after and the day after that. +Later, when Mrs. Lee went her rounds, as she always did, tucking a +cover under each loved chin, she found Keineth's fair curls very close +to Peggy's round bobbed head and their hands still clasping. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap04"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER IV +</h3> + +<h3> +KEINETH WRITES TO HER FATHER +</h3> + +<p class="noindent"> +My dear, dear, dearest Daddy, +</p> + +<p> +I have decided to write down all my thoughts and send them to you just +like the diry Tante used to keep in her brown book that had the lock on +it, then she would lose the key and ring her hands and think Dinah had +taken it, then she would find it under her burow cover where she had +hidden it all the time. I am trying to be a good soldier. It was very +hard at first, I could not keep myself from thinking all the time of +you and Tante and our happy home where it must be all dark and dusty +now like it was after we had been in the mountains with Aunt Josephine, +only worse. I do love it here, but it is not a bit like anything I have +ever seen at home or riding with Aunt Josephine. It is like a house and +like we were living right out doors, for there are so many windows and +we sleep in a big room just with a roof. I sleep right next to Peggy; +we always talk before we go to sleep, which is lots of fun, only Peggy +never listens until I finish. I say good-night to a big bright star +becose I pretend that star is shining down where you are writing +somewhere and maybe will tell you that your little girl is saying +goodnight. Way off toward the end of the sky there is a funny little +star that is very hard to see, and I say goodnight to that for Tante +becose she is so far away, too, Barbara helped me find on the map where +she had gone and Mr. Lee said poor thing. I do wish I knew if she was +unhappy. +</p> + +<p> +We live downstairs in a great big room and eat there and everything, it +seems just as if flowers grew right in it, for there are boxes of them +at the windows and on the veranda, and Aunt Nellie puts big bunches of +them all around the room and Peggy has a bird that lives in a white +cage in the window and sings all the time, I guess becose the sun +shines on him. The furniture is not gold at all like Aunt Josephine's +and it is not big like we have at home and there are only one or two +rugs and the floor shines; Aunt Nellie does not fuss when we children +move things around and we have lots of fun. There is a big fireplace +made of rocks Billy says they pulled up from the beach. One time Mr. +Lee lighted some big logs in it and we all sat round and told terrible +storys of pirates and things we made up most, but Billy could think of +the worst and Mr. Lee and Aunt Nellie sat with us and told some just +like they were children, too. Sometimes Aunt Nellie seems just like a +girl, she is so jolly, she is not a bit like Aunt Josephine, though I +am sure Aunt Josephine is a very nice lady and I don't mean that I +don't love her, only Aunt Nellie kisses me as if she liked too and does +not just peck my cheek. Last week she brought me home some lovly middy +bloses like Peggy wears, and I play in bloomers all day and put on a +white skirt for supper; Mr. Lee says Peggy and I look like twins. +Auntie brought me a bathing suit, too, and a tennis raket Peggy says is +better than hers. She folded away all my hair ribbons, she said we +would not bother with them in the country. Barbara wears middy bloses, +too, but she cannot wear bloomers becose she is too old though she does +not look old or grownup. She is going away to school in the fall and +Auntie and she are getting her close ready. Alice is just a little girl +and is some fun, although she crys real often Peggy says she is +spoiled. Auntie says she will outgrow that and that Peggy cryed just as +much when she was like Alice is. I wish I could see you becose I would +like to ask you many questions about when I was a little girl. I am +sure if I had a little sister like Alice I would try and be more polite +than Peggy is, but Peggy says that families are all like that. Billy is +awful. I do not think I like him very much. He says the queerest words +and acts rude and rough. Tante would not like his manners at all. I am +ashamed becose I do not like him becose Auntie loves him dearly and she +only laughs when I think she will punish him; he does not read books +and his English is bad like Dinah's and he teses Peggy and Alice and +eats very fast and talks with food in his mouth. I shall try to like +him. +</p> + +<p> +There are no sidewalks at Mr. Lee's house; they have pebble paths with +flowers here instead of sidewalks and a dirt road; it is just like the +real country and there are daisies in the fields, Peggy says they do +not call them lots. The grass is greener than in the Square at home. +All the children have gardens. Peggy says I may have half of her's and +I have a hoe and rake all my own. Billy Is going to sell his +vegertables becose he wants to buy a new sending set for his wireless. +I like the pony, though I do not like to ride it after the first time +when I fell off, though it did not hurt me at all and I was not even +frightened. +</p> + +<p> +To-morrow we are going into the lake for a swim, although I will have +to learn, but Peggy says that it is easy only I must stay away from +Billy or he will duck me. I shall try and not be afraid becose I am +sure you would be ashamed of me if I acted frightened. It will be fun +to put on my new bathing suit. Auntie taught Barbara and Peggy to swim. +Peggy is going to try and win the medal this year, and Barbara says she +will becose she swims so well. +</p> + +<p> +I will try and remember to write to Aunt Josephine like I promised I +would becose she is my aunt, but I will not know what to tell her +becose there is not anything in Overlook that is like what she has and +she might not like what I tell her and scold us. I am sure she would be +angry if I told her that once a week Auntie lets us girls cook the +supper and we cook just what we please and surprise them, and Barbara +puts down on a paper everything we use and how much it costs, and after +supper she gives it to Mr. Lee and we talk about it. Tomorrow is our +night. Oh I wish you were here, Daddy, it is such fun only it is very +lonely without a father. I try to do all the things that Peggy does, +though I can't do them as well, but I will tell you in this diry how I +improve as I intend to do. I have not any book to keep my thoughts in, +but I will send them to you whenever I write them. Please excuse my +spelling for I am sure no one should have to look in a dickshunary when +they are writing thoughts. Tante never did. I love you and I am sending +a million kisses with this letter. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Your little soldier daugghter, Keineth Randolph. +</p> + +<p class="t3"> + * * * * *<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Dear Mr. President of the United States: +</p> + +<p> +Please send the letter I put in the envelope to my father. He is +working for the Stars and Stripes somewhere, he said he could not tell +me where becose it was a secret. He is a soldier, but he is one of +those that do not wear any uniform. I am sure you will know where he is +becose you are the President of our Country. I would like to know, too, +very much where he is becose it is lonesome without him, for my father +is the only family I have. But my father said I must be a little +soldier. You know he just means me to do my duty and to like Overlook +and everybody and to do what they do, but it makes me feel better to +pretend that I am a soldier like he is and like all your soldiers. +Thank you if you send my letter to my father and much love. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Yours truly, Keineth Randolph. +</p> + +<p> +P. S.--Aunt Josephine says postscripts are not good form, but I forgot +to say that my father's name is John Randolph, of Washington Square, +New York. This was the letter over which Keineth, curled in a chair at +the writing-desk, had labored for a long time, finishing it at last to +her satisfaction. Slipping it into an envelope with the letter she had +written to her father she sealed it hastily, anxious to have it +addressed and mailed before Peggy and Billy returned from the golf +club. +</p> + +<p> +Over on the window seat Barbara sat sewing, watching Keineth with +amused eyes; for Keineth had been writing with the dictionary open at +her elbow and had stopped very often to consult it as to the spelling +of a word. +</p> + +<p> +"Very different from Peggy," thought Barbara. +</p> + +<p> +Aware after a little that Keineth's face wore a perplexed frown, she +said to her: +</p> + +<p> +"Can I help you, Ken?" +</p> + +<p> +"If you'll just tell me how to address a letter to the President, +please." +</p> + +<p> +"The President! What President?" +</p> + +<p> +"The President of the United States." +</p> + +<p> +"Good gracious--" Barbara, dropping her sewing, stared at Keineth in +amazement. "I thought--no wonder you're using a dictionary! I am sure I +would, too! But--" Keineth broke in hastily. "You see I have been +writing a sort of diary, about everything I think and do, to send to my +father, but I don't know where he is because he has gone away on a +mission for our country and it has to be kept a secret, but I +thought--" Her voice broke a little and she held the letter tightly in +her hands. +</p> + +<p> +Barbara, feeling how close the tears were to Keineth's bright eyes, +crossed quickly to her side. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, I see!" she said briskly. "What a splendid idea! Of course the +President will know where he is and will send it to him. Let me +think--we learned all that in school and had to address make-believe +letters to him--" Taking a sheet of paper she wrote in large letters: +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + Honorable Woodrow Wilson,<br /> + White House,<br /> + Washington, D. C.<br /> +</p> + +<p> +"It looks too simple for the President--it ought to have more +flourishes to it and titles and things, shouldn't it, Ken? You copy it +and we'll walk straight down to the post office and mail it so that it +will go on to-night's train." Tears were far from Keineth's eyes as she +walked by Barbara's side down the white road between the fields of +daisies and buttercups. The little cloud of loneliness that had for a +brief time threatened her sky had disappeared and she was again a +light-hearted little girl, eagerly awaiting the happy things that each +new day at Overlook seemed to bring to her. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap05"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER V +</h3> + +<h3> +PILOT COMES TO OVERLOOK +</h3> + +<p> +"This is the third time in a week that Billy's been late for dinner," +said Mrs. Lee, looking from Billy's empty place at the table to his +father's face. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Lee was serving the steaming chicken and biscuits that Nora had +placed on the table. +</p> + +<p> +"He asked me if he could go to the fair at Middletown! He wanted his +next week's allowance." +</p> + +<p> +"William," and Mrs. Lee's gentle voice was stern, "you do spoil that +boy dreadfully!" +</p> + +<p> +"He's with Jim Archer!" Peggy put in. She knew that her mother did not +like Jim Archer. +</p> + +<p> +"Billy's with him a lot," added Barbara. +</p> + +<p> +"He teases us girls all the time, too, Mother! He put June bugs in my +bed last night!" cried Alice. +</p> + +<p> +"Billy is certainly in all wrong just now," answered Mr. Lee with a +twinkle in his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"But _do_ you think these fairs are quite the places for boys like +Billy and Jim Archer--alone?" asked Mrs. Lee with a troubled look. "He +should have been home long ago! They must have ridden their wheels!" +</p> + +<p> +"Don't worry, little mother! Billy will come home tired and hungry and +none the worse for the fair! Why, when I was a boy I never missed a +fair anywhere around and always walked, too! _They_ used to be real +fairs--nothing like them these days!" +</p> + +<p> +The children knew that when their father began his "when I was a boy," +it could mean a story if there was a little coaxing! +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, tell us a story!" Alice cried. +</p> + +<p> +"Please do!" added Keineth. It would make them all forget to feel cross +toward Billy! +</p> + +<p> +So, chuckling a little under his breath, Mr. Lee began: +</p> + +<p> +"Down in our village old Cy Addington had a calf he'd entered in the +County Fair. He'd set his heart on that calf's winning a prize--all the +other farmers had told him it would. It was black as jet with just a +little white mark on its fore quarter. He tended that calf like a baby +and spent hours at a time getting it all in shape for the Fair. Well, +the night before the Fair opened two boys--bad boys they were--stole +that calf out of its shed, took it off in some woods where they had a +lantern and a can of paint hidden under a log. What do you think they +did? Painted the animal white--snow white--every bit of him! Then they +took him to the graveyard and tied him to a tombstone!" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Daddy, how dreadful!" cried Alice. +</p> + +<p> +"Then what happened?" demanded Keineth and Peggy in one voice. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, a lot of things happened, and they happened fast! Miss Cymantha +Jones, a nervous spinster, was walking home from Widow Markham's +house--rather late, but she'd been caring for the widow through a sick +spell. And Miss Cymantha saw that calf jumping around among the +tombstones and thought it was a ghost! She let out such screams that it +brought Charley, the old sexton, running to the door in his night +shirt, and he saw the calf, and Miss Cymantha scuttling down the road +screaming and holding her skirts high so's she could run faster, and I +guess he thought it was the resurrection itself, for what did he do but +ring the bell and the folks all thought it was a fire and came rushing +out in all kinds of clothes! Then Cy Addington found his precious calf +and the neighbors had an indignation meeting right then and there and +the ones who had the most clothes on started out to find the offenders +and some of the others went in to quiet Miss Cymantha, and a few others +put the sexton to bed and locked him in so that he couldn't give any +more alarms!" +</p> + +<p> +"But what happened to the boys?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, when the crowd was the most excited they just climbed over a +woodshed into the house and by the time the volunteers were lined up to +go to find them they were sound asleep!" +</p> + +<p> +"Who were they, Father? Were they boys you knew?" asked Peggy. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Lee laughed down the length of the table and Peggy caught the +answering smile in her mother's eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, I know--I know! It was you, Daddy," she cried, running from her +chair to kiss the back of his head. +</p> + +<p> +"Come, dear, sit down! William, if you were that sort of a boy what can +we expect of Billy? Hark--isn't that his whistle?" She stepped eagerly +to the door, the girls close behind her. +</p> + +<p> +"He's all right--he always whistles when he's happy!" +</p> + +<p> +"It is he!" cried Mrs. Lee, going down the steps. "And what in the +world is he bringing with him!" +</p> + +<p> +For Billy, covered with dust, guiding his bicycle with one hand, was +walking leisurely up the road leading with an air of pride edged +slightly by a disturbing doubt, a dirty, weary-eyed dog! +</p> + +<p> +"A dog--of all things!" cried Barbara, +</p> + +<p> +"_Where'd_ you get it?" demanded Peggy eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +The family stood on the bottom step and eyed Billy's treasure. The dog +seemed to have no doubt as to his welcome, for in his desire to greet +his adopted family he strained at the slender leash with which Billy +held him. +</p> + +<p> +"Whose dog is it, Billy," asked Mrs. Lee. +</p> + +<p> +"I bought him for a dollar!" Billy glanced questioningly at his mother. +He had heard her declare ever so often that she would not allow a +long-haired dog in the house! And this new pet had a very long, shaggy, +dirty hide! Peggy was on her knees with both arms around the dog's +neck. +</p> + +<p> +"Just see him shake hands!" Alice was crying. +</p> + +<p> +But the quiet of Mrs. Lee's manner disturbed Billy. "I think you'd +better come into the house and see if Nora has saved you any supper. +After you have finished we will hear about the dog." +</p> + +<p> +"Let me hold him, please, Billy!" begged Peggy. Keineth stood a little +apart. She was not yet sure that she wanted a closer acquaintance with +the newcomer. She had known few dogs; her father had always warned her +to leave the stray dogs that she met on the street quite alone--and she +had detested Aunt Josephine's silky poodle! But this poor scrap was +wagging his stubby tail and looking at her in a coaxing manner that +said plainly, "Let's be friends!" +</p> + +<p> +Within the house Billy was cramming down biscuits and chicken gravy +with an enjoyment that covered the concern he felt at his mother's +attitude. When he could speak for the food in his mouth he told her of +the crowds at the fair. But with the last mouthful of custard pie +bolted he went straight to the point: "Can I keep him, Mother?" +</p> + +<p> +She rose and, with Billy following, went out upon the veranda. At sight +of his new master the dog broke away from Peggy and leaped upon him, +his big paws on Billy's shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +"Can't I keep him, Mummy?" he asked, pleadingly, looking from his +mother to his father. +</p> + +<p> +"Mummy, this is such a lovely dog--" implored Alice, the June bugs +forgotten. +</p> + +<p> +"And we'll take care of him," added Peggy. +</p> + +<p> +Billy put one arm around the dog's neck. +</p> + +<p> +"I guess when you hear the story 'bout him you'll let him stay," he +said solemnly. +</p> + +<p> +"Tell us, son," Mr. Lee joined in for the first time. +</p> + +<p> +So Billy stood before them to plead for his dog. +</p> + +<p> +"Jim and I got to the Fair, 'nd he told me to wait outside and he'd +scout around and see if he couldn't find his uncle who had a show +inside, 'cause Jim thought maybe his uncle could get us in for nothing +and we'd have more money to spend. It was awful hot and I went over and +sat under the trees across the road and watched the people come. All of +a sudden I heard a dog cry, and over near one of the other trees was a +man that looked like a tramp trying to make a dog go ahead and kicking +him awful 'cause the dog wouldn't go! The dog would cry and then the +man'd kick him again and swear awful. Well, I was mad--I gave that +whistle that Rex used to know and the dog sort of listened, then I +whistled harder and the dog made a jump and broke his string and ran +like a flash right to me just's if he knew I was a friend! The man came +after him, swearing harder than ever. But I just took the dog and stood +right up and I said to him: 'You don't know how to treat a dog!' I +thought maybe he'd hit me, he looked so mad, but I went on talking real +fast. I said, 'He's a lot like a dog I know--what'll you sell him for?' +Because I'd sort o' decided he'd stolen him and might be glad to get +rid of him, you see! And the man said, 'How much'll you give?' and I +told him I'd give a dollar, and he reached out for the string and said, +'That ain't enough,' and I said, 'That's all I've got,' and just that +minute a policeman came along towards us and he said quick, 'He's +yours,' and I gave him my dollar and you ought to have seen him beat +it!" +</p> + +<p> +Upon the rest of the story Billy touched lightly--how, his dollar gone, +he had had no money with-which to buy his way into the fair; how Jim, +returning from an unsuccessful search for the uncle and finding Billy +and the dog under the tree, had, disgusted by Billy's extravagance, +left him there, bidding him wait! But later Jim had relented and had +treated Billy to an ice-cream cone from the tent near the gate. Then +Jim had started for home and Billy had walked the five miles between +Middletown and Overlook, pushing the bicycle and leading the tired dog. +</p> + +<p> +"And I never saw the Fair at all," he finished, breathless from his +story. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, Mother--don't you think Billy deserves the dog?" said Mr. Lee +when Billy had finished. And Keineth whispered, "Goody, goody!" +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Lee laughed. "I will say that he may stay here on trial--while +we're in the country. But, oh, dear--I had hoped we'd never have +another dog--and of all things, a long-haired dog!" +</p> + +<p> +"Jim Archer said he was an Airedale," broke in Billy, proudly stroking +the dirty head. "Pretty cheap for a dollar, I think!" +</p> + +<p> +"Let's name him," cried Alice eagerly. "I think you'd better bathe him +first," chuckled Mr. Lee. Then, turning to his wife, "You know I think +it is a valuable dog! The fellow must have stolen him!" +</p> + +<p> +In triumph Billy and Peggy led the newcomer towards the pump for his +bath, while Keineth went in search of soap and a sponge. Over the bath +they discussed names and, as it looked as though they could not agree, +they decided that, because Keineth was a visitor, she should select the +name. +</p> + +<p> +And after a little thought she called him Pilot. +</p> + +<p> +"Pilot Lee," said Peggy, squeezing a spongeful of water over the dog's +head. +</p> + +<p> +An hour later a very tired boy was sleeping soundly, while on the floor +beside his cot lay the dog--his warm muzzle faithfully snuggled against +Billy's dusty shoe. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap06"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER VI +</h3> + +<h3> +THE MUSIC THE FAIRIES PUT IN HER FINGERS +</h3> + +<p> +On the shaded corner of the wide veranda Mrs. Lee sat making +buttonholes in a blouse for Billy, humming as she worked. Occasionally +she patted the crisp cloth in her hand as though she loved this task of +stitching for her youngsters. About her quiet reigned; broken now and +then by Peggy's bird in its cage and the far-off sound of the gasoline +mower on the golf course. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly Barbara came around the corner of the house, like a rose, in +her fresh pink gingham. In her hand she swung a putter. +</p> + +<p> +"Off for the golf links, dear?" Mrs. Lee asked, glancing with pride +over the straight, slim figure of the girl. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, Mother, Carol Day and I play off our match this afternoon. If I +beat her I'll win those candlesticks--" +</p> + +<p> +"They will look very pretty on your dresser," smiled Mrs. Lee. "I know +what you mean, Mother--that I'm just playing for the candlesticks alone +and I'm not at all, for when I do win one I sort of hate taking a +prize. But I would like to beat Carol because she does play such a good +game!" +</p> + +<p> +"That's the spirit, Bab. Where are the little girls?" +</p> + +<p> +"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Mother," Barbara, balancing +herself on the arm of a chair, tapped her toe with the putter. "Peggy +and Alice have gone off to Molly Sawyer's and they've left Keineth +home. I don't think they're treating her a bit nicely!" +</p> + +<p> +"Why didn't she go with them?" +</p> + +<p> +"I don't think Peggy asked her to go. She and Molly were going to play +tennis on the Sawyer courts with Joan Crate, a girl that's out here +from town, and Keineth felt left out. Peggy told her she couldn't play +well enough to play with them and that it spoiled a game playing with +beginners, anyway!" +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Lee stitched in silence. Barbara went on: +</p> + +<p> +"And I heard Billy the other day teasing her about her father. He +laughed at her when she said her father was a soldier, only the kind +that didn't wear a uniform, and he told her there weren't any soldiers +like that! I think you ought to speak to the children, Mother." +</p> + +<p> +"Never mind, Bab, those things will straighten themselves. Peggy must +be more considerate and patient and I will tell Billy something about +Keineth's father--Billy will be interested. We may some day have reason +to be very proud of knowing him, for he may become a very great man, +besides doing an immense good for this country of ours. Run along, +dear, to your game and good luck to you!" +</p> + +<p> +Barbara kissed the top of her head and hurried away. Mrs. Lee sat on +alone, her hands idly clasped over the blouse in her lap. It was her +way to puzzle out these little problems quietly. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly across the June stillness came the sound of exquisite music; +clear, thrilling notes, unreal--fairylike! Almost hesitatingly Mrs. Lee +turned as though she expected to see a fairy sprite in gauzy robes +approaching her from the shadows of the house! She rose and crept +toward the window. No sprite was there--only Keineth sitting before the +piano, her small hands softly touching the keys as though by magic she +drew the melody from them. Across her fair head fell a slanting bar of +sunlight. To this her eyes were raised in rapt contentment. +</p> + +<p> +From the window Mrs. Lee watched and listened. There seemed to be no +beginning or end to the melody--it ran on and on, now plaintive, like a +small voice crying--now full of laughter with a happy note like that of +a bird. +</p> + +<p> +"Child--" Mrs. Lee stepped through the long window into the room. +Keineth turned quickly. +</p> + +<p> +"I didn't know--anyone was here," she said, shyly. +</p> + +<p> +But Mrs. Lee scarcely heard her. She had clasped her arms about the +small form and was holding it very close. +</p> + +<p> +"I was just playing--what the fairies put in my fingers," Keineth +explained from the depths of Mrs. Lee's embrace. +</p> + +<p> +"They are fairy fingers indeed," laughed Mrs. Lee. "Let us sit down +here together and you must tell me all about it. Who taught you to play +like that, child?" +</p> + +<p> +"No one--like that. Madame Henri always gave me lessons. They were very +stupid and I hated having to practice. But every evening, when we'd sit +together, I'd play to Daddy the music that came into my fingers. +Sometimes he'd stand by the piano until I was finished and then he'd +kiss my fingers and say 'fairy fingers', only Tante used to snore so +loudly, poor thing." +</p> + +<p> +"And you love music?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh--most of anything in the world. Sometimes Daddy would take me to +the big opera house to hear music and it seemed, when I heard it, as +though I was floating right away. Then we'd go home and I'd make up +more music and tell them a story on the piano and sometimes Daddy could +guess the story almost. Tante used to shake her head and Daddy would +say, 'Leave her alone--she knows more than we do.' I don't know what he +meant, but some day I shall study hard and try to be a great musician. +Daddy said--I should--only he said I must wait until my body grew as +strong as my spirit." +</p> + +<p> +"Keineth, my dear, do you know what a precious trust has been given +you? God gives to some of His children great gifts--they are in trust +for Him! You must care for it and guard it and keep it and see that it +is bestowed generously upon many! Music is one of the most precious +things in this world--and to create it is a great power!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth, with puzzled eyes, tried to understand. Mrs. Lee patted her +hand. +</p> + +<p> +"How your mother would have loved to hear what these fingers can do! +She had a nature that was like a song in its sweetness. But your father +is right; before all else you must build up this little body of yours!" +</p> + +<p> +"What did he mean, Aunt Nellie?" +</p> + +<p> +"He wants you to run and play games and grow strong. And you must not +be discouraged and unhappy if you can't keep up just yet with Peggy and +Billy and the others. Remember, while they've been racing their legs +off you've been doing other things. If Peggy _can_ beat you at tennis, +you just ask her to play one of her pieces for you! Poor Peg, her +fingers are all thumbs! Everything evens up in this funny world, +child." +</p> + +<p> +"You're so wonderful, Aunt Nellie! I did fed as if Peggy didn't like me +because I couldn't do things as well as she can, but if she'll help me +learn to swim real well and beat Billy just once at tennis, I'll help +her with her music!" +</p> + +<p> +"A fine idea, Keineth! And then sometimes, when Peggy perhaps wants to +do something that you don't care about, I will help you write down the +music you play. Some day we will surprise them all--you and I will have +a secret!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth clapped her hands eagerly. "Oh, I have wished I could! It'll be +such fun! I'll send it to my father! You _are_ wonderful, Aunt Nellie." +The child threw her arms about Mrs. Lee's neck in a burst of joy. +</p> + +<p> +"Remember, now! No discouraged heart because you can't get a ball over +the net or stand on your head in the water!" +</p> + +<p> +That evening an east wind blowing up with a fine, driving rain, gave an +excuse for a fire in the big fireplace. And as they sat around it; +Alice on the arm of her mother's chair, Barbara close to her father, a +little silent, because Carol Day _had_ beaten her; Peggy and Keineth on +the floor side by side, and Billy and his dog sprawled near the door, +Mrs. Lee told the children the story of the little boy who went each +day to his attic room to play on the old piano there; how one day, the +sound of the music reaching the ears of people below, they crept one by +one to the dark stairway to listen. Then in wonder they brought others +and even more. These foolish folk thought it was a spirit who came to +the attic room and made the music, but finally one of them crept closer +and opened the door and found the little boy! +</p> + +<p> +"I know, Mother," cried Barbara, "it was Mozart!" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, it was Mozart, who, when he grew older, made music that will last +as long as this world. Keineth, will you play for us, dear?" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth, with a very red face, walked bravely to the piano. But her +heart was happy and her fingers tingled with the music she felt. With +the firelight dancing across the darkened room it seemed like the old +library at home and as if Daddy must be sitting close to her with +Madame Henri nodding in her chair near the window! +</p> + +<p> +They were silent when she had finished. Barbara sighed-as though the +music had made her sad; Billy said something under his breath that +sounded like "Gee!" and Mrs. Lee patted Peggy's hand. She had found +time for a little talk with Peggy about Keineth. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, I think you're wonderful!" Peggy cried now to Keineth, running to +her and linking her hand in Keineth's arm. "I wish I could play one bit +as well as that----" +</p> + +<p> +After the children had gone to bed Mr. and Mrs. Lee sat for a long time +in the room lighted only by the flames of the fire. Somehow the music +seemed to linger about them. +</p> + +<p> +"Isn't this world funny, William--" Mrs. Lee stared into the blaze. "If +that child had not lived that funny, lonely life in that big house with +no one but the queer governess, that gift of hers might never have +developed! I wonder what the future may have in store for her?" +</p> + +<p> +"Above all--let us hope--health and happiness!" +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap07"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER VII +</h3> + +<h3> +ALICE RUNS AWAY +</h3> + +<p> +"I've got something to show you all," Billy announced at the luncheon +table. He wore the satisfied air of one who has accomplished something +long desired. +</p> + +<p> +"What've you got?" Peggy answered promptly. +</p> + +<p> +"Guess!" Billy fixed his attention upon his plate in a tantalizing way. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, I know--it's a new sending set! I guessed first!" +</p> + +<p> +"You didn't guess, either! I'll bet you saw Joe Gary bring it!" +</p> + +<p> +"What is a sending set?" asked Keineth. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll show you afterwards," Billy answered, with a kindness meant to +crush Peggy. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Lee broke in: "But I thought you had to save three dollars more +before you could buy one--" +</p> + +<p> +Billy flushed. "Well, this ain't exactly mine--yet, Dad! Joe Gary made +it and he's going to make another and he says I can use this one until +I want to buy it or at least for a while. I have that dollar I was +saving and my onions and radishes." +</p> + +<p> +"Good gracious!" Barbara laughed, "I suppose we'll live on onions and +radishes three times a day." +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Lee turned to Billy. "Don't you think, son, it might be better to +wait until you have the money to pay Joe? And a little more practice?" +</p> + +<p> +"Billy's always spending money on all those foolish things," Barbara +put in. "He doesn't seem to want to save and help you!" +</p> + +<p> +"Well, say, don't you think those things are foolish! You read all +sorts of things how wireless messages save people--" +</p> + +<p> +"On sinking ships, yes!" +</p> + +<p> +"Well, lots of other ways, too!" Billy's face blazed with wrath. "I'll +just show you some time!" +</p> + +<p> +"Molly Sawyer's brother knows a boy who is a wireless operator in the +Canadian Army and sends messages from trees!" +</p> + +<p> +"And if I have a little more practice I can try the troop exams next +winter and get a certificate!" +</p> + +<p> +"Billy," broke in his mother, "run over to Mrs. Clark's and tell Alice +to come home at once. Nora rang the bell for her but she did not hear." +</p> + +<p> +"Why, Mother," said Peggy, suddenly alarmed, "Janet Clark was with us +this morning!" +</p> + +<p> +Janet Clark was Alice's closest playmate. The two families lived in +adjoining houses. Mrs. Lee had returned to the house at noon and Nora +had told her that she had last seen Alice running through the gate +between the two gardens. +</p> + +<p> +It was only a worried moment before Billy came home to say that Alice +had not been there that morning! It was not like Alice to be long away +from home. Mrs. Lee, hiding her concern, directed the children to scour +the neighborhood. +</p> + +<p> +Not until they had come back from the club and beach and neighboring +houses and reported no sign of her did the mother and father openly +express alarm. The children saw a look come into their mother's face +that it had never worn before! Like a shock its agony pierced into each +child's heart! Very white, Billy rushed off to enlist the services of +his boy friends for a thorough search of the beach. Barbara, with her +father, started in the motor for Middletown. "I will stay here near the +telephone," Mrs. Lee had said in answer to her husband's quick, +concerned look. +</p> + +<p> +Peggy came running down the stairs. +</p> + +<p> +"Her bathing suit is gone, Mammy, and her pink apron--" +</p> + +<p> +"And her penny bank is broken!" Keineth held out in her hands the +pieces of the china pig which had held Alice's collection of pennies. +"It's all broken!" and, miserably, Keineth looked down at the +fragments. +</p> + +<p> +"We will find her," said Mrs. Lee, bravely, putting an arm about each +child. "You girlies must stay with me and help me." +</p> + +<p> +From Middletown Mr. Lee telephoned that they had found a clue. A child +answering Alice's description had stopped at a small candy store and +had purchased a selection of lolly-pops. She had paid for them in +pennies. Someone in the store had seen her climb upon a trolley car +bound for the city. Mr. Lee and Barbara were going on to the city. +</p> + +<p> +But at dusk they returned with no further news. In the crowd at the +city station no one had seen the child! And Billy and his boy friends +had found no trace upon the beach! +</p> + +<p> +"The police are working," the children heard their father say. Then +Mrs. Lee suddenly sank limp against his arm and he led her away. +</p> + +<p> +"Courage--courage!" they heard him whispering. +</p> + +<p> +Nora laid a tempting meal upon the table and carried it away, for no +one could eat a mouthful. Peggy had run to her room, where Keineth +found her-her face buried deep in her pillow. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh," she sobbed, "I've been so mean to Allie lots of times and maybe +she's dead somewhere and I can't ever tell her--" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth could offer small comfort, but the two locked their arms tight +about one another and listened as though in the gathering darkness they +might hear Alice's dear voice. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Lee had rushed off again to the city after a whispered word to +Barbara to stay close to her mother. Billy, his heart breaking, his +eyes burning with the tears which his boyish pride would not allow him +to show, and feeling the bitterness of his youth and his uselessness, +slowly mounted the stairs to the corner of the attic which was his own +particular den. The nickel of his beloved wireless apparatus gleamed at +him through the darkness. Like a flash a hope sprang into his heart! +Snatching up the phone he placed it upon his head, then ticked off his +message, with call after call, in every direction! +</p> + +<p> +Now and then someone picked up his words--an unsatisfactory answer +would come back. However, finding relief in doing something, Billy +repeated his calls; listening intently for any answer. +</p> + +<p> +Just as to his mind vividly came the picture of Alice's hurt face, +when, that very morning, he had roughly taken from her his old stamp +book, his own call came through the air. Every nerve in his body +tingled a response! It was Freddie Murdock--they had often talked back +and forth across the lake from where, on the Canadian shore, Freddie +Murdock's father had a cottage. And the words that Freddie was sending +to him by the waves of the air were: "Sister found--all right!" +</p> + +<p> +Shouting the good news Billy rushed three steps at a time down the +stairs straight into his mother's arms! She clung to him, burying the +boy's face, down which the tears were streaming, close to her heart. +</p> + +<p> +And while they clung together, crying and half laughing, Barbara +reached her father on the telephone to tell him how Alice had been +found! +</p> + +<p> +Two hours later Genevieve brought the little truant home. Mrs. Lee +carried her off for a warm bath and bed, while Nora, her eyes very red +with weeping, fixed her a bowl of hot milk toast. +</p> + +<p> +"I coaxed the story from her," Mr. Lee told his wife and Barbara later; +"that child wanted to see Midway Beach! Do you remember how hard she +begged to go with the Clarks when they went over and how unreasonable +she thought we were in refusing? Well, she just made up her mind to go +alone. She took her bathing suit and her pennies. She walked from here +to Middletown, took the trolley there for the city. On the trolley she +saw a party of picnickers headed for Midway Beach and she just walked +along with them. It was very simple. She watched the merry-go-rounds +and spent all her pennies! When it began to grow dark she laid down on +the beach and fell asleep. They found her there, later, after young +Murdock had given the alarm of a child lost! She didn't seem to be +frightened until they handed her over to a policeman to take her back +to the city; then the seriousness of her runaway must have come to her. +I do not think you will have to worry that she will do it again." +</p> + +<p> +Up in her cot Alice lay wide awake. Beside her Peggy and Keineth, +exhausted by their anxiety, were breathing heavily. Below Alice could +hear voices that she knew were her father's and mother's. She wished +awfully that her mother would come to her! With a child's instinct she +had read on her mother's face the suffering she had caused. Suddenly +she felt terribly alone--perhaps none of them would love her now or +want her back. She had been so very, very naughty. She clutched the +blanket with frightened fingers. +</p> + +<p> +The voices ceased below and in a moment Alice saw her mother's face +bending over her. With a little cry she threw her arms about the dear +neck. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Mammy, Mammy," she cried, in a passion of sobs, "say you love +me--say you want me back! I don't ever, ever, ever want to go away +alone! I thought it would be fun--I didn't think I was so naughty. Hold +me close, Mammy----" exhausted, she hid her face. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, my dear--my baby," the mother breathed in comfort and forgiveness, +and the loving arms did not relax their hold until the child was fast +asleep. +</p> + +<p> +"I think, Billy," said Mr. Lee, the next morning, "the family will +present to you with their compliments the finest sending set we can +find!" +</p> + +<p> +"And aren't they useful?" Billy cried in just triumph. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap08"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER VIII +</h3> + +<h3> +A PAGE FROM HISTORY +</h3> + +<p> +For several days a peaceful quiet reigned at Overlook. Little Alice +dogged her mother's footsteps, as though she could not bear one +moment's separation; Barbara spent the greater part of her time at the +golf club, coming home each day glowing with enthusiasm over the game +and fired with a hope of winning the women's championship title. Billy +had no thought for anything but the new sending set which his father +had ordered for him and which Joe Gary was helping him to install. +Keineth, under Peggy's tutorage, was faithfully practicing at tennis, +spending much time volleying balls back and forth across the net and +trying to understand the technic of the game. Then each afternoon came +a delicious dip into the lake, when Mrs. Lee would patiently instruct +Keineth in swimming. They were gloriously happy days--seeming very +care-free after the hours of agonizing concern over Alice; days that +brought new color into the young faces and an added glow into the +bright eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"Does Keineth know how we spend the Fourth of July?" Billy asked one +evening. +</p> + +<p> +"I hate firecrackers!" Keineth shuddered. "We always went away over the +Fourth to a little place out on Long Island." +</p> + +<p> +"We just have balloons and Roman candles in the evening because they +are not dangerous," Peggy explained. +</p> + +<p> +"And then on the Fourth we always make our visit to Grandma Sparks." +</p> + +<p> +"Who is she?" asked Keineth. She had never heard them speak of Grandma +Sparks. +</p> + +<p> +"Father calls her a page out of history." +</p> + +<p> +"Every man that had ever lived in her family has served his country--" +</p> + +<p> +"She isn't really our grandmother. Just a dear friend." +</p> + +<p> +Barbara explained further: "She has the most interesting little old +home about two miles from here. Part of it is over one hundred years +old! She lives there all alone. And her house is filled with the most +wonderful furniture--queer chairs and great big beds with posts that go +to the ceiling and one has to step on little stepladders to get into +them, only no one ever does because she lives there all alone. She has +some plates that Lafayette ate from and a cup that George Washington +drank out of--" +</p> + +<p> +"And the funniest toys--a doll that belonged to her grandmother and is +made of wood and painted, with a queer silk dress, all ruffles! She +always lets me play with it." +</p> + +<p> +"And her great-great-grandmother, when she was a little girl, held an +arch with some other children, at Trenton, for Washington to pass +through when he went by horse to New York for his first inauguration. +They all wore white and the arch was covered with roses. Grandma Sparks +loves to tell of it and how Washington patted her great-great-grandmother +on the head! If you ask her to tell you the story she will be very +happy, Keineth." +</p> + +<p> +"I like her guns best--" cried Billy. "She's got all kinds of guns and +things they used way back in the Revolution!" +</p> + +<p> +"And she has a roomful of books and letters from great people that her +ancestors collected. Why, Father says that she would be very rich if +she'd sell the papers she has, but she will not part with a thing! +Mother says she just lives in the past and she'd rather starve than to +take money for one of her relics!" +</p> + +<p> +"I'd rather have the money, you bet," muttered Billy. +</p> + +<p> +"I wouldn't--I think it must be wonderful to have a letter that was +really written and signed by President Lincoln himself," Barbara +declared. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm awfully glad we're going there," said Keineth eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +"Let's ask her to tell us about how her brother dug his way out of +Andersonville Prison! She'll show us the broken knife, Ken!" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, Billy, she's told us that story dozens of times--let's ask for a +new one!" To Keineth: "After she gives us gingerbread and milk and +little tarts she tells us a story while we all sit under the apple +tree!" +</p> + +<p> +"And say, she can make the best tarts!" interrupted Billy. "Oh, I wish +the Fourth would hurry and come!" echoed Keineth. It did come--a +glorious sunny morning! Billy's bugle wakened them at a very early +hour. Before breakfast the children, with Mr. and Mrs. Lee, circled +about the flag pole on the lawn, and, while Billy slowly pulled the +Stars and Stripes to the top, in chorus they repeated the oath of +allegiance to their flag. Keineth--her eyes turned upward, suddenly +felt a rush of loneliness for her father. A little prayer formed on her +lips to the flag she was honoring. "Please take care of him wherever he +is!" +</p> + +<p> +At noon, in Genevieve, they started merrily off for Grandma Sparks! In +her mind Keineth had drawn a picture of a stately Colonial house, with +great pillars, such as she had sometimes seen while driving with Aunt +Josephine. Great was her surprise when Billy turned into a grass-grown +driveway which led past a broken-down gate and stopped at the door of +a weather-gray house; its walls almost concealed by the vines growing +from ground to gable and even rambling over the patched roof. At the +door of the house stood a noble apple tree, spreading its branches in +loving protection over the old stone steps which led to the threshold. +</p> + +<p> +Through the small-paned window Grandma Sparks had been watching for +them. She came out quickly; a tiny figure in a dress as gray and +weather-beaten as the house itself, a cap covering her white head. Her +hands were stretched out in eager welcome and her smile seemed to +embrace them all at once. +</p> + +<p> +"Well--well--well," was all she could say. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth felt suddenly as though this quaint little lady had indeed +stepped out of one of her own dusty old books--she could not be a part, +possibly, of their busy world! And while the others talked she +examined, with unconcealed interest, the queer heavy furniture, the +colored prints on the walls and the old spinnet in the corner. Billy +was already taking down the guns and Alice sat rocking the doll. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth was shown the picture of the great-great-grandmother who had +held the arch and was told the story; she saw the plates and the cup +and the broken knife. They unfolded the flags that had been in the +family for generations and reread the letters that Mrs. Sparks kept in +a heavy mahogany box. One of them--most treasured of all--had been +written to her mother in praise of her brother's bravery on the +battlefield under action, and was signed "A. Lincoln." +</p> + +<p> +"My greatest grief in life," the little old lady said, holding the +letter close to her heart, "is that I have no son who may for his +generation serve his country, if they need him!" +</p> + +<p> +Afterwards Barbara told Keineth that Mrs. Sparks had once had a little +boy who had been born a cripple and died when he was twelve years old. +</p> + +<p> +While Barbara and Peggy were busy spreading a picnic--table under the +apple tree, Keineth told Grandma Sparks of her own father and how he +had gone away to serve his country, too; but that it was a secret and +no one knew he was a soldier because he wore no uniform. +</p> + +<p> +"The truest hearts aren't always under a uniform, my dear," and the old +lady patted Keineth's hand. "The service that is done quietly and with +no beating of drums is the hardest service to do!" After the +picnic--and the picnic _had_ included the gingerbread and tarts and +patties that Barbara had described and which the dear old lady had +spent hours in preparing--they grouped themselves under the apple tree; +Grandma in the old rocker Billy had brought from the house. +</p> + +<p> +"Not about Andersonville, please," begged Peggy. "Why, I know that by +heart! A new one!" +</p> + +<p> +"Something about the war," Billy urged. +</p> + +<p> +Barbara interrupted, shuddering. "No--no! I can't bear to think there +is a war right now--" +</p> + +<p> +"Child--I had thought that never again in my lifetime would this world +know a war! We have much to learn, yet--we are not ready for a lasting +peace. But it will come!" +</p> + +<p> +"That's what my father says--we must all learn to live like families in +a nice street," added Keineth gravely. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, well--if the girls can't stand a story about the war, tell us +something about the early settlers! I like adventure--if I'd lived in +those days you bet I'd have discovered something!" "I remember," mused +the old lady, "a story my father used to tell! We have the papers about +it somewhere. Let me think--it was about a trading post on the Ohio and +a captive maiden brought there by the Indians!" +</p> + +<p> +Billy threw his cap in the air. +</p> + +<p> +"Indians! Hooray!" +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap09"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER IX +</h3> + +<h3> +THE CAPTIVE MAIDEN +</h3> + +<p> +Grandma Sparks folded her hands contentedly in her lap and fastened her +eyes upon the distant tree-tops. +</p> + +<p> +"Years and years ago, when this land was a vast forest, a band of +Canadian and French soldiers and traders made their way through the +wilderness to the banks of the Ohio where they built a small fort and +started a trading post. The land was rich about them and they were soon +carrying on a prosperous trade with the Indians who came to the fort. +Though these Indians were friendly the soldiers had made the fort as +strong as possible, for they knew that no one could tell at what moment +they might be attacked! Sometimes weeks and months would pass when no +Indian would come their way; then some of the traders would journey +back along the trail with their wealth, leaving the others at the fort +to guard it. +</p> + +<p> +"In their number was a soldier who had once escaped from England; had +gone into France and from there to Canada, all because he had made the +King angry! Everyone in England thought he was dead. After years of +lonely wandering he had joined the little band of adventurers when they +started for the West--as they called it in those days! He was a queer +man, for he seldom talked to his fellows, but they knew he was brave +and would give up his life for any one of them! They called him +Robert--no one knew his other name, nor ever asked. +</p> + +<p> +"It was the custom at the trading post to treat the Indians with great +politeness. Sometimes great chiefs came to the fort and then the +soldiers and traders acted as though they were entertaining the King of +England. +</p> + +<p> +"One early morning a sentry called out to his fellows that Indians were +approaching. The soldiers quickly made all preparations for their +reception. The commanding officer went forward with some of his men to +meet them. The Indian band was led by a chief--a great, tall fellow +with a kingly bearing, and behind him another Indian carried in his +arms the limp form of a white girl. +</p> + +<p> +"Briefly the chief explained that the girl was hurt; that they, the +white men, must care for her! Where they had found her--what horrible +things might have happened before they made her captive no one could +know, for an Indian never tells and the white men knew better than to +ask! The girl was carried into shelter and laid upon a rough wooden +bed. It was Robert, the outlaw, who helped unwind the covers that bound +her. +</p> + +<p> +"In astonishment the soldiers beheld the face of a beautiful +girl--waxen white in her unconsciousness. Silently the Indians let the +white medicine-man care for their captive. She had been so terribly +hurt that for days she lay as though dead! While the soldiers +entertained the Indians, the medicine-man and Robert worked night and +day to save the young life. +</p> + +<p> +"Having finished trading with the white men the Indians prepared to +return to their village, which, they told the white men, was far away +toward the setting sun. The girl was too ill to be moved; so, with a +few words, the Indian Chief told the officer of the fort that soon they +would return for the girl--whom he claimed as his squaw--and that if +ill befell her, or, on their return, she was gone--a dozen scalps he +would take in turn! The officer could do no more than promise that the +Indian's captive would be well guarded. +</p> + +<p> +"And every white man of them knew that as surely as the sun sets the +Indian would return for the girl whom he claimed as his squaw, and that +if she was not there for him to take, twelve of them would pay with +their lives! +</p> + +<p> +"The weeks went on and the girl grew well and strong, but, because of +her horrible accident, could remember nothing of her past. She was like +an angel to the rough traders and soldiers; going about among them in +the simple robe they had fashioned for her of skins and sacking, with +her fair hair lying over her shoulders and her eyes as blue as the very +sky. And because she could not tell them her name they called her +Angele. +</p> + +<p> +"One day a message was brought to their fort telling of war in the +Colonies--that the English were fighting the French and that all Canada +would be swept with flame and blood! Almost to a man they said they +would go back to fight. One among them did not speak--it was Robert! +Though he had fled from England never to return, he could not lift his +hand against her. And someone must stay with Angele! +</p> + +<p> +"By the camp fire they talked it over. It was decided that four of them +would remain at the fort until the chieftain came to claim his captive. +One of these would be Robert; the other three would be chosen by lot. +</p> + +<p> +"So while the others went home along the trail over which they had +come, the four guarded the little fort for Angele's sake. Three of them +gave little thought to that time when the Indian chief would come for +the girl--to them, it simply meant that their guard would be ended and +that they, too, might return--but Robert went about with a heavy heart, +for, as the days passed, it seemed to him more and more impossible to +give the girl into a life of bondage! Under the stars he vowed that +before he would do that he would run his knife deep into her heart, and +pay with his own life. +</p> + +<p> +"Angele's contentment was terribly shattered one evening when, at +sundown, three Indians came to the fort. At the sight of them she +uttered a terrible scream and fled into hiding. They said they had been +wandering over the country and had come to the fort quite by chance and +only sought a friendly shelter for the night, but the sight of their +brown bodies and dark faces had shocked the girl's mind in such a way +as to bring back the memory of everything that had happened to her and +hers at the hands of these red men. Robert found her crouched in a +corner weeping in terror. To him she told her story; how the little +band of people, once happy families in the land of Acadia, roaming in +search of a home, had been surprised by an attack of Indians; how +before her very eyes every soul of them had been killed and she alone +had been spared because the chief wanted her for his squaw! They had +carried her away with them; for days they had travelled through strange +forests, for hours at a time she was scarcely conscious. Then, +attempting escape, she had received the blow from a tomahawk that had +hurt her so cruelly. It was a terrible story. Robert listened to the +end and then, taking her two hands and holding them close to his heart, +told her solemnly that never would she be given again to the Indians! +</p> + +<p> +"But he did not tell her of his vow, for suddenly he knew that life +would be very, very happy if he could escape from the fort with her and +go back to the Colonies! +</p> + +<p> +"The three Indians, before departing, had told of an entire tribe they +had overtaken only a little way off, decked out as if for a great +ceremony and led by a chieftain! Robert well knew who they were. If +they were to escape it must be before the dawn of another day! +</p> + +<p> +"That night--quietly, that Angele might not be frightened--the men +talked together over the fire. Robert unfolded a plan. The others must +start eastward immediately along the river trail. Then as soon as the +moon had gone down, he and Angele would go in the bark canoe the men +had built--paddle as far eastward as they could, then make for the +shelter of the forests. +</p> + +<p> +"The others were eager to escape--for they knew now that the man Robert +would never give up the girl, and they loved their own scalps! They +hastily gathered together what they wanted to take with them and stole +from the fort. During their idle days they had dug an underground +passage from the fort to the river; through this they escaped quickly +to the trail. +</p> + +<p> +"Robert wakened Angele and told her of his plan. She said not a word, +but by the fire in her eyes Robert knew what escape meant to her. Then, +gently, he asked her if--when they had found safety in the Colonies--she +would go with him to a priest to be married, and for answer she +turned and kissed him upon his hand. +</p> + +<p> +"While Robert loaded the canoe which he found at the river bank near +the opening of the rough tunnel, Angele joyfully made her few +preparations for the long journey. +</p> + +<p> +"Before leaving the fort Robert gave to Angele a small knife, telling +her that if they were captured she must use it quickly to end her own +life! He then carefully barred every possible entrance, knowing that +though the Indians could beat these down or fire the entire place, it +would mean some delay in their pursuit and give them a little start +toward safety. +</p> + +<p> +"Just as the moon disappeared and a heavy darkness enveloped them they +pushed away from shore. But as they started down the river a horrible +whoop split the air! Angele pressed her hands tight to her mouth to +still her scream of terror. With a mighty stroke Robert paddled for +midstream. But just as he did so an arrow shot past Angele and buried +itself in the soft part of his leg! +</p> + +<p> +"The three Indians who had come and gone in such friendly fashion were +not of the far-off tribe they claimed to be, but had been sent on ahead +by the chieftain to see how things were at the fort. They had gone back +and told their story and the chieftain, expecting that some escape +might be attempted, had planned to surprise the fort in the night. +</p> + +<p> +"His flesh stinging with the wound of the arrow, Robert lifted his +musket and fired quickly. Years before, in his own country, he had been +honored by his King for his good marksmanship, but it was God who +guided that aim through the darkness, for it shot straight into the +very heart of the chieftain! While, in confusion, the Indians gathered +about their fallen chief, Robert, with Angele fainting at his feet, was +soon lost in the kindly darkness of the river--paddling eastward!" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, were they saved?" cried Peggy, drawing a long breath. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes. Days afterward they reached a fort where they found a priest who +married them. And they lived happy, useful lives in a settlement in +Pennsylvania. Some records of the fort where the priest married them +tell the whole story--they're right in the house," and Grandma nodded +her head proudly toward the open door. +</p> + +<p> +"Didn't I tell you she was like a page out of history?" Barbara asked +Keineth as they drove homeward. +</p> + +<p> +"You just feel as if you were an American History book, beginning with +the discovery of America," laughed Peggy. +</p> + +<p> +"If I was a history book I'd leave out dates and the Cabots--I never +can get 'em straight," Billy chimed. +</p> + +<p> +"There must be lots and lots of stories about brave men that were never +put in books," Keineth added thoughtfully. +</p> + +<p> +Peggy yawned widely. "Well, I'm glad I'm not that poor captive maiden +and just plain Peggy Lee of Overlook!" +</p> + +<p> +"And I'm gladder still that mother is sure to have ice cream for +dinner!" +</p> + +<p> +This, of course, from Billy. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap10"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER X +</h3> + +<h3> +PILOT IN DISGRACE +</h3> + +<p> +"Anyone might think that this was Friday the thirteenth," growled +Billy. "I broke my fishing rod and I've lost my knife and Jim Archer +stepped on a nail and can't go on a hike this afternoon--" +</p> + +<p> +Billy's curious talk never failed to interest Keineth. She knew that it +was not Friday and it was not the thirteenth and wondered what Billy +ever meant! But she never asked him; something in the scornful +superiority with which Billy treated all girls made Keineth very shy +with him. She wished they might be better friends, for she felt very +sure that it would be great fun to share with him the exciting +adventures Billy seemed always to find! Vaguely she wondered what she +could do that might put her on an equal footing with this +freckled-faced lad who was, after all, only two years older than she +was! +</p> + +<p> +"Jim stepped on the nail yesterday--what's that got to do with to-day!" +Peggy answered teasingly, "Well, we were going to hike to-day," Billy +explained, too doleful to indulge in retort. "And all the other fellows +are doing something else." +</p> + +<p> +"Billy--Billy," called Alice from around the corner. "Just see what I +found!" She ran toward them, holding in her hand a dirty, ragged piece +of leather. +</p> + +<p> +"Where'd you find that?" demanded Billy, taking it from her. +"It's--why, jiminy crickets--it's one of my best shoes!" +</p> + +<p> +Billy meant that it had been! +</p> + +<p> +"Pilot!" the children cried, looking at one another. +</p> + +<p> +"That's what mother used to scold about Rex doing," Peggy recalled. +</p> + +<p> +"Why couldn't he eat my old ones!" groaned Billy, throwing the leather +off into some bushes. He felt troubled--he remembered that he had left +the shoes out on the floor of his dressing room. It was all his fault, +but Pilot would be blamed! +</p> + +<p> +"What can we do?" asked Keineth, sensing a tragedy. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't care anything about the shoes," answered Billy, "'cause I'd +just as soon wear these old ones as not--what d' I care about shoes? +But mother'll say that we can't keep the dog!" +</p> + +<p> +"He's only on trial--" Peggy broke in sadly. +</p> + +<p> +"If you girls could keep it a secret we'd give Pilot another chance--" +</p> + +<p> +"Alice is sure to tell! She can't keep anything!" +</p> + +<p> +"I can keep a secret! You just try me!" +</p> + +<p> +"Well, then," Billy lowered his voice mysteriously, "not a word! You +just cross your hearts that you won't tell a word! We'll give Pilot +another chance!" +</p> + +<p> +Solemnly the three girls crossed their hearts. Billy went off then in +search of some amusement of his liking, leaving them with the burden of +the secret. +</p> + +<p> +It weighed upon them through the day. And the more heavily when at noon +time the cook from Clark's tapped upon the kitchen door and reported +with great indignation that "jes' while her back was turned a minute +that there dog had stolen her leg she was about to be carvin' and had +gone off with it like he was possessed." +</p> + +<p> +"Your leg--well, now!" cried Nora, all sympathy. "Faith--not my _own_ +leg, but a leg of lamb!" wept the other, "and what the mistress will be +a sayin' I don't know!" +</p> + +<p> +"Where is that dog?" Mrs. Lee had sternly asked of the children. No one +knew. Keineth and Peggy exchanged troubled glances and then fixed +frowning eyes upon Alice. +</p> + +<p> +"It really is very foolish in us to keep him," Mrs. Lee went on. +"Probably this is just the beginning of the annoyances he will cause!" +</p> + +<p> +"He tramples down the flowers terribly," Barbara complained. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Lee caught the anxious look in Billy's eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, well, Mother, perhaps Billy will keep a closer watch on his dog +after this!" +</p> + +<p> +Billy promised with suspicious readiness. "Mr. Sawyer says Pilot's a +valuable dog," he told them. "And we ought not to give a valuable dog +away, anyway!" +</p> + +<p> +"We'll see," Mrs. Lee concluded. +</p> + +<p> +But that evening Pilot sealed his own doom! +</p> + +<p> +For, as the children were playing croquet near the veranda, he came +running across the lawn and triumphantly dropped at Billy's feet a +beautiful gold fish, quite dead! +</p> + +<p> +"Oh--oh--oh!" screamed Alice. +</p> + +<p> +"It's from Sawyer's pond!" cried Peggy on her knees. +</p> + +<p> +"The poor little thing." Keineth lifted it. "It's dead!" +</p> + +<p> +"It's their new Japanese gold fish," added Barbara, who, with Mrs. Lee, +had come down the steps from the veranda. "You'll have to pay for this, +Billy!" +</p> + +<p> +"I think this is the last straw," said Mrs. Lee sternly, turning to her +husband. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Mammy, he couldn't help it--they swim round and he thinks they are +playing!" Peggy implored. +</p> + +<p> +Pilot, standing back, his tail wagging slowly, regarded them with +wondering, disappointed eyes. He had felt so very proud of his fish and +now his family seemed to look upon him with displeasure. +</p> + +<p> +"And I can tell the secret now," cried Alice, "we weren't going to +tell--he ate one of Billy's _best_ shoes!" +</p> + +<p> +"You just wait!" cried Billy. Peggy turned a terrible face upon Alice. +"We'll never, never, never tell anything to the tell-baby again!" she +hissed. "Will we, Ken?" +</p> + +<p> +"I guess I knew it first," Alice whimpered. +</p> + +<p> +"It was my fault--I left them out, Mother! And I'd just as soon wear my +old shoes!" Billy turned pleadingly to his mother. +</p> + +<p> +"I am sure you would," she smiled, "but nevertheless I must be firm +about this dog. He is a nuisance and will be an expense. By the time we +have paid the Clarks for their lamb and the Sawyers for their goldfish +and bought you a pair of shoes the damages against Pilot will have run +up to a nice little sum!" +</p> + +<p> +"But, Mother, you can take it out of my allowance!" +</p> + +<p> +"That will not guard against other things of this same sort happening. +No, my son, I do not like to make you unhappy, but we must get rid of +the dog. Please say no more about it. Day after to-morrow we'll send +him into the city with the vegetable man." +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Lee turned back to the veranda. When she spoke with that tone in +her voice the children never answered. Peggy, linking her arm in +Keineth's, turned an angry shoulder upon Alice. Billy blinked his eyes +very fast to clear them of the tears that had gathered in spite of +himself, threw his arm about the dog's neck and led him away to some +hiding place where, secure from intrusion, he could pour out his +rebellious heart to his pet. +</p> + +<p> +"There's no use staying angry at Alice!" Keineth protested in a low +tone to Peggy as they walked away. She felt sorry for the little girl +standing at a little distance irresolutely swinging a croquet mallet. +"It was her secret, anyway and Aunt Nellie would have found out about +the shoe some time. Perhaps we were wrong not to tell her at first." +</p> + +<p> +"You always stand up for everybody," Peggy complained, dropping +Keineth's arm in vexation. But Peggy's sunny nature could not long +carry a grudge of any kind. She had made a solemn vow, too, that she +would never be unkind to Alice again! And there _would_ be just time +before dark to play one more game of croquet! +</p> + +<p> +"Will you play, Allie? You can have red and play last," she cried. +"Come on, Ken!" +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap11"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XI +</h3> + +<h3> +PILOT WINS A HOME +</h3> + +<p> +"What a horrid day!" with a wide yawn Peggy threw the stocking she was +darning into the basket. "I wish mother wouldn't make me wear +stockings--then I wouldn't have any holes!" +</p> + +<p> +"I wish the sun would shine," Alice chimed, disconsolately. +</p> + +<p> +"If mother were here, she would say that we must make our own +sunshine," Barbara laughed. She was folding carefully the white +undergarment she had finished making for her college "trousseau"--as +her father called it. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, it seems as if everything goes wrong all at once," Peggy refused +to be cheered. The children knew she was thinking of Pilot. Pilot's +disgrace and sentence hung like a gloomy cloud over their hearts. +</p> + +<p> +"Who'd believe you could think so much of a dog?" Keineth frowned as +she pondered the thought. "I used to think Aunt Josephine was so silly +over Fido. I am sure Fido was never as nice as our Pilot, but I suppose +Aunt Josephine thinks he's much nicer. Once he swallowed a paper of +needles from Aunt Josephine's work basket and she almost fainted, and +Celeste had to call a doctor for her and another for the dog and they +sent the dog to a hospital. Then Aunt Josephine blamed Celeste and told +her she must leave at once and Celeste had hysterics, for you see she'd +been with my aunt since she was very young and they had to send for the +doctor again for Celeste." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, how funny!" laughed Peggy, though Keineth's face was very serious. +</p> + +<p> +"Then Aunt Josephine felt sorry and forgave Celeste and they called up +the next day from the hospital to say that Fido was very well and that +needles seemed to agree with him. But Aunt Josephine worried for weeks +and weeks over him." +</p> + +<p> +"Pilot would know better than to eat needles," Alice broke in +scornfully. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes--he likes shoes and goldfish," Barbara finished. "Where's Billy?" +</p> + +<p> +From the mother to the smallest of them they felt sorry for Billy. For, +though Billy had said not a word concerning the fate of his pet, the +hurt look in his eyes betrayed the sorrow he felt. No one knew where he +was--he had disappeared quietly after breakfast. And Pilot was with +him. +</p> + +<p> +"No tennis or golf to-day," grieved Barbara, going to the window. +</p> + +<p> +"Anyway we can swim," cried Peggy. +</p> + +<p> +"In the rain?" asked Keineth, astonished. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, of course, silly! Wouldn't we get wet, anyway?" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth's face colored. Peggy went on with a toss of her head: "And I +simply must practice swimming under water to-day--the contest isn't +very far off. You can't expect me to help you out to the rock, Ken, +you'll have to play in shallow water!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth's soul smarted under this humiliation. The rock was the goal +around which their fun centred. It was twenty yards out from shore and +its broad, flat surface gave room for six of them to stand upon it at +one time. As around it the water was five feet deep, it was necessary +for one of the children to help Keineth reach it. Then, while the +others practiced all the feats known to the fish world, Keineth always +stood carefully in its centre, head and shoulders above the water's +surface and watched them with interest and admiration, tinged with +envy. +</p> + +<p> +To conceal the tremble in her voice Keineth had now to swallow very +quickly. "All right, Peggy," was all she answered and Peggy never knew +how deeply her careless words had hurt her. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth _had_ grown discouraged with her swimming. Somehow it was so +easy when some one was with her, but she could never seem to muster the +courage to dive off into the water the way the others did. And Daddy +would be so disappointed! +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Lee had given her careful instruction in the stroke--perhaps if +she was alone, away from Billy's roguish glance and the terror of his +catching her ankle under water, she might feel more confidence. +</p> + +<p> +This thought still lingered in her mind when, in the afternoon, they +went to the beach. Billy was already in the water; the faithful Pilot +was digging on the beach for dog treasures. Because of the drizzling +rain Mrs. Lee had not come down. +</p> + +<p> +While Barbara and Peggy were racing under water Keineth found it very +easy to slip away. She chose a spot where a bend of the shore concealed +her. She stood knee-deep in the water, going through the movements of +the arm stroke, with a careful one, two, three. She put her small teeth +tightly together--she _would_ have confidence, she _would_ go out +deeper, throw herself calmly into the water in Peggy-fashion and swim +off, one, two, three! She _would_ remember to breathe easily and keep +her arms under the surface of the water! +</p> + +<p> +There was an indomitable will in the child. She _did_ throw herself in, +and, counting one, two, three, forgot her usual gasp of fright; +suddenly it seemed natural and as if she had always done it! She felt a +delicious joy in the ease with which her stroke carried her ahead +through the water. She wished Billy might see her now! Then, exhausted +by her effort, triumphant and happy, she reached for a footing on the +bottom. Her toe could not find it! With a cry of terror she threw her +arms wildly upward, involuntarily seeking for some hold! Then she +slipped, slipped down, fathoms and fathoms it seemed--a dreadful +choking gripped her, like tight arms upon her chest! She tried to call, +but the water only made a fearful gurgle in her throat! She wanted her +father--_he'd_ stop that terrible pain in her chest and take that grip +from her throat! +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly she felt very, very tired and as if she would sleep when the +pain was gone. Her body lifted slowly; her hand, flung upward, gripped +something soft but firm in her clutch--the water splashed about her! +She thought it was her father! He was pulling her away, then she seemed +to go to sleep. +</p> + +<p> +When consciousness returned, Keineth found herself lying upon the beach +wrapped in Barbara's raincoat. Peggy was crying and Barbara, her face +very white, was rubbing her hand. On her other side knelt Billy, the +rain dripping from his bare arms, his face flushed as though from +violent exercise. Behind him stood Pete, the man of all work in the +community, who had been drawing gravel from the beach. +</p> + +<p> +"Darling!" cried Barbara. "Oh, are you all right?" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth slowly looked all around. _Had_ it been some dream, +then--wasn't her Daddy there at all? Barbara had slipped an arm under +her head and was folding it higher. It helped her breathe. +</p> + +<p> +"What was it?" Keineth managed to whisper. "I'd never, never, never +have forgiven myself," Barbara was crying now. +</p> + +<p> +"You almost drowned," Peggy explained. Now that the danger was over she +began to enjoy the excitement. +</p> + +<p> +"And Pilot saved you!" Billy cried. +</p> + +<p> +"We had just missed you and Billy had started up the shore when we +heard your cry!" +</p> + +<p> +"And it didn't take that dog two seconds to get out to you! Just say he +isn't human!" +</p> + +<p> +"I thought it was Daddy," Keineth whispered. +</p> + +<p> +"What, dear?" Barbara had not caught the words. "You must keep very +quiet, Ken. And Billy's had his first aid case!" +</p> + +<p> +Pete clapped Billy on the shoulder. "Wal, I jes' calculate now that it +was them gim-cracks Billy here put you through, missy, that brung you +to!" +</p> + +<p> +"I always wondered if I could do it," Billy said with pardonable pride, +"and, say, that'll mean a medal from the troop!" +</p> + +<p> +Alice had run home to tell Mrs. Lee of the accident. Together they had +hurried down to the beach. With Pete's help they lifted Keineth to the +gravel wagon and, like a triumphal procession, moved slowly homeward. +Mrs. Lee immediately tucked Keineth into bed with hot water bottles and +blankets to check the chill that was creeping over her. +</p> + +<p> +"She'll be all right, I am sure," Mrs. Lee whispered to the anxious +children. Later the doctor came, left some powders and patted Keineth +on the head. "A good sleep and quiet will fix up those nerves O. K. +Then forget all about it." +</p> + +<p> +He was quite right; the next morning Keineth, quite as well as ever, +joined the family at breakfast. Though Mrs. Lee had warned them not to +mention the accident to Keineth unnecessarily, Mr. Lee did pinch her +cheek and say: "You lost your head, didn't you, little sport? If you'd +just kept your arms down, now--but, if you go exploring strange beaches +again you'll remember, won't you?" +</p> + +<p> +Peggy and Keineth, moved by a feeling of intense relief, suddenly +caught hands under the table. For into both hearts had come the fear +that Keineth's mishap might end the swimming for the summer! And +Keineth had not forgotten that, though it had ended sadly, for a very +brief time she _had_ mastered the stroke. Mrs. Lee smiled down the +table. "And I think Pilot has won a home! Except for him--" she stopped +suddenly, her eyes bright with tears. "William, bring home the finest +collar you can find and to-night we will decorate our dog with all due +honor!" +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap12"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XII +</h3> + +<h3> +A LETTER FROM DADDY +</h3> + +<p> +"KEN--a letter!" +</p> + +<p> +Billy rushed toward the garden waving a large square envelope over his +head. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth and Peggy were weeding their flower bed. Keineth dropped her +hoe quickly to seize the letter. +</p> + +<p> +"It's from Washington, and it's got a seal on it like the seal of the +United States!" exclaimed Billy. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, let me see!" cried Peggy. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth had taken the letter. Looking from one to the other, she held +it close to her. +</p> + +<p> +"I--I can't--it's from the President, I guess--" A wave of +embarrassment seized her and she stopped short, wishing that she might +run away with her treasure. +</p> + +<p> +"The President--writing to you! Oh, say--" Billy snorted in derision. +</p> + +<p> +Peggy, offended at Keineth's shyness, turned her back upon her. "I +don't want to see your letter, anyway," she said ungraciously. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, please--I'd love to show it, only--I promised--" Then, as Peggy +gave no sign of relenting, Keineth walked slowly toward the house with +her letter. +</p> + +<p> +"I think Keineth's mean to have secrets," and Peggy dug her hoe +savagely into the ground. "She acts so mysterious about her father and +I'll bet it isn't anything at all!" +</p> + +<p> +"But that letter _was_ from the President, I guess! Gee whiz, think of +getting a letter really from him! I wish I was Ken!" +</p> + +<p> +"It's nothing! Anyone can be President--I mean, any man!" +</p> + +<p> +"Just the same, mother told me that some day we would be very proud of +knowing Keineth's father. She wouldn't tell me any more. I'll bet it +would be awful interesting to know him! There's something certainly +queer about how no one knows where he is! I guess I'll ask Ken to tell +me just a little bit. I can keep a secret." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, you can know her old secret for all I care," and Peggy started +for the barn. Billy did not follow. He had thought of a plan. He would +challenge Ken to a game of tennis. And he would let her beat him. Then +he'd ask her very casually about her father and promise, on his scout's +honor, not to tell a soul! The plan seemed good. He'd wait for her to +come down. +</p> + +<p> +In her room Keineth had opened the large white envelope. From inside +she drew a sheet of paper upon which were written a few lines, and with +it a blue envelope of very thin paper, addressed in her father's +familiar handwriting. With a little cry she caught it up and kissed it +again and again. Before she broke its seal she read what was written on +the sheet which had enclosed it. +</p> + +<p> +The few lines were signed "Faithfully, Woodrow Wilson." They began, "My +dear little soldier girl," and they told her that it was with great +pleasure he had forwarded her letter to her father and now returned to +her its answer. He called it an honor to serve them both and expressed +the hope that some day he might make her acquaintance and tell her how +deeply he admired and respected her father. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth merely glanced at the lines. What mattered it to her that they +had been written by the President of the United States! Did she not +hold tightly in her fingers a letter from her Daddy? +</p> + +<p> +"My precious child," it began. Keineth had suddenly to brush her eyes +in order to see the letters. "Your letter found me at one of my many +stopping places. It brought to me a breath of home. I shut myself in my +room and read and reread it, and it seemed to bring back the old room +and the chair that could always hold us both. I could hear your voice, +too. I miss you terribly, little girl, but I thank God daily that you +are well and happy and with good friends. +</p> + +<p> +"I have travelled through many lands of which I will have much to tell +you. I have been in the Far East--poor Tante would have wept with joy +over the beauty of the Flowery Kingdom. I have bowed before enough +emperors and kings to make my poor back ache. Do you remember how you +used to rub the kinks out of it? I have spent hours and hours with the +great men of the world. I have seen wonderful beauty and glorious +sunshine. (How I'd like to ship some of it to old New York.) And I have +seen ugly things, too. We shall have great times when we are together +again, childy, telling one another the stories of these days we have +been parted. You shall tell me something first and then I will tell +you. It will take us hours and days and weeks. +</p> + +<p> +"Now I am going in my wanderings to other lands that are black with the +horror of war. I shall have to witness the suffering it brings to the +homes and I will be more glad than I can tell that my baby is far from +its pain. +</p> + +<p> +"I have learned in these wanderings of mine that it is in the children +this old world must place its trust. That if they want a better +government they must give to the little ones all that is pure and clean +and honest and good and see to it that they are happy. I feel like +shouting it from the housetops--'Make them happy!' It doesn't take +much. +</p> + +<p> +"I feel your big, wondering eyes on mine--you do not understand! Ah, +well, girlie, all I mean is--romp and play--build up a strong little +body for that heart of yours--see things that are clean and good, and +whatever the game is--play square! +</p> + +<p> +"We cannot be grateful enough to the dear Lees for all they are doing +for us. Try and return their kindness with loyalty. I will write later +to Mrs. Lee in regard to the plans for the fall. Do whatever she thinks +best. You will stay with them until I return. Just when that will be I +cannot tell now, but you must be brave. Your courage helps me, too, my +dear. +</p> + +<p> +"Sometimes, when my day's work is done and I can put it from my mind, I +close my eyes and dream--dream of the little home we will build when I +return: build--not in the old Square, that is gone except to +memory--but in some sunny, open spot where we can live and work +together and lead useful lives. It is a beautiful castle as I see it in +my dreams--and beautiful with love. +</p> + +<p> +"I will send this letter with other papers to Washington and they will +forward it to you. +</p> + +<p> +"Good-by, little soldier--I salute you, my General. +</p> + +<p> +"God keep you for +</p> + +<p> +"DADDY." +</p> + +<p> +The words rang through Keineth's heart like a song. She longed to pour +out her joy in music, but Billy's voice came to her from below. +</p> + +<p> +"Ken, Ken." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, Billy." "Come on, I'll play tennis with you! Bet you can beat me, +too!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth suddenly remembered Peggy's and Billy's rudeness. Perhaps Billy +was trying to make amends. She really wanted to be alone with her +letter a little longer, but if Billy wanted her to play! She felt +proud, too, that he had asked her. +</p> + +<p> +Billy found less difficulty than he had anticipated in letting Keineth +win the set. In fact, deep in his heart, he was not sure he had "let" +her. For Keineth, fired with the joy within her, played brilliantly, +flying over the court like a winged creature, returning Billy's serves +with a surprising quickness and strength that completely broke down his +boyish confidence in himself. +</p> + +<p> +"Thanks awfully--that _was_ fun," Keineth said as they sank down under +a tree for a moment's rest. +</p> + +<p> +Though his plan had worked very well so far, Billy now felt at a loss +to know how he ought to proceed. So, accepting her thanks with a brief +nod, he bolted straight to the point. +</p> + +<p> +"Say, Ken, if you'll tell me about your father I promise on my scout's +honor not to tell a soul! And you ought to tell me anyway, for didn't +my dog save your life, and didn't I give you first aid or you might've +died!" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Billy!" Keineth cried, then stopped short. Her heart warmed to +Billy--they seemed almost like pals now! He had preferred playing +tennis with her than going off somewhere with the boys. And she did +want more than anything else right then to talk about her daddy; to +tell how great he was and how he was visiting courts of Eastern lands. +And she wanted to show Billy the letter from the President, it was in +her pocket. And she knew if Billy said he'd never tell that he would +not. +</p> + +<p> +But a soldier never swerves from duty and had not her father called her +his "General"? +</p> + +<p> +"I--I can't, Billy," she finished. +</p> + +<p> +There was something so final in her voice and in the set of her lips +that Billy, red with rage, rose quickly to his feet. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll bet you haven't got any secret and you're just making up to be +smart and I'll get even with you, baby! And you didn't beat me playing +tennis, for I let you, anyway! You wait--" and, vengefully, Billy +strode away, leaving an unhappy little girl sitting alone under the +tree. Peggy met Billy on the road. Peggy was in search of Keineth. Her +nature was too happy to long nurse a grievance. She didn't care if +Keineth did have a secret! And she had wonderful news, too! +</p> + +<p> +But Billy's morose bearing stirred her curiosity. +</p> + +<p> +"Did she tell you, Billy?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll bet she hasn't got any secret that's worth knowing! And she +needn't say she beat me at tennis, either." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Billy Lee, you let her beat so's she'd tell you! I'm just _glad_ +she didn't! I guess girls never tell anything they've promised not +to--even if they are girls!" +</p> + +<p> +In great scorn she ran from the disconsolate Billy. She had spied +Keineth alone under the tree. +</p> + +<p> +"Ken--Ken! Great news!" Peggy rushed toward her. "We are going camping +with Ricky--you and me--next week! Hurray!" +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap13"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XIII +</h3> + +<h3> +CAMPING +</h3> + +<p> +Keineth learned that Ricky was Peggy's gymnasium teacher. Her real name +was Fredericka Grimball, but to "her girls" she was always known as +Ricky. The camp was among the hills ten miles from Fairview. And during +the vacation months Ricky took her girls there in groups of twenty. +With their play she gave them instruction in scoutcraft. +</p> + +<p> +"We go for tramps into the woods and she tells us stories of the birds +and trees. I never knew until she told me that there are male and +female trees, and flowers and all the things that grow; did you know +it, Ken? And we found a weasel, last summer--it was almost tame. We're +going to learn signalling, too; perhaps this winter Ricky will let us +form a troop and join the Girl Scouts." +</p> + +<p> +Keineth, with wide-open eyes, was trying to follow Peggy's incoherent +description of the camp life they were to begin on the morrow. Back in +her mind was a tiny doubt as to whether she would enjoy twenty +girls--all strangers! But she would fight this shyness and do whatever +Peggy did. +</p> + +<p> +"We sleep right out of doors when it is clear. The woods smell so good +and there are all sorts of funny sounds as if all the bugs and things +were having parties." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh-h, I wonder if I'll like it!" and Keineth shivered with pleasurable +dread. +</p> + +<p> +"We paddle in canoes on a little lake that's like a mill-pond. It's +awfully shallow and the water is so clear you can see right through it, +and we ride horseback, too! I'm a patrol leader," Peggy finished with +pride. She folded the last middy blouse neatly into a wicker suitcase. +Their luggage consisted of bloomers, blouses, bathing-suits and +blankets. +</p> + +<p> +"Easy to remember--all B's," Mrs. Lee had laughed. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Lee drove them to the camp. "Come back with some muscle in these +arms of yours and a few more freckles on your nose," he said to +Keineth, pinching her cheek affectionately. +</p> + +<p> +"Camp Wachita"--the girls had nicknamed it Camp Wish-no-more--was +nestled in the hills with the tiny lake at its front door and a dense +woodland at its back. Sleeping tents were built in a semicircle about +the central building, in which were the living-rooms. On a grassy level +stretch close to the water was the out-of-door gymnasium and beyond +that the boathouse and dock to which several gaily-painted canoes were +fastened. +</p> + +<p> +The family at Camp Wachita consisted of Martha Washington Jones, the +colored cook; Bonsey, her twelve-year-old son, who very occasionally +made himself useful about the camp; Captain O'Leary, a Spanish War +Veteran by title and by occupation caretaker of the horses and boats; +Miky, the little Irish terrier, and Jim Crow, who had been brought, the +summer before, to the camp hospital from the woodland to receive first +aid for a broken wing, and had refused to leave the family. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth had little difficulty in making friends with the other girls. +There seemed to be among them such a jolly spirit of comradeship that +she found it very easy to call them Jessie and Nellie and Kate, and +never once wondered at their quickly adopting Peggy's familiar "Ken." +She thought that Peggy must have known them all very well and was +surprised when Peggy told her that there were only three of her friends +among them. +</p> + +<p> +"But we're all Ricky's girls, you see," she explained, as though that +was all that was necessary to create a firm bond of loyalty and +friendship among them. +</p> + +<p> +"Ricky," this captain of girls, was a tall, straight, broad-shouldered +woman of twenty-five. The sunniness of her smile, the firmness of her +jaw and the all-understanding warmth of her dark eyes told of the +character which made her a leader of others and a spirit beloved among +them all. +</p> + +<p> +Each new day of the camp life brought to Keineth some new experience, +thrilling in its strangeness to the little girl. She had learned to +love going to sleep with the great, star-lit vault of the sky +enveloping her; the singing of the "bugs," as Peggy had put it, was +fairy music to her ears; she had conquered her first terror of the +shell-like canoes and now could paddle with confidence, even venturing +alone upon the shallow water. And to her own surprise she was enjoying +the companionship of the other girls! +</p> + +<p> +Among them was one named Stella Maybeck. Stella was not an attractive +girl--she was too tall and too thin, her voice was loud and her manners +a little careless. She had big, dark eyes with a hungry look in their +depths. She adored Ricky and showed a preference for Keineth's company. +At first Keineth felt a little repelled by the girl's rough ways, but +gradually she grew to feel that beneath them was a warm, kind heart and +that it was, perhaps, shyness that often made Stella's manner +disagreeable. +</p> + +<p> +They walked together on the tramps into the woods and Keineth enjoyed +the fund of knowledge the other girl seemed to have concerning all the +little woodland creatures and their ways. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't see why you like to be with Stella Maybeck," Peggy had said to +her one day. "I think she is horrid!" she finished unkindly. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, Peggy!" Keineth frowned. It was very unfair in Peggy to speak in +this way concerning one of the other girls. Keineth did not suspect +that perhaps a little jealousy prompted Peggy's ungraciousness. +</p> + +<p> +This little cloud was to grow over the whole camp. And in the second +week Ricky's girls learned a lesson of greater value to them than all +the scoutcraft they loved. +</p> + +<p> +Twice a week the vegetable man came to the camp with fruit and +vegetables. These the girls placed in the storehouse, one of them +carefully checking off the purchases as they did so. One morning some +oranges were reported missing. Ricky paid little attention to the +incident. The next day one of the girls came to her and announced that +a ring had been taken from her sleeping tent. Although disturbed, Miss +Grimball gently rebuked the girl for having disobeyed the camp rules in +bringing jewelry to it and sent her away, bidding her speak to no one +of her loss. +</p> + +<p> +Then Miss Grimballs silver purse containing ten dollars in bills was +taken from her desk! +</p> + +<p> +Like a flash the story spread through the camp. The girls gathered in +an excited group. Keineth and Stella, with arms locked, stood together. +From the other side of the group Peggy saw them. The jealousy that had +been slumbering within her heart suddenly gripped her. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, I think I could guess who did it, all right, and I just think +it's a shame for anyone like that to I dare to come to Ricky's camp!" +It was not necessary to do more than fix her gaze indignantly upon +Stella Maybeck. With a little gasp Stella turned and ran into her tent. +The others pressed closer to Peggy. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, do you think so?" they whispered in awed voices. +</p> + +<p> +"Peggy!" cried Keineth, imploringly. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm not going to say another word," Peggy answered, perhaps a little +frightened at what she had done. +</p> + +<p> +The girls waited breathlessly for Miss Grimball to take some action in +the matter. Each felt that the disgrace must be wiped from the happy +camp life. +</p> + +<p> +At noon Ricky's whistle sounded. The girls assembled on the gymnasium +ground. Their captain stood before them, dear-eyed, smiling at them all +with her usual confidence. Stella, with Keineth, had joined the others +and stood in the background. +</p> + +<p> +"I think you all know what has happened. I am disturbed, but I will not +suspect one of my girls. All I want to say is this--so great is my +trust in your loyalty, in your honor, and in your sense of what is +square--if one of you, through an unfortunate yielding to temptation, +has taken these things that have been lost, they will be returned, +because you are girls of honor. So I am not worrying. Now, please do +not talk of the matter among yourselves." +</p> + +<p> +The routine of the day went on. The girls avoided Stella; only Keineth +kept close to her side. Keineth longed to pour out to Stella her +confidence in her innocence and her indignation at Peggy, but a certain +pride in Stella's manner forbade it; she could not find the right +words, so she simply occasionally squeezed Stella's hand! +</p> + +<p> +In this way two unhappy days passed. Then on the third morning Peggy, +crossing the path leading to the kitchen, saw Jim Crow scurrying toward +the wood with a spoon in his mouth! On tip-toe she followed him. +Turning off from the trail near the edge of the woodland, he stood for +a moment as though listening, then dropped his treasure into the hollow +trunk of a dead tree! +</p> + +<p> +And there Peggy, following the rascal, found the oranges, the ring, and +Ricky's silver purse! +</p> + +<p> +In that moment when Peggy stood alone among the trees, the stolen +things in her hands, she learned a lesson that she could never forget! +She walked slowly back to Miss Grimball's office and told her the story +of Jim and of her own unjust accusation of Stella. +</p> + +<p> +"We should have suspected Jim, the villain," Ricky laughed. "Another +chapter in scoutcraft, Peggy. Will you go, my dear, and tell Stella?" +Then she gently put her hand upon Peggy's head, "Judge not, my dear," +and, leaning, she kissed her. +</p> + +<p> +Peggy rushed off in search of Stella. She found her sitting on the +dock, a picture of misery, Keineth by her side. +</p> + +<p> +"Stella, I was a wicked, wicked girl! It was Jim Crow stole the things, +and I found them in an old tree and I wouldn't blame you if you never +forgave me! I think the reason I was so horrid was because I was just +_jealous_ that Ken loved you more than she did me--" For lack of breath +Peggy stopped, her soul clean from her confession. +</p> + +<p> +A great joy came into Stella's dark eyes. She held out her hand and +Peggy caught it in a tight grip. +</p> + +<p> +"Now I'm going to call all the girls together and tell them the whole +story and that I'm just terribly ashamed." She ran from them, her hands +to her mouth, loudly giving the call of the camp. There was great +rejoicing at Camp-Wish-no more. The cloud of suspicion had lifted. The +girls could not be nice enough to Stella, and for the first time she +seemed to lose her shyness and awkwardness among them. Then Ricky +decided that, in order to entirely forget the whole thing, they would +go on an all-night hike to the old mill on Cobble Hill. +</p> + +<p> +"Hooray--hooray!" went up from eager throats. +</p> + +<p> +"Three cheers for Stella!" +</p> + +<p> +"Three cheers for Peggy!" they cried again. +</p> + +<p> +"Down with Jim Crow!" +</p> + +<p> +That night, under the stars, Keineth snuggled close to Peggy. She had +asked to be Peggy's blanket mate. +</p> + +<p> +"You're all right, Peg," she whispered, Billy-fashion, "and I do love +you most of all!" +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap14"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XIV +</h3> + +<h3> +THE TENNIS TOURNAMENT +</h3> + +<p> +"Sport's Week" had begun at the Shore Club. The excitement of it +gripped the Lee family. Each talked of the game in which he or she was +most interested and no one listened to the other. Barbara, with an +absorbed air, mentally played the shots she would make when on Friday +she would meet in the final round of match play for the championship +title her old foe, Carol Day. Peggy had no thought for anything but the +swimming contest. Mr. Lee was chairman of the committee on arrangements +and spent most of his time at the telephone. Mrs. Lee did her part in +the decorating of the club-house and went about with her arms full of +gay bunting and her mouth full of pins. +</p> + +<p> +And Keineth shared the excitement! For she had qualified in the +children's tennis tournament and would play in the doubles and had +drawn Billy for her partner! +</p> + +<p> +It was her first real contest! Secretly she shivered with fright but +outwardly tried to appear calm like Peggy. All the day before the +tennis matches began she went about with her racquet in her hand as +though to accustom her trembling fingers to its hold. +</p> + +<p> +Though Billy, since the day he had tried to make Keineth confide in him +the story of her father's absence, had maintained toward her a scornful +indifference, he had accepted her as a partner because there was no +alternative. But he managed to convey to her that he considered it an +unfair indignity that he should be so handicapped. And he talked +entirely of the paddling races. +</p> + +<p> +However, Keineth could not be discouraged. In her mind was one thought +only--they _must_ win! For, each day, in her room she was writing a +careful account of all that happened to send to her Daddy, and failure +could have no part in the story. +</p> + +<p> +And in the very first match they defeated Molly Sawyer and Joe Gary! +</p> + +<p> +Margaret Dale, playing with Charlie Myers had, after a hard game, +beaten Grace Schuyler and Merton Day. Then Keineth and Billy played +against them. It was a close match; the courts were circled by an +interested crowd of onlookers. Though Billy had had to play with all +his skill to meet Charlie Myers' strength of volley, he knew that +Keineth had more than done her part, too. +</p> + +<p> +"She played way over her head," he answered sullenly to the praise his +family bestowed upon her. +</p> + +<p> +One more set put them in the final match against Jim Downer and his +sister Helen. A taste of victory had given to Keineth a poise that +steadied her in her game; this matching of strength, skill and +quickness--something she had never known before--had developed a +surprising confidence in herself. Her joy was not in the defeat of +their opponents, rather in her own mastery of all those things which +for so long she had been trying to learn! +</p> + +<p> +"Good luck to you, kiddies," Mr. Lee had said to them at the breakfast +table. "Play your best and then you won't mind if you are defeated. And +if the other fellows play better, don't think up any excuses--it's +something to be good losers!" +</p> + +<p> +In the brief moment of waiting before the final match began, Keineth, +standing quietly near the courts, thought how different she was from +the funny little girl who had come to Overlook two months before. She +knew now what her father had meant when he had told her that that old +life, with him and Tante in the old house, had cheated her out of the +other things children had. He had been right He would be pleased, now, +to know the part she was taking with the others. +</p> + +<p> +The judges called the match; Keineth caught her breath and ran on to +the court. She gave one whispered word to Billy. +</p> + +<p> +"We've _got_ to win!" +</p> + +<p> +Billy had not enjoyed Keineth's sudden rise into fame. He felt less +tolerant and the old grudge flamed into being. If they won now--and +everyone said they would--they'd all think it was Keineth that had won +it. They'd make an awful fuss over her--they always did over girls--and +there'd be no living with either her or Peggy. He could throw the game, +just fall down on one or two returns and no one would know the +difference! He felt very sure of winning the paddling races and what +did he care about the tennis match, anyway?--it'd be different if they +were the real matches, but they were just for children. These thoughts +ran through his mind as he swung his racquet backward and forward in +the air, a heavy scowl wrinkling his face. +</p> + +<p> +And Keineth's confident "We've got to win" had been the last drop in +his cup of annoyance. +</p> + +<p> +The first two games were slow, a little volleying and a good many +"outs." Someone called from the gallery, "Warm up!" Keineth threw her +head back with an answering smile, for she recognized Mr. Lee's voice. +</p> + +<p> +Their opponents won the third game against a thirty. That spurred +Keineth; the fourth game was faster with some hot volleying and pretty +returns and won by Keineth and Billy in a quickly mounting score. +Excited, Keineth did not notice that Billy had not returned one or two +balls with his usual skill. +</p> + +<p> +The next, a deuce game, was hotly contested. Her face ablaze with +interest, Keineth held her little body tensely poised on one toe, ready +for instant action. The faces of the crowd around her blurred into +nothing--there seemed only left in her small world those two beyond the +net! +</p> + +<p> +The next game was bewildering. Keineth played desperately, but they had +only won thirty points when the others made the game! The set stood +four to two in Keineth's favor, but their opponents were playing +stronger with each game. +</p> + +<p> +In the seventh game Billy dropped off shamelessly. He was never quite +ready. Before Keineth realized the situation the others had won and won +easily! +</p> + +<p> +"Billy!" Keineth whispered imploringly. The indifferent look on Billy's +face struck terror to her heart. What _was_ the matter with him? +</p> + +<p> +The next game Keineth won alone--if Billy could not play she'd play for +him! Her little teeth, clenched tight together, gleamed white through +her parted lips. The crimson of her cheeks mounted into her fair hair. +</p> + +<p> +"What a picture!" Mrs. Lee whispered to her husband. She was not +thinking of the game at all. "What a spirit! Think, William, what that +can mean in this world when the child's grown up!" +</p> + +<p> +"That's just why this sort of sport is good for them," Mr. Lee +whispered back. "But what is the matter with Billy?" +</p> + +<p> +That is what Keineth wondered, too. They had won five games--they +_must_ win the next and set! Walking close to Billy she confronted him, +her face ablaze. For just a moment they looked hard into one another's +eyes; not a boy and girl, the one proudly conscious of his boyhood and +two years' difference in age, the other a very young and all-admiring +girl--but just two mortals contesting together against two others. +</p> + +<p> +And at last they, Keineth and Billy, met on equal ground--Keineth had +proven her mettle--let Billy show his! Keineth's clear, straightforward +gaze made Billy drop his eyes in sudden shame. +</p> + +<p> +"Play square," she said sternly. And Billy played square! Their +opponents had not a chance! +</p> + +<p> +"Well, Billy did wake up," some one said and some one else added: "If +they'd lost it would have been his fault. That Randolph girl played a +corking game for her age!" +</p> + +<p> +They had won the tennis tournament! Keineth did not enjoy half so much +the silver cup they placed in her hands as she did Peggy's delight and +Mr. Lee's hearty handclasp of congratulation. The young people carried +them off to luncheon at the club-house, where they made merry far into +the afternoon. +</p> + +<p> +That evening Billy, with a very serious face, approached his father, +where he sat alone on the veranda. +</p> + +<p> +"Dad, I've withdrawn my name from the paddle races!" +</p> + +<p> +"What's wrong, son?" +</p> + +<p> +"I'm not a good sport--that's why," Billy answered with his usual +frankness. "I had a sort of grudge against Keineth because she wouldn't +tell me about her father and I'd vowed to get even and I just laid down +on that tennis game--until she made me ashamed!" +</p> + +<p> +"But she did make you ashamed, Billy?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes--she told me to play square and I just thought then that no one +would ever have to tell me to play square more than once!" +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Lee laid his arm across the boy's shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +"Laddie--these games we play teach us a lot, don't they? There is +something in them more than fun and more than the health they give! +You've learned a motto to-day that you can pin on your shield when you +go out to meet the other matches life offers!" +</p> + +<p> +"You can just bet I'll always try to play square! And I'm going now to +find Ken and tell her she's a brick!" +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Lee watched the boy disappear. Though a smile hovered about his +lips, his eyes were serious--the cigar between his fingers had quite +gone out. +</p> + +<p> +"May he keep that spirit all through life," he was thinking. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap15"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XV +</h3> + +<h3> +NOT ON THE PROGRAM! +</h3> + +<p> +Keineth, a little tired after the strain of the tennis match, thought +it much more fun to watch the others. Billy had gone into the paddling +races, and no one but Mr. Lee and Keineth knew that it was because +Keineth had begged him--and he had won and Keineth had been the first +to examine the wrist watch he had received as an award. And on Friday +the entire family waited eagerly near the eighteenth green of the golf +course for Barbara and Carol Day to play up in the final game for the +golf championship! +</p> + +<p> +Keineth and Peggy held hands tightly in their excitement. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, I can tell by Barb's walk she's ahead," Peggy cried as the two +players, their caddies and a small gallery, appeared around the corner +of the wood that screened the seventeenth green. +</p> + +<p> +"She was two down at the turn and Carol was playing par golf," someone +volunteered. "What does down at the turn mean?" whispered Keineth. +</p> + +<p> +"The turn's at the end of the ninth hole and a-l-a-s, down means Barb +was behind. Pooh, she always plays better when she's down!" +</p> + +<p> +A man had just returned from the fifteenth tee. +</p> + +<p> +"They were dormie at the sixteenth," the girls heard him say. +</p> + +<p> +"What _queer_ words they do use in golf! I thought dormie was a +window!" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Ken," giggled Peggy, "you mean dormer and it's dormie when one +player is just as many holes ahead as there are more holes to play. +Good gracious!" her face fell, "that means that Barbara will _have_ to +win these three holes and she always slices on the eighteenth!" +</p> + +<p> +"She won't this time, Peggy! That girl's like steel in a match!" a man +nearby broke in. +</p> + +<p> +"She's driving first!" Billy cried. "Oh, look--look--look! P-e-ach-y!" +</p> + +<p> +Breathlessly they watched the two players advance toward the green. +Barbara had outdriven her opponent but she topped her second. Carol +Day, playing a brassie, put her ball well up. Barbara recovered on her +third shot, carried the bunker which guarded the green twenty yards +from it, and laid her ball on the edge of the green. Carol's third +caught the top of the bunker, shot into the air and dropped back into +the sand pit! +</p> + +<p> +"Oh-h!" breathed Peggy delightedly into Keineth's ear. She knew it was +the worst bunker on the course. +</p> + +<p> +But difficulties only made Carol Day play the better. She studied the +shot for several moments while Barbara and the gallery watched with +tense interest. Then they saw her lift her niblick slowly, her head +bent; a cloud of sand raised, the ball cleared the bunker's top, +dropped upon the green, rolled a few feet and rested within an easy +putt of the cup! +</p> + +<p> +The gallery applauded. It was a splendid shot, one of the kind that +ought to win a match for its player. Even Keineth cried out in generous +praise of the play. +</p> + +<p> +Peggy gripped Keineth's hand so hard that it hurt. +</p> + +<p> +"Steady, steady, there, Barb," Mr. Lee muttered. Barbara walked slowly +to her ball. Her eyes were lowered, she did not glance at the familiar +faces about the green. Her next shot demanded the utmost skill, care +and steadiness she could command. Of them all she was the coolest. She +_must_ run down her putt to win the match! +</p> + +<p> +Peggy suddenly shut her eyes that she could not see what happened. The +others saw Barbara, with an easy movement, line her putt. The ball +rolled slowly over the clipped turf, dead straight to the hole--closer, +closer, hung for one fraction of a second on the rim of the cup and +then with a thud that was like music, dropped in! Barbara was the +champion of the women players of the club! +</p> + +<p> +"Why, it almost made me sick." Peggy confided to Keineth afterwards. "I +will be a wreck when this week is over! And oh, if I can only win the +life-saving medal to-morrow! Think of it, four prizes in the Lee +family! There will be no living with us. I don't care a straw for the +cups they give--it's that little bit of a bronze medal I want There's +going to be a man here from Washington to give it to the winner--one of +the Volunteer Life-saving Association. And that medal's _got_ to go +right here," and defiantly she struck her hand against her breast. +</p> + +<p> +"I just can't wait," Keineth sighed in a tragic manner. +</p> + +<p> +"The last day is most fun of all," Peggy explained. +</p> + +<p> +"How can we ever settle down into calm living?" +</p> + +<p> +"Huh--fast enough! I've got to begin reviewing English. I have a +condition to make up." +</p> + +<p> +"And I want to work on my music," cried Keineth, suddenly +conscience-smitten. +</p> + +<p> +"Mother says that to-morrow night we'll wind up with a supper on the +beach. It's lots jollier than the dinner dance at the Club and we're +too young to go to that, anyway. Barb could go if she wanted to, but +she'd rather have the fun at the beach. We fry bacon and roast corn and +mother makes cocoa and then we sing. Oh, dear, won't it be awful to +grow old and not do those things?" +</p> + +<p> +Together they sighed mightily at such a prospect! +</p> + +<p> +For the last day of the Sports Week there was a program of fun that +began immediately after breakfast and lasted through the day. All the +club members gathered on the beach where gaily-decorated booths had +been built. From these lemonade and sandwiches were served +continuously. The motor boats, canoes and skiffs, their flags flying, +made bright splashes of color against the green water. Stakes, topped +with flags, marked the course for the swimming races. The judges were +taken out on one of the larger motor boats. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth had never seen anything quite like it. To her it seemed like a +chapter from some story and a story strange and exciting! +</p> + +<p> +The committee had arranged games and races for the very little +youngsters so that during the morning the beach front was astir with +them--bright-eyed, bobbed-haired, starched little girls and tanned, +bare-legged boys, trying vainly to elude the watchful care of the +mothers and nurse-girls, who made a background for the pretty scene. +</p> + +<p> +The life-saving contest followed the swimming races. Four others +besides Peggy had entered: Molly Sawyer, Helen Downer, Mary Freeman and +Gladys Day. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth had never watched a contest of this sort before. She cried out +in alarm when she saw a man, fully dressed, at a signal totter off the +deck of the judges' motor boat. Someone next to her laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"That's just pretend--he's an expert swimmer! It's Mary Freeman's turn! +Watch her!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth saw Mary detach herself from a small group, rush into the water +tearing off her blouse as she did so. Then something went wrong--Mary +seemed to make no headway toward the man, the judges blew a whistle, +the man who had jumped overboard climbed back into the boat; there was +some laughter which others quickly frowned down. +</p> + +<p> +Peggy had drawn last place in the contest. When Keineth saw the others +fail, one after another, she glanced at Peggy with nervous anxiety. But +Peggy stood, outwardly calm, the picture of confidence, her eyes +fastened upon the judges' boat, waiting for her signal. +</p> + +<p> +Another man fell overboard; to Keineth he looked like a giant! She saw +Peggy spring forward--in a flash her blouse was off and she had thrown +it backward over her head. She was swimming and Keineth knew that as +she swam she was unbuttoning and kicking off her shoes and her skirt. +An encouraging shout went up as she moved rapidly forward, her head +under water, first one straight, strong arm, then the other, shooting +out and ahead! +</p> + +<p> +Off at a little distance the judges' boat was chugging. From the beach +the spectators, breathless, could see a struggle in the water. Then, +where for a moment there had been nothing visible, they saw Peggy's +head; saw her making for shore swimming on her back with strong leg +strokes, one arm encircling the man's head, her grip holding his chin +and nostrils out of water and pinioning his arms so that his struggles +could not drag her down. +</p> + +<p> +A shout went up from the beach front--louder and louder; the motor +boats blew their sirens. Keineth ran to the water's edge that she might +be the first to greet the proud young swimmer. +</p> + +<p> +Willing hands helped Peggy pull the rescued man upon the sand where, +the water dripping from her shoulders, Peggy gave "first aid." After +several moments, marked by a big, sunburned man whom Keineth learned +afterwards was the man from Washington, the victim was pronounced +saved, rose to his feet and was the first to shake Peggy's hand! +</p> + +<p> +"Why, it was so real that it seemed awful funny to see him just get up +like that," Keineth giggled afterwards, when she had a moment alone +with her Peggy. +</p> + +<p> +"Well--it wasn't any easy thing to bring him in! Why, he struggled just +as much as though he was really drowning! But, oh, Ken--Ken, I've won +my medal!" +</p> + +<p> +Later the children went back to the house to prepare the picnic. They +trooped up the rood, an excited group; Keineth and Peggy in advance. +</p> + +<p> +As they came nearer to Overlook a strange sight met their eyes. They +stopped short. +</p> + +<p> +For there on the gravel drive, its high-powered engine snorting and +puffing, a rigid, uniformed figure at the wheel, stood Aunt Josephine's +bright yellow car! +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap16"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XVI +</h3> + +<h3> +AUNT JOSEPHINE +</h3> + +<p> +"It's Aunt Josephine!" cried Keineth. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, dear, she'll spoil the fun!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth wished the ground would open wide and swallow her up, so deep +was her dismay. Never in her life had she so hated that yellow monster +and Kingston's rigid back! And yes, the black-robed figure in the back +_was_ Celeste! +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, dear," echoed Alice. +</p> + +<p> +"Maybe she has some word from father." The thought lent wings to +Keineth's feet--she flew over the ground, Peggy following closely, a +most curious sight for Aunt Josephine's eyes, with her wet bathing-suit +and her blue and white bathrobe flying out behind! +</p> + +<p> +No, Aunt Josephine had no news of Keineth's father! She was on a motor +trip and had stopped at Fairview. She was quite the same Aunt +Josephine, beautifully gowned in a linen dress whose trimmings matched +the stylish little hat she wore on her head. She rose from the wicker +chair on the veranda, where she sat with Mrs. Lee, to greet the +children. Keineth felt her critical glance wander from her to the +others even while she was answering her aunt's questions. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Lee read the consternation behind the children's polite greetings, +for in her sweet voice she broke in: +</p> + +<p> +"I have been asking Mrs. Winthrop to join us to-night in our beach +frolic--you girlies must urge her!" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, please do!" they cried together. +</p> + +<p> +Aunt Josephine did not seem to hear them. She was looking very hard at +Keineth. "She does look well," she admitted; "I suppose the quiet life +here has been good for her." She spoke directly to Keineth and the +child felt in her tone the mild disapproval she knew so well. "I am on +my way through to the Yellowstone, child. I thought, perhaps, I might +pick you up and take you along, but you are so freckled that you are a +sight!" Then, as though she recalled the beach supper and the +children's invitation, she added, apologetically, "It is very kind, but +I am a little out of the habit of such things!" +</p> + +<p> +"Hateful thing--how can she be Ken's aunt!" Peggy was thinking +resentfully, for she had seen a hurt look creep into Keineth's eyes. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Lee's face wore its most cordial smile. She laid her hand upon +Aunt Josephine's arm. +</p> + +<p> +"That's just why I like to go to picnics and things--it _is_ easy to +get out of the habit of fun! Do send your man away and join us! It will +be a great treat to know our Keineth's aunt a little better." +</p> + +<p> +Now what neither Keineth nor Peggy, nor even Mrs. Lee could guess was +that beneath the folds of expensive linen and lace and dainty pleatings +of rose silk was a heart that was just hungry because--years and years +before--it had forgotten "how to have fun!" The happy faces of the +children, freckled though they were, the simplicity of the pretty home, +the flowers blooming so riotously and gaily all about, the light that +lay deep in Mrs. Lee's eyes roused a longing very strange to Aunt +Josephine! Perhaps if she had had youngsters of her own she might never +have been the kind of an Aunt Josephine she was--tyrannized over by a +Fido and a Celeste and a Kingston! +</p> + +<p> +"I will come," Aunt Josephine decided so suddenly that they were +startled. "Keineth, dear, please tell Celeste to come to me." +</p> + +<p> +Celeste was instructed to unpack a warm coat and to bring a robe. Then +she and Kingston were told that they might drive back to town, to +return later for Mrs. Winthrop. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Lee carried Aunt Josephine off to the tiny guest room while the +children flew toward the pantry to make ready the picnic baskets. +</p> + +<p> +Vaguely Keineth felt worried, as though, in some way or other, she was +to blame for this unwelcome addition to the party. But Peggy, joining +them in middy blouse and bloomers, reassured her in an excited whisper. +</p> + +<p> +"It'll be such fun just to see how she'll act! Oh, I do wish that funny +maid and that awful leather-man were going, too! Do you suppose she can +_ever_ eat a bacon sandwich without a fork?" +</p> + +<p> +But Aunt Josephine _did_ eat one without a fork and then ate another. +She sat on a rock, her pretty linen all crumpled and mussed, a great +deal of sand in her shoes, and balanced a paper plate on her lap and +laughed, a rippling jolly laugh that Keineth had never heard before. +She made Keineth and Peggy sit one on each side of her and tell her of +all they had done during the summer. +</p> + +<p> +When the last marshmallow had been toasted and the pans scoured and put +away in the baskets, the picnickers gathered about the dying bonfires +for a "sing-song." This always included all the songs they loved best, +the songs Mr. and Mrs. Lee had known in their youth and the songs of +the present day. And Aunt Josephine's rich contralto rang above the +others. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, I haven't sung like this since I can remember," she laughed. The +children were just finishing, "There's a long, long trail a-winding, +into the land o' my dreams!" +</p> + +<p> +In the dim light Keineth was studying her aunt's face. Perhaps she had +often been unkind in her thoughts; she might have known that Aunt +Josephine must be very, very nice or she couldn't have been her +father's sister! She slipped her hand into her aunt's and felt a warm +pressure return her clasp. +</p> + +<p> +When Mrs. Lee began "This is the End of a Perfect Day" the children +knew that the fun was over. They were glad to go home, for it had been +a strenuous and exciting week. +</p> + +<p> +When the good-nights were said Aunt Josephine drew Keineth toward her. +</p> + +<p> +"May I keep her up a little longer--I would like to have a little +talk." +</p> + +<p> +A dread seized Keineth's heart, for she recalled her aunt's words +concerning the Yellowstone. She might have to go with Aunt Josephine +and Celeste and Kingston, after all. +</p> + +<p> +Aunt Josephine sat down by the lamp, very straight, the way she always +sat when she had something important on her mind. Mrs. Lee sank back +among the pillows on the divan and Mr. Lee pulled his chair closer to +the window and lighted his pipe. +</p> + +<p> +"I cannot tell you," Aunt Josephine began, "how glad I am to have +become acquainted with you all. I feel better about Keineth." +</p> + +<p> +A silence followed this. Very troubled, Keineth glanced at Mrs. Lee, to +find her smiling. +</p> + +<p> +"You know I did not approve of the way my brother just turned her over +to almost strangers. It seemed as if she ought to be with me. I would +have sent her to a camp in Maine--a very fine camp for girls--and then, +perhaps had her with me at the seashore." +</p> + +<p> +Aunt Josephine paused as though waiting for Mrs. Lee to say something. +And Mrs. Lee said quietly: +</p> + +<p> +"I think she has been happy here." +</p> + +<p> +"I came this way intending to steal her for this Yellowstone trip, +though perhaps she'd better not go." Keineth put her hand to her face +involuntarily as though to cover the shameless freckles. "But I feel +that I ought to talk over with you--well, the plans for her school in +the fall." Keineth swept a frightened glance toward Mrs. Lee. Aunt +Josephine went on in the voice she always used when doing her duty: +"Miss Edgecombe has a very select school for girls a few blocks from me +in New York. I know Miss Edgecombe well and she is holding a place open +for Keineth. I feel she is a very suitable person to train a child. You +know," with a tone of apology, "my brother had no sense at all in +bringing up the girl! He left everything to that queer old governess." +Mrs. Lee suddenly sat up very straight on the divan, +</p> + +<p> +"When Keineth came to us she had to learn to be like other children. +Yes, she had been shut up too much with that very good governess; her +little brain had grown faster than her body. It's her body's turn now, +the brain can wait. Mr. Randolph said that he wished her to remain with +us until he returned. Keineth and I have a plan of our own for the +fall, to play and work on our music." She smiled at Keineth. +</p> + +<p> +Aunt Josephine hesitated as though she could not find the right words +to express what she felt. "I thought it was my duty to speak to Miss +Edgecombe," she said stiffly; "she is my brother's child and will +probably, some day, inherit what I have. I should like to have her with +me, but," there was a wistful ring in her voice, "I suppose she is +better off with you." +</p> + +<p> +"The things Miss Edgecombe can teach her can wait, perhaps," Aunt +Nellie answered, smiling down at Keineth. "Keineth is happy in our +simple life--" +</p> + +<p> +"Simple life--that's just it!" Aunt Josephine spoke rapidly, as though +Mrs. Lee had suddenly helped her to find the words she wanted. "You're +so simple that you're wonderful! You've learned to live real lives +without all the shams that make slaves of the rest of us. Why, my life +seems as empty as a bubble and the things I do worth just about as much +as a bubble by the side of this." She swept her hand out toward the +lamp-lighted room. "And I must have lived like this once--but I've +forgotten! I've always thought my brother queer and that governess he +had insufferable--but I guess you and he know what's best. I'm glad the +child is with you. Yes," the wistful note crept back into her voice, "I +would have enjoyed having her, but, she's better off, all freckled and +in those absurd clothes." +</p> + +<p> +As Mrs. Winthrop drove away through the starlit night, a costly robe +protecting her from the chill of the evening, Celeste at hand for +instant service, Kingston guiding the monster car, she looked back over +her shoulder at the little house outlined against the sky and sighed--a +lonely little sigh. +</p> + +<p> +In a tumult of joy Keineth had thrown her arms about Mrs. Lee's neck. +"Oh, I was so frightened!" she cried. "Thank you for not letting me go. +I'd have just _hated_ Miss Edgecombe's--after this! And I do want to +stay with Peggy!" she finished with a tight hug. Then, as they climbed +the stairs together, she said softly--without knowing why in the least +she said it: +</p> + +<p> +"Poor Aunt Josephine! It must be awful to be rich." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap17"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XVII +</h3> + +<h3> +SCHOOL DAYS +</h3> + +<p> +September had come, and busy days! For Overlook had to be closed, the +city home cleaned and aired and made ready; Barbara must be sent away +to college and the younger children started off in school. +</p> + +<p> +"I feel all sort of queer inside," said Peggy, astride of a trunk, "the +way you do when you hear sad songs. I wish it was always summer and +nothing but play." +</p> + +<p> +"And no school," chimed in Billy. He was on his knees packing toys. "I +don't see what good school does, anyway! If nobody went to school it'd +all be the same." +</p> + +<p> +"I just hate beginning and then I love it," cried Alice. +</p> + +<p> +"You won't love it when you get into fractions," retorted Billy, +"'course its fun down in the baby grades!" He spoke from the lofty +distinction of a sub-freshman in the Technical High. Some day Billy +was going to make boilers like his father. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't mind school, but it's the fuss getting things ready. I just +despise dressmakers! You wait, Ken, until mother gets after you and you +stand by the hour and have Miss Harris fit you! The only fun is +watching to see how many pins she can put in her mouth without +swallowing any. Did that governess make your clothes?" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth described the funny little shop where Tante took her twice a +year. "They kept my measurements there and Tante would just look at the +materials." +</p> + +<p> +"And you never decided as to what color you wanted or had ribbons and +things?" cried Peggy wonderingly. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth's face colored a little. "Madame Henri thought plain things +better," she explained. +</p> + +<p> +"That's what mother says, but that plain things can be pretty, too. She +always lets us choose our color because she says it trains our tastes. +And this year, if I don't have a pink dress for best I'm going to make +an awful fuss!" "I'd like a pink dress," Keineth agreed shyly, "I never +had one!" +</p> + +<p> +Peggy jumped off the trunk. +</p> + +<p> +"Let's tease for pink dresses just alike; and now what do you say to a +last game of tennis?" +</p> + +<p> +"Make it doubles! I'll play with Alice," cried Billy, eagerly dropping +his work. And with merry laughter they rushed away. +</p> + +<p> +To close Overlook was an almost sacred task to the Lee family. Each did +his or her part tenderly, reluctantly. Mrs. Lee and Barbara folded away +the pretty hangings; Billy made the garden ready for the fall +fertilizing, took Gyp to his winter home at a nearby farm, and put the +barn in order; the younger girls helped Nora polish and cover the +kitchen utensils. +</p> + +<p> +And never had the days seemed more glorious nor inviting, filled with +the hazy September glow that turned everything into gold. +</p> + +<p> +"It's always just the nicest when we have to go to the city," Peggy +complained sadly. They were gathered for the last time on the veranda +watching the sunset. On the morrow they would return to town. Mr. Lee +looked over the young faces--the tanned cheeks and the eyes glowing +with health; the straight backs and limbs strong and supple from the +summer's exercise. +</p> + +<p> +"You're a fine-looking bunch to begin the winter's work," he laughed. +"It ought to be very easy to you youngsters." +</p> + +<p> +"How lucky we are to be able to live like this," Barbara said with a +little sigh. She was thinking as she said it that she was often going +to be very lonesome for home and this dear circle. Eager as she was to +begin her new life in college, she could not bear the breaking of the +home ties. +</p> + +<p> +And bravely she had decided she would tell no one of this heartache, +for one day she had surprised her mother gently crying over the piles +of undergarments they had made ready. Mrs. Lee had tried to laugh as +she wiped away her tears. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm just foolish, darling, only it seems such a little while ago that +you were a baby, my first baby--and here you are going off to college, +away from me!" +</p> + +<p> +So not for the world would Barbara have distressed her mother by +showing the ache in her own heart. In answer she had thrown her arms +about her mother's neck in a passion of affection. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll always, always, always love home best," she vowed. +</p> + +<p> +And this would not be hard, for the Lees' home, made beautiful by love +rather than wealth, was of the sort that would always be "home," and no +matter how far one of them might travel or in what gay places linger, +would always be "best of all!" +</p> + +<p> +The Lees' city home was not at all like Keineth's old home in New York, +nor like Aunt Josephine's pretentious house on Riverside Drive. Though +it seemed right in the heart of the city and only a stone's throw from +the business centre, it was on a quiet, broad street and had a little +yard of its own all around it. The house was built of wood and needed +painting, but the walks and lawns were neatly kept. Within it was +simple and roomy, with broad halls and wide windows, shaded by the elms +outside. Its walls were brown-toned, and yellow hangings covered the +white frilled curtains at the windows. There was one big living-room, +with rows and rows of bookshelves, easy chairs and soft rugs, a worn +davenport in front of the fire, tables with lamps, and books and +magazines spread out upon them in inviting disorder. There were flowers +here, too, as at Overlook, and Peggy's bird had its home in the big bay +of the dining-room, where he welcomed each morning's sunshine with glad +song. +</p> + +<p> +Each little girl had a room of her own, too, hung with bright chintz, +with covers on the bureau and bed to match. Peggy's and Keineth's had a +door opening from one to the other. Billy with his beloved wireless and +other things that Peggy called "truck" was happily established in the +back of the house. +</p> + +<p> +In a twinkling the entire family was settled in the city, "just as +though we'd never been away," Peggy declared. Then two days later +Barbara started off for college. +</p> + +<p> +The parting was merry. The girls had helped her pack her trunks; +sitting on her bed they had superintended the important process of +"doing up" her hair; and then had taken turns carrying to the station +the smart patent-leather dressing-case which had been her father's +gift. Everyone smiled up to the last moment before the train pulled out +of the station--then everyone coughed a great deal and Mr. Lee blew his +nose and Mrs. Lee wiped her eyes and Peggy sighed. +</p> + +<p> +"I'd hate to be grown-up," she admitted, and as she walked away she +held her mother's hand tightly. +</p> + +<p> +Although Barbara's going made a great gap in the little circle, +everyone was too busy to grieve. School began and with it home work; +there was basket-ball and dancing school and shopping, hats and shoes +to buy. Miss Harris arrived for her annual visit and much time was +spent over samples and patterns. And Peggy and Keineth got their pink +dresses! Then there were old friends to see, new ones to make and +relatives to visit. In this whirl of excitement the Overlook days were +soon forgotten! +</p> + +<p> +With the city life a little of Keineth's shyness had returned. She felt +lost among Peggy's many friends; the hours when Peggy was in school +dragged a little. The simplicity of the Lees' city home had made her +homesick for the big house in Washington Square--for its very +emptiness! So because of this loneliness she spent hours at the piano +eagerly practicing the technic that under Tante had been so tiresome. +Mrs. Lee had engaged one of the best masters in the city and Keineth +went almost daily to his funny little studio. At first she had been a +little afraid of him. He was a Pole, a round-shouldered man with long +gray hair that hung over his collar and queer eyes that seemed to look +through and through one. But after she had heard him play she lost her +shyness, for in his music she heard the voices she loved. He called her +"little one," and told her long stories of Liszt and Chopin and the +other masters. "They are the people that live forever," he would say. +</p> + +<p> +One rainy afternoon after school Peggy went to Keineth's room and found +its door shut. Peggy was cross because a cold had kept her home from +basket-ball, and she deeply resented this closed door. +</p> + +<p> +"I s'pose you're doing something you don't want me to know." Her ear +had caught the quick rustle of paper. In a moment Keineth had opened +the door, but Peggy was turning away with a toss of her head. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, if you don't want me--" +</p> + +<p> +"Please, Peg," begged Keineth. She pulled her into the room. "I didn't +know you were home, honest!" +</p> + +<p> +Peggy glimpsed the corner of a paper half hidden under some books. Upon +it were written bars of music. +</p> + +<p> +"You _have_ got a secret," she cried excitedly, "you're writing music! +Keineth Randolph, if you don't tell your very best friend, now!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth, her face scarlet, drew out the tell-tale paper. +</p> + +<p> +"It's just a little thing," she explained shyly. "Your mother showed me +how to write last summer, but I wanted to surprise everybody. I was +going to tell you, though, when it was done. Peg, I'm going to try to +sell it!" +</p> + +<p> +"Sell it! Get real money?" cried Peggy. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes--that's what the masters did--only they were nearly always +starving. 'Course I'm not, but I would like to earn some money." "Oh, +wouldn't it be fun?" Peggy caught Keineth's elbows and whirled her +around. "What would you ever do with it? But where do you sell music? +And what is its name?" +</p> + +<p> +"I call it 'The Castle of Dreams,'" answered Keineth with shining eyes. +"And Mr. Cadowitz told me there's a music house right here in the +city--Brown and Co." +</p> + +<p> +"Let's go there together! Let's go _now!_ Mother's away and it's just +the time!" +</p> + +<p> +The sore throat was forgotten. Peggy helped Keineth arrange the sheets +in a little roll and together they started forth on their secret +errand. They found the music house without any difficulty, but +Keineth's courage almost failed her when she found herself confronted +by a long line of clerks. To the one who came forward she explained her +errand. She wanted to see the manager--she had some music she wished to +sell! +</p> + +<p> +At his amused glance her face flushed scarlet. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, you're just a kid!" he answered impudently. "Mr. Brown's pretty +busy!" Then it suddenly occurred to him that it would be something like +a joke on the "boss" to take these two children to his busy office. The +clerk was not overfond of the head of the firm. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, come along," he concluded, winking at the other men. He led the +two girls through a labyrinth of offices and up a stairway to the +manager's door. +</p> + +<p> +"Two young ladies to see you!" he announced and shut the door of the +office quickly behind him. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth, frightened, had to swallow twice before she could make a +sound. Then, holding the manuscript out, she explained her errand to +the manager. Tipped back in his chair he listened with a smile; +however, he took the roll from her and, opening it, glanced over it +indifferently. +</p> + +<p> +"Let me play it for you," begged Keineth desperately. +</p> + +<p> +He led them into an inner room in the centre of which stood an open +grand piano. Keineth went straight to it and began to play. He listened +through to the end. +</p> + +<p> +"Wait a moment;" he waved her back to the stool. "I want Gregory to +hear you." The tone of his voice had changed. +</p> + +<p> +In answer to a summons Gregory came in, a thin, tired-looking man. The +manager turned to him: +</p> + +<p> +"This girl has brought in some music! I want you to hear it," and he +nodded to Keineth to begin. +</p> + +<p> +She played it through again while the two men held the manuscript +between them and read as she played. The man called Gregory nodded +again and again. His face had suddenly lost its tired look! +</p> + +<p> +"Why, we've found a little gem!" Peggy heard him mutter. Then to +Keineth: "What did you say your name was?" Keineth repeated it and the +manager wrote it down with Mr. Lee's address. He took the sheets of +music, rolled them, and put them in a drawer and locked it. +</p> + +<p> +"We will consider it and let you know in a few weeks," he said. Then he +shook hands with Keineth and Peggy. "And if you write anything more, +please bring it to us." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Peg, wouldn't it be grand if I could sell lots?" cried Keineth +later, in an ecstasy of ambition. +</p> + +<p> +"If I wasn't on the street I'd whoop," and Peggy squeezed her friend's +arm. "Why, Ken--maybe you'll be a master!" +</p> + +<p> +"And remember, don't tell a soul, Peg! Honor bright, cross your heart!" +</p> + +<p> +"Honor bright, cross my heart!" Peggy promised. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap18"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XVIII +</h3> + +<h3> +CHRISTMAS +</h3> + +<p> +"Christmas isn't half as much fun after you don't believe in Santa +Claus." Peggy heaved a mighty sigh as she worked her needle in and out +of the handkerchief she was hemstitching. "How old were you, Keineth, +when you found there wasn't a Santa Claus?" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth did not answer for a moment. Her shining eyes had a far-away +look. She did not know what to say to make Peggy understand that, as +far back as she could remember, the beloved Santa and the Christmas +Spirit and her Daddy had always seemed to be one and the same person. +Always on Christmas morning her father had come to her bed, helped her +hurry on her slippers and robe and had carried her on his back down the +long stairway to the shadowy library where, on a table close to the +fireplace, a-twinkle with tiny candles and bright with tinsel, they +would find the tree he had trimmed. She could not bear to speak of it +Instead she told Peggy of the way she and her father always spent +Christmas Eve; how he would take her to a funny little restaurant where +they would eat roast pig and little Christmas cakes and then go to the +stores and wander along looking into the gaily-trimmed windows. +</p> + +<p> +"You see there are ever and ever so many children near our home that +never have any Christmas, and we used to wait for some to come and look +into the window. Then Daddy'd invite them to go inside and pick out a +toy. They'd be frightened at first, as if they couldn't believe it, but +after they'd see Daddy smile they'd look so happy and talk so fast. +Daddy always told them to pick out what they'd always wanted and never +had, and the boys most always took engines and the girls wanted +dolls--dolls with eyes that'd shut and open. Daddy and I used to think +that was more fun than getting presents ourselves." +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Lee had listened with much interest. Her face, as she bent it over +her needle-work, was serious. +</p> + +<p> +"If I told you girlies of a family I ran across the other day, would +you like to help make their Christmas a little merrier?" They begged +her to tell them. +</p> + +<p> +Though Mrs. Lee never lacked time for the many demands of her family +and friends, she was a woman who went about among the poor a great +deal. Not like Aunt Josephine, who was the president of several +charitable societies and sent her yellow car about the poorer parts of +New York that Kingston might bestow for her deserving aid in places +where she herself could not go--Mrs. Lee worked quietly, going herself +into the homes of the sick and needy and carrying with her, besides +warm clothing and food, the comfort and cheer that she gave to her own +dear ones. No one could know just how much she did, because she rarely +spoke of it. +</p> + +<p> +"These people live in a tenement down near the river. The father was +crippled in an explosion several years ago and the mother has to work +to support her family. There are seven children--the oldest is fifteen. +What do you think they do at Christmas--and they love Christmas just +the way you do! They take turns having presents! And one of them has +been very, very ill this fall, so Tim, whose turn it really is this +year, is going to give up his Christmas for Mary. Isn't that fine in +Tim? Think of waiting for your turn out of seven and then giving it +up." +</p> + +<p> +Peggy threw down her work. "Oh, Mother, can't we make up a jolly basket +for them all like we did for the Finnegans two years ago? And put in +something extra for Tim because he's so--so fine?" +</p> + +<p> +"That's just what I wanted you to say," and Mrs. Lee smiled at her +little girl. "Make out a list of what you want to put in the basket and +then when you get your Christmas money you can go shopping." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, what fun it will be to take the basket there! How old are the +children, Mother?" +</p> + +<p> +Peggy brought pencils and paper. The work was laid aside and the +children commenced to make the list of things for the basket. Alice and +Billy were consulted and agreed eagerly to their plans, Billy deciding +that he would take the money he had been saving for a new tool set and +with it buy a moving-picture machine for Tim. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth had dreaded Christmas coming without her daddy. But there was +so much to do and think about that she had no time to be unhappy. There +was much shopping to do and the stores were so exciting. Mrs. Lee had +given her the same amount of spending money that Peggy had received and +she and Peggy went together to purchase the things for the basket, +besides other mysterious packages to be hidden away until Christmas +morning. Then one evening there was a family council to decide just +what they would do on Christmas. +</p> + +<p> +"We always do this," whispered Peggy to Keineth as they sat close +together, "and then we always do just what Alice wants us to do, 'cause +she's the baby." +</p> + +<p> +And Alice begged them all to hang up their stockings and to have a +tree, if it was just a teeny, weeny one! +</p> + +<p> +"We'll do it," Mr. Lee agreed, as if there had been a moment's doubt of +it. +</p> + +<p> +"I suppose we'll go on hanging up our stockings after we're doddering +old grandparents," Mrs. Lee had laughed, though there was a suspicion +of tears in her eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"Mother and Daddy just spend all their time making everything jolly for +us children," Peggy said afterwards. The children were sitting around +the table, their school-books before them. "I just wish we could do +something that'd be an awful nice surprise for them." She stared +thoughtfully at the blank paper before her on which a map ought to be. +</p> + +<p> +"Let's do something on Christmas that they won't know about," suggested +Alice. +</p> + +<p> +"What?" put in Billy. +</p> + +<p> +"Janet Clark's cousins have charades Christmas night." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, charades are stupid!" Billy hated guessing. +</p> + +<p> +Peggy's pencil was going around in tiny circles. She was thinking very +hard. Suddenly she sprang to her feet. +</p> + +<p> +"I know! Ken, let's write a play!" +</p> + +<p> +"A play!" cried the others. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes. I've got it all in my head, now. Barb will help us when she comes +home. You know Mother is going to invite Aunt Cora and Uncle Tom +Jenkins and the Pennys over for dinner Christmas night; we'll surprise +them with the play. Marian and Ted and the Penny girls can be in it! +Oh, I've always wanted to act! Won't it be _fun!"_ +</p> + +<p> +Peggy's enthusiasm won instant support from the others. Because Peggy +and Keineth had recently attended a matinee performance of "The +Midsummer Night's Dream," sitting in a box and wearing the new pink +dresses, Billy and Alice conceded that they knew more about plays and +must manage this. There were hours and hours then spent behind locked +doors and Mrs. Lee could hear shrieks of laughter with Peggy's voice +rising sternly above it. Now and then she caught glimpses of flying +figures draped in pink and white, but because it was Christmas-time and +the air full of mystery, she pretended to hear and see nothing. +</p> + +<p> +Barbara returned four days before Christmas, very much of a young lady. +Though her manner toward the younger children was at first a little +patronizing, after a few hours at home it quickly gave way to the +old-time comradeship. As soon as she could Peggy dragged her to her +room and read to her the lines of the play which she and Keineth had +scribbled on countless sheets of paper. Barbara promised to help. To +guard the secret the last rehearsals were held at Marian Jenkins', +under Barbara's coaching; and Billy and Ted Jenkins printed the +programs on Ted's printing press. "Oh, it's going to be the best part +of Christmas," Keineth cried delightedly. +</p> + +<p> +But it was not quite the best, for on Christmas morning, after the +children had returned from taking their basket to Tim and his family, +Keineth found a cablegram from her Daddy, wishing her a merry, merry +Christmas! +</p> + +<p> +Somehow, after that, it seemed as if her joy was complete! +</p> + +<p> +The gifts that the Lee children had found in their stockings had been +very simple; beside them the elaborate presents that had come in a box +from Aunt Josephine seemed vulgar and showy, although Barbara had cried +out in delight at her bracelet. To Keineth and Peggy she had sent tiny +wrist watches, circled with turquoise. +</p> + +<p> +"Much too lovely for children like you," had been Mrs. Lee's comment. +</p> + +<p> +While Mrs. Lee was helping Nora prepare the dinner the children put the +finishing touches to their costumes and with much whispering arranged +the stage for the play. The little tree around which the play must be +acted had been put at one end of the long living-room; the door close +to it on the right, leading into the hall, would serve as a stage +entrance. The only property needed was a rock, and by covering it with +a strip of gray awning, the piano stool would look very real. +</p> + +<p> +At six o'clock Aunt Cora and Uncle Tom, Marian and Ted arrived; a +little later all the Pennys. Eighteen sat down at the table that +creaked with the good things Mrs. Lee and Nora had prepared. Everyone +talked at once. Keineth, looking down the length of the room, decked +with the holly the children had fastened over doors and windows, +thought that nowhere could Christmas be merrier than right there at the +Lees! And what helped make the merriment was the comforting thought +that Tim and his family were eating a Christmas dinner, too! +</p> + +<p> +At eight o'clock Peggy stole quietly to her mother. +</p> + +<p> +"May we children go up to the playroom, Mummy? It'd be more fun there," +she whispered. Mrs. Lee nodded. +</p> + +<p> +The playroom was really a part of the attic, partitioned off and +lighted. Here the children donned the cheesecloth costumes they had +made. There was a great deal of laughter; Peggy was giving orders to +everyone at once! Barbara sat on a trunk pinning wings to fairies' +shoulders. And at the last moment Marian brought out some real make-up +stuff she had borrowed! +</p> + +<p> +Then Billy, in a clown's robe made out of an old pair of night-drawers +and a great deal of paper, went downstairs to give out the programs. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, do I look like a real actress?" whispered Peggy to Keineth, wildly +pulling at her tinsel crown. +</p> + +<p> +"Just beautiful!" Keineth whispered back. "But oh, I'm so scared! I +know I won't remember a _single_ line!" +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap19"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XIX +</h3> + +<h3> +WHEN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT WORKED OVERTIME +</h3> + +<p> +Peals of laughter greeted Billy's appearance in the living-room. Then +everyone read the programs he gave them. +</p> + +<p> +"The rascals!" cried Mr. Lee, genuinely surprised. +</p> + +<p> +"Look at this," whispered Mrs. Lee, pointing to the program. +</p> + +<p> +For at its top was printed in large letters: +</p> + +<p class="t3b"> +WHEN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT WORKED OVERTIME +<br /> +BY +<br /> +PEGGY LEE AND KEINETH RANDOLPH +</p> + +<p> +And the rest of the program read: +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +The Time of the Play: +</p> + +<p> +Christmas night after the children are supposed to have gone to bed, a +little ill from their Christmas candies, and when the grownfolks have +gathered together to talk over the day and declare that it's the best +Christmas the children have ever had. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +The Place: +</p> + +<p> +The living-room at home. And if possible the room should be darkened, +except for the lights on the tree, but if this is not convenient it +doesn't matter in the least, for the Christmas Spirit is not afraid to +walk into the most brightly-lighted room! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +The Persons who are in the Play: +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + The Christmas Spirit Peggy Lee<br /> + The Christmas Fairies:<br /> + Happyheart Keineth Randolph<br /> + Peace Marian Jenkins<br /> + Goodwill Sally Penny<br /> + Merrylips Fanny Penny<br /> + Joy Anne Penny<br /> + Spirit of Childhood Alice Lee<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + Jesters {William Lee, Jr.<br /> + {Edward Jenkins<br /> +</p> + +<p> +"I recognize Barbara's hand assisting," laughed Mr. Lee, as he read +through the program. +</p> + +<p> +"Sh--h!" The chatter suddenly ceased. Barbara pressed a button that +shut off all the lights excepting the twinkling bulbs on the tree. In +another room the children sang "Silent Night." As the last sweet note +died away, Peggy, in gauzy white with tinsel crown and wings, came +slowly into the room. She sank down upon the rock. The play had begun. +_Spirit_ (yawns): Goodness me, how tired I am! (Yawns again.) It seems +as if there are more children every Christmas. I think after to-night +I'll go to bed for a whole year! (Lifts her head suddenly and looks at +the tree.) Why, there are no presents on the tree! It must be a party +of grownfolks! (Sighs.) I do feel so sorry for grownfolks! They always +have to pretend they're having a Christmas. (Springs to her feet.) +Perhaps they're here now. (Looks intently at audience.) Yes--they are! +I can always tell when grownfolks are around, because I have to work so +much harder with them. I must call my fairies. (Spirit steps toward +door, puts her hand cup-shape to her mouth.) +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Come, oh Christmas fairies all,<br /> + Answer to the Spirit's call!<br /> +</p> + +<p> +(As she calls the fairies Happyheart, Merrylips, Goodwill, and Peace +dance into the room, curtsey low to the Spirit and group themselves +about her.) +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit_(holds out welcoming hands): Ah, fairies, what a wonderful day +this has been! Did you fill the stockings, Happyheart? +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart:_ I've filled a million stockings! +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit:_ Splendid! And you, Merrylips? +</p> + +<p> +_Merrylips_: I've trimmed a million trees--small ones and big ones! +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit:_ Didn't you love it? They smell so good! How went the day with +you, Goodwill? +</p> + +<p> +_Goodwill:_ Oh, I've carried baskets of food until I am sure there was +not a hungry person in the whole wide world! _Spirit:_ Tell us, Peace, +of your work to-day! +</p> + +<p> +_Peace:_ I have gone about since early morning putting songs in +people's hearts! +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit:_ You worked well! I have heard the music all day long! +</p> + +<p> +_Merrylips_ (yawns): We're terribly tired! +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit_ (sternly): Hush! Fairies must never be tired when there is +work to do! See, I have found a tree! It has these pretty lights but +there are no presents! +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart:_ Who's tree can it be? +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit_: It is a tree for some grownfolks! You see the children all +over the land must have been put to bed a long time ago. +</p> + +<p> +_Peace_ (nods her head): Grownfolks generally do stay up late Christmas +night! +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart:_ They get very sad wishing they were children again! +</p> + +<p> +_Merrylips:_ Christmas is very hard on them, poor things! +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit:_ The men talk about spending so much money and the women sit +up late nights stitching and stitching and complaining that they will +not give anything but cards another Christmas. +</p> + +<p> +_Merrylips:_ How foolish they are! +</p> + +<p> +_Peace:_ They forget that we will help them! +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart:_ You see they don't believe in fairies! It's because they +are so old! Why, they say that some are over thirty! _Goodwill:_ As if +that mattered! +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit:_ But I do feel very sorry for them! They can scarcely remember +when they used to hang up their stockings! They will come and gather +around this tree and there will be no presents! +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart_ (sits down upon stool): Oh, dear! (Drops her chin in her +hand.) Can't we do something? +</p> + +<p> +_Peace:_ Let's think hard! +</p> + +<p> +_Goodwill_ (sadly): Our real presents are gone. There were so many +children this year! +</p> + +<p> +_Merrylips:_ And they make out such long lists! Why, the trees would +scarcely hold all the things! +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit:_ We must do what we can to make Christmas merry for these +grownfolks. +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart_ (claps her hands): I can make their hearts light! +</p> + +<p> +_Goodwill:_ I can make them kindly to one another! +</p> + +<p> +_Merrylips:_ I can make them laugh! +</p> + +<p> +_Peace:_ And I can put one of my songs in their hearts! +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit_ (as others make these suggestions she turns toward the tree, +deep in thought; suddenly she wheels around): Your gifts are priceless +but, somehow, I wish we had something besides them for these +grownfolks! +</p> + +<p> +_Goodwill:_ I should like to make this a Christmas they would remember +the year through! +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart:_ I should like to teach them to believe in fairies! +</p> + +<p> +_Peace:_ Perhaps if we could fill their tree with gifts they would not +forget! +</p> + +<p> +_Merrylips:_ Let's ask Joy! _Spirit:_ Where is she? +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart:_ Oh, she is still working. But if we sing her song she +will come! +</p> + +<p> +_Merrylips:_ Let's sing, then! (Holds up her finger.) One, two, three! +(All sing softly the Christmas Carol, "Joy to the World." As they sing +Joy runs into the room. The fairies circle about her.) +</p> + +<p> +_Joy_ (stepping to the foreground and stretching arms): Oh, I am so +tired! +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit_ (steps forward and lays her hand on Joy's shoulder): Poor +little Joy-fairy! +</p> + +<p> +_Joy:_ I've been so busy making happiness! This funny world needs so +much of it and everyone wants something different! And there were so +many children! (Turns to the tree.) What--another tree? +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit:_ Yes, and we have no presents! Happyheart can make their +hearts light and Peace can give them a song, but, you know, I'd just +like to have them have some presents--like children have! +</p> + +<p> +_Merrylips_ (dances a step or two): Fairy presents would be fun! They +are more fun than real presents and can make wishes come true! +</p> + +<p> +_Goodwill:_ They say grownfolks are worse than children about making +wishes, only they keep their wishes locked up! +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart:_ Wouldn't it be lovely? +</p> + +<p> +_Joy:_ I know--let's call the Spirit of Childhood! +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart:_ Splendid! She will surely know a way! +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit:_ How can we call her, Joy-fairy? _Joy:_ Put your fingers over +your eyes tight! (All put their fingers over their eyes.) Now, say +after me--"Spirit of Childhood, come at our call!" +</p> + +<p> +_Chorus:_ +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Spirit of Childhood, come at our call,<br /> + Spirit of Childhood, come at our call!<br /> +</p> + +<p> +(As they repeat this the Spirit of Childhood dances joyously into the +room and faces them. As they remove their fingers from their eyes, they +bow low.) +</p> + +<p> +_Chorus:_ Childhood! +</p> + +<p> +_Childhood_ (faces audience): I am the Spirit of Childhood! I am the +happiest fairy of all! I am known all over this wide, wide world! +Everybody loves me! Sometimes I am a dream, too, and I come out of the +past when it is very still and creep into old, old hearts! +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart_ (impatiently): We know all that! +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit_ (steps toward Childhood): We want you to help us now, +Childhood, to make Christmas merry for this party of grownfolks. +</p> + +<p> +_Childhood:_ No children? They're all grownfolks? +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit:_ No children. They're all grownfolks. +</p> + +<p> +_Childhood:_ Poor things! How sad! +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit:_ But they have a tree and we want to give them gifts which, +because they are fairy gifts, will make their best every-day wish come +true! +</p> + +<p> +_Childhood:_ Yes-they'll think, because they are grownups, they must +have useful gifts! But they shall have fairy gifts! +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart_ (to other fairies): I told you she'd help us! _Merrylips:_ +And these grown folks must make a big, big wish and have it on top of +their hearts! Then, if they carry their gifts in the bottom of their +pockets their wishes will come true! +</p> + +<p> +_Childhood:_ I will call my Jesters! They are clever knaves--they will +find the gifts! +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart:_ Call them quickly! +</p> + +<p> +_Childhood:_ I have to do very funny things, because I am Childhood, +you know. (She dances backward and forward across the room, with merry +step; pirouettes and points finger into audience.) Some one out there +must laugh, or the Jesters will not think we are merry. Laugh, someone, +laugh! Harder! I am Childhood! Laugh with me! (As she speaks some one +in the audience laughs; others join.) +</p> + +<p> +_Childhood_ (runs to door): +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Jester big, jester small,<br /> + Come at Childhood's merry call!<br /> +</p> + +<p> +(Jesters enter--stand near door.) +</p> + +<p> +_Chorus:_ Welcome--welcome! +</p> + +<p> +_Childhood_ (to Jesters): Go--find and bring us the biggest Christmas +stocking in the world! It must be filled with fairy gifts! (Jesters +hurry out.) +</p> + +<p> +_Goodwill:_ How will we know which gifts to give each person? +</p> + +<p> +_Childhood:_ Oh, I will look in my Book of the Past! You see I have to +keep careful records of everybody! +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit:_ Why it's just like Santa Claus used to do when the +old-fashioned children believed in him! _Happyheart:_ He was a fine +man! +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit:_ Ah, here they come! +</p> + +<p> +(Enter Jesters dragging behind them an enormous Christmas stocking made +of red cambric. They give it to the Christmas Spirit, then step back to +the door.) +</p> + +<p> +_Childhood_ (as others gather around the stocking): Go, Jesters, and +bring me my Book of Records! +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart:_ Open it quickly! (Spirit opens stocking--all peep in.) +Oh, lots and lots of gifts! +</p> + +<p> +(Jester returns, gives book to Childhood who goes to the right of group +and stands next to Happyheart.) +</p> + +<p> +_Childhood_ (solemnly to audience): Are all the grownups ready? Have +they got their best wish on top of their hearts? +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart:_ Is every one happy? +</p> + +<p> +_Goodwill:_ Do you all feel very, very kind to one another? +</p> + +<p> +_Peace:_ Do you know my songs? +</p> + +<p> +_Childhood:_ Then let's have a bright light so that we may begin! +</p> + +<p> +(Lights of the room flash on.) +</p> + +<p> +(Spirit takes packages one by one from the stocking and reads the name. +Then she holds the package while Happyheart reads from Childhood's +Record what the book has to say of each person. After this has been +read Joy with dancing step takes the fairy package to the person named. +This goes on until every one in the audience has received a gift.) +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit_ (throws stocking down): The stocking is empty! +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart:_ The fairy gifts are all gone! _Childhood_ (shakes finger +at audience): But each one of you has a wish that will come true, just +as sure as sure can be; for you have received a fairy gift! +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart:_ And now they will be happy! +</p> + +<p> +_Goodwill_ (claps her hands together as if with a happy thought): Let +us send the Jesters to bring in to them the Christmas Bowl! If they +drink our fairy brew they will never, never forget this Christmas! +</p> + +<p> +_Happyheart:_ And they will always believe in the Christmas Spirit! +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit:_ And in the Christmas Fairies! +</p> + +<p> +_Goodwill:_ Go, Jesters, and bring in to them the Christmas Bowl! +(Jesters go out quickly.) +</p> + +<p> +_Spirit:_ Now, fairies, we must stop our work! We've worked overtime +already, and you know there is an eight-hour law now for fairies. +</p> + +<p> +_Merrylips:_ Yes, but we've helped these poor grownfolks! _Happyheart:_ +Let us say farewell to them! Now, one--two--three! +</p> + +<p> +_Chorus_ (waving hands): +</p> + +<p> +May the brew that we've mixed you make every heart light, Merry +Christmas to all, and to all a good-night! +</p> + +<p> +(Fairies dance out, followed by the Spirit. Jesters, blowing horns, +enter the room, bearing a tray upon which is placed a punch bowl filled +with Nora's best cider punch.) +</p> + +<p class="t3"> + * * * * *<br /> +</p> + +<p> +Loud applause demanded the return of the fairies and then all gathered +in a merry group around the punch bowl while Mr. Lee toasted the +youthful cast. +</p> + +<p> +"I suspect you, Miss Bab, of a hand in those records," he cried, +shaking a finger at Barbara. A paper crown was set rakishly on his +head. +</p> + +<p> +Behind the laughter in Mrs. Lee's eyes was shining something very like +tears as she drew little Alice to her. Across the brightly-crowned +heads of the children her glance caught Mr. Lee's. +</p> + +<p> +"I feel as if my heart _had_ been brushed by fairy wings to-night," she +said with a happy sigh. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap20"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XX +</h3> + +<h3> +SHADOWS +</h3> + +<p> +"William, it _can't_ be true!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth, pausing on the threshold of the dining-room door, overheard +the words. Peggy and Billy had gone to school; she was starting out for +her music lesson and had stopped to ask Aunt Nellie a question. The +tone of Aunt Nellie's voice, the seriousness of Mr. Lee's face, made +Keineth's heart turn cold with fear! +</p> + +<p> +"Aunt Nellie." They both turned towards her, startled. Involuntarily +Mrs. Lee slipped the newspaper she had been reading under her napkin. +</p> + +<p> +"Keineth, dear!" She held out her hand, her eyes filling with tears. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth stood quite still, looking from one to the other, and because +he was always somewhere very close in her mind and heart she cried +"Daddy!" +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Lee had a curiously helpless look, as if she scarcely knew what to +say, and with one hand she still held the paper beneath her napkin. Mr. +Lee's voice was husky, he had to clear it two or three times before he +could speak, and all the while Keineth's great eyes were fastened +gravely upon him, demanding the truth. +</p> + +<p> +"It may be a false report, my dear. There's been an accident at sea, +and according to the paper--" +</p> + +<p> +"My daddy was in it!" cried Keineth, putting her hands to her face. +"Was my daddy in it?" she demanded in a queer little voice. +</p> + +<p> +"Come here, dear," Mrs. Lee held out her hand again, but Keineth did +not stir. +</p> + +<p> +"Was he--in--it?" she demanded again. +</p> + +<p> +"His name was listed among the passengers sailing from Liverpool, but +there may have been a mistake." +</p> + +<p> +Keineth's eyes were blazing. She walked to the table. +</p> + +<p> +"Please give me that paper, Aunt Nellie! I have a right to know what it +says!" She did not seem like the child she was as she stood there, +white-faced. Her voice was very calm. Aunt Nellie handed her the paper; +as she did so she said pleadingly: "Keineth, why not wait until your +Uncle William has found out if it is true?" But Keineth did not hear +her; she slowly unfolded the paper, stared a moment at the headlines, +then, turning, rushed with it from the room. +</p> + +<p> +There it was--his name! Her finger found it and stopped, as though she +cared nothing for the rest! She read the big letters of the headlines, +the few words that told of the attack by a German submarine on the big +passenger ship, of the horrible confusion of the few moments before it +sank, of the wild panic of the cowardly and the splendid bravery of a +few! Then: "John Randolph, of New York City, the well-known journalist, +abroad on a special mission for the President of the United States, was +among the passengers." +</p> + +<p> +Keineth, on her knees, with the paper spread out before her, read and +reread the words. They sounded so final! He was gone--her daddy was +gone! +</p> + +<p> +And yet--how could this happen to her in this way? She knew a little of +death; way back in her memory was a haunting picture of her own +mother's going, of her father's grief and the music and the flowers. +And she had watched the funeral of Francesca's baby brother from behind +the geranium boxes. There had been music then, too. But this was so +different--just the lines in the newspaper and then nothing more, ever +and ever and ever! It couldn't happen like that! She was too puzzled to +cry. There were so many questions she wanted to ask-how deep _was_ the +ocean there? Couldn't they swim? And whom could she ask who would tell +her all about it? +</p> + +<p> +She heard the door open, but did not turn her head. She felt Aunt +Nellie's arms lift her, draw her head close to her breast. Aunt +Nellie's voice was very tender. +</p> + +<p> +"Uncle William has gone to telegraph immediately to the New York +offices of the steamship line. We may learn more, my dear. You must be +brave--you know how brave your father always was." +</p> + +<p> +Almost violently Keineth pushed her away. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't believe it!" she cried. Seizing the paper, she tore it into +little bits and threw them fiercely to the floor. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll never, never, nev-er believe it! He _will_ come back!" And poor +Keineth threw herself upon her bed and covered her face tight with her +hands She had caught the look of deep pity on Aunt Nellie's face. Aunt +Nellie believed it! She could not bear it! +</p> + +<p> +"Please go away," she begged through her fingers. And Aunt Nellie +slipped out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth could shut from her eyes Aunt Nellie's pity, but she could not +shut from her mind the flood of thoughts that came. Cruel thoughts, +too, which her persistent "I don't believe it" failed to drive away! +She had seen a picture once of a sinking ship; a great wave of water +had engulfed it, men were clinging to its side like flies! She +remembered it now! Remembered, too, an awful storm when, holding her +daddy's hand, she had watched from a high point of land the angry sea +surging over the rocks far beneath them. It was green and black and +white where the water hissed, and its roar had made her shiver! That +was the same sea! "Oh, I don't believe it!" she whispered. She had made +so many pictures in her mind of her father's home-coming--she had felt +sure he would surprise her! She had thought that perhaps she might go +back to the old house and find him there, or go with someone to the +dock and watch his boat come in and see him waving from its deck! +Perhaps she might be standing some afternoon in the living-room window +looking down the street watching Terry light the street lamps and +suddenly see him walking towards her! And now--oh, it just couldn't be +true! +</p> + +<p> +At noon Mr. Lee came home to luncheon. The newspaper report had been +confirmed by the New York offices of the steamship company. He said +this very gravely and slowly, as though he hated to speak the words. +Peggy sat watching Keineth in a frightened sort of way; she wished +Keineth would cry so that she could put her arms around her to comfort +her! But Keineth only sat very still staring down at her plate. +</p> + +<p> +"I think I'll practice, Aunt Nellie," Keineth said when the luncheon +was finished. She had to do something. She walked out of the room as +she spoke, Peggy cast an entreating look toward her mother. +</p> + +<p> +"Mummy, isn't it dreadful? What _will_ we do? She acts so queer!" +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Lee answered very slowly. "Keineth will not believe it, Peggy! But +when she does, when her loss comes to her, we must help her in every +way! We must make her feel how much we love her and that she is one of +us!" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, what if it was our daddy," Peggy cried. "Listen!" +</p> + +<p> +For from across the hall came wonderful music--not the lesson Keineth +should be practicing, but fairy things! And happy notes, too, as though +Keineth's own hands were trying to dispel the heavy shadows about her +and give her comfort and hope! +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Lee was carefully reading the report of the disaster in the +afternoon paper. +</p> + +<p> +"You know it's a funny thing--no one on the boat had seen John +Randolph! Maybe--" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, maybe he got left!" cried Billy, who all through the tragic +moments had been unusually silent. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly the doorbell rang. Its clang startled each one of them! The +music across the hall stopped with a crash! They heard Keineth flying +to the door. +</p> + +<p> +In a moment she returned, holding a yellow envelope in her hand. Though +it was addressed to her she carried it to Mr. Lee. "Please read it," +she said in a trembling voice. "I think it is from Daddy! I--can't!" +</p> + +<p> +Peggy crossed quickly to Keineth's side and put one arm close about +her. Mr. Lee tore open the cablegram, read the lines written in it, +tried to speak and, failing, put the sheet of paper in Keineth's hands. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh!" Keineth cried. "Oh!" Something like a laugh caught in her throat. +</p> + +<p> + Changed plans--did not sail on boat. Thank God!<br /> + --JOHN RANDOLPH.<br /> +</p> + +<p> +Both of Peggy's arms flew around her now; they hugged one another and +both cried. And Aunt Nellie was crying, too, and Mr. Lee had to wipe +his eyes. Billy was saying over and over, "Didn't I just have a hunch, +now?" +</p> + +<p> +The shadows lifted from their hearts, the children listened while Mr. +Lee read to them the full account of the disaster which had stirred +every nation of the globe. Billy and Peggy asked many questions, but +Keineth was very silent. There were other little girls whose fathers +had gone down into the sea--her heart went out to them in deepest pity. +"I feel as though this morning was weeks ago," she said afterwards as +she and Peggy curled upon the window seat with some sewing. From +outside the sun was shining through the bare branches of the trees, +making dancing figures on the polished floor. Keineth sighed. "It makes +one realize how unhappy lots and lots of people are." +</p> + +<p> +"And it makes you feel as though you could do _anything_ to help them," +answered Peggy, staring thoughtfully out of the window where on the +city street humanity surged backward and forward in all the forms of +joy and sorrow known by God's children. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap21"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXI +</h3> + +<h3> +PILOT GOES AWAY +</h3> + +<p> +Pilot's dog-life had fallen into pleasant paths. His days were one +happy round of comfortable hours, spent close to the big fireplace or +at Billy's heels. He slept on an old blanket in the hallway outside of +Billy's door. His friends were Billy's friends and their dogs--Pilot +was loyal and democratic to the end of his stubby tail. His duties were +few and pleasant--to guard his master and his master's family, to keep +the next-door cat away from his door and to inspect daily the refuse +barrels in the backyards of his street. If he had a sorrow it was that +he could not go to school with the children, but he always went with +them to the corner, lifted his paw for a parting shake, watched them +disappear from sight, and trotted home to wait for the hour when they +would return. Twice daily Nora fed him choice scraps and bones which he +ate from a plate in the back hall, and if occasionally someone spoke +sharply to him or rebuked him for thoughtlessly lying upon one of the +chairs or the davenport, the sting was always softened by a pat on his +head. What hardships he had had in the past had been forgotten--he had +no concern for the future! +</p> + +<p> +Of course Pilot could not always understand the language his master +spoke. He read mostly by signs. So, one morning, when he saw Billy and +Peggy and Keineth making preparations for some out-of-door pleasure, he +stood eagerly at Billy's heels, wagging his tail to tell his master +that he was ready, too. +</p> + +<p> +"We can't take him on the street-car," Peggy complained. +</p> + +<p> +"And he might get lost in the woods," Keineth added. +</p> + +<p> +Now Pilot could not know that the children were putting on heavy +rubbers and warm sweaters under their coats because they were going to +"hike" into the woods to see if the sap was beginning to run. And from +their excited remarks he could not reason that, to get to the woods, +they would have to take the street-car to the city line and dogs were +not allowed on the street-cars. It was Saturday, and Saturday to Pilot +meant a whole day with Billy! So when they were quite ready he dashed +ahead to the door. +</p> + +<p> +"You can't go Pilot. Go back!" Billy said sternly. +</p> + +<p> +He stood very still and watched them disappear through the door, giving +only one little whimper. They did not even say good-by; he heard their +merry voices slowly die away. Then he lay down on the floor with one +eye on the closed door. +</p> + +<p> +But even the most faithful will not wait forever. The sound of Nora's +step coaxed him into the kitchen. It was quite nice there--the sun was +shining across the white floor and something on the stove smelled very +good. Nora was singing, too, which meant that he could coax a little +and get in her way. After a while she gave him a whole cookie--he felt +happier! +</p> + +<p> +A little later, having wandered several times through the empty rooms +of the house and found no one, he started out of doors in search of +some amusement. He chased the cat to the veranda roof from which she +refused to descend. He saw a friend of Billy's, so he left the cat to +walk with him to the corner. He carefully examined some boxes that were +piled there, then he made friends with a stray terrier who stopped to +exchange greetings with him. Pilot liked the terrier, together they +trotted down the street, block after block. +</p> + +<p> +He did not notice a big limousine car that passed and re-passed him--to +him these motor cars were of no interest excepting to keep out from +under their wheels. But when it stopped suddenly at the curb and an old +man climbed out, calling "Jacky, Jacky!" he paused. +</p> + +<p> +The old man was beckoning to his chauffeur and talking in an excited +voice. +</p> + +<p> +"Come and look at him! I know it's Jacky," he was saying. +</p> + +<p> +At the name a memory stirred in Pilot's mind. He advanced slowly to the +man. The man held out his hand and called again, "Jacky," and Pilot +went to him and laid his nose in the palm of the man's hand. +</p> + +<p> +"It's Jacky, it's Jacky," the old man cackled. "He'd always do that +when I called him! Look at his ears--one got torn and I had a stitch +taken in it! Look and see, Briggs, my eyes are so bad." Briggs pushed +back the hair on Pilot's ears and found the scar. The old man was very +joyful. +</p> + +<p> +"He was stolen from me two years ago! Look on his collar, Briggs." +</p> + +<p> +Briggs read aloud the address on the collar. +</p> + +<p> +"We'll take him there right away, Briggs! Come on, Jacky, my boy!" +</p> + +<p> +But Pilot considered this going a little too far--he objected, at which +the man Briggs lifted him and placed him in the automobile. He was far +too polite to struggle for his freedom, but he put his paws upon the +door and barked a vigorous protest. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Lee had just returned from shopping and answered the bell herself. +Across her mind flashed immediately the explanation of the strange +group on her doorstep. In a few words she told the old man the story of +Pilot's coming into their family. As he listened he nodded several +times. +</p> + +<p> +"I cared more for that dog than anything on earth," he told her. "He +was always with me! When he was stolen I couldn't get over it, +Madam--just couldn't get over it! Felt as if I'd lost my only friend!" +Mrs. Lee wished she could feel sympathetic, but she was thinking of +Billy! +</p> + +<p> +"Now let him go, Briggs, and you watch him, Madam!" +</p> + +<p> +Briggs released his hold of Pilot's collar, Pilot leaped upon Mrs. Lee +joyfully, tore down the length of the hall and back and then stood a +little apart, eyeing suspiciously the strange group. +</p> + +<p> +"Come, Jacky, come Jacky!" cackled the old man, holding out his hand. +</p> + +<p> +And Pilot, above all else, was faithful! Slowly, reluctantly, he went +towards the outstretched hand and laid his nose in it. +</p> + +<p> +"Always did that when I called him! See his ear, Madam--I had a stitch +taken in it when he tore it! See the scar?" +</p> + +<p> +There was no doubt in Mrs. Lee's mind but that the dog belonged to the +man. +</p> + +<p> +"My children are going to be heartbroken," she commenced slowly. "Could +we buy--" +</p> + +<p> +The old man snorted angrily. "Buy Jacky? Don't you know he's a very +valuable dog? And anyway, you haven't enough money to buy his +companionship from me! Your children can get another dog, Madam, but +for me there is only one Jacky!" As he spoke with fumbling fingers he +drew out a card and a dollar bill. "Pay the boy his dollar, Madam. Take +him down, Briggs. Very sorry, Madam, but good-day!" +</p> + +<p> +Briggs pulled on the collar and Pilot went down the steps very slowly. +He knew in his dog-mind that something was happening! He turned and +looked appealingly at Mrs. Lee. She was standing very still and was not +helping him at all! He tried to tell her to tell Billy that he had to +do his duty and when this man called him Jacky he knew he had to go, +but he would always love his young master best! +</p> + +<p> +So when the children returned to the house, cheeks red with the wind, +splashed with mud, tired and happy, there was no Pilot to greet them! +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Lee told them the story; tried to tell it in such a way that the +children would feel sorry for the lonely old man who had been so happy +at finding his dog! +</p> + +<p> +But Billy raged--his high-pitched voice choking over the sob that +struggled in his throat. He threw the dollar and the card savagely to +the floor. +</p> + +<p> +"Wouldn't you have thought the old thing would have at least given +Billy a reward!" cried Peggy indignantly. +</p> + +<p> +Though she did not answer this, Mrs. Lee smiled, as she recalled the +reluctance with which the old man had extracted even the one-dollar +bill from his pocket. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't want any old reward--I just want Pilot! If we hadn't gone away +and left him that old man would never have found him," Billy wailed. +</p> + +<p> +"Couldn't we buy him, Mother?" +</p> + +<p> +"The dog is worth a great deal of money. I'm afraid we could scarcely +afford it, my dear, even if the man would part with him. Billy must +look at the thing in a sensible way." She laid her hand on Billy's +shoulder. "Pilot will miss you as much as you do him, my son! But you +have a great many other things to make you happy and I should judge +that that old man had nothing!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth went up to her room to take off her muddy shoes. On her bureau +she found a letter Nora had placed there. In the corner of the envelope +was printed in large letters: "Brown and Company." She tore it open +with fingers trembling with excitement. It was from the music +publishers, telling her that they would publish her "Castle of Dreams," +and for its purchase had enclosed a check. +</p> + +<p> +And Keineth, unfolding the small slip of paper, saw written there: "The +Sum of Twenty-five Dollars." +</p> + +<p> +"Peggy! Peg-gy!" +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap22"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXII +</h3> + +<h3> +KEINETH'S GIFT +</h3> + +<p> +Twenty-five dollars! To Keineth it seemed like a fortune! +</p> + +<p> +She had never thought much about money. She knew some people were very +poor--she had often felt sorry for them as she watched them near the +Square in New York. And she knew some were very rich, for Aunt +Josephine talked of them. She had always had all the money she wanted, +because she had never wanted very much. She supposed Peggy and the +others had all they wanted, too. Each week Mr. Lee gave to each one of +them a small allowance and whenever they managed to save anything from +this each of them put it in her bank. Keineth supposed that the Lees +were not as rich as Aunt Josephine and not as poor as Francesca's +family next door to her old home, but it didn't seem to matter at all, +because she did not think that the Lees wanted to be rich, anyway. They +never talked of anything in terms of dollars and cents! Twenty-five +dollars--that seemed enough to Keineth to buy everything anyone could +want! +</p> + +<p> +Keineth and Peggy had carefully kept the precious secret of the "Castle +of Dreams." For a few weeks they had watched the mail each day, then +the holiday fun had filled their minds and the secret was forgotten. As +the weeks passed and Keineth heard nothing she had almost given up all +hope of selling her music and her great ambitions had taken a sad fall. +Peggy had urged her to consult her music master about it, but after one +or two attempts Keineth found she had not the courage. +</p> + +<p> +And now a check had come! Twenty-five whole dollars! +</p> + +<p> +"Peggy! Peggy!" she called, unable to wait one moment to share the good +news. +</p> + +<p> +It was a very excited family that listened to their story at dinner +time. Even Billy, red-eyed, forgot his own sorrow. Everyone had to hold +the check and read it! Then each one suggested some way for Keineth to +spend her money! +</p> + +<p> +And as is the way with all fortunes, sooner or later they become a +burden! Already, even while they made merry over the check, Keineth was +beginning to worry as to what she should do with it! Of course Mr. Lee +had advised her putting it in the bank, but that did not seem like much +fun! If Daddy were at home she would buy something for him with it or +she might send it to Tante to help the poor children that were +suffering from the war. +</p> + +<p> +"Give it to the Red Cross!" Peggy suggested grandly. +</p> + +<p> +"Buy a bicycle!" said Alice, "or one of those cunning electric stoves +that we can cook on!" +</p> + +<p> +"If I had it I'd buy Pilot!" put in Billy sadly. +</p> + +<p> +"I'd like to do something with it," said Keineth slowly, "that would +make somebody just awfully happy, because--" She looked down the length +of the table and realized suddenly how dear to her these Lees had grown +and what this home was to her. "Because I'm so happy here!" +</p> + +<p> +And even while she was speaking she decided just what she would do! But +she would tell no one, not even Peggy! +</p> + +<p> +She would buy Pilot for Billy! Mrs. Lee had said they could not afford +it! What good luck that her check had come just at the right time! +After dinner she searched for and found the old man's card. It was +soiled and crumpled from Billy's angry fingers. She hid it away with +the check. She must wait until Monday. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth had to ride on the street-car a very long way before she +reached the address which the card gave. Then she found herself before +a great iron fence and had to ring twice before the big gate in the +fence opened. It opened quite by itself and it clanged shut behind her, +startling her with its noise. There seemed to be a million steps +leading to the big bronze door and her feet moved like tons of lead! +She had to ring again. The door swung back and a sour-faced man in dark +livery faced her. +</p> + +<p> +"Is--is Mr. Grandison at home?" she asked in a voice so strange that +she scarcely recognized it herself. +</p> + +<p> +The sour-faced man looked very hard at her. +</p> + +<p> +"Who is it, miss?" he asked wonderingly, as though few people came to +that door for Mr. Grandison. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm Keineth Randolph. I must see him, please!" "He never sees anyone, +miss, but you can go in. Only I wouldn't advise you to bother him very +much because he's bad this morning with his rheumatism!" +</p> + +<p> +He was telling her this in a whisper as he led her through the long +hall. Keineth thought it quite the longest, widest hall she had ever +seen and she walked very fast past the big doors that opened into dark +empty rooms that looked like great caverns! If a giant, bending his +great head, had leaped through one of the heavy door-frames she would +have thought it quite to be expected! +</p> + +<p> +The servant drew back a door and Keineth saw a long room full of books. +At the other end, close to a table, sat an old, old man. Then she saw +something move suddenly and Pilot dashed at her from a corner and +leaped upon her with great whimpering, licking her hands and face and +even her shoes. +</p> + +<p> +"What's this? Come here, Jacky! Who are you? Who let you in here?" +roared the old man, glaring at Keineth. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth, terribly frightened, advanced slowly towards him, one hand on +the dog's head. "I live at the bees' where you found Pilot. We all miss +him so terribly, especially Billy, that I came to buy him back!" +</p> + +<p> +"You did, did you? Well, nobody has money enough to buy him." +</p> + +<p> +Keineth was so indignant at his disagreeable manner that she forgot her +fright. +</p> + +<p> +"I know the Lees haven't money enough, because they have so many +children and buy lots of things for them and give them a good time! But +I'm going to buy Pilot for them! I know Pilot couldn't be happy here, +anyway, it's so--so big and horrid and you're so--cross--after having a +happy home with the Lees!" +</p> + +<p> +Pilot, as though to tell her that was very true, snuggled his nose +under her arm and wagged his tail. +</p> + +<p> +"I've got twenty-five dollars," finished Keineth triumphantly, "and I +can spend all of it because I earned it myself--writing music!" +</p> + +<p> +He turned and looked hard at her. Her fury seemed to have amused him. +</p> + +<p> +"Music--you write music! A child like you!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth stepped closer to him. "Yes. Do you like music?" +</p> + +<p> +The old man answered very slowly. "It was all I cared for once upon a +time! Let me see your eyes!" He reached out a wrinkled hand and drew +her towards him. "They are blue--like hers were! Child, years and years +ago I loved a young girl very much--and she taught me to love music! +But she went out of my life and left me with nothing but loneliness!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth thought of the great empty house and felt very sorry for him. +</p> + +<p> +"What was her name?" she asked softly. +</p> + +<p> +"A pretty name--like she was!" he muttered, his eyes fastened on the +child's face. It was as if something he saw there was awakening the +memories. "It was Keineth." +</p> + +<p> +"Why, that is my name!" +</p> + +<p> +"Keineth--Keineth what?" he cried. +</p> + +<p> +"Keineth Randolph." +</p> + +<p> +"You are John Randolph's girl--her son's girl." +</p> + +<p> +"You mean my grandmother? That--lady--you loved was my daddy's mother?" +</p> + +<p> +The old man was half laughing, half crying. He held Keineth's arms with +his trembling fingers. +</p> + +<p> +"Of course--the same blue eyes--and music! How your grandmother loved +music! How her fingers could play, make sounds that'd tear the heart +right out of you!" He shook his head. "And she wouldn't have me--my +money couldn't buy her! After she died I stood in the Square and +watched them take her away from the house--saw the flowers I had sent +go with her! I saw the man she had chosen instead of me walk out, too. +He had two children by the hand--the little fellow was your father. I +went away from New York then--" He drew his hands across his eyes as +though to brush away the haunting pictures. "And you're Keineth!" he +finished. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth told him of her daddy and of her coming from New York to live +with the Lees until her father returned. She had almost forgotten Pilot +in her deep sympathy for this lonely old man who had loved her father's +mother--and had loved her for so many, many years! But Pilot suddenly +barked! +</p> + +<p> +"Pilot thinks he belongs to us because he once saved my life," Keineth +explained, going on, then, to tell the story of her narrow escape from +drowning. Perhaps the old man heard her, though his face still wore a +far-away look as if he had not yet been able to bring himself back from +that dear past the child's eyes had awakened. +</p> + +<p> +"And so I'd like to buy him, please," Keineth finished, laying her +check before him. +</p> + +<p> +For a long time the old man stared at it, while Keineth and Pilot +waited. +</p> + +<p> +"He loves you better than he does me! You're right--he wasn't happy +here--he's cried and cried! I can't keep even a dog's love! Take him." +He slowly lifted the check, read it, turned it over, folded it and put +it in his pocket. +</p> + +<p> +Then Keineth felt very sorry for the old man. She felt, too, that now +in some way or other he belonged to her, though not exactly related. +</p> + +<p> +"Won't you come home to lunch with me? Then you can meet Peggy and the +others and see how glad they are to get Pilot back! They'll be awfully +glad to see you, really! Please don't be lonely any more--for--I'll be +your friend!" +</p> + +<p> +He had risen slowly to his feet, towering over her. He looked down at +the bright face. Keineth slipped her hand into his. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, please come--it'll be such fun," and she gave his fingers a +coaxing, friendly squeeze. +</p> + +<p> +The sour-faced servant muttered, "Well, I never!" under his breath, +when he saw his master walk through the door to his waiting car, +holding the little girl's hand and listening to her chatter with a +smile! It was the strangest sight he had ever beheld in this very +strange house! +</p> + +<p> +But it was a stranger sight for the Lees when the big limousine drew up +at their curb and Pilot dashed from its door, followed by Keineth and a +very, very old man who leaned one hand upon Keineth's shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +"Pilot!" cried Billy, who had seen them through the window. +</p> + +<p> +"And that old man!" echoed Peggy. +</p> + +<p> +In the hall Billy was on his knees with his arms around Pilot's neck. +</p> + +<p> +"Dear, dear old Pilot!" he was saying over and over. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Lee, concealing her amazement when Keineth quaintly introduced "my +friend, Mr. Grandison," greeted him cordially and by her smile and +gracious manner made the old man immediately feel at home. At the table +she placed him between Keineth and Peggy, and Peggy found that he was +not such a cross old man after all! +</p> + +<p> +"It's just like a story, Ken," she said after he had gone away and +Keineth had given them an account of her morning's adventure. "You have +found a fairy grandfather! But wasn't it scrumptious to see His Aged +Grandness eating hash?" +</p> + +<p> +"Well, I guess Keineth's money has been well spent," added Mrs. Lee, +looking fondly at the little girl. "For I think--besides making Billy +very happy, it has opened a new life to a very lonely old man!" +</p> + +<p> +"I'll never forget what Ken has done," said Billy solemnly, as though +he was taking a vow. "She's just all right and I'd like to see anyone +that says she ain't!" +</p> + +<p> +"Billy--your English!" pleaded his mother. +</p> + +<p> +But Keineth blushed with pleasure. She knew she had won Billy's +everlasting friendship! That evening a boy brought to the door a huge +package addressed to Miss Keineth Randolph. It was a set of beautifully +bound books, "The Lives of the Masters," and with them came a little +note written in a queer, old-fashioned handwriting. +</p> + +<p> +May these books give instruction, inspiration and courage to one whose +feet are on the threshold. They are bought with the money you +unselfishly spent to give a boy back his dog. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Your devoted friend, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +WILFRED GRANDISON. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap23"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXIII +</h3> + +<h3> +SURPRISES +</h3> + +<p> +"Why, I just can't believe that I'm Peggy Lee!" Peggy stood in the +aisle of a sleeping car and looked up and down its length. Keineth, +from her superior knowledge of sleeping cars, was pointing out to Peggy +its arrangements. Both girls were dressed in new coats and hats and +carried with them the bag Aunt Josephine had given Keineth and in which +they had packed their nightgowns and toilet articles. +</p> + +<p> +For they were starting for Washington! +</p> + +<p> +Two days before Mr. Lee had come home and asked the children what would +be the biggest surprise they could imagine! Of course they had guessed +all sorts of things and he had teased them for quite a little while +over it! Then, very quietly, he had said: +</p> + +<p> +"Do you think you would like to make a little trip to Washington?" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth had not been able to speak. Peggy, jumping from her chair, +rushed at her father and threw both arms about his neck. +</p> + +<p> +"All of us?" she cried between hugs. +</p> + +<p> +"No, this time we'll leave mother home with Billy and Alice. Then the +next time they'll go." +</p> + +<p> +Peggy's eyes swept over Billy's and Alice's disappointed faces. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, I wish we could all go!" +</p> + +<p> +"Mother'll make it up to them, my dear. I'll wager right now all sorts +of nice plans are floating around in her head. Well, can you be ready?" +</p> + +<p> +"Can we--!" they cried in chorus. +</p> + +<p> +The hours then were full of excited preparations. The new clothes had +to be purchased. "Keineth may be invited to meet the President," Mrs. +Lee had laughingly explained, as she held two pretty hats, one in each +hand, and considered them carefully. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, wouldn't that be _wonderful!_" Keineth whispered. She wanted to +ask him so many questions about Daddy--she would tell him that she +could keep a secret! +</p> + +<p> +Billy gave them a thousand instructions. They must remember everything +they saw to tell him! They must climb the big monument and walk up the +Capitol steps and hear the echo in the rotunda of the Capitol Building. +They must go to Camp Meyer and to Arlington and to Mount Vernon and be +sure to see Washington's swords! +</p> + +<p> +"And the White House china," Mrs. Lee added. "It must be as good as a +lesson in history to look at that exhibit in the White House! They'd +tell the tastes of the different ones who used them! I can picture +pretty Dolly Madison ordering all new china because the pattern of the +old did not please her!" +</p> + +<p> +Billy broke in: "I'd want to go to the Treasury Building and see all +the money and the watchmen that guard the building from little +watch-houses! And the big machine where they destroy all the old money! +Four men have keys and they go and unlock it and put the money in it +and it gets ground and ground by sharp knives until it's just a pulp! +And then they sell the pulp! I wish I had one of those keys!" Billy was +very excited. +</p> + +<p> +"And I want to see the Indian Exhibit at the National Museum," declared +Peggy. +</p> + +<p> +"You will, my dear, and a great many other things of interest." Little +wonder that she could scarcely believe that she was Peggy Lee! As the +train pulled away Keineth was very quiet. She was recalling how often +her Daddy had told her of the interesting places in the National +Capital and how often he had said, "Some day we'll go there together!" +And now she was really going, but Daddy was far away. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, aren't you children going to take off your things and stay +awhile?" asked Mr. Lee, coming in from a smoke on the platform. +</p> + +<p> +They laughed and began to lay aside their wraps. "I can't picture +myself sleeping on that funny little shelf," Peggy declared. "What if I +should roll out!" +</p> + +<p> +There were a number of other people on the car. The children watched +them closely and tried to do whatever they did. Peggy's eyes grew round +with interest as she saw the porter deftly spread out mattresses and +blankets and make cosy beds where nothing but seats had been. The girls +insisted upon sharing the same berth and drew lots "for position," as +Peggy put it. Keineth drew the place by the window and was soon cuddled +there. And though they had declared that they were going to lie awake +for a long time watching out of the window, their heads had scarcely +touched the pillow when the motion of the train lulled them to sleep. +</p> + +<p> +Then the night would have passed like any night at home, only that +Peggy _did_ fall out of bed! +</p> + +<p> +She awakened suddenly to find herself in a heap in the aisle of the car +with the brakeman, a swinging lantern in his hand, bending over her. +"Well, bless my stars!" he was saying. +</p> + +<p> +It took a moment or two for Peggy to realize where she was and what had +happened! Then, torn between a desire to laugh at herself and to cry +with chagrin, she clambered back into the berth and snuggled very close +to Keineth. +</p> + +<p> +It was too funny not to tell Keineth, who had wakened, but after she +told her she made Keineth promise, crossing her heart over and over, +that she would never, never, never tell Billy that Peggy had rolled out +of bed! +</p> + +<p> +"Where are we? It isn't a bit different from home," the girls cried as +they stood the next morning with Mr. Lee viewing from the platform the +country through which they were speeding. +</p> + +<p> +"This is Maryland. In just half an hour we'll be in Washington. We'll +wait and eat breakfast at the hotel there." +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Lee was acting curiously excited and impatient. He looked at his +watch several times. "On time," the girls heard him say once or +twice--as if it made any difference. Before they were in the city he +told them to put on their wraps. +</p> + +<p> +"We'll be the first ones off," he said. +</p> + +<p> +It was only a moment then before they had rolled into the station shed. +They stepped from the train and walked a long way down between rows of +cars. A great many people seemed hurrying in every direction. There was +a dull roar echoing through the vaulted smoky space pierced by the loud +voices of the trainmen giving their orders and the occasional clang of +a bell. Then they passed through a little iron gate into the station. +Keineth, clinging to Mr. Lee's arm, thought it quite the biggest place +she had ever seen! Every step made an echo and though there were crowds +of people there did not seem to be many because there was so much room! +Mr. Lee gave some checks to a porter, then stood looking up and down +the great space as though expecting to see someone. Peggy was just +whispering something in Keineth's ear when Keineth gave a clear, joyous +cry. +</p> + +<p> +For there, stepping out from a little group, walking straight toward +them, a smile on his tanned face, both arms extended as though they +could not reach her quickly enough, was her dear, dear daddy! +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap24"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXIV +</h3> + +<h3> +MR. PRESIDENT +</h3> + +<p> +Her own dear father! +</p> + +<p> +Keineth had not realized until then how very dear he was to her! She +clung to him as though she could not bear to ever lose her hold. A +woman waiting in the station was watching the little scene, and turned +away, wiping her eyes. And Keineth did not know whether she wanted to +laugh or to cry! +</p> + +<p> +So this was Mr. Lee's big surprise! He had known John Randolph was in +Washington! +</p> + +<p> +"This is Peggy," Keineth managed finally to say. At which John Randolph +put his arm about Peggy and kissed her, too! +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Lee said something about breakfast, and Keineth's father hurried +them into a waiting taxicab. And as they drove away Keineth was so busy +looking at her father's dear face that she did not notice the Capitol, +its noble dome outlined against the blue morning sky. But Peggy gave an +excited little shriek. "Oh--look--look!" +</p> + +<p> +So, with her hand in her father's, Keineth saw Washington! He told the +driver to go slowly while he pointed out to them the buildings they +passed. The whole city lay bathed in sunshine that brought with it the +balminess of real springtime for which they waited so long in the +North. Robins were singing in the trees, so gladly that Keineth thought +that even they must have guessed how happy she was! +</p> + +<p> +Keineth and Peggy listened while John Randolph told Mr. Lee of his trip +home across the ocean--how to escape the submarines of the Germans they +had run cautiously, at half-speed, as in a fog, with look-outs posted +all along the ship's decks and all lights out! Their voices were very +serious as they talked and Keineth noticed for the first time that her +father's face, under its tan, looked worn and tired, as though he had +been working very hard. +</p> + +<p> +But each time that his eyes came back to her face they lighted with a +smile. +</p> + +<p> +"I can hardly believe that this is my little girl," he said to Mr. Lee. +"Her stay with you has done wonders for her!" And what he said was very +true, for the year had changed Keineth from the shy-eyed, delicate +child he had left to a happy, round-cheeked, strong-limbed girl. The +pretty simple dress she wore had the becoming touch of color that Tante +used to think unsuitable, and her fair hair, drawn loosely back from +her forehead and fastened with a barrette, hung in heavy waves over her +shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +At the hotel after breakfast Keineth's father opened his trunk and took +from it a box of gifts he had collected from every country he had +visited. A carved box from Japan, a gay Chinese robe from Pekin, dolls +of all sorts, brass plates from Egypt, embroidered scarfs from +Constantinople, coral from Italy and other treasures over which Keineth +and Peggy went into ecstasies of delight! +</p> + +<p> +"For us?" she cried to her father. +</p> + +<p> +He smiled--her "us" meant to him that Keineth had found at last the +true joy of friends. +</p> + +<p> +"Divide them as you wish, my dear," he answered. Thereupon the two +girls sat down, cross-legged upon the floor and commenced assorting the +gifts into little piles--for "Aunt Nellie," for "Barbara," the Japanese +dolls for Alice, and, of course, the carved dagger from Petrograd, for +Billy! "Oh, were ever girls as happy as we are?" Peggy cried. +</p> + +<p> +Later Mr. Lee broke in upon this pleasant occupation. "If we are here +to see Washington we'd better start out! Keineth--after luncheon your +father wants to take you for a little walk--Peggy and I will go to the +National Museum." +</p> + +<p> +So it was that Keineth, trim in her new hat and coat, found herself +early in the afternoon walking slowly down the "Avenue of the +Presidents," holding her father's hand. They said little, each felt too +happy to talk much, time enough for the stories later. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly through the trees of Lafayette Park, all a-quiver with their +new spring leaves, Keineth glimpsed the stately lines of the White +House. +</p> + +<p> +She stopped short. "Daddy, is that where the President lives?" +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Randolph smiled. "Yes, my dear! And we are going there now to +call--at his request!" +</p> + +<p> +So Keineth was really going to see Mr. President! +</p> + +<p> +She felt very excited as she walked past the policeman guarding the +gates and up the winding avenue leading to the great columns before the +door. Through the branches of the trees the sun was shining slant-wise +against the square-paned windows, making tiny sparks of fire. Another +policeman at the door halted them. Keineth thought it too bad that the +President of the United States should have to be guarded in this +manner--for who could want to harm him? Then they were ushered into the +entrance hall, where a servant took the card Mr. Randolph offered. +</p> + +<p> +For Keineth the simple stateliness of the place had an atmosphere of +romance. Staring curiously about her she went slowly through the +spacious corridors to an oval-shaped room whose walls and windows were +hung in heavy blue silk. The sunlight streamed through the windows +across the highly polished floor and glinted through the crystals of +the great chandelier hanging from the ceiling. From between the heavy +blue curtains Keineth caught a glimpse of the green lawn outside, +sloping down to the stretches of the Park--all adot with dandelions. +</p> + +<p> +Her father pointed out to her the gold clock on the mantel and told her +that it had been presented by Napoleon the First to General Lafayette +and by him in turn to Washington. Then as they turned to examine the +bronze vases standing on either side of the clock a quiet voice +startled them. +</p> + +<p> +"And so this is the little soldier girl!" +</p> + +<p> +And there across the room, one hand extended, stood the President of +the United States! +</p> + +<p> +Keineth tried to say something, but found that her tongue would not +move. But President Wilson, not noticing her embarrassment, was shaking +her hand and talking as though they were old friends. +</p> + +<p> +"Of course--after our letters--an introduction is unnecessary! I am +delighted, however, to meet in person John Randolph's daughter." +</p> + +<p> +He turned then from Keineth to her father and Keineth felt a glow of +pride in the tone of intimacy with which the President greeted her +father. +</p> + +<p> +After they had exchanged a few words he took her hand and drew her +towards a divan. +</p> + +<p> +"Let us sit down here and have a little talk. I wonder if you know, my +dear girl, what a wonderful man your father is." +</p> + +<p> +Keineth smiled at this! President Wilson, patting her hand upon his +knee, went on: +</p> + +<p> +"His work for us is not done, either! And I am going to ask you to help +me, Miss Keineth. I want him in my official family--I need his judgment +and advice--need it badly! If he tries to refuse me then you must make +him do what I want him to do! Wouldn't you like to live in Washington?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh--yes!" cried Keineth, then she stopped short. "But--it wouldn't +have to be a secret, would it?" +</p> + +<p> +The President broke into a hearty laugh. "No, indeed, my dear!" Then, +more seriously, "You were very brave to help us guard so carefully his +journeying. It was necessary that it should be kept a secret because in +every land where he went there were bitter enemies to the work he was +trying to do--enemies who, if they had had one word of the mission upon +which he was going about, would have done everything within their power +to defeat its purpose, even to taking his life without one moment's +hesitation! Keineth, this is a funny world. It is made up of big +nations and small nations and they struggle against one another like so +many bad, heedless boys fighting in an alley." +</p> + +<p> +"I know!" cried Keineth, bright-eyed. "When they ought to be living +like nice families in a quiet street, each one keeping its own yard +clean from rubbish and the doorsteps washed." She used her father's +words with careful precision. +</p> + +<p> +President Wilson turned to John Randolph. "The child has described it, +exactly! What an ideal! Do you think we'll ever reach it?" Then, to +Keineth, "And that is the mission that took your father abroad--to lay +before the peoples of those other lands this plan of democracy; to show +them the picture of how we all--as nations--might live as you have +described it, like thrifty families on a clean-kept street, some in +finer houses than others, perhaps, but each one with its door-step +clean and its corners well cleared out. Well--well, in your lifetime +you may come to it, child. And when you do--remember that the way was +opened by the message your father carried!" +</p> + +<p> +They talked a little longer of things Keineth could not understand, +though she listened with rapt attention while her father spoke of the +Emperor of Japan and the Czar of Russia as though they were just +ordinary men! +</p> + +<p> +President Wilson walked with them to the door; he shook hands and +begged them to come again! "I should like some day to show you around +Washington myself, Miss Keineth," he said, patting her shoulder. Then +as they walked out toward the street gates Keineth turned back and saw +him watching from the open door. She waved her hand impulsively and he +lifted his in a farewell salute. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth drew in a very deep breath: as Peggy would say, "Who _could_ +believe that she was little Keineth Randolph?" +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap25"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXV +</h3> + +<h3> +THE CASTLE OF DREAMS +</h3> + +<p> +When her father suggested that they let the sightseeing wait and take a +walk, Keineth was delighted. She wanted more than anything else right +then to talk and talk and talk to her daddy! There was so much to tell +him! +</p> + +<p> +"We'll have plenty of time to see all the interesting things," Mr. +Randolph said. "We'll stay here a week or two longer." "Peggy, too?" +asked Keineth. +</p> + +<p> +"Peggy, too, of course!" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, what _fun_!" cried Keineth, squeezing her father's hand with both +of hers. She fairly danced along by his side, so that he had to walk +very fast to keep up with her light feet 'Way across the Park through +the trees they could see the waters of the Potomac gleaming blue, and +beyond the hills of Arlington. Two weeks--her eyes shone--two weeks +with Daddy and Peggy! +</p> + +<p> +"You know, Daddy, that Peggy is my very best friend!" Keineth said very +solemnly. She commenced to tell him of Overlook and the happy summer +days--of Stella, whom she had seen several times during the winter and +had learned to love--of Grandma Sparks and her quaint old home--of Mr. +Cadowitz and the hours in his queer studio--of the Jenkins cousins and +the little Penny girls. He listened with a smile, perhaps not always +able to follow her excited chatter, but certain from it that Keineth +had found what he had hoped she would find when he had sent her to the +Lees. +</p> + +<p> +Then Keineth thought of a confession she must make. +</p> + +<p> +"Is it dreadful, Daddy, but I have forgotten to be lonesome for Tante? +I am ashamed because I do not think of her oftener. Where do you +suppose she is?" +</p> + +<p> +"I saw her, my dear! Think what a coincidence it was! When I was in +Paris one of the secretaries from the American Embassy took me around +to visit the soup kitchens they have opened up there to feed the needy +children of the soldiers at the front. At the very first one we went +into, a woman in charge came up to greet us--and it was good Madame +Henri! I might have known she'd be doing something like that! She knew +me, of course--the tears ran down her cheeks as she clasped my hand. +She couldn't say a word at first. She herself took us through the place +and as it was at noontime, we stayed to see her hungry family. It was a +sight I'll never forget--women, shivering in ragged clothing, with +babes in their arms and gaunt, unhappy faces and eyes that looked at +you as if they were eternally asking something and afraid to ask! Most +of them had some scrap of dingy crepe somewhere about them--had lost +their men at the battle-front! And little children gulping down the +hot soup as though they were starved! Tante said it was the only meal +most of them had during the day. After her work was over she and I went +into a little room to talk. I knew she wanted to ask me about you--'her +baby,' she called you. When I told her you were well and happy she +broke down and sobbed 'thank God!' +</p> + +<p> +"She told me that her mother was dead and that her brother's wife and +her little family were on a farm in northern France. When they did not +need her longer she had gone to Paris to help. +</p> + +<p> +"'Give her my love,' she said to me--I knew she meant you. 'Keep her +safe! It is my one comfort in these terrible days that she is not +suffering! I love America--but I can never go back--my work is here!' I +knew then that until the end Madame Henri would stick to her post and +help wherever she could do the most good. She is a noble woman!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth sighed. "It doesn't seem right to be so happy when others are +not," she said, troubled. +</p> + +<p> +"But remember what she said--because you are happy is the one bright +spot in Madame Henri's life! So it may be with others; you can always +help someone." +</p> + +<p> +"You couldn't do anything else at the Lees'," broke in Keineth, +"because Aunt Nellie is so kind and unselfish that we children are +terribly ashamed to be anything else! Daddy--" Keineth stopped short; +for the first time it crossed her mind that now that her daddy had come +back her visit at the Lees' would end. "Where will we live now, Daddy?" +</p> + +<p> +He waited a moment before he answered. +</p> + +<p> +"I am going to ask you to decide that for yourself, Keineth." Keineth +remembered then the night her father had made her decide between Aunt +Josephine and the Lees! How hard it had been! +</p> + +<p> +John Randolph led her to a bench. "Let's sit down here and talk. I'll +show you two pictures, Keineth, and you shall choose. You heard what +the President said; he has asked me to be in his Cabinet! That is a +great honor--perhaps the highest honor that may ever come to me!" +</p> + +<p> +"You'll be more than a soldier that doesn't wear a uniform?" +</p> + +<p> +Her father smiled at her quaint phrasing. "Yes, much more! But, besides +the honor and the work of the position it will mean this to us--we will +have to take a house here in Washington and live in such a way that we +can entertain many, many guests. My time will never be my own, for +there will be countless social demands besides the duties of the +office--I will be able to spend very little time with my little girl! +But she will not mind that because she will have ever so many new +friends and new things to do, too. And we're too simple to know how to +live such a life, so there's only one thing that'd happen--" Keineth +was making tiny circles in the soft grass with the toe of her shoe. She +had listened intently, now she interrupted quickly: "Aunt Josephine!" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes--Aunt Josephine would have to come down to show us how!" +</p> + +<p> +For some reason Keineth did not like the picture--and yet Daddy had +said it was a great honor! But Aunt Josephine-- +</p> + +<p> +Near the Monument the Marine Band had begun its program for the first +afternoon concert of the season. A great many people had begun to +gather in groups on the green. The music had seemed to reach Keineth +and her father as though it was all a part of the soft spring air and +beauty around them--they had scarcely heeded it as they talked! But +suddenly a familiar note struck Keineth's ear. She lifted her head +quickly. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, listen!" she cried, clutching his arm. "Listen!" +</p> + +<p> +"What is it, child?" He was startled by the look on her face. She had +sprung to her feet. +</p> + +<p> +"That--that--" she whispered as though her voice might drown out the +soft strains of the music, "that is my Castle of Dreams!" She lifted +her hand to beg him not to speak until it had ended. They listened +together until the last note died away. +</p> + +<p> +"Beautiful, my dear, but--" +</p> + +<p> +She turned shining eyes toward him. "I wrote it," she added simply. +</p> + +<p> +"You--you--" He stared at her in such a funny way that Keineth burst +out laughing. "Why, my dear--" +</p> + +<p> +"Aunt Nellie taught me to write music! And I sold this! I didn't want +to tell you until I had a chance to play it for you." +</p> + +<p> +"You--wrote--that?" He seemed not able to really believe. "My little +girl?" A world of pride warmed the tone of his voice. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, and it's such fun putting down what comes to my fingers! Only Mr. +Cadowitz says that I must learn a great deal more and practice what the +masters can teach me. And Aunt Nellie says, too, that I ought to wait +until I have finished school." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, they are right," Mr. Lee put in. Then he caressed the small +fingers that lay in his clasp. "But, my dear little girl, what a joy +for you some day! It is a wonderful gift to tell your thoughts in +music! When you have built up a strong body and a good mind you can +work with all your heart and soul!" +</p> + +<p> +Keineth told him then the story of Pilot and Mr. Grandison. Her father +was deeply interested. He recalled that he had heard his father speak +of him once or twice. "He must have had a very lonely life," he added. +"We must see something of him now and then, my dear!" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, he will be glad!" Keineth described the big house on the outskirts +of the city where she had gone with her check; its lonely rooms that +all his money could not make cheerful. That led her to tell of the +beautiful books and how Mr. Grandison had one day taken her and Peggy +to see "Pollyanna"; of riding there in the big limousine and wearing +the precious pink dresses! +</p> + +<p> +The afternoon sun was dropping. The concert had ended and the crowds +were slowly moving away. John Randolph's face wore its far-away look as +though he was dreaming things. His eyes, as he turned them upon +Keineth, were very serious. +</p> + +<p> +"You know--child, we're given things in this world--good health and +fortune and gifts like your music--and my writing--but I don't believe +we're given them just to enjoy them ourselves! We're meant to share +them! I haven't told you the other picture, my dear!" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, no!" cried Keineth. How could she have forgotten Aunt Josephine! +</p> + +<p> +"I've had a dream, Keineth, these months that I've been gone! It's been +a dream of the little home we'd make in some quiet corner where I could +write and you could grow and play. It'd be a simple home, but we'd have +a great many friends around us. There's a lot in my head I want to +write, too--I long for time to do it! I couldn't help but think as I +travelled over almost all the lands of the globe that people are alike +after all--only some of us have learned things faster than others and +some have a lot to learn. If those who see the vision could teach the +others--well, to live, as we said, like respectable, happy families in +a peaceful street--then this world would know a brotherhood we haven't +got now. It could come after this war--we could all be comrades, always +going forward shoulder to shoulder! I feel as if I want to write and +write and write about it until that picture goes all over the world! +Couldn't I do more for all my fellowmen that way than giving up my time +to the immense duties of a Cabinet official?" He turned a frowning face +toward Keineth, as though from this twelve-year-old girl he expected +help in his perplexity. +</p> + +<p> +Keineth's face was aglow. +</p> + +<p> +"Could the little home be near Peggy?" +</p> + +<p> +Her father nodded. "For a while, anyway." +</p> + +<p> +"And could I go to school with Peggy?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, I want you with your friends." +</p> + +<p> +"And you'd have time to play with me?" +</p> + +<p> +"Lots of time--I'd take it! That was part of my dream." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Daddy, I like that picture lots best! Only--" She suddenly +recalled what her father had said. "It would be such a great honor for +you to be in the President's Cabinet! And he told me I must make you!" +</p> + +<p> +"Keineth, dear, that honor would not mean half as much to me as the joy +of serving my fellowmen through my writing! We'll show the President +the two pictures--I know he will understand!" +</p> + +<p> +Still Keineth hesitated. "Would we--would we have to have Aunt +Josephine?" Then she added, as though a little ashamed, "but Aunt +Josephine can be awfully jolly when--she forgets." +</p> + +<p> +"Forgets what, child?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, that--that she's so--so rich!" Keineth stammered. +</p> + +<p> +John Randolph laughed. "We'll have her part of the time and maybe we +can make her--forget." +</p> + +<p> +"You have decided, you are very sure?" he asked after a moment, and he +swept his hand toward the nearby buildings of the city as though to +remind her of the interesting life that might lie there. +</p> + +<p> +But Keineth's shining eyes saw a vision beyond them--long, happy days +with Daddy and Peggy and the others; a home, too; real school days, +such as she had never known in her life--perhaps another summer at +Fairview. +</p> + +<p> +"I'd love Washington, but--I like your dream best, Daddy!" she +answered. +</p> + +<p> +"I knew you would! And now, kitten, what do you say to finding Peggy +and her father and going somewhere to have some cakes and hot +chocolate?" +</p> + +<p> +Through the soft April sunlight they went towards the White House and +the thronging streets. Keineth walked quickly, eager to find Peggy and +tell her everything! How glad Peg would be! +</p> + +<p> +She hummed a few notes without realizing that it was a strain from her +own music! She stopped suddenly and lifted laughing eyes to her +father's face. +</p> + +<p> +"Isn't it funny, Daddy? I called my music 'The Castle of Dreams'! We +were both dreaming the same dream!" +</p> + +<p> +"And we're going to have our Castle, Keineth!" +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Keineth, by Jane D. Abbott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KEINETH *** + +***** This file should be named 6860-h.htm or 6860-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/8/6/6860/ + +Produced by Brandon Sussman, Tom Allen, Charles Franks and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. 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Abbott + +Posting Date: March 17, 2014 [EBook #6860] +Release Date: November, 2004 +First Posted: February 2, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KEINETH *** + + + + +Produced by Brandon Sussman, Tom Allen, Charles Franks and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by +Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + +KEINETH + +BY + +JANE D. ABBOTT + + + + +TO ALL THE LITTLE GIRLS I KNOW THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + +I. KEINETH'S WORLD CHANGES + +II. KEINETH DECIDES + +III. OVERLOOK + +IV. KEINETH WRITES TO HER FATHER + +V. PILOT COMES TO OVERLOOK + +VI. THE MUSIC THE FAIRIES PUT IN HER FINGERS + +VII. ALICE RUNS AWAY + +VIII. A PAGE FROM HISTORY + +IX. THE CAPTIVE MAIDEN + +X. PILOT IN DISGRACE + +XI. PILOT WINS A HOME + +XII. A LETTER FROM DADDY + +XIII. CAMPING + +XIV. THE TENNIS TOURNAMENT + +XV. NOT ON THE PROGRAM + +XVI. AUNT JOSEPHINE + +XVII. SCHOOL DAYS + +XVIII. CHRISTMAS + +XIX. WHEN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT WORKED OVERTIME. + +XX. SHADOWS + +XXI. PILOT GOES AWAY + +XXII. KEINETH'S GIFT + +XXIII. SURPRISES + +XXIV. MR. PRESIDENT + +XXV. THE CASTLE OF DREAMS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +KEINETH'S WORLD CHANGES + + +Keineth Randolph's world seemed suddenly to be turning upside down! + +For the past three days there had been no lessons. Keineth had lessons +instead of going to school. She had them sometimes with Madame Henri, +or "Tante" as she called her, and sometimes with her father. If the sun +was very inviting in the morning, lessons would wait until afternoon; +or, if, sitting straight and still in the big room her father called +his study, Keineth found it impossible to think of the book before her, +Tante would say in her prim voice: + +"Dreaming, cherie?" and add, "the books will wait!" + +Or, if father was hearing the lessons, he would toss aside the book and +beckon to Keineth to sit on his knee. Then he would tell a story. It +would be, perhaps, something about India or they would travel together +through Norway; or it would be Custer's fight with the Indians or the +wanderings of the Acadians through the English Colonies in America, as +portrayed in Longfellow's Evangeline. + +But for three days Keineth had had neither lessons nor stories--she had +not even wanted to go out into the park to walk. For her dear Tante, +with a very sad face, was packing her trunks and boxes, and Daddy had +gone out of town. + +To-morrow the little woman was going to sail on a Norwegian boat for +Europe. The trip seemed to Keineth to be particularly unusual because +Tante and Daddy had talked so much about it and Tante had waited until +Daddy had gotten her some papers which would take her safely into +Europe. So much talk and the important papers made it seem as though +she was going very far away. Perhaps she did not expect to come back to +America--she stopped so often in her work to kiss Keineth! + +Keineth could not remember her own mother, she had died when Keineth +was three years old; and as far back as she could remember Tante had +always taken care of her. These three, the golden-haired delicate +child, the serious-faced Belgian gentlewoman, who had given up a +position in one of New York's schools to go into John Randolph's +household, and the father himself, living for his work and his +daughter, led what might seem to others a very strange life. The man +had kept his home in the old brick house on Washington Square in lower +New York even after the other houses in the square around it gradually +changed from pleasant, neat homes to shabby boarding-houses or rooming +houses with broken windows and railless steps; to dusty lofts; to +cellars where Jews kept and sorted over their filthy rags; to dingy +attic spaces where artists made their studios, turning queer, +dilapidated corners into what they called their homes. The third story +of the Randolph house had been let for "light housekeeping apartments"; +Keineth herself had helped tack the little black and gilt sign at the +door. The tenants used the side door that let into the brick-paved +alley. Keineth had always felt a great pride in their home--it was +always neatly painted, their steps shone, and there were no papers +collected behind their iron gratings. Even across the park she could +see the bright geraniums blooming in the windows under Madame Henri's +loving care. + +Keineth and Tante had two big sleeping rooms facing the square and +Daddy had a smaller room in the back. Dora, the colored maid who kept +the house in order and cooked breakfast and lunch, went away at night. +The rooms were very large, with high ceilings. The windows were long +and narrow and hung with heavy, dusty curtains. The furniture was very +old and very dull and dark, but Keineth loved the great chairs into +which she could curl herself and read for hours at a time. + +There were few children in the square for her to play with. Next door +was an Italian family with eight girls and boys, and Keineth sometimes +joined them in the park. Their father kept a fruit stall in the +basement on one of the streets running off from the square. Francesca, +one of the girls, sang very sweetly, often standing on the corner of +the square and singing Italian folk-songs until she had gathered quite +a crowd around her and had collected considerable money. Keineth loved +to listen to her. But Daddy had asked Keineth never to go alone outside +of the square nor out of sight of the windows of their own home, and +Keineth, all her life, had always wanted to do exactly as her father +asked her. + +The evenings to Keineth were the happiest, for, after his work was +finished, Daddy always took her out somewhere for dinner. Sometimes +they would go into queer, small places; rooms lighted by gas-jets, +where they ate on bare tables from off thick white plates. She would +sit very quietly listening while her father talked to the people he +met. It seemed to her that her father knew everybody. Other times they +would go up town on the bus, Keineth clinging tightly to her father's +hand all the way, and they would find a corner in a brightly lighted +hotel dining-room, where the silver and glass sparkled before Keineth's +eyes, where an orchestra, hidden behind big palms, played wonderful +music as they ate, where the air was sweet with the fragrance of +flowers like Joe Massey's stall on the square, and where all the women +were pretty and wore soft furs over shimmering dresses of lovely +colors. Sometimes Tante went with them, looking very prim in her +tailor-made suit of gray woolen cloth and her small gray hat. On these +picnic dinners, as Daddy called them, Daddy was always in rollicking +spirits, keeping up such a torrent of nonsense that Keineth was often +quite exhausted from laughing. Then, when they were back in the old +house, Daddy would pull his big chair close to the lamp, Tante would +take her knitting from the basket in which it was always neatly laid, +and Keineth would sit down at the piano to play for her father "what +the fairies put in her fingers." This had been a little game between +them for a long time--ever since her music lessons with Madame Henri +had begun. + +Now--as the child sat balanced on the edge of an old rocker watching +Tante tenderly and carefully placing her books into a heavy box--she +felt that this beloved order of things was changing before her eyes. +For, with Tante gone, who was to take care of her? And heavy on the +child's heart lay the fear that it might be Aunt Josephine. + +Aunt Josephine was her very own aunt, her father's sister, and lived in +a very pretentious home at the other end of the city, overlooking the +Hudson River. At a very early age Keineth had guessed that Aunt +Josephine did not approve of the way her Daddy lived; of the tenants on +the third floor; of the sign at the door; of Tante and the +happy-go-lucky lessons; and most of all, her intimacy with the Italian +children. Twice a year Keineth and her Daddy spent a Sunday with Aunt +Josephine, and Keineth could always tell by the way Daddy clasped her +hand and ran down the steps that he was very glad when the day was over +and they could go home. However, Aunt Josephine was pretty and wore +lovely clothes like the women in the big hotels uptown and was really +fond of Daddy, so that Keineth loved her--but she did not want to live +with her! + +"Why do you go away from us?" Keineth asked Madame Henri for the +hundredth time. + +The little woman dropped a book to kiss the child--also for the +hundredth time. + +"I have an old mother, and a sister, and six nephews and nieces over +there--they need me now, more than you do, cherie!" + +Keineth knew that she was very unhappy and refrained from asking her +more questions. Daddy had read to her of the suffering in Europe as a +result of the great war, but it seemed hard to picture prim Tante in +the midst of it--perhaps working in the fields and factories, as Daddy +said some of the women and children were doing. Tante had read them +parts of a letter telling of the wounding of her sister's husband at +the battle front and of his death in an English 'hospital, but that had +seemed so very far away that Keineth had not thought much about it. Now +it seemed nearer as she pictured the six little nephews and nieces, the +poor old grandmother--perhaps all hungry and homeless! Keineth suddenly +thought how good it was of Tante to leave their comfortable home and +their jolly dinners and Dora's steaming pancakes to go back to Belgium +to help! + +Then--as if the whole day was not queer and different enough, Keineth +suddenly heard her father's quick step on the stairway. He had said he +would not be home until that night! She sprang to the door in time to +rush into his arms as he came down the hallway. He kissed her, on her +nose and eyes, as was his way, but when he lifted his face Keineth saw +that it was very serious, which was not at all like Daddy. + +"Run out in the park for a little while, dear. I must talk to Madame +Henri!" + +The sun was shining very brightly on the pavements of the streets. The +little leaves on the trees were quivering with new life and the birds +were chirping loudly and busily in the branches, fussing over their +housekeeping. But Keineth's heart was too heavy to respond! She walked +around and around the square, staring miserably at the people who +passed her and always keeping in sight of the long windows where the +pink geraniums shone in the spring sunlight. + +Suddenly her heart dropped to her very toes and she had a great deal of +trouble keeping the tears back from her eyes, for a very bright yellow +motor car had stopped at their door, and Keineth knew that it was Aunt +Josephine! + + + + +CHAPTER II + +KEINETH DECIDES + + +Keineth waited what seemed to her hours; then retraced her steps to the +house and walked very quietly into the hall. Daddy heard the door close +behind her and called to her from the study. He was sitting at his +desk, tapping the pad before him with the point of a pencil Aunt +Josephine sat on the old horse-hair sofa, looking very excited, and +Tante, a pile of books still clasped in her arm and a smudge of dust +across her straight features, stood near the window. + +"I think it's high time you used a little sense in the way you bring up +that child, John. You'll ruin her!" + +Keineth's father smiled across at Keineth as much as to say: "Never +mind, dear," but he listened gravely as his sister went on: + +"I think it's the best thing that could happen--Madame Henri going away +and you called on this trip--" + +"Wait a moment, Josephine; Keineth does not know yet--" + +"Daddy!" cried the child, running to him. + +"Just a moment, dear," he whispered, as he drew her between his knees +and laid his cheek against her hair. + +Aunt Josephine looked very much in earnest. Keineth could not remember +a time when she had seemed more concerned over hers and Daddy's +welfare! + +"Now I can take Keineth with me until July. Then when I go on that +yachting cruise she can go to some camp in the mountains--there are +ever so many good ones. And next fall I can put her into a school. +She's too old to go on living as you are living." + +Now the world had turned upside down! Keineth pressed suddenly close to +her father. He tightened the clasp of her arm. + +"Wait a moment, sister. We have two or three days to talk this over. I +must get Madame Henri safely started and then Keineth and I will make +our plans." As he said this he squeezed the child's hand. "You're +awfully good to offer to take my little girl and I know you'd try your +best to make her happy." He stepped toward the door. Aunt Josephine +rose, too. + +"Well, you'd better follow my advice," she said crisply. She almost +always concluded their interviews in this manner when they had to do +with Daddy's household. This time she stopped on her way to the door to +place her hands on Keineth's shoulders and let her eyes sweep Keineth's +little face. + +"I'd make an up-to-date child of her, John. She's got her mother's eyes +but the Randolph features. With a little grooming she'd make a beauty. +And the first thing I'd do would be to put a decent frock on her!" + +Keineth knew that Aunt Josephine meant to be kind but, hurt at her +criticism, she drew away from her aunt's clasp. As her aunt and father +went out she looked down wonderingly at the simple blue serge she wore. +Tante had always had her dresses made at a little shop on lower Fifth +Avenue and Keineth had always thought them very nice. + +Madame Henri, muttering to herself, went out of the room. Keineth stood +very still until her father came back. He shut the door and went to his +desk. She ran to him and hid her face on his shoulder. + +"Daddy--are you--going away?" + +"Yes, child--I must." + +"For all summer? For all winter?" + +"Yes, dear. I think it may be a year." + +"Daddy--" began Keineth, then stopped short to hide her face. Father +must not see her cry! + +"I'll make a little picture for you, dear. This country of ours is like +a great big house. It's like all the homes all over the United States +put into one. And it must be tended just as we'd tend our own little +home--it must be kept in repair. It must be kept clean and have pretty +spots, just like Madame Henri's geraniums! And it must be guarded, too, +from those who would break in and steal what belongs in the home--or +tear it down and make a ruin of it! And it must know its neighbors and +work with them to keep everything peaceful and tidy about the whole +street of nations! Don't you remember how I had to argue with Signora +Ferocci to make her clean up her back alley?" + +They both laughed together over the recollection of their efforts to +persuade their next-door neighbor of the joys of cleanliness! + +"Every person, big and small, should do his part toward the +home-keeping of this big land of ours. And I have been asked to do a +service. Soldiers can't do it all, my dear--only a very small part of +it! There are a great many others--men like myself--who are going out +over the world to work for the Stars and Stripes. And when I have been +asked to go on a mission for our country that is very important, even +though it takes me very far and keeps me away a very long time, I am +sure my loyal little American girl will be the first to bid me go!" + +Keineth's eyes were quite dry now and were very bright. She sat up very +straight. She had entirely forgotten herself. + +"Will you wear a uniform, Daddy?" + +"Oh, dear me, no--my work is not of that sort, In fact, I must go about +in the quietest manner possible. I cannot even tell my little girl +where I am going." + +"You mean it's a secret?" the child cried. + +"Yes, until I return. I must ask you to tell no one that I have gone +for the government. We may fail--the newspapers must not know yet. +Everyone must think I am simply travelling." + +Keineth was silent and perplexed. It did not occur to her to ask her +father why she could not go with him. He had often gone away before and +she had always stayed in the old house with Tante. But it had never +been for a whole year! + +Suddenly she cried out: "I'll be very brave, but--oh, Daddy!" + +He laughed, although he held her very close. + +"Do you think, my dear, I would go away until I felt very certain that +you were going to be happy? I'm not sure how well you'd like it at Aunt +Josephine's--it would be very different. Still--you'd have that French +maid of hers for a nurse and go out with her and Fido for his walk and +ride in the yellow motor and have all kinds of frilled dresses and +feathered hats--" He was imitating Aunt Josephine's voice in a very +funny manner that made Keineth laugh. + +Keineth thought very quickly of all the things she loved to do that she +knew Aunt Josephine would not allow her to do, but she did not want to +speak of them, for it might make her Daddy unhappy. Her father went on, +more seriously: + +"But I have another plan. I will tell you about It and you may choose +between that and Aunt Josephine's." (Keineth suddenly felt very grown +up.) "Coming up from Washington I ran into Mr. William Lee, an old +friend of mine--a man I knew in college. I used to think the world of +him. I hadn't seen him for fifteen years! He lives in the western part +of the state. I knew Mrs. Lee, too,--she was a friend of your mother's +and they were very fond of one another. We talked for a long time over +old times. He showed me kodak pictures of his children--he has four. Do +you know what I thought when I looked at them?" + +"What, Daddy?" + +"That I was cheating my little girl out of a great deal that every +child has a right to--the pure joy of giving. When I looked at those +youngsters of his--husky, bare-armed, round-cheeked children, I knew +they were getting a lot of happiness you'd never know in this little +corner of ours--the kind of happiness you can only have when you are +young." Keineth was puzzled. "What do you mean, Daddy?" + +"Oh, running, jumping, swimming--tennis--baseball! Why, the knowing +other children well--even the quarrelling," he stopped, frowning. "I +had it all when I was little and here I am cheating you. Aunt Josephine +is right when she says I'm not fair to you--but I don't think you'd get +it even with her!" + +"But I don't know anything about all those things, Daddy." + +"That's just it! You can learn, though. I told Mr. Lee that I had to go +away, and about you, and he asked me if I wouldn't let you go to them +for the year. They have a summer home on the shore of Lake Erie and +almost live out-of-doors. I said no at first--it seemed too much to ask +of them, but he persisted and wouldn't take no for an answer. He is +coming here to-night to talk it over. I think now--it might be the +thing to do. Mrs. Lee loved your mother very, very dearly, and I know +would be very good to you." + +He gently lifted her down from off his knee, which meant that he had +work to do and that Keineth must leave the room. She sought out Tante +upstairs. The good woman had closed her last box and was dressed ready +to start on her long trip, although the boat would not leave until the +next day. She was knitting, so Keineth took a book and sat near the +window pretending to read. Her eyes wandered off the page and her poor +little mind was busy at work trying to decide which she would dislike +the least--living with Aunt Josephine and walking with Fido and the +French maid and going to a strange camp and a strange school, or going +off to a strange place and living among strange people and playing +strange games! She wanted dreadfully to cry, but Tante was so quiet and +so miserable, and Daddy was so serious that she could not add in any +way to what seemed to trouble them. + +So--although Francesca, the little Italian singer, was skipping rope on +the pavement below the window, and a robin was calling lustily to its +mate in a nearby horse-chestnut tree, and a vender was peddling his +wares down the street in a voice that sounded like a slow-pealing bell, +poor Keineth felt as if she could never be really happy again! That +night Daddy and Keineth went uptown for dinner. In one of the hotels +they met Mr. Lee. Keineth's heart was pounding with dread beneath her +neat serge dress and she was almost afraid to look at the man. But when +he took her hand in his and spoke in a kindly voice, she ventured a +timid glance and saw a big man, taller and heavier than her father, +with a jolly smile and eyes that laughed from under their shaggy +eyebrows. Then she felt that she liked him--and the more because he had +such an affectionate way of laying his hand on her father's shoulder. + +While they talked together Mr. Lee watched her very closely. Once he +said to her father: + +"My wife will love the little girl--she is so like her mother!" There +had been a long silence then, and Keineth had seen the look in her +father's eyes that meant his thoughts were back in the past. Later Mr. +Lee had added: "Why, John--you won't know the child after a summer with +us--those cheeks will all be roses and her little body plump. And how +the kiddies will love her!" + +Keineth had been shown the kodak pictures and had studied them closely. +The very big girl was Barbara, who was seventeen. The boy was Billy, +aged fourteen. Peggy was Keineth's age--twelve, and the little one, +Alice, was eight. They all wore middy blouses in the picture and Peggy +and Alice were barefooted. Keineth thought, as she looked at their +laughing faces, that they were very unlike any children she had ever +seen anywhere. + +They took Mr. Lee to their home. Keineth played on the piano for +them--not her own fairy things, but a simple little piece she had +learned with much precision from Madame Henri. Then she and Tante went +upstairs. Daddy had whispered to her as she kissed him good-night: + +"You must decide yourself, dear!" + +Keineth had thought that when she was quite alone in her bedroom she +would cry, for then it would disturb no one and she really had a great +deal to cry about. But Madame Henri lingered a long time by her bed, +standing close to it with a very white face. Finally she knelt beside +it and laid her cheek against Keineth's hands. Keineth felt hot tears +which surprised her, for she did not know that Tante knew how to cry. +Then Tante began to pray--a queer sort of prayer, all broken: "Oh, God, +oh, God, keep this little girl safe from the things that hurt! Keep all +the little ones! Why should they suffer? Where is your mercy?" Then she +said a great deal in French so fast that Keineth could not understand +her and finally, sobbing violently, she rushed out of the room, leaving +Keineth very disturbed. She thought that poor Tante must love her very +much and she supposed the prayer was for the little children in Europe +who were starving, as well as for her--Keineth Randolph! Madame Henri's +good heart so moved her that she jumped out of bed to kneel beside it +and add what she had forgotten in her concern over herself! + +"God bless dear, dear Tante and keep her safe!" + +Then, feeling very excited, Keineth went to sleep without crying and +dreamed of running barefooted with Peggy through fields all white with +daisies, while in the distance at a fence like the rail fences in +pictures, stood Aunt Josephine's awful French maid with Fido under her +arm, screaming at her in French. + +So vivid seemed the dream that it awakened Keineth. She listened for a +moment. She could hear the click of her father's typewriter. She +pressed the button that lighted her bed lamp, found her slippers and +stole noiselessly downstairs. Never in her whole life had she disturbed +her Daddy when he was writing, but now she did not even rap--she pushed +the door open and ran to him. + +"Daddy, Daddy--" she cried as though still pursued by the screaming +French maid. "Please--I'd rather go to the Lee's!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +OVERLOOK + + +"The next station is Fairview, Keineth--watch out for the kiddies," +said Mr. Lee, rising from the car seat. + +Keineth had been sitting for a half hour with her nose flattened +against the car window, not seeing at all the fields and farmhouses +that flew past her, but trying to picture what Peggy would be like! +Keineth was very excited and a little tired from the night in the +sleeper; she was fighting back the thought that she would not see Daddy +for a long, long time. Daddy had gone with them to the station the +night before, and had helped her undress in the queer little shelf he +called a berth and had himself pulled the blankets close around her +chin and kissed her again and again. + +"Little soldier--right face," he whispered--and Keineth knew that he +meant she should be very brave over it all. Then he had hurried off the +train, for the conductor was shouting: "All aboard----" and Keineth, +peeping from under her curtain for a last look, had seen his tall +figure go down the dimly-lighted platform. + +The engine whistled and slowed down. Keineth took up the new bag which +had been Aunt Josephine's present to her, and followed Mr. Lee to the +door. Around the corner of his arm she saw a freckled-faced boy running +close to the car step, and beyond him two little girls. + +The taller of the two must, of course, be Peggy! Keineth saw a +bob-headed, slim child of about her own height, brown as a berry. + +"Dad--Dad," they cried, running forward as Mr. Lee stepped down from +the train almost strangled in Billy's hug. In their joy at seeing their +father the girls did not notice Keineth, who stood shyly back, wishing +the ground would open and swallow her up. + +But the ground under the station platform was unusually solid! In a +moment Keineth felt three pairs of eyes upon her as Mr. Lee turned and +said: + +"Here is the little stranger I have brought with me." + +"Hello," said Peggy, smiling. Alice smiled, too, but hung back a +little, and Billy swept a critical glance over Keineth's city-clad +little figure. Mr. Lee, holding Alice's hand in his, was walking toward +an automobile in which sat the eldest daughter. + +"I'm awfully glad you came," began Peggy as the children followed. +"It'll be such fun!" + +"Is this Keineth?" cried the girl in the automobile, jumping out to +greet her father. Keineth had pictured Barbara as quite a young +lady--she had always thought seventeen very old--but Barbara was +dressed in a blue skirt and a middy blouse like Peggy's and wore her +hair in a long, thick braid. She had her father's kind eyes and the +friendliness of their glance warmed poor little Keineth's homesick +soul. She gave the child a little pat on the shoulder. + +"We're just awfully glad you're here," she said, taking Keineth's bag. +Then, to her father: "We didn't think Genevieve would run! She's been +acting awful--but we just made her crawl up here to meet you." + +"Genevieve's the name of the automobile," giggled Peggy as the smaller +girls cuddled into the back seat. Billy rode on the running board and +Barbara took the steering wheel. + +"Mother's fine," Barbara was saying while, at the same time, Billy was +pouring into his father's ear a great deal of information concerning +his wireless. Peggy in breathless, excited words was pointing out to +the bewildered Keineth the sights of Fairview. + +Genevieve, with many puffs and snorts and queer noises from under her +bonnet, crawled gallantly along the smooth road, up a hill, turned in +between two stone posts and stopped. Down the steps ran a woman who +seemed to Keineth only a little older than Barbara, She kissed Mr. Lee, +then, pushing the eager children aside, turned to Keineth. + +"Here she is, mother," called out Peggy, drawing Keineth forward. + +Mrs. Lee took Keineth in her arms and held her very close for a moment. +When she released her she put her hand under Keineth's chin to lift her +face. + +"It's like seeing your mother again," she laughed, although there was a +queer little catch in her voice. + +"You'll be Peggy's twin," she added, starting up the steps. "Bring in +their bags, Billy. Barb--let's give Dad a nice hot cup of coffee! +Peggy, you make Keineth perfectly at home." + +Keineth took off her hat and coat. Very willingly Peggy took her in +charge. + +"I'll show you the garden," she said. + +"Let's go down to the beach!" cried Alice, following. + +"Do you want to see my wireless set?" invited Billy. + +"Billy thinks that's the only interesting thing about Overlook!" + +"Wait a moment, children," suggested Mrs. Lee to them, "one thing at a +time! Keineth is tired, perhaps. Take her upstairs, Peggy, and let her +slip on a blouse and your old serge bloomers--then go outside and +play!" + +Overlook really wasn't like a house at all--Keineth had never seen +anything quite like it. There was one big living-room with a veranda +running around it and with big doors opening from three sides upon the +veranda so that the room itself was just like out-of-doors. One end of +the veranda was enclosed in glass and used as a dining-room. Flowers in +boxes were on the sills of the windows and over them the sun streamed +through chintz-curtained windows. Upstairs were two rooms over the +living-rooms, and opening from these were screened sleeping porches, +with rows of little cots. Peggy explained that the rooms were used as +dressing-rooms and that each one of the family had a little chest of +drawers for their own clothes and that mother had brought the oak one +in the corner out from town for Keineth's use. + +"But where do you sleep when it rains?" cried Keineth. + +"Oh, out there," laughed Peggy; "you see, the roof slants down so far +that it keeps out the rain. That's your cot--between Barb's and mine." + +Keineth caught a glimpse of a great blue stretch of water glistening in +the bright sunlight a quarter of a mile away. + +"Oh--is that the lake?" she exclaimed, eagerly. + +"Yes--we'll go down to the beach in a little while. Can you swim? +Mother will teach you--she taught each one of us. I'm going to try for +the life-saving medal this year! We have sport contests at the club in +August. Can you play tennis?" Keineth said no. Peggy's manner became +just a little patronizing. "Oh, it's easy to learn, though it'll take +you quite awhile to serve a good ball, but you can practice with Alice. +Can you play golf?" + +"My Daddy can." + +"Well, you can walk around the links with Billy and me. Barbara plays a +dandy game--she can beat Dad all to pieces. Let's go down now and see +the garden." + +Beyond the neatly-kept lawn with its bricked walks bordered with +nasturtium beds was the stretch of garden in which the children had +their individual beds. Peggy explained to Keineth that Billy this year +had planted his bed to radishes and onions; that she had put in her +seed in a pattern of her own designing which, when she separated the +weeds from the flowers would look like a splendid combination of a new +moon and the Big Dipper. Barbara and Alice had planted asters and +snapdragon because mother liked them for the house. Back of the flower +beds was a patch of young corn, and behind that the vegetable garden +which supplied the table. At one side of the garden was the barn where +poor Genevieve was now resting her rickety bones, and next to that was +a shed. + +Billy was busy at work repairing the door of the shed. As the girls +came in sight he waved to them. They started on a run. + +"Let's give Ken a ride on Gypsy," he called out. He dropped his hammer, +disappeared in the barn and came out leading a shaggy pony. + +At the sound of the nickname carelessly bestowed upon her Keineth drew +in her breath quickly. Right at that moment she wanted more than +anything else in the world that these children should not think she was +a bit different from them! Already her plain serge dress had been hung +away and she was in a blouse and bloomers like Peggy's! + +"I don't know," began Peggy doubtfully. + +"Oh, please, let me have a ride," broke in Keineth in a voice she tried +to make as careless as Billy's own. + +"We always ride Gypsy bareback--climb up here on these boxes!" + +Keineth stepped upon the boxes, Billy wheeled the pony around and +Keineth bravely swung one leg over the pony's back, taking the halter +in her hand as she did so. Billy gave the pony a sound slap on the +shoulder and off they flew! + +Never in her life had Keineth been on a horse's back, but she had +caught the challenge in Billy's laughing eyes and her soul flamed with +daring. She clenched her teeth tightly and, because she was in mortal +terror of slipping off from the pony, she gripped her knees with all +her might against his shaggy sides. In a funny little gallop--very like +a rocking horse--he circled the house, while from the shed Billy and +Peggy shouted to her encouragingly. + +Keineth's first ride would have ended triumphantly if she had not laid +her hand ever so lightly on a certain spot in Gypsy's neck! For Gypsy, +having reached an age when he was of no further use in their business, +had been bought a year before from a circus company by Mr. Lee and +taken to Overlook, and at the time of the purchase no one had explained +to Mr. Lee that Gypsy's training had included quietly throwing the +clown from her back in a way which had always won screams of laughter +from the spectators and that the little act came at the moment when the +clown touched a certain spot on her neck! All the young Lees had ridden +Gypsy but had not happened to discover this little trick. But Keineth, +just as she had safely passed the kitchen door and was galloping toward +the shed, suddenly felt herself flying over Gypsy's head! Her fall was +broken by a pile of sand which had been hauled up from the beach for +the garden. Keineth was more startled than hurt, though she felt a +little stunned and lay for a moment very still. + +"Oh, are you hurt?" cried Peggy, running quickly to her with Billy at +her heels. + +"Oh, I s'pose she'll cry and bring mother out!" Keineth heard Billy say +behind Peggy's back. + +Keineth's cheeks were very red. She stood up quickly and, though for a +moment everything danced before her eyes, she managed to laugh and +speak in a queer voice she scarcely recognized as her own. + +"'Course I'm not hurt! A little fall like that!" she brushed the sand +from her blouse. + +"Peggy," cried Billy, joyfully, "she's a real scout!" and Keineth knew +then that she was one of them. + +Even Peggy's tone was different. "Let's ask mother if we can't go down +to the beach before lunch!" she called out over her shoulder, starting +houseward on a run. + +That night a very tired little girl crept into her cot between +Barbara's and Peggy's. Alice was already asleep on the other side of +Peggy. Barbara was still on the veranda talking with her mother and +father. A soft land breeze, all sweet with garden smells, fanned their +faces as the girls lay there. What a day it had been to Keineth--she +had played in the sand, waded in the warm shallows of the lake, raced +with Peggy and Alice through the fields all white with daisies and had +gathered great bunches of the pretty flowers! She thought, as she lay +there watching the little stars peeping under the edge of the roof, +that she had never been so happy in her life! She loved Overlook and +all the Lees--and Peggy, best of all. + +In whispers, reaching out from their cots to clasp hands, she and Peggy +opened their hearts to one another. She told Peggy all about poor, nice +Tante and about the old house and Francesca Ferocci and Aunt Josephine +and Fido and the French maid, and the tenants on the third floor and +her Daddy--who'd gone away on a secret. Peggy, very sleepily pictured +what they'd do on the morrow and the day after and the day after that. +Later, when Mrs. Lee went her rounds, as she always did, tucking a +cover under each loved chin, she found Keineth's fair curls very close +to Peggy's round bobbed head and their hands still clasping. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +KEINETH WRITES TO HER FATHER + + +My dear, dear, dearest Daddy, + +I have decided to write down all my thoughts and send them to you just +like the diry Tante used to keep in her brown book that had the lock on +it, then she would lose the key and ring her hands and think Dinah had +taken it, then she would find it under her burow cover where she had +hidden it all the time. I am trying to be a good soldier. It was very +hard at first, I could not keep myself from thinking all the time of +you and Tante and our happy home where it must be all dark and dusty +now like it was after we had been in the mountains with Aunt Josephine, +only worse. I do love it here, but it is not a bit like anything I have +ever seen at home or riding with Aunt Josephine. It is like a house and +like we were living right out doors, for there are so many windows and +we sleep in a big room just with a roof. I sleep right next to Peggy; +we always talk before we go to sleep, which is lots of fun, only Peggy +never listens until I finish. I say good-night to a big bright star +becose I pretend that star is shining down where you are writing +somewhere and maybe will tell you that your little girl is saying +goodnight. Way off toward the end of the sky there is a funny little +star that is very hard to see, and I say goodnight to that for Tante +becose she is so far away, too, Barbara helped me find on the map where +she had gone and Mr. Lee said poor thing. I do wish I knew if she was +unhappy. + +We live downstairs in a great big room and eat there and everything, it +seems just as if flowers grew right in it, for there are boxes of them +at the windows and on the veranda, and Aunt Nellie puts big bunches of +them all around the room and Peggy has a bird that lives in a white +cage in the window and sings all the time, I guess becose the sun +shines on him. The furniture is not gold at all like Aunt Josephine's +and it is not big like we have at home and there are only one or two +rugs and the floor shines; Aunt Nellie does not fuss when we children +move things around and we have lots of fun. There is a big fireplace +made of rocks Billy says they pulled up from the beach. One time Mr. +Lee lighted some big logs in it and we all sat round and told terrible +storys of pirates and things we made up most, but Billy could think of +the worst and Mr. Lee and Aunt Nellie sat with us and told some just +like they were children, too. Sometimes Aunt Nellie seems just like a +girl, she is so jolly, she is not a bit like Aunt Josephine, though I +am sure Aunt Josephine is a very nice lady and I don't mean that I +don't love her, only Aunt Nellie kisses me as if she liked too and does +not just peck my cheek. Last week she brought me home some lovly middy +bloses like Peggy wears, and I play in bloomers all day and put on a +white skirt for supper; Mr. Lee says Peggy and I look like twins. +Auntie brought me a bathing suit, too, and a tennis raket Peggy says is +better than hers. She folded away all my hair ribbons, she said we +would not bother with them in the country. Barbara wears middy bloses, +too, but she cannot wear bloomers becose she is too old though she does +not look old or grownup. She is going away to school in the fall and +Auntie and she are getting her close ready. Alice is just a little girl +and is some fun, although she crys real often Peggy says she is +spoiled. Auntie says she will outgrow that and that Peggy cryed just as +much when she was like Alice is. I wish I could see you becose I would +like to ask you many questions about when I was a little girl. I am +sure if I had a little sister like Alice I would try and be more polite +than Peggy is, but Peggy says that families are all like that. Billy is +awful. I do not think I like him very much. He says the queerest words +and acts rude and rough. Tante would not like his manners at all. I am +ashamed becose I do not like him becose Auntie loves him dearly and she +only laughs when I think she will punish him; he does not read books +and his English is bad like Dinah's and he teses Peggy and Alice and +eats very fast and talks with food in his mouth. I shall try to like +him. + +There are no sidewalks at Mr. Lee's house; they have pebble paths with +flowers here instead of sidewalks and a dirt road; it is just like the +real country and there are daisies in the fields, Peggy says they do +not call them lots. The grass is greener than in the Square at home. +All the children have gardens. Peggy says I may have half of her's and +I have a hoe and rake all my own. Billy Is going to sell his +vegertables becose he wants to buy a new sending set for his wireless. +I like the pony, though I do not like to ride it after the first time +when I fell off, though it did not hurt me at all and I was not even +frightened. + +To-morrow we are going into the lake for a swim, although I will have +to learn, but Peggy says that it is easy only I must stay away from +Billy or he will duck me. I shall try and not be afraid becose I am +sure you would be ashamed of me if I acted frightened. It will be fun +to put on my new bathing suit. Auntie taught Barbara and Peggy to swim. +Peggy is going to try and win the medal this year, and Barbara says she +will becose she swims so well. + +I will try and remember to write to Aunt Josephine like I promised I +would becose she is my aunt, but I will not know what to tell her +becose there is not anything in Overlook that is like what she has and +she might not like what I tell her and scold us. I am sure she would be +angry if I told her that once a week Auntie lets us girls cook the +supper and we cook just what we please and surprise them, and Barbara +puts down on a paper everything we use and how much it costs, and after +supper she gives it to Mr. Lee and we talk about it. Tomorrow is our +night. Oh I wish you were here, Daddy, it is such fun only it is very +lonely without a father. I try to do all the things that Peggy does, +though I can't do them as well, but I will tell you in this diry how I +improve as I intend to do. I have not any book to keep my thoughts in, +but I will send them to you whenever I write them. Please excuse my +spelling for I am sure no one should have to look in a dickshunary when +they are writing thoughts. Tante never did. I love you and I am sending +a million kisses with this letter. + +Your little soldier daugghter, Keineth Randolph. + + * * * * * + +Dear Mr. President of the United States: + +Please send the letter I put in the envelope to my father. He is +working for the Stars and Stripes somewhere, he said he could not tell +me where becose it was a secret. He is a soldier, but he is one of +those that do not wear any uniform. I am sure you will know where he is +becose you are the President of our Country. I would like to know, too, +very much where he is becose it is lonesome without him, for my father +is the only family I have. But my father said I must be a little +soldier. You know he just means me to do my duty and to like Overlook +and everybody and to do what they do, but it makes me feel better to +pretend that I am a soldier like he is and like all your soldiers. +Thank you if you send my letter to my father and much love. + +Yours truly, Keineth Randolph. + +P. S.--Aunt Josephine says postscripts are not good form, but I forgot +to say that my father's name is John Randolph, of Washington Square, +New York. This was the letter over which Keineth, curled in a chair at +the writing-desk, had labored for a long time, finishing it at last to +her satisfaction. Slipping it into an envelope with the letter she had +written to her father she sealed it hastily, anxious to have it +addressed and mailed before Peggy and Billy returned from the golf +club. + +Over on the window seat Barbara sat sewing, watching Keineth with +amused eyes; for Keineth had been writing with the dictionary open at +her elbow and had stopped very often to consult it as to the spelling +of a word. + +"Very different from Peggy," thought Barbara. + +Aware after a little that Keineth's face wore a perplexed frown, she +said to her: + +"Can I help you, Ken?" + +"If you'll just tell me how to address a letter to the President, +please." + +"The President! What President?" + +"The President of the United States." + +"Good gracious--" Barbara, dropping her sewing, stared at Keineth in +amazement. "I thought--no wonder you're using a dictionary! I am sure I +would, too! But--" Keineth broke in hastily. "You see I have been +writing a sort of diary, about everything I think and do, to send to my +father, but I don't know where he is because he has gone away on a +mission for our country and it has to be kept a secret, but I +thought--" Her voice broke a little and she held the letter tightly in +her hands. + +Barbara, feeling how close the tears were to Keineth's bright eyes, +crossed quickly to her side. + +"Oh, I see!" she said briskly. "What a splendid idea! Of course the +President will know where he is and will send it to him. Let me +think--we learned all that in school and had to address make-believe +letters to him--" Taking a sheet of paper she wrote in large letters: + + Honorable Woodrow Wilson, + White House, + Washington, D. C. + +"It looks too simple for the President--it ought to have more +flourishes to it and titles and things, shouldn't it, Ken? You copy it +and we'll walk straight down to the post office and mail it so that it +will go on to-night's train." Tears were far from Keineth's eyes as she +walked by Barbara's side down the white road between the fields of +daisies and buttercups. The little cloud of loneliness that had for a +brief time threatened her sky had disappeared and she was again a +light-hearted little girl, eagerly awaiting the happy things that each +new day at Overlook seemed to bring to her. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +PILOT COMES TO OVERLOOK + + +"This is the third time in a week that Billy's been late for dinner," +said Mrs. Lee, looking from Billy's empty place at the table to his +father's face. + +Mr. Lee was serving the steaming chicken and biscuits that Nora had +placed on the table. + +"He asked me if he could go to the fair at Middletown! He wanted his +next week's allowance." + +"William," and Mrs. Lee's gentle voice was stern, "you do spoil that +boy dreadfully!" + +"He's with Jim Archer!" Peggy put in. She knew that her mother did not +like Jim Archer. + +"Billy's with him a lot," added Barbara. + +"He teases us girls all the time, too, Mother! He put June bugs in my +bed last night!" cried Alice. + +"Billy is certainly in all wrong just now," answered Mr. Lee with a +twinkle in his eyes. + +"But _do_ you think these fairs are quite the places for boys like +Billy and Jim Archer--alone?" asked Mrs. Lee with a troubled look. "He +should have been home long ago! They must have ridden their wheels!" + +"Don't worry, little mother! Billy will come home tired and hungry and +none the worse for the fair! Why, when I was a boy I never missed a +fair anywhere around and always walked, too! _They_ used to be real +fairs--nothing like them these days!" + +The children knew that when their father began his "when I was a boy," +it could mean a story if there was a little coaxing! + +"Oh, tell us a story!" Alice cried. + +"Please do!" added Keineth. It would make them all forget to feel cross +toward Billy! + +So, chuckling a little under his breath, Mr. Lee began: + +"Down in our village old Cy Addington had a calf he'd entered in the +County Fair. He'd set his heart on that calf's winning a prize--all the +other farmers had told him it would. It was black as jet with just a +little white mark on its fore quarter. He tended that calf like a baby +and spent hours at a time getting it all in shape for the Fair. Well, +the night before the Fair opened two boys--bad boys they were--stole +that calf out of its shed, took it off in some woods where they had a +lantern and a can of paint hidden under a log. What do you think they +did? Painted the animal white--snow white--every bit of him! Then they +took him to the graveyard and tied him to a tombstone!" + +"Oh, Daddy, how dreadful!" cried Alice. + +"Then what happened?" demanded Keineth and Peggy in one voice. + +"Well, a lot of things happened, and they happened fast! Miss Cymantha +Jones, a nervous spinster, was walking home from Widow Markham's +house--rather late, but she'd been caring for the widow through a sick +spell. And Miss Cymantha saw that calf jumping around among the +tombstones and thought it was a ghost! She let out such screams that it +brought Charley, the old sexton, running to the door in his night +shirt, and he saw the calf, and Miss Cymantha scuttling down the road +screaming and holding her skirts high so's she could run faster, and I +guess he thought it was the resurrection itself, for what did he do but +ring the bell and the folks all thought it was a fire and came rushing +out in all kinds of clothes! Then Cy Addington found his precious calf +and the neighbors had an indignation meeting right then and there and +the ones who had the most clothes on started out to find the offenders +and some of the others went in to quiet Miss Cymantha, and a few others +put the sexton to bed and locked him in so that he couldn't give any +more alarms!" + +"But what happened to the boys?" + +"Oh, when the crowd was the most excited they just climbed over a +woodshed into the house and by the time the volunteers were lined up to +go to find them they were sound asleep!" + +"Who were they, Father? Were they boys you knew?" asked Peggy. + +Mr. Lee laughed down the length of the table and Peggy caught the +answering smile in her mother's eyes. + +"Oh, I know--I know! It was you, Daddy," she cried, running from her +chair to kiss the back of his head. + +"Come, dear, sit down! William, if you were that sort of a boy what can +we expect of Billy? Hark--isn't that his whistle?" She stepped eagerly +to the door, the girls close behind her. + +"He's all right--he always whistles when he's happy!" + +"It is he!" cried Mrs. Lee, going down the steps. "And what in the +world is he bringing with him!" + +For Billy, covered with dust, guiding his bicycle with one hand, was +walking leisurely up the road leading with an air of pride edged +slightly by a disturbing doubt, a dirty, weary-eyed dog! + +"A dog--of all things!" cried Barbara, + +"_Where'd_ you get it?" demanded Peggy eagerly. + +The family stood on the bottom step and eyed Billy's treasure. The dog +seemed to have no doubt as to his welcome, for in his desire to greet +his adopted family he strained at the slender leash with which Billy +held him. + +"Whose dog is it, Billy," asked Mrs. Lee. + +"I bought him for a dollar!" Billy glanced questioningly at his mother. +He had heard her declare ever so often that she would not allow a +long-haired dog in the house! And this new pet had a very long, shaggy, +dirty hide! Peggy was on her knees with both arms around the dog's +neck. + +"Just see him shake hands!" Alice was crying. + +But the quiet of Mrs. Lee's manner disturbed Billy. "I think you'd +better come into the house and see if Nora has saved you any supper. +After you have finished we will hear about the dog." + +"Let me hold him, please, Billy!" begged Peggy. Keineth stood a little +apart. She was not yet sure that she wanted a closer acquaintance with +the newcomer. She had known few dogs; her father had always warned her +to leave the stray dogs that she met on the street quite alone--and she +had detested Aunt Josephine's silky poodle! But this poor scrap was +wagging his stubby tail and looking at her in a coaxing manner that +said plainly, "Let's be friends!" + +Within the house Billy was cramming down biscuits and chicken gravy +with an enjoyment that covered the concern he felt at his mother's +attitude. When he could speak for the food in his mouth he told her of +the crowds at the fair. But with the last mouthful of custard pie +bolted he went straight to the point: "Can I keep him, Mother?" + +She rose and, with Billy following, went out upon the veranda. At sight +of his new master the dog broke away from Peggy and leaped upon him, +his big paws on Billy's shoulders. + +"Can't I keep him, Mummy?" he asked, pleadingly, looking from his +mother to his father. + +"Mummy, this is such a lovely dog--" implored Alice, the June bugs +forgotten. + +"And we'll take care of him," added Peggy. + +Billy put one arm around the dog's neck. + +"I guess when you hear the story 'bout him you'll let him stay," he +said solemnly. + +"Tell us, son," Mr. Lee joined in for the first time. + +So Billy stood before them to plead for his dog. + +"Jim and I got to the Fair, 'nd he told me to wait outside and he'd +scout around and see if he couldn't find his uncle who had a show +inside, 'cause Jim thought maybe his uncle could get us in for nothing +and we'd have more money to spend. It was awful hot and I went over and +sat under the trees across the road and watched the people come. All of +a sudden I heard a dog cry, and over near one of the other trees was a +man that looked like a tramp trying to make a dog go ahead and kicking +him awful 'cause the dog wouldn't go! The dog would cry and then the +man'd kick him again and swear awful. Well, I was mad--I gave that +whistle that Rex used to know and the dog sort of listened, then I +whistled harder and the dog made a jump and broke his string and ran +like a flash right to me just's if he knew I was a friend! The man came +after him, swearing harder than ever. But I just took the dog and stood +right up and I said to him: 'You don't know how to treat a dog!' I +thought maybe he'd hit me, he looked so mad, but I went on talking real +fast. I said, 'He's a lot like a dog I know--what'll you sell him for?' +Because I'd sort o' decided he'd stolen him and might be glad to get +rid of him, you see! And the man said, 'How much'll you give?' and I +told him I'd give a dollar, and he reached out for the string and said, +'That ain't enough,' and I said, 'That's all I've got,' and just that +minute a policeman came along towards us and he said quick, 'He's +yours,' and I gave him my dollar and you ought to have seen him beat +it!" + +Upon the rest of the story Billy touched lightly--how, his dollar gone, +he had had no money with-which to buy his way into the fair; how Jim, +returning from an unsuccessful search for the uncle and finding Billy +and the dog under the tree, had, disgusted by Billy's extravagance, +left him there, bidding him wait! But later Jim had relented and had +treated Billy to an ice-cream cone from the tent near the gate. Then +Jim had started for home and Billy had walked the five miles between +Middletown and Overlook, pushing the bicycle and leading the tired dog. + +"And I never saw the Fair at all," he finished, breathless from his +story. + +"Well, Mother--don't you think Billy deserves the dog?" said Mr. Lee +when Billy had finished. And Keineth whispered, "Goody, goody!" + +Mrs. Lee laughed. "I will say that he may stay here on trial--while +we're in the country. But, oh, dear--I had hoped we'd never have +another dog--and of all things, a long-haired dog!" + +"Jim Archer said he was an Airedale," broke in Billy, proudly stroking +the dirty head. "Pretty cheap for a dollar, I think!" + +"Let's name him," cried Alice eagerly. "I think you'd better bathe him +first," chuckled Mr. Lee. Then, turning to his wife, "You know I think +it is a valuable dog! The fellow must have stolen him!" + +In triumph Billy and Peggy led the newcomer towards the pump for his +bath, while Keineth went in search of soap and a sponge. Over the bath +they discussed names and, as it looked as though they could not agree, +they decided that, because Keineth was a visitor, she should select the +name. + +And after a little thought she called him Pilot. + +"Pilot Lee," said Peggy, squeezing a spongeful of water over the dog's +head. + +An hour later a very tired boy was sleeping soundly, while on the floor +beside his cot lay the dog--his warm muzzle faithfully snuggled against +Billy's dusty shoe. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE MUSIC THE FAIRIES PUT IN HER FINGERS + + +On the shaded corner of the wide veranda Mrs. Lee sat making +buttonholes in a blouse for Billy, humming as she worked. Occasionally +she patted the crisp cloth in her hand as though she loved this task of +stitching for her youngsters. About her quiet reigned; broken now and +then by Peggy's bird in its cage and the far-off sound of the gasoline +mower on the golf course. + +Suddenly Barbara came around the corner of the house, like a rose, in +her fresh pink gingham. In her hand she swung a putter. + +"Off for the golf links, dear?" Mrs. Lee asked, glancing with pride +over the straight, slim figure of the girl. + +"Yes, Mother, Carol Day and I play off our match this afternoon. If I +beat her I'll win those candlesticks--" + +"They will look very pretty on your dresser," smiled Mrs. Lee. "I know +what you mean, Mother--that I'm just playing for the candlesticks alone +and I'm not at all, for when I do win one I sort of hate taking a +prize. But I would like to beat Carol because she does play such a good +game!" + +"That's the spirit, Bab. Where are the little girls?" + +"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Mother," Barbara, balancing +herself on the arm of a chair, tapped her toe with the putter. "Peggy +and Alice have gone off to Molly Sawyer's and they've left Keineth +home. I don't think they're treating her a bit nicely!" + +"Why didn't she go with them?" + +"I don't think Peggy asked her to go. She and Molly were going to play +tennis on the Sawyer courts with Joan Crate, a girl that's out here +from town, and Keineth felt left out. Peggy told her she couldn't play +well enough to play with them and that it spoiled a game playing with +beginners, anyway!" + +Mrs. Lee stitched in silence. Barbara went on: + +"And I heard Billy the other day teasing her about her father. He +laughed at her when she said her father was a soldier, only the kind +that didn't wear a uniform, and he told her there weren't any soldiers +like that! I think you ought to speak to the children, Mother." + +"Never mind, Bab, those things will straighten themselves. Peggy must +be more considerate and patient and I will tell Billy something about +Keineth's father--Billy will be interested. We may some day have reason +to be very proud of knowing him, for he may become a very great man, +besides doing an immense good for this country of ours. Run along, +dear, to your game and good luck to you!" + +Barbara kissed the top of her head and hurried away. Mrs. Lee sat on +alone, her hands idly clasped over the blouse in her lap. It was her +way to puzzle out these little problems quietly. + +Suddenly across the June stillness came the sound of exquisite music; +clear, thrilling notes, unreal--fairylike! Almost hesitatingly Mrs. Lee +turned as though she expected to see a fairy sprite in gauzy robes +approaching her from the shadows of the house! She rose and crept +toward the window. No sprite was there--only Keineth sitting before the +piano, her small hands softly touching the keys as though by magic she +drew the melody from them. Across her fair head fell a slanting bar of +sunlight. To this her eyes were raised in rapt contentment. + +From the window Mrs. Lee watched and listened. There seemed to be no +beginning or end to the melody--it ran on and on, now plaintive, like a +small voice crying--now full of laughter with a happy note like that of +a bird. + +"Child--" Mrs. Lee stepped through the long window into the room. +Keineth turned quickly. + +"I didn't know--anyone was here," she said, shyly. + +But Mrs. Lee scarcely heard her. She had clasped her arms about the +small form and was holding it very close. + +"I was just playing--what the fairies put in my fingers," Keineth +explained from the depths of Mrs. Lee's embrace. + +"They are fairy fingers indeed," laughed Mrs. Lee. "Let us sit down +here together and you must tell me all about it. Who taught you to play +like that, child?" + +"No one--like that. Madame Henri always gave me lessons. They were very +stupid and I hated having to practice. But every evening, when we'd sit +together, I'd play to Daddy the music that came into my fingers. +Sometimes he'd stand by the piano until I was finished and then he'd +kiss my fingers and say 'fairy fingers', only Tante used to snore so +loudly, poor thing." + +"And you love music?" + +"Oh--most of anything in the world. Sometimes Daddy would take me to +the big opera house to hear music and it seemed, when I heard it, as +though I was floating right away. Then we'd go home and I'd make up +more music and tell them a story on the piano and sometimes Daddy could +guess the story almost. Tante used to shake her head and Daddy would +say, 'Leave her alone--she knows more than we do.' I don't know what he +meant, but some day I shall study hard and try to be a great musician. +Daddy said--I should--only he said I must wait until my body grew as +strong as my spirit." + +"Keineth, my dear, do you know what a precious trust has been given +you? God gives to some of His children great gifts--they are in trust +for Him! You must care for it and guard it and keep it and see that it +is bestowed generously upon many! Music is one of the most precious +things in this world--and to create it is a great power!" + +Keineth, with puzzled eyes, tried to understand. Mrs. Lee patted her +hand. + +"How your mother would have loved to hear what these fingers can do! +She had a nature that was like a song in its sweetness. But your father +is right; before all else you must build up this little body of yours!" + +"What did he mean, Aunt Nellie?" + +"He wants you to run and play games and grow strong. And you must not +be discouraged and unhappy if you can't keep up just yet with Peggy and +Billy and the others. Remember, while they've been racing their legs +off you've been doing other things. If Peggy _can_ beat you at tennis, +you just ask her to play one of her pieces for you! Poor Peg, her +fingers are all thumbs! Everything evens up in this funny world, +child." + +"You're so wonderful, Aunt Nellie! I did fed as if Peggy didn't like me +because I couldn't do things as well as she can, but if she'll help me +learn to swim real well and beat Billy just once at tennis, I'll help +her with her music!" + +"A fine idea, Keineth! And then sometimes, when Peggy perhaps wants to +do something that you don't care about, I will help you write down the +music you play. Some day we will surprise them all--you and I will have +a secret!" + +Keineth clapped her hands eagerly. "Oh, I have wished I could! It'll be +such fun! I'll send it to my father! You _are_ wonderful, Aunt Nellie." +The child threw her arms about Mrs. Lee's neck in a burst of joy. + +"Remember, now! No discouraged heart because you can't get a ball over +the net or stand on your head in the water!" + +That evening an east wind blowing up with a fine, driving rain, gave an +excuse for a fire in the big fireplace. And as they sat around it; +Alice on the arm of her mother's chair, Barbara close to her father, a +little silent, because Carol Day _had_ beaten her; Peggy and Keineth on +the floor side by side, and Billy and his dog sprawled near the door, +Mrs. Lee told the children the story of the little boy who went each +day to his attic room to play on the old piano there; how one day, the +sound of the music reaching the ears of people below, they crept one by +one to the dark stairway to listen. Then in wonder they brought others +and even more. These foolish folk thought it was a spirit who came to +the attic room and made the music, but finally one of them crept closer +and opened the door and found the little boy! + +"I know, Mother," cried Barbara, "it was Mozart!" + +"Yes, it was Mozart, who, when he grew older, made music that will last +as long as this world. Keineth, will you play for us, dear?" + +Keineth, with a very red face, walked bravely to the piano. But her +heart was happy and her fingers tingled with the music she felt. With +the firelight dancing across the darkened room it seemed like the old +library at home and as if Daddy must be sitting close to her with +Madame Henri nodding in her chair near the window! + +They were silent when she had finished. Barbara sighed-as though the +music had made her sad; Billy said something under his breath that +sounded like "Gee!" and Mrs. Lee patted Peggy's hand. She had found +time for a little talk with Peggy about Keineth. + +"Oh, I think you're wonderful!" Peggy cried now to Keineth, running to +her and linking her hand in Keineth's arm. "I wish I could play one bit +as well as that----" + +After the children had gone to bed Mr. and Mrs. Lee sat for a long time +in the room lighted only by the flames of the fire. Somehow the music +seemed to linger about them. + +"Isn't this world funny, William--" Mrs. Lee stared into the blaze. "If +that child had not lived that funny, lonely life in that big house with +no one but the queer governess, that gift of hers might never have +developed! I wonder what the future may have in store for her?" + +"Above all--let us hope--health and happiness!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +ALICE RUNS AWAY + + +"I've got something to show you all," Billy announced at the luncheon +table. He wore the satisfied air of one who has accomplished something +long desired. + +"What've you got?" Peggy answered promptly. + +"Guess!" Billy fixed his attention upon his plate in a tantalizing way. + +"Oh, I know--it's a new sending set! I guessed first!" + +"You didn't guess, either! I'll bet you saw Joe Gary bring it!" + +"What is a sending set?" asked Keineth. + +"I'll show you afterwards," Billy answered, with a kindness meant to +crush Peggy. + +Mr. Lee broke in: "But I thought you had to save three dollars more +before you could buy one--" + +Billy flushed. "Well, this ain't exactly mine--yet, Dad! Joe Gary made +it and he's going to make another and he says I can use this one until +I want to buy it or at least for a while. I have that dollar I was +saving and my onions and radishes." + +"Good gracious!" Barbara laughed, "I suppose we'll live on onions and +radishes three times a day." + +Mr. Lee turned to Billy. "Don't you think, son, it might be better to +wait until you have the money to pay Joe? And a little more practice?" + +"Billy's always spending money on all those foolish things," Barbara +put in. "He doesn't seem to want to save and help you!" + +"Well, say, don't you think those things are foolish! You read all +sorts of things how wireless messages save people--" + +"On sinking ships, yes!" + +"Well, lots of other ways, too!" Billy's face blazed with wrath. "I'll +just show you some time!" + +"Molly Sawyer's brother knows a boy who is a wireless operator in the +Canadian Army and sends messages from trees!" + +"And if I have a little more practice I can try the troop exams next +winter and get a certificate!" + +"Billy," broke in his mother, "run over to Mrs. Clark's and tell Alice +to come home at once. Nora rang the bell for her but she did not hear." + +"Why, Mother," said Peggy, suddenly alarmed, "Janet Clark was with us +this morning!" + +Janet Clark was Alice's closest playmate. The two families lived in +adjoining houses. Mrs. Lee had returned to the house at noon and Nora +had told her that she had last seen Alice running through the gate +between the two gardens. + +It was only a worried moment before Billy came home to say that Alice +had not been there that morning! It was not like Alice to be long away +from home. Mrs. Lee, hiding her concern, directed the children to scour +the neighborhood. + +Not until they had come back from the club and beach and neighboring +houses and reported no sign of her did the mother and father openly +express alarm. The children saw a look come into their mother's face +that it had never worn before! Like a shock its agony pierced into each +child's heart! Very white, Billy rushed off to enlist the services of +his boy friends for a thorough search of the beach. Barbara, with her +father, started in the motor for Middletown. "I will stay here near the +telephone," Mrs. Lee had said in answer to her husband's quick, +concerned look. + +Peggy came running down the stairs. + +"Her bathing suit is gone, Mammy, and her pink apron--" + +"And her penny bank is broken!" Keineth held out in her hands the +pieces of the china pig which had held Alice's collection of pennies. +"It's all broken!" and, miserably, Keineth looked down at the +fragments. + +"We will find her," said Mrs. Lee, bravely, putting an arm about each +child. "You girlies must stay with me and help me." + +From Middletown Mr. Lee telephoned that they had found a clue. A child +answering Alice's description had stopped at a small candy store and +had purchased a selection of lolly-pops. She had paid for them in +pennies. Someone in the store had seen her climb upon a trolley car +bound for the city. Mr. Lee and Barbara were going on to the city. + +But at dusk they returned with no further news. In the crowd at the +city station no one had seen the child! And Billy and his boy friends +had found no trace upon the beach! + +"The police are working," the children heard their father say. Then +Mrs. Lee suddenly sank limp against his arm and he led her away. + +"Courage--courage!" they heard him whispering. + +Nora laid a tempting meal upon the table and carried it away, for no +one could eat a mouthful. Peggy had run to her room, where Keineth +found her-her face buried deep in her pillow. + +"Oh," she sobbed, "I've been so mean to Allie lots of times and maybe +she's dead somewhere and I can't ever tell her--" + +Keineth could offer small comfort, but the two locked their arms tight +about one another and listened as though in the gathering darkness they +might hear Alice's dear voice. + +Mr. Lee had rushed off again to the city after a whispered word to +Barbara to stay close to her mother. Billy, his heart breaking, his +eyes burning with the tears which his boyish pride would not allow him +to show, and feeling the bitterness of his youth and his uselessness, +slowly mounted the stairs to the corner of the attic which was his own +particular den. The nickel of his beloved wireless apparatus gleamed at +him through the darkness. Like a flash a hope sprang into his heart! +Snatching up the phone he placed it upon his head, then ticked off his +message, with call after call, in every direction! + +Now and then someone picked up his words--an unsatisfactory answer +would come back. However, finding relief in doing something, Billy +repeated his calls; listening intently for any answer. + +Just as to his mind vividly came the picture of Alice's hurt face, +when, that very morning, he had roughly taken from her his old stamp +book, his own call came through the air. Every nerve in his body +tingled a response! It was Freddie Murdock--they had often talked back +and forth across the lake from where, on the Canadian shore, Freddie +Murdock's father had a cottage. And the words that Freddie was sending +to him by the waves of the air were: "Sister found--all right!" + +Shouting the good news Billy rushed three steps at a time down the +stairs straight into his mother's arms! She clung to him, burying the +boy's face, down which the tears were streaming, close to her heart. + +And while they clung together, crying and half laughing, Barbara +reached her father on the telephone to tell him how Alice had been +found! + +Two hours later Genevieve brought the little truant home. Mrs. Lee +carried her off for a warm bath and bed, while Nora, her eyes very red +with weeping, fixed her a bowl of hot milk toast. + +"I coaxed the story from her," Mr. Lee told his wife and Barbara later; +"that child wanted to see Midway Beach! Do you remember how hard she +begged to go with the Clarks when they went over and how unreasonable +she thought we were in refusing? Well, she just made up her mind to go +alone. She took her bathing suit and her pennies. She walked from here +to Middletown, took the trolley there for the city. On the trolley she +saw a party of picnickers headed for Midway Beach and she just walked +along with them. It was very simple. She watched the merry-go-rounds +and spent all her pennies! When it began to grow dark she laid down on +the beach and fell asleep. They found her there, later, after young +Murdock had given the alarm of a child lost! She didn't seem to be +frightened until they handed her over to a policeman to take her back +to the city; then the seriousness of her runaway must have come to her. +I do not think you will have to worry that she will do it again." + +Up in her cot Alice lay wide awake. Beside her Peggy and Keineth, +exhausted by their anxiety, were breathing heavily. Below Alice could +hear voices that she knew were her father's and mother's. She wished +awfully that her mother would come to her! With a child's instinct she +had read on her mother's face the suffering she had caused. Suddenly +she felt terribly alone--perhaps none of them would love her now or +want her back. She had been so very, very naughty. She clutched the +blanket with frightened fingers. + +The voices ceased below and in a moment Alice saw her mother's face +bending over her. With a little cry she threw her arms about the dear +neck. + +"Oh, Mammy, Mammy," she cried, in a passion of sobs, "say you love +me--say you want me back! I don't ever, ever, ever want to go away +alone! I thought it would be fun--I didn't think I was so naughty. Hold +me close, Mammy----" exhausted, she hid her face. + +"Oh, my dear--my baby," the mother breathed in comfort and forgiveness, +and the loving arms did not relax their hold until the child was fast +asleep. + +"I think, Billy," said Mr. Lee, the next morning, "the family will +present to you with their compliments the finest sending set we can +find!" + +"And aren't they useful?" Billy cried in just triumph. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A PAGE FROM HISTORY + + +For several days a peaceful quiet reigned at Overlook. Little Alice +dogged her mother's footsteps, as though she could not bear one +moment's separation; Barbara spent the greater part of her time at the +golf club, coming home each day glowing with enthusiasm over the game +and fired with a hope of winning the women's championship title. Billy +had no thought for anything but the new sending set which his father +had ordered for him and which Joe Gary was helping him to install. +Keineth, under Peggy's tutorage, was faithfully practicing at tennis, +spending much time volleying balls back and forth across the net and +trying to understand the technic of the game. Then each afternoon came +a delicious dip into the lake, when Mrs. Lee would patiently instruct +Keineth in swimming. They were gloriously happy days--seeming very +care-free after the hours of agonizing concern over Alice; days that +brought new color into the young faces and an added glow into the +bright eyes. + +"Does Keineth know how we spend the Fourth of July?" Billy asked one +evening. + +"I hate firecrackers!" Keineth shuddered. "We always went away over the +Fourth to a little place out on Long Island." + +"We just have balloons and Roman candles in the evening because they +are not dangerous," Peggy explained. + +"And then on the Fourth we always make our visit to Grandma Sparks." + +"Who is she?" asked Keineth. She had never heard them speak of Grandma +Sparks. + +"Father calls her a page out of history." + +"Every man that had ever lived in her family has served his country--" + +"She isn't really our grandmother. Just a dear friend." + +Barbara explained further: "She has the most interesting little old +home about two miles from here. Part of it is over one hundred years +old! She lives there all alone. And her house is filled with the most +wonderful furniture--queer chairs and great big beds with posts that go +to the ceiling and one has to step on little stepladders to get into +them, only no one ever does because she lives there all alone. She has +some plates that Lafayette ate from and a cup that George Washington +drank out of--" + +"And the funniest toys--a doll that belonged to her grandmother and is +made of wood and painted, with a queer silk dress, all ruffles! She +always lets me play with it." + +"And her great-great-grandmother, when she was a little girl, held an +arch with some other children, at Trenton, for Washington to pass +through when he went by horse to New York for his first inauguration. +They all wore white and the arch was covered with roses. Grandma Sparks +loves to tell of it and how Washington patted her great-great-grandmother +on the head! If you ask her to tell you the story she will be very +happy, Keineth." + +"I like her guns best--" cried Billy. "She's got all kinds of guns and +things they used way back in the Revolution!" + +"And she has a roomful of books and letters from great people that her +ancestors collected. Why, Father says that she would be very rich if +she'd sell the papers she has, but she will not part with a thing! +Mother says she just lives in the past and she'd rather starve than to +take money for one of her relics!" + +"I'd rather have the money, you bet," muttered Billy. + +"I wouldn't--I think it must be wonderful to have a letter that was +really written and signed by President Lincoln himself," Barbara +declared. + +"I'm awfully glad we're going there," said Keineth eagerly. + +"Let's ask her to tell us about how her brother dug his way out of +Andersonville Prison! She'll show us the broken knife, Ken!" + +"Why, Billy, she's told us that story dozens of times--let's ask for a +new one!" To Keineth: "After she gives us gingerbread and milk and +little tarts she tells us a story while we all sit under the apple +tree!" + +"And say, she can make the best tarts!" interrupted Billy. "Oh, I wish +the Fourth would hurry and come!" echoed Keineth. It did come--a +glorious sunny morning! Billy's bugle wakened them at a very early +hour. Before breakfast the children, with Mr. and Mrs. Lee, circled +about the flag pole on the lawn, and, while Billy slowly pulled the +Stars and Stripes to the top, in chorus they repeated the oath of +allegiance to their flag. Keineth--her eyes turned upward, suddenly +felt a rush of loneliness for her father. A little prayer formed on her +lips to the flag she was honoring. "Please take care of him wherever he +is!" + +At noon, in Genevieve, they started merrily off for Grandma Sparks! In +her mind Keineth had drawn a picture of a stately Colonial house, with +great pillars, such as she had sometimes seen while driving with Aunt +Josephine. Great was her surprise when Billy turned into a grass-grown +driveway which led past a broken-down gate and stopped at the door of +a weather-gray house; its walls almost concealed by the vines growing +from ground to gable and even rambling over the patched roof. At the +door of the house stood a noble apple tree, spreading its branches in +loving protection over the old stone steps which led to the threshold. + +Through the small-paned window Grandma Sparks had been watching for +them. She came out quickly; a tiny figure in a dress as gray and +weather-beaten as the house itself, a cap covering her white head. Her +hands were stretched out in eager welcome and her smile seemed to +embrace them all at once. + +"Well--well--well," was all she could say. + +Keineth felt suddenly as though this quaint little lady had indeed +stepped out of one of her own dusty old books--she could not be a part, +possibly, of their busy world! And while the others talked she +examined, with unconcealed interest, the queer heavy furniture, the +colored prints on the walls and the old spinnet in the corner. Billy +was already taking down the guns and Alice sat rocking the doll. + +Keineth was shown the picture of the great-great-grandmother who had +held the arch and was told the story; she saw the plates and the cup +and the broken knife. They unfolded the flags that had been in the +family for generations and reread the letters that Mrs. Sparks kept in +a heavy mahogany box. One of them--most treasured of all--had been +written to her mother in praise of her brother's bravery on the +battlefield under action, and was signed "A. Lincoln." + +"My greatest grief in life," the little old lady said, holding the +letter close to her heart, "is that I have no son who may for his +generation serve his country, if they need him!" + +Afterwards Barbara told Keineth that Mrs. Sparks had once had a little +boy who had been born a cripple and died when he was twelve years old. + +While Barbara and Peggy were busy spreading a picnic--table under the +apple tree, Keineth told Grandma Sparks of her own father and how he +had gone away to serve his country, too; but that it was a secret and +no one knew he was a soldier because he wore no uniform. + +"The truest hearts aren't always under a uniform, my dear," and the old +lady patted Keineth's hand. "The service that is done quietly and with +no beating of drums is the hardest service to do!" After the +picnic--and the picnic _had_ included the gingerbread and tarts and +patties that Barbara had described and which the dear old lady had +spent hours in preparing--they grouped themselves under the apple tree; +Grandma in the old rocker Billy had brought from the house. + +"Not about Andersonville, please," begged Peggy. "Why, I know that by +heart! A new one!" + +"Something about the war," Billy urged. + +Barbara interrupted, shuddering. "No--no! I can't bear to think there +is a war right now--" + +"Child--I had thought that never again in my lifetime would this world +know a war! We have much to learn, yet--we are not ready for a lasting +peace. But it will come!" + +"That's what my father says--we must all learn to live like families in +a nice street," added Keineth gravely. + +"Oh, well--if the girls can't stand a story about the war, tell us +something about the early settlers! I like adventure--if I'd lived in +those days you bet I'd have discovered something!" "I remember," mused +the old lady, "a story my father used to tell! We have the papers about +it somewhere. Let me think--it was about a trading post on the Ohio and +a captive maiden brought there by the Indians!" + +Billy threw his cap in the air. + +"Indians! Hooray!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE CAPTIVE MAIDEN + + +Grandma Sparks folded her hands contentedly in her lap and fastened her +eyes upon the distant tree-tops. + +"Years and years ago, when this land was a vast forest, a band of +Canadian and French soldiers and traders made their way through the +wilderness to the banks of the Ohio where they built a small fort and +started a trading post. The land was rich about them and they were soon +carrying on a prosperous trade with the Indians who came to the fort. +Though these Indians were friendly the soldiers had made the fort as +strong as possible, for they knew that no one could tell at what moment +they might be attacked! Sometimes weeks and months would pass when no +Indian would come their way; then some of the traders would journey +back along the trail with their wealth, leaving the others at the fort +to guard it. + +"In their number was a soldier who had once escaped from England; had +gone into France and from there to Canada, all because he had made the +King angry! Everyone in England thought he was dead. After years of +lonely wandering he had joined the little band of adventurers when they +started for the West--as they called it in those days! He was a queer +man, for he seldom talked to his fellows, but they knew he was brave +and would give up his life for any one of them! They called him +Robert--no one knew his other name, nor ever asked. + +"It was the custom at the trading post to treat the Indians with great +politeness. Sometimes great chiefs came to the fort and then the +soldiers and traders acted as though they were entertaining the King of +England. + +"One early morning a sentry called out to his fellows that Indians were +approaching. The soldiers quickly made all preparations for their +reception. The commanding officer went forward with some of his men to +meet them. The Indian band was led by a chief--a great, tall fellow +with a kingly bearing, and behind him another Indian carried in his +arms the limp form of a white girl. + +"Briefly the chief explained that the girl was hurt; that they, the +white men, must care for her! Where they had found her--what horrible +things might have happened before they made her captive no one could +know, for an Indian never tells and the white men knew better than to +ask! The girl was carried into shelter and laid upon a rough wooden +bed. It was Robert, the outlaw, who helped unwind the covers that bound +her. + +"In astonishment the soldiers beheld the face of a beautiful +girl--waxen white in her unconsciousness. Silently the Indians let the +white medicine-man care for their captive. She had been so terribly +hurt that for days she lay as though dead! While the soldiers +entertained the Indians, the medicine-man and Robert worked night and +day to save the young life. + +"Having finished trading with the white men the Indians prepared to +return to their village, which, they told the white men, was far away +toward the setting sun. The girl was too ill to be moved; so, with a +few words, the Indian Chief told the officer of the fort that soon they +would return for the girl--whom he claimed as his squaw--and that if +ill befell her, or, on their return, she was gone--a dozen scalps he +would take in turn! The officer could do no more than promise that the +Indian's captive would be well guarded. + +"And every white man of them knew that as surely as the sun sets the +Indian would return for the girl whom he claimed as his squaw, and that +if she was not there for him to take, twelve of them would pay with +their lives! + +"The weeks went on and the girl grew well and strong, but, because of +her horrible accident, could remember nothing of her past. She was like +an angel to the rough traders and soldiers; going about among them in +the simple robe they had fashioned for her of skins and sacking, with +her fair hair lying over her shoulders and her eyes as blue as the very +sky. And because she could not tell them her name they called her +Angele. + +"One day a message was brought to their fort telling of war in the +Colonies--that the English were fighting the French and that all Canada +would be swept with flame and blood! Almost to a man they said they +would go back to fight. One among them did not speak--it was Robert! +Though he had fled from England never to return, he could not lift his +hand against her. And someone must stay with Angele! + +"By the camp fire they talked it over. It was decided that four of them +would remain at the fort until the chieftain came to claim his captive. +One of these would be Robert; the other three would be chosen by lot. + +"So while the others went home along the trail over which they had +come, the four guarded the little fort for Angele's sake. Three of them +gave little thought to that time when the Indian chief would come for +the girl--to them, it simply meant that their guard would be ended and +that they, too, might return--but Robert went about with a heavy heart, +for, as the days passed, it seemed to him more and more impossible to +give the girl into a life of bondage! Under the stars he vowed that +before he would do that he would run his knife deep into her heart, and +pay with his own life. + +"Angele's contentment was terribly shattered one evening when, at +sundown, three Indians came to the fort. At the sight of them she +uttered a terrible scream and fled into hiding. They said they had been +wandering over the country and had come to the fort quite by chance and +only sought a friendly shelter for the night, but the sight of their +brown bodies and dark faces had shocked the girl's mind in such a way +as to bring back the memory of everything that had happened to her and +hers at the hands of these red men. Robert found her crouched in a +corner weeping in terror. To him she told her story; how the little +band of people, once happy families in the land of Acadia, roaming in +search of a home, had been surprised by an attack of Indians; how +before her very eyes every soul of them had been killed and she alone +had been spared because the chief wanted her for his squaw! They had +carried her away with them; for days they had travelled through strange +forests, for hours at a time she was scarcely conscious. Then, +attempting escape, she had received the blow from a tomahawk that had +hurt her so cruelly. It was a terrible story. Robert listened to the +end and then, taking her two hands and holding them close to his heart, +told her solemnly that never would she be given again to the Indians! + +"But he did not tell her of his vow, for suddenly he knew that life +would be very, very happy if he could escape from the fort with her and +go back to the Colonies! + +"The three Indians, before departing, had told of an entire tribe they +had overtaken only a little way off, decked out as if for a great +ceremony and led by a chieftain! Robert well knew who they were. If +they were to escape it must be before the dawn of another day! + +"That night--quietly, that Angele might not be frightened--the men +talked together over the fire. Robert unfolded a plan. The others must +start eastward immediately along the river trail. Then as soon as the +moon had gone down, he and Angele would go in the bark canoe the men +had built--paddle as far eastward as they could, then make for the +shelter of the forests. + +"The others were eager to escape--for they knew now that the man Robert +would never give up the girl, and they loved their own scalps! They +hastily gathered together what they wanted to take with them and stole +from the fort. During their idle days they had dug an underground +passage from the fort to the river; through this they escaped quickly +to the trail. + +"Robert wakened Angele and told her of his plan. She said not a word, +but by the fire in her eyes Robert knew what escape meant to her. Then, +gently, he asked her if--when they had found safety in the Colonies--she +would go with him to a priest to be married, and for answer she +turned and kissed him upon his hand. + +"While Robert loaded the canoe which he found at the river bank near +the opening of the rough tunnel, Angele joyfully made her few +preparations for the long journey. + +"Before leaving the fort Robert gave to Angele a small knife, telling +her that if they were captured she must use it quickly to end her own +life! He then carefully barred every possible entrance, knowing that +though the Indians could beat these down or fire the entire place, it +would mean some delay in their pursuit and give them a little start +toward safety. + +"Just as the moon disappeared and a heavy darkness enveloped them they +pushed away from shore. But as they started down the river a horrible +whoop split the air! Angele pressed her hands tight to her mouth to +still her scream of terror. With a mighty stroke Robert paddled for +midstream. But just as he did so an arrow shot past Angele and buried +itself in the soft part of his leg! + +"The three Indians who had come and gone in such friendly fashion were +not of the far-off tribe they claimed to be, but had been sent on ahead +by the chieftain to see how things were at the fort. They had gone back +and told their story and the chieftain, expecting that some escape +might be attempted, had planned to surprise the fort in the night. + +"His flesh stinging with the wound of the arrow, Robert lifted his +musket and fired quickly. Years before, in his own country, he had been +honored by his King for his good marksmanship, but it was God who +guided that aim through the darkness, for it shot straight into the +very heart of the chieftain! While, in confusion, the Indians gathered +about their fallen chief, Robert, with Angele fainting at his feet, was +soon lost in the kindly darkness of the river--paddling eastward!" + +"Oh, were they saved?" cried Peggy, drawing a long breath. + +"Yes. Days afterward they reached a fort where they found a priest who +married them. And they lived happy, useful lives in a settlement in +Pennsylvania. Some records of the fort where the priest married them +tell the whole story--they're right in the house," and Grandma nodded +her head proudly toward the open door. + +"Didn't I tell you she was like a page out of history?" Barbara asked +Keineth as they drove homeward. + +"You just feel as if you were an American History book, beginning with +the discovery of America," laughed Peggy. + +"If I was a history book I'd leave out dates and the Cabots--I never +can get 'em straight," Billy chimed. + +"There must be lots and lots of stories about brave men that were never +put in books," Keineth added thoughtfully. + +Peggy yawned widely. "Well, I'm glad I'm not that poor captive maiden +and just plain Peggy Lee of Overlook!" + +"And I'm gladder still that mother is sure to have ice cream for +dinner!" + +This, of course, from Billy. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +PILOT IN DISGRACE + + +"Anyone might think that this was Friday the thirteenth," growled +Billy. "I broke my fishing rod and I've lost my knife and Jim Archer +stepped on a nail and can't go on a hike this afternoon--" + +Billy's curious talk never failed to interest Keineth. She knew that it +was not Friday and it was not the thirteenth and wondered what Billy +ever meant! But she never asked him; something in the scornful +superiority with which Billy treated all girls made Keineth very shy +with him. She wished they might be better friends, for she felt very +sure that it would be great fun to share with him the exciting +adventures Billy seemed always to find! Vaguely she wondered what she +could do that might put her on an equal footing with this +freckled-faced lad who was, after all, only two years older than she +was! + +"Jim stepped on the nail yesterday--what's that got to do with to-day!" +Peggy answered teasingly, "Well, we were going to hike to-day," Billy +explained, too doleful to indulge in retort. "And all the other fellows +are doing something else." + +"Billy--Billy," called Alice from around the corner. "Just see what I +found!" She ran toward them, holding in her hand a dirty, ragged piece +of leather. + +"Where'd you find that?" demanded Billy, taking it from her. +"It's--why, jiminy crickets--it's one of my best shoes!" + +Billy meant that it had been! + +"Pilot!" the children cried, looking at one another. + +"That's what mother used to scold about Rex doing," Peggy recalled. + +"Why couldn't he eat my old ones!" groaned Billy, throwing the leather +off into some bushes. He felt troubled--he remembered that he had left +the shoes out on the floor of his dressing room. It was all his fault, +but Pilot would be blamed! + +"What can we do?" asked Keineth, sensing a tragedy. + +"I don't care anything about the shoes," answered Billy, "'cause I'd +just as soon wear these old ones as not--what d' I care about shoes? +But mother'll say that we can't keep the dog!" + +"He's only on trial--" Peggy broke in sadly. + +"If you girls could keep it a secret we'd give Pilot another chance--" + +"Alice is sure to tell! She can't keep anything!" + +"I can keep a secret! You just try me!" + +"Well, then," Billy lowered his voice mysteriously, "not a word! You +just cross your hearts that you won't tell a word! We'll give Pilot +another chance!" + +Solemnly the three girls crossed their hearts. Billy went off then in +search of some amusement of his liking, leaving them with the burden of +the secret. + +It weighed upon them through the day. And the more heavily when at noon +time the cook from Clark's tapped upon the kitchen door and reported +with great indignation that "jes' while her back was turned a minute +that there dog had stolen her leg she was about to be carvin' and had +gone off with it like he was possessed." + +"Your leg--well, now!" cried Nora, all sympathy. "Faith--not my _own_ +leg, but a leg of lamb!" wept the other, "and what the mistress will be +a sayin' I don't know!" + +"Where is that dog?" Mrs. Lee had sternly asked of the children. No one +knew. Keineth and Peggy exchanged troubled glances and then fixed +frowning eyes upon Alice. + +"It really is very foolish in us to keep him," Mrs. Lee went on. +"Probably this is just the beginning of the annoyances he will cause!" + +"He tramples down the flowers terribly," Barbara complained. + +Mr. Lee caught the anxious look in Billy's eyes. + +"Well, well, Mother, perhaps Billy will keep a closer watch on his dog +after this!" + +Billy promised with suspicious readiness. "Mr. Sawyer says Pilot's a +valuable dog," he told them. "And we ought not to give a valuable dog +away, anyway!" + +"We'll see," Mrs. Lee concluded. + +But that evening Pilot sealed his own doom! + +For, as the children were playing croquet near the veranda, he came +running across the lawn and triumphantly dropped at Billy's feet a +beautiful gold fish, quite dead! + +"Oh--oh--oh!" screamed Alice. + +"It's from Sawyer's pond!" cried Peggy on her knees. + +"The poor little thing." Keineth lifted it. "It's dead!" + +"It's their new Japanese gold fish," added Barbara, who, with Mrs. Lee, +had come down the steps from the veranda. "You'll have to pay for this, +Billy!" + +"I think this is the last straw," said Mrs. Lee sternly, turning to her +husband. + +"Oh, Mammy, he couldn't help it--they swim round and he thinks they are +playing!" Peggy implored. + +Pilot, standing back, his tail wagging slowly, regarded them with +wondering, disappointed eyes. He had felt so very proud of his fish and +now his family seemed to look upon him with displeasure. + +"And I can tell the secret now," cried Alice, "we weren't going to +tell--he ate one of Billy's _best_ shoes!" + +"You just wait!" cried Billy. Peggy turned a terrible face upon Alice. +"We'll never, never, never tell anything to the tell-baby again!" she +hissed. "Will we, Ken?" + +"I guess I knew it first," Alice whimpered. + +"It was my fault--I left them out, Mother! And I'd just as soon wear my +old shoes!" Billy turned pleadingly to his mother. + +"I am sure you would," she smiled, "but nevertheless I must be firm +about this dog. He is a nuisance and will be an expense. By the time we +have paid the Clarks for their lamb and the Sawyers for their goldfish +and bought you a pair of shoes the damages against Pilot will have run +up to a nice little sum!" + +"But, Mother, you can take it out of my allowance!" + +"That will not guard against other things of this same sort happening. +No, my son, I do not like to make you unhappy, but we must get rid of +the dog. Please say no more about it. Day after to-morrow we'll send +him into the city with the vegetable man." + +Mrs. Lee turned back to the veranda. When she spoke with that tone in +her voice the children never answered. Peggy, linking her arm in +Keineth's, turned an angry shoulder upon Alice. Billy blinked his eyes +very fast to clear them of the tears that had gathered in spite of +himself, threw his arm about the dog's neck and led him away to some +hiding place where, secure from intrusion, he could pour out his +rebellious heart to his pet. + +"There's no use staying angry at Alice!" Keineth protested in a low +tone to Peggy as they walked away. She felt sorry for the little girl +standing at a little distance irresolutely swinging a croquet mallet. +"It was her secret, anyway and Aunt Nellie would have found out about +the shoe some time. Perhaps we were wrong not to tell her at first." + +"You always stand up for everybody," Peggy complained, dropping +Keineth's arm in vexation. But Peggy's sunny nature could not long +carry a grudge of any kind. She had made a solemn vow, too, that she +would never be unkind to Alice again! And there _would_ be just time +before dark to play one more game of croquet! + +"Will you play, Allie? You can have red and play last," she cried. +"Come on, Ken!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +PILOT WINS A HOME + + +"What a horrid day!" with a wide yawn Peggy threw the stocking she was +darning into the basket. "I wish mother wouldn't make me wear +stockings--then I wouldn't have any holes!" + +"I wish the sun would shine," Alice chimed, disconsolately. + +"If mother were here, she would say that we must make our own +sunshine," Barbara laughed. She was folding carefully the white +undergarment she had finished making for her college "trousseau"--as +her father called it. + +"Well, it seems as if everything goes wrong all at once," Peggy refused +to be cheered. The children knew she was thinking of Pilot. Pilot's +disgrace and sentence hung like a gloomy cloud over their hearts. + +"Who'd believe you could think so much of a dog?" Keineth frowned as +she pondered the thought. "I used to think Aunt Josephine was so silly +over Fido. I am sure Fido was never as nice as our Pilot, but I suppose +Aunt Josephine thinks he's much nicer. Once he swallowed a paper of +needles from Aunt Josephine's work basket and she almost fainted, and +Celeste had to call a doctor for her and another for the dog and they +sent the dog to a hospital. Then Aunt Josephine blamed Celeste and told +her she must leave at once and Celeste had hysterics, for you see she'd +been with my aunt since she was very young and they had to send for the +doctor again for Celeste." + +"Oh, how funny!" laughed Peggy, though Keineth's face was very serious. + +"Then Aunt Josephine felt sorry and forgave Celeste and they called up +the next day from the hospital to say that Fido was very well and that +needles seemed to agree with him. But Aunt Josephine worried for weeks +and weeks over him." + +"Pilot would know better than to eat needles," Alice broke in +scornfully. + +"Yes--he likes shoes and goldfish," Barbara finished. "Where's Billy?" + +From the mother to the smallest of them they felt sorry for Billy. For, +though Billy had said not a word concerning the fate of his pet, the +hurt look in his eyes betrayed the sorrow he felt. No one knew where he +was--he had disappeared quietly after breakfast. And Pilot was with +him. + +"No tennis or golf to-day," grieved Barbara, going to the window. + +"Anyway we can swim," cried Peggy. + +"In the rain?" asked Keineth, astonished. + +"Why, of course, silly! Wouldn't we get wet, anyway?" + +Keineth's face colored. Peggy went on with a toss of her head: "And I +simply must practice swimming under water to-day--the contest isn't +very far off. You can't expect me to help you out to the rock, Ken, +you'll have to play in shallow water!" + +Keineth's soul smarted under this humiliation. The rock was the goal +around which their fun centred. It was twenty yards out from shore and +its broad, flat surface gave room for six of them to stand upon it at +one time. As around it the water was five feet deep, it was necessary +for one of the children to help Keineth reach it. Then, while the +others practiced all the feats known to the fish world, Keineth always +stood carefully in its centre, head and shoulders above the water's +surface and watched them with interest and admiration, tinged with +envy. + +To conceal the tremble in her voice Keineth had now to swallow very +quickly. "All right, Peggy," was all she answered and Peggy never knew +how deeply her careless words had hurt her. + +Keineth _had_ grown discouraged with her swimming. Somehow it was so +easy when some one was with her, but she could never seem to muster the +courage to dive off into the water the way the others did. And Daddy +would be so disappointed! + +Mrs. Lee had given her careful instruction in the stroke--perhaps if +she was alone, away from Billy's roguish glance and the terror of his +catching her ankle under water, she might feel more confidence. + +This thought still lingered in her mind when, in the afternoon, they +went to the beach. Billy was already in the water; the faithful Pilot +was digging on the beach for dog treasures. Because of the drizzling +rain Mrs. Lee had not come down. + +While Barbara and Peggy were racing under water Keineth found it very +easy to slip away. She chose a spot where a bend of the shore concealed +her. She stood knee-deep in the water, going through the movements of +the arm stroke, with a careful one, two, three. She put her small teeth +tightly together--she _would_ have confidence, she _would_ go out +deeper, throw herself calmly into the water in Peggy-fashion and swim +off, one, two, three! She _would_ remember to breathe easily and keep +her arms under the surface of the water! + +There was an indomitable will in the child. She _did_ throw herself in, +and, counting one, two, three, forgot her usual gasp of fright; +suddenly it seemed natural and as if she had always done it! She felt a +delicious joy in the ease with which her stroke carried her ahead +through the water. She wished Billy might see her now! Then, exhausted +by her effort, triumphant and happy, she reached for a footing on the +bottom. Her toe could not find it! With a cry of terror she threw her +arms wildly upward, involuntarily seeking for some hold! Then she +slipped, slipped down, fathoms and fathoms it seemed--a dreadful +choking gripped her, like tight arms upon her chest! She tried to call, +but the water only made a fearful gurgle in her throat! She wanted her +father--_he'd_ stop that terrible pain in her chest and take that grip +from her throat! + +Suddenly she felt very, very tired and as if she would sleep when the +pain was gone. Her body lifted slowly; her hand, flung upward, gripped +something soft but firm in her clutch--the water splashed about her! +She thought it was her father! He was pulling her away, then she seemed +to go to sleep. + +When consciousness returned, Keineth found herself lying upon the beach +wrapped in Barbara's raincoat. Peggy was crying and Barbara, her face +very white, was rubbing her hand. On her other side knelt Billy, the +rain dripping from his bare arms, his face flushed as though from +violent exercise. Behind him stood Pete, the man of all work in the +community, who had been drawing gravel from the beach. + +"Darling!" cried Barbara. "Oh, are you all right?" + +Keineth slowly looked all around. _Had_ it been some dream, +then--wasn't her Daddy there at all? Barbara had slipped an arm under +her head and was folding it higher. It helped her breathe. + +"What was it?" Keineth managed to whisper. "I'd never, never, never +have forgiven myself," Barbara was crying now. + +"You almost drowned," Peggy explained. Now that the danger was over she +began to enjoy the excitement. + +"And Pilot saved you!" Billy cried. + +"We had just missed you and Billy had started up the shore when we +heard your cry!" + +"And it didn't take that dog two seconds to get out to you! Just say he +isn't human!" + +"I thought it was Daddy," Keineth whispered. + +"What, dear?" Barbara had not caught the words. "You must keep very +quiet, Ken. And Billy's had his first aid case!" + +Pete clapped Billy on the shoulder. "Wal, I jes' calculate now that it +was them gim-cracks Billy here put you through, missy, that brung you +to!" + +"I always wondered if I could do it," Billy said with pardonable pride, +"and, say, that'll mean a medal from the troop!" + +Alice had run home to tell Mrs. Lee of the accident. Together they had +hurried down to the beach. With Pete's help they lifted Keineth to the +gravel wagon and, like a triumphal procession, moved slowly homeward. +Mrs. Lee immediately tucked Keineth into bed with hot water bottles and +blankets to check the chill that was creeping over her. + +"She'll be all right, I am sure," Mrs. Lee whispered to the anxious +children. Later the doctor came, left some powders and patted Keineth +on the head. "A good sleep and quiet will fix up those nerves O. K. +Then forget all about it." + +He was quite right; the next morning Keineth, quite as well as ever, +joined the family at breakfast. Though Mrs. Lee had warned them not to +mention the accident to Keineth unnecessarily, Mr. Lee did pinch her +cheek and say: "You lost your head, didn't you, little sport? If you'd +just kept your arms down, now--but, if you go exploring strange beaches +again you'll remember, won't you?" + +Peggy and Keineth, moved by a feeling of intense relief, suddenly +caught hands under the table. For into both hearts had come the fear +that Keineth's mishap might end the swimming for the summer! And +Keineth had not forgotten that, though it had ended sadly, for a very +brief time she _had_ mastered the stroke. Mrs. Lee smiled down the +table. "And I think Pilot has won a home! Except for him--" she stopped +suddenly, her eyes bright with tears. "William, bring home the finest +collar you can find and to-night we will decorate our dog with all due +honor!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A LETTER FROM DADDY + + +"KEN--a letter!" + +Billy rushed toward the garden waving a large square envelope over his +head. + +Keineth and Peggy were weeding their flower bed. Keineth dropped her +hoe quickly to seize the letter. + +"It's from Washington, and it's got a seal on it like the seal of the +United States!" exclaimed Billy. + +"Oh, let me see!" cried Peggy. + +Keineth had taken the letter. Looking from one to the other, she held +it close to her. + +"I--I can't--it's from the President, I guess--" A wave of +embarrassment seized her and she stopped short, wishing that she might +run away with her treasure. + +"The President--writing to you! Oh, say--" Billy snorted in derision. + +Peggy, offended at Keineth's shyness, turned her back upon her. "I +don't want to see your letter, anyway," she said ungraciously. + +"Oh, please--I'd love to show it, only--I promised--" Then, as Peggy +gave no sign of relenting, Keineth walked slowly toward the house with +her letter. + +"I think Keineth's mean to have secrets," and Peggy dug her hoe +savagely into the ground. "She acts so mysterious about her father and +I'll bet it isn't anything at all!" + +"But that letter _was_ from the President, I guess! Gee whiz, think of +getting a letter really from him! I wish I was Ken!" + +"It's nothing! Anyone can be President--I mean, any man!" + +"Just the same, mother told me that some day we would be very proud of +knowing Keineth's father. She wouldn't tell me any more. I'll bet it +would be awful interesting to know him! There's something certainly +queer about how no one knows where he is! I guess I'll ask Ken to tell +me just a little bit. I can keep a secret." + +"Well, you can know her old secret for all I care," and Peggy started +for the barn. Billy did not follow. He had thought of a plan. He would +challenge Ken to a game of tennis. And he would let her beat him. Then +he'd ask her very casually about her father and promise, on his scout's +honor, not to tell a soul! The plan seemed good. He'd wait for her to +come down. + +In her room Keineth had opened the large white envelope. From inside +she drew a sheet of paper upon which were written a few lines, and with +it a blue envelope of very thin paper, addressed in her father's +familiar handwriting. With a little cry she caught it up and kissed it +again and again. Before she broke its seal she read what was written on +the sheet which had enclosed it. + +The few lines were signed "Faithfully, Woodrow Wilson." They began, "My +dear little soldier girl," and they told her that it was with great +pleasure he had forwarded her letter to her father and now returned to +her its answer. He called it an honor to serve them both and expressed +the hope that some day he might make her acquaintance and tell her how +deeply he admired and respected her father. + +Keineth merely glanced at the lines. What mattered it to her that they +had been written by the President of the United States! Did she not +hold tightly in her fingers a letter from her Daddy? + +"My precious child," it began. Keineth had suddenly to brush her eyes +in order to see the letters. "Your letter found me at one of my many +stopping places. It brought to me a breath of home. I shut myself in my +room and read and reread it, and it seemed to bring back the old room +and the chair that could always hold us both. I could hear your voice, +too. I miss you terribly, little girl, but I thank God daily that you +are well and happy and with good friends. + +"I have travelled through many lands of which I will have much to tell +you. I have been in the Far East--poor Tante would have wept with joy +over the beauty of the Flowery Kingdom. I have bowed before enough +emperors and kings to make my poor back ache. Do you remember how you +used to rub the kinks out of it? I have spent hours and hours with the +great men of the world. I have seen wonderful beauty and glorious +sunshine. (How I'd like to ship some of it to old New York.) And I have +seen ugly things, too. We shall have great times when we are together +again, childy, telling one another the stories of these days we have +been parted. You shall tell me something first and then I will tell +you. It will take us hours and days and weeks. + +"Now I am going in my wanderings to other lands that are black with the +horror of war. I shall have to witness the suffering it brings to the +homes and I will be more glad than I can tell that my baby is far from +its pain. + +"I have learned in these wanderings of mine that it is in the children +this old world must place its trust. That if they want a better +government they must give to the little ones all that is pure and clean +and honest and good and see to it that they are happy. I feel like +shouting it from the housetops--'Make them happy!' It doesn't take +much. + +"I feel your big, wondering eyes on mine--you do not understand! Ah, +well, girlie, all I mean is--romp and play--build up a strong little +body for that heart of yours--see things that are clean and good, and +whatever the game is--play square! + +"We cannot be grateful enough to the dear Lees for all they are doing +for us. Try and return their kindness with loyalty. I will write later +to Mrs. Lee in regard to the plans for the fall. Do whatever she thinks +best. You will stay with them until I return. Just when that will be I +cannot tell now, but you must be brave. Your courage helps me, too, my +dear. + +"Sometimes, when my day's work is done and I can put it from my mind, I +close my eyes and dream--dream of the little home we will build when I +return: build--not in the old Square, that is gone except to +memory--but in some sunny, open spot where we can live and work +together and lead useful lives. It is a beautiful castle as I see it in +my dreams--and beautiful with love. + +"I will send this letter with other papers to Washington and they will +forward it to you. + +"Good-by, little soldier--I salute you, my General. + +"God keep you for + +"DADDY." + +The words rang through Keineth's heart like a song. She longed to pour +out her joy in music, but Billy's voice came to her from below. + +"Ken, Ken." + +"Yes, Billy." "Come on, I'll play tennis with you! Bet you can beat me, +too!" + +Keineth suddenly remembered Peggy's and Billy's rudeness. Perhaps Billy +was trying to make amends. She really wanted to be alone with her +letter a little longer, but if Billy wanted her to play! She felt +proud, too, that he had asked her. + +Billy found less difficulty than he had anticipated in letting Keineth +win the set. In fact, deep in his heart, he was not sure he had "let" +her. For Keineth, fired with the joy within her, played brilliantly, +flying over the court like a winged creature, returning Billy's serves +with a surprising quickness and strength that completely broke down his +boyish confidence in himself. + +"Thanks awfully--that _was_ fun," Keineth said as they sank down under +a tree for a moment's rest. + +Though his plan had worked very well so far, Billy now felt at a loss +to know how he ought to proceed. So, accepting her thanks with a brief +nod, he bolted straight to the point. + +"Say, Ken, if you'll tell me about your father I promise on my scout's +honor not to tell a soul! And you ought to tell me anyway, for didn't +my dog save your life, and didn't I give you first aid or you might've +died!" + +"Oh, Billy!" Keineth cried, then stopped short. Her heart warmed to +Billy--they seemed almost like pals now! He had preferred playing +tennis with her than going off somewhere with the boys. And she did +want more than anything else right then to talk about her daddy; to +tell how great he was and how he was visiting courts of Eastern lands. +And she wanted to show Billy the letter from the President, it was in +her pocket. And she knew if Billy said he'd never tell that he would +not. + +But a soldier never swerves from duty and had not her father called her +his "General"? + +"I--I can't, Billy," she finished. + +There was something so final in her voice and in the set of her lips +that Billy, red with rage, rose quickly to his feet. + +"I'll bet you haven't got any secret and you're just making up to be +smart and I'll get even with you, baby! And you didn't beat me playing +tennis, for I let you, anyway! You wait--" and, vengefully, Billy +strode away, leaving an unhappy little girl sitting alone under the +tree. Peggy met Billy on the road. Peggy was in search of Keineth. Her +nature was too happy to long nurse a grievance. She didn't care if +Keineth did have a secret! And she had wonderful news, too! + +But Billy's morose bearing stirred her curiosity. + +"Did she tell you, Billy?" she asked. + +"I'll bet she hasn't got any secret that's worth knowing! And she +needn't say she beat me at tennis, either." + +"Oh, Billy Lee, you let her beat so's she'd tell you! I'm just _glad_ +she didn't! I guess girls never tell anything they've promised not +to--even if they are girls!" + +In great scorn she ran from the disconsolate Billy. She had spied +Keineth alone under the tree. + +"Ken--Ken! Great news!" Peggy rushed toward her. "We are going camping +with Ricky--you and me--next week! Hurray!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +CAMPING + + +Keineth learned that Ricky was Peggy's gymnasium teacher. Her real name +was Fredericka Grimball, but to "her girls" she was always known as +Ricky. The camp was among the hills ten miles from Fairview. And during +the vacation months Ricky took her girls there in groups of twenty. +With their play she gave them instruction in scoutcraft. + +"We go for tramps into the woods and she tells us stories of the birds +and trees. I never knew until she told me that there are male and +female trees, and flowers and all the things that grow; did you know +it, Ken? And we found a weasel, last summer--it was almost tame. We're +going to learn signalling, too; perhaps this winter Ricky will let us +form a troop and join the Girl Scouts." + +Keineth, with wide-open eyes, was trying to follow Peggy's incoherent +description of the camp life they were to begin on the morrow. Back in +her mind was a tiny doubt as to whether she would enjoy twenty +girls--all strangers! But she would fight this shyness and do whatever +Peggy did. + +"We sleep right out of doors when it is clear. The woods smell so good +and there are all sorts of funny sounds as if all the bugs and things +were having parties." + +"Oh-h, I wonder if I'll like it!" and Keineth shivered with pleasurable +dread. + +"We paddle in canoes on a little lake that's like a mill-pond. It's +awfully shallow and the water is so clear you can see right through it, +and we ride horseback, too! I'm a patrol leader," Peggy finished with +pride. She folded the last middy blouse neatly into a wicker suitcase. +Their luggage consisted of bloomers, blouses, bathing-suits and +blankets. + +"Easy to remember--all B's," Mrs. Lee had laughed. + +Mr. Lee drove them to the camp. "Come back with some muscle in these +arms of yours and a few more freckles on your nose," he said to +Keineth, pinching her cheek affectionately. + +"Camp Wachita"--the girls had nicknamed it Camp Wish-no-more--was +nestled in the hills with the tiny lake at its front door and a dense +woodland at its back. Sleeping tents were built in a semicircle about +the central building, in which were the living-rooms. On a grassy level +stretch close to the water was the out-of-door gymnasium and beyond +that the boathouse and dock to which several gaily-painted canoes were +fastened. + +The family at Camp Wachita consisted of Martha Washington Jones, the +colored cook; Bonsey, her twelve-year-old son, who very occasionally +made himself useful about the camp; Captain O'Leary, a Spanish War +Veteran by title and by occupation caretaker of the horses and boats; +Miky, the little Irish terrier, and Jim Crow, who had been brought, the +summer before, to the camp hospital from the woodland to receive first +aid for a broken wing, and had refused to leave the family. + +Keineth had little difficulty in making friends with the other girls. +There seemed to be among them such a jolly spirit of comradeship that +she found it very easy to call them Jessie and Nellie and Kate, and +never once wondered at their quickly adopting Peggy's familiar "Ken." +She thought that Peggy must have known them all very well and was +surprised when Peggy told her that there were only three of her friends +among them. + +"But we're all Ricky's girls, you see," she explained, as though that +was all that was necessary to create a firm bond of loyalty and +friendship among them. + +"Ricky," this captain of girls, was a tall, straight, broad-shouldered +woman of twenty-five. The sunniness of her smile, the firmness of her +jaw and the all-understanding warmth of her dark eyes told of the +character which made her a leader of others and a spirit beloved among +them all. + +Each new day of the camp life brought to Keineth some new experience, +thrilling in its strangeness to the little girl. She had learned to +love going to sleep with the great, star-lit vault of the sky +enveloping her; the singing of the "bugs," as Peggy had put it, was +fairy music to her ears; she had conquered her first terror of the +shell-like canoes and now could paddle with confidence, even venturing +alone upon the shallow water. And to her own surprise she was enjoying +the companionship of the other girls! + +Among them was one named Stella Maybeck. Stella was not an attractive +girl--she was too tall and too thin, her voice was loud and her manners +a little careless. She had big, dark eyes with a hungry look in their +depths. She adored Ricky and showed a preference for Keineth's company. +At first Keineth felt a little repelled by the girl's rough ways, but +gradually she grew to feel that beneath them was a warm, kind heart and +that it was, perhaps, shyness that often made Stella's manner +disagreeable. + +They walked together on the tramps into the woods and Keineth enjoyed +the fund of knowledge the other girl seemed to have concerning all the +little woodland creatures and their ways. + +"I don't see why you like to be with Stella Maybeck," Peggy had said to +her one day. "I think she is horrid!" she finished unkindly. + +"Why, Peggy!" Keineth frowned. It was very unfair in Peggy to speak in +this way concerning one of the other girls. Keineth did not suspect +that perhaps a little jealousy prompted Peggy's ungraciousness. + +This little cloud was to grow over the whole camp. And in the second +week Ricky's girls learned a lesson of greater value to them than all +the scoutcraft they loved. + +Twice a week the vegetable man came to the camp with fruit and +vegetables. These the girls placed in the storehouse, one of them +carefully checking off the purchases as they did so. One morning some +oranges were reported missing. Ricky paid little attention to the +incident. The next day one of the girls came to her and announced that +a ring had been taken from her sleeping tent. Although disturbed, Miss +Grimball gently rebuked the girl for having disobeyed the camp rules in +bringing jewelry to it and sent her away, bidding her speak to no one +of her loss. + +Then Miss Grimballs silver purse containing ten dollars in bills was +taken from her desk! + +Like a flash the story spread through the camp. The girls gathered in +an excited group. Keineth and Stella, with arms locked, stood together. +From the other side of the group Peggy saw them. The jealousy that had +been slumbering within her heart suddenly gripped her. + +"Well, I think I could guess who did it, all right, and I just think +it's a shame for anyone like that to I dare to come to Ricky's camp!" +It was not necessary to do more than fix her gaze indignantly upon +Stella Maybeck. With a little gasp Stella turned and ran into her tent. +The others pressed closer to Peggy. + +"Oh, do you think so?" they whispered in awed voices. + +"Peggy!" cried Keineth, imploringly. + +"I'm not going to say another word," Peggy answered, perhaps a little +frightened at what she had done. + +The girls waited breathlessly for Miss Grimball to take some action in +the matter. Each felt that the disgrace must be wiped from the happy +camp life. + +At noon Ricky's whistle sounded. The girls assembled on the gymnasium +ground. Their captain stood before them, dear-eyed, smiling at them all +with her usual confidence. Stella, with Keineth, had joined the others +and stood in the background. + +"I think you all know what has happened. I am disturbed, but I will not +suspect one of my girls. All I want to say is this--so great is my +trust in your loyalty, in your honor, and in your sense of what is +square--if one of you, through an unfortunate yielding to temptation, +has taken these things that have been lost, they will be returned, +because you are girls of honor. So I am not worrying. Now, please do +not talk of the matter among yourselves." + +The routine of the day went on. The girls avoided Stella; only Keineth +kept close to her side. Keineth longed to pour out to Stella her +confidence in her innocence and her indignation at Peggy, but a certain +pride in Stella's manner forbade it; she could not find the right +words, so she simply occasionally squeezed Stella's hand! + +In this way two unhappy days passed. Then on the third morning Peggy, +crossing the path leading to the kitchen, saw Jim Crow scurrying toward +the wood with a spoon in his mouth! On tip-toe she followed him. +Turning off from the trail near the edge of the woodland, he stood for +a moment as though listening, then dropped his treasure into the hollow +trunk of a dead tree! + +And there Peggy, following the rascal, found the oranges, the ring, and +Ricky's silver purse! + +In that moment when Peggy stood alone among the trees, the stolen +things in her hands, she learned a lesson that she could never forget! +She walked slowly back to Miss Grimball's office and told her the story +of Jim and of her own unjust accusation of Stella. + +"We should have suspected Jim, the villain," Ricky laughed. "Another +chapter in scoutcraft, Peggy. Will you go, my dear, and tell Stella?" +Then she gently put her hand upon Peggy's head, "Judge not, my dear," +and, leaning, she kissed her. + +Peggy rushed off in search of Stella. She found her sitting on the +dock, a picture of misery, Keineth by her side. + +"Stella, I was a wicked, wicked girl! It was Jim Crow stole the things, +and I found them in an old tree and I wouldn't blame you if you never +forgave me! I think the reason I was so horrid was because I was just +_jealous_ that Ken loved you more than she did me--" For lack of breath +Peggy stopped, her soul clean from her confession. + +A great joy came into Stella's dark eyes. She held out her hand and +Peggy caught it in a tight grip. + +"Now I'm going to call all the girls together and tell them the whole +story and that I'm just terribly ashamed." She ran from them, her hands +to her mouth, loudly giving the call of the camp. There was great +rejoicing at Camp-Wish-no more. The cloud of suspicion had lifted. The +girls could not be nice enough to Stella, and for the first time she +seemed to lose her shyness and awkwardness among them. Then Ricky +decided that, in order to entirely forget the whole thing, they would +go on an all-night hike to the old mill on Cobble Hill. + +"Hooray--hooray!" went up from eager throats. + +"Three cheers for Stella!" + +"Three cheers for Peggy!" they cried again. + +"Down with Jim Crow!" + +That night, under the stars, Keineth snuggled close to Peggy. She had +asked to be Peggy's blanket mate. + +"You're all right, Peg," she whispered, Billy-fashion, "and I do love +you most of all!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE TENNIS TOURNAMENT + + +"Sport's Week" had begun at the Shore Club. The excitement of it +gripped the Lee family. Each talked of the game in which he or she was +most interested and no one listened to the other. Barbara, with an +absorbed air, mentally played the shots she would make when on Friday +she would meet in the final round of match play for the championship +title her old foe, Carol Day. Peggy had no thought for anything but the +swimming contest. Mr. Lee was chairman of the committee on arrangements +and spent most of his time at the telephone. Mrs. Lee did her part in +the decorating of the club-house and went about with her arms full of +gay bunting and her mouth full of pins. + +And Keineth shared the excitement! For she had qualified in the +children's tennis tournament and would play in the doubles and had +drawn Billy for her partner! + +It was her first real contest! Secretly she shivered with fright but +outwardly tried to appear calm like Peggy. All the day before the +tennis matches began she went about with her racquet in her hand as +though to accustom her trembling fingers to its hold. + +Though Billy, since the day he had tried to make Keineth confide in him +the story of her father's absence, had maintained toward her a scornful +indifference, he had accepted her as a partner because there was no +alternative. But he managed to convey to her that he considered it an +unfair indignity that he should be so handicapped. And he talked +entirely of the paddling races. + +However, Keineth could not be discouraged. In her mind was one thought +only--they _must_ win! For, each day, in her room she was writing a +careful account of all that happened to send to her Daddy, and failure +could have no part in the story. + +And in the very first match they defeated Molly Sawyer and Joe Gary! + +Margaret Dale, playing with Charlie Myers had, after a hard game, +beaten Grace Schuyler and Merton Day. Then Keineth and Billy played +against them. It was a close match; the courts were circled by an +interested crowd of onlookers. Though Billy had had to play with all +his skill to meet Charlie Myers' strength of volley, he knew that +Keineth had more than done her part, too. + +"She played way over her head," he answered sullenly to the praise his +family bestowed upon her. + +One more set put them in the final match against Jim Downer and his +sister Helen. A taste of victory had given to Keineth a poise that +steadied her in her game; this matching of strength, skill and +quickness--something she had never known before--had developed a +surprising confidence in herself. Her joy was not in the defeat of +their opponents, rather in her own mastery of all those things which +for so long she had been trying to learn! + +"Good luck to you, kiddies," Mr. Lee had said to them at the breakfast +table. "Play your best and then you won't mind if you are defeated. And +if the other fellows play better, don't think up any excuses--it's +something to be good losers!" + +In the brief moment of waiting before the final match began, Keineth, +standing quietly near the courts, thought how different she was from +the funny little girl who had come to Overlook two months before. She +knew now what her father had meant when he had told her that that old +life, with him and Tante in the old house, had cheated her out of the +other things children had. He had been right He would be pleased, now, +to know the part she was taking with the others. + +The judges called the match; Keineth caught her breath and ran on to +the court. She gave one whispered word to Billy. + +"We've _got_ to win!" + +Billy had not enjoyed Keineth's sudden rise into fame. He felt less +tolerant and the old grudge flamed into being. If they won now--and +everyone said they would--they'd all think it was Keineth that had won +it. They'd make an awful fuss over her--they always did over girls--and +there'd be no living with either her or Peggy. He could throw the game, +just fall down on one or two returns and no one would know the +difference! He felt very sure of winning the paddling races and what +did he care about the tennis match, anyway?--it'd be different if they +were the real matches, but they were just for children. These thoughts +ran through his mind as he swung his racquet backward and forward in +the air, a heavy scowl wrinkling his face. + +And Keineth's confident "We've got to win" had been the last drop in +his cup of annoyance. + +The first two games were slow, a little volleying and a good many +"outs." Someone called from the gallery, "Warm up!" Keineth threw her +head back with an answering smile, for she recognized Mr. Lee's voice. + +Their opponents won the third game against a thirty. That spurred +Keineth; the fourth game was faster with some hot volleying and pretty +returns and won by Keineth and Billy in a quickly mounting score. +Excited, Keineth did not notice that Billy had not returned one or two +balls with his usual skill. + +The next, a deuce game, was hotly contested. Her face ablaze with +interest, Keineth held her little body tensely poised on one toe, ready +for instant action. The faces of the crowd around her blurred into +nothing--there seemed only left in her small world those two beyond the +net! + +The next game was bewildering. Keineth played desperately, but they had +only won thirty points when the others made the game! The set stood +four to two in Keineth's favor, but their opponents were playing +stronger with each game. + +In the seventh game Billy dropped off shamelessly. He was never quite +ready. Before Keineth realized the situation the others had won and won +easily! + +"Billy!" Keineth whispered imploringly. The indifferent look on Billy's +face struck terror to her heart. What _was_ the matter with him? + +The next game Keineth won alone--if Billy could not play she'd play for +him! Her little teeth, clenched tight together, gleamed white through +her parted lips. The crimson of her cheeks mounted into her fair hair. + +"What a picture!" Mrs. Lee whispered to her husband. She was not +thinking of the game at all. "What a spirit! Think, William, what that +can mean in this world when the child's grown up!" + +"That's just why this sort of sport is good for them," Mr. Lee +whispered back. "But what is the matter with Billy?" + +That is what Keineth wondered, too. They had won five games--they +_must_ win the next and set! Walking close to Billy she confronted him, +her face ablaze. For just a moment they looked hard into one another's +eyes; not a boy and girl, the one proudly conscious of his boyhood and +two years' difference in age, the other a very young and all-admiring +girl--but just two mortals contesting together against two others. + +And at last they, Keineth and Billy, met on equal ground--Keineth had +proven her mettle--let Billy show his! Keineth's clear, straightforward +gaze made Billy drop his eyes in sudden shame. + +"Play square," she said sternly. And Billy played square! Their +opponents had not a chance! + +"Well, Billy did wake up," some one said and some one else added: "If +they'd lost it would have been his fault. That Randolph girl played a +corking game for her age!" + +They had won the tennis tournament! Keineth did not enjoy half so much +the silver cup they placed in her hands as she did Peggy's delight and +Mr. Lee's hearty handclasp of congratulation. The young people carried +them off to luncheon at the club-house, where they made merry far into +the afternoon. + +That evening Billy, with a very serious face, approached his father, +where he sat alone on the veranda. + +"Dad, I've withdrawn my name from the paddle races!" + +"What's wrong, son?" + +"I'm not a good sport--that's why," Billy answered with his usual +frankness. "I had a sort of grudge against Keineth because she wouldn't +tell me about her father and I'd vowed to get even and I just laid down +on that tennis game--until she made me ashamed!" + +"But she did make you ashamed, Billy?" + +"Yes--she told me to play square and I just thought then that no one +would ever have to tell me to play square more than once!" + +Mr. Lee laid his arm across the boy's shoulder. + +"Laddie--these games we play teach us a lot, don't they? There is +something in them more than fun and more than the health they give! +You've learned a motto to-day that you can pin on your shield when you +go out to meet the other matches life offers!" + +"You can just bet I'll always try to play square! And I'm going now to +find Ken and tell her she's a brick!" + +Mr. Lee watched the boy disappear. Though a smile hovered about his +lips, his eyes were serious--the cigar between his fingers had quite +gone out. + +"May he keep that spirit all through life," he was thinking. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +NOT ON THE PROGRAM! + + +Keineth, a little tired after the strain of the tennis match, thought +it much more fun to watch the others. Billy had gone into the paddling +races, and no one but Mr. Lee and Keineth knew that it was because +Keineth had begged him--and he had won and Keineth had been the first +to examine the wrist watch he had received as an award. And on Friday +the entire family waited eagerly near the eighteenth green of the golf +course for Barbara and Carol Day to play up in the final game for the +golf championship! + +Keineth and Peggy held hands tightly in their excitement. + +"Oh, I can tell by Barb's walk she's ahead," Peggy cried as the two +players, their caddies and a small gallery, appeared around the corner +of the wood that screened the seventeenth green. + +"She was two down at the turn and Carol was playing par golf," someone +volunteered. "What does down at the turn mean?" whispered Keineth. + +"The turn's at the end of the ninth hole and a-l-a-s, down means Barb +was behind. Pooh, she always plays better when she's down!" + +A man had just returned from the fifteenth tee. + +"They were dormie at the sixteenth," the girls heard him say. + +"What _queer_ words they do use in golf! I thought dormie was a +window!" + +"Oh, Ken," giggled Peggy, "you mean dormer and it's dormie when one +player is just as many holes ahead as there are more holes to play. +Good gracious!" her face fell, "that means that Barbara will _have_ to +win these three holes and she always slices on the eighteenth!" + +"She won't this time, Peggy! That girl's like steel in a match!" a man +nearby broke in. + +"She's driving first!" Billy cried. "Oh, look--look--look! P-e-ach-y!" + +Breathlessly they watched the two players advance toward the green. +Barbara had outdriven her opponent but she topped her second. Carol +Day, playing a brassie, put her ball well up. Barbara recovered on her +third shot, carried the bunker which guarded the green twenty yards +from it, and laid her ball on the edge of the green. Carol's third +caught the top of the bunker, shot into the air and dropped back into +the sand pit! + +"Oh-h!" breathed Peggy delightedly into Keineth's ear. She knew it was +the worst bunker on the course. + +But difficulties only made Carol Day play the better. She studied the +shot for several moments while Barbara and the gallery watched with +tense interest. Then they saw her lift her niblick slowly, her head +bent; a cloud of sand raised, the ball cleared the bunker's top, +dropped upon the green, rolled a few feet and rested within an easy +putt of the cup! + +The gallery applauded. It was a splendid shot, one of the kind that +ought to win a match for its player. Even Keineth cried out in generous +praise of the play. + +Peggy gripped Keineth's hand so hard that it hurt. + +"Steady, steady, there, Barb," Mr. Lee muttered. Barbara walked slowly +to her ball. Her eyes were lowered, she did not glance at the familiar +faces about the green. Her next shot demanded the utmost skill, care +and steadiness she could command. Of them all she was the coolest. She +_must_ run down her putt to win the match! + +Peggy suddenly shut her eyes that she could not see what happened. The +others saw Barbara, with an easy movement, line her putt. The ball +rolled slowly over the clipped turf, dead straight to the hole--closer, +closer, hung for one fraction of a second on the rim of the cup and +then with a thud that was like music, dropped in! Barbara was the +champion of the women players of the club! + +"Why, it almost made me sick." Peggy confided to Keineth afterwards. "I +will be a wreck when this week is over! And oh, if I can only win the +life-saving medal to-morrow! Think of it, four prizes in the Lee +family! There will be no living with us. I don't care a straw for the +cups they give--it's that little bit of a bronze medal I want There's +going to be a man here from Washington to give it to the winner--one of +the Volunteer Life-saving Association. And that medal's _got_ to go +right here," and defiantly she struck her hand against her breast. + +"I just can't wait," Keineth sighed in a tragic manner. + +"The last day is most fun of all," Peggy explained. + +"How can we ever settle down into calm living?" + +"Huh--fast enough! I've got to begin reviewing English. I have a +condition to make up." + +"And I want to work on my music," cried Keineth, suddenly +conscience-smitten. + +"Mother says that to-morrow night we'll wind up with a supper on the +beach. It's lots jollier than the dinner dance at the Club and we're +too young to go to that, anyway. Barb could go if she wanted to, but +she'd rather have the fun at the beach. We fry bacon and roast corn and +mother makes cocoa and then we sing. Oh, dear, won't it be awful to +grow old and not do those things?" + +Together they sighed mightily at such a prospect! + +For the last day of the Sports Week there was a program of fun that +began immediately after breakfast and lasted through the day. All the +club members gathered on the beach where gaily-decorated booths had +been built. From these lemonade and sandwiches were served +continuously. The motor boats, canoes and skiffs, their flags flying, +made bright splashes of color against the green water. Stakes, topped +with flags, marked the course for the swimming races. The judges were +taken out on one of the larger motor boats. + +Keineth had never seen anything quite like it. To her it seemed like a +chapter from some story and a story strange and exciting! + +The committee had arranged games and races for the very little +youngsters so that during the morning the beach front was astir with +them--bright-eyed, bobbed-haired, starched little girls and tanned, +bare-legged boys, trying vainly to elude the watchful care of the +mothers and nurse-girls, who made a background for the pretty scene. + +The life-saving contest followed the swimming races. Four others +besides Peggy had entered: Molly Sawyer, Helen Downer, Mary Freeman and +Gladys Day. + +Keineth had never watched a contest of this sort before. She cried out +in alarm when she saw a man, fully dressed, at a signal totter off the +deck of the judges' motor boat. Someone next to her laughed. + +"That's just pretend--he's an expert swimmer! It's Mary Freeman's turn! +Watch her!" + +Keineth saw Mary detach herself from a small group, rush into the water +tearing off her blouse as she did so. Then something went wrong--Mary +seemed to make no headway toward the man, the judges blew a whistle, +the man who had jumped overboard climbed back into the boat; there was +some laughter which others quickly frowned down. + +Peggy had drawn last place in the contest. When Keineth saw the others +fail, one after another, she glanced at Peggy with nervous anxiety. But +Peggy stood, outwardly calm, the picture of confidence, her eyes +fastened upon the judges' boat, waiting for her signal. + +Another man fell overboard; to Keineth he looked like a giant! She saw +Peggy spring forward--in a flash her blouse was off and she had thrown +it backward over her head. She was swimming and Keineth knew that as +she swam she was unbuttoning and kicking off her shoes and her skirt. +An encouraging shout went up as she moved rapidly forward, her head +under water, first one straight, strong arm, then the other, shooting +out and ahead! + +Off at a little distance the judges' boat was chugging. From the beach +the spectators, breathless, could see a struggle in the water. Then, +where for a moment there had been nothing visible, they saw Peggy's +head; saw her making for shore swimming on her back with strong leg +strokes, one arm encircling the man's head, her grip holding his chin +and nostrils out of water and pinioning his arms so that his struggles +could not drag her down. + +A shout went up from the beach front--louder and louder; the motor +boats blew their sirens. Keineth ran to the water's edge that she might +be the first to greet the proud young swimmer. + +Willing hands helped Peggy pull the rescued man upon the sand where, +the water dripping from her shoulders, Peggy gave "first aid." After +several moments, marked by a big, sunburned man whom Keineth learned +afterwards was the man from Washington, the victim was pronounced +saved, rose to his feet and was the first to shake Peggy's hand! + +"Why, it was so real that it seemed awful funny to see him just get up +like that," Keineth giggled afterwards, when she had a moment alone +with her Peggy. + +"Well--it wasn't any easy thing to bring him in! Why, he struggled just +as much as though he was really drowning! But, oh, Ken--Ken, I've won +my medal!" + +Later the children went back to the house to prepare the picnic. They +trooped up the rood, an excited group; Keineth and Peggy in advance. + +As they came nearer to Overlook a strange sight met their eyes. They +stopped short. + +For there on the gravel drive, its high-powered engine snorting and +puffing, a rigid, uniformed figure at the wheel, stood Aunt Josephine's +bright yellow car! + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +AUNT JOSEPHINE + + +"It's Aunt Josephine!" cried Keineth. + +"Oh, dear, she'll spoil the fun!" + +Keineth wished the ground would open wide and swallow her up, so deep +was her dismay. Never in her life had she so hated that yellow monster +and Kingston's rigid back! And yes, the black-robed figure in the back +_was_ Celeste! + +"Oh, dear," echoed Alice. + +"Maybe she has some word from father." The thought lent wings to +Keineth's feet--she flew over the ground, Peggy following closely, a +most curious sight for Aunt Josephine's eyes, with her wet bathing-suit +and her blue and white bathrobe flying out behind! + +No, Aunt Josephine had no news of Keineth's father! She was on a motor +trip and had stopped at Fairview. She was quite the same Aunt +Josephine, beautifully gowned in a linen dress whose trimmings matched +the stylish little hat she wore on her head. She rose from the wicker +chair on the veranda, where she sat with Mrs. Lee, to greet the +children. Keineth felt her critical glance wander from her to the +others even while she was answering her aunt's questions. + +Mrs. Lee read the consternation behind the children's polite greetings, +for in her sweet voice she broke in: + +"I have been asking Mrs. Winthrop to join us to-night in our beach +frolic--you girlies must urge her!" + +"Oh, please do!" they cried together. + +Aunt Josephine did not seem to hear them. She was looking very hard at +Keineth. "She does look well," she admitted; "I suppose the quiet life +here has been good for her." She spoke directly to Keineth and the +child felt in her tone the mild disapproval she knew so well. "I am on +my way through to the Yellowstone, child. I thought, perhaps, I might +pick you up and take you along, but you are so freckled that you are a +sight!" Then, as though she recalled the beach supper and the +children's invitation, she added, apologetically, "It is very kind, but +I am a little out of the habit of such things!" + +"Hateful thing--how can she be Ken's aunt!" Peggy was thinking +resentfully, for she had seen a hurt look creep into Keineth's eyes. + +Mrs. Lee's face wore its most cordial smile. She laid her hand upon +Aunt Josephine's arm. + +"That's just why I like to go to picnics and things--it _is_ easy to +get out of the habit of fun! Do send your man away and join us! It will +be a great treat to know our Keineth's aunt a little better." + +Now what neither Keineth nor Peggy, nor even Mrs. Lee could guess was +that beneath the folds of expensive linen and lace and dainty pleatings +of rose silk was a heart that was just hungry because--years and years +before--it had forgotten "how to have fun!" The happy faces of the +children, freckled though they were, the simplicity of the pretty home, +the flowers blooming so riotously and gaily all about, the light that +lay deep in Mrs. Lee's eyes roused a longing very strange to Aunt +Josephine! Perhaps if she had had youngsters of her own she might never +have been the kind of an Aunt Josephine she was--tyrannized over by a +Fido and a Celeste and a Kingston! + +"I will come," Aunt Josephine decided so suddenly that they were +startled. "Keineth, dear, please tell Celeste to come to me." + +Celeste was instructed to unpack a warm coat and to bring a robe. Then +she and Kingston were told that they might drive back to town, to +return later for Mrs. Winthrop. + +Mrs. Lee carried Aunt Josephine off to the tiny guest room while the +children flew toward the pantry to make ready the picnic baskets. + +Vaguely Keineth felt worried, as though, in some way or other, she was +to blame for this unwelcome addition to the party. But Peggy, joining +them in middy blouse and bloomers, reassured her in an excited whisper. + +"It'll be such fun just to see how she'll act! Oh, I do wish that funny +maid and that awful leather-man were going, too! Do you suppose she can +_ever_ eat a bacon sandwich without a fork?" + +But Aunt Josephine _did_ eat one without a fork and then ate another. +She sat on a rock, her pretty linen all crumpled and mussed, a great +deal of sand in her shoes, and balanced a paper plate on her lap and +laughed, a rippling jolly laugh that Keineth had never heard before. +She made Keineth and Peggy sit one on each side of her and tell her of +all they had done during the summer. + +When the last marshmallow had been toasted and the pans scoured and put +away in the baskets, the picnickers gathered about the dying bonfires +for a "sing-song." This always included all the songs they loved best, +the songs Mr. and Mrs. Lee had known in their youth and the songs of +the present day. And Aunt Josephine's rich contralto rang above the +others. + +"Why, I haven't sung like this since I can remember," she laughed. The +children were just finishing, "There's a long, long trail a-winding, +into the land o' my dreams!" + +In the dim light Keineth was studying her aunt's face. Perhaps she had +often been unkind in her thoughts; she might have known that Aunt +Josephine must be very, very nice or she couldn't have been her +father's sister! She slipped her hand into her aunt's and felt a warm +pressure return her clasp. + +When Mrs. Lee began "This is the End of a Perfect Day" the children +knew that the fun was over. They were glad to go home, for it had been +a strenuous and exciting week. + +When the good-nights were said Aunt Josephine drew Keineth toward her. + +"May I keep her up a little longer--I would like to have a little +talk." + +A dread seized Keineth's heart, for she recalled her aunt's words +concerning the Yellowstone. She might have to go with Aunt Josephine +and Celeste and Kingston, after all. + +Aunt Josephine sat down by the lamp, very straight, the way she always +sat when she had something important on her mind. Mrs. Lee sank back +among the pillows on the divan and Mr. Lee pulled his chair closer to +the window and lighted his pipe. + +"I cannot tell you," Aunt Josephine began, "how glad I am to have +become acquainted with you all. I feel better about Keineth." + +A silence followed this. Very troubled, Keineth glanced at Mrs. Lee, to +find her smiling. + +"You know I did not approve of the way my brother just turned her over +to almost strangers. It seemed as if she ought to be with me. I would +have sent her to a camp in Maine--a very fine camp for girls--and then, +perhaps had her with me at the seashore." + +Aunt Josephine paused as though waiting for Mrs. Lee to say something. +And Mrs. Lee said quietly: + +"I think she has been happy here." + +"I came this way intending to steal her for this Yellowstone trip, +though perhaps she'd better not go." Keineth put her hand to her face +involuntarily as though to cover the shameless freckles. "But I feel +that I ought to talk over with you--well, the plans for her school in +the fall." Keineth swept a frightened glance toward Mrs. Lee. Aunt +Josephine went on in the voice she always used when doing her duty: +"Miss Edgecombe has a very select school for girls a few blocks from me +in New York. I know Miss Edgecombe well and she is holding a place open +for Keineth. I feel she is a very suitable person to train a child. You +know," with a tone of apology, "my brother had no sense at all in +bringing up the girl! He left everything to that queer old governess." +Mrs. Lee suddenly sat up very straight on the divan, + +"When Keineth came to us she had to learn to be like other children. +Yes, she had been shut up too much with that very good governess; her +little brain had grown faster than her body. It's her body's turn now, +the brain can wait. Mr. Randolph said that he wished her to remain with +us until he returned. Keineth and I have a plan of our own for the +fall, to play and work on our music." She smiled at Keineth. + +Aunt Josephine hesitated as though she could not find the right words +to express what she felt. "I thought it was my duty to speak to Miss +Edgecombe," she said stiffly; "she is my brother's child and will +probably, some day, inherit what I have. I should like to have her with +me, but," there was a wistful ring in her voice, "I suppose she is +better off with you." + +"The things Miss Edgecombe can teach her can wait, perhaps," Aunt +Nellie answered, smiling down at Keineth. "Keineth is happy in our +simple life--" + +"Simple life--that's just it!" Aunt Josephine spoke rapidly, as though +Mrs. Lee had suddenly helped her to find the words she wanted. "You're +so simple that you're wonderful! You've learned to live real lives +without all the shams that make slaves of the rest of us. Why, my life +seems as empty as a bubble and the things I do worth just about as much +as a bubble by the side of this." She swept her hand out toward the +lamp-lighted room. "And I must have lived like this once--but I've +forgotten! I've always thought my brother queer and that governess he +had insufferable--but I guess you and he know what's best. I'm glad the +child is with you. Yes," the wistful note crept back into her voice, "I +would have enjoyed having her, but, she's better off, all freckled and +in those absurd clothes." + +As Mrs. Winthrop drove away through the starlit night, a costly robe +protecting her from the chill of the evening, Celeste at hand for +instant service, Kingston guiding the monster car, she looked back over +her shoulder at the little house outlined against the sky and sighed--a +lonely little sigh. + +In a tumult of joy Keineth had thrown her arms about Mrs. Lee's neck. +"Oh, I was so frightened!" she cried. "Thank you for not letting me go. +I'd have just _hated_ Miss Edgecombe's--after this! And I do want to +stay with Peggy!" she finished with a tight hug. Then, as they climbed +the stairs together, she said softly--without knowing why in the least +she said it: + +"Poor Aunt Josephine! It must be awful to be rich." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +SCHOOL DAYS + + +September had come, and busy days! For Overlook had to be closed, the +city home cleaned and aired and made ready; Barbara must be sent away +to college and the younger children started off in school. + +"I feel all sort of queer inside," said Peggy, astride of a trunk, "the +way you do when you hear sad songs. I wish it was always summer and +nothing but play." + +"And no school," chimed in Billy. He was on his knees packing toys. "I +don't see what good school does, anyway! If nobody went to school it'd +all be the same." + +"I just hate beginning and then I love it," cried Alice. + +"You won't love it when you get into fractions," retorted Billy, +"'course its fun down in the baby grades!" He spoke from the lofty +distinction of a sub-freshman in the Technical High. Some day Billy +was going to make boilers like his father. + +"I don't mind school, but it's the fuss getting things ready. I just +despise dressmakers! You wait, Ken, until mother gets after you and you +stand by the hour and have Miss Harris fit you! The only fun is +watching to see how many pins she can put in her mouth without +swallowing any. Did that governess make your clothes?" + +Keineth described the funny little shop where Tante took her twice a +year. "They kept my measurements there and Tante would just look at the +materials." + +"And you never decided as to what color you wanted or had ribbons and +things?" cried Peggy wonderingly. + +Keineth's face colored a little. "Madame Henri thought plain things +better," she explained. + +"That's what mother says, but that plain things can be pretty, too. She +always lets us choose our color because she says it trains our tastes. +And this year, if I don't have a pink dress for best I'm going to make +an awful fuss!" "I'd like a pink dress," Keineth agreed shyly, "I never +had one!" + +Peggy jumped off the trunk. + +"Let's tease for pink dresses just alike; and now what do you say to a +last game of tennis?" + +"Make it doubles! I'll play with Alice," cried Billy, eagerly dropping +his work. And with merry laughter they rushed away. + +To close Overlook was an almost sacred task to the Lee family. Each did +his or her part tenderly, reluctantly. Mrs. Lee and Barbara folded away +the pretty hangings; Billy made the garden ready for the fall +fertilizing, took Gyp to his winter home at a nearby farm, and put the +barn in order; the younger girls helped Nora polish and cover the +kitchen utensils. + +And never had the days seemed more glorious nor inviting, filled with +the hazy September glow that turned everything into gold. + +"It's always just the nicest when we have to go to the city," Peggy +complained sadly. They were gathered for the last time on the veranda +watching the sunset. On the morrow they would return to town. Mr. Lee +looked over the young faces--the tanned cheeks and the eyes glowing +with health; the straight backs and limbs strong and supple from the +summer's exercise. + +"You're a fine-looking bunch to begin the winter's work," he laughed. +"It ought to be very easy to you youngsters." + +"How lucky we are to be able to live like this," Barbara said with a +little sigh. She was thinking as she said it that she was often going +to be very lonesome for home and this dear circle. Eager as she was to +begin her new life in college, she could not bear the breaking of the +home ties. + +And bravely she had decided she would tell no one of this heartache, +for one day she had surprised her mother gently crying over the piles +of undergarments they had made ready. Mrs. Lee had tried to laugh as +she wiped away her tears. + +"I'm just foolish, darling, only it seems such a little while ago that +you were a baby, my first baby--and here you are going off to college, +away from me!" + +So not for the world would Barbara have distressed her mother by +showing the ache in her own heart. In answer she had thrown her arms +about her mother's neck in a passion of affection. + +"I'll always, always, always love home best," she vowed. + +And this would not be hard, for the Lees' home, made beautiful by love +rather than wealth, was of the sort that would always be "home," and no +matter how far one of them might travel or in what gay places linger, +would always be "best of all!" + +The Lees' city home was not at all like Keineth's old home in New York, +nor like Aunt Josephine's pretentious house on Riverside Drive. Though +it seemed right in the heart of the city and only a stone's throw from +the business centre, it was on a quiet, broad street and had a little +yard of its own all around it. The house was built of wood and needed +painting, but the walks and lawns were neatly kept. Within it was +simple and roomy, with broad halls and wide windows, shaded by the elms +outside. Its walls were brown-toned, and yellow hangings covered the +white frilled curtains at the windows. There was one big living-room, +with rows and rows of bookshelves, easy chairs and soft rugs, a worn +davenport in front of the fire, tables with lamps, and books and +magazines spread out upon them in inviting disorder. There were flowers +here, too, as at Overlook, and Peggy's bird had its home in the big bay +of the dining-room, where he welcomed each morning's sunshine with glad +song. + +Each little girl had a room of her own, too, hung with bright chintz, +with covers on the bureau and bed to match. Peggy's and Keineth's had a +door opening from one to the other. Billy with his beloved wireless and +other things that Peggy called "truck" was happily established in the +back of the house. + +In a twinkling the entire family was settled in the city, "just as +though we'd never been away," Peggy declared. Then two days later +Barbara started off for college. + +The parting was merry. The girls had helped her pack her trunks; +sitting on her bed they had superintended the important process of +"doing up" her hair; and then had taken turns carrying to the station +the smart patent-leather dressing-case which had been her father's +gift. Everyone smiled up to the last moment before the train pulled out +of the station--then everyone coughed a great deal and Mr. Lee blew his +nose and Mrs. Lee wiped her eyes and Peggy sighed. + +"I'd hate to be grown-up," she admitted, and as she walked away she +held her mother's hand tightly. + +Although Barbara's going made a great gap in the little circle, +everyone was too busy to grieve. School began and with it home work; +there was basket-ball and dancing school and shopping, hats and shoes +to buy. Miss Harris arrived for her annual visit and much time was +spent over samples and patterns. And Peggy and Keineth got their pink +dresses! Then there were old friends to see, new ones to make and +relatives to visit. In this whirl of excitement the Overlook days were +soon forgotten! + +With the city life a little of Keineth's shyness had returned. She felt +lost among Peggy's many friends; the hours when Peggy was in school +dragged a little. The simplicity of the Lees' city home had made her +homesick for the big house in Washington Square--for its very +emptiness! So because of this loneliness she spent hours at the piano +eagerly practicing the technic that under Tante had been so tiresome. +Mrs. Lee had engaged one of the best masters in the city and Keineth +went almost daily to his funny little studio. At first she had been a +little afraid of him. He was a Pole, a round-shouldered man with long +gray hair that hung over his collar and queer eyes that seemed to look +through and through one. But after she had heard him play she lost her +shyness, for in his music she heard the voices she loved. He called her +"little one," and told her long stories of Liszt and Chopin and the +other masters. "They are the people that live forever," he would say. + +One rainy afternoon after school Peggy went to Keineth's room and found +its door shut. Peggy was cross because a cold had kept her home from +basket-ball, and she deeply resented this closed door. + +"I s'pose you're doing something you don't want me to know." Her ear +had caught the quick rustle of paper. In a moment Keineth had opened +the door, but Peggy was turning away with a toss of her head. + +"Oh, if you don't want me--" + +"Please, Peg," begged Keineth. She pulled her into the room. "I didn't +know you were home, honest!" + +Peggy glimpsed the corner of a paper half hidden under some books. Upon +it were written bars of music. + +"You _have_ got a secret," she cried excitedly, "you're writing music! +Keineth Randolph, if you don't tell your very best friend, now!" + +Keineth, her face scarlet, drew out the tell-tale paper. + +"It's just a little thing," she explained shyly. "Your mother showed me +how to write last summer, but I wanted to surprise everybody. I was +going to tell you, though, when it was done. Peg, I'm going to try to +sell it!" + +"Sell it! Get real money?" cried Peggy. + +"Yes--that's what the masters did--only they were nearly always +starving. 'Course I'm not, but I would like to earn some money." "Oh, +wouldn't it be fun?" Peggy caught Keineth's elbows and whirled her +around. "What would you ever do with it? But where do you sell music? +And what is its name?" + +"I call it 'The Castle of Dreams,'" answered Keineth with shining eyes. +"And Mr. Cadowitz told me there's a music house right here in the +city--Brown and Co." + +"Let's go there together! Let's go _now!_ Mother's away and it's just +the time!" + +The sore throat was forgotten. Peggy helped Keineth arrange the sheets +in a little roll and together they started forth on their secret +errand. They found the music house without any difficulty, but +Keineth's courage almost failed her when she found herself confronted +by a long line of clerks. To the one who came forward she explained her +errand. She wanted to see the manager--she had some music she wished to +sell! + +At his amused glance her face flushed scarlet. + +"Why, you're just a kid!" he answered impudently. "Mr. Brown's pretty +busy!" Then it suddenly occurred to him that it would be something like +a joke on the "boss" to take these two children to his busy office. The +clerk was not overfond of the head of the firm. + +"Well, come along," he concluded, winking at the other men. He led the +two girls through a labyrinth of offices and up a stairway to the +manager's door. + +"Two young ladies to see you!" he announced and shut the door of the +office quickly behind him. + +Keineth, frightened, had to swallow twice before she could make a +sound. Then, holding the manuscript out, she explained her errand to +the manager. Tipped back in his chair he listened with a smile; +however, he took the roll from her and, opening it, glanced over it +indifferently. + +"Let me play it for you," begged Keineth desperately. + +He led them into an inner room in the centre of which stood an open +grand piano. Keineth went straight to it and began to play. He listened +through to the end. + +"Wait a moment;" he waved her back to the stool. "I want Gregory to +hear you." The tone of his voice had changed. + +In answer to a summons Gregory came in, a thin, tired-looking man. The +manager turned to him: + +"This girl has brought in some music! I want you to hear it," and he +nodded to Keineth to begin. + +She played it through again while the two men held the manuscript +between them and read as she played. The man called Gregory nodded +again and again. His face had suddenly lost its tired look! + +"Why, we've found a little gem!" Peggy heard him mutter. Then to +Keineth: "What did you say your name was?" Keineth repeated it and the +manager wrote it down with Mr. Lee's address. He took the sheets of +music, rolled them, and put them in a drawer and locked it. + +"We will consider it and let you know in a few weeks," he said. Then he +shook hands with Keineth and Peggy. "And if you write anything more, +please bring it to us." + +"Oh, Peg, wouldn't it be grand if I could sell lots?" cried Keineth +later, in an ecstasy of ambition. + +"If I wasn't on the street I'd whoop," and Peggy squeezed her friend's +arm. "Why, Ken--maybe you'll be a master!" + +"And remember, don't tell a soul, Peg! Honor bright, cross your heart!" + +"Honor bright, cross my heart!" Peggy promised. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +CHRISTMAS + + +"Christmas isn't half as much fun after you don't believe in Santa +Claus." Peggy heaved a mighty sigh as she worked her needle in and out +of the handkerchief she was hemstitching. "How old were you, Keineth, +when you found there wasn't a Santa Claus?" + +Keineth did not answer for a moment. Her shining eyes had a far-away +look. She did not know what to say to make Peggy understand that, as +far back as she could remember, the beloved Santa and the Christmas +Spirit and her Daddy had always seemed to be one and the same person. +Always on Christmas morning her father had come to her bed, helped her +hurry on her slippers and robe and had carried her on his back down the +long stairway to the shadowy library where, on a table close to the +fireplace, a-twinkle with tiny candles and bright with tinsel, they +would find the tree he had trimmed. She could not bear to speak of it +Instead she told Peggy of the way she and her father always spent +Christmas Eve; how he would take her to a funny little restaurant where +they would eat roast pig and little Christmas cakes and then go to the +stores and wander along looking into the gaily-trimmed windows. + +"You see there are ever and ever so many children near our home that +never have any Christmas, and we used to wait for some to come and look +into the window. Then Daddy'd invite them to go inside and pick out a +toy. They'd be frightened at first, as if they couldn't believe it, but +after they'd see Daddy smile they'd look so happy and talk so fast. +Daddy always told them to pick out what they'd always wanted and never +had, and the boys most always took engines and the girls wanted +dolls--dolls with eyes that'd shut and open. Daddy and I used to think +that was more fun than getting presents ourselves." + +Mrs. Lee had listened with much interest. Her face, as she bent it over +her needle-work, was serious. + +"If I told you girlies of a family I ran across the other day, would +you like to help make their Christmas a little merrier?" They begged +her to tell them. + +Though Mrs. Lee never lacked time for the many demands of her family +and friends, she was a woman who went about among the poor a great +deal. Not like Aunt Josephine, who was the president of several +charitable societies and sent her yellow car about the poorer parts of +New York that Kingston might bestow for her deserving aid in places +where she herself could not go--Mrs. Lee worked quietly, going herself +into the homes of the sick and needy and carrying with her, besides +warm clothing and food, the comfort and cheer that she gave to her own +dear ones. No one could know just how much she did, because she rarely +spoke of it. + +"These people live in a tenement down near the river. The father was +crippled in an explosion several years ago and the mother has to work +to support her family. There are seven children--the oldest is fifteen. +What do you think they do at Christmas--and they love Christmas just +the way you do! They take turns having presents! And one of them has +been very, very ill this fall, so Tim, whose turn it really is this +year, is going to give up his Christmas for Mary. Isn't that fine in +Tim? Think of waiting for your turn out of seven and then giving it +up." + +Peggy threw down her work. "Oh, Mother, can't we make up a jolly basket +for them all like we did for the Finnegans two years ago? And put in +something extra for Tim because he's so--so fine?" + +"That's just what I wanted you to say," and Mrs. Lee smiled at her +little girl. "Make out a list of what you want to put in the basket and +then when you get your Christmas money you can go shopping." + +"Oh, what fun it will be to take the basket there! How old are the +children, Mother?" + +Peggy brought pencils and paper. The work was laid aside and the +children commenced to make the list of things for the basket. Alice and +Billy were consulted and agreed eagerly to their plans, Billy deciding +that he would take the money he had been saving for a new tool set and +with it buy a moving-picture machine for Tim. + +Keineth had dreaded Christmas coming without her daddy. But there was +so much to do and think about that she had no time to be unhappy. There +was much shopping to do and the stores were so exciting. Mrs. Lee had +given her the same amount of spending money that Peggy had received and +she and Peggy went together to purchase the things for the basket, +besides other mysterious packages to be hidden away until Christmas +morning. Then one evening there was a family council to decide just +what they would do on Christmas. + +"We always do this," whispered Peggy to Keineth as they sat close +together, "and then we always do just what Alice wants us to do, 'cause +she's the baby." + +And Alice begged them all to hang up their stockings and to have a +tree, if it was just a teeny, weeny one! + +"We'll do it," Mr. Lee agreed, as if there had been a moment's doubt of +it. + +"I suppose we'll go on hanging up our stockings after we're doddering +old grandparents," Mrs. Lee had laughed, though there was a suspicion +of tears in her eyes. + +"Mother and Daddy just spend all their time making everything jolly for +us children," Peggy said afterwards. The children were sitting around +the table, their school-books before them. "I just wish we could do +something that'd be an awful nice surprise for them." She stared +thoughtfully at the blank paper before her on which a map ought to be. + +"Let's do something on Christmas that they won't know about," suggested +Alice. + +"What?" put in Billy. + +"Janet Clark's cousins have charades Christmas night." + +"Oh, charades are stupid!" Billy hated guessing. + +Peggy's pencil was going around in tiny circles. She was thinking very +hard. Suddenly she sprang to her feet. + +"I know! Ken, let's write a play!" + +"A play!" cried the others. + +"Yes. I've got it all in my head, now. Barb will help us when she comes +home. You know Mother is going to invite Aunt Cora and Uncle Tom +Jenkins and the Pennys over for dinner Christmas night; we'll surprise +them with the play. Marian and Ted and the Penny girls can be in it! +Oh, I've always wanted to act! Won't it be _fun!"_ + +Peggy's enthusiasm won instant support from the others. Because Peggy +and Keineth had recently attended a matinee performance of "The +Midsummer Night's Dream," sitting in a box and wearing the new pink +dresses, Billy and Alice conceded that they knew more about plays and +must manage this. There were hours and hours then spent behind locked +doors and Mrs. Lee could hear shrieks of laughter with Peggy's voice +rising sternly above it. Now and then she caught glimpses of flying +figures draped in pink and white, but because it was Christmas-time and +the air full of mystery, she pretended to hear and see nothing. + +Barbara returned four days before Christmas, very much of a young lady. +Though her manner toward the younger children was at first a little +patronizing, after a few hours at home it quickly gave way to the +old-time comradeship. As soon as she could Peggy dragged her to her +room and read to her the lines of the play which she and Keineth had +scribbled on countless sheets of paper. Barbara promised to help. To +guard the secret the last rehearsals were held at Marian Jenkins', +under Barbara's coaching; and Billy and Ted Jenkins printed the +programs on Ted's printing press. "Oh, it's going to be the best part +of Christmas," Keineth cried delightedly. + +But it was not quite the best, for on Christmas morning, after the +children had returned from taking their basket to Tim and his family, +Keineth found a cablegram from her Daddy, wishing her a merry, merry +Christmas! + +Somehow, after that, it seemed as if her joy was complete! + +The gifts that the Lee children had found in their stockings had been +very simple; beside them the elaborate presents that had come in a box +from Aunt Josephine seemed vulgar and showy, although Barbara had cried +out in delight at her bracelet. To Keineth and Peggy she had sent tiny +wrist watches, circled with turquoise. + +"Much too lovely for children like you," had been Mrs. Lee's comment. + +While Mrs. Lee was helping Nora prepare the dinner the children put the +finishing touches to their costumes and with much whispering arranged +the stage for the play. The little tree around which the play must be +acted had been put at one end of the long living-room; the door close +to it on the right, leading into the hall, would serve as a stage +entrance. The only property needed was a rock, and by covering it with +a strip of gray awning, the piano stool would look very real. + +At six o'clock Aunt Cora and Uncle Tom, Marian and Ted arrived; a +little later all the Pennys. Eighteen sat down at the table that +creaked with the good things Mrs. Lee and Nora had prepared. Everyone +talked at once. Keineth, looking down the length of the room, decked +with the holly the children had fastened over doors and windows, +thought that nowhere could Christmas be merrier than right there at the +Lees! And what helped make the merriment was the comforting thought +that Tim and his family were eating a Christmas dinner, too! + +At eight o'clock Peggy stole quietly to her mother. + +"May we children go up to the playroom, Mummy? It'd be more fun there," +she whispered. Mrs. Lee nodded. + +The playroom was really a part of the attic, partitioned off and +lighted. Here the children donned the cheesecloth costumes they had +made. There was a great deal of laughter; Peggy was giving orders to +everyone at once! Barbara sat on a trunk pinning wings to fairies' +shoulders. And at the last moment Marian brought out some real make-up +stuff she had borrowed! + +Then Billy, in a clown's robe made out of an old pair of night-drawers +and a great deal of paper, went downstairs to give out the programs. + +"Oh, do I look like a real actress?" whispered Peggy to Keineth, wildly +pulling at her tinsel crown. + +"Just beautiful!" Keineth whispered back. "But oh, I'm so scared! I +know I won't remember a _single_ line!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +WHEN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT WORKED OVERTIME + + +Peals of laughter greeted Billy's appearance in the living-room. Then +everyone read the programs he gave them. + +"The rascals!" cried Mr. Lee, genuinely surprised. + +"Look at this," whispered Mrs. Lee, pointing to the program. + +For at its top was printed in large letters: + +WHEN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT WORKED OVERTIME + +BY + +PEGGY LEE AND KEINETH RANDOLPH + +And the rest of the program read: + +The Time of the Play: + +Christmas night after the children are supposed to have gone to bed, a +little ill from their Christmas candies, and when the grownfolks have +gathered together to talk over the day and declare that it's the best +Christmas the children have ever had. + +The Place: + +The living-room at home. And if possible the room should be darkened, +except for the lights on the tree, but if this is not convenient it +doesn't matter in the least, for the Christmas Spirit is not afraid to +walk into the most brightly-lighted room! + +The Persons who are in the Play: + + The Christmas Spirit Peggy Lee + The Christmas Fairies: + Happyheart Keineth Randolph + Peace Marian Jenkins + Goodwill Sally Penny + Merrylips Fanny Penny + Joy Anne Penny + Spirit of Childhood Alice Lee + + Jesters {William Lee, Jr. + {Edward Jenkins + +"I recognize Barbara's hand assisting," laughed Mr. Lee, as he read +through the program. + +"Sh--h!" The chatter suddenly ceased. Barbara pressed a button that +shut off all the lights excepting the twinkling bulbs on the tree. In +another room the children sang "Silent Night." As the last sweet note +died away, Peggy, in gauzy white with tinsel crown and wings, came +slowly into the room. She sank down upon the rock. The play had begun. +_Spirit_ (yawns): Goodness me, how tired I am! (Yawns again.) It seems +as if there are more children every Christmas. I think after to-night +I'll go to bed for a whole year! (Lifts her head suddenly and looks at +the tree.) Why, there are no presents on the tree! It must be a party +of grownfolks! (Sighs.) I do feel so sorry for grownfolks! They always +have to pretend they're having a Christmas. (Springs to her feet.) +Perhaps they're here now. (Looks intently at audience.) Yes--they are! +I can always tell when grownfolks are around, because I have to work so +much harder with them. I must call my fairies. (Spirit steps toward +door, puts her hand cup-shape to her mouth.) + + Come, oh Christmas fairies all, + Answer to the Spirit's call! + +(As she calls the fairies Happyheart, Merrylips, Goodwill, and Peace +dance into the room, curtsey low to the Spirit and group themselves +about her.) + +_Spirit_(holds out welcoming hands): Ah, fairies, what a wonderful day +this has been! Did you fill the stockings, Happyheart? + +_Happyheart:_ I've filled a million stockings! + +_Spirit:_ Splendid! And you, Merrylips? + +_Merrylips_: I've trimmed a million trees--small ones and big ones! + +_Spirit:_ Didn't you love it? They smell so good! How went the day with +you, Goodwill? + +_Goodwill:_ Oh, I've carried baskets of food until I am sure there was +not a hungry person in the whole wide world! _Spirit:_ Tell us, Peace, +of your work to-day! + +_Peace:_ I have gone about since early morning putting songs in +people's hearts! + +_Spirit:_ You worked well! I have heard the music all day long! + +_Merrylips_ (yawns): We're terribly tired! + +_Spirit_ (sternly): Hush! Fairies must never be tired when there is +work to do! See, I have found a tree! It has these pretty lights but +there are no presents! + +_Happyheart:_ Who's tree can it be? + +_Spirit_: It is a tree for some grownfolks! You see the children all +over the land must have been put to bed a long time ago. + +_Peace_ (nods her head): Grownfolks generally do stay up late Christmas +night! + +_Happyheart:_ They get very sad wishing they were children again! + +_Merrylips:_ Christmas is very hard on them, poor things! + +_Spirit:_ The men talk about spending so much money and the women sit +up late nights stitching and stitching and complaining that they will +not give anything but cards another Christmas. + +_Merrylips:_ How foolish they are! + +_Peace:_ They forget that we will help them! + +_Happyheart:_ You see they don't believe in fairies! It's because they +are so old! Why, they say that some are over thirty! _Goodwill:_ As if +that mattered! + +_Spirit:_ But I do feel very sorry for them! They can scarcely remember +when they used to hang up their stockings! They will come and gather +around this tree and there will be no presents! + +_Happyheart_ (sits down upon stool): Oh, dear! (Drops her chin in her +hand.) Can't we do something? + +_Peace:_ Let's think hard! + +_Goodwill_ (sadly): Our real presents are gone. There were so many +children this year! + +_Merrylips:_ And they make out such long lists! Why, the trees would +scarcely hold all the things! + +_Spirit:_ We must do what we can to make Christmas merry for these +grownfolks. + +_Happyheart_ (claps her hands): I can make their hearts light! + +_Goodwill:_ I can make them kindly to one another! + +_Merrylips:_ I can make them laugh! + +_Peace:_ And I can put one of my songs in their hearts! + +_Spirit_ (as others make these suggestions she turns toward the tree, +deep in thought; suddenly she wheels around): Your gifts are priceless +but, somehow, I wish we had something besides them for these +grownfolks! + +_Goodwill:_ I should like to make this a Christmas they would remember +the year through! + +_Happyheart:_ I should like to teach them to believe in fairies! + +_Peace:_ Perhaps if we could fill their tree with gifts they would not +forget! + +_Merrylips:_ Let's ask Joy! _Spirit:_ Where is she? + +_Happyheart:_ Oh, she is still working. But if we sing her song she +will come! + +_Merrylips:_ Let's sing, then! (Holds up her finger.) One, two, three! +(All sing softly the Christmas Carol, "Joy to the World." As they sing +Joy runs into the room. The fairies circle about her.) + +_Joy_ (stepping to the foreground and stretching arms): Oh, I am so +tired! + +_Spirit_ (steps forward and lays her hand on Joy's shoulder): Poor +little Joy-fairy! + +_Joy:_ I've been so busy making happiness! This funny world needs so +much of it and everyone wants something different! And there were so +many children! (Turns to the tree.) What--another tree? + +_Spirit:_ Yes, and we have no presents! Happyheart can make their +hearts light and Peace can give them a song, but, you know, I'd just +like to have them have some presents--like children have! + +_Merrylips_ (dances a step or two): Fairy presents would be fun! They +are more fun than real presents and can make wishes come true! + +_Goodwill:_ They say grownfolks are worse than children about making +wishes, only they keep their wishes locked up! + +_Happyheart:_ Wouldn't it be lovely? + +_Joy:_ I know--let's call the Spirit of Childhood! + +_Happyheart:_ Splendid! She will surely know a way! + +_Spirit:_ How can we call her, Joy-fairy? _Joy:_ Put your fingers over +your eyes tight! (All put their fingers over their eyes.) Now, say +after me--"Spirit of Childhood, come at our call!" + +_Chorus:_ + + Spirit of Childhood, come at our call, + Spirit of Childhood, come at our call! + +(As they repeat this the Spirit of Childhood dances joyously into the +room and faces them. As they remove their fingers from their eyes, they +bow low.) + +_Chorus:_ Childhood! + +_Childhood_ (faces audience): I am the Spirit of Childhood! I am the +happiest fairy of all! I am known all over this wide, wide world! +Everybody loves me! Sometimes I am a dream, too, and I come out of the +past when it is very still and creep into old, old hearts! + +_Happyheart_ (impatiently): We know all that! + +_Spirit_ (steps toward Childhood): We want you to help us now, +Childhood, to make Christmas merry for this party of grownfolks. + +_Childhood:_ No children? They're all grownfolks? + +_Spirit:_ No children. They're all grownfolks. + +_Childhood:_ Poor things! How sad! + +_Spirit:_ But they have a tree and we want to give them gifts which, +because they are fairy gifts, will make their best every-day wish come +true! + +_Childhood:_ Yes-they'll think, because they are grownups, they must +have useful gifts! But they shall have fairy gifts! + +_Happyheart_ (to other fairies): I told you she'd help us! _Merrylips:_ +And these grown folks must make a big, big wish and have it on top of +their hearts! Then, if they carry their gifts in the bottom of their +pockets their wishes will come true! + +_Childhood:_ I will call my Jesters! They are clever knaves--they will +find the gifts! + +_Happyheart:_ Call them quickly! + +_Childhood:_ I have to do very funny things, because I am Childhood, +you know. (She dances backward and forward across the room, with merry +step; pirouettes and points finger into audience.) Some one out there +must laugh, or the Jesters will not think we are merry. Laugh, someone, +laugh! Harder! I am Childhood! Laugh with me! (As she speaks some one +in the audience laughs; others join.) + +_Childhood_ (runs to door): + + Jester big, jester small, + Come at Childhood's merry call! + +(Jesters enter--stand near door.) + +_Chorus:_ Welcome--welcome! + +_Childhood_ (to Jesters): Go--find and bring us the biggest Christmas +stocking in the world! It must be filled with fairy gifts! (Jesters +hurry out.) + +_Goodwill:_ How will we know which gifts to give each person? + +_Childhood:_ Oh, I will look in my Book of the Past! You see I have to +keep careful records of everybody! + +_Spirit:_ Why it's just like Santa Claus used to do when the +old-fashioned children believed in him! _Happyheart:_ He was a fine +man! + +_Spirit:_ Ah, here they come! + +(Enter Jesters dragging behind them an enormous Christmas stocking made +of red cambric. They give it to the Christmas Spirit, then step back to +the door.) + +_Childhood_ (as others gather around the stocking): Go, Jesters, and +bring me my Book of Records! + +_Happyheart:_ Open it quickly! (Spirit opens stocking--all peep in.) +Oh, lots and lots of gifts! + +(Jester returns, gives book to Childhood who goes to the right of group +and stands next to Happyheart.) + +_Childhood_ (solemnly to audience): Are all the grownups ready? Have +they got their best wish on top of their hearts? + +_Happyheart:_ Is every one happy? + +_Goodwill:_ Do you all feel very, very kind to one another? + +_Peace:_ Do you know my songs? + +_Childhood:_ Then let's have a bright light so that we may begin! + +(Lights of the room flash on.) + +(Spirit takes packages one by one from the stocking and reads the name. +Then she holds the package while Happyheart reads from Childhood's +Record what the book has to say of each person. After this has been +read Joy with dancing step takes the fairy package to the person named. +This goes on until every one in the audience has received a gift.) + +_Spirit_ (throws stocking down): The stocking is empty! + +_Happyheart:_ The fairy gifts are all gone! _Childhood_ (shakes finger +at audience): But each one of you has a wish that will come true, just +as sure as sure can be; for you have received a fairy gift! + +_Happyheart:_ And now they will be happy! + +_Goodwill_ (claps her hands together as if with a happy thought): Let +us send the Jesters to bring in to them the Christmas Bowl! If they +drink our fairy brew they will never, never forget this Christmas! + +_Happyheart:_ And they will always believe in the Christmas Spirit! + +_Spirit:_ And in the Christmas Fairies! + +_Goodwill:_ Go, Jesters, and bring in to them the Christmas Bowl! +(Jesters go out quickly.) + +_Spirit:_ Now, fairies, we must stop our work! We've worked overtime +already, and you know there is an eight-hour law now for fairies. + +_Merrylips:_ Yes, but we've helped these poor grownfolks! _Happyheart:_ +Let us say farewell to them! Now, one--two--three! + +_Chorus_ (waving hands): + +May the brew that we've mixed you make every heart light, Merry +Christmas to all, and to all a good-night! + +(Fairies dance out, followed by the Spirit. Jesters, blowing horns, +enter the room, bearing a tray upon which is placed a punch bowl filled +with Nora's best cider punch.) + + * * * * * + +Loud applause demanded the return of the fairies and then all gathered +in a merry group around the punch bowl while Mr. Lee toasted the +youthful cast. + +"I suspect you, Miss Bab, of a hand in those records," he cried, +shaking a finger at Barbara. A paper crown was set rakishly on his +head. + +Behind the laughter in Mrs. Lee's eyes was shining something very like +tears as she drew little Alice to her. Across the brightly-crowned +heads of the children her glance caught Mr. Lee's. + +"I feel as if my heart _had_ been brushed by fairy wings to-night," she +said with a happy sigh. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +SHADOWS + + +"William, it _can't_ be true!" + +Keineth, pausing on the threshold of the dining-room door, overheard +the words. Peggy and Billy had gone to school; she was starting out for +her music lesson and had stopped to ask Aunt Nellie a question. The +tone of Aunt Nellie's voice, the seriousness of Mr. Lee's face, made +Keineth's heart turn cold with fear! + +"Aunt Nellie." They both turned towards her, startled. Involuntarily +Mrs. Lee slipped the newspaper she had been reading under her napkin. + +"Keineth, dear!" She held out her hand, her eyes filling with tears. + +Keineth stood quite still, looking from one to the other, and because +he was always somewhere very close in her mind and heart she cried +"Daddy!" + +Mrs. Lee had a curiously helpless look, as if she scarcely knew what to +say, and with one hand she still held the paper beneath her napkin. Mr. +Lee's voice was husky, he had to clear it two or three times before he +could speak, and all the while Keineth's great eyes were fastened +gravely upon him, demanding the truth. + +"It may be a false report, my dear. There's been an accident at sea, +and according to the paper--" + +"My daddy was in it!" cried Keineth, putting her hands to her face. +"Was my daddy in it?" she demanded in a queer little voice. + +"Come here, dear," Mrs. Lee held out her hand again, but Keineth did +not stir. + +"Was he--in--it?" she demanded again. + +"His name was listed among the passengers sailing from Liverpool, but +there may have been a mistake." + +Keineth's eyes were blazing. She walked to the table. + +"Please give me that paper, Aunt Nellie! I have a right to know what it +says!" She did not seem like the child she was as she stood there, +white-faced. Her voice was very calm. Aunt Nellie handed her the paper; +as she did so she said pleadingly: "Keineth, why not wait until your +Uncle William has found out if it is true?" But Keineth did not hear +her; she slowly unfolded the paper, stared a moment at the headlines, +then, turning, rushed with it from the room. + +There it was--his name! Her finger found it and stopped, as though she +cared nothing for the rest! She read the big letters of the headlines, +the few words that told of the attack by a German submarine on the big +passenger ship, of the horrible confusion of the few moments before it +sank, of the wild panic of the cowardly and the splendid bravery of a +few! Then: "John Randolph, of New York City, the well-known journalist, +abroad on a special mission for the President of the United States, was +among the passengers." + +Keineth, on her knees, with the paper spread out before her, read and +reread the words. They sounded so final! He was gone--her daddy was +gone! + +And yet--how could this happen to her in this way? She knew a little of +death; way back in her memory was a haunting picture of her own +mother's going, of her father's grief and the music and the flowers. +And she had watched the funeral of Francesca's baby brother from behind +the geranium boxes. There had been music then, too. But this was so +different--just the lines in the newspaper and then nothing more, ever +and ever and ever! It couldn't happen like that! She was too puzzled to +cry. There were so many questions she wanted to ask-how deep _was_ the +ocean there? Couldn't they swim? And whom could she ask who would tell +her all about it? + +She heard the door open, but did not turn her head. She felt Aunt +Nellie's arms lift her, draw her head close to her breast. Aunt +Nellie's voice was very tender. + +"Uncle William has gone to telegraph immediately to the New York +offices of the steamship line. We may learn more, my dear. You must be +brave--you know how brave your father always was." + +Almost violently Keineth pushed her away. + +"I don't believe it!" she cried. Seizing the paper, she tore it into +little bits and threw them fiercely to the floor. + +"I'll never, never, nev-er believe it! He _will_ come back!" And poor +Keineth threw herself upon her bed and covered her face tight with her +hands She had caught the look of deep pity on Aunt Nellie's face. Aunt +Nellie believed it! She could not bear it! + +"Please go away," she begged through her fingers. And Aunt Nellie +slipped out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. + +Keineth could shut from her eyes Aunt Nellie's pity, but she could not +shut from her mind the flood of thoughts that came. Cruel thoughts, +too, which her persistent "I don't believe it" failed to drive away! +She had seen a picture once of a sinking ship; a great wave of water +had engulfed it, men were clinging to its side like flies! She +remembered it now! Remembered, too, an awful storm when, holding her +daddy's hand, she had watched from a high point of land the angry sea +surging over the rocks far beneath them. It was green and black and +white where the water hissed, and its roar had made her shiver! That +was the same sea! "Oh, I don't believe it!" she whispered. She had made +so many pictures in her mind of her father's home-coming--she had felt +sure he would surprise her! She had thought that perhaps she might go +back to the old house and find him there, or go with someone to the +dock and watch his boat come in and see him waving from its deck! +Perhaps she might be standing some afternoon in the living-room window +looking down the street watching Terry light the street lamps and +suddenly see him walking towards her! And now--oh, it just couldn't be +true! + +At noon Mr. Lee came home to luncheon. The newspaper report had been +confirmed by the New York offices of the steamship company. He said +this very gravely and slowly, as though he hated to speak the words. +Peggy sat watching Keineth in a frightened sort of way; she wished +Keineth would cry so that she could put her arms around her to comfort +her! But Keineth only sat very still staring down at her plate. + +"I think I'll practice, Aunt Nellie," Keineth said when the luncheon +was finished. She had to do something. She walked out of the room as +she spoke, Peggy cast an entreating look toward her mother. + +"Mummy, isn't it dreadful? What _will_ we do? She acts so queer!" + +Mrs. Lee answered very slowly. "Keineth will not believe it, Peggy! But +when she does, when her loss comes to her, we must help her in every +way! We must make her feel how much we love her and that she is one of +us!" + +"Why, what if it was our daddy," Peggy cried. "Listen!" + +For from across the hall came wonderful music--not the lesson Keineth +should be practicing, but fairy things! And happy notes, too, as though +Keineth's own hands were trying to dispel the heavy shadows about her +and give her comfort and hope! + +Mr. Lee was carefully reading the report of the disaster in the +afternoon paper. + +"You know it's a funny thing--no one on the boat had seen John +Randolph! Maybe--" + +"Oh, maybe he got left!" cried Billy, who all through the tragic +moments had been unusually silent. + +Suddenly the doorbell rang. Its clang startled each one of them! The +music across the hall stopped with a crash! They heard Keineth flying +to the door. + +In a moment she returned, holding a yellow envelope in her hand. Though +it was addressed to her she carried it to Mr. Lee. "Please read it," +she said in a trembling voice. "I think it is from Daddy! I--can't!" + +Peggy crossed quickly to Keineth's side and put one arm close about +her. Mr. Lee tore open the cablegram, read the lines written in it, +tried to speak and, failing, put the sheet of paper in Keineth's hands. + +"Oh!" Keineth cried. "Oh!" Something like a laugh caught in her throat. + + Changed plans--did not sail on boat. Thank God! + --JOHN RANDOLPH. + +Both of Peggy's arms flew around her now; they hugged one another and +both cried. And Aunt Nellie was crying, too, and Mr. Lee had to wipe +his eyes. Billy was saying over and over, "Didn't I just have a hunch, +now?" + +The shadows lifted from their hearts, the children listened while Mr. +Lee read to them the full account of the disaster which had stirred +every nation of the globe. Billy and Peggy asked many questions, but +Keineth was very silent. There were other little girls whose fathers +had gone down into the sea--her heart went out to them in deepest pity. +"I feel as though this morning was weeks ago," she said afterwards as +she and Peggy curled upon the window seat with some sewing. From +outside the sun was shining through the bare branches of the trees, +making dancing figures on the polished floor. Keineth sighed. "It makes +one realize how unhappy lots and lots of people are." + +"And it makes you feel as though you could do _anything_ to help them," +answered Peggy, staring thoughtfully out of the window where on the +city street humanity surged backward and forward in all the forms of +joy and sorrow known by God's children. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +PILOT GOES AWAY + + +Pilot's dog-life had fallen into pleasant paths. His days were one +happy round of comfortable hours, spent close to the big fireplace or +at Billy's heels. He slept on an old blanket in the hallway outside of +Billy's door. His friends were Billy's friends and their dogs--Pilot +was loyal and democratic to the end of his stubby tail. His duties were +few and pleasant--to guard his master and his master's family, to keep +the next-door cat away from his door and to inspect daily the refuse +barrels in the backyards of his street. If he had a sorrow it was that +he could not go to school with the children, but he always went with +them to the corner, lifted his paw for a parting shake, watched them +disappear from sight, and trotted home to wait for the hour when they +would return. Twice daily Nora fed him choice scraps and bones which he +ate from a plate in the back hall, and if occasionally someone spoke +sharply to him or rebuked him for thoughtlessly lying upon one of the +chairs or the davenport, the sting was always softened by a pat on his +head. What hardships he had had in the past had been forgotten--he had +no concern for the future! + +Of course Pilot could not always understand the language his master +spoke. He read mostly by signs. So, one morning, when he saw Billy and +Peggy and Keineth making preparations for some out-of-door pleasure, he +stood eagerly at Billy's heels, wagging his tail to tell his master +that he was ready, too. + +"We can't take him on the street-car," Peggy complained. + +"And he might get lost in the woods," Keineth added. + +Now Pilot could not know that the children were putting on heavy +rubbers and warm sweaters under their coats because they were going to +"hike" into the woods to see if the sap was beginning to run. And from +their excited remarks he could not reason that, to get to the woods, +they would have to take the street-car to the city line and dogs were +not allowed on the street-cars. It was Saturday, and Saturday to Pilot +meant a whole day with Billy! So when they were quite ready he dashed +ahead to the door. + +"You can't go Pilot. Go back!" Billy said sternly. + +He stood very still and watched them disappear through the door, giving +only one little whimper. They did not even say good-by; he heard their +merry voices slowly die away. Then he lay down on the floor with one +eye on the closed door. + +But even the most faithful will not wait forever. The sound of Nora's +step coaxed him into the kitchen. It was quite nice there--the sun was +shining across the white floor and something on the stove smelled very +good. Nora was singing, too, which meant that he could coax a little +and get in her way. After a while she gave him a whole cookie--he felt +happier! + +A little later, having wandered several times through the empty rooms +of the house and found no one, he started out of doors in search of +some amusement. He chased the cat to the veranda roof from which she +refused to descend. He saw a friend of Billy's, so he left the cat to +walk with him to the corner. He carefully examined some boxes that were +piled there, then he made friends with a stray terrier who stopped to +exchange greetings with him. Pilot liked the terrier, together they +trotted down the street, block after block. + +He did not notice a big limousine car that passed and re-passed him--to +him these motor cars were of no interest excepting to keep out from +under their wheels. But when it stopped suddenly at the curb and an old +man climbed out, calling "Jacky, Jacky!" he paused. + +The old man was beckoning to his chauffeur and talking in an excited +voice. + +"Come and look at him! I know it's Jacky," he was saying. + +At the name a memory stirred in Pilot's mind. He advanced slowly to the +man. The man held out his hand and called again, "Jacky," and Pilot +went to him and laid his nose in the palm of the man's hand. + +"It's Jacky, it's Jacky," the old man cackled. "He'd always do that +when I called him! Look at his ears--one got torn and I had a stitch +taken in it! Look and see, Briggs, my eyes are so bad." Briggs pushed +back the hair on Pilot's ears and found the scar. The old man was very +joyful. + +"He was stolen from me two years ago! Look on his collar, Briggs." + +Briggs read aloud the address on the collar. + +"We'll take him there right away, Briggs! Come on, Jacky, my boy!" + +But Pilot considered this going a little too far--he objected, at which +the man Briggs lifted him and placed him in the automobile. He was far +too polite to struggle for his freedom, but he put his paws upon the +door and barked a vigorous protest. + +Mrs. Lee had just returned from shopping and answered the bell herself. +Across her mind flashed immediately the explanation of the strange +group on her doorstep. In a few words she told the old man the story of +Pilot's coming into their family. As he listened he nodded several +times. + +"I cared more for that dog than anything on earth," he told her. "He +was always with me! When he was stolen I couldn't get over it, +Madam--just couldn't get over it! Felt as if I'd lost my only friend!" +Mrs. Lee wished she could feel sympathetic, but she was thinking of +Billy! + +"Now let him go, Briggs, and you watch him, Madam!" + +Briggs released his hold of Pilot's collar, Pilot leaped upon Mrs. Lee +joyfully, tore down the length of the hall and back and then stood a +little apart, eyeing suspiciously the strange group. + +"Come, Jacky, come Jacky!" cackled the old man, holding out his hand. + +And Pilot, above all else, was faithful! Slowly, reluctantly, he went +towards the outstretched hand and laid his nose in it. + +"Always did that when I called him! See his ear, Madam--I had a stitch +taken in it when he tore it! See the scar?" + +There was no doubt in Mrs. Lee's mind but that the dog belonged to the +man. + +"My children are going to be heartbroken," she commenced slowly. "Could +we buy--" + +The old man snorted angrily. "Buy Jacky? Don't you know he's a very +valuable dog? And anyway, you haven't enough money to buy his +companionship from me! Your children can get another dog, Madam, but +for me there is only one Jacky!" As he spoke with fumbling fingers he +drew out a card and a dollar bill. "Pay the boy his dollar, Madam. Take +him down, Briggs. Very sorry, Madam, but good-day!" + +Briggs pulled on the collar and Pilot went down the steps very slowly. +He knew in his dog-mind that something was happening! He turned and +looked appealingly at Mrs. Lee. She was standing very still and was not +helping him at all! He tried to tell her to tell Billy that he had to +do his duty and when this man called him Jacky he knew he had to go, +but he would always love his young master best! + +So when the children returned to the house, cheeks red with the wind, +splashed with mud, tired and happy, there was no Pilot to greet them! + +Mrs. Lee told them the story; tried to tell it in such a way that the +children would feel sorry for the lonely old man who had been so happy +at finding his dog! + +But Billy raged--his high-pitched voice choking over the sob that +struggled in his throat. He threw the dollar and the card savagely to +the floor. + +"Wouldn't you have thought the old thing would have at least given +Billy a reward!" cried Peggy indignantly. + +Though she did not answer this, Mrs. Lee smiled, as she recalled the +reluctance with which the old man had extracted even the one-dollar +bill from his pocket. + +"I don't want any old reward--I just want Pilot! If we hadn't gone away +and left him that old man would never have found him," Billy wailed. + +"Couldn't we buy him, Mother?" + +"The dog is worth a great deal of money. I'm afraid we could scarcely +afford it, my dear, even if the man would part with him. Billy must +look at the thing in a sensible way." She laid her hand on Billy's +shoulder. "Pilot will miss you as much as you do him, my son! But you +have a great many other things to make you happy and I should judge +that that old man had nothing!" + +Keineth went up to her room to take off her muddy shoes. On her bureau +she found a letter Nora had placed there. In the corner of the envelope +was printed in large letters: "Brown and Company." She tore it open +with fingers trembling with excitement. It was from the music +publishers, telling her that they would publish her "Castle of Dreams," +and for its purchase had enclosed a check. + +And Keineth, unfolding the small slip of paper, saw written there: "The +Sum of Twenty-five Dollars." + +"Peggy! Peg-gy!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +KEINETH'S GIFT + + +Twenty-five dollars! To Keineth it seemed like a fortune! + +She had never thought much about money. She knew some people were very +poor--she had often felt sorry for them as she watched them near the +Square in New York. And she knew some were very rich, for Aunt +Josephine talked of them. She had always had all the money she wanted, +because she had never wanted very much. She supposed Peggy and the +others had all they wanted, too. Each week Mr. Lee gave to each one of +them a small allowance and whenever they managed to save anything from +this each of them put it in her bank. Keineth supposed that the Lees +were not as rich as Aunt Josephine and not as poor as Francesca's +family next door to her old home, but it didn't seem to matter at all, +because she did not think that the Lees wanted to be rich, anyway. They +never talked of anything in terms of dollars and cents! Twenty-five +dollars--that seemed enough to Keineth to buy everything anyone could +want! + +Keineth and Peggy had carefully kept the precious secret of the "Castle +of Dreams." For a few weeks they had watched the mail each day, then +the holiday fun had filled their minds and the secret was forgotten. As +the weeks passed and Keineth heard nothing she had almost given up all +hope of selling her music and her great ambitions had taken a sad fall. +Peggy had urged her to consult her music master about it, but after one +or two attempts Keineth found she had not the courage. + +And now a check had come! Twenty-five whole dollars! + +"Peggy! Peggy!" she called, unable to wait one moment to share the good +news. + +It was a very excited family that listened to their story at dinner +time. Even Billy, red-eyed, forgot his own sorrow. Everyone had to hold +the check and read it! Then each one suggested some way for Keineth to +spend her money! + +And as is the way with all fortunes, sooner or later they become a +burden! Already, even while they made merry over the check, Keineth was +beginning to worry as to what she should do with it! Of course Mr. Lee +had advised her putting it in the bank, but that did not seem like much +fun! If Daddy were at home she would buy something for him with it or +she might send it to Tante to help the poor children that were +suffering from the war. + +"Give it to the Red Cross!" Peggy suggested grandly. + +"Buy a bicycle!" said Alice, "or one of those cunning electric stoves +that we can cook on!" + +"If I had it I'd buy Pilot!" put in Billy sadly. + +"I'd like to do something with it," said Keineth slowly, "that would +make somebody just awfully happy, because--" She looked down the length +of the table and realized suddenly how dear to her these Lees had grown +and what this home was to her. "Because I'm so happy here!" + +And even while she was speaking she decided just what she would do! But +she would tell no one, not even Peggy! + +She would buy Pilot for Billy! Mrs. Lee had said they could not afford +it! What good luck that her check had come just at the right time! +After dinner she searched for and found the old man's card. It was +soiled and crumpled from Billy's angry fingers. She hid it away with +the check. She must wait until Monday. + +Keineth had to ride on the street-car a very long way before she +reached the address which the card gave. Then she found herself before +a great iron fence and had to ring twice before the big gate in the +fence opened. It opened quite by itself and it clanged shut behind her, +startling her with its noise. There seemed to be a million steps +leading to the big bronze door and her feet moved like tons of lead! +She had to ring again. The door swung back and a sour-faced man in dark +livery faced her. + +"Is--is Mr. Grandison at home?" she asked in a voice so strange that +she scarcely recognized it herself. + +The sour-faced man looked very hard at her. + +"Who is it, miss?" he asked wonderingly, as though few people came to +that door for Mr. Grandison. + +"I'm Keineth Randolph. I must see him, please!" "He never sees anyone, +miss, but you can go in. Only I wouldn't advise you to bother him very +much because he's bad this morning with his rheumatism!" + +He was telling her this in a whisper as he led her through the long +hall. Keineth thought it quite the longest, widest hall she had ever +seen and she walked very fast past the big doors that opened into dark +empty rooms that looked like great caverns! If a giant, bending his +great head, had leaped through one of the heavy door-frames she would +have thought it quite to be expected! + +The servant drew back a door and Keineth saw a long room full of books. +At the other end, close to a table, sat an old, old man. Then she saw +something move suddenly and Pilot dashed at her from a corner and +leaped upon her with great whimpering, licking her hands and face and +even her shoes. + +"What's this? Come here, Jacky! Who are you? Who let you in here?" +roared the old man, glaring at Keineth. + +Keineth, terribly frightened, advanced slowly towards him, one hand on +the dog's head. "I live at the bees' where you found Pilot. We all miss +him so terribly, especially Billy, that I came to buy him back!" + +"You did, did you? Well, nobody has money enough to buy him." + +Keineth was so indignant at his disagreeable manner that she forgot her +fright. + +"I know the Lees haven't money enough, because they have so many +children and buy lots of things for them and give them a good time! But +I'm going to buy Pilot for them! I know Pilot couldn't be happy here, +anyway, it's so--so big and horrid and you're so--cross--after having a +happy home with the Lees!" + +Pilot, as though to tell her that was very true, snuggled his nose +under her arm and wagged his tail. + +"I've got twenty-five dollars," finished Keineth triumphantly, "and I +can spend all of it because I earned it myself--writing music!" + +He turned and looked hard at her. Her fury seemed to have amused him. + +"Music--you write music! A child like you!" + +Keineth stepped closer to him. "Yes. Do you like music?" + +The old man answered very slowly. "It was all I cared for once upon a +time! Let me see your eyes!" He reached out a wrinkled hand and drew +her towards him. "They are blue--like hers were! Child, years and years +ago I loved a young girl very much--and she taught me to love music! +But she went out of my life and left me with nothing but loneliness!" + +Keineth thought of the great empty house and felt very sorry for him. + +"What was her name?" she asked softly. + +"A pretty name--like she was!" he muttered, his eyes fastened on the +child's face. It was as if something he saw there was awakening the +memories. "It was Keineth." + +"Why, that is my name!" + +"Keineth--Keineth what?" he cried. + +"Keineth Randolph." + +"You are John Randolph's girl--her son's girl." + +"You mean my grandmother? That--lady--you loved was my daddy's mother?" + +The old man was half laughing, half crying. He held Keineth's arms with +his trembling fingers. + +"Of course--the same blue eyes--and music! How your grandmother loved +music! How her fingers could play, make sounds that'd tear the heart +right out of you!" He shook his head. "And she wouldn't have me--my +money couldn't buy her! After she died I stood in the Square and +watched them take her away from the house--saw the flowers I had sent +go with her! I saw the man she had chosen instead of me walk out, too. +He had two children by the hand--the little fellow was your father. I +went away from New York then--" He drew his hands across his eyes as +though to brush away the haunting pictures. "And you're Keineth!" he +finished. + +Keineth told him of her daddy and of her coming from New York to live +with the Lees until her father returned. She had almost forgotten Pilot +in her deep sympathy for this lonely old man who had loved her father's +mother--and had loved her for so many, many years! But Pilot suddenly +barked! + +"Pilot thinks he belongs to us because he once saved my life," Keineth +explained, going on, then, to tell the story of her narrow escape from +drowning. Perhaps the old man heard her, though his face still wore a +far-away look as if he had not yet been able to bring himself back from +that dear past the child's eyes had awakened. + +"And so I'd like to buy him, please," Keineth finished, laying her +check before him. + +For a long time the old man stared at it, while Keineth and Pilot +waited. + +"He loves you better than he does me! You're right--he wasn't happy +here--he's cried and cried! I can't keep even a dog's love! Take him." +He slowly lifted the check, read it, turned it over, folded it and put +it in his pocket. + +Then Keineth felt very sorry for the old man. She felt, too, that now +in some way or other he belonged to her, though not exactly related. + +"Won't you come home to lunch with me? Then you can meet Peggy and the +others and see how glad they are to get Pilot back! They'll be awfully +glad to see you, really! Please don't be lonely any more--for--I'll be +your friend!" + +He had risen slowly to his feet, towering over her. He looked down at +the bright face. Keineth slipped her hand into his. + +"Oh, please come--it'll be such fun," and she gave his fingers a +coaxing, friendly squeeze. + +The sour-faced servant muttered, "Well, I never!" under his breath, +when he saw his master walk through the door to his waiting car, +holding the little girl's hand and listening to her chatter with a +smile! It was the strangest sight he had ever beheld in this very +strange house! + +But it was a stranger sight for the Lees when the big limousine drew up +at their curb and Pilot dashed from its door, followed by Keineth and a +very, very old man who leaned one hand upon Keineth's shoulder. + +"Pilot!" cried Billy, who had seen them through the window. + +"And that old man!" echoed Peggy. + +In the hall Billy was on his knees with his arms around Pilot's neck. + +"Dear, dear old Pilot!" he was saying over and over. + +Mrs. Lee, concealing her amazement when Keineth quaintly introduced "my +friend, Mr. Grandison," greeted him cordially and by her smile and +gracious manner made the old man immediately feel at home. At the table +she placed him between Keineth and Peggy, and Peggy found that he was +not such a cross old man after all! + +"It's just like a story, Ken," she said after he had gone away and +Keineth had given them an account of her morning's adventure. "You have +found a fairy grandfather! But wasn't it scrumptious to see His Aged +Grandness eating hash?" + +"Well, I guess Keineth's money has been well spent," added Mrs. Lee, +looking fondly at the little girl. "For I think--besides making Billy +very happy, it has opened a new life to a very lonely old man!" + +"I'll never forget what Ken has done," said Billy solemnly, as though +he was taking a vow. "She's just all right and I'd like to see anyone +that says she ain't!" + +"Billy--your English!" pleaded his mother. + +But Keineth blushed with pleasure. She knew she had won Billy's +everlasting friendship! That evening a boy brought to the door a huge +package addressed to Miss Keineth Randolph. It was a set of beautifully +bound books, "The Lives of the Masters," and with them came a little +note written in a queer, old-fashioned handwriting. + +May these books give instruction, inspiration and courage to one whose +feet are on the threshold. They are bought with the money you +unselfishly spent to give a boy back his dog. + +Your devoted friend, + +WILFRED GRANDISON. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +SURPRISES + + +"Why, I just can't believe that I'm Peggy Lee!" Peggy stood in the +aisle of a sleeping car and looked up and down its length. Keineth, +from her superior knowledge of sleeping cars, was pointing out to Peggy +its arrangements. Both girls were dressed in new coats and hats and +carried with them the bag Aunt Josephine had given Keineth and in which +they had packed their nightgowns and toilet articles. + +For they were starting for Washington! + +Two days before Mr. Lee had come home and asked the children what would +be the biggest surprise they could imagine! Of course they had guessed +all sorts of things and he had teased them for quite a little while +over it! Then, very quietly, he had said: + +"Do you think you would like to make a little trip to Washington?" + +Keineth had not been able to speak. Peggy, jumping from her chair, +rushed at her father and threw both arms about his neck. + +"All of us?" she cried between hugs. + +"No, this time we'll leave mother home with Billy and Alice. Then the +next time they'll go." + +Peggy's eyes swept over Billy's and Alice's disappointed faces. + +"Oh, I wish we could all go!" + +"Mother'll make it up to them, my dear. I'll wager right now all sorts +of nice plans are floating around in her head. Well, can you be ready?" + +"Can we--!" they cried in chorus. + +The hours then were full of excited preparations. The new clothes had +to be purchased. "Keineth may be invited to meet the President," Mrs. +Lee had laughingly explained, as she held two pretty hats, one in each +hand, and considered them carefully. + +"Oh, wouldn't that be _wonderful!_" Keineth whispered. She wanted to +ask him so many questions about Daddy--she would tell him that she +could keep a secret! + +Billy gave them a thousand instructions. They must remember everything +they saw to tell him! They must climb the big monument and walk up the +Capitol steps and hear the echo in the rotunda of the Capitol Building. +They must go to Camp Meyer and to Arlington and to Mount Vernon and be +sure to see Washington's swords! + +"And the White House china," Mrs. Lee added. "It must be as good as a +lesson in history to look at that exhibit in the White House! They'd +tell the tastes of the different ones who used them! I can picture +pretty Dolly Madison ordering all new china because the pattern of the +old did not please her!" + +Billy broke in: "I'd want to go to the Treasury Building and see all +the money and the watchmen that guard the building from little +watch-houses! And the big machine where they destroy all the old money! +Four men have keys and they go and unlock it and put the money in it +and it gets ground and ground by sharp knives until it's just a pulp! +And then they sell the pulp! I wish I had one of those keys!" Billy was +very excited. + +"And I want to see the Indian Exhibit at the National Museum," declared +Peggy. + +"You will, my dear, and a great many other things of interest." Little +wonder that she could scarcely believe that she was Peggy Lee! As the +train pulled away Keineth was very quiet. She was recalling how often +her Daddy had told her of the interesting places in the National +Capital and how often he had said, "Some day we'll go there together!" +And now she was really going, but Daddy was far away. + +"Well, aren't you children going to take off your things and stay +awhile?" asked Mr. Lee, coming in from a smoke on the platform. + +They laughed and began to lay aside their wraps. "I can't picture +myself sleeping on that funny little shelf," Peggy declared. "What if I +should roll out!" + +There were a number of other people on the car. The children watched +them closely and tried to do whatever they did. Peggy's eyes grew round +with interest as she saw the porter deftly spread out mattresses and +blankets and make cosy beds where nothing but seats had been. The girls +insisted upon sharing the same berth and drew lots "for position," as +Peggy put it. Keineth drew the place by the window and was soon cuddled +there. And though they had declared that they were going to lie awake +for a long time watching out of the window, their heads had scarcely +touched the pillow when the motion of the train lulled them to sleep. + +Then the night would have passed like any night at home, only that +Peggy _did_ fall out of bed! + +She awakened suddenly to find herself in a heap in the aisle of the car +with the brakeman, a swinging lantern in his hand, bending over her. +"Well, bless my stars!" he was saying. + +It took a moment or two for Peggy to realize where she was and what had +happened! Then, torn between a desire to laugh at herself and to cry +with chagrin, she clambered back into the berth and snuggled very close +to Keineth. + +It was too funny not to tell Keineth, who had wakened, but after she +told her she made Keineth promise, crossing her heart over and over, +that she would never, never, never tell Billy that Peggy had rolled out +of bed! + +"Where are we? It isn't a bit different from home," the girls cried as +they stood the next morning with Mr. Lee viewing from the platform the +country through which they were speeding. + +"This is Maryland. In just half an hour we'll be in Washington. We'll +wait and eat breakfast at the hotel there." + +Mr. Lee was acting curiously excited and impatient. He looked at his +watch several times. "On time," the girls heard him say once or +twice--as if it made any difference. Before they were in the city he +told them to put on their wraps. + +"We'll be the first ones off," he said. + +It was only a moment then before they had rolled into the station shed. +They stepped from the train and walked a long way down between rows of +cars. A great many people seemed hurrying in every direction. There was +a dull roar echoing through the vaulted smoky space pierced by the loud +voices of the trainmen giving their orders and the occasional clang of +a bell. Then they passed through a little iron gate into the station. +Keineth, clinging to Mr. Lee's arm, thought it quite the biggest place +she had ever seen! Every step made an echo and though there were crowds +of people there did not seem to be many because there was so much room! +Mr. Lee gave some checks to a porter, then stood looking up and down +the great space as though expecting to see someone. Peggy was just +whispering something in Keineth's ear when Keineth gave a clear, joyous +cry. + +For there, stepping out from a little group, walking straight toward +them, a smile on his tanned face, both arms extended as though they +could not reach her quickly enough, was her dear, dear daddy! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +MR. PRESIDENT + + +Her own dear father! + +Keineth had not realized until then how very dear he was to her! She +clung to him as though she could not bear to ever lose her hold. A +woman waiting in the station was watching the little scene, and turned +away, wiping her eyes. And Keineth did not know whether she wanted to +laugh or to cry! + +So this was Mr. Lee's big surprise! He had known John Randolph was in +Washington! + +"This is Peggy," Keineth managed finally to say. At which John Randolph +put his arm about Peggy and kissed her, too! + +Mr. Lee said something about breakfast, and Keineth's father hurried +them into a waiting taxicab. And as they drove away Keineth was so busy +looking at her father's dear face that she did not notice the Capitol, +its noble dome outlined against the blue morning sky. But Peggy gave an +excited little shriek. "Oh--look--look!" + +So, with her hand in her father's, Keineth saw Washington! He told the +driver to go slowly while he pointed out to them the buildings they +passed. The whole city lay bathed in sunshine that brought with it the +balminess of real springtime for which they waited so long in the +North. Robins were singing in the trees, so gladly that Keineth thought +that even they must have guessed how happy she was! + +Keineth and Peggy listened while John Randolph told Mr. Lee of his trip +home across the ocean--how to escape the submarines of the Germans they +had run cautiously, at half-speed, as in a fog, with look-outs posted +all along the ship's decks and all lights out! Their voices were very +serious as they talked and Keineth noticed for the first time that her +father's face, under its tan, looked worn and tired, as though he had +been working very hard. + +But each time that his eyes came back to her face they lighted with a +smile. + +"I can hardly believe that this is my little girl," he said to Mr. Lee. +"Her stay with you has done wonders for her!" And what he said was very +true, for the year had changed Keineth from the shy-eyed, delicate +child he had left to a happy, round-cheeked, strong-limbed girl. The +pretty simple dress she wore had the becoming touch of color that Tante +used to think unsuitable, and her fair hair, drawn loosely back from +her forehead and fastened with a barrette, hung in heavy waves over her +shoulders. + +At the hotel after breakfast Keineth's father opened his trunk and took +from it a box of gifts he had collected from every country he had +visited. A carved box from Japan, a gay Chinese robe from Pekin, dolls +of all sorts, brass plates from Egypt, embroidered scarfs from +Constantinople, coral from Italy and other treasures over which Keineth +and Peggy went into ecstasies of delight! + +"For us?" she cried to her father. + +He smiled--her "us" meant to him that Keineth had found at last the +true joy of friends. + +"Divide them as you wish, my dear," he answered. Thereupon the two +girls sat down, cross-legged upon the floor and commenced assorting the +gifts into little piles--for "Aunt Nellie," for "Barbara," the Japanese +dolls for Alice, and, of course, the carved dagger from Petrograd, for +Billy! "Oh, were ever girls as happy as we are?" Peggy cried. + +Later Mr. Lee broke in upon this pleasant occupation. "If we are here +to see Washington we'd better start out! Keineth--after luncheon your +father wants to take you for a little walk--Peggy and I will go to the +National Museum." + +So it was that Keineth, trim in her new hat and coat, found herself +early in the afternoon walking slowly down the "Avenue of the +Presidents," holding her father's hand. They said little, each felt too +happy to talk much, time enough for the stories later. + +Suddenly through the trees of Lafayette Park, all a-quiver with their +new spring leaves, Keineth glimpsed the stately lines of the White +House. + +She stopped short. "Daddy, is that where the President lives?" + +Mr. Randolph smiled. "Yes, my dear! And we are going there now to +call--at his request!" + +So Keineth was really going to see Mr. President! + +She felt very excited as she walked past the policeman guarding the +gates and up the winding avenue leading to the great columns before the +door. Through the branches of the trees the sun was shining slant-wise +against the square-paned windows, making tiny sparks of fire. Another +policeman at the door halted them. Keineth thought it too bad that the +President of the United States should have to be guarded in this +manner--for who could want to harm him? Then they were ushered into the +entrance hall, where a servant took the card Mr. Randolph offered. + +For Keineth the simple stateliness of the place had an atmosphere of +romance. Staring curiously about her she went slowly through the +spacious corridors to an oval-shaped room whose walls and windows were +hung in heavy blue silk. The sunlight streamed through the windows +across the highly polished floor and glinted through the crystals of +the great chandelier hanging from the ceiling. From between the heavy +blue curtains Keineth caught a glimpse of the green lawn outside, +sloping down to the stretches of the Park--all adot with dandelions. + +Her father pointed out to her the gold clock on the mantel and told her +that it had been presented by Napoleon the First to General Lafayette +and by him in turn to Washington. Then as they turned to examine the +bronze vases standing on either side of the clock a quiet voice +startled them. + +"And so this is the little soldier girl!" + +And there across the room, one hand extended, stood the President of +the United States! + +Keineth tried to say something, but found that her tongue would not +move. But President Wilson, not noticing her embarrassment, was shaking +her hand and talking as though they were old friends. + +"Of course--after our letters--an introduction is unnecessary! I am +delighted, however, to meet in person John Randolph's daughter." + +He turned then from Keineth to her father and Keineth felt a glow of +pride in the tone of intimacy with which the President greeted her +father. + +After they had exchanged a few words he took her hand and drew her +towards a divan. + +"Let us sit down here and have a little talk. I wonder if you know, my +dear girl, what a wonderful man your father is." + +Keineth smiled at this! President Wilson, patting her hand upon his +knee, went on: + +"His work for us is not done, either! And I am going to ask you to help +me, Miss Keineth. I want him in my official family--I need his judgment +and advice--need it badly! If he tries to refuse me then you must make +him do what I want him to do! Wouldn't you like to live in Washington?" + +"Oh--yes!" cried Keineth, then she stopped short. "But--it wouldn't +have to be a secret, would it?" + +The President broke into a hearty laugh. "No, indeed, my dear!" Then, +more seriously, "You were very brave to help us guard so carefully his +journeying. It was necessary that it should be kept a secret because in +every land where he went there were bitter enemies to the work he was +trying to do--enemies who, if they had had one word of the mission upon +which he was going about, would have done everything within their power +to defeat its purpose, even to taking his life without one moment's +hesitation! Keineth, this is a funny world. It is made up of big +nations and small nations and they struggle against one another like so +many bad, heedless boys fighting in an alley." + +"I know!" cried Keineth, bright-eyed. "When they ought to be living +like nice families in a quiet street, each one keeping its own yard +clean from rubbish and the doorsteps washed." She used her father's +words with careful precision. + +President Wilson turned to John Randolph. "The child has described it, +exactly! What an ideal! Do you think we'll ever reach it?" Then, to +Keineth, "And that is the mission that took your father abroad--to lay +before the peoples of those other lands this plan of democracy; to show +them the picture of how we all--as nations--might live as you have +described it, like thrifty families on a clean-kept street, some in +finer houses than others, perhaps, but each one with its door-step +clean and its corners well cleared out. Well--well, in your lifetime +you may come to it, child. And when you do--remember that the way was +opened by the message your father carried!" + +They talked a little longer of things Keineth could not understand, +though she listened with rapt attention while her father spoke of the +Emperor of Japan and the Czar of Russia as though they were just +ordinary men! + +President Wilson walked with them to the door; he shook hands and +begged them to come again! "I should like some day to show you around +Washington myself, Miss Keineth," he said, patting her shoulder. Then +as they walked out toward the street gates Keineth turned back and saw +him watching from the open door. She waved her hand impulsively and he +lifted his in a farewell salute. + +Keineth drew in a very deep breath: as Peggy would say, "Who _could_ +believe that she was little Keineth Randolph?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE CASTLE OF DREAMS + + +When her father suggested that they let the sightseeing wait and take a +walk, Keineth was delighted. She wanted more than anything else right +then to talk and talk and talk to her daddy! There was so much to tell +him! + +"We'll have plenty of time to see all the interesting things," Mr. +Randolph said. "We'll stay here a week or two longer." "Peggy, too?" +asked Keineth. + +"Peggy, too, of course!" + +"Oh, what _fun_!" cried Keineth, squeezing her father's hand with both +of hers. She fairly danced along by his side, so that he had to walk +very fast to keep up with her light feet 'Way across the Park through +the trees they could see the waters of the Potomac gleaming blue, and +beyond the hills of Arlington. Two weeks--her eyes shone--two weeks +with Daddy and Peggy! + +"You know, Daddy, that Peggy is my very best friend!" Keineth said very +solemnly. She commenced to tell him of Overlook and the happy summer +days--of Stella, whom she had seen several times during the winter and +had learned to love--of Grandma Sparks and her quaint old home--of Mr. +Cadowitz and the hours in his queer studio--of the Jenkins cousins and +the little Penny girls. He listened with a smile, perhaps not always +able to follow her excited chatter, but certain from it that Keineth +had found what he had hoped she would find when he had sent her to the +Lees. + +Then Keineth thought of a confession she must make. + +"Is it dreadful, Daddy, but I have forgotten to be lonesome for Tante? +I am ashamed because I do not think of her oftener. Where do you +suppose she is?" + +"I saw her, my dear! Think what a coincidence it was! When I was in +Paris one of the secretaries from the American Embassy took me around +to visit the soup kitchens they have opened up there to feed the needy +children of the soldiers at the front. At the very first one we went +into, a woman in charge came up to greet us--and it was good Madame +Henri! I might have known she'd be doing something like that! She knew +me, of course--the tears ran down her cheeks as she clasped my hand. +She couldn't say a word at first. She herself took us through the place +and as it was at noontime, we stayed to see her hungry family. It was a +sight I'll never forget--women, shivering in ragged clothing, with +babes in their arms and gaunt, unhappy faces and eyes that looked at +you as if they were eternally asking something and afraid to ask! Most +of them had some scrap of dingy crepe somewhere about them--had lost +their men at the battle-front! And little children gulping down the +hot soup as though they were starved! Tante said it was the only meal +most of them had during the day. After her work was over she and I went +into a little room to talk. I knew she wanted to ask me about you--'her +baby,' she called you. When I told her you were well and happy she +broke down and sobbed 'thank God!' + +"She told me that her mother was dead and that her brother's wife and +her little family were on a farm in northern France. When they did not +need her longer she had gone to Paris to help. + +"'Give her my love,' she said to me--I knew she meant you. 'Keep her +safe! It is my one comfort in these terrible days that she is not +suffering! I love America--but I can never go back--my work is here!' I +knew then that until the end Madame Henri would stick to her post and +help wherever she could do the most good. She is a noble woman!" + +Keineth sighed. "It doesn't seem right to be so happy when others are +not," she said, troubled. + +"But remember what she said--because you are happy is the one bright +spot in Madame Henri's life! So it may be with others; you can always +help someone." + +"You couldn't do anything else at the Lees'," broke in Keineth, +"because Aunt Nellie is so kind and unselfish that we children are +terribly ashamed to be anything else! Daddy--" Keineth stopped short; +for the first time it crossed her mind that now that her daddy had come +back her visit at the Lees' would end. "Where will we live now, Daddy?" + +He waited a moment before he answered. + +"I am going to ask you to decide that for yourself, Keineth." Keineth +remembered then the night her father had made her decide between Aunt +Josephine and the Lees! How hard it had been! + +John Randolph led her to a bench. "Let's sit down here and talk. I'll +show you two pictures, Keineth, and you shall choose. You heard what +the President said; he has asked me to be in his Cabinet! That is a +great honor--perhaps the highest honor that may ever come to me!" + +"You'll be more than a soldier that doesn't wear a uniform?" + +Her father smiled at her quaint phrasing. "Yes, much more! But, besides +the honor and the work of the position it will mean this to us--we will +have to take a house here in Washington and live in such a way that we +can entertain many, many guests. My time will never be my own, for +there will be countless social demands besides the duties of the +office--I will be able to spend very little time with my little girl! +But she will not mind that because she will have ever so many new +friends and new things to do, too. And we're too simple to know how to +live such a life, so there's only one thing that'd happen--" Keineth +was making tiny circles in the soft grass with the toe of her shoe. She +had listened intently, now she interrupted quickly: "Aunt Josephine!" + +"Yes--Aunt Josephine would have to come down to show us how!" + +For some reason Keineth did not like the picture--and yet Daddy had +said it was a great honor! But Aunt Josephine-- + +Near the Monument the Marine Band had begun its program for the first +afternoon concert of the season. A great many people had begun to +gather in groups on the green. The music had seemed to reach Keineth +and her father as though it was all a part of the soft spring air and +beauty around them--they had scarcely heeded it as they talked! But +suddenly a familiar note struck Keineth's ear. She lifted her head +quickly. + +"Oh, listen!" she cried, clutching his arm. "Listen!" + +"What is it, child?" He was startled by the look on her face. She had +sprung to her feet. + +"That--that--" she whispered as though her voice might drown out the +soft strains of the music, "that is my Castle of Dreams!" She lifted +her hand to beg him not to speak until it had ended. They listened +together until the last note died away. + +"Beautiful, my dear, but--" + +She turned shining eyes toward him. "I wrote it," she added simply. + +"You--you--" He stared at her in such a funny way that Keineth burst +out laughing. "Why, my dear--" + +"Aunt Nellie taught me to write music! And I sold this! I didn't want +to tell you until I had a chance to play it for you." + +"You--wrote--that?" He seemed not able to really believe. "My little +girl?" A world of pride warmed the tone of his voice. + +"Yes, and it's such fun putting down what comes to my fingers! Only Mr. +Cadowitz says that I must learn a great deal more and practice what the +masters can teach me. And Aunt Nellie says, too, that I ought to wait +until I have finished school." + +"Yes, they are right," Mr. Lee put in. Then he caressed the small +fingers that lay in his clasp. "But, my dear little girl, what a joy +for you some day! It is a wonderful gift to tell your thoughts in +music! When you have built up a strong body and a good mind you can +work with all your heart and soul!" + +Keineth told him then the story of Pilot and Mr. Grandison. Her father +was deeply interested. He recalled that he had heard his father speak +of him once or twice. "He must have had a very lonely life," he added. +"We must see something of him now and then, my dear!" + +"Oh, he will be glad!" Keineth described the big house on the outskirts +of the city where she had gone with her check; its lonely rooms that +all his money could not make cheerful. That led her to tell of the +beautiful books and how Mr. Grandison had one day taken her and Peggy +to see "Pollyanna"; of riding there in the big limousine and wearing +the precious pink dresses! + +The afternoon sun was dropping. The concert had ended and the crowds +were slowly moving away. John Randolph's face wore its far-away look as +though he was dreaming things. His eyes, as he turned them upon +Keineth, were very serious. + +"You know--child, we're given things in this world--good health and +fortune and gifts like your music--and my writing--but I don't believe +we're given them just to enjoy them ourselves! We're meant to share +them! I haven't told you the other picture, my dear!" + +"Oh, no!" cried Keineth. How could she have forgotten Aunt Josephine! + +"I've had a dream, Keineth, these months that I've been gone! It's been +a dream of the little home we'd make in some quiet corner where I could +write and you could grow and play. It'd be a simple home, but we'd have +a great many friends around us. There's a lot in my head I want to +write, too--I long for time to do it! I couldn't help but think as I +travelled over almost all the lands of the globe that people are alike +after all--only some of us have learned things faster than others and +some have a lot to learn. If those who see the vision could teach the +others--well, to live, as we said, like respectable, happy families in +a peaceful street--then this world would know a brotherhood we haven't +got now. It could come after this war--we could all be comrades, always +going forward shoulder to shoulder! I feel as if I want to write and +write and write about it until that picture goes all over the world! +Couldn't I do more for all my fellowmen that way than giving up my time +to the immense duties of a Cabinet official?" He turned a frowning face +toward Keineth, as though from this twelve-year-old girl he expected +help in his perplexity. + +Keineth's face was aglow. + +"Could the little home be near Peggy?" + +Her father nodded. "For a while, anyway." + +"And could I go to school with Peggy?" + +"Yes, I want you with your friends." + +"And you'd have time to play with me?" + +"Lots of time--I'd take it! That was part of my dream." + +"Oh, Daddy, I like that picture lots best! Only--" She suddenly +recalled what her father had said. "It would be such a great honor for +you to be in the President's Cabinet! And he told me I must make you!" + +"Keineth, dear, that honor would not mean half as much to me as the joy +of serving my fellowmen through my writing! We'll show the President +the two pictures--I know he will understand!" + +Still Keineth hesitated. "Would we--would we have to have Aunt +Josephine?" Then she added, as though a little ashamed, "but Aunt +Josephine can be awfully jolly when--she forgets." + +"Forgets what, child?" + +"Oh, that--that she's so--so rich!" Keineth stammered. + +John Randolph laughed. "We'll have her part of the time and maybe we +can make her--forget." + +"You have decided, you are very sure?" he asked after a moment, and he +swept his hand toward the nearby buildings of the city as though to +remind her of the interesting life that might lie there. + +But Keineth's shining eyes saw a vision beyond them--long, happy days +with Daddy and Peggy and the others; a home, too; real school days, +such as she had never known in her life--perhaps another summer at +Fairview. + +"I'd love Washington, but--I like your dream best, Daddy!" she +answered. + +"I knew you would! And now, kitten, what do you say to finding Peggy +and her father and going somewhere to have some cakes and hot +chocolate?" + +Through the soft April sunlight they went towards the White House and +the thronging streets. Keineth walked quickly, eager to find Peggy and +tell her everything! How glad Peg would be! + +She hummed a few notes without realizing that it was a strain from her +own music! She stopped suddenly and lifted laughing eyes to her +father's face. + +"Isn't it funny, Daddy? I called my music 'The Castle of Dreams'! We +were both dreaming the same dream!" + +"And we're going to have our Castle, Keineth!" + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Keineth, by Jane D. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Keineth + +Author: Jane D. Abbott + +Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6860] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 2, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KEINETH *** + + + + +Produced by Brandon Sussman, Tom Allen, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +KEINETH + +BY + +JANE D. ABBOTT + + + + +TO ALL THE LITTLE GIRLS I KNOW THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + +I. KEINETH'S WORLD CHANGES + +II. KEINETH DECIDES + +III. OVERLOOK + +IV. KEINETH WRITES TO HER FATHER + +V. PILOT COMES TO OVERLOOK + +VI. THE MUSIC THE FAIRIES PUT IN HER FINGERS + +VII. ALICE RUNS AWAY + +VIII. A PAGE FROM HISTORY + +IX. THE CAPTIVE MAIDEN + +X. PILOT IN DISGRACE + +XI. PILOT WINS A HOME + +XII. A LETTER FROM DADDY + +XIII. CAMPING + +XIV. THE TENNIS TOURNAMENT + +XV. NOT ON THE PROGRAM + +XVI. AUNT JOSEPHINE + +XVII. SCHOOL DAYS + +XVIII. CHRISTMAS + +XIX. WHEN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT WORKED OVERTIME. + +XX. SHADOWS + +XXI. PILOT GOES AWAY + +XXII. KEINBTH'S GIFT + +XXIII. SURPRISES + +XXIV. MR. PRESIDENT + +XXV. THE CASTLE OF DREAMS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +KEINETH'S WORLD CHANGES + + +Keineth Randolph's world seemed suddenly to be turning upside down! + +For the past three days there had been no lessons. Keineth had lessons +instead of going to school. She had them sometimes with Madame Henri, +or "Tante" as she called her, and sometimes with her father. If the sun +was very inviting in the morning, lessons would wait until afternoon; +or, if, sitting straight and still in the big room her father called +his study, Keineth found it impossible to think of the book before her, +Tante would say in her prim voice: + +"Dreaming, cherie?" and add, "the books will wait!" + +Or, if father was hearing the lessons, he would toss aside the book and +beckon to Keineth to sit on his knee. Then he would tell a story. It +would be, perhaps, something about India or they would travel together +through Norway; or it would be Custer's fight with the Indians or the +wanderings of the Acadians through the English Colonies in America, as +portrayed in Longfellow's Evangeline. + +But for three days Keineth had had neither lessons nor stories--she had +not even wanted to go out into the park to walk. For her dear Tante, +with a very sad face, was packing her trunks and boxes, and Daddy had +gone out of town. + +To-morrow the little woman was going to sail on a Norwegian boat for +Europe. The trip seemed to Keineth to be particularly unusual because +Tante and Daddy had talked so much about it and Tante had waited until +Daddy had gotten her some papers which would take her safely into +Europe. So much talk and the important papers made it seem as though +she was going very far away. Perhaps she did not expect to come back to +America--she stopped so often in her work to kiss Keineth! + +Keineth could not remember her own mother, she had died when Keineth +was three years old; and as far back as she could remember Tante had +always taken care of her. These three, the golden-haired delicate +child, the serious-faced Belgian gentlewoman, who had given up a +position in one of New York's schools to go into John Randolph's +household, and the father himself, living for his work and his +daughter, led what might seem to others a very strange life. The man +had kept his home in the old brick house on Washington Square in lower +New York even after the other houses in the square around it gradually +changed from pleasant, neat homes to shabby boarding-houses or rooming +houses with broken windows and railless steps; to dusty lofts; to +cellars where Jews kept and sorted over their filthy rags; to dingy +attic spaces where artists made their studios, turning queer, +dilapidated corners into what they called their homes. The third story +of the Randolph house had been let for "light housekeeping apartments"; +Keineth herself had helped tack the little black and gilt sign at the +door. The tenants used the side door that let into the brick-paved +alley. Keineth had always felt a great pride in their home--it was +always neatly painted, their steps shone, and there were no papers +collected behind their iron gratings. Even across the park she could +see the bright geraniums blooming in the windows under Madame Henri's +loving care. + +Keineth and Tante had two big sleeping rooms facing the square and +Daddy had a smaller room in the back. Dora, the colored maid who kept +the house in order and cooked breakfast and lunch, went away at night. +The rooms were very large, with high ceilings. The windows were long +and narrow and hung with heavy, dusty curtains. The furniture was very +old and very dull and dark, but Keineth loved the great chairs into +which she could curl herself and read for hours at a time. + +There were few children in the square for her to play with. Next door +was an Italian family with eight girls and boys, and Keineth sometimes +joined them in the park. Their father kept a fruit stall in the +basement on one of the streets running off from the square. Francesca, +one of the girls, sang very sweetly, often standing on the corner of +the square and singing Italian folk-songs until she had gathered quite +a crowd around her and had collected considerable money. Keineth loved +to listen to her. But Daddy had asked Keineth never to go alone outside +of the square nor out of sight of the windows of their own home, and +Keineth, all her life, had always wanted to do exactly as her father +asked her. + +The evenings to Keineth were the happiest, for, after his work was +finished, Daddy always took her out somewhere for dinner. Sometimes +they would go into queer, small places; rooms lighted by gas-jets, +where they ate on bare tables from off thick white plates. She would +sit very quietly listening while her father talked to the people he +met. It seemed to her that her father knew everybody. Other times they +would go up town on the bus, Keineth clinging tightly to her father's +hand all the way, and they would find a corner in a brightly lighted +hotel dining-room, where the silver and glass sparkled before Keineth's +eyes, where an orchestra, hidden behind big palms, played wonderful +music as they ate, where the air was sweet with the fragrance of +flowers like Joe Massey's stall on the square, and where all the women +were pretty and wore soft furs over shimmering dresses of lovely +colors. Sometimes Tante went with them, looking very prim in her +tailor-made suit of gray woolen cloth and her small gray hat. On these +picnic dinners, as Daddy called them, Daddy was always in rollicking +spirits, keeping up such a torrent of nonsense that Keineth was often +quite exhausted from laughing. Then, when they were back in the old +house, Daddy would pull his big chair close to the lamp, Tante would +take her knitting from the basket in which it was always neatly laid, +and Keineth would sit down at the piano to play for her father "what +the fairies put in her fingers." This had been a little game between +them for a long time--ever since her music lessons with Madame Henri +had begun. + +Now--as the child sat balanced on the edge of an old rocker watching +Tante tenderly and carefully placing her books into a heavy box--she +felt that this beloved order of things was changing before her eyes. +For, with Tante gone, who was to take care of her? And heavy on the +child's heart lay the fear that it might be Aunt Josephine. + +Aunt Josephine was her very own aunt, her father's sister, and lived in +a very pretentious home at the other end of the city, overlooking the +Hudson River. At a very early age Keineth had guessed that Aunt +Josephine did not approve of the way her Daddy lived; of the tenants on +the third floor; of the sign at the door; of Tante and the +happy-go-lucky lessons; and most of all, her intimacy with the Italian +children. Twice a year Keineth and her Daddy spent a Sunday with Aunt +Josephine, and Keineth could always tell by the way Daddy clasped her +hand and ran down the steps that he was very glad when the day was over +and they could go home. However, Aunt Josephine was pretty and wore +lovely clothes like the women in the big hotels uptown and was really +fond of Daddy, so that Keineth loved her--but she did not want to live +with her! + +"Why do you go away from us?" Keineth asked Madame Henri for the +hundredth time. + +The little woman dropped a book to kiss the child--also for the +hundredth time. + +"I have an old mother, and a sister, and six nephews and nieces over +there--they need me now, more than you do, cherie!" + +Keineth knew that she was very unhappy and refrained from asking her +more questions. Daddy had read to her of the suffering in Europe as a +result of the great war, but it seemed hard to picture prim Tante in +the midst of it--perhaps working in the fields and factories, as Daddy +said some of the women and children were doing. Tante had read them +parts of a letter telling of the wounding of her sister's husband at +the battle front and of his death in an English 'hospital, but that had +seemed so very far away that Keineth had not thought much about it. Now +it seemed nearer as she pictured the six little nephews and nieces, the +poor old grandmother--perhaps all hungry and homeless! Keineth suddenly +thought how good it was of Tante to leave their comfortable home and +their jolly dinners and Dora's steaming pancakes to go back to Belgium +to help! + +Then--as if the whole day was not queer and different enough, Keineth +suddenly heard her father's quick step on the stairway. He had said he +would not be home until that night! She sprang to the door in time to +rush into his arms as he came down the hallway. He kissed her, on her +nose and eyes, as was his way, but when he lifted his face Keineth saw +that it was very serious, which was not at all like Daddy. + +"Run out in the park for a little while, dear. I must talk to Madame +Henri!" + +The sun was shining very brightly on the pavements of the streets. The +little leaves on the trees were quivering with new life and the birds +were chirping loudly and busily in the branches, fussing over their +housekeeping. But Keineth's heart was too heavy to respond! She walked +around and around the square, staring miserably at the people who +passed her and always keeping in sight of the long windows where the +pink geraniums shone in the spring sunlight. + +Suddenly her heart dropped to her very toes and she had a great deal of +trouble keeping the tears back from her eyes, for a very bright yellow +motor car had stopped at their door, and Keineth knew that it was Aunt +Josephine! + + + + +CHAPTER II + +KEINETH DECIDES + + +Keineth waited what seemed to her hours; then retraced her steps to the +house and walked very quietly into the hall. Daddy heard the door close +behind her and called to her from the study. He was sitting at his +desk, tapping the pad before him with the point of a pencil Aunt +Josephine sat on the old horse-hair sofa, looking very excited, and +Tante, a pile of books still clasped in her arm and a smudge of dust +across her straight features, stood near the window. + +"I think it's high time you used a little sense in the way you bring up +that child, John. You'll ruin her!" + +Keineth's father smiled across at Keineth as much as to say: "Never +mind, dear," but he listened gravely as his sister went on: + +"I think it's the best thing that could happen--Madame Henri going away +and you called on this trip--" + +"Wait a moment, Josephine; Keineth does not know yet--" + +"Daddy!" cried the child, running to him. + +"Just a moment, dear," he whispered, as he drew her between his knees +and laid his cheek against her hair. + +Aunt Josephine looked very much in earnest. Keineth could not remember +a time when she had seemed more concerned over hers and Daddy's +welfare! + +"Now I can take Keineth with me until July. Then when I go on that +yachting cruise she can go to some camp in the mountains--there are +ever so many good ones. And next fall I can put her into a school. +She's too old to go on living as you are living." + +Now the world had turned upside down! Keineth pressed suddenly close to +her father. He tightened the clasp of her arm. + +"Wait a moment, sister. We have two or three days to talk this over. I +must get Madame Henri safely started and then Keineth and I will make +our plans." As he said this he squeezed the child's hand. "You're +awfully good to offer to take my little girl and I know you'd try your +best to make her happy." He stepped toward the door. Aunt Josephine +rose, too. + +"Well, you'd better follow my advice," she said crisply. She almost +always concluded their interviews in this manner when they had to do +with Daddy's household. This time she stopped on her way to the door to +place her hands on Keineth's shoulders and let her eyes sweep Keineth's +little face. + +"I'd make an up-to-date child of her, John. She's got her mother's eyes +but the Randolph features. With a little grooming she'd make a beauty. +And the first thing I'd do would be to put a decent frock on her!" + +Keineth knew that Aunt Josephine meant to be kind but, hurt at her +criticism, she drew away from her aunt's clasp. As her aunt and father +went out she looked down wonderingly at the simple blue serge she wore. +Tante had always had her dresses made at a little shop on lower Fifth +Avenue and Keineth had always thought them very nice. + +Madame Henri, muttering to herself, went out of the room. Keineth stood +very still until her father came back. He shut the door and went to his +desk. She ran to him and hid her face on his shoulder. + +"Daddy--are you--going away?" + +"Yes, child--I must." + +"For all summer? For all winter?" + +"Yes, dear. I think it may be a year." + +"Daddy--" began Keineth, then stopped short to hide her face. Father +must not see her cry! + +"I'll make a little picture for you, dear. This country of ours is like +a great big house. It's like all the homes all over the United States +put into one. And it must be tended just as we'd tend our own little +home--it must be kept in repair. It must be kept clean and have pretty +spots, just like Madame Henri's geraniums! And it must be guarded, too, +from those who would break in and steal what belongs in the home--or +tear it down and make a ruin of it! And it must know its neighbors and +work with them to keep everything peaceful and tidy about the whole +street of nations! Don't you remember how I had to argue with Signora +Ferocci to make her clean up her back alley?" + +They both laughed together over the recollection of their efforts to +persuade their next-door neighbor of the joys of cleanliness! + +"Every person, big and small, should do his part toward the +home-keeping of this big land of ours. And I have been asked to do a +service. Soldiers can't do it all, my dear--only a very small part of +it! There are a great many others--men like myself--who are going out +over the world to work for the Stars and Stripes. And when I have been +asked to go on a mission for our country that is very important, even +though it takes me very far and keeps me away a very long time, I am +sure my loyal little American girl will be the first to bid me go!" + +Keineth's eyes were quite dry now and were very bright. She sat up very +straight. She had entirely forgotten herself. + +"Will you wear a uniform, Daddy?" + +"Oh, dear me, no--my work is not of that sort, In fact, I must go about +in the quietest manner possible. I cannot even tell my little girl +where I am going." + +"You mean it's a secret?" the child cried. + +"Yes, until I return. I must ask you to tell no one that I have gone +for the government. We may fail--the newspapers must not know yet. +Everyone must think I am simply travelling." + +Keineth was silent and perplexed. It did not occur to her to ask her +father why she could not go with him. He had often gone away before and +she had always stayed in the old house with Tante. But it had never +been for a whole year! + +Suddenly she cried out: "I'll be very brave, but--oh, Daddy!" + +He laughed, although he held her very close. + +"Do you think, my dear, I would go away until I felt very certain that +you were going to be happy? I'm not sure how well you'd like it at Aunt +Josephine's--it would be very different. Still--you'd have that French +maid of hers for a nurse and go out with her and Fido for his walk and +ride in the yellow motor and have all kinds of frilled dresses and +feathered hats--" He was imitating Aunt Josephine's voice in a very +funny manner that made Keineth laugh. + +Keineth thought very quickly of all the things she loved to do that she +knew Aunt Josephine would not allow her to do, but she did not want to +speak of them, for it might make her Daddy unhappy. Her father went on, +more seriously: + +"But I have another plan. I will tell you about It and you may choose +between that and Aunt Josephine's." (Keineth suddenly felt very grown +up.) "Coming up from Washington I ran into Mr. William Lee, an old +friend of mine--a man I knew in college. I used to think the world of +him. I hadn't seen him for fifteen years! He lives in the western part +of the state. I knew Mrs. Lee, too,--she was a friend of your mother's +and they were very fond of one another. We talked for a long time over +old times. He showed me kodak pictures of his children--he has four. Do +you know what I thought when I looked at them?" + +"What, Daddy?" + +"That I was cheating my little girl out of a great deal that every +child has a right to--the pure joy of giving. When I looked at those +youngsters of his--husky, bare-armed, round-cheeked children, I knew +they were getting a lot of happiness you'd never know in this little +corner of ours--the kind of happiness you can only have when you are +young." Keineth was puzzled. "What do you mean, Daddy?" + +"Oh, running, jumping, swimming--tennis--baseball! Why, the knowing +other children well--even the quarrelling," he stopped, frowning. "I +had it all when I was little and here I am cheating you. Aunt Josephine +is right when she says I'm not fair to you--but I don't think you'd get +it even with her!" + +"But I don't know anything about all those things, Daddy." + +"That's just it! You can learn, though. I told Mr. Lee that I had to go +away, and about you, and he asked me if I wouldn't let you go to them +for the year. They have a summer home on the shore of Lake Erie and +almost live out-of-doors. I said no at first--it seemed too much to ask +of them, but he persisted and wouldn't take no for an answer. He is +coming here to-night to talk it over. I think now--it might be the +thing to do. Mrs. Lee loved your mother very, very dearly, and I know +would be very good to you." + +He gently lifted her down from off his knee, which meant that he had +work to do and that Keineth must leave the room. She sought out Tante +upstairs. The good woman had closed her last box and was dressed ready +to start on her long trip, although the boat would not leave until the +next day. She was knitting, so Keineth took a book and sat near the +window pretending to read. Her eyes wandered off the page and her poor +little mind was busy at work trying to decide which she would dislike +the least--living with Aunt Josephine and walking with Fido and the +French maid and going to a strange camp and a strange school, or going +off to a strange place and living among strange people and playing +strange games! She wanted dreadfully to cry, but Tante was so quiet and +so miserable, and Daddy was so serious that she could not add in any +way to what seemed to trouble them. + +So--although Francesca, the little Italian singer, was skipping rope on +the pavement below the window, and a robin was calling lustily to its +mate in a nearby horse-chestnut tree, and a vender was peddling his +wares down the street in a voice that sounded like a slow-pealing bell, +poor Keineth felt as if she could never be really happy again! That +night Daddy and Keineth went uptown for dinner. In one of the hotels +they met Mr. Lee. Keineth's heart was pounding with dread beneath her +neat serge dress and she was almost afraid to look at the man. But when +he took her hand in his and spoke in a kindly voice, she ventured a +timid glance and saw a big man, taller and heavier than her father, +with a jolly smile and eyes that laughed from under their shaggy +eyebrows. Then she felt that she liked him--and the more because he had +such an affectionate way of laying his hand on her father's shoulder. + +While they talked together Mr. Lee watched her very closely. Once he +said to her father: + +"My wife will love the little girl--she is so like her mother!" There +had been a long silence then, and Keineth had seen the look in her +father's eyes that meant his thoughts were back in the past. Later Mr. +Lee had added: "Why, John--you won't know the child after a summer with +us--those cheeks will all be roses and her little body plump. And how +the kiddies will love her!" + +Keineth had been shown the kodak pictures and had studied them closely. +The very big girl was Barbara, who was seventeen. The boy was Billy, +aged fourteen. Peggy was Keineth's age--twelve, and the little one, +Alice, was eight. They all wore middy blouses in the picture and Peggy +and Alice were barefooted. Keineth thought, as she looked at their +laughing faces, that they were very unlike any children she had ever +seen anywhere. + +They took Mr. Lee to their home. Keineth played on the piano for +them--not her own fairy things, but a simple little piece she had +learned with much precision from Madame Henri. Then she and Tante went +upstairs. Daddy had whispered to her as she kissed him good-night: + +"You must decide yourself, dear!" + +Keineth had thought that when she was quite alone in her bedroom she +would cry, for then it would disturb no one and she really had a great +deal to cry about. But Madame Henri lingered a long time by her bed, +standing close to it with a very white face. Finally she knelt beside +it and laid her cheek against Keineth's hands. Keineth felt hot tears +which surprised her, for she did not know that Tante knew how to cry. +Then Tante began to pray--a queer sort of prayer, all broken: "Oh, God, +oh, God, keep this little girl safe from the things that hurt! Keep all +the little ones! Why should they suffer? Where is your mercy?" Then she +said a great deal in French so fast that Keineth could not understand +her and finally, sobbing violently, she rushed out of the room, leaving +Keineth very disturbed. She thought that poor Tante must love her very +much and she supposed the prayer was for the little children in Europe +who were starving, as well as for her--Keineth Randolph! Madame Henri's +good heart so moved her that she jumped out of bed to kneel beside it +and add what she had forgotten in her concern over herself! + +"God bless dear, dear Tante and keep her safe!" + +Then, feeling very excited, Keineth went to sleep without crying and +dreamed of running barefooted with Peggy through fields all white with +daisies, while in the distance at a fence like the rail fences in +pictures, stood Aunt Josephine's awful French maid with Fido under her +arm, screaming at her in French. + +So vivid seemed the dream that it awakened Keineth. She listened for a +moment. She could hear the click of her father's typewriter. She +pressed the button that lighted her bed lamp, found her slippers and +stole noiselessly downstairs. Never in her whole life had she disturbed +her Daddy when he was writing, but now she did not even rap--she pushed +the door open and ran to him. + +"Daddy, Daddy--" she cried as though still pursued by the screaming +French maid. "Please--I'd rather go to the Lee's!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +OVERLOOK + + +"The next station is Fairview, Keineth--watch out for the kiddies," +said Mr. Lee, rising from the car seat. + +Keineth had been sitting for a half hour with her nose flattened +against the car window, not seeing at all the fields and farmhouses +that flew past her, but trying to picture what Peggy would be like! +Keineth was very excited and a little tired from the night in the +sleeper; she was fighting back the thought that she would not see Daddy +for a long, long time. Daddy had gone with them to the station the +night before, and had helped her undress in the queer little shelf he +called a berth and had himself pulled the blankets close around her +chin and kissed her again and again. + +"Little soldier--right face," he whispered--and Keineth knew that he +meant she should be very brave over it all. Then he had hurried off the +train, for the conductor was shouting: "All aboard----" and Keineth, +peeping from under her curtain for a last look, had seen his tall +figure go down the dimly-lighted platform. + +The engine whistled and slowed down. Keineth took up the new bag which +had been Aunt Josephine's present to her, and followed Mr. Lee to the +door. Around the corner of his arm she saw a freckled-faced boy running +close to the car step, and beyond him two little girls. + +The taller of the two must, of course, be Peggy! Keineth saw a +bob-headed, slim child of about her own height, brown as a berry. + +"Dad--Dad," they cried, running forward as Mr. Lee stepped down from +the train almost strangled in Billy's hug. In their joy at seeing their +father the girls did not notice Keineth, who stood shyly back, wishing +the ground would open and swallow her up. + +But the ground under the station platform was unusually solid! In a +moment Keineth felt three pairs of eyes upon her as Mr. Lee turned and +said: + +"Here is the little stranger I have brought with me." + +"Hello," said Peggy, smiling. Alice smiled, too, but hung back a +little, and Billy swept a critical glance over Keineth's city-clad +little figure. Mr. Lee, holding Alice's hand in his, was walking toward +an automobile in which sat the eldest daughter. + +"I'm awfully glad you came," began Peggy as the children followed. +"It'll be such fun!" + +"Is this Keineth?" cried the girl in the automobile, jumping out to +greet her father. Keineth had pictured Barbara as quite a young +lady--she had always thought seventeen very old--but Barbara was +dressed in a blue skirt and a middy blouse like Peggy's and wore her +hair in a long, thick braid. She had her father's kind eyes and the +friendliness of their glance warmed poor little Keineth's homesick +soul. She gave the child a little pat on the shoulder. + +"We're just awfully glad you're here," she said, taking Keineth's bag. +Then, to her father: "We didn't think Genevieve would run! She's been +acting awful--but we just made her crawl up here to meet you." + +"Genevieve's the name of the automobile," giggled Peggy as the smaller +girls cuddled into the back seat. Billy rode on the running board and +Barbara took the steering wheel. + +"Mother's fine," Barbara was saying while, at the same time, Billy was +pouring into his father's ear a great deal of information concerning +his wireless. Peggy in breathless, excited words was pointing out to +the bewildered Keineth the sights of Fairview. + +Genevieve, with many puffs and snorts and queer noises from under her +bonnet, crawled gallantly along the smooth road, up a hill, turned in +between two stone posts and stopped. Down the steps ran a woman who +seemed to Keineth only a little older than Barbara, She kissed Mr. Lee, +then, pushing the eager children aside, turned to Keineth. + +"Here she is, mother," called out Peggy, drawing Keineth forward. + +Mrs. Lee took Keineth in her arms and held her very close for a moment. +When she released her she put her hand under Keineth's chin to lift her +face. + +"It's like seeing your mother again," she laughed, although there was a +queer little catch in her voice. + +"You'll be Peggy's twin," she added, starting up the steps. "Bring in +their bags, Billy. Barb--let's give Dad a nice hot cup of coffee! +Peggy, you make Keineth perfectly at home." + +Keineth took off her hat and coat. Very willingly Peggy took her in +charge. + +"I'll show you the garden," she said. + +"Let's go down to the beach!" cried Alice, following. + +"Do you want to see my wireless set?" invited Billy. + +"Billy thinks that's the only interesting thing about Overlook!" + +"Wait a moment, children," suggested Mrs. Lee to them, "one thing at a +time! Keineth is tired, perhaps. Take her upstairs, Peggy, and let her +slip on a blouse and your old serge bloomers--then go outside and +play!" + +Overlook really wasn't like a house at all--Keineth had never seen +anything quite like it. There was one big living-room with a veranda +running around it and with big doors opening from three sides upon the +veranda so that the room itself was just like out-of-doors. One end of +the veranda was enclosed in glass and used as a dining-room. Flowers in +boxes were on the sills of the windows and over them the sun streamed +through chintz-curtained windows. Upstairs were two rooms over the +living-rooms, and opening from these were screened sleeping porches, +with rows of little cots. Peggy explained that the rooms were used as +dressing-rooms and that each one of the family had a little chest of +drawers for their own clothes and that mother had brought the oak one +in the corner out from town for Keineth's use. + +"But where do you sleep when it rains?" cried Keineth. + +"Oh, out there," laughed Peggy; "you see, the roof slants down so far +that it keeps out the rain. That's your cot--between Barb's and mine." + +Keineth caught a glimpse of a great blue stretch of water glistening in +the bright sunlight a quarter of a mile away. + +"Oh--is that the lake?" she exclaimed, eagerly. + +"Yes--we'll go down to the beach in a little while. Can you swim? +Mother will teach you--she taught each one of us. I'm going to try for +the life-saving medal this year! We have sport contests at the club in +August. Can you play tennis?" Keineth said no. Peggy's manner became +just a little patronizing. "Oh, it's easy to learn, though it'll take +you quite awhile to serve a good ball, but you can practice with Alice. +Can you play golf?" + +"My Daddy can." + +"Well, you can walk around the links with Billy and me. Barbara plays a +dandy game--she can beat Dad all to pieces. Let's go down now and see +the garden." + +Beyond the neatly-kept lawn with its bricked walks bordered with +nasturtium beds was the stretch of garden in which the children had +their individual beds. Peggy explained to Keineth that Billy this year +had planted his bed to radishes and onions; that she had put in her +seed in a pattern of her own designing which, when she separated the +weeds from the flowers would look like a splendid combination of a new +moon and the Big Dipper. Barbara and Alice had planted asters and +snapdragon because mother liked them for the house. Back of the flower +beds was a patch of young corn, and behind that the vegetable garden +which supplied the table. At one side of the garden was the barn where +poor Genevieve was now resting her rickety bones, and next to that was +a shed. + +Billy was busy at work repairing the door of the shed. As the girls +came in sight he waved to them. They started on a run. + +"Let's give Ken a ride on Gypsy," he called out. He dropped his hammer, +disappeared in the barn and came out leading a shaggy pony. + +At the sound of the nickname carelessly bestowed upon her Keineth drew +in her breath quickly. Right at that moment she wanted more than +anything else in the world that these children should not think she was +a bit different from them! Already her plain serge dress had been hung +away and she was in a blouse and bloomers like Peggy's! + +"I don't know," began Peggy doubtfully. + +"Oh, please, let me have a ride," broke in Keineth in a voice she tried +to make as careless as Billy's own. + +"We always ride Gypsy bareback--climb up here on these boxes!" + +Keineth stepped upon the boxes, Billy wheeled the pony around and +Keineth bravely swung one leg over the pony's back, taking the halter +in her hand as she did so. Billy gave the pony a sound slap on the +shoulder and off they flew! + +Never in her life had Keineth been on a horse's back, but she had +caught the challenge in Billy's laughing eyes and her soul flamed with +daring. She clenched her teeth tightly and, because she was in mortal +terror of slipping off from the pony, she gripped her knees with all +her might against his shaggy sides. In a funny little gallop--very like +a rocking horse--he circled the house, while from the shed Billy and +Peggy shouted to her encouragingly. + +Keineth's first ride would have ended triumphantly if she had not laid +her hand ever so lightly on a certain spot in Gypsy's neck! For Gypsy, +having reached an age when he was of no further use in their business, +had been bought a year before from a circus company by Mr. Lee and +taken to Overlook, and at the time of the purchase no one had explained +to Mr. Lee that Gypsy's training had included quietly throwing the +clown from her back in a way which had always won screams of laughter +from the spectators and that the little act came at the moment when the +clown touched a certain spot on her neck! All the young Lees had ridden +Gypsy but had not happened to discover this little trick. But Keineth, +just as she had safely passed the kitchen door and was galloping toward +the shed, suddenly felt herself flying over Gypsy's head! Her fall was +broken by a pile of sand which had been hauled up from the beach for +the garden. Keineth was more startled than hurt, though she felt a +little stunned and lay for a moment very still. + +"Oh, are you hurt?" cried Peggy, running quickly to her with Billy at +her heels. + +"Oh, I s'pose she'll cry and bring mother out!" Keineth heard Billy say +behind Peggy's back. + +Keineth's cheeks were very red. She stood up quickly and, though for a +moment everything danced before her eyes, she managed to laugh and +speak in a queer voice she scarcely recognized as her own. + +"'Course I'm not hurt! A little fall like that!" she brushed the sand +from her blouse. + +"Peggy," cried Billy, joyfully, "she's a real scout!" and Keineth knew +then that she was one of them. + +Even Peggy's tone was different. "Let's ask mother if we can't go down +to the beach before lunch!" she called out over her shoulder, starting +houseward on a run. + +That night a very tired little girl crept into her cot between +Barbara's and Peggy's. Alice was already asleep on the other side of +Peggy. Barbara was still on the veranda talking with her mother and +father. A soft land breeze, all sweet with garden smells, fanned their +faces as the girls lay there. What a day it had been to Keineth--she +had played in the sand, waded in the warm shallows of the lake, raced +with Peggy and Alice through the fields all white with daisies and had +gathered great bunches of the pretty flowers! She thought, as she lay +there watching the little stars peeping under the edge of the roof, +that she had never been so happy in her life! She loved Overlook and +all the Lees--and Peggy, best of all. + +In whispers, reaching out from their cots to clasp hands, she and Peggy +opened their hearts to one another. She told Peggy all about poor, nice +Tante and about the old house and Francesca Ferocci and Aunt Josephine +and Fido and the French maid, and the tenants on the third floor and +her Daddy--who'd gone away on a secret. Peggy, very sleepily pictured +what they'd do on the morrow and the day after and the day after that. +Later, when Mrs. Lee went her rounds, as she always did, tucking a +cover under each loved chin, she found Keineth's fair curls very close +to Peggy's round bobbed head and their hands still clasping. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +KEINETH WRITES TO HER FATHER + + +My dear, dear, dearest Daddy, + +I have decided to write down all my thoughts and send them to you just +like the diry Tante used to keep in her brown book that had the lock on +it, then she would lose the key and ring her hands and think Dinah had +taken it, then she would find it under her burow cover where she had +hidden it all the time. I am trying to be a good soldier. It was very +hard at first, I could not keep myself from thinking all the time of +you and Tante and our happy home where it must be all dark and dusty +now like it was after we had been in the mountains with Aunt Josephine, +only worse. I do love it here, but it is not a bit like anything I have +ever seen at home or riding with Aunt Josephine. It is like a house and +like we were living right out doors, for there are so many windows and +we sleep in a big room just with a roof. I sleep right next to Peggy; +we always talk before we go to sleep, which is lots of fun, only Peggy +never listens until I finish. I say good-night to a big bright star +becose I pretend that star is shining down where you are writing +somewhere and maybe will tell you that your little girl is saying +goodnight. Way off toward the end of the sky there is a funny little +star that is very hard to see, and I say goodnight to that for Tante +becose she is so far away, too, Barbara helped me find on the map where +she had gone and Mr. Lee said poor thing. I do wish I knew if she was +unhappy. + +We live downstairs in a great big room and eat there and everything, it +seems just as if flowers grew right in it, for there are boxes of them +at the windows and on the veranda, and Aunt Nellie puts big bunches of +them all around the room and Peggy has a bird that lives in a white +cage in the window and sings all the time, I guess becose the sun +shines on him. The furniture is not gold at all like Aunt Josephine's +and it is not big like we have at home and there are only one or two +rugs and the floor shines; Aunt Nellie does not fuss when we children +move things around and we have lots of fun. There is a big fireplace +made of rocks Billy says they pulled up from the beach. One time Mr. +Lee lighted some big logs in it and we all sat round and told terrible +storys of pirates and things we made up most, but Billy could think of +the worst and Mr. Lee and Aunt Nellie sat with us and told some just +like they were children, too. Sometimes Aunt Nellie seems just like a +girl, she is so jolly, she is not a bit like Aunt Josephine, though I +am sure Aunt Josephine is a very nice lady and I don't mean that I +don't love her, only Aunt Nellie kisses me as if she liked too and does +not just peck my cheek. Last week she brought me home some lovly middy +bloses like Peggy wears, and I play in bloomers all day and put on a +white skirt for supper; Mr. Lee says Peggy and I look like twins. +Auntie brought me a bathing suit, too, and a tennis raket Peggy says is +better than hers. She folded away all my hair ribbons, she said we +would not bother with them in the country. Barbara wears middy bloses, +too, but she cannot wear bloomers becose she is too old though she does +not look old or grownup. She is going away to school in the fall and +Auntie and she are getting her close ready. Alice is just a little girl +and is some fun, although she crys real often Peggy says she is +spoiled. Auntie says she will outgrow that and that Peggy cryed just as +much when she was like Alice is. I wish I could see you becose I would +like to ask you many questions about when I was a little girl. I am +sure if I had a little sister like Alice I would try and be more polite +than Peggy is, but Peggy says that families are all like that. Billy is +awful. I do not think I like him very much. He says the queerest words +and acts rude and rough. Tante would not like his manners at all. I am +ashamed becose I do not like him becose Auntie loves him dearly and she +only laughs when I think she will punish him; he does not read books +and his English is bad like Dinah's and he teses Peggy and Alice and +eats very fast and talks with food in his mouth. I shall try to like +him. + +There are no sidewalks at Mr. Lee's house; they have pebble paths with +flowers here instead of sidewalks and a dirt road; it is just like the +real country and there are daisies in the fields, Peggy says they do +not call them lots. The grass is greener than in the Square at home. +All the children have gardens. Peggy says I may have half of her's and +I have a hoe and rake all my own. Billy Is going to sell his +vegertables becose he wants to buy a new sending set for his wireless. +I like the pony, though I do not like to ride it after the first time +when I fell off, though it did not hurt me at all and I was not even +frightened. + +To-morrow we are going into the lake for a swim, although I will have +to learn, but Peggy says that it is easy only I must stay away from +Billy or he will duck me. I shall try and not be afraid becose I am +sure you would be ashamed of me if I acted frightened. It will be fun +to put on my new bathing suit. Auntie taught Barbara and Peggy to swim. +Peggy is going to try and win the medal this year, and Barbara says she +will becose she swims so well. + +I will try and remember to write to Aunt Josephine like I promised I +would becose she is my aunt, but I will not know what to tell her +becose there is not anything in Overlook that is like what she has and +she might not like what I tell her and scold us. I am sure she would be +angry if I told her that once a week Auntie lets us girls cook the +supper and we cook just what we please and surprise them, and Barbara +puts down on a paper everything we use and how much it costs, and after +supper she gives it to Mr. Lee and we talk about it. Tomorrow is our +night. Oh I wish you were here, Daddy, it is such fun only it is very +lonely without a father. I try to do all the things that Peggy does, +though I can't do them as well, but I will tell you in this diry how I +improve as I intend to do. I have not any book to keep my thoughts in, +but I will send them to you whenever I write them. Please excuse my +spelling for I am sure no one should have to look in a dickshunary when +they are writing thoughts. Tante never did. I love you and I am sending +a million kisses with this letter. + +Your little soldier daugghter, Keineth Randolph. + + * * * * * + +Dear Mr. President of the United States: + +Please send the letter I put in the envelope to my father. He is +working for the Stars and Stripes somewhere, he said he could not tell +me where becose it was a secret. He is a soldier, but he is one of +those that do not wear any uniform. I am sure you will know where he is +becose you are the President of our Country. I would like to know, too, +very much where he is becose it is lonesome without him, for my father +is the only family I have. But my father said I must be a little +soldier. You know he just means me to do my duty and to like Overlook +and everybody and to do what they do, but it makes me feel better to +pretend that I am a soldier like he is and like all your soldiers. +Thank you if you send my letter to my father and much love. + +Yours truly, Keineth Randolph. + +P. S.--Aunt Josephine says postscripts are not good form, but I forgot +to say that my father's name is John Randolph, of Washington Square, +New York. This was the letter over which Keineth, curled in a chair at +the writing-desk, had labored for a long time, finishing it at last to +her satisfaction. Slipping it into an envelope with the letter she had +written to her father she sealed it hastily, anxious to have it +addressed and mailed before Peggy and Billy returned from the golf +club. + +Over on the window seat Barbara sat sewing, watching Keineth with +amused eyes; for Keineth had been writing with the dictionary open at +her elbow and had stopped very often to consult it as to the spelling +of a word. + +"Very different from Peggy," thought Barbara. + +Aware after a little that Keineth's face wore a perplexed frown, she +said to her: + +"Can I help you, Ken?" + +"If you'll just tell me how to address a letter to the President, +please." + +"The President! What President?" + +"The President of the United States." + +"Good gracious--" Barbara, dropping her sewing, stared at Keineth in +amazement. "I thought--no wonder you're using a dictionary! I am sure I +would, too! But--" Keineth broke in hastily. "You see I have been +writing a sort of diary, about everything I think and do, to send to my +father, but I don't know where he is because he has gone away on a +mission for our country and it has to be kept a secret, but I +thought--" Her voice broke a little and she held the letter tightly in +her hands. + +Barbara, feeling how close the tears were to Keineth's bright eyes, +crossed quickly to her side. + +"Oh, I see!" she said briskly. "What a splendid idea! Of course the +President will know where he is and will send it to him. Let me +think--we learned all that in school and had to address make-believe +letters to him--" Taking a sheet of paper she wrote in large letters: + + Honorable Woodrow Wilson, + White House, + Washington, D. C. + +"It looks too simple for the President--it ought to have more +flourishes to it and titles and things, shouldn't it, Ken? You copy it +and we'll walk straight down to the post office and mail it so that it +will go on to-night's train." Tears were far from Keineth's eyes as she +walked by Barbara's side down the white road between the fields of +daisies and buttercups. The little cloud of loneliness that had for a +brief time threatened her sky had disappeared and she was again a +light-hearted little girl, eagerly awaiting the happy things that each +new day at Overlook seemed to bring to her. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +PILOT COMES TO OVERLOOK + + +"This is the third time in a week that Billy's been late for dinner," +said Mrs. Lee, looking from Billy's empty place at the table to his +father's face. + +Mr. Lee was serving the steaming chicken and biscuits that Nora had +placed on the table. + +"He asked me if he could go to the fair at Middletown! He wanted his +next week's allowance." + +"William," and Mrs. Lee's gentle voice was stern, "you do spoil that +boy dreadfully!" + +"He's with Jim Archer!" Peggy put in. She knew that her mother did not +like Jim Archer. + +"Billy's with him a lot," added Barbara. + +"He teases us girls all the time, too, Mother! He put June bugs in my +bed last night!" cried Alice. + +"Billy is certainly in all wrong just now," answered Mr. Lee with a +twinkle in his eyes. + +"But _do_ you think these fairs are quite the places for boys like +Billy and Jim Archer--alone?" asked Mrs. Lee with a troubled look. "He +should have been home long ago! They must have ridden their wheels!" + +"Don't worry, little mother! Billy will come home tired and hungry and +none the worse for the fair! Why, when I was a boy I never missed a +fair anywhere around and always walked, too! _They_ used to be real +fairs--nothing like them these days!" + +The children knew that when their father began his "when I was a boy," +it could mean a story if there was a little coaxing! + +"Oh, tell us a story!" Alice cried. + +"Please do!" added Keineth. It would make them all forget to feel cross +toward Billy! + +So, chuckling a little under his breath, Mr. Lee began: + +"Down in our village old Cy Addington had a calf he'd entered in the +County Fair. He'd set his heart on that calf's winning a prize--all the +other farmers had told him it would. It was black as jet with just a +little white mark on its fore quarter. He tended that calf like a baby +and spent hours at a time getting it all in shape for the Fair. Well, +the night before the Fair opened two boys--bad boys they were--stole +that calf out of its shed, took it off in some woods where they had a +lantern and a can of paint hidden under a log. What do you think they +did? Painted the animal white--snow white--every bit of him! Then they +took him to the graveyard and tied him to a tombstone!" + +"Oh, Daddy, how dreadful!" cried Alice. + +"Then what happened?" demanded Keineth and Peggy in one voice. + +"Well, a lot of things happened, and they happened fast! Miss Cymantha +Jones, a nervous spinster, was walking home from Widow Markham's +house--rather late, but she'd been caring for the widow through a sick +spell. And Miss Cymantha saw that calf jumping around among the +tombstones and thought it was a ghost! She let out such screams that it +brought Charley, the old sexton, running to the door in his night +shirt, and he saw the calf, and Miss Cymantha scuttling down the road +screaming and holding her skirts high so's she could run faster, and I +guess he thought it was the resurrection itself, for what did he do but +ring the bell and the folks all thought it was a fire and came rushing +out in all kinds of clothes! Then Cy Addington found his precious calf +and the neighbors had an indignation meeting right then and there and +the ones who had the most clothes on started out to find the offenders +and some of the others went in to quiet Miss Cymantha, and a few others +put the sexton to bed and locked him in so that he couldn't give any +more alarms!" + +"But what happened to the boys?" + +"Oh, when the crowd was the most excited they just climbed over a +woodshed into the house and by the time the volunteers were lined up to +go to find them they were sound asleep!" + +"Who were they, Father? Were they boys you knew?" asked Peggy. + +Mr. Lee laughed down the length of the table and Peggy caught the +answering smile in her mother's eyes. + +"Oh, I know--I know! It was you, Daddy," she cried, running from her +chair to kiss the back of his head. + +"Come, dear, sit down! William, if you were that sort of a boy what can +we expect of Billy? Hark--isn't that his whistle?" She stepped eagerly +to the door, the girls close behind her. + +"He's all right--he always whistles when he's happy!" + +"It is he!" cried Mrs. Lee, going down the steps. "And what in the +world is he bringing with him!" + +For Billy, covered with dust, guiding his bicycle with one hand, was +walking leisurely up the road leading with an air of pride edged +slightly by a disturbing doubt, a dirty, weary-eyed dog! + +"A dog--of all things!" cried Barbara, + +"_Where'd_ you get it?" demanded Peggy eagerly. + +The family stood on the bottom step and eyed Billy's treasure. The dog +seemed to have no doubt as to his welcome, for in his desire to greet +his adopted family he strained at the slender leash with which Billy +held him. + +"Whose dog is it, Billy," asked Mrs. Lee. + +"I bought him for a dollar!" Billy glanced questioningly at his mother. +He had heard her declare ever so often that she would not allow a +long-haired dog in the house! And this new pet had a very long, shaggy, +dirty hide! Peggy was on her knees with both arms around the dog's +neck. + +"Just see him shake hands!" Alice was crying. + +But the quiet of Mrs. Lee's manner disturbed Billy. "I think you'd +better come into the house and see if Nora has saved you any supper. +After you have finished we will hear about the dog." + +"Let me hold him, please, Billy!" begged Peggy. Keineth stood a little +apart. She was not yet sure that she wanted a closer acquaintance with +the newcomer. She had known few dogs; her father had always warned her +to leave the stray dogs that she met on the street quite alone--and she +had detested Aunt Josephine's silky poodle! But this poor scrap was +wagging his stubby tail and looking at her in a coaxing manner that +said plainly, "Let's be friends!" + +Within the house Billy was cramming down biscuits and chicken gravy +with an enjoyment that covered the concern he felt at his mother's +attitude. When he could speak for the food in his mouth he told her of +the crowds at the fair. But with the last mouthful of custard pie +bolted he went straight to the point: "Can I keep him, Mother?" + +She rose and, with Billy following, went out upon the veranda. At sight +of his new master the dog broke away from Peggy and leaped upon him, +his big paws on Billy's shoulders. + +"Can't I keep him, Mummy?" he asked, pleadingly, looking from his +mother to his father. + +"Mummy, this is such a lovely dog--" implored Alice, the June bugs +forgotten. + +"And we'll take care of him," added Peggy. + +Billy put one arm around the dog's neck. + +"I guess when you hear the story 'bout him you'll let him stay," he +said solemnly. + +"Tell us, son," Mr. Lee joined in for the first time. + +So Billy stood before them to plead for his dog. + +"Jim and I got to the Fair, 'nd he told me to wait outside and he'd +scout around and see if he couldn't find his uncle who had a show +inside, 'cause Jim thought maybe his uncle could get us in for nothing +and we'd have more money to spend. It was awful hot and I went over and +sat under the trees across the road and watched the people come. All of +a sudden I heard a dog cry, and over near one of the other trees was a +man that looked like a tramp trying to make a dog go ahead and kicking +him awful 'cause the dog wouldn't go! The dog would cry and then the +man'd kick him again and swear awful. Well, I was mad--I gave that +whistle that Rex used to know and the dog sort of listened, then I +whistled harder and the dog made a jump and broke his string and ran +like a flash right to me just's if he knew I was a friend! The man came +after him, swearing harder than ever. But I just took the dog and stood +right up and I said to him: 'You don't know how to treat a dog!' I +thought maybe he'd hit me, he looked so mad, but I went on talking real +fast. I said, 'He's a lot like a dog I know--what'll you sell him for?' +Because I'd sort o' decided he'd stolen him and might be glad to get +rid of him, you see! And the man said, 'How much'll you give?' and I +told him I'd give a dollar, and he reached out for the string and said, +'That ain't enough,' and I said, 'That's all I've got,' and just that +minute a policeman came along towards us and he said quick, 'He's +yours,' and I gave him my dollar and you ought to have seen him beat +it!" + +Upon the rest of the story Billy touched lightly--how, his dollar gone, +he had had no money with-which to buy his way into the fair; how Jim, +returning from an unsuccessful search for the uncle and finding Billy +and the dog under the tree, had, disgusted by Billy's extravagance, +left him there, bidding him wait! But later Jim had relented and had +treated Billy to an ice-cream cone from the tent near the gate. Then +Jim had started for home and Billy had walked the five miles between +Middletown and Overlook, pushing the bicycle and leading the tired dog. + +"And I never saw the Fair at all," he finished, breathless from his +story. + +"Well, Mother--don't you think Billy deserves the dog?" said Mr. Lee +when Billy had finished. And Keineth whispered, "Goody, goody!" + +Mrs. Lee laughed. "I will say that he may stay here on trial--while +we're in the country. But, oh, dear--I had hoped we'd never have +another dog--and of all things, a long-haired dog!" + +"Jim Archer said he was an Airedale," broke in Billy, proudly stroking +the dirty head. "Pretty cheap for a dollar, I think!" + +"Let's name him," cried Alice eagerly. "I think you'd better bathe him +first," chuckled Mr. Lee. Then, turning to his wife, "You know I think +it is a valuable dog! The fellow must have stolen him!" + +In triumph Billy and Peggy led the newcomer towards the pump for his +bath, while Keineth went in search of soap and a sponge. Over the bath +they discussed names and, as it looked as though they could not agree, +they decided that, because Keineth was a visitor, she should select the +name. + +And after a little thought she called him Pilot. + +"Pilot Lee," said Peggy, squeezing a spongeful of water over the dog's +head. + +An hour later a very tired boy was sleeping soundly, while on the floor +beside his cot lay the dog--his warm muzzle faithfully snuggled against +Billy's dusty shoe. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE MUSIC THE FAIRIES PUT IN HER FINGERS + + +On the shaded corner of the wide veranda Mrs. Lee sat making +buttonholes in a blouse for Billy, humming as she worked. Occasionally +she patted the crisp cloth in her hand as though she loved this task of +stitching for her youngsters. About her quiet reigned; broken now and +then by Peggy's bird in its cage and the far-off sound of the gasoline +mower on the golf course. + +Suddenly Barbara came around the corner of the house, like a rose, in +her fresh pink gingham. In her hand she swung a putter. + +"Off for the golf links, dear?" Mrs. Lee asked, glancing with pride +over the straight, slim figure of the girl. + +"Yes, Mother, Carol Day and I play off our match this afternoon. If I +beat her I'll win those candlesticks--" + +"They will look very pretty on your dresser," smiled Mrs. Lee. "I know +what you mean, Mother--that I'm just playing for the candlesticks alone +and I'm not at all, for when I do win one I sort of hate taking a +prize. But I would like to beat Carol because she does play such a good +game!" + +"That's the spirit, Bab. Where are the little girls?" + +"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Mother," Barbara, balancing +herself on the arm of a chair, tapped her toe with the putter. "Peggy +and Alice have gone off to Molly Sawyer's and they've left Keineth +home. I don't think they're treating her a bit nicely!" + +"Why didn't she go with them?" + +"I don't think Peggy asked her to go. She and Molly were going to play +tennis on the Sawyer courts with Joan Crate, a girl that's out here +from town, and Keineth felt left out. Peggy told her she couldn't play +well enough to play with them and that it spoiled a game playing with +beginners, anyway!" + +Mrs. Lee stitched in silence. Barbara went on: + +"And I heard Billy the other day teasing her about her father. He +laughed at her when she said her father was a soldier, only the kind +that didn't wear a uniform, and he told her there weren't any soldiers +like that! I think you ought to speak to the children, Mother." + +"Never mind, Bab, those things will straighten themselves. Peggy must +be more considerate and patient and I will tell Billy something about +Keineth's father--Billy will be interested. We may some day have reason +to be very proud of knowing him, for he may become a very great man, +besides doing an immense good for this country of ours. Run along, +dear, to your game and good luck to you!" + +Barbara kissed the top of her head and hurried away. Mrs. Lee sat on +alone, her hands idly clasped over the blouse in her lap. It was her +way to puzzle out these little problems quietly. + +Suddenly across the June stillness came the sound of exquisite music; +clear, thrilling notes, unreal--fairylike! Almost hesitatingly Mrs. Lee +turned as though she expected to see a fairy sprite in gauzy robes +approaching her from the shadows of the house! She rose and crept +toward the window. No sprite was there--only Keineth sitting before the +piano, her small hands softly touching the keys as though by magic she +drew the melody from them. Across her fair head fell a slanting bar of +sunlight. To this her eyes were raised in rapt contentment. + +From the window Mrs. Lee watched and listened. There seemed to be no +beginning or end to the melody--it ran on and on, now plaintive, like a +small voice crying--now full of laughter with a happy note like that of +a bird. + +"Child--" Mrs. Lee stepped through the long window into the room. +Keineth turned quickly. + +"I didn't know--anyone was here," she said, shyly. + +But Mrs. Lee scarcely heard her. She had clasped her arms about the +small form and was holding it very close. + +"I was just playing--what the fairies put in my fingers," Keineth +explained from the depths of Mrs. Lee's embrace. + +"They are fairy fingers indeed," laughed Mrs. Lee. "Let us sit down +here together and you must tell me all about it. Who taught you to play +like that, child?" + +"No one--like that. Madame Henri always gave me lessons. They were very +stupid and I hated having to practice. But every evening, when we'd sit +together, I'd play to Daddy the music that came into my fingers. +Sometimes he'd stand by the piano until I was finished and then he'd +kiss my fingers and say 'fairy fingers', only Tante used to snore so +loudly, poor thing." + +"And you love music?" + +"Oh--most of anything in the world. Sometimes Daddy would take me to +the big opera house to hear music and it seemed, when I heard it, as +though I was floating right away. Then we'd go home and I'd make up +more music and tell them a story on the piano and sometimes Daddy could +guess the story almost. Tante used to shake her head and Daddy would +say, 'Leave her alone--she knows more than we do.' I don't know what he +meant, but some day I shall study hard and try to be a great musician. +Daddy said-I should-only he said I must wait until my body grew as +strong as my spirit." + +"Keineth, my dear, do you know what a precious trust has been given +you? God gives to some of His children great gifts--they are in trust +for Him! You must care for it and guard it and keep it and see that it +is bestowed generously upon many! Music is one of the most precious +things in this world--and to create it is a great power!" + +Keineth, with puzzled eyes, tried to understand. Mrs. Lee patted her +hand. + +"How your mother would have loved to hear what these fingers can do! +She had a nature that was like a song in its sweetness. But your father +is right; before all else you must build up this little body of yours!" + +"What did he mean, Aunt Nellie?" + +"He wants you to run and play games and grow strong. And you must not +be discouraged and unhappy if you can't keep up just yet with Peggy and +Billy and the others. Remember, while they've been racing their legs +off you've been doing other things. If Peggy _can_ beat you at tennis, +you just ask her to play one of her pieces for you! Poor Peg, her +fingers are all thumbs! Everything evens up in this funny world, +child." + +"You're so wonderful, Aunt Nellie! I did fed as if Peggy didn't like me +because I couldn't do things as well as she can, but if she'll help me +learn to swim real well and beat Billy just once at tennis, I'll help +her with her music!" + +"A fine idea, Keineth! And then sometimes, when Peggy perhaps wants to +do something that you don't care about, I will help you write down the +music you play. Some day we will surprise them all--you and I will have +a secret!" + +Keineth clapped her hands eagerly. "Oh, I have wished I could! It'll be +such fun! I'll send it to my father! You _are_ wonderful, Aunt Nellie." +The child threw her arms about Mrs. Lee's neck in a burst of joy. + +"Remember, now! No discouraged heart because you can't get a ball over +the net or stand on your head in the water!" + +That evening an east wind blowing up with a fine, driving rain, gave an +excuse for a fire in the big fireplace. And as they sat around it; +Alice on the arm of her mother's chair, Barbara close to her father, a +little silent, because Carol Day _had_ beaten her; Peggy and Keineth on +the floor side by side, and Billy and his dog sprawled near the door, +Mrs. Lee told the children the story of the little boy who went each +day to his attic room to play on the old piano there; how one day, the +sound of the music reaching the ears of people below, they crept one by +one to the dark stairway to listen. Then in wonder they brought others +and even more. These foolish folk thought it was a spirit who came to +the attic room and made the music, but finally one of them crept closer +and opened the door and found the little boy! + +"I know, Mother," cried Barbara, "it was Mozart!" + +"Yes, it was Mozart, who, when he grew older, made music that will last +as long as this world. Keineth, will you play for us, dear?" + +Keineth, with a very red face, walked bravely to the piano. But her +heart was happy and her fingers tingled with the music she felt. With +the firelight dancing across the darkened room it seemed like the old +library at home and as if Daddy must be sitting close to her with +Madame Henri nodding in her chair near the window! + +They were silent when she had finished. Barbara sighed-as though the +music had made her sad; Billy said something under his breath that +sounded like "Gee!" and Mrs. Lee patted Peggy's hand. She had found +time for a little talk with Peggy about Keineth. + +"Oh, I think you're wonderful!" Peggy cried now to Keineth, running to +her and linking her hand in Keineth's arm. "I wish I could play one bit +as well as that----" + +After the children had gone to bed Mr. and Mrs. Lee sat for a long time +in the room lighted only by the flames of the fire. Somehow the music +seemed to linger about them. + +"Isn't this world funny, William--" Mrs. Lee stared into the blaze. "If +that child had not lived that funny, lonely life in that big house with +no one but the queer governess, that gift of hers might never have +developed! I wonder what the future may have in store for her?" + +"Above all--let us hope--health and happiness!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +ALICE RUNS AWAY + + +"I've got something to show you all," Billy announced at the luncheon +table. He wore the satisfied air of one who has accomplished something +long desired. + +"What've you got?" Peggy answered promptly. + +"Guess!" Billy fixed his attention upon his plate in a tantalizing way. + +"Oh, I know--it's a new sending set! I guessed first!" + +"You didn't guess, either! I'll bet you saw Joe Gary bring it!" + +"What is a sending set?" asked Keineth. + +"I'll show you afterwards," Billy answered, with a kindness meant to +crush Peggy. + +Mr. Lee broke in: "But I thought you had to save three dollars more +before you could buy one--" + +Billy flushed. "Well, this ain't exactly mine--yet, Dad! Joe Gary made +it and he's going to make another and he says I can use this one until +I want to buy it or at least for a while. I have that dollar I was +saving and my onions and radishes." + +"Good gracious!" Barbara laughed, "I suppose we'll live on onions and +radishes three times a day." + +Mr. Lee turned to Billy. "Don't you think, son, it might be better to +wait until you have the money to pay Joe? And a little more practice?" + +"Billy's always spending money on all those foolish things," Barbara +put in. "He doesn't seem to want to save and help you!" + +"Well, say, don't you think those things are foolish! You read all +sorts of things how wireless messages save people--" + +"On sinking ships, yes!" + +"Well, lots of other ways, too!" Billy's face blazed with wrath. "I'll +just show you some time!" + +"Molly Sawyer's brother knows a boy who is a wireless operator in the +Canadian Army and sends messages from trees!" + +"And if I have a little more practice I can try the troop exams next +winter and get a certificate!" + +"Billy," broke in his mother, "run over to Mrs. Clark's and tell Alice +to come home at once. Nora rang the bell for her but she did not hear." + +"Why, Mother," said Peggy, suddenly alarmed, "Janet Clark was with us +this morning!" + +Janet Clark was Alice's closest playmate. The two families lived in +adjoining houses. Mrs. Lee had returned to the house at noon and Nora +had told her that she had last seen Alice running through the gate +between the two gardens. + +It was only a worried moment before Billy came home to say that Alice +had not been there that morning! It was not like Alice to be long away +from home. Mrs. Lee, hiding her concern, directed the children to scour +the neighborhood. + +Not until they had come back from the club and beach and neighboring +houses and reported no sign of her did the mother and father openly +express alarm. The children saw a look come into their mother's face +that it had never worn before! Like a shock its agony pierced into each +child's heart! Very white, Billy rushed off to enlist the services of +his boy friends for a thorough search of the beach. Barbara, with her +father, started in the motor for Middletown. "I will stay here near the +telephone," Mrs. Lee had said in answer to her husband's quick, +concerned look. + +Peggy came running down the stairs. + +"Her bathing suit is gone, Mammy, and her pink apron--" + +"And her penny bank is broken!" Keineth held out in her hands the +pieces of the china pig which had held Alice's collection of pennies. +"It's all broken!" and, miserably, Keineth looked down at the +fragments. + +"We will find her," said Mrs. Lee, bravely, putting an arm about each +child. "You girlies must stay with me and help me." + +From Middletown Mr. Lee telephoned that they had found a clue. A child +answering Alice's description had stopped at a small candy store and +had purchased a selection of lolly-pops. She had paid for them in +pennies. Someone in the store had seen her climb upon a trolley car +bound for the city. Mr. Lee and Barbara were going on to the city. + +But at dusk they returned with no further news. In the crowd at the +city station no one had seen the child! And Billy and his boy friends +had found no trace upon the beach! + +"The police are working," the children heard their father say. Then +Mrs. Lee suddenly sank limp against his arm and he led her away. + +"Courage--courage!" they heard him whispering. + +Nora laid a tempting meal upon the table and carried it away, for no +one could eat a mouthful. Peggy had run to her room, where Keineth +found her-her face buried deep in her pillow. + +"Oh," she sobbed, "I've been so mean to Allie lots of times and maybe +she's dead somewhere and I can't ever tell her--" + +Keineth could offer small comfort, but the two locked their arms tight +about one another and listened as though in the gathering darkness they +might hear Alice's dear voice. + +Mr. Lee had rushed off again to the city after a whispered word to +Barbara to stay close to her mother. Billy, his heart breaking, his +eyes burning with the tears which his boyish pride would not allow him +to show, and feeling the bitterness of his youth and his uselessness, +slowly mounted the stairs to the corner of the attic which was his own +particular den. The nickel of his beloved wireless apparatus gleamed at +him through the darkness. Like a flash a hope sprang into his heart! +Snatching up the phone he placed it upon his head, then ticked off his +message, with call after call, in every direction! + +Now and then someone picked up his words--an unsatisfactory answer +would come back. However, finding relief in doing something, Billy +repeated his calls; listening intently for any answer. + +Just as to his mind vividly came the picture of Alice's hurt face, +when, that very morning, he had roughly taken from her his old stamp +book, his own call came through the air. Every nerve in his body +tingled a response! It was Freddie Murdock--they had often talked back +and forth across the lake from where, on the Canadian shore, Freddie +Murdock's father had a cottage. And the words that Freddie was sending +to him by the waves of the air were: "Sister found--all right!" + +Shouting the good news Billy rushed three steps at a time down the +stairs straight into his mother's arms! She clung to him, burying the +boy's face, down which the tears were streaming, close to her heart. + +And while they clung together, crying and half laughing, Barbara +reached her father on the telephone to tell him how Alice had been +found! + +Two hours later Genevieve brought the little truant home. Mrs. Lee +carried her off for a warm bath and bed, while Nora, her eyes very red +with weeping, fixed her a bowl of hot milk toast. + +"I coaxed the story from her," Mr. Lee told his wife and Barbara later; +"that child wanted to see Midway Beach! Do you remember how hard she +begged to go with the Clarks when they went over and how unreasonable +she thought we were in refusing? Well, she just made up her mind to go +alone. She took her bathing suit and her pennies. She walked from here +to Middletown, took the trolley there for the city. On the trolley she +saw a party of picnickers headed for Midway Beach and she just walked +along with them. It was very simple. She watched the merry-go-rounds +and spent all her pennies! When it began to grow dark she laid down on +the beach and fell asleep. They found her there, later, after young +Murdock had given the alarm of a child lost! She didn't seem to be +frightened until they handed her over to a policeman to take her back +to the city; then the seriousness of her runaway must have come to her. +I do not think you will have to worry that she will do it again." + +Up in her cot Alice lay wide awake. Beside her Peggy and Keineth, +exhausted by their anxiety, were breathing heavily. Below Alice could +hear voices that she knew were her father's and mother's. She wished +awfully that her mother would come to her! With a child's instinct she +had read on her mother's face the suffering she had caused. Suddenly +she felt terribly alone--perhaps none of them would love her now or +want her back. She had been so very, very naughty. She clutched the +blanket with frightened fingers. + +The voices ceased below and in a moment Alice saw her mother's face +bending over her. With a little cry she threw her arms about the dear +neck. + +"Oh, Mammy, Mammy," she cried, in a passion of sobs, "say you love +me--say you want me back! I don't ever, ever, ever want to go away +alone! I thought it would be fun--I didn't think I was so naughty. Hold +me close, Mammy----" exhausted, she hid her face. + +"Oh, my dear--my baby," the mother breathed in comfort and forgiveness, +and the loving arms did not relax their hold until the child was fast +asleep. + +"I think, Billy," said Mr. Lee, the next morning, "the family will +present to you with their compliments the finest sending set we can +find!" + +"And aren't they useful?" Billy cried in just triumph. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A PAGE FROM HISTORY + + +For several days a peaceful quiet reigned at Overlook. Little Alice +dogged her mother's footsteps, as though she could not bear one +moment's separation; Barbara spent the greater part of her time at the +golf club, coming home each day glowing with enthusiasm over the game +and fired with a hope of winning the women's championship title. Billy +had no thought for anything but the new sending set which his father +had ordered for him and which Joe Gary was helping him to install. +Keineth, under Peggy's tutorage, was faithfully practicing at tennis, +spending much time volleying balls back and forth across the net and +trying to understand the technic of the game. Then each afternoon came +a delicious dip into the lake, when Mrs. Lee would patiently instruct +Keineth in swimming. They were gloriously happy days--seeming very +care-free after the hours of agonizing concern over Alice; days that +brought new color into the young faces and an added glow into the +bright eyes. + +"Does Keineth know how we spend the Fourth of July?" Billy asked one +evening. + +"I hate firecrackers!" Keineth shuddered. "We always went away over the +Fourth to a little place out on Long Island." + +"We just have balloons and Roman candles in the evening because they +are not dangerous," Peggy explained. + +"And then on the Fourth we always make our visit to Grandma Sparks." + +"Who is she?" asked Keineth. She had never heard them speak of Grandma +Sparks. + +"Father calls her a page out of history." + +"Every man that had ever lived in her family has served his country--" + +"She isn't really our grandmother. Just a dear friend." + +Barbara explained further: "She has the most interesting little old +home about two miles from here. Part of it is over one hundred years +old! She lives there all alone. And her house is filled with the most +wonderful furniture--queer chairs and great big beds with posts that go +to the ceiling and one has to step on little stepladders to get into +them, only no one ever does because she lives there all alone. She has +some plates that Lafayette ate from and a cup that George Washington +drank out of--" + +"And the funniest toys--a doll that belonged to her grandmother and is +made of wood and painted, with a queer silk dress, all ruffles! She +always lets me play with it." + +"And her great-great-grandmother, when she was a little girl, held an +arch with some other children, at Trenton, for Washington to pass +through when he went by horse to New York for his first inauguration. +They all wore white and the arch was covered with roses. Grandma Sparks +loves to tell of it and how Washington patted her great-great-grandmother +on the head! If you ask her to tell you the story she will be very +happy, Keineth." + +"I like her guns best--" cried Billy. "She's got all kinds of guns and +things they used way back in the Revolution!" + +"And she has a roomful of books and letters from great people that her +ancestors collected. Why, Father says that she would be very rich if +she'd sell the papers she has, but she will not part with a thing! +Mother says she just lives in the past and she'd rather starve than to +take money for one of her relics!" + +"I'd rather have the money, you bet," muttered Billy. + +"I wouldn't--I think it must be wonderful to have a letter that was +really written and signed by President Lincoln himself," Barbara +declared. + +"I'm awfully glad we're going there," said Keineth eagerly. + +"Let's ask her to tell us about how her brother dug his way out of +Andersonville Prison! She'll show us the broken knife, Ken!" + +"Why, Billy, she's told us that story dozens of times--let's ask for a +new one!" To Keineth: "After she gives us gingerbread and milk and +little tarts she tells us a story while we all sit under the apple +tree!" + +"And say, she can make the best tarts!" interrupted Billy. "Oh, I wish +the Fourth would hurry and come!" echoed Keineth. It did come--a +glorious sunny morning! Billy's bugle wakened them at a very early +hour. Before breakfast the children, with Mr. and Mrs. Lee, circled +about the flag pole on the lawn, and, while Billy slowly pulled the +Stars and Stripes to the top, in chorus they repeated the oath of +allegiance to their flag. Keineth--her eyes turned upward, suddenly +felt a rush of loneliness for her father. A little prayer formed on her +lips to the flag she was honoring. "Please take care of him wherever he +is!" + +At noon, in Genevieve, they started merrily off for Grandma Sparks! In +her mind Keineth had drawn a picture of a stately Colonial house, with +great pillars, such as she had sometimes seen while driving with Aunt +Josephine. Great was her surprise when Billy turned into a grass-grown +driveway which led past a broken-down gate and stopped at the door of +a weather-gray house; its walls almost concealed by the vines growing +from ground to gable and even rambling over the patched roof. At the +door of the house stood a noble apple tree, spreading its branches in +loving protection over the old stone steps which led to the threshold. + +Through the small-paned window Grandma Sparks had been watching for +them. She came out quickly; a tiny figure in a dress as gray and +weather-beaten as the house itself, a cap covering her white head. Her +hands were stretched out in eager welcome and her smile seemed to +embrace them all at once. + +"Well--well--well," was all she could say. + +Keineth felt suddenly as though this quaint little lady had indeed +stepped out of one of her own dusty old books--she could not be a part, +possibly, of their busy world! And while the others talked she +examined, with unconcealed interest, the queer heavy furniture, the +colored prints on the walls and the old spinnet in the corner. Billy +was already taking down the guns and Alice sat rocking the doll. + +Keineth was shown the picture of the great-great-grandmother who had +held the arch and was told the story; she saw the plates and the cup +and the broken knife. They unfolded the flags that had been in the +family for generations and reread the letters that Mrs. Sparks kept in +a heavy mahogany box. One of them--most treasured of all--had been +written to her mother in praise of her brother's bravery on the +battlefield under action, and was signed "A. Lincoln." + +"My greatest grief in life," the little old lady said, holding the +letter close to her heart, "is that I have no son who may for his +generation serve his country, if they need him!" + +Afterwards Barbara told Keineth that Mrs. Sparks had once had a little +boy who had been born a cripple and died when he was twelve years old. + +While Barbara and Peggy were busy spreading a picnic--table under the +apple tree, Keineth told Grandma Sparks of her own father and how he +had gone away to serve his country, too; but that it was a secret and +no one knew he was a soldier because he wore no uniform. + +"The truest hearts aren't always under a uniform, my dear," and the old +lady patted Keineth's hand. "The service that is done quietly and with +no beating of drums is the hardest service to do!" After the +picnic--and the picnic _had_ included the gingerbread and tarts and +patties that Barbara had described and which the dear old lady had +spent hours in preparing--they grouped themselves under the apple tree; +Grandma in the old rocker Billy had brought from the house. + +"Not about Andersonville, please," begged Peggy. "Why, I know that by +heart! A new one!" + +"Something about the war," Billy urged. + +Barbara interrupted, shuddering. "No--no! I can't bear to think there +is a war right now--" + +"Child--I had thought that never again in my lifetime would this world +know a war! We have much to learn, yet--we are not ready for a lasting +peace. But it will come!" + +"That's what my father says--we must all learn to live like families in +a nice street," added Keineth gravely. + +"Oh, well--if the girls can't stand a story about the war, tell us +something about the early settlers! I like adventure--if I'd lived in +those days you bet I'd have discovered something!" "I remember," mused +the old lady, "a story my father used to tell! We have the papers about +it somewhere. Let me think--it was about a trading post on the Ohio and +a captive maiden brought there by the Indians!" + +Billy threw his cap in the air. + +"Indians! Hooray!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE CAPTIVE MAIDEN + + +Grandma Sparks folded her hands contentedly in her lap and fastened her +eyes upon the distant tree-tops. + +"Years and years ago, when this land was a vast forest, a band of +Canadian and French soldiers and traders made their way through the +wilderness to the banks of the Ohio where they built a small fort and +started a trading post. The land was rich about them and they were soon +carrying on a prosperous trade with the Indians who came to the fort. +Though these Indians were friendly the soldiers had made the fort as +strong as possible, for they knew that no one could tell at what moment +they might be attacked! Sometimes weeks and months would pass when no +Indian would come their way; then some of the traders would journey +back along the trail with their wealth, leaving the others at the fort +to guard it. + +"In their number was a soldier who had once escaped from England; had +gone into France and from there to Canada, all because he had made the +King angry! Everyone in England thought he was dead. After years of +lonely wandering he had joined the little band of adventurers when they +started for the West--as they called it in those days! He was a queer +man, for he seldom talked to his fellows, but they knew he was brave +and would give up his life for any one of them! They called him +Robert--no one knew his other name, nor ever asked. + +"It was the custom at the trading post to treat the Indians with great +politeness. Sometimes great chiefs came to the fort and then the +soldiers and traders acted as though they were entertaining the King of +England. + +"One early morning a sentry called out to his fellows that Indians were +approaching. The soldiers quickly made all preparations for their +reception. The commanding officer went forward with some of his men to +meet them. The Indian band was led by a chief--a, great, tall fellow +with a kingly bearing, and behind him another Indian carried in his +arms the limp form of a white girl. + +"Briefly the chief explained that the girl was hurt; that they, the +white men, must care for her! Where they had found her--what horrible +things might have happened before they made her captive no one could +know, for an Indian never tells and the white men knew better than to +ask! The girl was carried into shelter and laid upon a rough wooden +bed. It was Robert, the outlaw, who helped unwind the covers that bound +her. + +"In astonishment the soldiers beheld the face of a beautiful +girl--waxen white in her unconsciousness. Silently the Indians let the +white medicine-man care for their captive. She had been so terribly +hurt that for days she lay as though dead! While the soldiers +entertained the Indians, the medicine-man and Robert worked night and +day to save the young life. + +"Having finished trading with the white men the Indians prepared to +return to their village, which, they told the white men, was far away +toward the setting sun. The girl was too ill to be moved; so, with a +few words, the Indian Chief told the officer of the fort that soon they +would return for the girl--whom he claimed as his squaw--and that if +ill befell her, or, on their return, she was gone--a dozen scalps he +would take in turn! The officer could do no more than promise that the +Indian's captive would be well guarded. + +"And every white man of them knew that as surely as the sun sets the +Indian would return for the girl whom he claimed as his squaw, and that +if she was not there for him to take, twelve of them would pay with +their lives! + +"The weeks went on and the girl grew well and strong, but, because of +her horrible accident, could remember nothing of her past. She was like +an angel to the rough traders and soldiers; going about among them in +the simple robe they had fashioned for her of skins and sacking, with +her fair hair lying over her shoulders and her eyes as blue as the very +sky. And because she could not tell them her name they called her +Angele. + +"One day a message was brought to their fort telling of war in the +Colonies--that the English were fighting the French and that all Canada +would be swept with flame and blood! Almost to a man they said they +would go back to fight. One among them did not speak--it was Robert! +Though he had fled from England never to return, he could not lift his +hand against her. And someone must stay with Angele! + +"By the camp fire they talked it over. It was decided that four of them +would remain at the fort until the chieftain came to claim his captive. +One of these would be Robert; the other three would be chosen by lot. + +"So while the others went home along the trail over which they had +come, the four guarded the little fort for Angele's sake. Three of them +gave little thought to that time when the Indian chief would come for +the girl--to them, it simply meant that their guard would be ended and +that they, too, might return--but Robert went about with a heavy heart, +for, as the days passed, it seemed to him more and more impossible to +give the girl into a life of bondage! Under the stars he vowed that +before he would do that he would run his knife deep into her heart, and +pay with his own life. + +"Angele's contentment was terribly shattered one evening when, at +sundown, three Indians came to the fort. At the sight of them she +uttered a terrible scream and fled into hiding. They said they had been +wandering over the country and had come to the fort quite by chance and +only sought a friendly shelter for the night, but the sight of their +brown bodies and dark faces had shocked the girl's mind in such a way +as to bring back the memory of everything that had happened to her and +hers at the hands of these red men. Robert found her crouched in a +corner weeping in terror. To him she told her story; how the little +band of people, once happy families in the land of Acadia, roaming in +search of a home, had been surprised by an attack of Indians; how +before her very eyes every soul of them had been killed and she alone +had been spared because the chief wanted her for his squaw! They had +carried her away with them; for days they had travelled through strange +forests, for hours at a time she was scarcely conscious. Then, +attempting escape, she had received the blow from a tomahawk that had +hurt her so cruelly. It was a terrible story. Robert listened to the +end and then, taking her two hands and holding them close to his heart, +told her solemnly that never would she be given again to the Indians! + +"But he did not tell her of his vow, for suddenly he knew that life +would be very, very happy if he could escape from the fort with her and +go back to the Colonies! + +"The three Indians, before departing, had told of an entire tribe they +had overtaken only a little way off, decked out as if for a great +ceremony and led by a chieftain! Robert well knew who they were. If +they were to escape it must be before the dawn of another day! + +"That night--quietly, that Angele might not be frightened--the men +talked together over the fire. Robert unfolded a plan. The others must +start eastward immediately along the river trail. Then as soon as the +moon had gone down, he and Angele would go in the bark canoe the men +had built--paddle as far eastward as they could, then make for the +shelter of the forests. + +"The others were eager to escape--for they knew now that the man Robert +would never give up the girl, and they loved their own scalps! They +hastily gathered together what they wanted to take with them and stole +from the fort. During their idle days they had dug an underground +passage from the fort to the river; through this they escaped quickly +to the trail. + +"Robert wakened Angele and told her of his plan. She said not a word, +but by the fire in her eyes Robert knew what escape meant to her. Then, +gently, he asked her if--when they had found safety in the Colonies-- +she would go with him to a priest to be married, and for answer she +turned and kissed him upon his hand. + +"While Robert loaded the canoe which he found at the river bank near +the opening of the rough tunnel, Angele joyfully made her few +preparations for the long journey. + +"Before leaving the fort Robert gave to Angele a small knife, telling +her that if they were captured she must use it quickly to end her own +life! He then carefully barred every possible entrance, knowing that +though the Indians could beat these down or fire the entire place, it +would mean some delay in their pursuit and give them a little start +toward safety. + +"Just as the moon disappeared and a heavy darkness enveloped them they +pushed away from shore. But as they started down the river a horrible +whoop split the air! Angele pressed her hands tight to her mouth to +still her scream of terror. With a mighty stroke Robert paddled for +midstream. But just as he did so an arrow shot past Angele and buried +itself in the soft part of his leg! + +"The three Indians who had come and gone in such friendly fashion were +not of the far-off tribe they claimed to be, but had been sent on ahead +by the chieftain to see how things were at the fort. They had gone back +and told their story and the chieftain, expecting that some escape +might be attempted, had planned to surprise the fort in the night. + +"His flesh stinging with the wound of the arrow, Robert lifted his +musket and fired quickly. Years before, in his own country, he had been +honored by his King for his good marksmanship, but it was God who +guided that aim through the darkness, for it shot straight into the +very heart of the chieftain! While, in confusion, the Indians gathered +about their fallen chief, Robert, with Angele fainting at his feet, was +soon lost in the kindly darkness of the river--paddling eastward!" + +"Oh, were they saved?" cried Peggy, drawing a long breath. + +"Yes. Days afterward they reached a fort where they found a priest who +married them. And they lived happy, useful lives in a settlement in +Pennsylvania. Some records of the fort where the priest married them +tell the whole story--they're right in the house," and Grandma nodded +her head proudly toward the open door. + +"Didn't I tell you she was like a page out of history?" Barbara asked +Keineth as they drove homeward. + +"You just feel as if you were an American History book, beginning with +the discovery of America," laughed Peggy. + +"If I was a history book I'd leave out dates and the Cabots--I never +can get 'em straight," Billy chimed. + +"There must be lots and lots of stories about brave men that were never +put in books," Keineth added thoughtfully. + +Peggy yawned widely. "Well, I'm glad I'm not that poor captive maiden +and just plain Peggy Lee of Overlook!" + +"And I'm gladder still that mother is sure to have ice cream for +dinner!" + +This, of course, from Billy. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +PILOT IN DISGRACE + + +"Anyone might think that this was Friday the thirteenth," growled +Billy. "I broke my fishing rod and I've lost my knife and Jim Archer +stepped on a nail and can't go on a hike this afternoon--" + +Billy's curious talk never failed to interest Keineth. She knew that it +was not Friday and it was not the thirteenth and wondered what Billy +ever meant! But she never asked him; something in the scornful +superiority with which Billy treated all girls made Keineth very shy +with him. She wished they might be better friends, for she felt very +sure that it would be great fun to share with him the exciting +adventures Billy seemed always to find! Vaguely she wondered what she +could do that might put her on an equal footing with this +freckled-faced lad who was, after all, only two years older than she +was! + +"Jim stepped on the nail yesterday--what's that got to do with to-day!" +Peggy answered teasingly, "Well, we were going to hike to-day," Billy +explained, too doleful to indulge in retort. "And all the other fellows +are doing something else." + +"Billy--Billy," called Alice from around the corner. "Just see what I +found!" She ran toward them, holding in her hand a dirty, ragged piece +of leather. + +"Where'd you find that?" demanded Billy, taking it from her. +"It's--why, jiminy crickets--it's one of my best shoes!" + +Billy meant that it had been! + +"Pilot!" the children cried, looking at one another. + +"That's what mother used to scold about Rex doing," Peggy recalled. + +"Why couldn't he eat my old ones!" groaned Billy, throwing the leather +off into some bushes. He felt troubled--he remembered that he had left +the shoes out on the floor of his dressing room. It was all his fault, +but Pilot would be blamed! + +"What can we do?" asked Keineth, sensing a tragedy. + +"I don't care anything about the shoes," answered Billy, "'cause I'd +just as soon wear these old ones as not--what d' I care about shoes? +But mother'll say that we can't keep the dog!" + +"He's only on trial--" Peggy broke in sadly. + +"If you girls could keep it a secret we'd give Pilot another chance--" + +"Alice is sure to tell! She can't keep anything!" + +"I can keep a secret! You just try me!" + +"Well, then," Billy lowered his voice mysteriously, "not a word! You +just cross your hearts that you won't tell a word! We'll give Pilot +another chance!" + +Solemnly the three girls crossed their hearts. Billy went off then in +search of some amusement of his liking, leaving them with the burden of +the secret. + +It weighed upon them through the day. And the more heavily when at noon +time the cook from Clark's tapped upon the kitchen door and reported +with great indignation that "jes' while her back was turned a minute +that there dog had stolen her leg she was about to be carvin' and had +gone off with it like he was possessed." + +"Your leg--well, now!" cried Nora, all sympathy. "Faith--not my _own_ +leg, but a leg of lamb!" wept the other, "and what the mistress will be +a sayin' I don't know!" + +"Where is that dog?" Mrs. Lee had sternly asked of the children. No one +knew. Keineth and Peggy exchanged troubled glances and then fixed +frowning eyes upon Alice. + +"It really is very foolish in us to keep him," Mrs. Lee went on. +"Probably this is just the beginning of the annoyances he will cause!" + +"He tramples down the flowers terribly," Barbara complained. + +Mr. Lee caught the anxious look in Billy's eyes. + +"Well, well, Mother, perhaps Billy will keep a closer watch on his dog +after this!" + +Billy promised with suspicious readiness. "Mr. Sawyer says Pilot's a +valuable dog," he told them. "And we ought not to give a valuable dog +away, anyway!" + +"We'll see," Mrs. Lee concluded. + +But that evening Pilot sealed his own doom! + +For, as the children were playing croquet near the veranda, he came +running across the lawn and triumphantly dropped at Billy's feet a +beautiful gold fish, quite dead! + +"Oh--oh--oh!" screamed Alice. + +"It's from Sawyer's pond!" cried Peggy on her knees. + +"The poor little thing." Keineth lifted it. "It's dead!" + +"It's their new Japanese gold fish," added Barbara, who, with Mrs. Lee, +had come down the steps from the veranda. "You'll have to pay for this, +Billy!" + +"I think this is the last straw," said Mrs. Lee sternly, turning to her +husband. + +"Oh, Mammy, he couldn't help it--they swim round and he thinks they are +playing!" Peggy implored. + +Pilot, standing back, his tail wagging slowly, regarded them with +wondering, disappointed eyes. He had felt so very proud of his fish and +now his family seemed to look upon him with displeasure. + +"And I can tell the secret now," cried Alice, "we weren't going to +tell--he ate one of Billy's _best_ shoes!" + +"You just wait!" cried Billy. Peggy turned a terrible face upon Alice. +"We'll never, never, never tell anything to the tell-baby again!" she +hissed. "Will we, Ken?" + +"I guess I knew it first," Alice whimpered. + +"It was my fault--I left them out, Mother! And I'd just as soon wear my +old shoes!" Billy turned pleadingly to his mother. + +"I am sure you would," she smiled, "but nevertheless I must be firm +about this dog. He is a nuisance and will be an expense. By the time we +have paid the Clarks for their lamb and the Sawyers for their goldfish +and bought you a pair of shoes the damages against Pilot will have run +up to a nice little sum!" + +"But, Mother, you can take it out of my allowance!" + +"That will not guard against other things of this same sort happening. +No, my son, I do not like to make you unhappy, but we must get rid of +the dog. Please say no more about it. Day after to-morrow we'll send +him into the city with the vegetable man." + +Mrs. Lee turned back to the veranda. When she spoke with that tone in +her voice the children never answered. Peggy, linking her arm in +Keineth's, turned an angry shoulder upon Alice. Billy blinked his eyes +very fast to clear them of the tears that had gathered in spite of +himself, threw his arm about the dog's neck and led him away to some +hiding place where, secure from intrusion, he could pour out his +rebellious heart to his pet. + +"There's no use staying angry at Alice!" Keineth protested in a low +tone to Peggy as they walked away. She felt sorry for the little girl +standing at a little distance irresolutely swinging a croquet mallet. +"It was her secret, anyway and Aunt Nellie would have found out about +the shoe some time. Perhaps we were wrong not to tell her at first." + +"You always stand up for everybody," Peggy complained, dropping +Keineth's arm in vexation. But Peggy's sunny nature could not long +carry a grudge of any kind. She had made a solemn vow, too, that she +would never be unkind to Alice again! And there _would_ be just time +before dark to play one more game of croquet! + +"Will you play, Allie? You can have red and play last," she cried. +"Come on, Ken!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +PILOT WINS A HOME + + +"What a horrid day!" with a wide yawn Peggy threw the stocking she was +darning into the basket. "I wish mother wouldn't make me wear +stockings--then I wouldn't have any holes!" + +"I wish the sun would shine," Alice chimed, disconsolately. + +"If mother were here, she would say that we must make our own +sunshine," Barbara laughed. She was folding carefully the white +undergarment she had finished making for her college "trousseau"--as +her father called it. + +"Well, it seems as if everything goes wrong all at once," Peggy refused +to be cheered. The children knew she was thinking of Pilot. Pilot's +disgrace and sentence hung like a gloomy cloud over their hearts. + +"Who'd believe you could think so much of a dog?" Keineth frowned as +she pondered the thought. "I used to think Aunt Josephine was so silly +over Fido. I am sure Fido was never as nice as our Pilot, but I suppose +Aunt Josephine thinks he's much nicer. Once he swallowed a paper of +needles from Aunt Josephine's work basket and she almost fainted, and +Celeste had to call a doctor for her and another for the dog and they +sent the dog to a hospital. Then Aunt Josephine blamed Celeste and told +her she must leave at once and Celeste had hysterics, for you see she'd +been with my aunt since she was very young and they had to send for the +doctor again for Celeste." + +"Oh, how funny!" laughed Peggy, though Keineth's face was very serious. + +"Then Aunt Josephine felt sorry and forgave Celeste and they called up +the next day from the hospital to say that Fido was very well and that +needles seemed to agree with him. But Aunt Josephine worried for weeks +and weeks over him." + +"Pilot would know better than to eat needles," Alice broke in +scornfully. + +"Yes--he likes shoes and goldfish," Barbara finished. "Where's Billy?" + +From the mother to the smallest of them they felt sorry for Billy. For, +though Billy had said not a word concerning the fate of his pet, the +hurt look in his eyes betrayed the sorrow he felt. No one knew where he +was--he had disappeared quietly after breakfast. And Pilot was with +him. + +"No tennis or golf to-day," grieved Barbara, going to the window. + +"Anyway we can swim," cried Peggy. + +"In the rain?" asked Keineth, astonished. + +"Why, of course, silly! Wouldn't we get wet, anyway?" + +Keineth's face colored. Peggy went on with a toss of her head: "And I +simply must practice swimming under water to-day--the contest isn't +very far off. You can't expect me to help you out to the rock, Ken, +you'll have to play in shallow water!" + +Keineth's soul smarted under this humiliation. The rock was the goal +around which their fun centred. It was twenty yards out from shore and +its broad, flat surface gave room for six of them to stand upon it at +one time. As around it the water was five feet deep, it was necessary +for one of the children to help Keineth reach it. Then, while the +others practiced all the feats known to the fish world, Keineth always +stood carefully in its centre, head and shoulders above the water's +surface and watched them with interest and admiration, tinged with +envy. + +To conceal the tremble in her voice Keineth had now to swallow very +quickly. "All right, Peggy," was all she answered and Peggy never knew +how deeply her careless words had hurt her. + +Keineth _had_ grown discouraged with her swimming. Somehow it was so +easy when some one was with her, but she could never seem to muster the +courage to dive off into the water the way the others did. And Daddy +would be so disappointed! + +Mrs. Lee had given her careful instruction in the stroke--perhaps if +she was alone, away from Billy's roguish glance and the terror of his +catching her ankle under water, she might feel more confidence. + +This thought still lingered in her mind when, in the afternoon, they +went to the beach. Billy was already in the water; the faithful Pilot +was digging on the beach for dog treasures. Because of the drizzling +rain Mrs. Lee had not come down. + +While Barbara and Peggy were racing under water Keineth found it very +easy to slip away. She chose a spot where a bend of the shore concealed +her. She stood knee-deep in the water, going through the movements of +the arm stroke, with a careful one, two, three. She put her small teeth +tightly together--she _would_ have confidence, she _would_ go out +deeper, throw herself calmly into the water in Peggy-fashion and swim +off, one, two, three! She _would_ remember to breathe easily and keep +her arms under the surface of the water! + +There was an indomitable will in the child. She _did_ throw herself in, +and, counting one, two, three, forgot her usual gasp of fright; +suddenly it seemed natural and as if she had always done it! She felt a +delicious joy in the ease with which her stroke carried her ahead +through the water. She wished Billy might see her now! Then, exhausted +by her effort, triumphant and happy, she reached for a footing on the +bottom. Her toe could not find it! With a cry of terror she threw her +arms wildly upward, involuntarily seeking for some hold! Then she +slipped, slipped down, fathoms and fathoms it seemed--a dreadful +choking gripped her, like tight arms upon her chest! She tried to call, +but the water only made a fearful gurgle in her throat! She wanted her +father--_he'd_ stop that terrible pain in her chest and take that grip +from her throat! + +Suddenly she felt very, very tired and as if she would sleep when the +pain was gone. Her body lifted slowly; her hand, flung upward, gripped +something soft but firm in her clutch--the water splashed about her! +She thought it was her father! He was pulling her away, then she seemed +to go to sleep. + +When consciousness returned, Keineth found herself lying upon the beach +wrapped in Barbara's raincoat. Peggy was crying and Barbara, her face +very white, was rubbing her hand. On her other side knelt Billy, the +rain dripping from his bare arms, his face flushed as though from +violent exercise. Behind him stood Pete, the man of all work in the +community, who had been drawing gravel from the beach. + +"Darling!" cried Barbara. "Oh, are you all right?" + +Keineth slowly looked all around. _Had_ it been some dream, +then--wasn't her Daddy there at all? Barbara had slipped an arm under +her head and was folding it higher. It helped her breathe. + +"What was it?" Keineth managed to whisper. "I'd never, never, never +have forgiven myself," Barbara was crying now. + +"You almost drowned," Peggy explained. Now that the danger was over she +began to enjoy the excitement. + +"And Pilot saved you!" Billy cried. + +"We had just missed you and Billy had started up the shore when we +heard your cry!" + +"And it didn't take that dog two seconds to get out to you! Just say he +isn't human!" + +"I thought it was Daddy," Keineth whispered. + +"What, dear?" Barbara had not caught the words. "You must keep very +quiet, Ken. And Billy's had his first aid case!" + +Pete clapped Billy on the shoulder. "Wal, I jes' calculate now that it +was them gim-cracks Billy here put you through, missy, that brung you +to!" + +"I always wondered if I could do it," Billy said with pardonable pride, +"and, say, that'll mean a medal from the troop!" + +Alice had run home to tell Mrs. Lee of the accident. Together they had +hurried down to the beach. With Pete's help they lifted Keineth to the +gravel wagon and, like a triumphal procession, moved slowly homeward. +Mrs. Lee immediately tucked Keineth into bed with hot water bottles and +blankets to check the chill that was creeping over her. + +"She'll be all right, I am sure," Mrs. Lee whispered to the anxious +children. Later the doctor came, left some powders and patted Keineth +on the head. "A good sleep and quiet will fix up those nerves O. K. +Then forget all about it." + +He was quite right; the next morning Keineth, quite as well as ever, +joined the family at breakfast. Though Mrs. Lee had warned them not to +mention the accident to Keineth unnecessarily, Mr. Lee did pinch her +cheek and say: "You lost your head, didn't you, little sport? If you'd +just kept your arms down, now--but, if you go exploring strange beaches +again you'll remember, won't you?" + +Peggy and Keineth, moved by a feeling of intense relief, suddenly +caught hands under the table. For into both hearts had come the fear +that Keineth's mishap might end the swimming for the summer! And +Keineth had not forgotten that, though it had ended sadly, for a very +brief time she _had_ mastered the stroke. Mrs. Lee smiled down the +table. "And I think Pilot has won a home! Except for him--" she stopped +suddenly, her eyes bright with tears. "William, bring home the finest +collar you can find and to-night we will decorate our dog with all due +honor!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A LETTER FROM DADDY + + +"KEN--a letter!" + +Billy rushed toward the garden waving a large square envelope over his +head. + +Keineth and Peggy were weeding their flower bed. Keineth dropped her +hoe quickly to seize the letter. + +"It's from Washington, and it's got a seal on it like the seal of the +United States!" exclaimed Billy. + +"Oh, let me see!" cried Peggy. + +Keineth had taken the letter. Looking from one to the other, she held +it close to her. + +"I--I can't--it's from the President, I guess--" A wave of +embarrassment seized her and she stopped short, wishing that she might +run away with her treasure. + +"The President--writing to you! Oh, say--" Billy snorted in derision. + +Peggy, offended at Keineth's shyness, turned her back upon her. "I +don't want to see your letter, anyway," she said ungraciously. + +"Oh, please--I'd love to show it, only--I promised--" Then, as Peggy +gave no sign of relenting, Keineth walked slowly toward the house with +her letter. + +"I think Keineth's mean to have secrets," and Peggy dug her hoe +savagely into the ground. "She acts so mysterious about her father and +I'll bet it isn't anything at all!" + +"But that letter _was_ from the President, I guess! Gee whiz, think of +getting a letter really from him! I wish I was Ken!" + +"It's nothing! Anyone can be President--I mean, any man!" + +"Just the same, mother told me that some day we would be very proud of +knowing Keineth's father. She wouldn't tell me any more. I'll bet it +would be awful interesting to know him! There's something certainly +queer about how no one knows where he is! I guess I'll ask Ken to tell +me just a little bit. I can keep a secret." + +"Well, you can know her old secret for all I care," and Peggy started +for the barn. Billy did not follow. He had thought of a plan. He would +challenge Ken to a game of tennis. And he would let her beat him. Then +he'd ask her very casually about her father and promise, on his scout's +honor, not to tell a soul! The plan seemed good. He'd wait for her to +come down. + +In her room Keineth had opened the large white envelope. From inside +she drew a sheet of paper upon which were written a few lines, and with +it a blue envelope of very thin paper, addressed in her father's +familiar handwriting. With a little cry she caught it up and kissed it +again and again. Before she broke its seal she read what was written on +the sheet which had enclosed it. + +The few lines were signed "Faithfully, Woodrow Wilson." They began, "My +dear little soldier girl," and they told her that it was with great +pleasure he had forwarded her letter to her father and now returned to +her its answer. He called it an honor to serve them both and expressed +the hope that some day he might make her acquaintance and tell her how +deeply he admired and respected her father. + +Keineth merely glanced at the lines. What mattered it to her that they +had been written by the President of the United States! Did she not +hold tightly in her fingers a letter from her Daddy? + +"My precious child," it began. Keineth had suddenly to brush her eyes +in order to see the letters. "Your letter found me at one of my many +stopping places. It brought to me a breath of home. I shut myself in my +room and read and reread it, and it seemed to bring back the old room +and the chair that could always hold us both. I could hear your voice, +too. I miss you terribly, little girl, but I thank God daily that you +are well and happy and with good friends. + +"I have travelled through many lands of which I will have much to tell +you. I have been in the Far East--poor Tante would have wept with joy +over the beauty of the Flowery Kingdom. I have bowed before enough +emperors and kings to make my poor back ache. Do you remember how you +used to rub the kinks out of it? I have spent hours and hours with the +great men of the world. I have seen wonderful beauty and glorious +sunshine. (How I'd like to ship some of it to old New York.) And I have +seen ugly things, too. We shall have great times when we are together +again, childy, telling one another the stories of these days we have +been parted. You shall tell me something first and then I will tell +you. It will take us hours and days and weeks. + +"Now I am going in my wanderings to other lands that are black with the +horror of war. I shall have to witness the suffering it brings to the +homes and I will be more glad than I can tell that my baby is far from +its pain. + +"I have learned in these wanderings of mine that it is in the children +this old world must place its trust. That if they want a better +government they must give to the little ones all that is pure and clean +and honest and good and see to it that they are happy. I feel like +shouting it from the housetops--'Make them happy!' It doesn't take +much. + +"I feel your big, wondering eyes on mine--you do not understand! Ah, +well, girlie, all I mean is--romp and play--build up a strong little +body for that heart of yours--see things that are clean and good, and +whatever the game is--play square! + +"We cannot be grateful enough to the dear Lees for all they are doing +for us. Try and return their kindness with loyalty. I will write later +to Mrs. Lee in regard to the plans for the fall. Do whatever she thinks +best. You will stay with them until I return. Just when that will be I +cannot tell now, but you must be brave. Your courage helps me, too, my +dear. + +"Sometimes, when my day's work is done and I can put it from my mind, I +close my eyes and dream--dream of the little home we will build when I +return: build--not in the old Square, that is gone except to +memory--but in some sunny, open spot where we can live and work +together and lead useful lives. It is a beautiful castle as I see it in +my dreams--and beautiful with love. + +"I will send this letter with other papers to Washington and they will +forward it to you. + +"Good-by, little soldier--I salute you, my General. + +"God keep you for + +"DADDY." + +The words rang through Keineth's heart like a song. She longed to pour +out her joy in music, but Billy's voice came to her from below. + +"Ken, Ken." + +"Yes, Billy." "Come on, I'll play tennis with you! Bet you can beat me, +too!" + +Keineth suddenly remembered Peggy's and Billy's rudeness. Perhaps Billy +was trying to make amends. She really wanted to be alone with her +letter a little longer, but if Billy wanted her to play! She felt +proud, too, that he had asked her. + +Billy found less difficulty than he had anticipated in letting Keineth +win the set. In fact, deep in his heart, he was not sure he had "let" +her. For Keineth, fired with the joy within her, played brilliantly, +flying over the court like a winged creature, returning Billy's serves +with a surprising quickness and strength that completely broke down his +boyish confidence in himself. + +"Thanks awfully--that _was_ fun," Keineth said as they sank down under +a tree for a moment's rest. + +Though his plan had worked very well so far, Billy now felt at a loss +to know how he ought to proceed. So, accepting her thanks with a brief +nod, he bolted straight to the point. + +"Say, Ken, if you'll tell me about your father I promise on my scout's +honor not to tell a soul! And you ought to tell me anyway, for didn't +my dog save your life, and didn't I give you first aid or you might've +died!" + +"Oh, Billy!" Keineth cried, then stopped short. Her heart warmed to +Billy--they seemed almost like pals now! He had preferred playing +tennis with her than going off somewhere with the boys. And she did +want more than anything else right then to talk about her daddy; to +tell how great he was and how he was visiting courts of Eastern lands. +And she wanted to show Billy the letter from the President, it was in +her pocket. And she knew if Billy said he'd never tell that he would +not. + +But a soldier never swerves from duty and had not her father called her +his "General"? + +"I--I can't, Billy," she finished. + +There was something so final in her voice and in the set of her lips +that Billy, red with rage, rose quickly to his feet. + +"I'll bet you haven't got any secret and you're just making up to be +smart and I'll get even with you, baby! And you didn't beat me playing +tennis, for I let you, anyway! You wait--" and, vengefully, Billy +strode away, leaving an unhappy little girl sitting alone under the +tree. Peggy met Billy on the road. Peggy was in search of Keineth. Her +nature was too happy to long nurse a grievance. She didn't care if +Keineth did have a secret! And she had wonderful news, too! + +But Billy's morose bearing stirred her curiosity. + +"Did she tell you, Billy?" she asked. + +"I'll bet she hasn't got any secret that's worth knowing! And she +needn't say she beat me at tennis, either." + +"Oh, Billy Lee, you let her beat so's she'd tell you! I'm just _glad_ +she didn't! I guess girls never tell anything they've promised not +to--even if they are girls!" + +In great scorn she ran from the disconsolate Billy. She had spied +Keineth alone under the tree. + +"Ken--Ken! Great news!" Peggy rushed toward her. "We are going camping +with Ricky--you and me--next week! Hurray!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +CAMPING + + +Keineth learned that Ricky was Peggy's gymnasium teacher. Her real name +was Fredericka Grimball, but to "her girls" she was always known as +Ricky. The camp was among the hills ten miles from Fairview. And during +the vacation months Ricky took her girls there in groups of twenty. +With their play she gave them instruction in scoutcraft. + +"We go for tramps into the woods and she tells us stories of the birds +and trees. I never knew until she told me that there are male and +female trees, and flowers and all the things that grow; did you know +it, Ken? And we found a weasel, last summer--it was almost tame. We're +going to learn signalling, too; perhaps this winter Ricky will let us +form a troop and join the Girl Scouts." + +Keineth, with wide-open eyes, was trying to follow Peggy's incoherent +description of the camp life they were to begin on the morrow. Back in +her mind was a tiny doubt as to whether she would enjoy twenty +girls--all strangers! But she would fight this shyness and do whatever +Peggy did. + +"We sleep right out of doors when it is clear. The woods smell so good +and there are all sorts of funny sounds as if all the bugs and things +were having parties." + +"Oh-h, I wonder if I'll like it!" and Keineth shivered with pleasurable +dread. + +"We paddle in canoes on a little lake that's like a mill-pond. It's +awfully shallow and the water is so clear you can see right through it, +and we ride horseback, too! I'm a patrol leader," Peggy finished with +pride. She folded the last middy blouse neatly into a wicker suitcase. +Their luggage consisted of bloomers, blouses, bathing-suits and +blankets. + +"Easy to remember--all B's," Mrs. Lee had laughed. + +Mr. Lee drove them to the camp. "Come back with some muscle in these +arms of yours and a few more freckles on your nose," he said to +Keineth, pinching her cheek affectionately. + +"Camp Wachita"--the girls had nicknamed it Camp Wish-no-more--was +nestled in the hills with the tiny lake at its front door and a dense +woodland at its back. Sleeping tents were built in a semicircle about +the central building, in which were the living-rooms. On a grassy level +stretch close to the water was the out-of-door gymnasium and beyond +that the boathouse and dock to which several gaily-painted canoes were +fastened. + +The family at Camp Wachita consisted of Martha Washington Jones, the +colored cook; Bonsey, her twelve-year-old son, who very occasionally +made himself useful about the camp; Captain O'Leary, a Spanish War +Veteran by title and by occupation caretaker of the horses and boats; +Miky, the little Irish terrier, and Jim Crow, who had been brought, the +summer before, to the camp hospital from the woodland to receive first +aid for a broken wing, and had refused to leave the family. + +Keineth had little difficulty in making friends with the other girls. +There seemed to be among them such a jolly spirit of comradeship that +she found it very easy to call them Jessie and Nellie and Kate, and +never once wondered at their quickly adopting Peggy's familiar "Ken." +She thought that Peggy must have known them all very well and was +surprised when Peggy told her that there were only three of her friends +among them. + +"But we're all Ricky's girls, you see," she explained, as though that +was all that was necessary to create a firm bond of loyalty and +friendship among them. + +"Ricky," this captain of girls, was a tall, straight, broad-shouldered +woman of twenty-five. The sunniness of her smile, the firmness of her +jaw and the all-understanding warmth of her dark eyes told of the +character which made her a leader of others and a spirit beloved among +them all. + +Each new day of the camp life brought to Keineth some new experience, +thrilling in its strangeness to the little girl. She had learned to +love going to sleep with the great, star-lit vault of the sky +enveloping her; the singing of the "bugs," as Peggy had put it, was +fairy music to her ears; she had conquered her first terror of the +shell-like canoes and now could paddle with confidence, even venturing +alone upon the shallow water. And to her own surprise she was enjoying +the companionship of the other girls! + +Among them was one named Stella Maybeck. Stella was not an attractive +girl--she was too tall and too thin, her voice was loud and her manners +a little careless. She had big, dark eyes with a hungry look in their +depths. She adored Ricky and showed a preference for Keineth's company. +At first Keineth felt a little repelled by the girl's rough ways, but +gradually she grew to feel that beneath them was a warm, kind heart and +that it was, perhaps, shyness that often made Stella's manner +disagreeable. + +They walked together on the tramps into the woods and Keineth enjoyed +the fund of knowledge the other girl seemed to have concerning all the +little woodland creatures and their ways. + +"I don't see why you like to be with Stella Maybeck," Peggy had said to +her one day. "I think she is horrid!" she finished unkindly. + +"Why, Peggy!" Keineth frowned. It was very unfair in Peggy to speak in +this way concerning one of the other girls. Keineth did not suspect +that perhaps a little jealousy prompted Peggy's ungraciousness. + +This little cloud was to grow over the whole camp. And in the second +week Ricky's girls learned a lesson of greater value to them than all +the scoutcraft they loved. + +Twice a week the vegetable man came to the camp with fruit and +vegetables. These the girls placed in the storehouse, one of them +carefully checking off the purchases as they did so. One morning some +oranges were reported missing. Ricky paid little attention to the +incident. The next day one of the girls came to her and announced that +a ring had been taken from her sleeping tent. Although disturbed, Miss +Grimball gently rebuked the girl for having disobeyed the camp rules in +bringing jewelry to it and sent her away, bidding her speak to no one +of her loss. + +Then Miss Grimballs silver purse containing ten dollars in bills was +taken from her desk! + +Like a flash the story spread through the camp. The girls gathered in +an excited group. Keineth and Stella, with arms locked, stood together. +From the other side of the group Peggy saw them. The jealousy that had +been slumbering within her heart suddenly gripped her. + +"Well, I think I could guess who did it, all right, and I just think +it's a shame for anyone like that to I dare to come to Ricky's camp!" +It was not necessary to do more than fix her gaze indignantly upon +Stella Maybeck. With a little gasp Stella turned and ran into her tent. +The others pressed closer to Peggy. + +"Oh, do you think so?" they whispered in awed voices. + +"Peggy!" cried Keineth, imploringly. + +"I'm not going to say another word," Peggy answered, perhaps a little +frightened at what she had done. + +The girls waited breathlessly for Miss Grimball to take some action in +the matter. Each felt that the disgrace must be wiped from the happy +camp life. + +At noon Ricky's whistle sounded. The girls assembled on the gymnasium +ground. Their captain stood before them, dear-eyed, smiling at them all +with her usual confidence. Stella, with Keineth, had joined the others +and stood in the background. + +"I think you all know what has happened. I am disturbed, but I will not +suspect one of my girls. All I want to say is this--so great is my +trust in your loyalty, in your honor, and in your sense of what is +square--if one of you, through an unfortunate yielding to temptation, +has taken these things that have been lost, they will be returned, +because you are girls of honor. So I am not worrying. Now, please do +not talk of the matter among yourselves." + +The routine of the day went on. The girls avoided Stella; only Keineth +kept close to her side. Keineth longed to pour out to Stella her +confidence in her innocence and her indignation at Peggy, but a certain +pride in Stella's manner forbade it; she could not find the right +words, so she simply occasionally squeezed Stella's hand! + +In this way two unhappy days passed. Then on the third morning Peggy, +crossing the path leading to the kitchen, saw Jim Crow scurrying toward +the wood with a spoon in his mouth! On tip-toe she followed him. +Turning off from the trail near the edge of the woodland, he stood for +a moment as though listening, then dropped his treasure into the hollow +trunk of a dead tree! + +And there Peggy, following the rascal, found the oranges, the ring, and +Ricky's silver purse! + +In that moment when Peggy stood alone among the trees, the stolen +things in her hands, she learned a lesson that she could never forget! +She walked slowly back to Miss Grimball's office and told her the story +of Jim and of her own unjust accusation of Stella. + +"We should have suspected Jim, the villain," Ricky laughed. "Another +chapter in scoutcraft, Peggy. Will you go, my dear, and tell Stella?" +Then she gently put her hand upon Peggy's head, "Judge not, my dear," +and, leaning, she kissed her. + +Peggy rushed off in search of Stella. She found her sitting on the +dock, a picture of misery, Keineth by her side. + +"Stella, I was a wicked, wicked girl! It was Jim Crow stole the things, +and I found them in an old tree and I wouldn't blame you if you never +forgave me! I think the reason I was so horrid was because I was just +_jealous_ that Ken loved you more than she did me--" For lack of breath +Peggy stopped, her soul clean from her confession. + +A great joy came into Stella's dark eyes. She held out her hand and +Peggy caught it in a tight grip. + +"Now I'm going to call all the girls together and tell them the whole +story and that I'm just terribly ashamed." She ran from them, her hands +to her mouth, loudly giving the call of the camp. There was great +rejoicing at Camp-Wish-no more. The cloud of suspicion had lifted. The +girls could not be nice enough to Stella, and for the first time she +seemed to lose her shyness and awkwardness among them. Then Ricky +decided that, in order to entirely forget the whole thing, they would +go on an all-night hike to the old mill on Cobble Hill. + +"Hooray--hooray!" went up from eager throats. + +"Three cheers for Stella!" + +"Three cheers for Peggy!" they cried again. + +"Down with Jim Crow!" + +That night, under the stars, Keineth snuggled close to Peggy. She had +asked to be Peggy's blanket mate. + +"You're all right, Peg," she whispered, Billy-fashion, "and I do love +you most of all!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE TENNIS TOURNAMENT + + +"Sport's Week" had begun at the Shore Club. The excitement of it +gripped the Lee family. Each talked of the game in which he or she was +most interested and no one listened to the other. Barbara, with an +absorbed air, mentally played the shots she would make when on Friday +she would meet in the final round of match play for the championship +title her old foe, Carol Day. Peggy had no thought for anything but the +swimming contest. Mr. Lee was chairman of the committee on arrangements +and spent most of his time at the telephone. Mrs. Lee did her part in +the decorating of the club-house and went about with her arms full of +gay bunting and her mouth full of pins. + +And Keineth shared the excitement! For she had qualified in the +children's tennis tournament and would play in the doubles and had +drawn Billy for her partner! + +It was her first real contest! Secretly she shivered with fright but +outwardly tried to appear calm like Peggy. All the day before the +tennis matches began she went about with her racquet in her hand as +though to accustom her trembling fingers to its hold. + +Though Billy, since the day he had tried to make Keineth confide in him +the story of her father's absence, had maintained toward her a scornful +indifference, he had accepted her as a partner because there was no +alternative. But he managed to convey to her that he considered it an +unfair indignity that he should be so handicapped. And he talked +entirely of the paddling races. + +However, Keineth could not be discouraged. In her mind was one thought +only--they _must_ win! For, each day, in her room she was writing a +careful account of all that happened to send to her Daddy, and failure +could have no part in the story. + +And in the very first match they defeated Molly Sawyer and Joe Gary! + +Margaret Dale, playing with Charlie Myers had, after a hard game, +beaten Grace Schuyler and Merton Day. Then Keineth and Billy played +against them. It was a close match; the courts were circled by an +interested crowd of onlookers. Though Billy had had to play with all +his skill to meet Charlie Myers' strength of volley, he knew that +Keineth had more than done her part, too. + +"She played way over her head," he answered sullenly to the praise his +family bestowed upon her. + +One more set put them in the final match against Jim Downer and his +sister Helen. A taste of victory had given to Keineth a poise that +steadied her in her game; this matching of strength, skill and +quickness--something she had never known before--had developed a +surprising confidence in herself. Her joy was not in the defeat of +their opponents, rather in her own mastery of all those things which +for so long she had been trying to learn! + +"Good luck to you, kiddies," Mr. Lee had said to them at the breakfast +table. "Play your best and then you won't mind if you are defeated. And +if the other fellows play better, don't think up any excuses--it's +something to be good losers!" + +In the brief moment of waiting before the final match began, Keineth, +standing quietly near the courts, thought how different she was from +the funny little girl who had come to Overlook two months before. She +knew now what her father had meant when he had told her that that old +life, with him and Tante in the old house, had cheated her out of the +other things children had. He had been right He would be pleased, now, +to know the part she was taking with the others. + +The judges called the match; Keineth caught her breath and ran on to +the court. She gave one whispered word to Billy. + +"We've _got_ to win!" + +Billy had not enjoyed Keineth's sudden rise into fame. He felt less +tolerant and the old grudge flamed into being. If they won now--and +everyone said they would--they'd all think it was Keineth that had won +it. They'd make an awful fuss over her--they always did over girls--and +there'd be no living with either her or Peggy. He could throw the game, +just fall down on one or two returns and no one would know the +difference! He felt very sure of winning the paddling races and what +did he care about the tennis match, anyway?--it'd be different if they +were the real matches, but they were just for children. These thoughts +ran through his mind as he swung his racquet backward and forward in +the air, a heavy scowl wrinkling his face. + +And Keineth's confident "We've got to win" had been the last drop in +his cup of annoyance. + +The first two games were slow, a little volleying and a good many +"outs." Someone called from the gallery, "Warm up!" Keineth threw her +head back with an answering smile, for she recognized Mr. Lee's voice. + +Their opponents won the third game against a thirty. That spurred +Keineth; the fourth game was faster with some hot volleying and pretty +returns and won by Keineth and Billy in a quickly mounting score. +Excited, Keineth did not notice that Billy had not returned one or two +balls with his usual skill. + +The next, a deuce game, was hotly contested. Her face ablaze with +interest, Keineth held her little body tensely poised on one toe, ready +for instant action. The faces of the crowd around her blurred into +nothing--there seemed only left in her small world those two beyond the +net! + +The next game was bewildering. Keineth played desperately, but they had +only won thirty points when the others made the game! The set stood +four to two in Keineth's favor, but their opponents were playing +stronger with each game. + +In the seventh game Billy dropped off shamelessly. He was never quite +ready. Before Keineth realized the situation the others had won and won +easily! + +"Billy!" Keineth whispered imploringly. The indifferent look on Billy's +face struck terror to her heart. What _was_ the matter with him? + +The next game Keineth won alone--if Billy could not play she'd play for +him! Her little teeth, clenched tight together, gleamed white through +her parted lips. The crimson of her cheeks mounted into her fair hair. + +"What a picture!" Mrs. Lee whispered to her husband. She was not +thinking of the game at all. "What a spirit! Think, William, what that +can mean in this world when the child's grown up!" + +"That's just why this sort of sport is good for them," Mr. Lee +whispered back. "But what is the matter with Billy?" + +That is what Keineth wondered, too. They had won five games--they +_must_ win the next and set! Walking close to Billy she confronted him, +her face ablaze. For just a moment they looked hard into one another's +eyes; not a boy and girl, the one proudly conscious of his boyhood and +two years' difference in age, the other a very young and all-admiring +girl--but just two mortals contesting together against two others. + +And at last they, Keineth and Billy, met on equal ground--Keineth had +proven her mettle--let Billy show his! Keineth's clear, straightforward +gaze made Billy drop his eyes in sudden shame. + +"Play square," she said sternly. And Billy played square! Their +opponents had not a chance! + +"Well, Billy did wake up," some one said and some one else added: "If +they'd lost it would have been his fault. That Randolph girl played a +corking game for her age!" + +They had won the tennis tournament! Keineth did not enjoy half so much +the silver cup they placed in her hands as she did Peggy's delight and +Mr. Lee's hearty handclasp of congratulation. The young people carried +them off to luncheon at the club-house, where they made merry far into +the afternoon. + +That evening Billy, with a very serious face, approached his father, +where he sat alone on the veranda. + +"Dad, I've withdrawn my name from the paddle races!" + +"What's wrong, son?" + +"I'm not a good sport--that's why," Billy answered with his usual +frankness. "I had a sort of grudge against Keineth because she wouldn't +tell me about her father and I'd vowed to get even and I just laid down +on that tennis game--until she made me ashamed!" + +"But she did make you ashamed, Billy?" + +"Yes--she told me to play square and I just thought then that no one +would ever have to tell me to play square more than once!" + +Mr. Lee laid his arm across the boy's shoulder. + +"Laddie--these games we play teach us a lot, don't they? There is +something in them more than fun and more than the health they give! +You've learned a motto to-day that you can pin on your shield when you +go out to meet the other matches life offers!" + +"You can just bet I'll always try to play square! And I'm going now to +find Ken and tell her she's a brick!" + +Mr. Lee watched the boy disappear. Though a smile hovered about his +lips, his eyes were serious--the cigar between his fingers had quite +gone out. + +"May he keep that spirit all through life," he was thinking. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +NOT ON THE PROGRAM! + + +Keineth, a little tired after the strain of the tennis match, thought +it much more fun to watch the others. Billy had gone into the paddling +races, and no one but Mr. Lee and Keineth knew that it was because +Keineth had begged him--and he had won and Keineth had been the first +to examine the wrist watch he had received as an award. And on Friday +the entire family waited eagerly near the eighteenth green of the golf +course for Barbara and Carol Day to play up in the final game for the +golf championship! + +Keineth and Peggy held hands tightly in their excitement. + +"Oh, I can tell by Barb's walk she's ahead," Peggy cried as the two +players, their caddies and a small gallery, appeared around the corner +of the wood that screened the seventeenth green. + +"She was two down at the turn and Carol was playing par golf," someone +volunteered. "What does down at the turn mean?" whispered Keineth. + +"The turn's at the end of the ninth hole and a-l-a-s, down means Barb +was behind. Pooh, she always plays better when she's down!" + +A man had just returned from the fifteenth tee. + +"They were dormie at the sixteenth," the girls heard him say. + +"What _queer_ words they do use in golf! I thought dormie was a +window!" + +"Oh, Ken," giggled Peggy, "you mean dormer and it's dormie when one +player is just as many holes ahead as there are more holes to play. +Good gracious!" her face fell, "that means that Barbara will _have_ to +win these three holes and she always slices on the eighteenth!" + +"She won't this time, Peggy! That girl's like steel in a match!" a man +nearby broke in. + +"She's driving first!" Billy cried. "Oh, look--look--look! P-e-ach-y!" + +Breathlessly they watched the two players advance toward the green. +Barbara had outdriven her opponent but she topped her second. Carol +Day, playing a brassie, put her ball well up. Barbara recovered on her +third shot, carried the bunker which guarded the green twenty yards +from it, and laid her ball on the edge of the green. Carol's third +caught the top of the bunker, shot into the air and dropped back into +the sand pit! + +"Oh-h!" breathed Peggy delightedly into Keineth's ear. She knew it was +the worst bunker on the course. + +But difficulties only made Carol Day play the better. She studied the +shot for several moments while Barbara and the gallery watched with +tense interest. Then they saw her lift her niblick slowly, her head +bent; a cloud of sand raised, the ball cleared the bunker's top, +dropped upon the green, rolled a few feet and rested within an easy +putt of the cup! + +The gallery applauded. It was a splendid shot, one of the kind that +ought to win a match for its player. Even Keineth cried out in generous +praise of the play. + +Peggy gripped Keineth's hand so hard that it hurt. + +"Steady, steady, there, Barb," Mr. Lee muttered. Barbara walked slowly +to her ball. Her eyes were lowered, she did not glance at the familiar +faces about the green. Her next shot demanded the utmost skill, care +and steadiness she could command. Of them all she was the coolest. She +_must_ run down her putt to win the match! + +Peggy suddenly shut her eyes that she could not see what happened. The +others saw Barbara, with an easy movement, line her putt. The ball +rolled slowly over the clipped turf, dead straight to the hole--closer, +closer, hung for one fraction of a second on the rim of the cup and +then with a thud that was like music, dropped in! Barbara was the +champion of the women players of the club! + +"Why, it almost made me sick." Peggy confided to Keineth afterwards. "I +will be a wreck when this week is over! And oh, if I can only win the +life-saving medal to-morrow! Think of it, four prizes in the Lee +family! There will be no living with us. I don't care a straw for the +cups they give--it's that little bit of a bronze medal I want There's +going to be a man here from Washington to give it to the winner--one of +the Volunteer Life-saving Association. And that medal's _got_ to go +right here," and defiantly she struck her hand against her breast. + +"I just can't wait," Keineth sighed in a tragic manner. + +"The last day is most fun of all," Peggy explained. + +"How can we ever settle down into calm living?" + +"Huh--fast enough! I've got to begin reviewing English. I have a +condition to make up." + +"And I want to work on my music," cried Keineth, suddenly +conscience-smitten. + +"Mother says that to-morrow night we'll wind up with a supper on the +beach. It's lots jollier than the dinner dance at the Club and we're +too young to go to that, anyway. Barb could go if she wanted to, but +she'd rather have the fun at the beach. We fry bacon and roast corn and +mother makes cocoa and then we sing. Oh, dear, won't it be awful to +grow old and not do those things?" + +Together they sighed mightily at such a prospect! + +For the last day of the Sports Week there was a program of fun that +began immediately after breakfast and lasted through the day. All the +club members gathered on the beach where gaily-decorated booths had +been built. From these lemonade and sandwiches were served +continuously. The motor boats, canoes and skiffs, their flags flying, +made bright splashes of color against the green water. Stakes, topped +with flags, marked the course for the swimming races. The judges were +taken out on one of the larger motor boats. + +Keineth had never seen anything quite like it. To her it seemed like a +chapter from some story and a story strange and exciting! + +The committee had arranged games and races for the very little +youngsters so that during the morning the beach front was astir with +them--bright-eyed, bobbed-haired, starched little girls and tanned, +bare-legged boys, trying vainly to elude the watchful care of the +mothers and nurse-girls, who made a background for the pretty scene. + +The life-saving contest followed the swimming races. Four others +besides Peggy had entered: Molly Sawyer, Helen Downer, Mary Freeman and +Gladys Day. + +Keineth had never watched a contest of this sort before. She cried out +in alarm when she saw a man, fully dressed, at a signal totter off the +deck of the judges' motor boat. Someone next to her laughed. + +"That's just pretend--he's an expert swimmer! It's Mary Freeman's turn! +Watch her!" + +Keineth saw Mary detach herself from a small group, rush into the water +tearing off her blouse as she did so. Then something went wrong--Mary +seemed to make no headway toward the man, the judges blew a whistle, +the man who had jumped overboard climbed back into the boat; there was +some laughter which others quickly frowned down. + +Peggy had drawn last place in the contest. When Keineth saw the others +fail, one after another, she glanced at Peggy with nervous anxiety. But +Peggy stood, outwardly calm, the picture of confidence, her eyes +fastened upon the judges' boat, waiting for her signal. + +Another man fell overboard; to Keineth he looked like a giant! She saw +Peggy spring forward--in a flash her blouse was off and she had thrown +it backward over her head. She was swimming and Keineth knew that as +she swam she was unbuttoning and kicking off her shoes and her skirt. +An encouraging shout went up as she moved rapidly forward, her head +under water, first one straight, strong arm, then the other, shooting +out and ahead! + +Off at a little distance the judges' boat was chugging. From the beach +the spectators, breathless, could see a struggle in the water. Then, +where for a moment there had been nothing visible, they saw Peggy's +head; saw her making for shore swimming on her back with strong leg +strokes, one arm encircling the man's head, her grip holding his chin +and nostrils out of water and pinioning his arms so that his struggles +could not drag her down. + +A shout went up from the beach front--louder and louder; the motor +boats blew their sirens. Keineth ran to the water's edge that she might +be the first to greet the proud young swimmer. + +Willing hands helped Peggy pull the rescued man upon the sand where, +the water dripping from her shoulders, Peggy gave "first aid." After +several moments, marked by a big, sunburned man whom Keineth learned +afterwards was the man from Washington, the victim was pronounced +saved, rose to his feet and was the first to shake Peggy's hand! + +"Why, it was so real that it seemed awful funny to see him just get up +like that," Keineth giggled afterwards, when she had a moment alone +with her Peggy. + +"Well--it wasn't any easy thing to bring him in! Why, he struggled just +as much as though he was really drowning! But, oh, Ken--Ken, I've won +my medal!" + +Later the children went back to the house to prepare the picnic. They +trooped up the rood, an excited group; Keineth and Peggy in advance. + +As they came nearer to Overlook a strange sight met their eyes. They +stopped short. + +For there on the gravel drive, its high-powered engine snorting and +puffing, a rigid, uniformed figure at the wheel, stood Aunt Josephine's +bright yellow car! + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +AUNT JOSEPHINE + + +"It's Aunt Josephine!" cried Keineth. + +"Oh, dear, she'll spoil the fun!" + +Keineth wished the ground would open wide and swallow her up, so deep +was her dismay. Never in her life had she so hated that yellow monster +and Kingston's rigid back! And yes, the black-robed figure in the back +_was_ Celeste! + +"Oh, dear," echoed Alice. + +"Maybe she has some word from father." The thought lent wings to +Keineth's feet--she flew over the ground, Peggy following closely, a +most curious sight for Aunt Josephine's eyes, with her wet bathing-suit +and her blue and white bathrobe flying out behind! + +No, Aunt Josephine had no news of Keineth's father! She was on a motor +trip and had stopped at Fairview. She was quite the same Aunt +Josephine, beautifully gowned in a linen dress whose trimmings matched +the stylish little hat she wore on her head. She rose from the wicker +chair on the veranda, where she sat with Mrs. Lee, to greet the +children. Keineth felt her critical glance wander from her to the +others even while she was answering her aunt's questions. + +Mrs. Lee read the consternation behind the children's polite greetings, +for in her sweet voice she broke in: + +"I have been asking Mrs. Winthrop to join us to-night in our beach +frolic--you girlies must urge her!" + +"Oh, please do!" they cried together. + +Aunt Josephine did not seem to hear them. She was looking very hard at +Keineth. "She does look well," she admitted; "I suppose the quiet life +here has been good for her." She spoke directly to Keineth and the +child felt in her tone the mild disapproval she knew so well. "I am on +my way through to the Yellowstone, child. I thought, perhaps, I might +pick you up and take you along, but you are so freckled that you are a +sight!" Then, as though she recalled the beach supper and the +children's invitation, she added, apologetically, "It is very kind, but +I am a little out of the habit of such things!" + +"Hateful thing--how can she be Ken's aunt!" Peggy was thinking +resentfully, for she had seen a hurt look creep into Keineth's eyes. + +Mrs. Lee's face wore its most cordial smile. She laid her hand upon +Aunt Josephine's arm. + +"That's just why I like to go to picnics and things--it _is_ easy to +get out of the habit of fun! Do send your man away and join us! It will +be a great treat to know our Keineth's aunt a little better." + +Now what neither Keineth nor Peggy, nor even Mrs. Lee could guess was +that beneath the folds of expensive linen and lace and dainty pleatings +of rose silk was a heart that was just hungry because--years and years +before--it had forgotten "how to have fun!" The happy faces of the +children, freckled though they were, the simplicity of the pretty home, +the flowers blooming so riotously and gaily all about, the light that +lay deep in Mrs. Lee's eyes roused a longing very strange to Aunt +Josephine! Perhaps if she had had youngsters of her own she might never +have been the kind of an Aunt Josephine she was--tyrannized over by a +Fido and a Celeste and a Kingston! + +"I will come," Aunt Josephine decided so suddenly that they were +startled. "Keineth, dear, please tell Celeste to come to me." + +Celeste was instructed to unpack a warm coat and to bring a robe. Then +she and Kingston were told that they might drive back to town, to +return later for Mrs. Winthrop. + +Mrs. Lee carried Aunt Josephine off to the tiny guest room while the +children flew toward the pantry to make ready the picnic baskets. + +Vaguely Keineth felt worried, as though, in some way or other, she was +to blame for this unwelcome addition to the party. But Peggy, joining +them in middy blouse and bloomers, reassured her in an excited whisper. + +"It'll be such fun just to see how she'll act! Oh, I do wish that funny +maid and that awful leather-man were going, too! Do you suppose she can +_ever_ eat a bacon sandwich without a fork?" + +But Aunt Josephine _did_ eat one without a fork and then ate another. +She sat on a rock, her pretty linen all crumpled and mussed, a great +deal of sand in her shoes, and balanced a paper plate on her lap and +laughed, a rippling jolly laugh that Keineth had never heard before. +She made Keineth and Peggy sit one on each side of her and tell her of +all they had done during the summer. + +When the last marshmallow had been toasted and the pans scoured and put +away in the baskets, the picnickers gathered about the dying bonfires +for a "sing-song." This always included all the songs they loved best, +the songs Mr. and Mrs. Lee had known in their youth and the songs of +the present day. And Aunt Josephine's rich contralto rang above the +others. + +"Why, I haven't sung like this since I can remember," she laughed. The +children were just finishing, "There's a long, long trail a-winding, +into the land o' my dreams!" + +In the dim light Keineth was studying her aunt's face. Perhaps she had +often been unkind in her thoughts; she might have known that Aunt +Josephine must be very, very nice or she couldn't have been her +father's sister! She slipped her hand into her aunt's and felt a warm +pressure return her clasp. + +When Mrs. Lee began "This is the End of a Perfect Day" the children +knew that the fun was over. They were glad to go home, for it had been +a strenuous and exciting week. + +When the good-nights were said Aunt Josephine drew Keineth toward her. + +"May I keep her up a little longer--I would like to have a little +talk." + +A dread seized Keineth's heart, for she recalled her aunt's words +concerning the Yellowstone. She might have to go with Aunt Josephine +and Celeste and Kingston, after all. + +Aunt Josephine sat down by the lamp, very straight, the way she always +sat when she had something important on her mind. Mrs. Lee sank back +among the pillows on the divan and Mr. Lee pulled his chair closer to +the window and lighted his pipe. + +"I cannot tell you," Aunt Josephine began, "how glad I am to have +become acquainted with you all. I feel better about Keineth." + +A silence followed this. Very troubled, Keineth glanced at Mrs. Lee, to +find her smiling. + +"You know I did not approve of the way my brother just turned her over +to almost strangers. It seemed as if she ought to be with me. I would +have sent her to a camp in Maine--a very fine camp for girls--and then, +perhaps had her with me at the seashore." + +Aunt Josephine paused as though waiting for Mrs. Lee to say something. +And Mrs. Lee said quietly: + +"I think she has been happy here." + +"I came this way intending to steal her for this Yellowstone trip, +though perhaps she'd better not go." Keineth put her hand to her face +involuntarily as though to cover the shameless freckles. "But I feel +that I ought to talk over with you--well, the plans for her school in +the fall." Keineth swept a frightened glance toward Mrs. Lee. Aunt +Josephine went on in the voice she always used when doing her duty: +"Miss Edgecombe has a very select school for girls a few blocks from me +in New York. I know Miss Edgecombe well and she is holding a place open +for Keineth. I feel she is a very suitable person to train a child. You +know," with a tone of apology, "my brother had no sense at all in +bringing up the girl! He left everything to that queer old governess." +Mrs. Lee suddenly sat up very straight on the divan, + +"When Keineth came to us she had to learn to be like other children. +Yes, she had been shut up too much with that very good governess; her +little brain had grown faster than her body. It's her body's turn now, +the brain can wait. Mr. Randolph said that he wished her to remain with +us until he returned. Keineth and I have a plan of our own for the +fall, to play and work on our music." She smiled at Keineth. + +Aunt Josephine hesitated as though she could not find the right words +to express what she felt. "I thought it was my duty to speak to Miss +Edgecombe," she said stiffly; "she is my brother's child and will +probably, some day, inherit what I have. I should like to have her with +me, but," there was a wistful ring in her voice, "I suppose she is +better off with you." + +"The things Miss Edgecombe can teach her can wait, perhaps," Aunt +Nellie answered, smiling down at Keineth. "Keineth is happy in our +simple life--" + +"Simple life--that's just it!" Aunt Josephine spoke rapidly, as though +Mrs. Lee had suddenly helped her to find the words she wanted. "You're +so simple that you're wonderful! You've learned to live real lives +without all the shams that make slaves of the rest of us. Why, my life +seems as empty as a bubble and the things I do worth just about as much +as a bubble by the side of this." She swept her hand out toward the +lamp-lighted room. "And I must have lived like this once--but I've +forgotten! I've always thought my brother queer and that governess he +had insufferable--but I guess you and he know what's best. I'm glad the +child is with you. Yes," the wistful note crept back into her voice, "I +would have enjoyed having her, but, she's better off, all freckled and +in those absurd clothes." + +As Mrs. Winthrop drove away through the starlit night, a costly robe +protecting her from the chill of the evening, Celeste at hand for +instant service, Kingston guiding the monster car, she looked back over +her shoulder at the little house outlined against the sky and sighed--a +lonely little sigh. + +In a tumult of joy Keineth had thrown her arms about Mrs. Lee's neck. +"Oh, I was so frightened!" she cried. "Thank you for not letting me go. +I'd have just _hated_ Miss Edgecombe's--after this! And I do want to +stay with Peggy!" she finished with a tight hug. Then, as they climbed +the stairs together, she said softly--without knowing why in the least +she said it: + +"Poor Aunt Josephine! It must be awful to be rich." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +SCHOOL DAYS + + +September had come, and busy days! For Overlook had to be closed, the +city home cleaned and aired and made ready; Barbara must be sent away +to college and the younger children started off in school. + +"I feel all sort of queer inside," said Peggy, astride of a trunk, "the +way you do when you hear sad songs. I wish it was always summer and +nothing but play." + +"And no school," chimed in Billy. He was on his knees packing toys. "I +don't see what good school does, anyway! If nobody went to school it'd +all be the same." + +"I just hate beginning and then I love it," cried Alice. + +"You won't love it when you get into fractions," retorted Billy, +"'course its fun down in the baby grades!" He spoke from the lofty +distinction of a sub-freshman in the Technical High. Some day Billy +was going to make boilers like his father. + +"I don't mind school, but it's the fuss getting things ready. I just +despise dressmakers! You wait, Ken, until mother gets after you and you +stand by the hour and have Miss Harris fit you! The only fun is +watching to see how many pins she can put in her mouth without +swallowing any. Did that governess make your clothes?" + +Keineth described the funny little shop where Tante took her twice a +year. "They kept my measurements there and Tante would just look at the +materials." + +"And you never decided as to what color you wanted or had ribbons and +things?" cried Peggy wonderingly. + +Keineth's face colored a little. "Madame Henri thought plain things +better," she explained. + +"That's what mother says, but that plain things can be pretty, too. She +always lets us choose our color because she says it trains our tastes. +And this year, if I don't have a pink dress for best I'm going to make +an awful fuss!" "I'd like a pink dress," Keineth agreed shyly, "I never +had one!" + +Peggy jumped off the trunk. + +"Let's tease for pink dresses just alike; and now what do you say to a +last game of tennis?" + +"Make it doubles! I'll play with Alice," cried Billy, eagerly dropping +his work. And with merry laughter they rushed away. + +To close Overlook was an almost sacred task to the Lee family. Each did +his or her part tenderly, reluctantly. Mrs. Lee and Barbara folded away +the pretty hangings; Billy made the garden ready for the fall +fertilizing, took Gyp to his winter home at a nearby farm, and put the +barn in order; the younger girls helped Nora polish and cover the +kitchen utensils. + +And never had the days seemed more glorious nor inviting, filled with +the hazy September glow that turned everything into gold. + +"It's always just the nicest when we have to go to the city," Peggy +complained sadly. They were gathered for the last time on the veranda +watching the sunset. On the morrow they would return to town. Mr. Lee +looked over the young faces--the tanned cheeks and the eyes glowing +with health; the straight backs and limbs strong and supple from the +summer's exercise. + +"You're a fine-looking bunch to begin the winter's work," he laughed. +"It ought to be very easy to you youngsters." + +"How lucky we are to be able to live like this," Barbara said with a +little sigh. She was thinking as she said it that she was often going +to be very lonesome for home and this dear circle. Eager as she was to +begin her new life in college, she could not bear the breaking of the +home ties. + +And bravely she had decided she would tell no one of this heartache, +for one day she had surprised her mother gently crying over the piles +of undergarments they had made ready. Mrs. Lee had tried to laugh as +she wiped away her tears. + +"I'm just foolish, darling, only it seems such a little while ago that +you were a baby, my first baby--and here you are going off to college, +away from me!" + +So not for the world would Barbara have distressed her mother by +showing the ache in her own heart. In answer she had thrown her arms +about her mother's neck in a passion of affection. + +"I'll always, always, always love home best," she vowed. + +And this would not be hard, for the Lees' home, made beautiful by love +rather than wealth, was of the sort that would always be "home," and no +matter how far one of them might travel or in what gay places linger, +would always be "best of all!" + +The Lees' city home was not at all like Keineth's old home in New York, +nor like Aunt Josephine's pretentious house on Riverside Drive. Though +it seemed right in the heart of the city and only a stone's throw from +the business centre, it was on a quiet, broad street and had a little +yard of its own all around it. The house was built of wood and needed +painting, but the walks and lawns were neatly kept. Within it was +simple and roomy, with broad halls and wide windows, shaded by the elms +outside. Its walls were brown-toned, and yellow hangings covered the +white frilled curtains at the windows. There was one big living-room, +with rows and rows of bookshelves, easy chairs and soft rugs, a worn +davenport in front of the fire, tables with lamps, and books and +magazines spread out upon them in inviting disorder. There were flowers +here, too, as at Overlook, and Peggy's bird had its home in the big bay +of the dining-room, where he welcomed each morning's sunshine with glad +song. + +Each little girl had a room of her own, too, hung with bright chintz, +with covers on the bureau and bed to match. Peggy's and Keineth's had a +door opening from one to the other. Billy with his beloved wireless and +other things that Peggy called "truck" was happily established in the +back of the house. + +In a twinkling the entire family was settled in the city, "just as +though we'd never been away," Peggy declared. Then two days later +Barbara started off for college. + +The parting was merry. The girls had helped her pack her trunks; +sitting on her bed they had superintended the important process of +"doing up" her hair; and then had taken turns carrying to the station +the smart patent-leather dressing-case which had been her father's +gift. Everyone smiled up to the last moment before the train pulled out +of the station--then everyone coughed a great deal and Mr. Lee blew his +nose and Mrs. Lee wiped her eyes and Peggy sighed. + +"I'd hate to be grown-up," she admitted, and as she walked away she +held her mother's hand tightly. + +Although Barbara's going made a great gap in the little circle, +everyone was too busy to grieve. School began and with it home work; +there was basket-ball and dancing school and shopping, hats and shoes +to buy. Miss Harris arrived for her annual visit and much time was +spent over samples and patterns. And Peggy and Keineth got their pink +dresses! Then there were old friends to see, new ones to make and +relatives to visit. In this whirl of excitement the Overlook days were +soon forgotten! + +With the city life a little of Keineth's shyness had returned. She felt +lost among Peggy's many friends; the hours when Peggy was in school +dragged a little. The simplicity of the Lees' city home had made her +homesick for the big house in Washington Square--for its very +emptiness! So because of this loneliness she spent hours at the piano +eagerly practicing the technic that under Tante had been so tiresome. +Mrs. Lee had engaged one of the best masters in the city and Keineth +went almost daily to his funny little studio. At first she had been a +little afraid of him. He was a Pole, a round-shouldered man with long +gray hair that hung over his collar and queer eyes that seemed to look +through and through one. But after she had heard him play she lost her +shyness, for in his music she heard the voices she loved. He called her +"little one," and told her long stories of Liszt and Chopin and the +other masters. "They are the people that live forever," he would say. + +One rainy afternoon after school Peggy went to Keineth's room and found +its door shut. Peggy was cross because a cold had kept her home from +basket-ball, and she deeply resented this closed door. + +"I s'pose you're doing something you don't want me to know." Her ear +had caught the quick rustle of paper. In a moment Keineth had opened +the door, but Peggy was turning away with a toss of her head. + +"Oh, if you don't want me--" + +"Please, Peg," begged Keineth. She pulled her into the room. "I didn't +know you were home, honest!" + +Peggy glimpsed the corner of a paper half hidden under some books. Upon +it were written bars of music. + +"You _have_ got a secret," she cried excitedly, "you're writing music! +Keineth Randolph, if you don't tell your very best friend, now!" + +Keineth, her face scarlet, drew out the tell-tale paper. + +"It's just a little thing," she explained shyly. "Your mother showed me +how to write last summer, but I wanted to surprise everybody. I was +going to tell you, though, when it was done. Peg, I'm going to try to +sell it!" + +"Sell it! Get real money?" cried Peggy. + +"Yes--that's what the masters did--only they were nearly always +starving. 'Course I'm not, but I would like to earn some money." "Oh, +wouldn't it be fun?" Peggy caught Keineth's elbows and whirled her +around. "What would you ever do with it? But where do you sell music? +And what is its name?" + +"I call it 'The Castle of Dreams,'" answered Keineth with shining eyes. +"And Mr. Cadowitz told me there's a music house right here in the +city--Brown and Co." + +"Let's go there together! Let's go _now!_ Mother's away and it's just +the time!" + +The sore throat was forgotten. Peggy helped Keineth arrange the sheets +in a little roll and together they started forth on their secret +errand. They found the music house without any difficulty, but +Keineth's courage almost failed her when she found herself confronted +by a long line of clerks. To the one who came forward she explained her +errand. She wanted to see the manager--she had some music she wished to +sell! + +At his amused glance her face flushed scarlet. + +"Why, you're just a kid!" he answered impudently. "Mr. Brown's pretty +busy!" Then it suddenly occurred to him that it would be something like +a joke on the "boss" to take these two children to his busy office. The +clerk was not overfond of the head of the firm. + +"Well, come along," he concluded, winking at the other men. He led the +two girls through a labyrinth of offices and up a stairway to the +manager's door. + +"Two young ladies to see you!" he announced and shut the door of the +office quickly behind him. + +Keineth, frightened, had to swallow twice before she could make a +sound. Then, holding the manuscript out, she explained her errand to +the manager. Tipped back in his chair he listened with a smile; +however, he took the roll from her and, opening it, glanced over it +indifferently. + +"Let me play it for you," begged Keineth desperately. + +He led them into an inner room in the centre of which stood an open +grand piano. Keineth went straight to it and began to play. He listened +through to the end. + +"Wait a moment;" he waved her back to the stool. "I want Gregory to +hear you." The tone of his voice had changed. + +In answer to a summons Gregory came in, a thin, tired-looking man. The +manager turned to him: + +"This girl has brought in some music! I want you to hear it," and he +nodded to Keineth to begin. + +She played it through again while the two men held the manuscript +between them and read as she played. The man called Gregory nodded +again and again. His face had suddenly lost its tired look! + +"Why, we've found a little gem!" Peggy heard him mutter. Then to +Keineth: "What did you say your name was?" Keineth repeated it and the +manager wrote it down with Mr. Lee's address. He took the sheets of +music, rolled them, and put them in a drawer and locked it. + +"We will consider it and let you know in a few weeks," he said. Then he +shook hands with Keineth and Peggy. "And if you write anything more, +please bring it to us." + +"Oh, Peg, wouldn't it be grand if I could sell lots?" cried Keineth +later, in an ecstasy of ambition. + +"If I wasn't on the street I'd whoop," and Peggy squeezed her friend's +arm. "Why, Ken--maybe you'll be a master!" + +"And remember, don't tell a soul, Peg! Honor bright, cross your heart!" + +"Honor bright, cross my heart!" Peggy promised. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +CHRISTMAS + + +"Christmas isn't half as much fun after you don't believe in Santa +Claus." Peggy heaved a mighty sigh as she worked her needle in and out +of the handkerchief she was hemstitching. "How old were you, Keineth, +when you found there wasn't a Santa Claus?" + +Keineth did not answer for a moment. Her shining eyes had a far-away +look. She did not know what to say to make Peggy understand that, as +far back as she could remember, the beloved Santa and the Christmas +Spirit and her Daddy had always seemed to be one and the same person. +Always on Christmas morning her father had come to her bed, helped her +hurry on her slippers and robe and had carried her on his back down the +long stairway to the shadowy library where, on a table close to the +fireplace, a-twinkle with tiny candles and bright with tinsel, they +would find the tree he had trimmed. She could not bear to speak of it +Instead she told Peggy of the way she and her father always spent +Christmas Eve; how he would take her to a funny little restaurant where +they would eat roast pig and little Christmas cakes and then go to the +stores and wander along looking into the gaily-trimmed windows. + +"You see there are ever and ever so many children near our home that +never have any Christmas, and we used to wait for some to come and look +into the window. Then Daddy'd invite them to go inside and pick out a +toy. They'd be frightened at first, as if they couldn't believe it, but +after they'd see Daddy smile they'd look so happy and talk so fast. +Daddy always told them to pick out what they'd always wanted and never +had, and the boys most always took engines and the girls wanted +dolls--dolls with eyes that'd shut and open. Daddy and I used to think +that was more fun than getting presents ourselves." + +Mrs. Lee had listened with much interest. Her face, as she bent it over +her needle-work, was serious. + +"If I told you girlies of a family I ran across the other day, would +you like to help make their Christmas a little merrier?" They begged +her to tell them. + +Though Mrs. Lee never lacked time for the many demands of her family +and friends, she was a woman who went about among the poor a great +deal. Not like Aunt Josephine, who was the president of several +charitable societies and sent her yellow car about the poorer parts of +New York that Kingston might bestow for her deserving aid in places +where she herself could not go--Mrs. Lee worked quietly, going herself +into the homes of the sick and needy and carrying with her, besides +warm clothing and food, the comfort and cheer that she gave to her own +dear ones. No one could know just how much she did, because she rarely +spoke of it. + +"These people live in a tenement down near the river. The father was +crippled in an explosion several years ago and the mother has to work +to support her family. There are seven children--the oldest is fifteen. +What do you think they do at Christmas--and they love Christmas just +the way you do! They take turns having presents! And one of them has +been very, very ill this fall, so Tim, whose turn it really is this +year, is going to give up his Christmas for Mary. Isn't that fine in +Tim? Think of waiting for your turn out of seven and then giving it +up." + +Peggy threw down her work. "Oh, Mother, can't we make up a jolly basket +for them all like we did for the Finnegans two years ago? And put in +something extra for Tim because he's so--so fine?" + +"That's just what I wanted you to say," and Mrs. Lee smiled at her +little girl. "Make out a list of what you want to put in the basket and +then when you get your Christmas money you can go shopping." + +"Oh, what fun it will be to take the basket there! How old are the +children, Mother?" + +Peggy brought pencils and paper. The work was laid aside and the +children commenced to make the list of things for the basket. Alice and +Billy were consulted and agreed eagerly to their plans, Billy deciding +that he would take the money he had been saving for a new tool set and +with it buy a moving-picture machine for Tim. + +Keineth had dreaded Christmas coming without her daddy. But there was +so much to do and think about that she had no time to be unhappy. There +was much shopping to do and the stores were so exciting. Mrs. Lee had +given her the same amount of spending money that Peggy had received and +she and Peggy went together to purchase the things for the basket, +besides other mysterious packages to be hidden away until Christmas +morning. Then one evening there was a family council to decide just +what they would do on Christmas. + +"We always do this," whispered Peggy to Keineth as they sat close +together, "and then we always do just what Alice wants us to do, 'cause +she's the baby." + +And Alice begged them all to hang up their stockings and to have a +tree, if it was just a teeny, weeny one! + +"We'll do it," Mr. Lee agreed, as if there had been a moment's doubt of +it. + +"I suppose we'll go on hanging up our stockings after we're doddering +old grandparents," Mrs. Lee had laughed, though there was a suspicion +of tears in her eyes. + +"Mother and Daddy just spend all their time making everything jolly for +us children," Peggy said afterwards. The children were sitting around +the table, their school-books before them. "I just wish we could do +something that'd be an awful nice surprise for them." She stared +thoughtfully at the blank paper before her on which a map ought to be. + +"Let's do something on Christmas that they won't know about," suggested +Alice. + +"What?" put in Billy. + +"Janet Clark's cousins have charades Christmas night." + +"Oh, charades are stupid!" Billy hated guessing. + +Peggy's pencil was going around in tiny circles. She was thinking very +hard. Suddenly she sprang to her feet. + +"I know! Ken, let's write a play!" + +"A play!" cried the others. + +"Yes. I've got it all in my head, now. Barb will help us when she comes +home. You know Mother is going to invite Aunt Cora and Uncle Tom +Jenkins and the Pennys over for dinner Christmas night; we'll surprise +them with the play. Marian and Ted and the Penny girls can be in it! +Oh, I've always wanted to act! Won't it be _fun!"_ + +Peggy's enthusiasm won instant support from the others. Because Peggy +and Keineth had recently attended a matinee performance of "The +Midsummer Night's Dream," sitting in a box and wearing the new pink +dresses, Billy and Alice conceded that they knew more about plays and +must manage this. There were hours and hours then spent behind locked +doors and Mrs. Lee could hear shrieks of laughter with Peggy's voice +rising sternly above it. Now and then she caught glimpses of flying +figures draped in pink and white, but because it was Christmas-time and +the air full of mystery, she pretended to hear and see nothing. + +Barbara returned four days before Christmas, very much of a young lady. +Though her manner toward the younger children was at first a little +patronizing, after a few hours at home it quickly gave way to the +old-time comradeship. As soon as she could Peggy dragged her to her +room and read to her the lines of the play which she and Keineth had +scribbled on countless sheets of paper. Barbara promised to help. To +guard the secret the last rehearsals were held at Marian Jenkins', +under Barbara's coaching; and Billy and Ted Jenkins printed the +programs on Ted's printing press. "Oh, it's going to be the best part +of Christmas," Keineth cried delightedly. + +But it was not quite the best, for on Christmas morning, after the +children had returned from taking their basket to Tim and his family, +Keineth found a cablegram from her Daddy, wishing her a merry, merry +Christmas! + +Somehow, after that, it seemed as if her joy was complete! + +The gifts that the Lee children had found in their stockings had been +very simple; beside them the elaborate presents that had come in a box +from Aunt Josephine seemed vulgar and showy, although Barbara had cried +out in delight at her bracelet. To Keineth and Peggy she had sent tiny +wrist watches, circled with turquoise. + +"Much too lovely for children like you," had been Mrs. Lee's comment. + +While Mrs. Lee was helping Nora prepare the dinner the children put the +finishing touches to their costumes and with much whispering arranged +the stage for the play. The little tree around which the play must be +acted had been put at one end of the long living-room; the door close +to it on the right, leading into the hall, would serve as a stage +entrance. The only property needed was a rock, and by covering it with +a strip of gray awning, the piano stool would look very real. + +At six o'clock Aunt Cora and Uncle Tom, Marian and Ted arrived; a +little later all the Pennys. Eighteen sat down at the table that +creaked with the good things Mrs. Lee and Nora had prepared. Everyone +talked at once. Keineth, looking down the length of the room, decked +with the holly the children had fastened over doors and windows, +thought that nowhere could Christmas be merrier than right there at the +Lees! And what helped make the merriment was the comforting thought +that Tim and his family were eating a Christmas dinner, too! + +At eight o'clock Peggy stole quietly to her mother. + +"May we children go up to the playroom, Mummy? It'd be more fun there," +she whispered. Mrs. Lee nodded. + +The playroom was really a part of the attic, partitioned off and +lighted. Here the children donned the cheesecloth costumes they had +made. There was a great deal of laughter; Peggy was giving orders to +everyone at once! Barbara sat on a trunk pinning wings to fairies' +shoulders. And at the last moment Marian brought out some real make-up +stuff she had borrowed! + +Then Billy, in a clown's robe made out of an old pair of night-drawers +and a great deal of paper, went downstairs to give out the programs. + +"Oh, do I look like a real actress?" whispered Peggy to Keineth, wildly +pulling at her tinsel crown. + +"Just beautiful!" Keineth whispered back. "But oh, I'm so scared! I +know I won't remember a _single_ line!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +WHEN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT WORKED OVERTIME + + +Peals of laughter greeted Billy's appearance in the living-room. Then +everyone read the programs he gave them. + +"The rascals!" cried Mr. Lee, genuinely surprised. + +"Look at this," whispered Mrs. Lee, pointing to the program. + +For at its top was printed in large letters: + +WHEN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT WORKED OVERTIME + +BY + +PEGGY LEE AND KEINETH RANDOLPH + +And the rest of the program read: + +The Time of the Play: + +Christmas night after the children are supposed to have gone to bed, a +little ill from their Christmas candies, and when the grownfolks have +gathered together to talk over the day and declare that it's the best +Christmas the children have ever had. + +The Place: + +The living-room at home. And if possible the room should be darkened, +except for the lights on the tree, but if this is not convenient it +doesn't matter in the least, for the Christmas Spirit is not afraid to +walk into the most brightly-lighted room! + +The Persons who are in the Play: + + The Christmas Spirit Peggy Lee + The Christmas Fairies: + Happyheart Keineth Randolph + Peace Marian Jenkins + Goodwill Sally Penny + Merrylips Fanny Penny + Joy Anne Penny + Spirit of Childhood Alice Lee + + Jesters {William Lee, Jr. + {Edward Jenkins + +"I recognize Barbara's hand assisting," laughed Mr. Lee, as he read +through the program. + +"Sh--h!" The chatter suddenly ceased. Barbara pressed a button that +shut off all the lights excepting the twinkling bulbs on the tree. In +another room the children sang "Silent Night." As the last sweet note +died away, Peggy, in gauzy white with tinsel crown and wings, came +slowly into the room. She sank down upon the rock. The play had begun. +_Spirit_ (yawns): Goodness me, how tired I am! (Yawns again.) It seems +as if there are more children every Christmas. I think after to-night +I'll go to bed for a whole year! (Lifts her head suddenly and looks at +the tree.) Why, there are no presents on the tree! It must be a party +of grownfolks! (Sighs.) I do feel so sorry for grownfolks! They always +have to pretend they're having a Christmas. (Springs to her feet.) +Perhaps they're here now. (Looks intently at audience.) Yes--they are! +I can always tell when grownfolks are around, because I have to work so +much harder with them. I must call my fairies. (Spirit steps toward +door, puts her hand cup-shape to her mouth.) + + Come, oh Christmas fairies all, + Answer to the Spirit's call! + +(As she calls the fairies Happyheart, Merrylips, Goodwill, and Peace +dance into the room, curtsey low to the Spirit and group themselves +about her.) + +_Spirit_(holds out welcoming hands): Ah, fairies, what a wonderful day +this has been! Did you fill the stockings, Happyheart? + +_Happyheart:_ I've filled a million stockings! + +_Spirit:_ Splendid! And you, Merrylips? + +_Merrylips_: I've trimmed a million trees--small ones and big ones! + +_Spirit:_ Didn't you love it? They smell so good! How went the day with +you, Goodwill? + +_Goodwill:_ Oh, I've carried baskets of food until I am sure there was +not a hungry person in the whole wide world! _Spirit:_ Tell us, Peace, +of your work to-day! + +_Peace:_ I have gone about since early morning putting songs in +people's hearts! + +_Spirit:_ You worked well! I have heard the music all day long! + +_Merrylips_ (yawns): We're terribly tired! + +_Spirit_ (sternly): Hush! Fairies must never be tired when there is +work to do! See, I have found a tree! It has these pretty lights but +there are no presents! + +_Happyheart:_ Who's tree can it be? + +_Spirit_: It is a tree for some grownfolks! You see the children all +over the land must have been put to bed a long time ago. + +_Peace_ (nods her head): Grownfolks generally do stay up late Christmas +night! + +_Happyheart:_ They get very sad wishing they were children again! + +_Merrylips:_ Christmas is very hard on them, poor things! + +_Spirit:_ The men talk about spending so much money and the women sit +up late nights stitching and stitching and complaining that they will +not give anything but cards another Christmas. + +_Merrylips:_ How foolish they are! + +_Peace:_ They forget that we will help them! + +_Happyheart:_ You see they don't believe in fairies! It's because they +are so old! Why, they say that some are over thirty! _Goodwill:_ As if +that mattered! + +_Spirit:_ But I do feel very sorry for them! They can scarcely remember +when they used to hang up their stockings! They will come and gather +around this tree and there will be no presents! + +_Happyheart_ (sits down upon stool): Oh, dear! (Drops her chin in her +hand.) Can't we do something? + +_Peace:_ Let's think hard! + +_Goodwill_ (sadly): Our real presents are gone. There were so many +children this year! + +_Merrylips:_ And they make out such long lists! Why, the trees would +scarcely hold all the things! + +_Spirit:_ We must do what we can to make Christmas merry for these +grownfolks. + +_Happyheart_ (claps her hands): I can make their hearts light! + +_Goodwill:_ I can make them kindly to one another! + +_Merrylips:_ I can make them laugh! + +_Peace:_ And I can put one of my songs in their hearts! + +_Spirit_ (as others make these suggestions she turns toward the tree, +deep in thought; suddenly she wheels around): Your gifts are priceless +but, somehow, I wish we had something besides them for these +grownfolks! + +_Goodwill:_ I should like to make this a Christmas they would remember +the year through! + +_Happyheart:_ I should like to teach them to believe in fairies! + +_Peace:_ Perhaps if we could fill their tree with gifts they would not +forget! + +_Merrylips:_ Let's ask Joy! _Spirit:_ Where is she? + +_Happyheart:_ Oh, she is still working. But if we sing her song she +will come! + +_Merrylips:_ Let's sing, then! (Holds up her finger.) One, two, three! +(All sing softly the Christmas Carol, "Joy to the World." As they sing +Joy runs into the room. The fairies circle about her.) + +_Joy_ (stepping to the foreground and stretching arms): Oh, I am so +tired! + +_Spirit_ (steps forward and lays her hand on Joy's shoulder): Poor +little Joy-fairy! + +_Joy:_ I've been so busy making happiness! This funny world needs so +much of it and everyone wants something different! And there were so +many children! (Turns to the tree.) What--another tree? + +_Spirit:_ Yes, and we have no presents! Happyheart can make their +hearts light and Peace can give them a song, but, you know, I'd just +like to have them have some presents--like children have! + +_Merrylips_ (dances a step or two): Fairy presents would be fun! They +are more fun than real presents and can make wishes come true! + +_Goodwill:_ They say grownfolks are worse than children about making +wishes, only they keep their wishes locked up! + +_Happyheart:_ Wouldn't it be lovely? + +_Joy:_ I know--let's call the Spirit of Childhood! + +_Happyheart:_ Splendid! She will surely know a way! + +_Spirit:_ How can we call her, Joy-fairy? _Joy:_ Put your fingers over +your eyes tight! (All put their fingers over their eyes.) Now, say +after me--"Spirit of Childhood, come at our call!" + +_Chorus:_ + + Spirit of Childhood, come at our call, + Spirit of Childhood, come at our call! + +(As they repeat this the Spirit of Childhood dances joyously into the +room and faces them. As they remove their fingers from their eyes, they +bow low.) + +_Chorus:_ Childhood! + +_Childhood_ (faces audience): I am the Spirit of Childhood! I am the +happiest fairy of all! I am known all over this wide, wide world! +Everybody loves me! Sometimes I am a dream, too, and I come out of the +past when it is very still and creep into old, old hearts! + +_Happyheart_ (impatiently): We know all that! + +_Spirit_ (steps toward Childhood): We want you to help us now, +Childhood, to make Christmas merry for this party of grownfolks. + +_Childhood:_ No children? They're all grownfolks? + +_Spirit:_ No children. They're all grownfolks. + +_Childhood:_ Poor things! How sad! + +_Spirit:_ But they have a tree and we want to give them gifts which, +because they are fairy gifts, will make their best every-day wish come +true! + +_Childhood:_ Yes-they'll think, because they are grownups, they must +have useful gifts! But they shall have fairy gifts! + +_Happyheart_ (to other fairies): I told you she'd help us! _Merrylips:_ +And these grown folks must make a big, big wish and have it on top of +their hearts! Then, if they carry their gifts in the bottom of their +pockets their wishes will come true! + +_Childhood:_ I will call my Jesters! They are clever knaves--they will +find the gifts! + +_Happyheart:_ Call them quickly! + +_Childhood:_ I have to do very funny things, because I am Childhood, +you know. (She dances backward and forward across the room, with merry +step; pirouettes and points finger into audience.) Some one out there +must laugh, or the Jesters will not think we are merry. Laugh, someone, +laugh! Harder! I am Childhood! Laugh with me! (As she speaks some one +in the audience laughs; others join.) + +_Childhood_ (runs to door): + + Jester big, jester small, + Come at Childhood's merry call! + +(Jesters enter--stand near door.) + +_Chorus:_ Welcome--welcome! + +_Childhood_ (to Jesters): Go--find and bring us the biggest Christmas +stocking in the world! It must be filled with fairy gifts! (Jesters +hurry out.) + +_Goodwill:_ How will we know which gifts to give each person? + +_Childhood:_ Oh, I will look in my Book of the Past! You see I have to +keep careful records of everybody! + +_Spirit:_ Why it's just like Santa Claus used to do when the +old-fashioned children believed in him! _Happyheart:_ He was a fine +man! + +_Spirit:_ Ah, here they come! + +(Enter Jesters dragging behind them an enormous Christmas stocking made +of red cambric. They give it to the Christmas Spirit, then step back to +the door.) + +_Childhood_ (as others gather around the stocking): Go, Jesters, and +bring me my Book of Records! + +_Happyheart:_ Open it quickly! (Spirit opens stocking--all peep in.) +Oh, lots and lots of gifts! + +(Jester returns, gives book to Childhood who goes to the right of group +and stands next to Happyheart.) + +_Childhood_ (solemnly to audience): Are all the grownups ready? Have +they got their best wish on top of their hearts? + +_Happyheart:_ Is every one happy? + +_Goodwill:_ Do you all feel very, very kind to one another? + +_Peace:_ Do you know my songs? + +_Childhood:_ Then let's have a bright light so that we may begin! + +(Lights of the room flash on.) + +(Spirit takes packages one by one from the stocking and reads the name. +Then she holds the package while Happyheart reads from Childhood's +Record what the book has to say of each person. After this has been +read Joy with dancing step takes the fairy package to the person named. +This goes on until every one in the audience has received a gift.) + +_Spirit_ (throws stocking down): The stocking is empty! + +_Happyheart:_ The fairy gifts are all gone! _Childhood_ (shakes finger +at audience): But each one of you has a wish that will come true, just +as sure as sure can be; for you have received a fairy gift! + +_Happyheart:_ And now they will be happy! + +_Goodwill_ (claps her hands together as if with a happy thought): Let +us send the Jesters to bring in to them the Christmas Bowl! If they +drink our fairy brew they will never, never forget this Christmas! + +_Happyheart:_ And they will always believe in the Christmas Spirit! + +_Spirit:_ And in the Christmas Fairies! + +_Goodwill:_ Go, Jesters, and bring in to them the Christmas Bowl! +(Jesters go out quickly.) + +_Spirit:_ Now, fairies, we must stop our work! We've worked overtime +already, and you know there is an eight-hour law now for fairies. + +_Merrylips:_ Yes, but we've helped these poor grownfolks! _Happyheart:_ +Let us say farewell to them! Now, one--two--three! + +_Chorus_ (waving hands): + +May the brew that we've mixed you make every heart light, Merry +Christmas to all, and to all a good-night! + +(Fairies dance out, followed by the Spirit. Jesters, blowing horns, +enter the room, bearing a tray upon which is placed a punch bowl filled +with Nora's best cider punch.) + + * * * * * + +Loud applause demanded the return of the fairies and then all gathered +in a merry group around the punch bowl while Mr. Lee toasted the +youthful cast. + +"I suspect you, Miss Bab, of a hand in those records," he cried, +shaking a finger at Barbara. A paper crown was set rakishly on his +head. + +Behind the laughter in Mrs. Lee's eyes was shining something very like +tears as she drew little Alice to her. Across the brightly-crowned +heads of the children her glance caught Mr. Lee's. + +"I feel as if my heart _had_ been brushed by fairy wings to-night," she +said with a happy sigh. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +SHADOWS + + +"William, it _can't_ be true!" + +Keineth, pausing on the threshold of the dining-room door, overheard +the words. Peggy and Billy had gone to school; she was starting out for +her music lesson and had stopped to ask Aunt Nellie a question. The +tone of Aunt Nellie's voice, the seriousness of Mr. Lee's face, made +Keineth's heart turn cold with fear! + +"Aunt Nellie." They both turned towards her, startled. Involuntarily +Mrs. Lee slipped the newspaper she had been reading under her napkin. + +"Keineth, dear!" She held out her hand, her eyes filling with tears. + +Keineth stood quite still, looking from one to the other, and because +he was always somewhere very close in her mind and heart she cried +"Daddy!" + +Mrs. Lee had a curiously helpless look, as if she scarcely knew what to +say, and with one hand she still held the paper beneath her napkin. Mr. +Lee's voice was husky, he had to clear it two or three times before he +could speak, and all the while Keineth's great eyes were fastened +gravely upon him, demanding the truth. + +"It may be a false report, my dear. There's been an accident at sea, +and according to the paper--" + +"My daddy was in it!" cried Keineth, putting her hands to her face. +"Was my daddy in it?" she demanded in a queer little voice. + +"Come here, dear," Mrs. Lee held out her hand again, but Keineth did +not stir. + +"Was he--in--it?" she demanded again. + +"His name was listed among the passengers sailing from Liverpool, but +there may have been a mistake." + +Keineth's eyes were blazing. She walked to the table. + +"Please give me that paper, Aunt Nellie! I have a right to know what it +says!" She did not seem like the child she was as she stood there, +white-faced. Her voice was very calm. Aunt Nellie handed her the paper; +as she did so she said pleadingly: "Keineth, why not wait until your +Uncle William has found out if it is true?" But Keineth did not hear +her; she slowly unfolded the paper, stared a moment at the headlines, +then, turning, rushed with it from the room. + +There it was--his name! Her finger found it and stopped, as though she +cared nothing for the rest! She read the big letters of the headlines, +the few words that told of the attack by a German submarine on the big +passenger ship, of the horrible confusion of the few moments before it +sank, of the wild panic of the cowardly and the splendid bravery of a +few! Then: "John Randolph, of New York City, the well-known journalist, +abroad on a special mission for the President of the United States, was +among the passengers." + +Keineth, on her knees, with the paper spread out before her, read and +reread the words. They sounded so final! He was gone--her daddy was +gone! + +And yet--how could this happen to her in this way? She knew a little of +death; way back in her memory was a haunting picture of her own +mother's going, of her father's grief and the music and the flowers. +And she had watched the funeral of Francesca's baby brother from behind +the geranium boxes. There had been music then, too. But this was so +different--just the lines in the newspaper and then nothing more, ever +and ever and ever! It couldn't happen like that! She was too puzzled to +cry. There were so many questions she wanted to ask-how deep _was_ the +ocean there? Couldn't they swim? And whom could she ask who would tell +her all about it? + +She heard the door open, but did not turn her head. She felt Aunt +Nellie's arms lift her, draw her head close to her breast. Aunt +Nellie's voice was very tender. + +"Uncle William has gone to telegraph immediately to the New York +offices of the steamship line. We may learn more, my dear. You must be +brave--you know how brave your father always was." + +Almost violently Keineth pushed her away. + +"I don't believe it!" she cried. Seizing the paper, she tore it into +little bits and threw them fiercely to the floor. + +"I'll never, never, nev-er believe it! He _will_ come back!" And poor +Keineth threw herself upon her bed and covered her face tight with her +hands She had caught the look of deep pity on Aunt Nellie's face. Aunt +Nellie believed it! She could not bear it! + +"Please go away," she begged through her fingers. And Aunt Nellie +slipped out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. + +Keineth could shut from her eyes Aunt Nellie's pity, but she could not +shut from her mind the flood of thoughts that came. Cruel thoughts, +too, which her persistent "I don't believe it" failed to drive away! +She had seen a picture once of a sinking ship; a great wave of water +had engulfed it, men were clinging to its side like flies! She +remembered it now! Remembered, too, an awful storm when, holding her +daddy's hand, she had watched from a high point of land the angry sea +surging over the rocks far beneath them. It was green and black and +white where the water hissed, and its roar had made her shiver! That +was the same sea! "Oh, I don't believe it!" she whispered. She had made +so many pictures in her mind of her father's home-coming--she had felt +sure he would surprise her! She had thought that perhaps she might go +back to the old house and find him there, or go with someone to the +dock and watch his boat come in and see him waving from its deck! +Perhaps she might be standing some afternoon in the living-room window +looking down the street watching Terry light the street lamps and +suddenly see him walking towards her! And now--oh, it just couldn't be +true! + +At noon Mr. Lee came home to luncheon. The newspaper report had been +confirmed by the New York offices of the steamship company. He said +this very gravely and slowly, as though he hated to speak the words. +Peggy sat watching Keineth in a frightened sort of way; she wished +Keineth would cry so that she could put her arms around her to comfort +her! But Keineth only sat very still staring down at her plate. + +"I think I'll practice, Aunt Nellie," Keineth said when the luncheon +was finished. She had to do something. She walked out of the room as +she spoke, Peggy cast an entreating look toward her mother. + +"Mummy, isn't it dreadful? What _will_ we do? She acts so queer!" + +Mrs. Lee answered very slowly. "Keineth will not believe it, Peggy! But +when she does, when her loss comes to her, we must help her in every +way! We must make her feel how much we love her and that she is one of +us!" + +"Why, what if it was our daddy," Peggy cried. "Listen!" + +For from across the hall came wonderful music--not the lesson Keineth +should be practicing, but fairy things! And happy notes, too, as though +Keineth's own hands were trying to dispel the heavy shadows about her +and give her comfort and hope! + +Mr. Lee was carefully reading the report of the disaster in the +afternoon paper. + +"You know it's a funny thing--no one on the boat had seen John +Randolph! Maybe--" + +"Oh, maybe he got left!" cried Billy, who all through the tragic +moments had been unusually silent. + +Suddenly the doorbell rang. Its clang startled each one of them! The +music across the hall stopped with a crash! They heard Keineth flying +to the door. + +In a moment she returned, holding a yellow envelope in her hand. Though +it was addressed to her she carried it to Mr. Lee. "Please read it," +she said in a trembling voice. "I think it is from Daddy! I--can't!" + +Peggy crossed quickly to Keineth's side and put one arm close about +her. Mr. Lee tore open the cablegram, read the lines written in it, +tried to speak and, failing, put the sheet of paper in Keineth's hands. + +"Oh!" Keineth cried. "Oh!" Something like a laugh caught in her throat. + + Changed plans--did not sail on boat. Thank God! + --JOHN RANDOLPH. + +Both of Peggy's arms flew around her now; they hugged one another and +both cried. And Aunt Nellie was crying, too, and Mr. Lee had to wipe +his eyes. Billy was saying over and over, "Didn't I just have a hunch, +now?" + +The shadows lifted from their hearts, the children listened while Mr. +Lee read to them the full account of the disaster which had stirred +every nation of the globe. Billy and Peggy asked many questions, but +Keineth was very silent. There were other little girls whose fathers +had gone down into the sea--her heart went out to them in deepest pity. +"I feel as though this morning was weeks ago," she said afterwards as +she and Peggy curled upon the window seat with some sewing. From +outside the sun was shining through the bare branches of the trees, +making dancing figures on the polished floor. Keineth sighed. "It makes +one realize how unhappy lots and lots of people are." + +"And it makes you feel as though you could do _anything_ to help them," +answered Peggy, staring thoughtfully out of the window where on the +city street humanity surged backward and forward in all the forms of +joy and sorrow known by God's children. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +PILOT GOES AWAY + + +Pilot's dog-life had fallen into pleasant paths. His days were one +happy round of comfortable hours, spent close to the big fireplace or +at Billy's heels. He slept on an old blanket in the hallway outside of +Billy's door. His friends were Billy's friends and their dogs--Pilot +was loyal and democratic to the end of his stubby tail. His duties were +few and pleasant--to guard his master and his master's family, to keep +the next-door cat away from his door and to inspect daily the refuse +barrels in the backyards of his street. If he had a sorrow it was that +he could not go to school with the children, but he always went with +them to the corner, lifted his paw for a parting shake, watched them +disappear from sight, and trotted home to wait for the hour when they +would return. Twice daily Nora fed him choice scraps and bones which he +ate from a plate in the back hall, and if occasionally someone spoke +sharply to him or rebuked him for thoughtlessly lying upon one of the +chairs or the davenport, the sting was always softened by a pat on his +head. What hardships he had had in the past had been forgotten--he had +no concern for the future! + +Of course Pilot could not always understand the language his master +spoke. He read mostly by signs. So, one morning, when he saw Billy and +Peggy and Keineth making preparations for some out-of-door pleasure, he +stood eagerly at Billy's heels, wagging his tail to tell his master +that he was ready, too. + +"We can't take him on the street-car," Peggy complained. + +"And he might get lost in the woods," Keineth added. + +Now Pilot could not know that the children were putting on heavy +rubbers and warm sweaters under their coats because they were going to +"hike" into the woods to see if the sap was beginning to run. And from +their excited remarks he could not reason that, to get to the woods, +they would have to take the street-car to the city line and dogs were +not allowed on the street-cars. It was Saturday, and Saturday to Pilot +meant a whole day with Billy! So when they were quite ready he dashed +ahead to the door. + +"You can't go Pilot. Go back!" Billy said sternly. + +He stood very still and watched them disappear through the door, giving +only one little whimper. They did not even say good-by; he heard their +merry voices slowly die away. Then he lay down on the floor with one +eye on the closed door. + +But even the most faithful will not wait forever. The sound of Nora's +step coaxed him into the kitchen. It was quite nice there--the sun was +shining across the white floor and something on the stove smelled very +good. Nora was singing, too, which meant that he could coax a little +and get in her way. After a while she gave him a whole cookie--he felt +happier! + +A little later, having wandered several times through the empty rooms +of the house and found no one, he started out of doors in search of +some amusement. He chased the cat to the veranda roof from which she +refused to descend. He saw a friend of Billy's, so he left the cat to +walk with him to the corner. He carefully examined some boxes that were +piled there, then he made friends with a stray terrier who stopped to +exchange greetings with him. Pilot liked the terrier, together they +trotted down the street, block after block. + +He did not notice a big limousine car that passed and re-passed him--to +him these motor cars were of no interest excepting to keep out from +under their wheels. But when it stopped suddenly at the curb and an old +man climbed out, calling "Jacky, Jacky!" he paused. + +The old man was beckoning to his chauffeur and talking in an excited +voice. + +"Come and look at him! I know it's Jacky," he was saying. + +At the name a memory stirred in Pilot's mind. He advanced slowly to the +man. The man held out his hand and called again, "Jacky," and Pilot +went to him and laid his nose in the palm of the man's hand. + +"It's Jacky, it's Jacky," the old man cackled. "He'd always do that +when I called him! Look at his ears--one got torn and I had a stitch +taken in it! Look and see, Briggs, my eyes are so bad." Briggs pushed +back the hair on Pilot's ears and found the scar. The old man was very +joyful. + +"He was stolen from me two years ago! Look on his collar, Briggs." + +Briggs read aloud the address on the collar. + +"We'll take him there right away, Briggs! Come on, Jacky, my boy!" + +But Pilot considered this going a little too far--he objected, at which +the man Briggs lifted him and placed him in the automobile. He was far +too polite to struggle for his freedom, but he put his paws upon the +door and barked a vigorous protest. + +Mrs. Lee had just returned from shopping and answered the bell herself. +Across her mind flashed immediately the explanation of the strange +group on her doorstep. In a few words she told the old man the story of +Pilot's coming into their family. As he listened he nodded several +times. + +"I cared more for that dog than anything on earth," he told her. "He +was always with me! When he was stolen I couldn't get over it, +Madam--just couldn't get over it! Felt as if I'd lost my only friend!" +Mrs. Lee wished she could feel sympathetic, but she was thinking of +Billy! + +"Now let him go, Briggs, and you watch him, Madam!" + +Briggs released his hold of Pilot's collar, Pilot leaped upon Mrs. Lee +joyfully, tore down the length of the hall and back and then stood a +little apart, eyeing suspiciously the strange group. + +"Come, Jacky, come Jacky!" cackled the old man, holding out his hand. + +And Pilot, above all else, was faithful! Slowly, reluctantly, he went +towards the outstretched hand and laid his nose in it. + +"Always did that when I called him! See his ear, Madam--I had a stitch +taken in it when he tore it! See the scar?" + +There was no doubt in Mrs. Lee's mind but that the dog belonged to the +man. + +"My children are going to be heartbroken," she commenced slowly. "Could +we buy--" + +The old man snorted angrily. "Buy Jacky? Don't you know he's a very +valuable dog? And anyway, you haven't enough money to buy his +companionship from me! Your children can get another dog, Madam, but +for me there is only one Jacky!" As he spoke with fumbling fingers he +drew out a card and a dollar bill. "Pay the boy his dollar, Madam. Take +him down, Briggs. Very sorry, Madam, but good-day!" + +Briggs pulled on the collar and Pilot went down the steps very slowly. +He knew in his dog-mind that something was happening! He turned and +looked appealingly at Mrs. Lee. She was standing very still and was not +helping him at all! He tried to tell her to tell Billy that he had to +do his duty and when this man called him Jacky he knew he had to go, +but he would always love his young master best! + +So when the children returned to the house, cheeks red with the wind, +splashed with mud, tired and happy, there was no Pilot to greet them! + +Mrs. Lee told them the story; tried to tell it in such a way that the +children would feel sorry for the lonely old man who had been so happy +at finding his dog! + +But Billy raged--his high-pitched voice choking over the sob that +struggled in his throat. He threw the dollar and the card savagely to +the floor. + +"Wouldn't you have thought the old thing would have at least given +Billy a reward!" cried Peggy indignantly. + +Though she did not answer this, Mrs. Lee smiled, as she recalled the +reluctance with which the old man had extracted even the one-dollar +bill from his pocket. + +"I don't want any old reward--I just want Pilot! If we hadn't gone away +and left him that old man would never have found him," Billy wailed. + +"Couldn't we buy him, Mother?" + +"The dog is worth a great deal of money. I'm afraid we could scarcely +afford it, my dear, even if the man would part with him. Billy must +look at the thing in a sensible way." She laid her hand on Billy's +shoulder. "Pilot will miss you as much as you do him, my son! But you +have a great many other things to make you happy and I should judge +that that old man had nothing!" + +Keineth went up to her room to take off her muddy shoes. On her bureau +she found a letter Nora had placed there. In the corner of the envelope +was printed in large letters: "Brown and Company." She tore it open +with fingers trembling with excitement. It was from the music +publishers, telling her that they would publish her "Castle of Dreams," +and for its purchase had enclosed a check. + +And Keineth, unfolding the small slip of paper, saw written there: "The +Sum of Twenty-five Dollars." + +"Peggy! Peg-gy!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +KEINETH'S GIFT + + +Twenty-five dollars! To Keineth it seemed like a fortune! + +She had never thought much about money. She knew some people were very +poor--she had often felt sorry for them as she watched them near the +Square in New York. And she knew some were very rich, for Aunt +Josephine talked of them. She had always had all the money she wanted, +because she had never wanted very much. She supposed Peggy and the +others had all they wanted, too. Each week Mr. Lee gave to each one of +them a small allowance and whenever they managed to save anything from +this each of them put it in her bank. Keineth supposed that the Lees +were not as rich as Aunt Josephine and not as poor as Francesca's +family next door to her old home, but it didn't seem to matter at all, +because she did not think that the Lees wanted to be rich, anyway. They +never talked of anything in terms of dollars and cents! Twenty-five +dollars--that seemed enough to Keineth to buy everything anyone could +want! + +Keineth and Peggy had carefully kept the precious secret of the "Castle +of Dreams." For a few weeks they had watched the mail each day, then +the holiday fun had filled their minds and the secret was forgotten. As +the weeks passed and Keineth heard nothing she had almost given up all +hope of selling her music and her great ambitions had taken a sad fall. +Peggy had urged her to consult her music master about it, but after one +or two attempts Keineth found she had not the courage. + +And now a check had come! Twenty-five whole dollars! + +"Peggy! Peggy!" she called, unable to wait one moment to share the good +news. + +It was a very excited family that listened to their story at dinner +time. Even Billy, red-eyed, forgot his own sorrow. Everyone had to hold +the check and read it! Then each one suggested some way for Keineth to +spend her money! + +And as is the way with all fortunes, sooner or later they become a +burden! Already, even while they made merry over the check, Keineth was +beginning to worry as to what she should do with it! Of course Mr. Lee +had advised her putting it in the bank, but that did not seem like much +fun! If Daddy were at home she would buy something for him with it or +she might send it to Tante to help the poor children that were +suffering from the war. + +"Give it to the Red Cross!" Peggy suggested grandly. + +"Buy a bicycle!" said Alice, "or one of those cunning electric stoves +that we can cook on!" + +"If I had it I'd buy Pilot!" put in Billy sadly. + +"I'd like to do something with it," said Keineth slowly, "that would +make somebody just awfully happy, because--" She looked down the length +of the table and realized suddenly how dear to her these Lees had grown +and what this home was to her. "Because I'm so happy here!" + +And even while she was speaking she decided just what she would do! But +she would tell no one, not even Peggy! + +She would buy Pilot for Billy! Mrs. Lee had said they could not afford +it! What good luck that her check had come just at the right time! +After dinner she searched for and found the old man's card. It was +soiled and crumpled from Billy's angry fingers. She hid it away with +the check. She must wait until Monday. + +Keineth had to ride on the street-car a very long way before she +reached the address which the card gave. Then she found herself before +a great iron fence and had to ring twice before the big gate in the +fence opened. It opened quite by itself and it clanged shut behind her, +startling her with its noise. There seemed to be a million steps +leading to the big bronze door and her feet moved like tons of lead! +She had to ring again. The door swung back and a sour-faced man in dark +livery faced her. + +"Is--is Mr. Grandison at home?" she asked in a voice so strange that +she scarcely recognized it herself. + +The sour-faced man looked very hard at her. + +"Who is it, miss?" he asked wonderingly, as though few people came to +that door for Mr. Grandison. + +"I'm Keineth Randolph. I must see him, please!" "He never sees anyone, +miss, but you can go in. Only I wouldn't advise you to bother him very +much because he's bad this morning with his rheumatism!" + +He was telling her this in a whisper as he led her through the long +hall. Keineth thought it quite the longest, widest hall she had ever +seen and she walked very fast past the big doors that opened into dark +empty rooms that looked like great caverns! If a giant, bending his +great head, had leaped through one of the heavy door-frames she would +have thought it quite to be expected! + +The servant drew back a door and Keineth saw a long room full of books. +At the other end, close to a table, sat an old, old man. Then she saw +something move suddenly and Pilot dashed at her from a corner and +leaped upon her with great whimpering, licking her hands and face and +even her shoes. + +"What's this? Come here, Jacky! Who are you? Who let you in here?" +roared the old man, glaring at Keineth. + +Keineth, terribly frightened, advanced slowly towards him, one hand on +the dog's head. "I live at the bees' where you found Pilot. We all miss +him so terribly, especially Billy, that I came to buy him back!" + +"You did, did you? Well, nobody has money enough to buy him." + +Keineth was so indignant at his disagreeable manner that she forgot her +fright. + +"I know the Lees haven't money enough, because they have so many +children and buy lots of things for them and give them a good time! But +I'm going to buy Pilot for them! I know Pilot couldn't be happy here, +anyway, it's so--so big and horrid and you're so--cross--after having a +happy home with the Lees!" + +Pilot, as though to tell her that was very true, snuggled his nose +under her arm and wagged his tail. + +"I've got twenty-five dollars," finished Keineth triumphantly, "and I +can spend all of it because I earned it myself--writing music!" + +He turned and looked hard at her. Her fury seemed to have amused him. + +"Music--you write music! A child like you!" + +Keineth stepped closer to him. "Yes. Do you like music?" + +The old man answered very slowly. "It was all I cared for once upon a +time! Let me see your eyes!" He reached out a wrinkled hand and drew +her towards him. "They are blue--like hers were! Child, years and years +ago I loved a young girl very much--and she taught me to love music! +But she went out of my life and left me with nothing but loneliness!" + +Keineth thought of the great empty house and felt very sorry for him. + +"What was her name?" she asked softly. + +"A pretty name--like she was!" he muttered, his eyes fastened on the +child's face. It was as if something he saw there was awakening the +memories. "It was Keineth." + +"Why, that is my name!" + +"Keineth--Keineth what?" he cried. + +"Keineth Randolph." + +"You are John Randolph's girl--her son's girl." + +"You mean my grandmother? That--lady--you loved was my daddy's mother?" + +The old man was half laughing, half crying. He held Keineth's arms with +his trembling fingers. + +"Of course--the same blue eyes--and music! How your grandmother loved +music! How her fingers could play, make sounds that'd tear the heart +right out of you!" He shook his head. "And she wouldn't have me--my +money couldn't buy her! After she died I stood in the Square and +watched them take her away from the house--saw the flowers I had sent +go with her! I saw the man she had chosen instead of me walk out, too. +He had two children by the hand--the little fellow was your father. I +went away from New York then--" He drew his hands across his eyes as +though to brush away the haunting pictures. "And you're Keineth!" he +finished. + +Keineth told him of her daddy and of her coming from New York to live +with the Lees until her father returned. She had almost forgotten Pilot +in her deep sympathy for this lonely old man who had loved her father's +mother--and had loved her for so many, many years! But Pilot suddenly +barked! + +"Pilot thinks he belongs to us because he once saved my life," Keineth +explained, going on, then, to tell the story of her narrow escape from +drowning. Perhaps the old man heard her, though his face still wore a +far-away look as if he had not yet been able to bring himself back from +that dear past the child's eyes had awakened. + +"And so I'd like to buy him, please," Keineth finished, laying her +check before him. + +For a long time the old man stared at it, while Keineth and Pilot +waited. + +"He loves you better than he does me! You're right--he wasn't happy +here--he's cried and cried! I can't keep even a dog's love! Take him." +He slowly lifted the check, read it, turned it over, folded it and put +it in his pocket. + +Then Keineth felt very sorry for the old man. She felt, too, that now +in some way or other he belonged to her, though not exactly related. + +"Won't you come home to lunch with me? Then you can meet Peggy and the +others and see how glad they are to get Pilot back! They'll be awfully +glad to see you, really! Please don't be lonely any more--for--I'll be +your friend!" + +He had risen slowly to his feet, towering over her. He looked down at +the bright face. Keineth slipped her hand into his. + +"Oh, please come--it'll be such fun," and she gave his fingers a +coaxing, friendly squeeze. + +The sour-faced servant muttered, "Well, I never!" under his breath, +when he saw his master walk through the door to his waiting car, +holding the little girl's hand and listening to her chatter with a +smile! It was the strangest sight he had ever beheld in this very +strange house! + +But it was a stranger sight for the Lees when the big limousine drew up +at their curb and Pilot dashed from its door, followed by Keineth and a +very, very old man who leaned one hand upon Keineth's shoulder. + +"Pilot!" cried Billy, who had seen them through the window. + +"And that old man!" echoed Peggy. + +In the hall Billy was on his knees with his arms around Pilot's neck. + +"Dear, dear old Pilot!" he was saying over and over. + +Mrs. Lee, concealing her amazement when Keineth quaintly introduced "my +friend, Mr. Grandison," greeted him cordially and by her smile and +gracious manner made the old man immediately feel at home. At the table +she placed him between Keineth and Peggy, and Peggy found that he was +not such a cross old man after all! + +"It's just like a story, Ken," she said after he had gone away and +Keineth had given them an account of her morning's adventure. "You have +found a fairy grandfather! But wasn't it scrumptious to see His Aged +Grandness eating hash?" + +"Well, I guess Keineth's money has been well spent," added Mrs. Lee, +looking fondly at the little girl. "For I think--besides making Billy +very happy, it has opened a new life to a very lonely old man!" + +"I'll never forget what Ken has done," said Billy solemnly, as though +he was taking a vow. "She's just all right and I'd like to see anyone +that says she ain't!" + +"Billy--your English!" pleaded his mother. + +But Keineth blushed with pleasure. She knew she had won Billy's +everlasting friendship! That evening a boy brought to the door a huge +package addressed to Miss Keineth Randolph. It was a set of beautifully +bound books, "The Lives of the Masters," and with them came a little +note written in a queer, old-fashioned handwriting. + +May these books give instruction, inspiration and courage to one whose +feet are on the threshold. They are bought with the money you +unselfishly spent to give a boy back his dog. + +Your devoted friend, + +WILFRED GRANDISON. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +SURPRISES + + +"Why, I just can't believe that I'm Peggy Lee!" Peggy stood in the +aisle of a sleeping car and looked up and down its length. Keineth, +from her superior knowledge of sleeping cars, was pointing out to Peggy +its arrangements. Both girls were dressed in new coats and hats and +carried with them the bag Aunt Josephine had given Keineth and in which +they had packed their nightgowns and toilet articles. + +For they were starting for Washington! + +Two days before Mr. Lee had come home and asked the children what would +be the biggest surprise they could imagine! Of course they had guessed +all sorts of things and he had teased them for quite a little while +over it! Then, very quietly, he had said: + +"Do you think you would like to make a little trip to Washington?" + +Keineth had not been able to speak. Peggy, jumping from her chair, +rushed at her father and threw both arms about his neck. + +"All of us?" she cried between hugs. + +"No, this time we'll leave mother home with Billy and Alice. Then the +next time they'll go." + +Peggy's eyes swept over Billy's and Alice's disappointed faces. + +"Oh, I wish we could all go!" + +"Mother'll make it up to them, my dear. I'll wager right now all sorts +of nice plans are floating around in her head. Well, can you be ready?" + +"Can we--!" they cried in chorus. + +The hours then were full of excited preparations. The new clothes had +to be purchased. "Keineth may be invited to meet the President," Mrs. +Lee had laughingly explained, as she held two pretty hats, one in each +hand, and considered them carefully. + +"Oh, wouldn't that be _wonderful!_" Keineth whispered. She wanted to +ask him so many questions about Daddy--she would tell him that she +could keep a secret! + +Billy gave them a thousand instructions. They must remember everything +they saw to tell him! They must climb the big monument and walk up the +Capitol steps and hear the echo in the rotunda of the Capitol Building. +They must go to Camp Meyer and to Arlington and to Mount Vernon and be +sure to see Washington's swords! + +"And the White House china," Mrs. Lee added. "It must be as good as a +lesson in history to look at that exhibit in the White House! They'd +tell the tastes of the different ones who used them! I can picture +pretty Dolly Madison ordering all new china because the pattern of the +old did not please her!" + +Billy broke in: "I'd want to go to the Treasury Building and see all +the money and the watchmen that guard the building from little +watch-houses! And the big machine where they destroy all the old money! +Four men have keys and they go and unlock it and put the money in it +and it gets ground and ground by sharp knives until it's just a pulp! +And then they sell the pulp! I wish I had one of those keys!" Billy was +very excited. + +"And I want to see the Indian Exhibit at the National Museum," declared +Peggy. + +"You will, my dear, and a great many other things of interest." Little +wonder that she could scarcely believe that she was Peggy Lee! As the +train pulled away Keineth was very quiet. She was recalling how often +her Daddy had told her of the interesting places in the National +Capital and how often he had said, "Some day we'll go there together!" +And now she was really going, but Daddy was far away. + +"Well, aren't you children going to take off your things and stay +awhile?" asked Mr. Lee, coming in from a smoke on the platform. + +They laughed and began to lay aside their wraps. "I can't picture +myself sleeping on that funny little shelf," Peggy declared. "What if I +should roll out!" + +There were a number of other people on the car. The children watched +them closely and tried to do whatever they did. Peggy's eyes grew round +with interest as she saw the porter deftly spread out mattresses and +blankets and make cosy beds where nothing but seats had been. The girls +insisted upon sharing the same berth and drew lots "for position," as +Peggy put it. Keineth drew the place by the window and was soon cuddled +there. And though they had declared that they were going to lie awake +for a long time watching out of the window, their heads had scarcely +touched the pillow when the motion of the train lulled them to sleep. + +Then the night would have passed like any night at home, only that +Peggy _did_ fall out of bed! + +She awakened suddenly to find herself in a heap in the aisle of the car +with the brakeman, a swinging lantern in his hand, bending over her. +"Well, bless my stars!" he was saying. + +It took a moment or two for Peggy to realize where she was and what had +happened! Then, torn between a desire to laugh at herself and to cry +with chagrin, she clambered back into the berth and snuggled very close +to Keineth. + +It was too funny not to tell Keineth, who had wakened, but after she +told her she made Keineth promise, crossing her heart over and over, +that she would never, never, never tell Billy that Peggy had rolled out +of bed! + +"Where are we? It isn't a bit different from home," the girls cried as +they stood the next morning with Mr. Lee viewing from the platform the +country through which they were speeding. + +"This is Maryland. In just half an hour we'll be in Washington. We'll +wait and eat breakfast at the hotel there." + +Mr. Lee was acting curiously excited and impatient. He looked at his +watch several times. "On time," the girls heard him say once or +twice--as if it made any difference. Before they were in the city he +told them to put on their wraps. + +"We'll be the first ones off," he said. + +It was only a moment then before they had rolled into the station shed. +They stepped from the train and walked a long way down between rows of +cars. A great many people seemed hurrying in every direction. There was +a dull roar echoing through the vaulted smoky space pierced by the loud +voices of the trainmen giving their orders and the occasional clang of +a bell. Then they passed through a little iron gate into the station. +Keineth, clinging to Mr. Lee's arm, thought it quite the biggest place +she had ever seen! Every step made an echo and though there were crowds +of people there did not seem to be many because there was so much room! +Mr. Lee gave some checks to a porter, then stood looking up and down +the great space as though expecting to see someone. Peggy was just +whispering something in Keineth's ear when Keineth gave a clear, joyous +cry. + +For there, stepping out from a little group, walking straight toward +them, a smile on his tanned face, both arms extended as though they +could not reach her quickly enough, was her dear, dear daddy! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +MR. PRESIDENT + + +Her own dear father! + +Keineth had not realized until then how very dear he was to her! She +clung to him as though she could not bear to ever lose her hold. A +woman waiting in the station was watching the little scene, and turned +away, wiping her eyes. And Keineth did not know whether she wanted to +laugh or to cry! + +So this was Mr. Lee's big surprise! He had known John Randolph was in +Washington! + +"This is Peggy," Keineth managed finally to say. At which John Randolph +put his arm about Peggy and kissed her, too! + +Mr. Lee said something about breakfast, and Keineth's father hurried +them into a waiting taxicab. And as they drove away Keineth was so busy +looking at her father's dear face that she did not notice the Capitol, +its noble dome outlined against the blue morning sky. But Peggy gave an +excited little shriek. "Oh--look--look!" + +So, with her hand in her father's, Keineth saw Washington! He told the +driver to go slowly while he pointed out to them the buildings they +passed. The whole city lay bathed in sunshine that brought with it the +balminess of real springtime for which they waited so long in the +North. Robins were singing in the trees, so gladly that Keineth thought +that even they must have guessed how happy she was! + +Keineth and Peggy listened while John Randolph told Mr. Lee of his trip +home across the ocean--how to escape the submarines of the Germans they +had run cautiously, at half-speed, as in a fog, with look-outs posted +all along the ship's decks and all lights out! Their voices were very +serious as they talked and Keineth noticed for the first time that her +father's face, under its tan, looked worn and tired, as though he had +been working very hard. + +But each time that his eyes came back to her face they lighted with a +smile. + +"I can hardly believe that this is my little girl," he said to Mr. Lee. +"Her stay with you has done wonders for her!" And what he said was very +true, for the year had changed Keineth from the shy-eyed, delicate +child he had left to a happy, round-cheeked, strong-limbed girl. The +pretty simple dress she wore had the becoming touch of color that Tante +used to think unsuitable, and her fair hair, drawn loosely back from +her forehead and fastened with a barrette, hung in heavy waves over her +shoulders. + +At the hotel after breakfast Keineth's father opened his trunk and took +from it a box of gifts he had collected from every country he had +visited. A carved box from Japan, a gay Chinese robe from Pekin, dolls +of all sorts, brass plates from Egypt, embroidered scarfs from +Constantinople, coral from Italy and other treasures over which Keineth +and Peggy went into ecstasies of delight! + +"For us?" she cried to her father. + +He smiled--her "us" meant to him that Keineth had found at last the +true joy of friends. + +"Divide them as you wish, my dear," he answered. Thereupon the two +girls sat down, cross-legged upon the floor and commenced assorting the +gifts into little piles--for "Aunt Nellie," for "Barbara," the Japanese +dolls for Alice, and, of course, the carved dagger from Petrograd, for +Billy! "Oh, were ever girls as happy as we are?" Peggy cried. + +Later Mr. Lee broke in upon this pleasant occupation. "If we are here +to see Washington we'd better start out! Keineth--after luncheon your +father wants to take you for a little walk--Peggy and I will go to the +National Museum." + +So it was that Keineth, trim in her new hat and coat, found herself +early in the afternoon walking slowly down the "Avenue of the +Presidents," holding her father's hand. They said little, each felt too +happy to talk much, time enough for the stories later. + +Suddenly through the trees of Lafayette Park, all a-quiver with their +new spring leaves, Keineth glimpsed the stately lines of the White +House. + +She stopped short. "Daddy, is that where the President lives?" + +Mr. Randolph smiled. "Yes, my dear! And we are going there now to +call--at his request!" + +So Keineth was really going to see Mr. President! + +She felt very excited as she walked past the policeman guarding the +gates and up the winding avenue leading to the great columns before the +door. Through the branches of the trees the sun was shining slant-wise +against the square-paned windows, making tiny sparks of fire. Another +policeman at the door halted them. Keineth thought it too bad that the +President of the United States should have to be guarded in this +manner--for who could want to harm him? Then they were ushered into the +entrance hall, where a servant took the card Mr. Randolph offered. + +For Keineth the simple stateliness of the place had an atmosphere of +romance. Staring curiously about her she went slowly through the +spacious corridors to an oval-shaped room whose walls and windows were +hung in heavy blue silk. The sunlight streamed through the windows +across the highly polished floor and glinted through the crystals of +the great chandelier hanging from the ceiling. From between the heavy +blue curtains Keineth caught a glimpse of the green lawn outside, +sloping down to the stretches of the Park--all adot with dandelions. + +Her father pointed out to her the gold clock on the mantel and told her +that it had been presented by Napoleon the First to General Lafayette +and by him in turn to Washington. Then as they turned to examine the +bronze vases standing on either side of the clock a quiet voice +startled them. + +"And so this is the little soldier girl!" + +And there across the room, one hand extended, stood the President of +the United States! + +Keineth tried to say something, but found that her tongue would not +move. But President Wilson, not noticing her embarrassment, was shaking +her hand and talking as though they were old friends. + +"Of course--after our letters--an introduction is unnecessary! I am +delighted, however, to meet in person John Randolph's daughter." + +He turned then from Keineth to her father and Keineth felt a glow of +pride in the tone of intimacy with which the President greeted her +father. + +After they had exchanged a few words he took her hand and drew her +towards a divan. + +"Let us sit down here and have a little talk. I wonder if you know, my +dear girl, what a wonderful man your father is." + +Keineth smiled at this! President Wilson, patting her hand upon his +knee, went on: + +"His work for us is not done, either! And I am going to ask you to help +me, Miss Keineth. I want him in my official family--I need his judgment +and advice--need it badly! If he tries to refuse me then you must make +him do what I want him to do! Wouldn't you like to live in Washington?" + +"Oh--yes!" cried Keineth, then she stopped short. "But--it wouldn't +have to be a secret, would it?" + +The President broke into a hearty laugh. "No, indeed, my dear!" Then, +more seriously, "You were very brave to help us guard so carefully his +journeying. It was necessary that it should be kept a secret because in +every land where he went there were bitter enemies to the work he was +trying to do--enemies who, if they had had one word of the mission upon +which he was going about, would have done everything within their power +to defeat its purpose, even to taking his life without one moment's +hesitation! Keineth, this is a funny world. It is made up of big +nations and small nations and they struggle against one another like so +many bad, heedless boys fighting in an alley." + +"I know!" cried Keineth, bright-eyed. "When they ought to be living +like nice families in a quiet street, each one keeping its own yard +clean from rubbish and the doorsteps washed." She used her father's +words with careful precision. + +President Wilson turned to John Randolph. "The child has described it, +exactly! What an ideal! Do you think we'll ever reach it?" Then, to +Keineth, "And that is the mission that took your father abroad--to lay +before the peoples of those other lands this plan of democracy; to show +them the picture of how we all--as nations--might live as you have +described it, like thrifty families on a clean-kept street, some in +finer houses than others, perhaps, but each one with its door-step +clean and its corners well cleared out. Well--well, in your lifetime +you may come to it, child. And when you do--remember that the way was +opened by the message your father carried!" + +They talked a little longer of things Keineth could not understand, +though she listened with rapt attention while her father spoke of the +Emperor of Japan and the Czar of Russia as though they were just +ordinary men! + +President Wilson walked with them to the door; he shook hands and +begged them to come again! "I should like some day to show you around +Washington myself, Miss Keineth," he said, patting her shoulder. Then +as they walked out toward the street gates Keineth turned back and saw +him watching from the open door. She waved her hand impulsively and he +lifted his in a farewell salute. + +Keineth drew in a very deep breath: as Peggy would say, "Who _could_ +believe that she was little Keineth Randolph?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE CASTLE OF DREAMS + + +When her father suggested that they let the sightseeing wait and take a +walk, Keineth was delighted. She wanted more than anything else right +then to talk and talk and talk to her daddy! There was so much to tell +him! + +"We'll have plenty of time to see all the interesting things," Mr. +Randolph said. "We'll stay here a week or two longer." "Peggy, too?" +asked Keineth. + +"Peggy, too, of course!" + +"Oh, what _fun_!" cried Keineth, squeezing her father's hand with both +of hers. She fairly danced along by his side, so that he had to walk +very fast to keep up with her light feet 'Way across the Park through +the trees they could see the waters of the Potomac gleaming blue, and +beyond the hills of Arlington. Two weeks--her eyes shone--two weeks +with Daddy and Peggy! + +"You know, Daddy, that Peggy is my very best friend!" Keineth said very +solemnly. She commenced to tell him of Overlook and the happy summer +days--of Stella, whom she had seen several times during the winter and +had learned to love--of Grandma Sparks and her quaint old home--of Mr. +Cadowitz and the hours in his queer studio--of the Jenkins cousins and +the little Penny girls. He listened with a smile, perhaps not always +able to follow her excited chatter, but certain from it that Keineth +had found what he had hoped she would find when he had sent her to the +Lees. + +Then Keineth thought of a confession she must make. + +"Is it dreadful, Daddy, but I have forgotten to be lonesome for Tante? +I am ashamed because I do not think of her oftener. Where do you +suppose she is?" + +"I saw her, my dear! Think what a coincidence it was! When I was in +Paris one of the secretaries from the American Embassy took me around +to visit the soup kitchens they have opened up there to feed the needy +children of the soldiers at the front. At the very first one we went +into, a woman in charge came up to greet us--and it was good Madame +Henri! I might have known she'd be doing something like that! She knew +me, of course--the tears ran down her cheeks as she clasped my hand. +She couldn't say a word at first. She herself took us through the place +and as it was at noontime, we stayed to see her hungry family. It was a +sight I'll never forget--women, shivering in ragged clothing, with +babes in their arms and gaunt, unhappy faces and eyes that looked at +you as if they were eternally asking something and afraid to ask! Most +of them had some scrap of dingy crepe somewhere about them--had lost +their men at the battle-front! And little children gulping down the +hot soup as though they were starved! Tante said it was the only meal +most of them had during the day. After her work was over she and I went +into a little room to talk. I knew she wanted to ask me about you--'her +baby,' she called you. When I told her you were well and happy she +broke down and sobbed 'thank God!' + +"She told me that her mother was dead and that her brother's wife and +her little family were on a farm in northern France. When they did not +need her longer she had gone to Paris to help. + +"'Give her my love,' she said to me--I knew she meant you. 'Keep her +safe! It is my one comfort in these terrible days that she is not +suffering! I love America--but I can never go back--my work is here!' I +knew then that until the end Madame Henri would stick to her post and +help wherever she could do the most good. She is a noble woman!" + +Keineth sighed. "It doesn't seem right to be so happy when others are +not," she said, troubled. + +"But remember what she said--because you are happy is the one bright +spot in Madame Henri's life! So it may be with others; you can always +help someone." + +"You couldn't do anything else at the Lees'," broke in Keineth, +"because Aunt Nellie is so kind and unselfish that we children are +terribly ashamed to be anything else! Daddy--" Keineth stopped short; +for the first time it crossed her mind that now that her daddy had come +back her visit at the Lees' would end. "Where will we live now, Daddy?" + +He waited a moment before he answered. + +"I am going to ask you to decide that for yourself, Keineth." Keineth +remembered then the night her father had made her decide between Aunt +Josephine and the Lees! How hard it had been! + +John Randolph led her to a bench. "Let's sit down here and talk. I'll +show you two pictures, Keineth, and you shall choose. You heard what +the President said; he has asked me to be in his Cabinet! That is a +great honor--perhaps the highest honor that may ever come to me!" + +"You'll be more than a soldier that doesn't wear a uniform?" + +Her father smiled at her quaint phrasing. "Yes, much more! But, besides +the honor and the work of the position it will mean this to us--we will +have to take a house here in Washington and live in such a way that we +can entertain many, many guests. My time will never be my own, for +there will be countless social demands besides the duties of the +office--I will be able to spend very little time with my little girl! +But she will not mind that because she will have ever so many new +friends and new things to do, too. And we're too simple to know how to +live such a life, so there's only one thing that'd happen--" Keineth +was making tiny circles in the soft grass with the toe of her shoe. She +had listened intently, now she interrupted quickly: "Aunt Josephine!" + +"Yes--Aunt Josephine would have to come down to show us how!" + +For some reason Keineth did not like the picture--and yet Daddy had +said it was a great honor! But Aunt Josephine-- + +Near the Monument the Marine Band had begun its program for the first +afternoon concert of the season. A great many people had begun to +gather in groups on the green. The music had seemed to reach Keineth +and her father as though it was all a part of the soft spring air and +beauty around them--they had scarcely heeded it as they talked! But +suddenly a familiar note struck Keineth's ear. She lifted her head +quickly. + +"Oh, listen!" she cried, clutching his arm. "Listen!" + +"What is it, child?" He was startled by the look on her face. She had +sprung to her feet. + +"That--that--" she whispered as though her voice might drown out the +soft strains of the music, "that is my Castle of Dreams!" She lifted +her hand to beg him not to speak until it had ended. They listened +together until the last note died away. + +"Beautiful, my dear, but--" + +She turned shining eyes toward him. "I wrote it," she added simply. + +"You--you--" He stared at her in such a funny way that Keineth burst +out laughing. "Why, my dear--" + +"Aunt Nellie taught me to write music! And I sold this! I didn't want +to tell you until I had a chance to play it for you." + +"You--wrote--that?" He seemed not able to really believe. "My little +girl?" A world of pride warmed the tone of his voice. + +"Yes, and it's such fun putting down what comes to my fingers! Only Mr. +Cadowitz says that I must learn a great deal more and practice what the +masters can teach me. And Aunt Nellie says, too, that I ought to wait +until I have finished school." + +"Yes, they are right," Mr. Lee put in. Then he caressed the small +fingers that lay in his clasp. "But, my dear little girl, what a joy +for you some day! It is a wonderful gift to tell your thoughts in +music! When you have built up a strong body and a good mind you can +work with all your heart and soul!" + +Keineth told him then the story of Pilot and Mr. Grandison. Her father +was deeply interested. He recalled that he had heard his father speak +of him once or twice. "He must have had a very lonely life," he added." +We must see something of him now and then, my dear!" + +"Oh, he will be glad!" Keineth described the big house on the outskirts +of the city where she had gone with her check; its lonely rooms that +all his money could not make cheerful. That led her to tell of the +beautiful books and how Mr. Grandison had one day taken her and Peggy +to see "Pollyanna"; of riding there in the big limousine and wearing +the precious pink dresses! + +The afternoon sun was dropping. The concert had ended and the crowds +were slowly moving away. John Randolph's face wore its far-away look as +though he was dreaming things. His eyes, as he turned them upon +Keineth, were very serious. + +"You know--child, we're given things in this world--good health and +fortune and gifts like your music--and my writing--but I don't believe +we're given them just to enjoy them ourselves! We're meant to share +them! I haven't told you the other picture, my dear!" + +"Oh, no!" cried Keineth. How could she have forgotten Aunt Josephine! + +"I've had a dream, Keineth, these months that I've been gone! It's been +a dream of the little home we'd make in some quiet corner where I could +write and you could grow and play. It'd be a simple home, but we'd have +a great many friends around us. There's a lot in my head I want to +write, too--I long for time to do it! I couldn't help but think as I +travelled over almost all the lands of the globe that people are alike +after all--only some of us have learned things faster than others and +some have a lot to learn. If those who see the vision could teach the +others--well, to live, as we said, like respectable, happy families in +a peaceful street--then this world would know a brotherhood we haven't +got now. It could come after this war--we could all be comrades, always +going forward shoulder to shoulder! I feel as if I want to write and +write and write about it until that picture goes all over the world! +Couldn't I do more for all my fellowmen that way than giving up my time +to the immense duties of a Cabinet official?" He turned a frowning face +toward Keineth, as though from this twelve-year-old girl he expected +help in his perplexity. + +Keineth's face was aglow. + +"Could the little home be near Peggy?" + +Her father nodded. "For a while, anyway." + +"And could I go to school with Peggy?" + +"Yes, I want you with your friends." + +"And you'd have time to play with me?" + +"Lots of time--I'd take it! That was part of my dream." + +"Oh, Daddy, I like that picture lots best! Only--" She suddenly +recalled what her father had said. "It would be such a great honor for +you to be in the President's Cabinet! And he told me I must make you!" + +"Keineth, dear, that honor would not mean half as much to me as the joy +of serving my fellowmen through my writing! We'll show the President +the two pictures--I know he will understand!" + +Still Keineth hesitated. "Would we--would we have to have Aunt +Josephine?" Then she added, as though a little ashamed, "but Aunt +Josephine can be awfully jolly when--she forgets." + +"Forgets what, child?" + +"Oh, that--that she's so--so rich!" Keineth stammered. + +John Randolph laughed. "We'll have her part of the time and maybe we +can make her--forget." + +"You have decided, you are very sure?" he asked after a moment, and he +swept his hand toward the nearby buildings of the city as though to +remind her of the interesting life that might lie there. + +But Keineth's shining eyes saw a vision beyond them--long, happy days +with Daddy and Peggy and the others; a home, too; real school days, +such as she had never known in her life--perhaps another summer at +Fairview. + +"I'd love Washington, but--I like your dream best, Daddy!" she +answered. + +"I knew you would! And now, kitten, what do you say to finding Peggy +and her father and going somewhere to have some cakes and hot +chocolate?" + +Through the soft April sunlight they went towards the White House and +the thronging streets. Keineth walked quickly, eager to find Peggy and +tell her everything! How glad Peg would be! + +She hummed a few notes without realizing that it was a strain from her +own music! She stopped suddenly and lifted laughing eyes to her +father's face. + +"Isn't it funny, Daddy? I called my music 'The Castle of Dreams'! We +were both dreaming the same dream!" + +"And we're going to have our Castle, Keineth!" + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Keineth, by Jane D. 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