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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76807 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+  ANOTHER YEAR WITH
+  DENISE AND NED TOODLES
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  _Frontispiece--Denise._
+
+“DENISE RAISED HER HEAD AND LISTENED FOR THE SECOND CALL.”
+
+  _See page 15_
+]
+
+
+
+
+  ANOTHER YEAR
+
+  WITH
+
+  Denise and Ned Toodles
+
+  BY
+
+  GABRIELLE E. JACKSON
+
+  _With Illustrations_
+
+  PHILADELPHIA
+  HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+  BY THE SAME AUTHOR
+
+  CAPS AND CAPERS
+
+  DOUGHNUTS AND DIPLOMAS
+
+  $1.00 each
+
+  A BLUE GRASS BEAUTY
+
+  Fifty cents
+
+  Copyright, 1904, by Henry Altemus
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER I                                          PAGE
+
+  WHAT THE WOOD-THRUSH TOLD                            13
+
+  CHAPTER II
+
+  “MABIE LILLY TAINTIT”                                23
+
+  CHAPTER III
+
+  AN OLD FRIEND AND A NEW ONE                          35
+
+  CHAPTER IV
+
+  HART                                                 48
+
+  CHAPTER V
+
+  KING ROYAL DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF                     61
+
+  CHAPTER VI
+
+  THE SUNSET HOUR                                      71
+
+  CHAPTER VII
+
+  “OH, WE’LL SAIL THE OCEAN BLUE!”                     85
+
+  CHAPTER VIII
+
+  POKEY AND A CIRCUS                                   99
+
+  CHAPTER IX
+
+  THE EARTH OPENS AND POKEY IS SWALLOWED UP           113
+
+  CHAPTER X
+
+  TROUBLES NEVER COME SINGLY                          124
+
+  CHAPTER XI
+
+  A TIMELY RESCUE                                     136
+
+  CHAPTER XII
+
+  JOY TURNS POKEY DAFT                                150
+
+  CHAPTER XIII
+
+  MISCHIEF                                            160
+
+  CHAPTER XIV
+
+  AUNT MIRANDA COMES TO TOWN                          174
+
+  CHAPTER XV
+
+  AUNT MIRANDA AND NED HAVE A LITTLE ALTERCATION      187
+
+  CHAPTER XVI
+
+  AUNT MIRANDA INTERVIEWS NERO’S OWNER                200
+
+  CHAPTER XVII
+
+  NED DISGRACES HIMSELF, BUT MAKES AMENDS             214
+
+  CHAPTER XVIII
+
+  A BIRTHDAY FROLIC AND WHAT CAME OF IT               227
+
+  CHAPTER XIX
+
+  DENISE TO THE RESCUE                                240
+
+  CHAPTER XX
+
+  A COASTING EPISODE                                  254
+
+  CHAPTER XXI
+
+  ANOTHER CHRISTMAS DAY DRAWS NEAR                    269
+
+  CHAPTER XXII
+
+  CHRISTMAS FOR ALL THE PETS                          280
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+        PAGE
+
+  “Denise raised her head and listened for the second call”
+                                                     _Frontispiece_
+
+  “‘Why not call it the _River Kelpie_?’”        Facing p.  94
+
+  “The man bent down to avoid the branches”         “      150
+
+  “They had many things to talk over”               “      230
+
+
+
+
+WHAT THE WOOD-THRUSH TOLD
+
+
+
+
+ANOTHER YEAR WITH DENISE AND NED TOODLES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+WHAT THE WOOD-THRUSH TOLD
+
+
+Denise sat all alone in her phaeton, her elbows resting upon her knees,
+and her chin propped upon her hands. The soft brown curls fell all
+about her face, and the brown eyes, which matched the curls in color,
+looked dreamily off toward the glassy river. The linen carriage-robe
+had slipped from her knees and one end trailed out upon the fresh green
+grass upon which the phaeton stood, for she had driven out of the main
+road into a little by-way leading up the mountain, her favorite spot
+for a “good quiet think,” and she and Ned Toodles were reveling in the
+beauty of that early spring day. The atmosphere was so balmy, so filled
+with the thousand promises of spring, the sun so warm and comforting,
+without the oppressive heat that would come later in the season, and
+all nature so entrancing in the exquisitely soft green of her new
+spring attire, that it was no wonder that the sensitive, imaginative
+child of eleven should be transported into a fairy-like reverie, or
+the little pony, which had now been her constant companion for more
+than eighteen months, should, so far as an animal can sympathize with
+a human being’s moods, enter into sympathy with Denise’s. He stood
+perfectly still, his head turned slightly toward the river upon which
+Denise’s eyes rested, his head slightly drooping, and the usually
+wide-awake eyes partly closed, as though he, too, had nearly slipped
+away into the land of dreams. One ear, however, was turned backward
+toward the occupant of the phaeton, as though he had placed an anchor
+in the land of reality in which his beloved little mistress dwelt most
+of the time.
+
+To the right of the phaeton stretched the great woodland, with its
+silence, broken only by the wind whispering through the trees, and its
+bird-calls. It was a dreamy, beautiful world which Denise and her pet
+were dwelling in just there and then, and a fitting surrounding for
+a child whose life had been filled with sunshine, and whose nature
+reflected it, as well as for the little pony, who ever since he had
+become hers, eighteen months before, had not known the meaning of a
+harsh word or unkindness.
+
+Presently from out the woodland came the incomparable call of the
+wood-thrush, rising from its soft, tender note to the clear joyous call
+which told to all the world that life was, oh, so sweet! Denise raised
+her head from her hands and listened for the second call which she
+knew would follow. It came, and this time a little nearer, as though
+the bird were searching the woods for its mate. Then back went the
+answering call, but not from the bird’s mate. Raising her head, Denise
+puckered up the soft red lips, and clear and sweet from between them
+came the
+
+[Music]
+
+Then she listened for the answer. It came, and so did the bird, peering
+cautiously from a leafy covert, flying nearer and nearer the still
+figures at the roadside, hopping questioningly from bough to bough, as
+though asking, “Where is she?”
+
+Denise smiled, but made no sound, and the little bird, deciding that
+those odd-looking creatures so near by were harmless, opened his tiny
+beak, and clear and sweet at her very side gave his entrancing call
+again.
+
+The moment it ceased Denise repeated hers, and for a few moments a very
+bewildered little bird flitted about the phaeton, calling and hearing
+the answering call without seeing the lady bird whom he felt sure must
+be near at hand. It was altogether too tantalizing, and the mystery
+must be solved if possible, so, gathering courage from his intense
+curiosity, down he flew from his leafy branch and alighted upon the
+wheel of the phaeton, to give a still louder and more peremptory call.
+It was of no use, for even though his lady-love politely answered from
+between Denise’s lips, she refused to appear, and with an indignant
+flourish of his brown tail, off flew her suitor to seek a lady-love
+less disdainful.
+
+As he disappeared into the wood a merry laugh rippled after him, which
+must have caused a surprised flutter from his wings, and, giving one
+bound, Denise sprang over the wheels and landed upon the grass beside
+Ned. The move was a sudden one, but Ned was used to moves of all sorts,
+so, giving a soft little whinny of welcome, he aroused himself from his
+dreams, took a step or two nearer, and poked his head under Denise’s
+arm. She dropped upon the soft grass, saying:--
+
+“Ned Toodles, it’s springtime, springtime, springtime! I am so glad,
+aren’t you?” And cuddling both arms about the warm head which was
+thrust into her lap as she sat there, she buried her face in the silky
+forelock and “snuggled” as hard as she could. Ned responded by a
+succession of subdued whinnies, as though saying, “More delighted than
+I can express, for spring means green grass, long walks with you, and
+no bother with blankets!”
+
+“Now, Ned, listen,” continued Denise, for these conversations were by
+no means uncommon; they were held daily. “Spring means warm weather,
+warm weather means vacation, vacation means Pokey! What do you think
+of that? Vacation doesn’t mean much to us, does it? It’s a sort of
+vacation all the time with Miss Meredith, for she seems to know just
+when I have done enough, and doing any more would make my brain all
+sort of muddled up, and it’s just fun to study with some one who
+makes you see every solitary thing you learn, till you couldn’t _help_
+knowing it unless you were as stupid as--as, well that funny person who
+called upon mamma the other day and who said to me, ‘So this is the
+examplry child I have heard so much about. Dear me, I think I shall
+have to ask your mamma to let you come and visit my children for a
+while; they are simply irrepressible, and perhaps your shining example
+will serve as a beacon to their benighted minds.’”
+
+“Ned, it was just awful! Really, it was! That funny woman was so very
+much dressed up, and was so very, very polite, but she used such queer
+words. I did not dare look at mamma for fear I should laugh, and then
+what would she have thought of this ‘examplry’ child I am sure I
+don’t know. Mamma said, ‘We do not consider Denise a model child by
+any means, Mrs. Smithers; she is no more than any child may be if the
+parents will take the trouble to study their children’s characters and
+learn the wisest manner of government. “One man’s meat is another man’s
+poison,” you know, and I think the rule will apply to children pretty
+well, too, don’t you?’ And then mamma smiled that odd little smile of
+hers that just means _so_ much. You sort of _feel_ its meaning way down
+inside you, and even if you could not _tell_ in words just what she
+means you know it all the same. Then she said to me, ‘Mrs. Smithers
+will excuse you now, Sweetheart,’ and gave me the little love-nod which
+means, ‘I see you don’t understand what it is all about, but we will
+talk it over together when twilight comes and we have our cuddle in the
+big armchair in the library.’ Ned Toodles, that armchair is just the
+very nicest place in the whole wide world, do you know that?”
+
+Ned evidently agreed perfectly, for he answered, “Hoo-hoo-hoo!” and
+Denise continued:--
+
+“But, oh, dear, I’m just miles away from where I started! What was
+I telling you? Oh, yes, I remember. Vacation and Pokey. You see, Ned
+Toodles, Pokey is smart, very smart, indeed, and some day she is going
+to be famous, because she told me so. She is going to study hard and
+get to be a teacher, and buy a dear little house and furnish it all
+just as pretty as can be, and have her mother live with her and never
+wish for a single thing that she cannot give to her right off! Isn’t
+that just splendid? But to do that she must study hard while she is a
+little girl, and that is what she is doing now, oh, _so_ hard! And she
+gets all tired out and fidgety, and sort of criss-cross, because she
+doesn’t know what ails her, but mamma says it is because the brain is
+trying to grow too fast for the body, and Pokey can’t keep up to it, so
+just as soon as vacation comes Pokey will come out here, and--_then_!”
+
+This thought was too tremendous to be dealt with in a sitting position,
+and, springing up, Denise cried:--
+
+“Let’s go home just as fast as ever we can, Ned, for I’ve a sort of
+feeling that something fine is going to happen,” and she scrambled into
+the phaeton, and was soon spinning down the road toward home--the very
+road down which she and her beloved Pokey had scurried the previous
+summer in their vain attempt to escape from Colonel Franklin when
+their taffy candy had led them into disgrace. Her thoughts were still
+busy with her little friend as she hurried along, but she could not
+look into the future to see that friend’s dream a reality beyond her
+most sanguine hopes nor behold her grown to dignified womanhood and
+presiding as superintendent of one of the largest schools in the city
+which had always been her home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+“MABIE LILLY TAINTIT”
+
+
+Ned Toodles trotted along the road that beautiful afternoon, and
+Denise’s joyous mood found a vent in a charming little song which kept
+time with Ned’s footfalls and to which he occasionally gave a sort of
+staccato accent, by breaking into a frisky jump. “Sing-Song Polly” rang
+out over the fields, the song growing gayer and wilder at every bar,
+till suddenly a second voice took up the theme in a long-drawn, doleful
+wail, that brought Denise’s warble to an abrupt ending. Ned heard
+it, too, and gave a little start to one side, for the wail seemed to
+proceed from the very ground beneath them, and was decidedly uncanny.
+Denise drew rein quickly, and stopped to listen for further signs of
+distress. They came very promptly, and a second later she was stooping
+over a forlorn figure which the low bushes at the roadside nearly
+concealed.
+
+A little ditch divided the adjacent fields from the road, and at this
+season of the year the ditch was very apt to be filled with water and
+inhabited by a flourishing family of tadpoles. Seated upon the ground
+at the further side of the ditch, her feet firmly embedded in its mud,
+from which she was vainly striving to withdraw them, was a small child,
+probably six years of age. She wore a little pink and white checked
+gingham, which was splashed with mud from top to bottom; her hands were
+the color of a little darky’s, and her hair, which perhaps had not been
+in perfect order upon setting out, was now a hopeless snarl and firmly
+caught in the overhanging branches of the bushes at her back.
+
+Altogether she was in a sorry plight, for she was held fast by head
+and feet, and, unless some good Samaritan appeared upon the scene
+to release her, in a fair way to remain a prisoner for some time to
+come. But she certainly had no intention of submitting meekly to the
+predicament in which she found herself, if lusty shouts and yells could
+compass her release.
+
+“My good gracious!” exclaimed Denise, “how in this world did you ever
+get in there, and stuck tight fast in the mud?”
+
+“I wanted the littule fat fises! I wanted the littule fat fises! I want
+to get out! I want to get out!” screamed the child, tugging with might
+and main to free her feet, and thereby only adding to the trouble above.
+
+“Wait a minute! Wait a minute!” cried Denise. “I must get your hair
+free before you can move.” But the youngster was beyond all reasoning
+with, and, turning to Denise, shrieked at the top of her lungs: “Take
+that old tree away! Take it away, I say!”
+
+“Why don’t you ask me to take the whole woods away, you little goose!”
+exclaimed Denise with some asperity. “I _can’t_ take the tree away,
+and if you don’t keep still long enough to let me loosen your hair
+from the branches, I shall never in the world get you free. Be still!”
+and she gave the screaming youngster a little shake. It was not much
+of a shake, but it had the desired effect, and was doubtless the
+sort of persuasion to which she was accustomed. As a rule Denise was
+wonderfully gentle with little folk, but here was a situation which
+needed prompt action, and this small imp seemed determined to frustrate
+every move she made to help her.
+
+Denise began to unwind the tangled hair, and was just upon the point of
+releasing the whole mop, when, “Oh! Oh! Ohuu! They’re all tummin’ after
+me! Oh-h! Ou-u! Ou-u!” and up bounced the youngster, as four or five
+tadpoles, emboldened by the silence which had prevailed while Denise
+was absorbed in her task, came swimming toward her, only to vanish
+at the howl which greeted them. In a twinkling Denise’s labors were
+undone. Up bobbed the head into the branches, only to be jerked back
+again by the imprisoned feet, and the hair, caught more firmly than
+ever, drew down with it a slender branch which gave a stinging lash
+across the child’s face.
+
+If she had howled before, she outdid herself now when the pain added
+to her miseries, and Denise was literally at her wit’s end. To ever
+untangle that hair now was out of the question, and what in the world
+was to be done? Every moment was adding to the mischief, and the
+child was becoming nearly frantic. Stepping to one side, Denise drew
+from her pocket the little knife she always carried, and, opening
+the largest blade, stepped carefully back to the struggling child.
+Watching her chance, she grasped her firmly with one arm, and, despite
+her struggles, held her fast while she cut the hair from the bush.
+Once that end was freed, she flung the knife out into the road, and
+set about pulling the other end from the mud. The first jerk produced
+no effect, but the second resulted in a prolonged “s-k-e-r-S-w-A-P,”
+and up flew one foot without a shoe, the other foot with so much mud
+upon it that it looked like nothing in this world but a lump of wet
+peat, while heels-over-head went Denise and her charge into the bushes
+behind them. Denise was too frightened to care whether she was hurt or
+not, but, scrambling to her feet, turned to see what had befallen Miss
+Pink-Gingham. The howl had been scared out of her, and she was making
+for the road as fast as her legs would carry her. Once upon _terra
+firma_ she stood still to wait for her rescuer, sobbing meanwhile in a
+subdued sort of fashion.
+
+By this time it may easily be imagined what sort of condition Denise
+was in, but, feeling that it could not possibly be any worse, she
+clawed down into the mud till she found the missing shoe and drew it
+out in triumph. As upon one other memorable occasion, the linen duster
+now served as a towel, and a moment later Denise had scoured off her
+hands and was turning her attention to the little blackamoor in the
+road. At sight of the forlorn little figure Denise’s heart melted, but
+to offer condolence, excepting in the form of words, until some of
+mother earth had been removed, was obviously impossible. So she rubbed
+and scraped as she poured forth words of consolation, and ere long had
+the child as much restored to her normal color as was possible and
+seated beside her in the phaeton. Then came the question of where to
+take her, for, although pretty well acquainted with every one in that
+town, this face was a strange one, and where its owner belonged she did
+not know.
+
+“Now tell me your name and where you live,” said Denise, soothingly,
+but, as though the mention of home recalled her recent harrowing
+experiences, the child began to sob again, and Denise was in despair.
+
+“Oh, please stop crying, and tell me where to take you. See. I will
+drive you in the carriage wherever you tell me, and Ned Toodles will
+go ever so fast if you will only let him know where _to_ go.”
+
+“Mabie Lilly--oh!--Taint! Taint--it!” sobbed the child.
+
+“Maybe Lilly--what? Isn’t Lilly your name? Then what is it?” pleaded
+Denise.
+
+“Oh, Taint-it! Taint-it!” was all she could hear.
+
+“_What_ isn’t it? Lilly? Isn’t Lilly your name?” demanded Denise,
+inwardly thinking that no name could have been a greater misnomer under
+existing conditions.
+
+“Yes; yes, Mabie Lilly--boo, hoo. Taint-it! Taint-it!”
+
+“Oh, _dear_ me, what _shall_ I do with her,” wailed Denise, then,
+thinking to find out the child’s address if she could not learn her
+name, she asked, “Where do you live?” Tell me that, and I’ll take you
+straight there.
+
+“In Noo York! In Noo York!” was the climax of a reply.
+
+“Oh, I’ll take you there by the very next train, of course,” cried
+Denise; “or, perhaps, I’d better turn around and drive there to save
+time. Where in the world _does_ she belong, I wonder. I’ve never seen
+her before, but I suppose I might sit here till to-morrow and never
+find out from her. Go on, Ned, and we’ll see what we can find out from
+the first person we meet,” for pity, combined with despair of learning
+who the child was, was a sore tax upon nerves and patience, and,
+gathering up her reins, she started for the town, the youngster beside
+her keeping up an incessant sob of “Taint-it; Taint it! Oh, Ma-bie
+Lilly; Ma-bie Lilly--Taint-it! Taint-it!”
+
+Ned spun along over the road, till at last they came to the section
+of the town dotted all along the roadside with pretty homes. They
+were about a quarter of a mile from Denise’s when she spied a man
+hurrying toward them, gesticulating, and evidently holding an animated
+conversation with _himself_. Denise could not help laughing at the
+figure he cut, for wrath, strong and potent, was written in every
+gesture. Just at that moment the child saw him also, and, jumping up
+in the carriage, cried at the top of her lungs: “Oh, Michael! Michael!
+Here I is! Here I is!” By this time they were nearly up to him, and,
+stopping short in the road, the man froze to his last gesture and
+stared at them open-mouthed. Then, shaking his fist at the youngster,
+he came a step nearer, saying:
+
+“An’ is it yersilf I see a-sittin’ up there in yer illigince, an’ me
+runnin’ me legs arf me ter search the town fer ye, ye schmall bit av a
+divil, that has run away twinty times within the past tin days! Faith
+I’ve a mind ter shake the head arf ye fer the thrubble ye’ve put upon
+me! An’ yer mither a-screechin’ an’ a-screamin’ that ye’re drownded
+entirely in the river beyant, an’ fer gettin’ out half the town ter
+search it fer ye! Arrah, now! Come out av that, an’ let me--Ah! what
+shall I do wid ye at all, I dunno!” and, reaching over the wheel, the
+irate Irishman lifted the child out with not the gentlest hand, she
+protesting and screaming that she wanted to “wide home with the nice
+young lady dat fised her out of the brook.”
+
+“An’ will ye look at the young lady, ye young limb o’ Satan! See the
+sthate ye’ve been after puttin’ hersilf an’ her kerrege in! Ah! Miss
+Denise, an’ it’s a shame, so it is, the dhirt that’s from hid ter ind
+av yer little wagon.”
+
+“Never mind the mud, Michael. I don’t care about that, for John will
+soon brush it all out. But who on earth is that child? I thought I knew
+everybody in Springdale, but I have never seen her before. I thought I
+should never get her home, because I could not get her to say a single
+thing when I asked her name, but that maybe it was Lilly, and then she
+always added, oh, taint it, taint it, till I knew less than before she
+began to tell it.”
+
+Over Michael’s broad face a smile began to spread itself, till it
+well-nigh reached from ear to ear, and then, becoming aware of his
+rudeness, he put his hand over his mouth to suppress the guffaw that
+_would_ come.
+
+“Oh! Oho! Oho!” cried Michael, spasmodically, his face puckered up as
+though he were going to sneeze. “Is that what she towld ye? Will I iver
+hear the bate o’ that! Faith, tis no wonder ye couldn’t make head or
+tail av it. Shure, she is master’s sister’s choild what is a-visitin’
+him fer the last tin days, an’ runnin’ arf iviry blessed one av those
+tin, wid me chasin’ after her till me legs is worn out. ’Tis Taintit
+her name is, Mabel Lilly Taintit. Her mother is Mr. Wilson’s sister.”
+
+“Well, it is no wonder I didn’t understand,” cried Denise, as she
+joined in the laugh, and then turned Ned’s head toward home, as Michael
+lifted up his charge and turned toward theirs, asserting as he departed
+that “afther this it’s tied up ye’ll be fer sertain.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+AN OLD FRIEND AND A NEW ONE
+
+
+It was the twentieth of April! Tan’s birthday! At least, Denise
+considered it his birthday, for upon that date, when she was a wee
+lassie of four, Tan had been given to her, although he certainly had
+not come into the world upon the same day, for Tan was “no kid” when
+she got him. That he was more than seven and one-half years she knew,
+and a friend of her father’s who was well up in animal lore, said that
+Tan was not far from fourteen years of age, to judge from the rings
+upon his horns, which were almost as distinct as those seen upon the
+Rocky Mountain sheep which Tan resembled both in size and color. So Tan
+was growing old for a goat, and during the past winter had suffered
+somewhat from rheumatism. The Veterinary who came to see him did all
+that he could to afford him relief, but said that Tan would probably
+not live through another winter. Denise had been greatly troubled at
+this, but, like all “mothers,” only loved old Tan more dearly in his
+affliction, and cared for him more tenderly. But as spring drew near
+Tan improved steadily, and when the warm days came and he could go out
+in his field to crop the fresh, sweet grass, it seemed just the tonic
+he required, and he grew quite gay and frisky. He still followed Denise
+whenever he could do so, but in some of their long rambles, or after a
+particularly hard climb, often grew tired and stopped stock-still in
+the road to pant.
+
+Ned, Sailor, and Beauty Buttons were not able to understand, although
+Sailor, himself, was not very young.
+
+Directly lessons were ended and luncheon eaten, Denise flew out to the
+“Bird’s Nest,” for the pretty little playhouse and stable for her pets
+combined was still as dear to her as upon the day she had received
+the key to it from papa’s hand, and most of her time was spent in it.
+Running into the part which held the carriages for Ned and Tan, she
+took down Tan’s harness, which had not been put on him for many a long
+day, wheeled out the little carriage, and then went to the door to
+whistle for Tan. Ned Toodles stood in his day-stall, which permitted
+him to see through the bars all that was taking place, and looked upon
+the unusual preparations with a sort of “Well, I wonder what you are up
+to now?” look. He stood perfectly still except for an occasional whisk
+of his tail, very much as a person might, without really being aware of
+it, hastily brush away a stray lock of hair which tickled him.
+
+Out upon the grass in front of the “Bird’s Nest,” Denise rolled the
+little old-fashioned carriage, and then turned to greet Tan, who, at
+the first sight of these familiar objects, felt his poor old bones
+filled with new life, and his loving old heart beat for joy, for
+these meant that he was again to draw the little carriage and, as he
+supposed, his beloved little mistress. With a prolonged baa-aa-a-a--a,
+he came trotting toward her as fast as the stiff legs permitted, and
+rubbed his head against her sleeve by way of telling her how pleased he
+was.
+
+“Now, Tanny-boy,” said Denise, “this is your birthday. At least,
+_I_ call it your birthday, because you came to live with me on the
+twentieth of April just seven years ago. Haven’t we had good times all
+these years? You haven’t been harnessed for ever so long, and I don’t
+know whether you ought to be now, to tell the truth, for you don’t seem
+very strong, but I am not going to take you out of the grounds, and
+this is to make you feel that you _aren’t_ so very old after all,” and
+Denise stroked the faithful old pet, who responded in every way he knew
+how; licking her hands, rubbing against her, and making a soft little
+snuffling sound.
+
+It was only a moment’s work to her practiced hands to adjust the
+harness, and Tan was a proud goat as he waited for her to get into
+the carriage. But she had no intention of doing so. Such a load as
+her plump little self was not to be thought of, so, bidding him stand
+perfectly still, she ran back into the playhouse and a moment later
+reappeared with a little pink flannelette blanket, bound all around the
+edges with black braid, and a piece of broad pink ribbon.
+
+“Here, Beauty Buttons,” she called to the tiny black-and-tan terrier
+which was enjoying a sun-bath in the playhouse dining-room, “come
+and ride in Tan’s wagon, for I’m too heavy,” and down trotted the
+small dog, to be dressed in the blanket she had made for this festive
+occasion and adorned with the bow to match. He knew well enough what
+was expected, and hopped into the carriage. Denise put the reins over
+his neck and there he sat, a brave little groom, while Denise went up
+to Tan’s head and took hold of the bridle. Poor old Tan! All aches and
+pains were forgotten, and he stepped off in his bravest style.
+
+“Now we will go over there under the apple-trees, and I’ll dress you
+all up,” said Denise, and off they went, and presently were standing
+beneath the blossom-laden trees, so filled with their beautiful bloom
+that they looked exactly like huge bouquets. The boughs hung low, and
+before long Tan had nearly disappeared under his decorations, for
+sprigs of apple-blossoms were stuck in every part of the harness that
+they could be stuck in, the carriage and Beauty also coming in for
+their share. When all was finished Denise led Tan to the rear porch
+and gave a “bob-white” call. It was almost instantly answered by a
+bob-white from within, and her mother’s face appeared at an upper
+window.
+
+“What is this, Sweetheart? A flower fête?” asked Mrs. Lombard, smiling
+at the posy bank under her window.
+
+“Isn’t it pretty,” cried Denise, “and did you ever see such lovely
+blossoms. Tan seems so much better, and I guess he will be all right
+now that warm weather has come again, don’t you?”
+
+“I would not wonder a bit,” was the comforting reply, for somehow this
+mother rarely made any other sort, and had a knack of putting the
+simplest things in a new and happy light.
+
+“Have you got a letter?” asked Denise, noticing that her mother held an
+envelope in her hand.
+
+“Yes, dear; it is a letter from Mrs. Murray, saying that they will be
+back in their old home this week, and that we may expect to see the
+house open any day. I am so pleased to hear such good news, for it has
+seemed very lonely to have our nearest neighbor’s house shut up all
+these years. I wonder if you can remember the children at all? The
+eldest was only six months your senior, and a dear little lad.”
+
+“I am afraid I can’t,” said Denise, wagging her head solemnly, as
+though she were found wanting in something.
+
+“Well, keep your weather eye open,” said Mrs. Lombard, laughing, “and
+when you see some one whom you don’t know, just say to yourself, ‘that
+is an old friend.’”
+
+“I will,” answered Denise, joining in the laugh, and turning to lead
+Tan and her passenger back under the trees. The apple-trees grew near
+to the fence which divided Mr. Lombard’s property from his neighbor’s,
+and that particular corner of the grounds was always a favorite one
+of Denise’s. Up in one tree was her “cubby,” beneath two others swung
+her hammock, and upon the velvety grass beneath them she spent many a
+happy hour reading, while Ned Toodles, Tan, Sailor, Beauty Buttons,
+and the kittens stood, sat, or stretched themselves about her. A hedge
+of currant-bushes grew along the fence, concealing all that took place
+within or beyond.
+
+Denise had led Tan to a particularly inviting spot and took him
+from the shafts, although she did not remove the harness and its
+decorations. Beauty had hopped out of the carriage, and was now
+sprawled out like a big frog. Seating herself in one of the rustic
+benches beneath the trees, she drew Tan toward her and began to scratch
+the little spot between his horns; a spot which seemed to be in a
+perpetual state of itching, as his head would fall lower and lower the
+longer she scratched there. As she rubbed she talked to Tan, rambling
+on in the odd way she had of sharing all her thoughts with her pets,
+safe confidants, who never betrayed her secrets, and who loved the
+voice for the voice’s sake. Presently a loud, impatient whinney caused
+her to look over toward the playhouse.
+
+“Do you hear that?” she demanded. “I do believe that Ned is jealous for
+the first time in his life,” and she answered the whinney by giving a
+peculiar piping whistle.
+
+A stamping and a clatter was the result, and presently John’s voice
+was heard shouting: “Hi! you young scamp! Don’t you dare thry that
+thrick on me agin. It’s takin’ out yer own bar fastenings ye’ll be, is
+it? Don’t ye dare! There,” as the sound of dropping bars told that Ned
+was free, “gt-t-t out beyant to Miss Denise, and cut no more capers,”
+and with a rattle and clatter out rushed Ned to come tearing over the
+grass toward Denise. His abrupt exit so startled the kittens, who were
+basking in the sunshine just outside the door, that they bounced up
+like two rubber balls and tore along ahead of him with both tails stuck
+straight up in the air like bottle-brushes, and did not stop their
+flight until they were safe in the branches above Denise’s head.
+
+As though to rebuke such unseemly haste, Sailor rose majestically from
+his favorite corner of the piazza, and, descending the steps, came
+slowly across the lawn, waving his plumy tail like a flag of truce and
+looking with dignified contempt upon such mad antics as Ned was just
+then giving way to, for having been confined in his stall all the
+morning while Denise was occupied with her lessons, and then having had
+insult added to injury by receiving from her only a few words when she
+ran out to get Tan, his outraged spirit had to find some sort of vent,
+and this up-end, down-end, tip-end, top-end sort of performance with
+which he was now favoring his audience was evidently the proper sort of
+demonstration under the circumstances, and for a little time it would
+have been hard to tell which end of him rested upon _terra firma_. As a
+fitting ending to his performance, he rushed around and around two or
+three times, evidently regarding Denise’s laughter which pealed out as
+wild applause, and then, coming toward her with a rush, bumped against
+old Tan and nearly upset him, as he pushed him aside to put _his_ saucy
+nose where Tan’s had been.
+
+It was all done so quickly that Denise hardly realized what had
+happened till she was startled by a hearty, boyish laugh from the
+other side of the hedge, and, turning quickly, saw a lad of about
+twelve looking over it and laughing as hard as he could. Giving Ned a
+shake by his little silky ears, Denise pushed him from her and hopped
+up from the bench, saying: “Isn’t he the craziest thing you ever saw?
+I guess you are the person I am to see and not know a bit, but to call
+an old friend,” and with this bewildering announcement she went over to
+the fence to speak to the still amused boy.
+
+Hastily reaching in the pocket of his immaculate little overcoat, the
+boy drew from it a small card-case, and, taking from it a card, handed
+it to Denise with a truly Chesterfieldian air as he raised his cap and
+waited for her to read the name.
+
+Although a carefully-bred child, Denise had not had much experience
+in conventionalities, and did not go about with a card-case in her
+pocket. So it never occurred to her to throw any formality into her
+reply, and her next words banished forever any misgivings the boy
+was entertaining of the outcome of this act. “Will she be stiff and
+prim?” had been his inward doubt while coming back to the home so long
+untenanted by his parents, and learning that their next-door neighbor
+had an only daughter blessed with more good things than usually falls
+to the lot of one child. He had been at school abroad, and “manners
+polite” had been as breakfast, dinner, and supper to him for three long
+years, till very little of the genuine boy appeared upon the surface,
+however much it seethed and bubbled beneath. True to his training, the
+card had been produced when occasion called for it, but the sigh of
+relief which came at Denise’s next words told that a mighty burden had
+been lifted from his boyish soul:
+
+“Oh, how perfectly splendid! You are Hart Murray, mamma’s old friend’s
+son. Come straight over the fence and let me show you all my pets, and
+we’ll talk, talk, talk, till we can’t think of another word to say!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+HART
+
+
+No second invitation was needed, and with one of the marvelous
+“neck-or-nothing” bounds which only boys can make, Hart rested one hand
+upon the fence and the next instant stood beside the surprised girl.
+
+“How under the sun did you do it!” she exclaimed, for never having had
+any boy companions excepting her cousins from the city, Denise hardly
+knew what to expect from boys.
+
+“That didn’t amount to much,” answered the boy, modestly, as he
+followed Denise over the lawn, and a moment later was surrounded by her
+inquisitive family. Ned promptly struck an attitude, and sniffed from
+afar in long, audible breaths. Tan presented arms, so to speak, by
+trying to rear upon his hind legs as of old, and make believe butt the
+newcomer. Sailor walked right up to him and put his paw into his hand,
+and Beauty, not to be outdone in politeness, instantly began to do his
+tricks for their guest’s benefit. He lay down at his feet, rolled over
+first one way and then the other so quickly that one wondered if he had
+some sort of a patent spring inside him; then sat upon his hind legs
+to “beg” and “sneeze” three times in rapid succession. Overhead the
+kittens kept up a sort of accompaniment to the other’s performances by
+running rapidly up and down the limbs and meowing incessantly.
+
+“I say! What a lot of them!” exclaimed the boy, “and aren’t they
+dandies?”
+
+“Yes, I think that they _are_ a pretty nice family. Tan is all dressed
+up because it is his birthday.”
+
+“Not really? That’s a joke, for it’s mine, too. I’m twelve years old
+to-day, and that is the reason I came out here. A sort of birthday
+treat, don’t you see.”
+
+“How funny,” cried Denise, “but isn’t it splendid, too! Let’s leave the
+children down here to enjoy themselves while you and I get up into the
+tree and have a fine talk. See the seats up there? It’s a fine place
+for a powwow.”
+
+“What do you mean by the children?” asked Hart, glancing about for
+several infants, but failing to see them.
+
+Denise laughed. “Oh, that is only my way of speaking of the pets. There
+are such a lot of them that they need as much care as children, so I
+call them so.”
+
+Hart glanced up into the blossom-laden tree, and without another word
+began to scramble into its fragrant depths, Denise following as nimbly
+as a squirrel. Seating themselves upon bits of board which had been
+nailed in the branches, they at once availed themselves of that blessed
+privilege of childhood, and asked questions by the dozen.
+
+“When did you come out?” was Denise’s first question.
+
+“Just before luncheon with Mrs. Dean, the housekeeper. Father and
+mother won’t be out until to-morrow. But I couldn’t wait any longer. I
+wanted to see the place so much, and--” Hart paused abruptly, for he
+had been about to add “you,” when he bethought himself of his manners.
+
+“And what?” asked Denise.
+
+“Why, you see, I hadn’t seen the place since I was just a little kid
+only five years old, and mother said that she had always lived here
+when she was a girl, and that your mother was her school-friend. And
+then she told me about your pets, and--and--well, she said that she
+hoped you and I would grow to be good friends, too, don’t you see,”
+and the handsome blue eyes smiled in the friendliest way. Hart was a
+handsome boy, tall and well formed for a boy of twelve, with a firm
+mouth, fine teeth, and the most winning smile imaginable. Little
+brownie Denise was an exact opposite, for his hair was a mass of
+golden waves and hers as dark as a seal’s.
+
+“Why, of course we’ll be friends. We are already, and it is just too
+splendid for anything to think that you live so near, and we can be
+together all the time,” for it never occurred to Denise that there
+might be people in this world ready to criticise a boy and girl
+friendship, and the silly nonsense of “little beaus” and “little
+sweethearts” had, happily, never even entered her head. It was just
+good comradeship with all her boy friends. True, she had never had any
+close ones, although she knew nearly all the children in Springdale,
+and was always glad to welcome them to her home. But the greater part
+of her life was passed with her pets, and they filled it very full,
+indeed. But here was a friend close at hand with whom she might talk,
+drive, or cut any prank, and the experience was novel.
+
+As they sat chattering, a musical bob-white whistle sounded almost
+beneath their feet, and Mrs. Lombard’s face peered through the boughs.
+
+“Who ever heard of a quail and a golden pheasant up a tree!” she said
+merrily. “That boy up there is Hart Murray, I know, for he has stolen
+his mother’s eyes and golden hair, and come out here to masquerade.
+Come straight down here and let me shake hands with you.”
+
+It would have been hard to resist the cordial welcome of Mrs. Lombard’s
+voice, and a second later Hart’s slender hand lay in hers, and she was
+smiling into his face as only Mrs. Lombard could smile. “I thought I
+heard a wonderous piping in the old apple-tree,” she said, “and came
+out to learn what manner of bird had taken possession. I have found a
+_rara avis_, sure enough, and shall try to induce it to spend a good
+part of its time in my grounds.”
+
+“I don’t believe it will need much coaxing,” was the laughing reply.
+
+“Oh, we have laid all sorts of splendid plans already,” cried Denise,
+“and were just going over to see the rabbits when you piped up. Come
+with us, Moddie,” and slipping her arm about her mother’s waist, Denise
+led the way to the rabbits’ quarters in one end of Tan’s field. Resting
+her hand upon the shoulder of the tall boy walking beside her, Mrs.
+Lombard asked: “And what are the plans for good times?”
+
+“Oh, all sorts of things. Father says that he will give me a pony and
+a boat. Denise and I can have jolly rides, and I’ll take her rowing if
+you’ll let her go; will you?” he asked eagerly.
+
+“Dear me, who will guarantee her safe return?” asked Mrs. Lombard.
+
+“Oh, I’ll take first-rate care of her, if you’ll only let her come;
+please say yes,” and he placed his hand upon her shoulder.
+
+He was probably unconscious of the act, but that was exactly the
+influence Mrs. Lombard always exercised over young people; they were
+at once drawn toward her, and soon lost all sense of the presence of a
+“grown-up.”
+
+They had now reached the rabbit-house, and were surrounded by black,
+white, gray, and brown wiggling noses--dozens and dozens of of them.
+Hart was delighted, and when Mrs. Lombard asked, “Wouldn’t you like to
+have a pair for your own?” accepted her offer with a frank, boyish,
+“You’d better believe I would.” So a fine pair, one black and one white
+one, was selected, and within the hour had taken up their abode in the
+hothouse in their neighbor’s grounds, there to live until their new
+owner could build a house for them.
+
+That was the beginning of a boy and girl friendship which lasted
+many years, and was not broken till years after when Hart, grown to
+splendid, talented manhood, slipped into “the great beyond,” and left
+many a sad heart behind.
+
+Ned Toodles had always displayed a very marked aversion for any one
+wearing trousers, and it was funny enough to watch his attitude toward
+Hart. At first he submitted to his caresses with the air of, “Well,
+good breeding compels me to show no aversion, but remember, you are
+only accepted on probation.” But Hart was too manly a little chap to
+torment an animal, and before long Ned grew very fond of him, although
+Hart had never yet attempted to ride him.
+
+One afternoon, when Denise and Hart were playing “livery stable,”
+and, as usual, having a royal good time, with Ned upon constant call,
+Sailor harnessed to a small express wagon, and Beauty Buttons to the
+doll’s carriage, for “pony orders for children,” the proprietor of the
+stable received an order for a saddle-horse to be sent to a customer as
+quickly as possible.
+
+Obviously, Ned was the only animal in that stable who was
+saddle-broken. Tan was standing in line, lest he feel neglected, but
+“let’s make believe that he is just a boarding horse, which some lady
+keeps in the stable, and that we can’t use him for anything.”
+
+“Yes, and sometimes we must take him out and walk him around for
+exercise,” answered Hart.
+
+Z-z-z--z-ing! rang an imaginary telephone-bell, or, at least, a
+call-bell, for this all happened long before the days of telephones.
+
+“Thomas, there goes the order-bell,” called the proprietor, Mr. Andrews.
+
+“Aye, aye, sir!” answered Thomas, running to the little window to
+receive an imaginary order from without. “It’s from Mr. Casey, and he
+wants a saddle-horse sent up right off.”
+
+“Does he ask for a _side_ or man’s saddle,” asked the proprietor,
+filled with inward misgivings should the order prove to be a demand for
+the latter.
+
+Thomas turned to the window to ask the invisible messenger which was
+wanted, and stated that Mr. Casey wished to ride himself. Here was a
+coil, but that proprietor was not to be baffled by the fact that the
+stable boasted no man’s saddle, or that the only saddle horse would
+be very liable to make things pretty lively for the first masculine
+creature attempting to mount him. With an air of added importance she
+said:
+
+“Very good! Very good! I shall have to get the new saddle from the
+harness-room,” and went to the pretty little closet containing all
+Ned’s belongings. Taking from it her own beautiful little saddle with
+its castor seat and immaculate saddle-cloth, she hastily rigged up a
+stirrup upon the right side, unscrewed the pummels, and, heigh, presto!
+there was your man’s saddle fine as a fiddle.
+
+Ned was then taken from his stall, and the saddle adjusted. So far so
+good. That move was not an unusual one, and his little mistress had
+superintended the operation. No doubt she was going to ride him, even
+though she had rigged up that queer dangling thing upon the right side
+of the saddle.
+
+“Thomas, it is only a short way to Mr. Casey’s, and I think that you’d
+better lead King Royal. He is pretty fresh, and it will be safer.”
+
+“Very good, sir,” answered the obedient Thomas, secretly resolving
+to get upon that noble animal’s back once he was out of sight of
+the stable. Just then another order was delivered: this time for a
+pony-phaeton. “As this order must be filled without delay, I shall take
+Tiny Tim over to Mrs. Murray’s myself, for perhaps she will not want
+the young lady to drive herself,” said Mr. Andrews. “When you get back
+you’d better take Gold Auster out for a little exercise; Miss Ward does
+not like him to get stiffened up.”
+
+King Royal was led out of the stable by the submissive Thomas, and
+Mr. Andrews, making believe seat himself in the doll’s carriage, said
+“Get up” to Tiny Tim. King Royal looked back as Thomas led him away,
+as though trying to reason out in his horse mind why the one he loved
+best did not come, too. But that person was filled with other concerns,
+and Thomas was saying “Come on, now, Mr. Casey will be wantin’ you” in
+very excellent imitation of John’s voice. A moment later, Tiny Tim had
+passed into Mr. Murray’s grounds, and King Royal was marching off down
+the road which led to Mr. Casey’s beautiful home on the river bank.
+
+Arrived at the entrance gate, Thomas held a conversation with Mr.
+Casey, and a wonderful transformation instantly took place, for Thomas
+vanished, and “Mr. Casey” prepared to mount the noble animal sent to
+him by Mr. Andrews. What happened next will need a chapter all to
+itself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+KING ROYAL DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF
+
+
+Although Hart had been with Denise and her pets daily for the past
+three weeks, up to this time he had never undertaken to mount Ned. He
+had ridden in the carriage by the hour, and often driven him, but for
+some reason had never thought of getting upon his back. Denise had
+never revealed Ned’s peculiarities regarding boys, excepting to say
+that he did not like _some_ boys, feeling, perhaps, that she might
+arouse distrust of her pet in her friend. But here was a crisis, and
+well enough she knew that there would be, as she mentally termed it, “a
+high old time” when Hart tried to get on Ned’s back, as she felt sure
+he meant to do when “Mr. Casey” sent in the order for a saddle-horse.
+However, Ned was not vicious, and the worst outcome of the venture
+would be a spill, which neither Hart nor she minded in the least. Now
+Ned’s usual procedure, when submitted to the indignity of a boyish
+burden, was to stand perfectly still until he had his victim safe
+upon his back, looking, meanwhile, the very picture of innocence and
+meekness, a sort of “what a good boy am I” expression. So when Hart
+gathered up the reins in the most scientific manner, for he had ridden
+all his life, and was a skillful little horseman, Ned wagged one ear
+wisely and “prepared for action.”
+
+Hart placed his foot in the stirrups, adjusting the makeshift one to
+his satisfaction. “Now, old fellow, let’s show our paces!” he said,
+and Ned took him at his word. First a sedate walk, smooth and easy
+as a rocking-chair, but gradually growing more rapid. Charming! The
+walk is changed into a trot. Quite the Park gait. Now a gentle lope.
+_Could_ anything be more perfect than that gait? His rider becomes
+more than ever assured that the animal he is bestriding is the most
+perfectly broken one he has ever ridden. All this time one wise eye
+is cocked knowingly backward to watch the boy upon his back, and note
+with great satisfaction that his confidence in his mount is momentarily
+increasing. Then! Off like a mad thing, tail up in the air, head down,
+and Tam o’Shanter’s imps in hot pursuit till about three blocks are
+told off. HALT! Down goes the head, up go the hind legs, and it is a
+skilled rider, indeed, who sticks on at the point of the game.
+
+But this time Master Ned had reckoned without his host, for his host
+“didn’t spill worth a cent,” as that host himself asserted. Then came
+a tussle, and up and down the road tore that crazy little beast, bent
+upon dislodging Hart or dying in the attempt. Meanwhile “Mr. Andrews”
+had returned from giving the “Misses Murray” their outing, and was
+standing at the gate screaming with laughter. Hart’s hat had long
+since sailed into a neighboring field, and most of his attire looked as
+though he had dressed himself in the dark. But he was still on Ned’s
+back, and, so far as that bad little scamp’s efforts were concerned,
+liable to stay there for some time.
+
+“Ned Toodles, how _can_ you be so bad!” cried Denise, forgetful for
+the time being, that it was the royal antics of a royal king she was
+witnessing. Ned stopped short at that sound, and took time to consider
+the situation. Fatal moment! Fatal, at least, for Hart, for into that
+wise little horse noddle flashed an idea, and without a second’s
+hesitation was acted upon. With a wild, triumphant neigh, he wheeled
+short around, made a rush for an open gate at the end of the grounds,
+pelted through it like a monstrous cannon-ball, and a second later
+was in Buttercup’s cow-yard. Now Buttercup was the dearest cow in the
+world, and her eyes were beautiful to behold, and her coat like satin.
+But her barnyard--well, they are very nice places for--_cows_. Into
+this yard came Ned like a tornado, scaring poor Buttercup out of her
+wits, for, although upon the friendliest of terms, she had never before
+received a visit from him.
+
+“So you _won’t_ get off my back!” said Ned’s face and attitude, as
+plainly as words could have said it. “We’ll see!” and down he went flat
+upon his side. What happened next would better be left untold. Alas,
+for the pretty castor saddle! When Denise arrived upon the scene Ned
+was still resting from his labors, Hart stood staring at the peacefully
+reposing animal with a decidedly crestfallen air, and John had arrived
+upon the scene to “drop a casual word” regarding affairs in general.
+
+Ned had never been whipped, but he came pretty near being that time,
+and did not forget his sound scolding, for after that an armistice was
+declared, and Hart was permitted to ride all he wished, Ned evidently
+feeling that he had earned a right to do so.
+
+Not long after this Hart’s pony was given to him, and, although
+somewhat larger than Ned Toodles, as warm a friendship was formed by
+the two little horses as existed between their master and mistress.
+“Pinto,” as Hart’s pony was named on account of his peculiar marking,
+was a dear little beastie, although he never attained to the degree
+of intelligence that Ned displayed as the years went on. But that, no
+doubt, was due to the fact that he had not been so closely associated
+with a human being as Ned had been ever since he became Denise’s and
+as Mr. Lombard suspected he had been during much of his former life,
+although nothing for a long time was known of it, and it was not until
+this eventful summer that they learned his history.
+
+Hart and Denise, mounted upon Ned and Pinto, ranged the country far
+and wide, and it was a far corner indeed that they did not find their
+way into sooner or later. Those spring months, with all their bud and
+bloom, were halcyon days for the children, for Hart literally lived at
+Mrs. Lombard’s house till Mrs. Murray said to her: “Emilie Lombard,
+when do you intend to send in my son’s board-bill? This is simply
+dreadful. He is hardly out of bed in the morning before he is making
+some excuse to come over here.”
+
+“Let him come all he wants to. It is good for Denise to have such a
+sturdy playmate, for she has never had any real crony but Pokey, and
+she is such a gentle little soul that I’m afraid Denise will think more
+of her own way than some one else’s.”
+
+“Well, you have no idea what it means to me to have that boy so happily
+associated,” exclaimed Mrs. Murray. “He has been abroad at school so
+long that I hardly know him myself, and isn’t in the least like our
+true, every-day American boys. And Denise is just the jolly little chum
+for him to have.”
+
+“It all seems too delightful to be true,” said Mrs. Lombard, “and to
+have you for my neighbor after all these years of separation makes me
+feel like a young girl again.”
+
+“You have never been anything else,” replied Mrs. Murray, “for you have
+stayed young with Denise, and that is the secret of your beautiful
+attitude toward each other.”
+
+“Perhaps so,” replied Mrs. Lombard, a happy smile creeping about her
+lips as thoughts of the sunny little daughter and their mutual love
+put into her eyes the lovely “mother” light that never comes till that
+precious name becomes ours.
+
+“Well, you must not let him remain to dinner every night, at all
+events,” added Mrs. Murray. “Send him home in time to dine with his
+father, or I do not know what will happen.”
+
+“Very well, home he goes at the stroke of five, to remove all traces of
+the afternoon’s siege before Mr. Murray’s arrival at six.”
+
+“Yes, do; it will be a real kindness, for my time is so occupied with
+the other children that I fear I have let Hart paddle his own canoe
+more than I should have done. But they are all so small that they need
+me more. Good-bye, and run in when you can. I am always disengaged
+between five and six.”
+
+“And I am always engaged at that hour,” answered Mrs. Lombard with an
+odd smile, which made Mrs. Murray ask: “Afternoon tea, and a quiet
+little gossip with your best friends?”
+
+“The gossip with my best friend, but not the tea,” answered Mrs.
+Lombard. “That is Denise’s hour with me, and I try never to let
+anything interfere with it.”
+
+“What? Do you give up all that time to the child never mind what is
+going on? I should think it would be impossible at times!”
+
+“There, of course, arise circumstances which make it impossible once
+in a while, but they are rare, and she is always ready to accept my
+explanations and apology,” answered Mrs. Lombard, with the gentlest
+expression.
+
+“Explanations and apologies to one’s child!” cried Mrs. Murray in
+dismay. “You don’t mean to say that you carry things to that extent
+with her! I should think that she would be so conceited that you would
+never in the world be able to do a thing with her.”
+
+A slight flush overspread Mrs. Lombard’s sweet face as she answered,
+“Could I hope to have her wholly courteous to me or to others if she
+found me wanting in courtesy to her?”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE SUNSET HOUR
+
+
+The library windows stood open, and the soft little June winds played
+“peep” with the lace curtains, swaying them in and out, and letting
+the rose-laden air slip into the room. Outside the setting sun cast
+long slanting rays upon the lawn and foliage, lighting the world as
+it can only light it just before it slips away behind the hills to
+carry the promise of a new day to other lands. Within the library all
+was wonderfully peaceful and quiet. It was a very attractive room,
+pervaded with the home atmosphere that only a much-used, well-loved
+room can possess. A sort of individuality of each member of the family,
+as though even in their absence they left there something which could
+not fail to recall their presence. In the bay-window stood a monstrous
+leather-covered armchair. A motherly-fatherly sort of chair that said:
+“Come, snuggle within my inviting depths and tell me all your secrets,
+and whether they be joyful or sad, I’ll prove a comfort to you.”
+
+It was five o’clock. As the cuckoo clock announced the fact to all
+who cared to know it, a stately pad, pad, pad, came stalking across
+the piazza, and a second later Sailor’s great head pushed aside the
+curtains and he looked into the room. That no one was visible did not
+seem to deter him in the least, for walking over to the fur rug which
+lay upon the floor beside the couch, he stretched himself at length
+upon it, and lay there with his head raised in a listening attitude.
+Pat, pat, pat, came the sound of small hurrying feet through the hall,
+and in ran Beauty Buttons with a “woof, woof,” by way of salutation.
+He, too, evidently expected others to follow, for, after settling
+himself comfortably between Sailor’s great front paws, he listened
+with ears erect.
+
+But he must, indeed, have possessed acute hearing to have detected
+the footfalls of the next arrivals, for not until they had crossed
+the piazza, and slipped beneath the curtains, did they make the least
+sound. Then a warbly little “r-r-r-r-rwow” told that Hero wished to say
+“good-evening,” and Leander, who was never far away from his lady-love,
+echoed her greeting in deeper tones. Advancing toward the dogs with
+tails held straight up in the air, they rubbed against Sailor’s long
+hair and then sought the places they preferred in the library. Hero was
+soon perched upon the top of the big chair in the window, and Leander
+blinked at her from the luxurious billows of a bright red sofa-pillow
+which lay upon the couch near at hand. The two cats were so exactly
+alike that it would have been impossible to tell one from the other had
+not Denise tied a red ribbon upon Leander and a blue one upon Hero,
+which contrasted finely with their maltese coats.
+
+Apparently the stage was now properly set for the “stars,” and a moment
+later Mrs. Lombard came into the room and took her seat in the big
+chair, stopping on her way to stroke the dogs and Leander.
+
+As she sat down Hero welcomed her with a soft little warbly sound she
+reserved for those she loved, and, arching her back, rubbed her silky
+coat against Mrs. Lombard’s face.
+
+“Dear old pussykins, are you glad that ‘cosy hour’ has come?” she asked
+the cat, as she stroked her. And Hero gave another little throaty meow,
+which no doubt meant that it was a very happy one for them all.
+
+“Good-night! Come over early in the morning and we’ll get ready to
+launch it,” cried a happy voice at the foot of the piazza steps, and
+the next moment Denise’s merry face peered through the curtains.
+
+“Oh, there you all are! Waiting for me, as usual. Oh, me, the days
+aren’t half long enough, are they, Moddie? Hart and I have so many
+plans for each one that we could never carry them all out if we lived
+to be a hundred. But, Moddie,” she added, as she slipped into the big
+chair, whose proportions were amply large for the accommodation of
+these two, and, placing her arm about her mother’s waist, snuggled her
+head upon the shoulder that had never failed her, “I am so glad you
+got it all so nicely settled about Hart going home at five o’clock.
+Of course, I couldn’t say a word, but I did so miss our cosy hour.
+Somehow, the day doesn’t seem finished without it, for every day is
+sure to have just _one_ little kink come into it somewhere, and I don’t
+know how to get it out. But when we have our talk at the end of it, the
+kink flies away, and--it’s just my precious Moddie who sends it!” and
+Denise flung her other arm about her mother to hug her as hard as she
+could. There was a wonderfully tender light in Mrs. Lombard’s eyes as
+she held her impulsive little daughter close to her side, and answered:
+
+“This is a sort of weather bureau, where we prophesy fair weather
+instead of foul, and try to set about providing it.”
+
+“Yes, that is it, I guess,” answered Denise, falling back to her
+original position, and holding one of her mother’s hands in her own
+warm ones. “You see, now that the vacation has come, and I have the
+whole day in which to think of just nobody but Denise Lombard, I am
+afraid that I think about her and her good times entirely too much, and
+if I didn’t come in here once in a while I should grow just too selfish
+to live. Hart is lovely, and we _do_ have splendid times, but he likes
+to do things his way, and I like to do them mine, and--well, if it
+wasn’t for a little Moddie who lives in a big armchair, I’m afraid that
+sometimes I’d be, yes--I’m very much afraid I’d be sort of mean. And
+then that ‘wise fairy’ which ever so long ago you told me lived way
+down in your heart, and helped you know what was best for me, pops out
+and flies to my shoulder, and whispers in my ear: ‘There is a little
+Moddie who lives in the armchair, and by and by you will have to talk
+with her, and tell her every little thing that has happened to-day, and
+if some of them are not pleasant to tell, then you will feel ashamed
+of yourself, and she--well she won’t _say_ a single word, but her
+_eyes_ will look sorry, and then you will feel just like a nasty little
+worm--all crawly and wriggly.’ Isn’t it funny, Moddie, that I sort of
+see _you_ when such things happen? It doesn’t make any difference how
+far away you are. What makes it so?”
+
+“I presume it is the same influence as that which frequently causes us
+to think exactly the same thoughts at the same moment--our great love
+and sympathy for each other, dear. Our lives are so closely identified
+that joy or sorrow, pleasure or pain, seem to be mutually shared.”
+
+Denise thought a moment before replying, for, although but eleven and a
+half years of age, she had a thoughtful little head upon her shoulders,
+and liked to reason out her mother’s words, and see them in her own
+peculiar light. Presently she said:
+
+“That is funny when you come to think of it, isn’t it? But I know it
+is true, too, because it so often happens so, and only yesterday, when
+I was out on the lawn with Ned I was thinking about that pink gingham
+dress that I used to wear last summer, and wondering if it would be
+too small for me this year, and just at that moment you whistled
+‘Bob White,’ and when I answered you called me to come up and try it
+on. Wasn’t that odd? I didn’t know that you were even thinking about
+getting the dress out.”
+
+“That is but one of many similar instances, Sweetheart. But apropos
+of those much shrivelled-up gowns, or is it that their owner has
+expanded?” asked Mrs. Lombard as she looked into Denise’s upturned face
+and smiled. “Will you be good enough to drive me over to Mary Murphy’s
+to-morrow morning, for I think that the little Murphys will fit into
+those garments to perfection.”
+
+“Why, I promised Hart--” began Denise, and then stopped short and
+colored slightly.
+
+“What did you promise him, dear?” asked Mrs. Lombard gently.
+
+“Why, you see,” said Denise, somewhat embarrassed, “his new rowboat
+will be sent out this evening, and he wants me to christen it when it
+is launched, and I told him I would. Of course, I did not know that you
+wanted me to drive you up to the village, or I would not have promised.”
+
+“Certainly you could not have known it, and now we must see what can be
+done to smooth out these little kinks that have been saucy enough to
+obtrude themselves upon us and upset our plans.”
+
+“I know _you_ can do it,” cried Denise. “There is only one Moddie like
+this one, and ‘I got her!’”
+
+“There is only one such madcap of a daughter,” laughed Mrs. Lombard.
+“But now to continue. I particularly wish to have you go with me
+to-morrow, for there is a new little daughter at Mary’s house, and I
+think that there are many things which we may be able to do for her.
+She was a very faithful nurse to you during the first five years of
+your life, and it gives her great pleasure to have you visit her and do
+these little things yourself, for she is very proud of her nursling. So
+much for my reasons concerning Mary. Now for Hart. It is only a step
+over there, I know, but I think it would be more courteous if you were
+to sit down and write a little note to him explaining the situation.
+This may seem a trifle formal to you both when you are such jolly
+chums, but it is one of those little acts which, even though they seem
+uncalled for, serve to help you both. It shows Hart that you know what
+it is proper to do under the circumstances, and that even though you
+are both children, you do not wish to be found wanting in politeness to
+each other, and he will respect you all the more for doing this. John
+may take your note to him. On the other hand, it helps my girl to learn
+how to write a graceful note, and to excuse herself properly when she
+finds it impossible to keep an engagement. There! What do you think of
+all those ‘reasons why’?”
+
+Denise did not reply for a moment or two, nor did Mrs. Lombard break
+the silence. The cuckoo opened his little door in the top of the clock
+and gave one toot, as though trying to break the silence. Way down in
+Denise’s heart lingered a strong desire to go with Hart in the morning,
+Mary Murphy and new babies, nevertheless, and notwithstanding. But
+eleven and a half years of the firmest, gentlest training led by this
+wise mother to do the right thing simply because it _was_ right, and
+not because she had been ordered to do so by those who possessed the
+right and power to so order, had not been in vain, and this little girl
+had grown to regard the right way as the only one, and the wrong one
+as a reflection upon herself. It was often hard to give up, for the
+days were wonderfully happy ones. Presently she asked:
+
+“When may I tell him that I will christen it?”
+
+“The following morning, dear, if agreeable to him,” replied Mrs.
+Lombard without further comment, for the heart beside her was as
+plainly revealed to her as though glass instead of flesh covered it,
+and she well knew that a struggle was going on, not only to do what she
+wished, but to do it cheerfully and without regret--the true beauty of
+the doing.
+
+“I’ll write it this minute,” cried Denise, springing so suddenly from
+the chair that Hero lost her balance upon the top and tumbled upon
+the floor. “Oh, dear! Isn’t that exactly like me? I’ve upset Hero and
+scared her nearly out of her wits besides. Poor pussy,” she said, as
+she picked the cat up and comforted her. “Your missie is a madcap, do
+you know that?” and then a merry laugh came to dispel the haze that
+had gathered, and the sun shone forth again. The note was written, and
+a wise woman had tact enough to say that it was charmingly done, and
+that she was delighted to see how prettily her little daughter could
+write, and how well she was able to express herself. Only a few words
+of praise, but they were dropped when most needed, and served as a
+wonderful balm to a slightly ruffled spirit. None of us are _born_
+saints, and we _all_ like to have our own way. Mrs. Lombard did not add
+just then that she was much troubled at the thought of Denise going
+upon the river with Hart, or that she feared she must forbid it. It
+was not the moment for doing so, and would have seriously marred the
+beautiful harmony of the hour. Nevertheless, she had decided that she
+could not let her go until she had learned more of Hart’s seamanship
+and tested it herself. But that would all adjust itself later.
+
+Just as the letter was finished the whistle of the incoming train told
+that Mr. Lombard would be with them presently, and by the time both
+had reached the entrance to the grounds, with two dogs and two cats
+as body-guard, Sunshine and Flash came spinning along the road and
+neighed aloud as Denise called out, “Oh, papa L., papa L.! here we
+are!” for these horses did not dread their driver, and loved the voices
+they knew so well. Mr. Lombard stepped from the carriage at the gate,
+and, slipping an arm about his wife and sunny little daughter, walked
+with them toward the house, the dogs and cats crowding about him and
+claiming the notice which they never claimed in vain. The peace of all
+the world lay upon that home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+“OH, WE’LL SAIL THE OCEAN BLUE!”
+
+
+“We will stop at the market, dear, and lay in a supply of goodies for
+Mary,” said Mrs. Lombard, as she took her seat in the phaeton beside
+Denise, the following morning.
+
+“‘Allee rightie,’ as John Chinaman said to me the other day when I
+stopped for papa’s laundry work. Good-by, Hinky-Dinky, we’ll come back
+before long, and I am going to bring you a surprise,” she called out to
+Hart, who had just crawled through the opening in the hedge. “Moddie
+says she has thought of a splendid plan, and you’ll be glad we waited
+till to-morrow to launch the boat. There, it’s lucky Miss Meredith
+didn’t hear _that_ sentence! She would ask me when I’d landed,” and
+Denise’s laugh rang out upon the balmy June air.
+
+“The old thing didn’t come anyway, Snipenfrizzle,” called Hart, as the
+carriage rolled out of the grounds. “It won’t be out till to-night,
+papa says. There was something wanting for the rudder. Tralla!” and he
+waved his hat and disappeared within the “Bird’s Nest,” there to lose
+himself in one of the numerous books which the book-shelves held, for
+Denise’s library was an extensive one, and she was as fond of boys’
+stories as she was of girls’.
+
+After purchasing a generous supply of good things for Mary, they drove
+to the little cottage in which she lived and reared her numerous
+progeny. There were six all told, and Patsy, of dirty-face fame,
+was the eldest. But Patsy had improved somewhat of late. Possibly
+the possession of a wash-bowl and its accessories for his very own
+exclusive use had incited a desire to live up to such elegancies, for
+Mrs. Lombard had made it her duty to send him one directly Denise had
+related to her the conversation held with the incorrigible Patsy during
+the previous summer.
+
+At all events Patsy was the proud owner of “a foin bowel an’ pitcher,
+all blue on wan soide, an’ white on ’tither,” and sallied forth each
+morning shining and radiant.
+
+“Ah, Miss Denise, darlint, an’ have ye come to see me ba-b-y!” said
+Mary when Denise’s smiling face peeped through the doorway.
+
+“Yes, here we are, Mary, and have brought along the expressman, too.
+See him? He wears dresses,” she cried, as she placed upon a chair the
+parcel she was carrying. Mrs. Lombard followed close behind with a
+basket of provisions, and a moment later Mary’s eyes were gladdened by
+the sight of a very substantial supply of eatables.
+
+“Now, Blossom,” said Mrs. Lombard, “while I take a few stitches for
+Mary and this new baby, I want you to play ‘Polly’ and put the kettle
+on. We will get dinner started, Mary, and when Patrick arrives he can
+eat it and clean house.”
+
+“Ah, the poor childe mustn’t be doing such work for the likes of me,”
+protested Mary. “Sure, she don’t know nothin’ of this worrk.”
+
+“Don’t I, though!” cried Denise, giving an emphatic nod. “What do you
+think I have had all my ‘Bird’s Nest’ cooking lessons for, I’d like to
+know? What shall I do, Moddie? You sit still and talk to Mary while I
+play cook. What fun!”
+
+“Make some tea, dearie, and put the beef over for the broth. Then put
+on that piece of corned beef for Patrick’s dinner. My sweetheart knows
+what to do,” said Mrs. Lombard, stopping to give Denise one of the
+little love-pats that meant so much, and then, taking her seat beside
+Mary, she began to sew upon some garments for the new baby.
+
+“May I have this big apron, Mary?” asked Denise, taking up a huge
+gingham one which lay upon a chair and enveloping herself in it till
+she nearly vanished from sight. “Now for it,” she added, rolling back
+her sleeves, and seizing the poker. “Moddie says that it’s no use
+to try to cook with a poor fire, so you see how well I remember my
+lessons, Mary,” and the little poker rattled at a great rate. Then,
+catching up the kettle, she ran to the sink to fill it with fresh water.
+
+“Where shall I find the saucepan, Mary?”
+
+“Jist beyant in that little cupboard, darlint. Faith, did iver I see
+the loikes of the child. Sure, ma’am, ’tis a housekaper she is alriddy.”
+
+“She cannot begin too soon, Mary. It is all play now, but there may
+come a time when she will be very glad to have learned it all in this
+pleasant manner.”
+
+Meantime the preparations went on. The chopped beef was put back upon
+the stove to simmer in the cold water till all the rich juices were
+extracted. Patrick’s big piece of corned beef was put into a big pot
+and placed beside it, some potatoes were carefully washed and peeled
+and left in cold water until needed. And all this time Denise was
+humming away like a big bumblebee. And all this was the result of
+the little playhouse training which this mother, whom the neighbors
+sometimes termed “overindulgent,” had carried on in the guise of play,
+till this little girl, now in her twelfth year, had become a capable,
+helpful little body, able to do her share of the world’s work should
+occasion ever arise for it. And years later, when the dear mother
+was no more, and Denise, grown to womanhood, was forced to meet the
+vicissitudes of life, her thoughts often went back to those happy days
+and the precious mother, who taught so wisely and well that, as though
+the mother eyes were capable of looking into the future and there
+seeing all that lay in store for this cherished little daughter, she
+was fitted when the necessity arose for it to meet the duties which lay
+upon every hand.
+
+“Tea is all ready,” announced Denise, as she brought to her mother and
+Mary fragrant, steaming cups. True, the cups were not of “egg-shell”
+china, but the tea was properly made, and everything was clean as wax,
+for, notwithstanding her six children and hard work, Mary was a neat
+woman, and everything in her house testified thereto. Twelve o’clock
+had struck upon the town clock before all was completed, and Denise
+had just set the potatoes on to boil when Patrick came home and the
+children came rushing in from school.
+
+“Now we will leave you to your many nurses,” said Mrs. Lombard, as she
+arose from her chair.
+
+“Don’t you let my potatoes burn, Patrick,” said Denise, wagging an
+admonishing finger at him.
+
+“Indade no, that I will not,” said Patrick, positively. “They’ll be the
+foines’ taties that iver was at all, Miss Denise.”
+
+Upon the way home Denise spied some circus posters, and was at once
+filled with a desire to see the circus, for anything in which horses
+were introduced was bliss unalloyed for her.
+
+“They will be here on the seventh!” she cried. “The very day that
+_Pokey_ will come! Oh, Moddie, how splendid! We can go, can’t we? Papa
+will surely take us.”
+
+“I wouldn’t wonder,” answered Mrs. Lombard, with the expression which
+Denise knew to mean “yes.”
+
+For the next few days Denise could hardly think of anything else, and
+no suspicion of the startling events which would take place ere that
+circus, which proved to be a circus in more senses than one, and its
+proprietor, passed out of her life, ever entered her head.
+
+Hart was waiting for them at the turn of the road, and Pinto and Ned
+exchanged greetings with joyous neighs. He cantered along beside them,
+his tongue and Denise’s keeping time to the ponies’ clattering feet.
+
+That evening the new boat was delivered at Mr. Murray’s house. It was
+a fairy-like little craft, built of cedar and shining with its fresh
+varnish. Of course, Denise was upon the scene when it was taken from
+the long express-wagon, and nearly as eager as Hart to see it in the
+water.
+
+Without letting the children suspect it, Mrs. Lombard had made a fine
+silk flag and embroidered thereupon Hart’s monogram. Then, to make the
+launching like a “really truly one,” she bought a tiny bottle of cider,
+warranted to smash and sizzle in the most approved style.
+
+While they were at breakfast the next morning Hart’s face peeped in at
+the window, for boyish patience was stretched to the snapping-point.
+
+“I’ve only two more bites of beefsteak to eat, and then I’ll come,”
+said Denise, when Mrs. Lombard added, “Come in here, laddie, and help
+us eat some of this fruit,” for she had no notion of letting the
+children out of her sight until she could follow behind.
+
+“What do you think of those bouncers?” asked Mr. Lombard, holding up a
+big bunch of bright scarlet cherries. “Ah, ah! Tell your father that
+my cherry-tree has beaten his this year. Put some of these beauties in
+a little basket, Mary, and give them to Master Hart to take over to his
+mother with my compliments. One must be generous to one’s neighbors
+when one has fine cherries to show off,” laughed Mr. Lombard.
+
+By the time Hart had eaten his fill, and the basket was ready to be
+carried to Mrs. Murray, Mr. Lombard had left for town, and his wife was
+ready to be present at the launching.
+
+“What is the boat to be named?” she asked, as she followed the children
+down to the river, with Ned, Tan, and the two dogs trotting along with
+them, for Denise rarely stirred without her family surrounding her.
+
+“Why, do you know that we haven’t been able to decide yet,” said Hart,
+rather dismayed at the thought.
+
+“He wants to call it ‘Denise,’” said the owner of that name, “but I
+don’t think that it will mean much for the boat, do you?”
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  _Denise._
+
+“‘WHY NOT CALL IT THE _RIVER KELPIE_?’”]
+
+“He pays you a very pretty compliment,” answered Mrs. Lombard.
+
+“Yes, I know that, but it seems to me a boat ought to have a name that
+sort of means something about water, and sailing, and all that.”
+
+“Why not call it the _River Kelpie_? That means something.”
+
+“There! you have just hit it! That’s splendid. She is as light as a
+fairy, and those things are water-fairies, aren’t they?”
+
+“Yes, little water-sprites who come to the surface and do all sorts of
+graceful, fascinating things.”
+
+“Then that’s what she is going to be called. What a shame that we
+haven’t got a real simon-pure bottle to smash on her bow,” he added
+regretfully.
+
+“How will this answer for a substitute?” asked Mrs. Lombard, as she
+drew from the little bag she was carrying a miniature champagne bottle,
+gayly decked with blue ribbons.
+
+“Oh! I say! Aren’t you just a trump!” cried Hart, surprised into
+genuine boyish praise. “That’s a regular jim dandy, and Denise can
+smash it to smithereens. Quick, let’s get her launched!”
+
+The little boat lay high and dry upon the rocks, and a moment later
+Hart and Denise had carried it to the water’s edge, for it was as light
+as a feather, and they could easily handle it. To put it into the water
+stern foremost, letting the bow rest upon sand until the ceremony of
+christening it was ended, took but a few seconds, and, grasping the
+little bottle by its ribbon-decked neck, Denise bent over the bow
+saying: “I christen thee the Water Kelpie!” As the last word left her
+lips, SMASH went the bottle, and a vigorous push from Hart sent the
+boat into the water, he singing at the top of his lungs: “Oh, we’ll
+sail the ocean blue,” and Mrs. Lombard joining in with a will.
+
+After the children had somewhat subsided from the Indian war-dance
+which followed the launching, Mrs. Lombard said:
+
+“And may I have the honor of presenting to the captain of this
+beautiful craft the private signal, which I hope will add to its
+attractions and wave to his glory as long as the vessel rides the
+waves?”
+
+The shrieks of delight which greeted the pretty flag when she unrolled
+it from its wrappings left her no doubt of its reception. It was
+mounted upon a slender cedar staff, which fitted exactly the little
+socket in the stern, and Mrs. Lombard never hinted that a note sent
+to Mr. Murray when Denise had sent hers to Hart had been the cause
+of the delay in the delivery of this little craft until the socket
+could be placed in the stern all ready to receive the flagstaff, whose
+dimensions she had given to Mr. Murray.
+
+Of course, the Captain was duty bound to invite the donor of this
+splendid flag to accompany him upon his trial trip, and taking her seat
+in the stern, with Beauty Buttons beside her, Denise up in the bow,
+and the Captain “amidships,” off they glided upon the calm river.
+Sailor, Ned, and Tan were minded to follow, but Denise called out,
+“Take them home, Sailor, that’s a dear dog,” and Sailor, proud of his
+responsibilities, waved his tail in farewell and set about doing her
+bidding.
+
+More than an hour was spent upon the river, and when they came ashore
+Mrs. Lombard felt entirely reassured, for Hart handled his oars like an
+“old salt,” having rowed a great deal while at school.
+
+“Thank you very much for a delightful morning,” she said to him. “I
+shall make but one proviso regarding water expeditions, and that is
+this: Please ask my consent before going, and then I shall never feel
+anxiety.”
+
+“We will! Of course, we will,” cried the children in chorus.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+POKEY AND A CIRCUS
+
+
+As she had waited just one year before, gayly decked in blue ribbons in
+honor of the occasion, Denise was now waiting again for Pokey to arrive.
+
+This time Ned was not arrayed in ribbons, but in tiny American flags
+stuck in every part of his harness that they could be stuck and
+fastened all over the carriage, for it was the seventh of July, and the
+glorious Fourth had been a gala-day, celebrated with roaring crackers
+by day and splendid fireworks after dark. Ned had, as usual, been
+prinked out for so great an occasion, his decorations being appropriate
+to the day celebrated.
+
+Usually Pokey arrived for her summer visit before the Fourth,
+but a slight illness, the result of too much study and difficult
+examinations, all too taxing for her young body and brain when the
+thermometer stood at ninety, had caused a collapse, and for several
+days poor Pokey lay upon her bed with her heart playing a wild
+tattoo, and her brain working like a runaway engine. Had she not had
+the prospect of her visit before her, it is probable that she would
+have lain upon that bed several days longer, for the very thought of
+exerting herself brought added weariness. But up the Hudson River there
+waited a lovely little white bed, a pretty room to be shared with some
+one she loved dearly, and, blessed thought, sunshine, green grass,
+great spreading trees that whispered all manner of secrets to this
+dreaming little body, and a welcome which left nothing to be desired.
+So Pokey made haste to get better and start upon her two hours’
+journey, but it was a pale, thin little Pokey that stepped from the
+train into Denise’s outstretched arms.
+
+She was somewhat taller, and that made her seem even more slender, but
+it was the same Pokey, and Ned Toodles greeted her with a cordial neigh.
+
+“And what do you think!” cried Denise, when they were spinning along
+home, Ned occasionally joining in their conversation with a sociable
+whinney, “a circus is here, and papa is going to take us all to see it.
+It is going to parade through the town at eleven, and as soon as we
+have seen mamma and grandma we’ll drive up to the village and see it.
+It won’t, of course, come down this way. I left Ned all dressed up on
+that account. Won’t it be great fun!”
+
+“You don’t suppose Ned will try to do any of _his_ tricks when he sees
+the other ponies, do you?” asked Pokey, for a year’s acquaintance with
+Ned had not served to overcome her misgivings of that animal’s wild
+pranks.
+
+“Of course not! Why should he? Besides he couldn’t while in harness,”
+replied Denise, blissfully ignorant even yet of that little scamp’s
+resources or determination to carry his point once he set about doing
+so. Ned was never ugly or vicious, but well Denise knew that a good
+bit of firmness was required upon her part when she wished to get him
+past the little store where chocolate creams were sold, and that it was
+always far wiser to choose another road if time pressed. But she was
+too loyal to her pet to betray his little weaknesses.
+
+“Moddie! Moddie! grandma! Here we come, bag and baggage, only that is
+coming along behind escorted by John!” she cried, as she rushed into
+the hall with weary little Pokey following her as fast as she could.
+
+“My dear little girl, how delighted we are to have you with us again!”
+said Mrs. Lombard, as she gathered Pokey into her arms, and dear old
+grandma stroked the tired head which nestled upon Mrs. Lombard’s
+shoulder as though it had found a very peaceful haven.
+
+“Take her right out to the dining-room, dearie, and have Mary fetch her
+a glass of cool milk and some little biscuits,” cried grandma, filled
+with solicitude for the little girl.
+
+“Yes, indeed,” added Mrs. Lombard, “we must not lose a moment in
+setting about finding some roses for these white cheeks.”
+
+“There! Now you look quite refreshed, and when you have had a drive
+with Ned, and seen this great parade that is filling all Denise’s
+thoughts, I am sure you will be ready for, oh, _such_ a luncheon!”
+
+On their way to the village they were overtaken by Hart mounted upon
+Pinto. Knowing that Pokey was about to arrive, he had kept at a safe
+distance till he could “size her up,” as he put it, for his intercourse
+with girls had been decidedly limited, and he had no notion of plunging
+into an intimacy with one whom he had never seen before. The hedge
+was a safe covert for observing all that took place in Denise’s
+grounds, and from that vantage-point he had “sized up” to his entire
+satisfaction.
+
+“Guess she ain’t much like Denise,” was his mental comment. “But if
+Denise likes her so much she must be all right.”
+
+As he drew up beside the phaeton he was greeted by Denise, who said:
+“Pokey, this is my friend Hart Murray, and this is Elizabeth Delano,
+Hart, only we don’t call her by her name once in a blue moon. She is
+our very own Pokey, and _he’s_ Hinkey-Dinkey,” giving a laughing Nod
+toward Hart.
+
+“Yes, and _she’s_ Snipenfrizzle!” was the prompt retort.
+
+“Well, I guess we all know each other now,” laughed Denise, and before
+another word could be spoken the sound of a band playing in the
+village, just beyond, caused all to exclaim, “Oh, they’ve started!
+They’ve started!” and to hurry forward as though one brain urged them
+all. But upon Ned the effect of that band was certainly odd. It was
+playing “Marching through Georgia,” and one might have supposed it to
+be his favorite air, for he began to prance and dance in perfect time
+to it.
+
+“Do look at him! Do look at him!” cried Denise; “I believe he knows
+that march.”
+
+“Oh, let’s get out,” begged timid Pokey. “He acts as though he were
+crazy.”
+
+“Nonsense; he won’t do anything but mark time,” answered Denise,
+laughing. “I always said he knew just everything, but I never supposed
+that he was a musician.”
+
+They were now just at the entrance to the village, and at that moment
+the circus parade turned in from a side street which led out to the
+grounds where their tents were pitched. The streets were crowded
+as though the entire town had turned out to see the show, which,
+doubtless, it had, for Springdale in those days was a small place,
+and circuses did not often tarry there. But this time it was to be
+an exception, for “Backus’s Greatest Show on Earth” had deigned to
+honor the town with a two days’ performance upon its way to the more
+important town of Sing Sing further up the river. It would give a
+performance this Saturday afternoon and evening, “rest up” on Sunday,
+give another on Monday, and then “fold its tents like the Arabs” and
+depart, leaving many an enthusiastic youngster behind who would live
+for six months upon his memories of its delights, and for another
+six upon his anticipations of its return. It was, indeed, a gorgeous
+pageant which burst upon the children’s sight, for in a splendid golden
+chariot blared and tooted a brass band, the musicians resplendent in
+red uniforms, and blowing as though their very lives depended upon the
+volume of sound they could make, and six handsome white horses pranced
+and curveted before it. Then came a pale-blue and gold chariot drawn
+by six of the dearest piebald ponies one ever saw, and with whom Ned
+instantly claimed kinship with a regular rowdy “hullo-yourself” neigh.
+But you have all doubtless seen circus parades, and know all about the
+knights and fairies, beautiful horses with their gay riders, elephants,
+camels, wild animals and tame ones which go to make up a show which
+will be in vogue as long as children are, and when _they_ drop out of
+this world’s economy, then the sooner we all scurry out of sight, too,
+the better. But it is with one particular pony that we must deal, and
+a summary dealing it is liable to prove before it ends. All the time
+the parade was passing Ned kept up an incessant fidgeting, tugging at
+the reins, pawing the ground, shaking his head up and down, and only
+restrained from plunging headlong into the midst of it all by Denise’s
+firm hand. Pinto stood behind the phaeton, but, save for a start or two
+of surprise when an exceptionally loud toot was blown, he behaved like
+a gentleman. The children were as close to the line of march as they
+well could be without the ponies’ noses brushing the elephant’s sides,
+when there came along a magnificent black horse, bearing upon his back
+the grand high mogul of the show. This was the manager, so the posters
+announced, mounted upon “his splendid Sinbad the Great, most wonderful
+performing horse in the world.”
+
+Just then the parade was obliged to halt for a moment or two, and the
+handsome horse and his rider stopped directly in front of the children.
+With a “Hullo, how-are-you-glad-to-make-your acquaintance” air, Ned
+poked out his muzzle and greeted Sinbad the Great. As Sinbad was a
+true gentleman, and not to be outdone in politeness, down came his
+nose to meet little perky Ned’s, and they held a second’s whispered
+conversation--a conversation fraught with fatal results for Ned, as
+will be seen.
+
+Now Sinbad’s rider had a pair of eyes which just nothing escaped, and
+one sweeping glance took in every detail of pony, phaeton, and children.
+
+Nodding pleasantly to them he addressed Denise with:
+
+“Fine little horse you’ve got there. Had him long? He doesn’t look very
+old.”
+
+“Nearly two years. I just guess he _is_ fine! There isn’t another like
+him in all the world. He is not nine years old yet.”
+
+“Want to sell him?” asked the man.
+
+“Well, I just guess NOT!” was the indignant reply.
+
+“Live here?” was the next question, but Denise began to think that this
+bravely decked individual was decidedly curious, and hesitated before
+answering. Before she had made up her mind to do so, the parade moved
+on, and a few moments later the last donkey had passed. Then Ned took
+matters into his own hands, or rather his teeth, and did that which
+he had never done before since Denise had owned him: He positively
+refused to turn around and go home, and neither coaxing, threats, nor
+a loudly-cracked whip had the least effect upon him. Shake his head,
+back, paw, and act like a regular little scamp was all he would do, and
+at last, growing tired of trying to make her understand what he did
+want, he resolved to show her, and off he went, pelting ahead till he
+had overtaken the vanishing circus, wheeling aside to avoid those at
+the end, tearing along until he had overtaken the part of the parade
+in which Sinbad was still delighting all beholders, and then, neck or
+nothing, forcing his way, carriage, occupants, and all, right in behind
+that wily beast whose whisper had surely been: “Come on behind me and
+we’ll cut a dash, see if we don’t.”
+
+Having achieved his object, Master Ned was triumphant, and no French
+dancing-master ever pirouetted and “showed off” for the admiration of
+all beholders as did this vain little scrap of a beast as he danced
+along in perfect time to the band.
+
+Pokey was very nearly reduced to a state of collapse, for Sinbad the
+Great was making the path before them rather lively, while just behind
+stalked a huge elephant who now and again by way of welcome to the
+ranks gracefully flourished a wriggling trunk over the phaeton.
+
+Denise’s face was a study. Never before had she met with open
+rebellion upon Ned’s part, and this first exhibition of it was
+certainly a triumph. Although thoroughly frightened, she sat holding
+her reins for dear life, with no thought of deserting her post, while
+Pokey begged her piteously to “please drive home.”
+
+“Home! Don’t you suppose I want to go there every bit as much as you
+do? But how _can_ I when this little villain is acting so like time? I
+can’t get out and leave him, can I?” and just then Hart came tearing
+alongside the line shouting:
+
+“Hello, Snipenfrizzle, I’m off for home to tell your mother that you’ve
+joined the circus and the next time she sees you you will be riding
+bareback! Good-by,” and with a wild whoop he pelted off down the road,
+Ned whinnying out after Pinto: “Oh, I’m having the time of my life!”
+
+Then the funny side of the whole affair appealed to Denise and saved
+her from tears, and she began to laugh. Never say that animals do not
+know the different tones of the human voice! If others do not, Ned
+_did_, and that familiar laugh was the one thing wanting to complete
+his festive mood, and if he had cut shines before, he simply outdid
+himself now, and not till he had followed that circus parade over the
+entire town, and marched straight into the big tent behind Sinbad, did
+he decide that he had had enough excitement, and consent to go home. At
+half-past one he walked sedately up the driveway, and as John led him
+off to his stable, roundly berating him for his prank, he heaved a sigh
+which said as plainly as words could have done: “Well, I’ve kicked over
+the traces for once in my life, anyway.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE EARTH OPENS AND POKEY IS SWALLOWED UP
+
+
+“Well, how soon can you all be ready? We must get an early start if we
+expect to secure the best seats in the house,” cried Mr. Lombard, as
+dessert was being served at dinner that night.
+
+“Oh, we’ll be ready the very minute we’ve finished,” cried Denise, who
+was so eager to start that she would willingly have dispensed with
+dessert altogether.
+
+“How soon can you be ready, mamma,” he asked.
+
+“As quickly as I can stick in a hatpin to keep my hat from tumbling off
+when I laugh,” replied Mrs. Lombard.
+
+“And you, mother?”
+
+“Why, Lewis Lombard, are you crazy?” demanded grandma. “Do you suppose
+that I am going to a circus at my time of life?”
+
+“To be sure you are! We’re _all_ of us going, the whole family, from
+you down to cook, John and his family included. I’ve ordered down a
+hack from the village, and away we all go. Dear me, you don’t suppose
+that we are going to let such a rare treat as ‘Backus’s Greatest Show
+on Earth’ go by unappreciated. Certainly _not_!” and Mr. Lombard leaned
+back in his chair to laugh in his hearty way that proved so infectious
+that none could resist.
+
+And it was not long before he was assisting his family into one of
+the village hacks sent down, rather than use his own horses and so
+deprive the help of their treat, for his thoughts were always for the
+pleasure he could give to high or lowly. Hart was perched in front
+with the driver, for he had been borrowed for the occasion; grandma,
+still protesting that “it was utterly absurd for a woman of seventy to
+attend a circus,” sat with Mrs. Lombard on the back seat, while her
+son assured her that she “was his best girl and that no fellow ever
+went to a circus without his best girl.” “And you’re my ‘second best,’”
+he said, as he put his arm around Pokey, who sat between him and Denise
+on the front seat, “and I shall put you one side of me and grandma upon
+the other, just to keep you from getting into mischief. Grandma looks
+sedate enough, but you must never judge from appearances.”
+
+“Right this way, gentlemen and ladies! Right this way to secure the
+finest reserved seats in the house! Fine cushioned parquet chairs.
+Comfortable as your own lux_ur_us sofas at home. Don’t lose a moment!
+They’re going fast! Seventy-five cents each for first choice!” shouted
+the ticket-seller, perched in a funny little tent all by himself at the
+entrance to the big tent.
+
+“That’s just what we’re after! Here are six of us; now let’s see how
+well you are going to treat us!” said Mr. Lombard to the man.
+
+The smile with which it was said sent a cheering ray straight down
+into the man’s tired heart, for, whatever it might seem to the public,
+circus life was not bliss unalloyed, as this ticket-seller had learned
+to his sorrow. “Treat you first-class, sir! Six fine seats all in line
+on third row. Just high enough to see the whole arena, and escape any
+dust! Here you are! Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir,” as Mr. Lombard
+laid the money upon the little shelf and gathered up the six tickets.
+But as he did not pass on, the man looked at him rather questioningly.
+“Now I want seven more somewhere else. How about your fifty-cent seats?
+Got plenty of those?”
+
+If the man had beamed before, he fairly glowed now, for such customers
+were rare. “All you want, sir! All you want!” he cried.
+
+Mr. Lombard made his second purchase, and then, turning to the man who
+had driven them up, said:
+
+“Now get along back for your second load, and here’s a ticket for
+yourself when you’ve safely landed all the help at the show. Tie up
+your horses where they’ll be comfortable--I’ve made that all right with
+Mr. Andrews--and see the whole thing. Only don’t forget us when it’s
+over. There will be another hack along for John and the maids when
+needed.”
+
+“Oh, I say, _you’re all right_, Mr. Lombard,” said the hackman, with a
+broad grin.
+
+I need not tell you a single thing about the performance. You have all
+been to the circus, and I dare say much finer ones than this little
+country show, but I doubt if you ever laughed more heartily at the
+funny pranks of the clowns and trick ponies, or ever enthused more
+wildly over the beautiful horses and wonderful trapeze performances,
+than did this happy party. Near the end of the performance the
+ringmaster announced that there was to be a “new and novel feature
+presented this evening by an exhibition of the manner in which bareback
+riders were taught to ride.” Then a tremendous crane was fastened
+to the great center pole of the tent in such a manner that it would
+swing around in a circle the size of the circus-ring. A steady old
+horse, a very patriarch of ring horses, was brought in, and some one
+was selected from the audience to ride him. Now it so happened that
+John’s eldest hopeful, a boy about twelve years of age, was the one to
+volunteer, and to scramble upon the horse’s back like a young monkey.
+A long strap with a stout belt attached dangled from the end of the
+crane, and the belt was buckled securely about the boy’s waist, and the
+word given to start. So far so good. He sat his steed bravely, and the
+horse cantered around the ring in the easy rocking motion peculiar to
+circus horses, who learn to move like machines. “Now stand up,” ordered
+the ringmaster, and John, Jr., essayed to do so, to find himself a
+moment later dangling in midair like a big spider from its web, legs
+and arms flying wildly about in search of something to grasp as the
+old horse still plodded staidly along beneath him, although just out of
+reach of those wildly gesticulating arms and legs, while the audience
+howled with laughter. Around went the horse, and just above him moved
+the crane at the same speed, but land upon that beast again John, Jr.,
+could not.
+
+“Lewis, if you do not take me home I shall certainly die of laughter,”
+said poor grandma to her son, who was so convulsed at the sight before
+him that he was powerless to heed her, for certainly anything funnier
+than that struggling boy, who had mounted that beast so confident
+of his ability to ride him “any old way,” as he had confided to his
+father, it would be hard to conceive of. On Mr. Lombard’s left sat
+Pokey, laughing as she seldom laughed and until she ached therefrom.
+But now John, Jr., grew desperate, and resolved to ride bareback or die
+in the attempt. Ah, now he has his feet upon that broad back, and then
+follows a wild struggle, only to end in defeat, as John, Jr., wildly
+kicking, slides gracefully over his steed’s tail and lands gently upon
+the sawdust. But he was not to monopolize all the excitement, for Pokey
+had resolved to create a little on her own account, and when next Mr.
+Lombard turned around to see how she fared she had vanished entirely.
+
+“My soul and body, what has become of her!” he cried, in dismay, when a
+voice from the bowels of the earth answered:
+
+“I slipped through when I doubled up to laugh, and I can’t get back,”
+for the “fine cushioned parquet chairs” had proved to be but boards
+laid upon tiers and covered with turkey-red cushions, which needed but
+a slight push to slip them into space. Pokey, in her excitement, had
+given the push, and away she went, cushion and all, her exclamations
+being completely drowned in the shouts of laughter.
+
+Reaching down, Mr. Lombard gave a “long pull and a strong pull,” and
+brought Pokey to light, none the worse for her spill.
+
+“Look here, Miss. I’m going to tie a string to you in future,” said Mr.
+Lombard, while grandma administered consolation in the shape of cream
+peppermints, with which she seemed provided upon all occasions.
+
+“I don’t see how I ever did it, I’m sure,” said Pokey solemnly.
+
+“No more do I,” laughed Mrs. Lombard.
+
+When the show came to an end Mr. Lombard said:
+
+“Now keep all in a line close behind me, and then we will not become
+separated in this jam, for the whole town is turned loose I firmly
+believe.”
+
+So off they started, Hart in the lead, with Mr. Lombard’s hands upon
+his shoulders to “steer him straight,” Grandma, Mrs. Lombard, Denise,
+and Pokey, as usual, at the end. They had just reached the exit, when
+Denise turned to speak to Pokey, when lo, and behold, Pokey had again
+disappeared.
+
+“Papa, mamma, grandma!” she screamed, “Pokey’s gone again.”
+
+They would have stopped could they have done so, but who can check the
+outpouring of a circus crowd? Willy-nilly they were swept out into the
+moonlight.
+
+“Oh, what can have happened to her now,” wailed Denise. “How _could_
+she get lost in just that little time?”
+
+“Don’t be alarmed, dearie,” said mamma. “Papa and I will go right back
+the moment we can get through the crowd, and will surely find her.”
+
+Placing grandma and the two children in the waiting hack, Mr. and Mrs.
+Lombard made their way back into the rapidly emptying tent, and had
+hardly proceeded twenty feet when they came upon Pokey, covered with
+dirt and sawdust.
+
+“What under the sun has happened?” demanded Mr. Lombard.
+
+“Oh, that old stump!” answered Pokey in tones of intense disgust. “Just
+look at it, and the mess I’m in!” and she gave an impatient kick at
+a small stump which showed about three inches above the ground close
+to the bottom row of seats. “I was walking right along close behind
+Denise, when I stubbed my toe on that hateful old thing and down I
+went, flat on my face, and before I could get up I guess a _hundred_
+people walked right over me. I thought they’d kill me, and I couldn’t
+get up or stir. So I rolled over till I was in under the seats, and lay
+there till the people got by. And just look what a sight I am!”
+
+“Pokey, my girl, you are altogether too much given to stretching
+at length upon mother earth, and after this I must beg you to keep
+right end up, if you wish to avoid giving the entire family nervous
+prostration. But considering that no bones are broken, and you are not
+ground to fine powder, I’ll forgive you this time,” said Mr. Lombard,
+as he scrubbed her off with his pocket-handkerchief.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+TROUBLES NEVER COME SINGLY
+
+
+“We have waited for Pokey’s arrival before making our first visit to
+the ‘Chapel’ this year,” said Mrs. Lombard, when all were seated at the
+dinner-table at one o’clock on Sunday.
+
+“Haven’t you been up there at all this year?” she asked, for it was one
+of her favorite spots.
+
+“No; but John finished putting it in order yesterday afternoon and we
+will all go up at about three o’clock.”
+
+“Oh, splendid!” cried Denise. “I’ve got the loveliest book for you to
+read, Pokey, and I’ll take dear old Tan and Ned. Tan can go up the hill
+as easy as can be.”
+
+Before long the whole party set out for the beautiful little woodland
+retreat which went by the name of the Chapel because, during the summer
+the family spent nearly every Sunday afternoon there, resting in the
+hammocks, in the comfortable rustic seats, or stretched at length upon
+the soft moss. Plenty of cushions were always carried, and a more
+restful, soothing spot it would have been hard to find. The path led
+through the fields up the hill and to the woods’ edge, and just within
+it, where the view of the river was most charming, the seats had been
+built. But between the previous late autumn days and this warm July
+one, something else had been built, too, although the owner of the
+property little suspected that squatters had taken possession of a
+portion of this land. Possibly he would never have made the discovery
+at all, had not his daughter and her pets brought it about. All were
+toiling up the hill, burdened with their pet cushions, books, etc.,
+with Denise in the lead, Tan on one side of her, and Ned on the other.
+She had thrown an arm across each neck, and was saying, “Now ‘hay-foot,
+straw-foot’” to teach them to keep in step. Not far behind came Pokey
+upon “Mrs. Mamma’s” arm, for Pokey had not had time to get her climbing
+wind yet, and the hill made her pant. Grandma was assisted by papa’s
+arm, and all were “making haste slowly.”
+
+“Hay-foot! Straw-foot! Hay-foot! S-t-r-a-w--Ohw-w-w-w-w!!!!!”
+“Baa-a-a-a-a-a!” and a screeching neigh! Then pandemonium reigned for a
+few moments, for the “straw-foot” no, _feet_, three of them! had been
+planted fairly and squarely into a ground-hornet’s nest, and, in far
+less time than it takes to tell about it, these “three musketeers” wore
+yellow and brown uniforms, for the hornets literally covered them as a
+garment. Mr. Lombard rushed to Denise’s rescue, or there is no telling
+what her fate would have been, shouting to the others as he ran to fly
+for their lives. Ned did not wait to be told, but tore down the hill
+as though all the demons from the lower regions had attacked him, while
+poor, stiff old Tan forgot all his stiffness and fled for “home and
+peace” like any kid. But Mr. Lombard found his task no easy one, for
+the enraged hornets were venting their wrath upon poor little Denise,
+and he had actually to scrape them from her legs with a stick, only to
+find them swarm upon the next unprotected spots and upon himself. At
+last, in desperation, he rolled her in a rug he had brought with him,
+and tore down the hill, mamma having fled at the first alarm to send
+John to his assistance.
+
+If you have ever been stung by even one hornet, you will know just
+about a one-hundredth part of what Denise was enduring then, for some
+of the hornets were still on her and Mr. Lombard.
+
+John now came hurrying up, and, taking Denise from her father’s arms,
+fled for home, leaving Mr. Lombard to dispose of his little enemies.
+
+For a few hours there were lively scenes enacted in that home, for
+while Mrs. Lombard and grandma, with Eliza the cook, and Mary the maid,
+to help, administered all manner of home remedies to the sufferers,
+John, mounted upon Flash, rushed for the doctor, and Pokey sat down and
+quietly sobbed in one corner.
+
+She had not been stung, but was filled with anxiety for Denise, and
+heart-broken to see her suffer as she was suffering.
+
+Dr. Swift was as good as his name, and came with all haste to give
+relief, but it was many days before Denise could leave her room, and
+Pokey was her greatest comfort, for the dear child cared for her as
+she used to care for the invalid dolls. But before Denise could get
+about again upon those poor swollen legs, something else happened which
+almost reconciled the family to her having been so severely stung that
+she was confined to her room.
+
+Ned and Tan were not much the worse for their experience, for their
+hair had been a protection, and a vigorous rolling in the dusty
+road had produced a wonderfully pacifying effect upon those rampant
+insects. After he had done all he could for the family, John turned
+his attention to the pets, and had just made Tan comfortable and begun
+upon Ned when he noticed a man standing by the fence and looking at the
+pony as he brushed him and rubbed ointment where the stings were worst.
+John gave a friendly nod, and said: “It’s lively work we’ve been havin’
+these past two hours!”
+
+“What’s happened?” asked the man.
+
+John related the story, embellishing it, till the man might have
+thought that Denise had retired in a garment made of hornets.
+
+“Fine little beast, that,” said the man presently.
+
+“You niver saw the loike of him in all your loife!” said John proudly.
+
+“What will you take for him?”
+
+“What’ll I take for him, is it, ye’re askin’? Faith he’s not mine to
+sell, as ye well know, but ye’d better not be askin’ the master that
+same.”
+
+“What’s the boss’s name?”
+
+“What’s that to you?” demanded John with some asperity, for he was
+beginning to dislike the man.
+
+“Say, I know a man who’ll give a cool two-fifty for him and never wink.”
+
+“Well, he may save his offer, thin, for the boss paid three-fifty for
+him not two year ago, and wouldn’t sell him for twice that, and don’t
+you forgit it aither, me son.”
+
+“Want ter make a deal? You git him to sell the little horse to my man
+for what he paid fer him, an’ it’ll mean a fifty for you.”
+
+But this was too much. “Who the divvil are ye, thin, I’d loike to know?
+Get out av this, an’ if I catch ye about the place with yer blackguard
+offers I’ll call the constable for ye as sure as iver me name’s John
+Noonan,” and John advanced toward the fence with ire in his eyes.
+
+“Did iver ye listen to sooch chake as that, me foin boy?” he asked his
+small charge. “Don’t ye let it worry ye heart, me soon; it’s not goin’
+to be sold out of _this_ home ye are! Not fer _no_ money!”
+
+On Monday the circus gave another performance, and after that, in the
+evening, crossed the river by special arrangement with the ferry-boat
+and went upon its way.
+
+As Pokey never drove Ned, he was not used at all on Monday, and at
+eight o’clock had been locked in his little stable by John, and left,
+as usual, to his dreams.
+
+It was John’s custom to come early to his work, his own home being but
+a short walk across the fields, and six o’clock usually found him at
+the stable-door, to be greeted with welcoming neighs by the horses,
+which had learned to love him, and by Denise’s pets, who found in John
+a very faithful attendant. After opening up the big stable he went over
+to the “Birds’ Nest,” and was surprised to find the door unlocked.
+
+“Now who’s been that careless, I wonder,” he muttered.
+
+Then, entering, he wondered not to hear Ned’s morning greeting. Filled
+with an unaccountable misgiving, he hurried across the floor and looked
+over the top of the door of the night-stall, but Ned was gone!
+
+But even then the true situation did not dawn upon him, and he hurried
+out to look all about the grounds and in every place Ned could possibly
+have gone. But no Ned was to be found, and now, thoroughly alarmed, he
+went to the kitchen to ask Eliza, who was just lighting her morning
+fire, to call Mr. Lombard.
+
+“Whatever has happened you?” demanded Eliza, looking up from her range.
+“Ye look like ye’d seen a ghost.”
+
+“The little horse is gone! I’ve hunted the place for him and can find
+no trace of him,” answered John, in a distressed voice.
+
+“The Lord save us! What will that dear child do?” cried Eliza in dismay.
+
+“Go quick and call master,” was John’s answer.
+
+“Don’t let this get to Miss Denise’s ears if it can possibly be
+helped,” said Mr. Lombard when he and John had returned from a
+fruitless search. “There may be some foundation for your suspicion
+regarding that man who spoke to you on Sunday, and, coupled with what
+Denise has told me about the circus-manager’s questions, I am forced
+to admit that it does not look well. Go up to the village and ask Mr.
+Stevens to come to me as quickly and as quietly as possible, for this
+case needs both a lawyer and detectives. I will warn the others to keep
+silent,” and with a very troubled face Mr. Lombard entered the house.
+
+But all that day passed, and still others, without revealing a trace of
+Ned. Inquiries set afoot came to naught. The circus had left at one A.
+M., but Ned had not been among the ponies. If he were really stolen, as
+Mr. Lombard was reluctantly compelled to believe, for that wise little
+beast was not going to lose himself or stay away from home voluntarily,
+those who tried to get him away must have used great skill, for
+everybody in that town knew him.
+
+The search had been on foot for three days when the thunderbolt fell
+from the sky, dropped by Hart.
+
+Mrs. Lombard, Denise, and Pokey were sitting in the former’s pleasant
+room on Thursday morning when Hart called to Mrs. Lombard from the
+bottom of the stairs, “Please may I speak with you a second?”
+
+Mrs. Lombard hastened into the hall, for she was fearful that the
+message pertained to Ned, and, even though the voice vibrated with
+hope, she did not wish it to be heard by Denise unless it was the one
+message she longed for. Hart had scoured the country on Pinto, but
+thus far to no purpose. Half-way down the stairs Hart met her, and
+whispered, as he supposed, in a low voice: “They think they have found
+tracks of him because that man who spoke to John was seen away up on
+Hook Mountain, and had come across the river in a great big boat, big
+enough to carry Ned over in! And--”
+
+“Hush!” whispered Mrs. Lombard, holding up a warning finger, but it
+was too late. Over the railing hung a white little face, and a pair of
+wild eyes looked beseechingly at her as Denise demanded: “_What_ do you
+mean? Ned found? Traces of Ned? Where is he? What has happened? Tell me
+right off.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A TIMELY RESCUE
+
+
+Feeling that a real tragedy had come into the little girl’s life, as
+great as perhaps she would ever experience, for Mrs. Lombard fully
+realized how strong was the tie between Denise and this well-beloved
+pet, and also realizing that which, unhappily, few do realize, that
+childhood’s trials and sorrows are fully as keen for the time being as
+the trials and sorrows which visit us later in life, although, blessed
+provision of providence, less enduring. Had not a beneficent Father so
+ordained it there would be no childhood, for we should be old men and
+women while still in our teens.
+
+Stepping quickly to her little daughter’s side, Mrs. Lombard put her
+arm about her and said, “Come into the sitting-room, darling, and let
+mother tell you all about it. I had thought to spare you the anxiety,
+for we are confident that all will end well, but now that you have
+heard so much you would better know the truth.”
+
+Trembling from sympathy, Pokey had drawn near and taken one of Denise’s
+hands, and now stood beside her “pooring” it and looking into her eyes
+as though beseeching her not to be quite heart-broken. Hart, with
+contrition stamped upon his handsome, boyish face, had crept up the
+stairs, and was looking in at the door. Drawing Denise beside her upon
+the couch, Mrs. Lombard said in her calm, soothing voice:
+
+“When John went to the stable Monday morning Ned was not there. At
+first we thought that he had managed to run away, but later we were
+convinced that he could not have gone voluntarily, and a thorough
+search has been instituted. Thus far it has been fruitless, but Hart
+has just reported that one of the detectives whom papa has pressed
+into service has seen one of the men whom we now know to have been
+connected with the circus, and has further learned that which surprises
+us not a little, that Ned once belonged to another branch of this very
+circus. Indeed, that he and Sinbad, the big black horse with whom he
+so promptly renewed his acquaintance, were formerly ring companions,
+and performed tricks together. All this papa’s men have discovered, and
+also that about a year before Ned became yours, the circus then being
+in financial straits, Ned was sold, very much to the regret of the
+proprietor. When more prosperous days returned, they tried to find him,
+but could not, and not until they chanced to come to Springdale did
+they ever see their clever little trick pony again. Then this manager
+recognized him from the odd mark upon his right temple, and sent a man
+down to see if he could buy him back again, but John sent him to the
+right-about with a word of advice. Then Ned vanished, and, naturally,
+our first thought flew to the circus. But Ned is not with it, nor yet
+with the main body of it, for papa has sent everywhere. If they have
+taken him they have surely hidden him somewhere till the excitement
+shall pass, and they think it safe to bring him upon the scene far from
+this section of the country. There, my dear little girl, is all the
+truth, and you understand better than any one else can, how very sorry
+I am to be forced to tell it to you,” and Mrs. Lombard held Denise
+close to her and tenderly kissed her forehead.
+
+Denise had not opened her lips but had grown whiter and whiter as the
+story was told. The hand which lay in Pokey’s was icy, and the eyes,
+which had never once been removed from her mother’s face while she was
+speaking, had the look of a terrified animal’s.
+
+Not a sound was heard in that room for a few moments save the ticking
+of the little clock upon the mantel, and then Denise asked in a
+strange, hard little voice:
+
+“You say that the man was seen up near Hook Mountain?”
+
+“Yes!” burst in Hart. “He had rowed across the river, they think, and
+was prowling along the shore in a great big boat. Patsy Murphy was out
+on the river fishing and saw him, and told Mr. Stevens when he got
+back.”
+
+“Mamma, could he take Ned in a boat?” asked Denise.
+
+“He might do so if the boat were a very large one and Ned so tied that
+he could not struggle.”
+
+“Hart,” she cried suddenly, the big brown eyes filling with a fire
+which boded ill for any one minded to take Ned from her, “do you
+remember that wild little path we once came upon on Hook Mountain when
+you and I were trying to find a short cut over to the lake one day? It
+led around the curve of the mountain, and seemed to end, but when we
+forced our way through the underbrush it led down to an old brick-yard
+dock. We said at the time that it would be a splendid place to play
+Captain Kidd and bury a treasure, for nobody would ever think of
+scrambling way round there.”
+
+“Of course I remember,” cried Hart, catching her excitement, although
+as yet he hardly knew why.
+
+“Have you hunted there?”
+
+“No! I never once thought of that place.”
+
+“Please go quick, _and take Sailor_. Give him something of Ned’s to
+smell of and then say: ‘Find Ned, Sailor; find him!’ and he will know
+just what you mean, because that is what I always say to him when
+he and Ned and Tan and I play hide-and-seek, as we often do when we
+are alone. I would go, too, but somehow I don’t feel very well, and
+I--guess--I’ll--lie--” and the voice dwindled off into nothingness,
+as poor little nearly-heartbroken Denise drew a long sigh and quietly
+dropped into her mother’s arms, for the time being oblivious of her
+loss and grief.
+
+Raising her hand in warning to the terrified children, Mrs. Lombard
+laid the limp little figure upon the couch, and began administering
+restoratives with grandma, who, at the first sign of distress, had
+appeared upon the scene to help. Pokey promptly sat down at the foot
+of the couch and, taking Denise’s feet in her arms, proceeded to bedew
+them with tears, begging them piteously to “oh, please get better right
+off, and she would go herself to find Ned for them.”
+
+Hart fled, dashing from his eyes the tears that had sought to disgrace
+him, and muttering an excited, “Dod blasticate that circus! Wish the
+hanged old thing had never showed up in Springdale! I’ll go up to that
+place before I’ve lived another minute, and if Ned is anywhere in
+the mountain, I’ll have him or bust the whole shebang. Wish I could
+catch that man, I’d smash his head for him sure as guns! I’d--I’d--Why
+didn’t we think of Sailor before! That girl’s got the longest head
+_for a girl_, and if Pinto doesn’t just hustle _this_ time!” and with
+his thoughts upon the gallop, Hart rushed across the lawn, calling
+to Sailor, who was always ready to follow, and five minutes later was
+tearing up the road toward Hook Mountain with Sailor bounding on ahead
+of him.
+
+Meantime Denise had come to her senses, but was limp as a little rag,
+for she had not yet recovered from the effects of her terrible stings,
+and the news had been as a thunderbolt to her. But Mrs. Lombard was a
+wise nurse, and presently had the satisfaction of seeing her patient
+succumb to the gentle influence of hyoscyamus, and slip away into
+dreamland. Then, motioning to Pokey to leave the room, she drew the
+shades, and followed her, saying to the distressed girl:
+
+“Something tells me that Ned will come home to-day, and that Hart and
+Sailor will find him. So run out into the sunshine and keep a sharp
+watch, dearie, and be ready to report at the first sign of good news.”
+
+Pokey, with Beauty Buttons close upon her heels, went downstairs, and
+out into the grounds, making her way from force of habit to the Birds’
+Nest. But the place was so deserted and silent that she gave a little
+shiver and turned away from it, to wander aimlessly about with her
+thoughts filled with Denise and Ned. Hardly knowing what she did, she
+walked out of the grounds and turned toward the road which Hart had so
+lately galloped over, and began walking along it.
+
+Meanwhile Hart had passed through the village, and was galloping toward
+Hook Mountain. Before long he came to the point at which the main road
+turned aside to wind its way by a circuitous route over the mountain,
+and this was the only way known to the ordinary traveler to reach the
+fairy-like lake which lay in the lap of the mountain. But not so to the
+children, who had scoured the country for miles in every direction. A
+little path which seemed to end at the edge of an adjoining field did
+not end there at all, but made its way through the undergrowth, up,
+down, in, and out until it finally scrambled over to the other side of
+the steep cliff, at whose base years before a small dock had been built
+for the accommodation of a long-since-dismantled brick-yard. Stopping
+at the entrance to the path, Hart called Sailor to him and, taking from
+under his arm the saddle-cloth of Ned’s saddle, said to the dog: “Here,
+old boy, see this? Smell it good, it’s Ned’s, Ned’s! Find him, Sailor,
+find him! That’s a good dog!”
+
+If ever an animal’s eyes spoke, Sailor’s did then, for, giving Hart
+one comprehensive glance from those big brown eyes, so full of love
+and faith, he began to bark and caper about like a puppy. Then Hart
+started Pinto forward, and he and Sailor began their search. On and
+on they went, furlong after furlong measured off behind them, brushed
+by overhanging boughs, stumbling through the tangled undergrowth, and
+repeatedly stopping to call and listen; Hart telling Sailor to bark
+for Ned, and the deep bark waking the echoes of the silent woods. As
+though he understood what they were doing, Pinto, too, would often
+join in with a loud neigh, but no responsive neigh could be heard.
+Nearly three hours had slipped away since Hart left Mrs. Lombard, and
+the boy was beginning to lose hope, when they came upon the old dock,
+and Sailor uttered a low growl, as, with hair bristling, he walked
+toward it in that peculiar manner a Newfoundland dog advances upon
+his enemy--a sort of “Come on and face me fairly and squarely” air.
+Hart drew rein and called, while down his boyish spine crept a wee bit
+of a chill, for he was far from home, and entirely defenseless. But
+there was no sign of living thing, and, thinking that Sailor must have
+been mistaken, Hart called to him, and went on into the wood again.
+Had he been able to see the lower side of the old dock he might have
+discovered a large flat-bottomed boat tied close under an overhanging
+shed of it, while, from beneath the rickety boards peered a pair
+of steely eyes which watched his every movement. Hart was indeed in
+greater peril than he suspected, for this man would be the richer by a
+considerable sum of money if he carried out successfully the dastardly
+scheme of the one who offered the money to him, and to sit hidden there
+and see his plans balked before his very eyes, unless he resorted to
+far worse villainy than that already afoot, was a sore temptation.
+
+With hair still bristling, and an occasional admonitory growl, Sailor
+stalked very slowly after Hart, looking back from time to time to guard
+against trouble from the rear. They reached the point where the path
+wound its way up the jagged rocks, and where they had been forced to
+pause when he and Denise explored it before, and a feeling of despair
+began to settle upon him, for it seemed utterly hopeless to look
+further. Sailor stood panting beside Pinto, evidently trying to ask,
+What next? when suddenly he supplied the answer himself for, putting
+his head close to the ground, he gave one long sniff, and then uttered
+a joyous bark and dashed into the woods. As it was almost impossible
+for Pinto to make way through the tangle, Hart slipped from his back,
+and tore after Sailor. Just as he did so, Sailor barked again, and
+far off in the distance a faint whinny answered him. “Gee whillikens,
+Christmas! If that ain’t Ned’s whinny, I’m a bluefish!” shouted Hart,
+and the next moment he almost tumbled into a little dell at the bottom
+of which a sight greeted him that made him throw his cap into the air
+and simply yell. In a little cleared space, firmly tied to a tree, a
+dirty old blanket strapped upon him, and the remains of his last meal
+scattered upon the ground near him, stood little Ned, with Sailor
+licking his velvety nose and whining over him as though he were a lost
+puppy. The next second Hart had his arms around Ned’s neck, laughing,
+talking, asking questions as though he were speaking to a human being
+who could answer if he only would. And Ned very nearly did, for the
+little fellow’s joy was pathetic to witness. When Hart had somewhat
+calmed down, he discovered how Ned had been led into his hiding-place,
+for at the other side of it from the one he had entered there were
+distinct traces of hoof-marks, and Hart lost not a second more in
+untying the rope which held him and leading him out that way. This path
+came out upon the wood-path somewhat below the point where Pinto had
+been waiting, but, at Hart’s call, Pinto came picking his way down the
+path and was greeted by his old friend with a joyous neigh. They had
+not gone far when Sailor gave signs of anger, and, without a moment’s
+warning, sprang upon a man who suddenly barred their progress.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+JOY TURNS POKEY DAFT
+
+
+Had not Sailor acted so promptly, one trembles to think what might have
+been the outcome of Hart’s adventure, but as the man bent down to avoid
+the branches when he entered the pathway, Sailor sprang upon him and
+bore him to the ground, face downwards, then planted both front feet
+squarely upon the man’s back and held him firmly by his coat-collar,
+growling in his ear: “If you know what is well for you, you won’t move!”
+
+“Guard him, Sailor, guard him!” shouted Hart. “Hold him fast, good dog,
+and I’ll send some one to you!” and, scrambling upon Pinto’s back and
+leading Ned by his tattered rope, he plunged along the path at a
+pace fit to bring destruction upon all three. But he had no thought of
+destruction just then, his only thought being to send some one to the
+noble dog’s aid. He reached the main road, and was tearing along at
+breakneck speed, when he came upon a hay-wagon which had just turned in
+from a roadside field. Pulling up so suddenly that he nearly fell over
+Pinto’s head, he shouted: “Quick! Quick! Run up into the woods, for Mr.
+Lombard’s Sailor has caught the man who was trying to steal Ned and is
+holding him fast.”
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  _Denise._
+
+“THE MAN BENT DOWN TO AVOID THE BRANCHES.”]
+
+All Springdale knew the story, and the three men in the hay-wagon
+tumbled out of it as one man, to run toward the wood-path as though
+they had Mercury’s wings upon their feet, while Hart, still quivering
+with excitement, again pelted off toward home and friends. He was still
+rivaling John Gilpin when a voice from the side of the road called:
+
+“Oh, Hinkey-Dinkey! Hinkey-Dinkey! Where did you find him? Where did
+you find him?” and up bounded Pokey, to plant herself almost directly
+in his path, for joy made her reckless. They were on the lower side of
+the village, Pokey having walked and walked till she was weary, and
+then seated herself by the roadside to think things over. Hart slid off
+Pinto’s back, and both ponies were glad to rest, for Hart had never
+given a thought to time, distance, or heat in his eagerness to reach
+home. Both ponies were blowing like porpoises, and for once in her
+life Pokey forgot all fear of Ned and, gathering his head in her arms,
+proceeded to sob out her joy upon his neck.
+
+“I say, what the dickens are you crying about now when we’ve got him?”
+demanded Hart, with a boy’s usual disgust for tears. “Those fellows up
+there will fix that man all right and Sailor’s a trump. Come on home,
+for that’s where we want to get Ned now just as quick as ever we can,”
+and he gave Pokey’s sleeve a pull.
+
+“I know it,” she answered, raising her head from Ned’s silky mane. “But
+I’m sort of all shaky, I’m so happy, and please let me lead Ned home.
+He’s awful tired, and will be glad to walk the rest of the way, and I
+want to take him to Denise, for I couldn’t go to find him, and I wanted
+to do something so badly.”
+
+“Of course you may lead him, but I thought you were scared to death of
+him,” said Hart, amazed to find that timid Pokey, who had invariably
+kept some one between herself and Ned, wanted to lead him. But on
+they went, and Hart had cause to be more surprised before he was less
+so, for Pokey hurried along the road, Ned pattering beside her, and
+occasionally tugging at the rope to hasten her steps as he drew nearer
+and nearer the dear home and dearer little mistress. Pokey did not
+take time to go around by the driveway when she reached the grounds,
+but slipped in through a side gate, and right across the lawn. What
+happened next will be told presently.
+
+After about an hour’s sleep, Denise awakened much refreshed, and Mrs.
+Lombard was on hand to say a soothing word the moment her eyes opened.
+Then followed a long, quiet talk, Denise asking questions and her
+mother answering them with the utmost care and infinite patience.
+
+“Where is Pokey, mamma?” she asked, after a little.
+
+“I sent her outdoors to freshen up a bit, for she is much disturbed
+over this misfortune. She will be in soon, I think, dear.”
+
+“Would you mind if I went down into the library, mamma? That room
+always seems the nicest one to be in when things trouble me, for
+somehow or other they seem to sort of get straight there.”
+
+“Certainly, we will go down, darling, if you think you can do so, but
+the poor legs are still pretty stiff.”
+
+“I think I can with your help.”
+
+“Then off we go,” and Mrs. Lombard placed her arm about Denise’s waist
+to help her down the stairs. In a few moments they were settled in the
+big chair, Denise saying, with a sigh, as she rested her weary little
+head against her mother’s shoulder:
+
+“Mamma, why is it that I always feel such a sense of security when
+_you_ are with me? Then things always seem to go so smoothly, and
+troubles don’t seem half so hard to bear.”
+
+“I wish that it lay within my power to make all your pathway smooth for
+you, my darling, and insure a future free from trials. But that cannot
+be, so I try to make the childhood days sweet and happy ones, that you
+may carry with you throughout your life a beautiful memory, of which
+nothing can ever deprive you, and which will bring into the dark days
+which you like all others, must meet, a ray of sunshine to cheer and
+gladden you. Then the memory of these precious home hours, our little
+talks, and confidences, our perfect trust in each other, will come
+back to you, and, I think, strengthen you to meet the daily trials we
+must all meet, and to see how you may smooth them out for others when
+opportunity arises.”
+
+Mrs. Lombard was stroking back the hair from Denise’s forehead as she
+talked to her, and Denise was toying idly with the ribbons upon her
+mother’s gown. When Mrs. Lombard finished speaking they sat silent for
+a moment or two, and then the silence was broken in a startling manner.
+
+“Yes, you can do it if you want to, and you just _must_ ’cause her legs
+are too stiff for her to come to you. There? Now you see you can, just
+as well as not! Now another! Another! One more! Another! Now only two
+more-and--t-h-e-r-e you are!” and then a clatter and a scramble over
+the piazza, and in through the lace curtains tore Pokey and Ned side by
+side, one with a cry of, “I had to bring him! I couldn’t wait!” and the
+other with as joyous a neigh as ever a horse gave voice to. Straight
+into the library they came pell-mell, and straight into Denise’s arms,
+to be laughed over and cried over. For the tears which had not come at
+the sorrow, fell like a refreshing summer shower now, and Denise never
+knew that they were falling.
+
+Mrs. Lombard and Denise had sprung to their feet as the funny pair
+entered the library, and both joined in the shout of welcome, and now
+Pokey, having done her one wild, unbridled act, curled herself up in a
+little heap in the middle of the floor and, clasping her knees in her
+arms, swayed back and forth, crying and laughing by turns as she said:
+
+“Hart found him in the woods, and I made him scramble up the
+piazza-steps, so we both got him! We both got him, didn’t we?”
+
+Need I tell you any more? Yes, I will tell you how Beauty Buttons
+carried the good news to papa when he came home that evening. Of course
+all was excitement for a time, for Ned was welcomed like a lost son,
+the entire family gathering about him as he stood in the middle of
+the library with Denise hugging him as though she would never give
+over doing so, and every one trying to find some spot to stroke, for
+grandma, Eliza, Mary, and John had rushed up to the library to rejoice,
+eulogize, and all talk at once of Ned’s abduction by “that bad man,”
+and his rescue by “this blessed boy.” Hart’s head was in a fair way to
+be turned hind-side-before with sheer conceit, and in future Ned might
+be expected to demand quarters in the library. After the excitement had
+subsided a little, John went tearing off to the village to learn the
+fate of the “bad man” and Sailor, and also to telegraph to Mr. Lombard.
+
+Of course, during all the attention paid to Ned, Beauty was somewhat
+overlooked, but this he set about remedying himself by first jumping
+upon a chair, and then upon Ned’s back, where he wriggled about so much
+that Ned turned his head around to hint at less active demonstrations
+of joy.
+
+Finally Ned was taken to the “Birds’ Nest” by the children, Denise
+having speedily recovered under the stimulating influence of so much
+happiness. During the afternoon Beauty was as fidgety as a flea, and
+kept running to the entrance-gate every time a train whistled. As
+six o’clock drew near he vanished, but was not missed by the family
+because Sailor, who had just been brought home by John, after having
+held his victim till the men sent by Hart released him and led him to
+the sheriff’s office, where he was promptly dealt with, was now the
+conquering hero to be worshiped and commended.
+
+As John’s testimony was required at the sheriff’s office, he was not
+on hand to drive to the station as usual for Mr. Lombard, but as that
+gentleman stepped from the train, what should he see perched at the end
+of the platform, but a tiny black-and-tan dog, with both ears cocked up
+expectantly, and who, directly he spied his master, rushed toward him
+fairly squirming and wriggling with excitement. Mr. Lombard said that
+he felt sure that Beauty was trying to tell him the good news.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+MISCHIEF
+
+
+“Good-night, Sweetheart. Good-night, Pokey, dear,” said Mrs. Lombard,
+as she kissed the children just before departing a few evenings later
+to attend a card-party given by one of their neighbors. The children
+were not to accompany them, and a few moments later Mr. and Mrs.
+Lombard, with grandma, sweet and delightful to look upon, arrayed all
+in soft gray china silk, with a dainty little white lace cap upon her
+snowy hair, and dainty lace at her throat, took their seats in the
+carriage and were whirled out of the grounds and down the road, waving
+farewells as long as they were in sight.
+
+“Now what shall we do this evening?” demanded Denise, as they ran back
+to the piazza.
+
+“Let’s take a walk down the road,” answered Pokey.
+
+“No, we can’t do that, because mamma does not like me to leave the
+grounds when she goes out in the evening.”
+
+“Then let’s go into the library and get a nice book and read aloud. I
+saw one that looked wonderfully interesting when I was looking in there
+the other day. It was called ‘Ernest Hart on Mesmerism,’ and I want to
+see what it is about.”
+
+“My goodness! Why don’t you try to read Greek and have done with it?
+Why, papa would think we were crazy if we tried to read those books.
+Besides, I don’t think he would like to have us take them. Whenever I
+want to know anything about such things I ask him and he tells me all
+about them in just plain every-day language that I can understand. I
+don’t believe that we could make head or tail of that book if we took
+it. What is mesmerism, anyway?”
+
+“Why,--it’s--it’s--a man who can put people to sleep and make them do
+things they don’t know a thing about. When they wake up again they
+can’t remember a single thing they have done, and--why, what are you
+laughing about? I don’t see anything so very funny in that,” for
+Denise’s eyes had begun to sparkle, and a mischievous smile appeared
+upon her lips.
+
+“Maybe our mesmerizings aren’t the same, but I know of one kind that
+is the funniest thing that you ever saw if we only had some one to
+mesmerize.”
+
+“Who told you about it?”
+
+“We did it one time at a Hallowe’en party, and we nearly died laughing.
+Some of the girls got angry, but most of them took it just as fun. It
+really was fun, for it did not do them the least harm, and it all came
+off.”
+
+“_What_ came off?” persisted Pokey, for Denise’s explanation certainly
+left room for speculation.
+
+“The smudge. I tell you what we’ll do. We’ll mesmerize Eliza. She’s
+such a good-natured old thing that she’ll not mind it a bit, and Mary
+will nearly have a fit when she sees her.”
+
+Pokey’s faith in Denise was boundless, so a few moments later the
+conspiracy was hatched, and the two scapegraces were on their way to
+victimize Eliza.
+
+Running down to the little porch just outside the laundry-door, where
+Eliza took her evening airing after the labors of the day were ended,
+the children pounced upon her, crying:
+
+“Oh, Eliza, we have come to show you and Mary something wonderful that
+we have learned. Do you want to see it?”
+
+“Somethin’ wondherful, is it, Miss Denise? Shure, yoursilf and Miss
+Pokey is wondhers all riddy.”
+
+“No, but really, Eliza, this _is_ something wonderful! Have you ever
+heard of a man named Mesmer?”
+
+“Mismer? What was he loike at all? Was it him thot came out to tach ye
+all to dance last winter?”
+
+“Oh, no! That was Monsieur Mezereau. The man Pokey and I mean was a
+great magician, and could do almost anything.”
+
+“A mugician? What did he play on, thin? A horn? Thim Frinch min does be
+playin’ horns mostly.”
+
+“Oh, Eliza, she doesn’t mean a musician,” explained Pokey. “She means a
+man that does all sorts of tricks, and magic things like they do in the
+theatres. Have you ever seen one?”
+
+“Sure! Didn’t me niphew take me to see that feller called Heller
+whin I was down in New York this very sphring past. Faith, he was a
+marvil thin, an’ no mistake. Is it him ye mane, an’ can ye do some
+av thim things yersels?” and Eliza clasped and unclasped her hands
+in excitement, for her trip to town to pass a week with her married
+sister early in the spring, the first Mrs. Lombard had been able to
+persuade her to take in more than two years, had been one of the
+events of her life, and the happenings of that week, among which had
+been an evening at the theatre watching Professor Heller’s marvelous
+performances, had been gone over again and again for the benefit of the
+none too credulous Mary.
+
+“Well, we can’t do _all_ the things he did, of course,” said Denise,
+“but we can do one of them. We can put you to sleep and make you do
+just the things we tell you if you will let us. Will you?”
+
+“Thot Heller man put a girl to slape, and then tuck away the thing she
+was slapin’ on and left her lyin’ there on the air! Could ye do thot
+same wid _me_?” demanded Eliza in amazement.
+
+“We can put you to sleep, but we don’t know how to make you lie on the
+air,” answered Denise, a twinkle coming into her eyes as she surveyed
+Eliza’s ample proportions.
+
+“Well thin, thry it now, an’ I’ll bet ye all me old shoes that niver
+a wink will ye be afther gittin’ out av me. So there now!” and
+Eliza settled herself comfortably back in the rocking-chair she was
+occupying, and looked defiance at her amateur magicians.
+
+“Will you do just exactly as we tell you to do?” demanded Pokey.
+
+“Sure!” with a confirming nod.
+
+Meantime Mary, who had been having a neighborly chat across the fence
+with Mr. Murray’s gardener, came upon the scene, and at once became
+interested in the proceedings.
+
+“There now, ye wouldn’t belave me whin I towld ye all I’d seen down
+yonder, would ye now?” cried Eliza, “but here the very childer know
+about it an’ will be afther showin’ ye. They think that they’ll be able
+to put _me_ to slape! Faith, it do be wake-moinded cratures that can
+be sint off to the land o’ nod by thim thricks. I’m not such a fool as
+not to know _that_ much. But let thim thry if they want to. It’ll do
+_me_ no harm, and it’ll show ye a thing or two ye’ve been doubtin’,”
+and Eliza, whom Mary had driven nearly to the point of distraction by
+teasing unmercifully when she had related some of her experiences while
+in town, nodded her head in the way that meant, maybe you will believe
+me when you have seen it tried yourself.
+
+Pokey and Denise now came running back armed and equipped for magical
+deeds. They carried three plates, each one partially filled with water.
+When they saw Mary, Pokey cried:
+
+“Oh, Mary, you must let me mesmerize _you_, while Denise mesmerizes
+Eliza. Will you? Please do.”
+
+“If she kin stand it I guess I kin,” was Mary’s laughing reply, and,
+taking a seat beside Eliza, she waited developments. Pokey rushed back
+into the house and presently returned with a fourth plate.
+
+“Now you must both do just exactly as you see us do, and you must look
+right straight at us _every_ minute,” commanded Denise.
+
+“Sure, that’s dead aisy,” answered Eliza, reaching two chubby hands for
+her plate.
+
+Denise undertook to direct Eliza, while Pokey gave her attention to
+Mary.
+
+“Now hold it just this way, and _no_ other,” said Denise, adjusting the
+plate in Eliza’s hands in such a manner that her thumbs rested upon the
+rim, and her four fingers just touched the under side. “Don’t take your
+eyes from my face, and don’t _laugh_ whatever you do. Mary, you do just
+exactly the same as you see Pokey do.”
+
+Two chairs were then placed opposite their victims, and the children
+took their seats, their own plates held in precisely the same manner
+the maids were holding theirs.
+
+“One, two, three,” counted Denise, and “one, two, three,” counted Pokey.
+
+“Wan, twoo, thrae-e,” echoed Eliza, and “one, two, three,” repeated
+Mary, looking intently at the children.
+
+“With this magic sign I charm thee,” droned Denise, dipping her finger
+into her plate and making a snake-like streak across her forehead.
+
+“’Tis the sign av the divvil himsilf, I doubt,” muttered Eliza.
+
+“Hush! You must say exactly what I say,” commanded Denise.
+
+“The god of sleep descend upon you,” muttered Pokey, frowning
+prodigiously at Mary, and making moist, wavy signs upon her own
+forehead, which Mary imitated with a half-laughing, half-scared look.
+
+“Hickory, dickory, dockory, o,--Four little imps on the bottom, I
+know,” continued Denise, doing her best to keep a straight face, while
+Eliza repeated with more or less accuracy the nonsense which had
+sprung into Denise’s fertile brain and out of her lips, as she rubbed
+her fingers around and around upon the bottom of her plate, and then
+drew it carefully down the bridge of her tip-tilted nose; Eliza doing
+precisely the same so far as motion was concerned, but with a far more
+startling result.
+
+“‘_De gustibus non est disputandum_,’”[1] quoted Pokey, airing some of
+the Latin which she had learned the previous winter, and which she now
+used with telling effect upon Mary.
+
+“Lord have mercy upon us! She’s sayin’ the very words the praist said
+on Sunday last!” said Eliza, glancing hastily toward Pokey.
+
+“Oh, you mustn’t! You mustn’t!” cried Denise. “Now pay strict attention
+to me. By all the powers of the little god of sleep,” and a finger
+was rubbed beneath the plate, and then a cross made upon her cheek:
+“By all the charms that he can work upon us,” another cross upon the
+other cheek: “By every dream that haunts us,” more vigorous rubbing
+upon the bottom of her plate, and cabalistic signs drawn upon her face,
+which were closely imitated by Eliza’s fat finger, upon her fatter
+face, until it would have been doubtful if her own sister, so recently
+visited, would have recognized her. “By--, By--, oh dear! _Don’t_ you
+feel the least _little bit_ sleepy?”
+
+“Sorry a wink! Didn’t I tell ye it would take a wake-moinded person,
+Mary?” turning a most triumphant, soot-marked face toward Mary, who,
+giving a howl of derision, let her own plate go rolling across the
+porch floor, to bound off the steps and land in the grass, where it lay
+peacefully right side up and told no tales.
+
+“What are ye howling at me loike that for, I’d loike to know?” demanded
+Eliza, for Mary had come to the house when a mere slip of a girl, and
+Eliza had trained her in the way she should go, and laughing at her
+superior was not one of the duties inculcated.
+
+“Oh, Eliza, will ye be lookin’ at yer face! ’Tis a sight for sinners ye
+are!”
+
+“Well, thin,” cried Eliza, bridling, and adding red as well as black to
+her decorations, “maybe it would be jist as well were ye afther takin’
+a look at yer own pheeziognomy in the mirror there in the dinin’-room
+beyant, for beloik ye’d think that ye had not missed all the beauty av
+the whorld entoirly,” and up rose Eliza to sail majestically into the
+house, from whence a moment later arose a howl of wrath which caused
+Denise and Pokey to flee to the seclusion of the Birds’ Nest, there to
+confide to Ned Toodles the prank they had played upon the autocrats
+of the kitchen and dining-room, while said autocrats resorted to a
+vigorous application of pumice-stone soap and hot water, meanwhile
+comparing notes and vowing vengeance upon their would-be mesmerizers.
+
+“Ah, ’tis sthrong-minded ye are, Eliza,” cried Mary, scouring
+vigorously, and then bursting into hearty laughter.
+
+“Faith I do be thinkin’ it’s a _nayguer_ I am, an’ no mistake. Did
+iver ye know the loikes av them childer, to take in an old woman loike
+me wid their palaverin’? Faith, it’s makin’ their marks in the whorld
+the’ll be afther doin’!”
+
+“Glory be, but they’ve already begun on oursels, an’ no mistake,” and
+Mary sat down upon a near-by chair to laugh as only a light-hearted
+Irish girl can, even though the joke be at her own expense.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] There is no use disputing about tastes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+AUNT MIRANDA COMES TO TOWN
+
+
+Vacation was slipping away all too rapidly, and the first of September
+drawing near to carry Pokey away from her beloved Springdale and back
+to the city and school duties. But Pokey was an ambitious little soul,
+as well as a very philosophical one, and took her blessings as they
+came, making the most of them for the time being, and taking up the
+duties with a cheerful face when the time arrived to take them--a
+characteristic which followed her through her whole life, and made many
+a wearisome burden less wearisome.
+
+But two more weeks remained of that precious vacation, and how to make
+those weeks the very best of all was a problem the children were
+settling themselves to solve one warm morning, when John appeared
+with the mail-bag. Springing from their seats upon the soft grass
+under the old apple-tree, and scattering dogs, cats, a goat, and a
+pony helter-skelter, the two girls rushed after him to claim any
+mail the bag might hold for them. True, their correspondence was not
+so overwhelming that they required amanuenses, but a mail-bag has a
+wonderful fascination for both old and young folk, and simply to watch
+for a possible letter was exciting.
+
+This time there was the usual supply for each member of the family,
+and, although there was nothing for either of the children, there was
+one letter which held a peculiar, and none too pleasing, interest
+for the family. This one came from an aunt who usually visited the
+family once a year--an aunt of Mr. Lombard’s, who had seen many, many
+summers and winters pass by, and yet had never learned that simplest
+of all lessons: to look upon certain situations with other people’s
+eyes. No, Aunt Miranda saw things with her _own_ eyes, and why her
+range of vision was not the only correct one, or why some one’s else
+might not be equally correct, sixty-seven years spent upon this big
+globe had utterly failed to convince her. In _her_ day young girls,
+young men, middle-aged men, and middle-aged women did thus and so, and
+consequently ought to do so at the present day.
+
+It need hardly be added that her annual visit was not anticipated with
+enthusiasm, for, from the moment she entered the front door to the
+moment it closed upon her, a succession of comments, criticisms, and
+commands, issued as only Aunt Miranda could give voice to them, kept
+everybody rubbed the wrong way, and made things generally miserable.
+
+“Oh, dear-r-r! Is she really coming day after to-morrow?” wailed
+Denise, in a tone very unlike her usual cheery one, for if “coming
+events cast their shadows before,” certainly Aunt Miranda’s letter had
+already obscured the sun.
+
+“Sweetheart!” said Mrs. Lombard gently.
+
+“Yes, I know what you mean, mamma, and I know it isn’t the proper way
+to speak of a guest; and I know you don’t like to have me feel so;
+and I know that it’s just hateful to; and I know that Aunt Miranda
+is coming, and, oh, me, that means the fidgets for every one of us,
+from Beauty Buttons straight down to _you_, or up, just as you want to
+count. There! Now I’ve said my hateful things, I’ll set about getting
+my mind in shape for saying nice ones, when way down inside myself
+I feel like saying horrid ones, and if that is not being a little
+hypocrite I’d like to know it,” and Denise gave herself a shake as
+though she hated the very thought of doing something which she knew did
+not ring true.
+
+Mrs. Lombard was too wise a woman to read her little daughter a lesson
+on manners and morals and goody-goody conduct generally, for she
+understood human nature too well for that, and realized just how hard
+it was for a happy, open-hearted girl, entirely natural in speech
+and manner, to control herself when every act, every word, and every
+expression of countenance was undergoing the keenest criticism, and
+she was being taken to task for the very acts which had always been
+considered proper by those who had trained her so carefully. So now,
+instead of speaking harshly, or making the situation even more trying
+by laying down certain rules to be followed during the coming visit,
+she did the one thing best calculated to smooth a ruffled spirit.
+Laying down the unwelcome letter, she took Denise’s rather defiant face
+in both her hands, drew her gently toward her, and kissed her ever so
+softly just under the little curls upon her forehead, saying as she did
+so:
+
+“If it were not for the little clouds in the sky we should never half
+appreciate the sunshine, darling. We all have obligations, and you
+and I will endeavor to meet ours gracefully, even though they are
+not as pleasant as they might be. One little week out of our lives
+will hardly count, and some day we shall both be old and, possibly,
+peculiar ourselves. Then we will be glad to have others tolerant of our
+peculiarities. But in the present case we must both fill the rôle of
+hostess, and, as the Scots say, ‘Stranger is a holy name.’ Aunt Miranda
+is not a stranger to us by any means, but if we substitute the word
+‘guest’ for that of ‘stranger,’ we shall hold to the spirit of the old
+saying, and that is all we need consider. Shall we try to remember,
+Sweetheart?”
+
+“I’d be the crankiest old thing that ever lived if I didn’t, and Aunt
+Miranda will find me a perfect saint!” cried Denise, the laugh coming
+back to her usually sunny face.
+
+“Not a saint; they are entirely too oppressive for every-day life; just
+a ‘creature not too wise or good for human nature’s daily food,’ you
+know,” answered Mrs. Lombard, with a final pat upon Denise’s head, and
+a smile for Pokey.
+
+In the course of time Aunt Miranda, her baggage, and her whims arrived.
+Denise and Pokey drove to the station with John when he went to meet
+that estimable lady, and were greeted with:
+
+“My heart and body! how do you ever expect me to get into that carriage
+with you in it already? I can’t abide being crushed, and I shall _not_
+put my bag and things on the bottom of the carriage.”
+
+“Oh, Pokey and I will sit on the front seat of the surrey with John,
+Aunt Miranda, and you can put all your things on the seat beside you,”
+cried Denise, remembering her mother’s gentle words, and doing her best
+to overcome the spirit of rebellion which this “dash of cold water”
+instantly summoned up within her, for Aunt Miranda had not taken the
+slightest notice of her greeting, but, pushing her to one side, had
+sailed straight for the surrey, and the opening remark had been her
+first words.
+
+“And crowd him up so that he can’t manage the horses? Not if I know
+it! I never risk _my_ life with fractious horses.”
+
+“Oh, Sunshine and Flash are _never_ fractious!” cried Denise, prompt to
+defend her favorites. “They are only spirited, and John can manage them
+perfectly.”
+
+Aunt Miranda turned upon her like a whirlwind. “Young lady, will you be
+good enough to let _me_ have an opinion of my own? I’ve ridden behind
+those animals more than once, I can assure you, and I think that I know
+a thing or two about them which even you, with all your wisdom, may not
+have learned yet. Elizabeth Delano, come right out of that surrey! You
+and Denise (where on earth your father and mother ever found _that_
+heathenish name I can’t conceive) may walk home. ’Twon’t hurt you one
+mite. Then I’ll put my things on that seat and set Lorenzo on this seat
+beside me; he can’t bear to be away from me a moment,” and she held
+forth to John, who was already seething inwardly, a bag and bundle of
+shawls, while she firmly grasped a huge cage which held the idolized
+“Lorenzo,” a parrot of many accomplishments and diabolical temper.
+
+Pokey came meekly forth, and Aunt Miranda stalked into the place she
+had vacated. The cage was settled beside her, her traps beside John,
+and her orders issued.
+
+“Now, don’t you children come tearing home as though your lives
+depended upon your getting there within the next five minutes. It’s
+only eleven o’clock now, and your luncheon won’t be ready for two
+hours. So take your time, do you understand?”
+
+“Wait here, Miss Denise, and I’ll drive back for you and Miss Pokey,”
+said John, for he was wroth with the elderly maiden who would make his
+young mistress tramp nearly a mile through the sultry August heat.
+
+“You’ll do nothing of the sort! My heart and body, do you suppose it is
+going to kill two perfectly healthy girls to walk that distance? In
+_my_ time girls walked or stayed home, I can tell you. No such nonsense
+as teams being sent for them. Now you girls come right along behind;
+do you understand?” and Aunt Miranda wagged a lisle-covered finger at
+the bewildered pair upon the platform. But before further orders could
+be issued, John adroitly drew the long whip-lash gently across Flash’s
+flanks, and that sagacious horse needed no broader hint to put a
+quietus to Aunt Miranda’s tirade. It was all fun and good spirits, but
+when Flash “arose to the occasion” by rearing upon his hind feet and
+then making a dash forward, which Sunshine was not slow in following,
+Aunt Miranda had all she wished to attend to.
+
+“My heart and body! My heart and body!” she screamed, grasping the
+front seat with one hand and holding on to Lorenzo for dear life
+with the other. “Look out for those demons! Didn’t I say they were
+fractious? I shall do all in my power to persuade Lewis to sell them
+at once. They are not fit to be driven by any one! Vicious brutes!”
+
+“Oh, that’s jist the tickle in their fate, ma’am,” said John, doing
+his best not to smile, and sending at the same time a silent message
+along the reins all too well understood by those sagacious beasts. That
+ride of three-quarters of a mile was a wild one, for if John could not
+speak his mind to the lady behind him, he certainly held a means of
+retaliation which worked to a charm, and when he finally whisked her up
+to the door=step, both she and Lorenzo had experienced a very lively
+five minutes, and a more flustered bird, or more flustered elderly
+lady, it would have been difficult to find.
+
+“Emilie Lombard, if you ever send those horses for me again I shall
+refuse to ride behind them!” was the greeting Mrs. Lombard heard as she
+hastened to welcome her guest. “They are perfect demons; just nothing
+but demons! Here, let me get out before they kill me outright! Never,
+never again shall I ride in this carriage! There, there! Be careful
+how you handle Lorenzo, Mary. He has been nearly shaken to death as it
+is, and I dare say will be ill from the fright. No, don’t touch that
+bag! It has my camphor and smelling-salts, to say nothing of several
+other things, which I never permit any one to touch, in it. Emilie, you
+hold this while I get out, and John, get straight down and hold those
+beasts’ heads. I sha’n’t stir one step from this carriage unless you
+do, and I don’t know but what I’ll die of fright if I stay in it. My
+heart and body, why people can want to drive such fractious animals is
+entirely beyond my understanding.”
+
+John obediently dismounted, and, going to the horses’ heads, began
+the little freemasonry which he and they so well understood, with the
+result that they nosed and mumbled him like a pair of kittens, and
+no kittens could have shown more coyness than they while their irate
+passenger was removing herself and her belongings from the carriage,
+and fussing and bustling herself into the house.
+
+“Faith, we fixed her well that toime, didn’t we now, me dandies?”
+said John with a knowing laugh, as he gave a final pat to the pretty
+creatures, and sprang back into the surrey. “And now we’ll spin back
+for the young ladies, that we will, and never turn a hair for the spin.
+Walk home is it they will? Faith, I’d loike to see thim doin’ the loiks
+of it if me and you knows what we’re about! Now, thin! Off wid yees!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+AUNT MIRANDA AND NED HAVE A LITTLE ALTERCATION
+
+
+It all began with Beauty Buttons. Ordinarily Beauty was a well-behaved
+dog, but even a well-behaved dog has been known, to resent
+discourtesies, and Beauty had a grievance. In the first place, he knew
+his rights and privileges, and meant to have them respected One of
+these was to lie upon the couch-rug in the guest-room if he chose to
+do so. With Aunt Miranda’s advent that privilege was withheld for the
+time being, but of this, of course, Beauty was ignorant, and when he
+felt disposed to take a little siesta in the cool, inviting guest-room,
+thither he made his way, and was peacefully dreaming of luscious bones
+when Aunt Miranda pounced upon him, and, with one sweep of her strong
+right arm, sent him sprawling upon the floor, there to blink at her
+with sleep-stupefied eyes until another swoop sent him scurrying out
+of the room to rush to the Birds’ Nest, there, no doubt, to confide
+his wrongs to Ned Toodles’ sympathetic ears, and receive assurance
+that they would be avenged at the earliest possible moment. The moment
+arrived that very afternoon.
+
+“Emilie Lombard, how am I to get to the village to register this
+letter?” demanded Aunt Miranda shortly after luncheon.
+
+“John will take it for you, Aunt Miranda, if it is very important,”
+answered Mrs. Lombard.
+
+“No he won’t, either! Catch me trusting an important letter to that
+Irishman! He would not know the difference between a registered letter
+and one to be sent special delivery; I shall take it myself. But how am
+I to get there, I’d like to know?”
+
+“John will drive you up in time for the outgoing mail if you wish to
+have him.”
+
+“Drive me with what? Not those demons, I can tell you. I would not go
+with those horses if I never went.”
+
+“Oh, you really need not feel any alarm. They are perfectly safe. I
+will accompany you if it will make you feel any easier.”
+
+“And like enough both of us will be killed. No. I shall go in the
+pony-carriage. If that snip of a horse cuts up I shall get out and
+put him in the carriage and _drag him_ home,” asserted Aunt Miranda,
+in happy innocence of that small beast’s capabilities when he was not
+treated with proper respect. Moreover, did he not have a wrong to
+avenge for a fellow-pet?
+
+“Very well, Denise will drive you to the post-office with pleasure,”
+was Mrs. Lombard’s gentle reply.
+
+“She won’t drive me with pleasure or anything else, for I mean to drive
+_myself_!” was the startling statement, made with a series of positive
+wags of Aunt Miranda’s head.
+
+“Oh--” began Denise, who, with Pokey, had been a silent listener to
+the foregoing conversation, and who could no longer keep quiet, for
+well she knew what might be expected from Ned if Aunt Miranda undertook
+to drive him to the village.
+
+“Now, Miss, you need make no remarks, nor advance any opinions. I drove
+long before you, or your mother, were born, and I have an idea that I
+can drive yet. At any rate, I mean to try, and it won’t do a mite of
+good for you to try to stop me. I’m _going_!”
+
+Denise gave one imploring look at her mother, who answered it with
+another which meant, “We will not say another word.”
+
+The order was given, and twenty minutes later Aunt Miranda took her
+seat in the little phaeton, her tall, spare figure towering up from it
+like a liberty-pole, and her face set in determination to drive that
+atom of an animal or die in the attempt.
+
+“Now you stand right there at his head until I get comfortably settled,
+you man. I don’t want to be jerked all to pieces before I get my
+clothes settled right, and that beast seems to have been imbibing some
+of those horses’ ideas,” she said, as Ned cocked one wicked eye back
+toward her as she stepped into the carriage. “And you come and tuck
+this linen robe in so that it won’t drag a mile on the ground,” she
+continued, beckoning to Denise, who stood at the foot of the steps,
+undecided whether to offer her services or keep discreetly in the
+background. She came obediently forward at the bidding, Pokey hastening
+to the other side of the phaeton to do her share. “Stand aside. Keep
+out of the way. One person can do this easy enough,” was the ungracious
+speech which greeted Pokey’s overture.
+
+“Now hand me those reins. There! I’d like to see him cut up now!” she
+said, as she gave the reins a twist about her hands, and held them as
+though she were holding an elephant. “Now stand out of my way, all of
+you. Now!” and giving the loud cluck which she felt to be the correct
+signal for a start, and slapping the reins upon Ned’s back, she essayed
+to start. John had held Ned’s head up to this moment, but now he let
+go, and, with a bound, Ned started forward, to find himself suddenly
+jerked almost upon his haunches.
+
+“Not if _I_ know it, you little villain!” cried his driver.
+
+Ned came to a standstill, but gave his head two or three ominous shakes
+sidewise, which, to any one understanding him as Denise understood him,
+meant mischief ahead, but Aunt Miranda merely regarded them as a proof
+of her control over him.
+
+“Now I shall take my time and go by the river-road,” she announced to
+those watching her, “and you need not expect me back for more than an
+hour. I’ve no notion of being hustled about.”
+
+At the announcement that she was going by the river-road, Denise sprang
+forward and clasped her hands about her mother’s arm, whispering
+excitedly: “Oh, mamma, she ought not go that way with Ned. You know Mr.
+Blair’s Nero!”
+
+“Aunt Miranda,” called Mrs. Lombard, “I would advise you to take the
+other road. Mr. Blair’s--” but Aunt Miranda had not paused for any
+instructions, and, with a backward nod, drove off with determination in
+her eye and defiance in her attitude.
+
+Now Ned’s mouth still pained from the jerk it had received, and Ned’s
+sense of right and justice had been outraged at the very outset. He
+was never vicious, but, on the other hand, he was invariably wisely
+handled, and carefully driven. A horse’s mouth, if properly treated, is
+a wonderfully sensitive thing, and Ned’s was filled with many delicate
+nerves which had never been abused. But there was nothing gentle
+about the person who now had him in hand, and the poor little beast
+was having anything but a pleasant time of it. With arms stretched
+straight out in front of her, reins grasped as though she were
+driving upon a race-track, and her body as rigidly erect as though an
+instant’s relaxation would bring instant death, she sent her charger
+along the one road in all Springdale that he detested, for midway
+between his home and the village lived his sworn enemy, Mr. Blair’s big
+Newfoundland dog. Several months before, Denise had had an experience
+the like of which neither she nor Ned wished repeated. She was driving
+home from the post-office one morning, when over Mr. Blair’s high fence
+bounded a huge dog, to rush into the road and pounce upon Ned’s back,
+and bite savagely at the saddle. It was fortunate for Ned that the dog
+happened to set his teeth in the harness, or the poor little horse
+would have had a very bad quarter of an hour indeed. Denise held on
+to the reins, and laid the whip upon the dog with a will, but it made
+little impression upon his shaggy coat, and something very serious
+might have occurred had not Mr. Blair’s groom rushed to their rescue
+to beat the dog off and drag him back to their own grounds. But both
+Denise and Ned had received a thorough fright, and after that carefully
+avoided the river-road.
+
+As he approached Mr. Blair’s grounds, Ned steadily increased his pace,
+evidently wishing to get past as speedily as possible. But Aunt Miranda
+entirely mistook his motive, and set herself to work to discipline him.
+They got past the danger-point, and went upon their way, doing the
+errand at the post-office without any interruption, and all would have
+gone well had Aunt Miranda taken the broad hint which Ned tried to give
+her when they came to the two roads leading toward home. Ned wished to
+take the upper one. Aunt Miranda wished to take the lower one, and for
+a few minutes it was a question as to which would carry their point.
+
+What was really “good horse sense” upon Ned’s part, Aunt Miranda
+chose to regard as balkiness, and set herself religiously to work to
+overcome it. A lively scuffle ensued, and for a few moments it seemed
+as though the occupant of that little phaeton would have to make good
+her threat of putting Ned into it and dragging him home if she wished
+to have him go that particular road. Presently he stopped his antics,
+stood stock-still, and seemed to consider the situation. Then, giving a
+defiant neigh, he started pell-mell down the road she wished to follow,
+as though to say:
+
+“You stupid old thing, I’ve done my best to keep you out of trouble,
+but if you are determined to have it, why go ahead. Because Nero was
+not around when we came up, it is no reason to feel sure that he won’t
+be there when we go back, and if you come to grief it will be your own
+fault. I’ll take _my_ chances, and if I don’t make good use of _my_
+legs in an emergency, it will not be _my_ fault. Now come on with you!”
+and off he pelted full tilt. In vain did Aunt Miranda tug at those
+reins. Ned had the bit in his teeth and she might as well have tugged
+at a post, for fear of Nero, combined with his determination to get
+past that dreaded spot as speedily as possible, settled Aunt Miranda’s
+fate, and Ned was putting for friends and safety.
+
+“You little wretch, how dare you? It is all because you have been
+utterly spoiled with coddling. Such nonsense! There never was a beast
+or child that wasn’t utterly ruined with such folly. _Will_ you go
+slower and behave yourself?” and Aunt Miranda tugged with a will. Now
+Ned’s sight was keen and his hearing acute, and what Aunt Miranda
+neither saw nor heard owing to her tirade toward him, he saw and heard
+distinctly.
+
+They came to the Blair grounds, were speeding past, when over the
+fence sprang a creature which Aunt Miranda took to be nothing less
+than a bear. She let go her right rein, grabbed for the whip, meantime
+tugging with might and main upon her left rein. Perhaps it was this
+which really saved her, for when the great dog saw what he took to
+be a still greater one, turn directly toward him, as though to pounce
+straight upon him, some of his courage failed him and he paused for
+just a second. But in that second a number of things happened. The
+sudden jerk upon the left rein had thrown Ned completely out of his
+gait, and caused him to swerve suddenly toward the gutter, which was
+nothing more than a deep gully beside the road. Into it went the
+wheels, and over tipped the phaeton, landing Aunt Miranda, whip and
+all, in a heap. As she fell out, the sudden overturn brought the whip
+full upon Ned’s back, and at the same moment she loosened her hold
+upon the other rein. Thus released, and with a stinging lash across
+his haunches, it was no wonder that Ned took the broad hint to depart,
+and he departed with might and main; tearing down the road with the
+phaeton bounding along behind him, for it had righted almost instantly,
+he paused not upon the order of going, or for ladies who for the past
+hour had made life a wearisome thing for him, to say nothing of having
+ill-treated his chief crony, Beauty Buttons, but went with a will.
+
+The shriek which issued from Aunt Miranda’s lips when she landed in the
+soft grass of the gully, did double duty, for it scared the cowardly
+dog half out of his wits and also summoned Mr. Blair’s groom, who came
+running to the rescue of the irate lady sitting bolt upright in the
+gutter.
+
+“Are you hurt, ma’am? Are you hurt?” demanded the man anxiously as he
+bent over her.
+
+“Hurt! It is a wonder that I’m not killed! Who owns that dog? I am
+going at once to have him killed. Stand back, I don’t need any help.
+But that dog has got to die! Take me to your master this minute,” and
+up she rose to stalk after the astonished man.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+AUNT MIRANDA INTERVIEWS NERO’S OWNER
+
+
+“Here is a lady to speak with you, sir. She--”
+
+“Stand aside! Get out of my way! I can say what I wish to. Do you own
+that savage beast which sprang over your fence and caused me to be
+upset in your gutter?”
+
+Mr. Blair arose from his chair beside his library table, and stood
+speechless, for Aunt Miranda had followed close upon the groom’s
+heels, and brushed him aside like a fly when he attempted to explain
+why he was forcing himself into his master’s presence unannounced, and
+bringing with him an elderly lady very much the worse for her sudden
+spill, and wild with rage at its cause.
+
+“Whom have I the pleasure of seeing?” began Mr. Blair.
+
+“I don’t know that it will make the least difference to you who I am,
+and as for the pleasure it will give you, perhaps it will prove quite
+the reverse, for I have come to insist upon the death of that savage
+brute you see fit to own and allow to rush from your grounds to attack
+inoffensive passers-by. Such an outrage I have never in all my life
+heard of. Suppose I had been killed? What do you suppose my niece will
+think when that pony comes tearing home, as he no doubt has already
+done, without me? I tell you a dog like that cannot be allowed to live.
+Now how soon will you kill him?”
+
+“Why, really, madam,--” began Mr. Blair, but got no further, for--
+
+“I’m not madam at all. I’m _Miss_, and expect to remain so all my days,
+for there never yet lived a man that I would let dictate to me, and
+I’m pretty capable of looking out for myself. So we will drop that and
+attend to the dog question. Have you a revolver, and will you shoot
+him? I sha’n’t leave this place until I see him ready for burying,” and
+down she planted herself upon a near-by chair, and began settling her
+tossed-about bonnet.
+
+If ever a man looked nonplused, Mr. Blair was that man, for Nero was
+a very valuable dog, and, aside from his dislike of Ned, whom he
+evidently took to be a Newfoundland dog, like himself, was a faithful,
+valued watch-dog. What in the world to say, or do, in order to pacify
+this irate old lady who had suddenly pounced upon him with such an
+extraordinary demand, and how to get her out of his house without
+bodily ejecting her, was a question too tremendous for him to answer.
+Before he could collect his wits, and do so, an interruption came from
+an unexpected source, and he was spared the ordeal.
+
+Meantime things were happening at home. John had just stepped from the
+stable to go to the house when there fell upon his ears the rapid
+clipperty-clip! clipperty-clip! of rushing feet, and down the road came
+Ned upon a dead run, the phaeton spinning along behind him, and the
+carriage-rug flying out behind like a danger-signal.
+
+“The Lord have mercy upon us, and what has tuk place wid the old lady
+now?” gasped John, and he rushed toward the entrance-gate to call to
+Ned, and stop his mad career before he could come to grief.
+
+Ned recognized the well-known voice instantly, and as though it brought
+reassurance to him at once, he slackened his pace, and a second later
+stood with his head nestled in John’s arms, while that good soul
+patted and comforted him as he would have comforted a frightened
+child. Ned was wringing wet with perspiration, and panting from the
+combined effects of fear and his wild stampede, and John was filled
+with indignation at the sight, for well he realized what a runaway,
+resulting from a fright, meant to horse or pony.
+
+“Ah, me bonny lad, me bonny lad, quiet down now; quiet down now. Don’t
+ye know that it’s John what’s got ye, and never a sthroke af har-rm
+kin come near ye? There now; there now. Faith, I’d like to have jist
+wan word with that mule-headed old lady what drove ye to the village.
+She’d be afther rememberin’ what John Noonan said to her, I’ll bet me
+last cint. Bad cess to her and her fool ways,” and John led his charge
+toward the Birds’ Nest. Mrs. Lombard and the children had heard the
+clatter of Ned’s hoofs, and now came hurrying upon the scene, and, as
+though even John’s consolation sank into insignificance beside hers,
+Ned gave a loud neigh, and started toward Denise.
+
+“Oh, my precious pony!” she cried, as she put her arms about his neck,
+and kissed the damp muzzle, never stopping to think or care whether Ned
+was as moist as though he had been dipped into the river. “What did
+Aunt Miranda do to you? What did she do?” for Ned’s mouth showed signs
+of his rough handling, and it filled Denise with indignation. “Oh,
+mamma, just look at his poor mouth! It is all cut from being jerked and
+pulled so. How could Aunt Miranda treat him so? How could she?” cried
+Denise almost in tears, while Pokey cuddled and caressed the misused
+little beast from the opposite side.
+
+But much as Mrs. Lombard was distressed at the sight of Ned’s
+deplorable condition, she was still more alarmed at the thought of what
+might have befallen Ned’s passenger, and said:
+
+“We must go at once to learn what has happened to Aunt Miranda, and
+where she is. Something very serious may have occurred, and I am
+terribly distressed. Harness as quickly as possible, John, and leave
+Ned to the children’s care. We must go at once to find Miss Lombard.”
+
+John flew to do his mistress’s bidding, although deep down in his
+heart he harbored the wicked wish that the object of their search had
+received a wholesome lesson, and that it would prove sufficiently
+wholesome to induce her to take her departure from Springdale at an
+earlier date than she had contemplated.
+
+In a very few minutes the surrey stood at the door, and Mrs. Lombard
+took her seat in it, to be whirled toward the village. She entertained
+little doubt of the cause of the disaster, as Ned had come home by the
+dreaded river-road, so thither she made her way as fast as Sunshine and
+Flash could speed her, and that was by no means a snail-pace. As they
+drove along the road they discovered traces of Aunt Miranda by the way,
+for, after mailing her letter, she had made several small purchases,
+and these, with the cushion of the phaeton, were dotted along the road.
+When they came to the scene of her spill, there lay the whip, and her
+change-purse, and the story was told.
+
+Turning directly into Mr. Blair’s grounds, Mrs. Lombard stopped at the
+door-step, and was met by Mrs. Blair, who strove in vain to restrain
+her laughter, for she had been sitting in the adjoining room, and had
+overheard the conversation her husband was holding with his angry guest.
+
+“Pray tell me what has happened?” began Mrs. Lombard.
+
+“Forgive me for smiling, but if you could hear the controversy taking
+place in the library at this moment, I am sure you would smile, too.
+Miss Lombard is endeavoring to convince Mr. Blair that Nero should be
+taken to instant execution, and he, poor man, is striving to collect
+his wits sufficiently to know how to gratify her, yet spare the dog’s
+life. But I cannot tell you how sorry we are that such a thing should
+have happened. Nero jumped the fence again, and rushed upon Ned.
+Patrick saw him and rushed to the rescue in time to see Miss Lombard
+pull Ned into the ditch, where she was very gently spilled out of the
+little carriage, and where she sat bolt upright when he ran to her aid.
+She was not in the least hurt, and I hope that Ned was not, and she is
+even now laying down the law to Mr. Blair. Step into this room a moment
+and you will excuse my mirth, I believe.”
+
+They went into the room next to the library, and divided from it by a
+heavy portiere, just in time to hear:
+
+“Very well, if _you_ do not shoot him, I shall go straight back to the
+village and get an officer to do it. Mark my word, that dog will be a
+dead one before I sleep this night. He is not fit to live! Not fit to
+live!”
+
+“Dear me, we certainly all have our trials in this world,” whispered
+Mrs. Lombard, as she moved toward the library, and a moment later was
+using all her persuasive powers to induce Aunt Miranda to come home
+with her. After many attempts to soothe that lady’s ruffled spirit, she
+at last succeeded in bringing about a truce between her and Mr. Blair.
+Nero should live until Mr. Lombard’s return from town that evening, and
+then Mr. Blair and Mr. Lombard should agree upon his fate. With this
+Miss Lombard had to feel satisfied, and, with a vigorous shake of her
+head, Aunt Miranda followed her niece from Mr. Blair’s home, much to
+that harassed man’s relief. But when the door-step was gained a new
+difficulty confronted them, for Miss Lombard would not get into the
+surrey.
+
+“But it is quite a long walk,” urged Mrs. Lombard, “and after your
+fright you ought not tax yourself.”
+
+“Tax myself! Do you think I am an invalid? It would take a good deal
+more than that snip of a horse to unnerve me. I am not hurt a mite,
+but, my heart and body! I’d like to have a reckoning with that dog. I
+will, too, before I am done. Now get into that surrey and ride home if
+you aren’t equal to the walk. I am, and I’ll do it.”
+
+“I shall walk with you,” said Mrs. Lombard very quietly, but very
+decidedly. Aunt Miranda gave one swift glance at the sweet-faced,
+dignified lady beside her and said:
+
+“Humph!”
+
+John grumbled inwardly and drove slowly along the road.
+
+When Mr. Lombard returned that evening, Aunt Miranda pounced upon him
+with her woes. He listened to all she had to say, and then said in his
+positive way, possibly some of her own determination had been inherited
+by him, and she had met her match in him, even though he was ordinarily
+the gentlest of men:
+
+“So you came to grief simply because you _would_ have your own way,
+and would _not_ listen to the advice offered by those who had had some
+experience with Mr. Blair’s dog, even though they were considerably
+younger than yourself? Is that the case, Aunt Miranda?”
+
+“He has no right to keep such a dog!”
+
+“That may all be true, too. But how would you suggest preventing him
+from so doing if he chooses?”
+
+“What is the law for, I’d like to know?” demanded Aunt Miranda.
+
+“To help Mr. Blair keep a dog, and prevent his neighbors from
+destroying it, is one of its provinces.”
+
+“And encourage him in harboring an animal which flies over his fence to
+tear people to pieces?” was the indignant query.
+
+“Well, you see, Nero is a pretty valuable dog, notwithstanding his
+aversion for small horses which insult him by resembling him; and, even
+though I have pretty good cause to feel anything but friendly toward
+him, I cannot in justice blame the dog for trying to ‘do’ a dog bigger
+than himself. True, I should be glad to convince him of his error, and
+think that I shall do so by taking Ned up there and letting them get
+acquainted. At present it is not safe for Denise to drive by there, and
+for that reason she has been forbidden to do so. Had you been willing
+to listen to the warning given, you would have been spared a fright,
+and a number of other unpleasant things, as well as our being spared
+one, and having the pony frightened and caused to run away. Was the
+game worth the candle?” and a very quizzical expression came over Mr.
+Lombard’s face.
+
+“I never allow people younger than myself to dictate to me!”
+
+“We are never too old to give heed to a kind or a wise suggestion, my
+dear aunt, and, even though you are my senior, I shall take the liberty
+of advising you to do so when it is liable to prove for your own good.”
+
+Now Aunt Miranda hated to be talked to in this manner as she hated the
+evil one himself, and up she bounced, crying:
+
+“Lewis Lombard, I have spanked you more than once in your life, and I
+don’t propose to take your impertinence now. Your father was always as
+weak as water, and that is the reason he had such a headstrong son.”
+
+“We will not discuss my father, Aunt Miranda,” replied Mr. Lombard in a
+tone which caused Aunt Miranda to recall the gentle, dignified man whom
+she had detested simply because she could not rule him, but who was
+over the courteous gentleman to her.
+
+“Well, thank goodness I shall not have to remain in a town which
+harbors such a beast. I shall leave day after to-morrow.”
+
+And two days later Aunt Miranda, her parrot, and her bundles were
+conveyed to the station by one of the village hacks, as she still
+stoutly refused to enter the surrey.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+NED DISGRACES HIMSELF, BUT MAKES AMENDS
+
+
+The first of September came all too quickly. Pokey’s trunk was packed,
+and Pokey, with many regrets, and many yearnings for a longer stay
+in her beloved Springdale, set her face toward Brooklyn, and school.
+As usual, Denise was forlorn for several days, but it is hard to
+remain doleful when one is but twelve years old, and the world is a
+very lovely place indeed. Her own studies would not be resumed until
+October, when the cool, crisp air would turn work into pleasure, and
+the young brain, fresh and keenly receptive after its long rest, would
+be ready to grasp and retain new ideas and new impressions.
+
+During Pokey’s visit Denise had scarcely ridden Ned at all, but now
+that she was alone once more, riding presented a novelty, all the more
+alluring because she had not indulged in it for several weeks. The
+day after Pokey’s departure Denise had Ned saddled, and started off
+for a canter. The little beast seemed to enjoy the outing quite as
+much as she did, and swung along with the easy motion so natural to
+him when under the saddle. They chose a pretty road leading along the
+river-bank, but in the opposite direction from the village, as Denise
+did not wish to take any chances with Nero, and, so far as she knew,
+no belligerent animals lived along the road she and Ned were following
+so happily. But, alas! how easily our most carefully laid plans can go
+amiss.
+
+Denise rode gracefully and easily, and it required something rather out
+of the ordinary to unseat her. They were cantering along beneath the
+beautiful elms which bordered the road and cast their shadows upon it,
+making it sweet and cool that delightful morning, when, just behind
+the hedge dividing it from a gentleman’s grounds, there arose a wild
+yapping which caused Ned to shake his head as though he were disgusted
+with such a discordant sound when all was so silent and restful about
+them.
+
+“Do we know that dog?” Denise asked, as though Ned were able to
+understand and reply to her question. But such questions were not
+unusual. She and Ned held amazing conversations, each in a language
+well understood by the other. Ned tossed his head up and down in an
+irritable sort of manner, as though he were trying to say, “I don’t
+think that he is one of our friends,” and somewhat increased his pace.
+The hedge was a high one, and they could not see over it, but, before
+they had gone ten yards, a fluffy, clumsy puppy wriggled through a gap
+just behind them, and came tearing after them as fast as he could run.
+
+Now neither Denise nor Ned had any objections to puppies in general,
+or to this one in particular, and would have attended strictly to
+their own business had he only seen fit to attend to his, but this
+puppy had recently arrived upon the scene, and felt that he had much
+to discover. His master had bought him at a dog fancier’s in New York,
+where the greater part of his life had been spent in very limited
+quarters, and his walks abroad had been taken at the end of a chain.
+Now, joy to tell! he had ten-acre grounds to cavort about in, but, like
+many another creature who suddenly finds himself surrounded by almost
+boundless luxury, after narrow limitations, he wanted an ell when a
+very liberal inch had been voluntarily given him.
+
+So he proceeded to take it by wriggling under the hedge, and, once out
+upon the highway, there he beheld a sight which instantly banished what
+small remnant of common sense remained to him, and he set about having
+a royal good time.
+
+If Denise had any notion of getting out of his blundering way, he had
+no idea of allowing her to do so, and, almost before a breath could be
+drawn, his legs and Ned’s were being tied up in hard knots.
+
+“Yap, yap,” barked the tormenting little beast, making wild grabs at
+Ned’s flowing tail, or snapping at his fetlocks.
+
+“Get away, you stupid thing!” cried Denise, reaching over to give
+him a well-merited lash with her riding-whip. But she might as well
+have tried to hit a will-o’-the-wisp, for, clumsy as he seemed, that
+vexatious little beast was wonderfully agile, and seemed to regard
+the action as part of the fun. Helter-skelter, around and about he
+scurried, one minute in front of Ned, the next minute snapping at his
+heels, until it was no wonder that such a well-conducted animal’s
+patience became exhausted, and he felt that this tomfoolery had gone
+far enough.
+
+“Of all the crazy things I have ever seen, _you_ certainly are the
+craziest!” exclaimed Denise, doing her best to get unsnarled from the
+little wretch. “Go!” she cried, giving the word that Ned understood so
+well, and was always so quick to respond to. And “go,” he did.
+
+With one wild leap, he bounded straight over his tormentor, and made a
+dash for freedom, but even as he sprang forward that miserable puppy
+got in the last stroke, which settled matters in short order, for he
+gave a final vicious snap at Ned’s heels, and his sharp teeth pricked
+like needles.
+
+That was too much! Ned forgot the beloved burden he was carrying,
+forgot that Denise was somewhat off her guard, and more liable to
+become unseated than she would ordinarily have been. Out flew two hind
+feet to administer one and one _very_ telling, vicious kick at that
+hateful little beast, which caught him fairly and squarely in his
+ribs, and sent him howling back to his friends. But, alack-a-day! it
+accomplished other things also, for away shot Denise clear and clean
+over Ned’s head, to land in a heap in the dust of the road, where she
+lay for a moment half stunned by the shock, although not seriously
+hurt.
+
+If ever an animal’s face expressed consternation and contrition
+Ned’s certainly did then, and, with one wild neigh, he rushed up to
+his beloved little mistress just as a carriage rapidly approached
+from the other direction. Now some people assert with a good bit of
+assurance that animals do not think, particularly that horses do not.
+Nevertheless, what I am about to tell you is as true as anything in
+this world can be. Ned stood beside his prone rider, his eyes wild with
+fright and quivering in every limb. That carriage was coming toward her
+as fast as ever it could come, and why, oh! why, didn’t she get out
+of its way? It would certainly run over her, and those big, prancing
+horses would crush something which he loved better than anything in
+this world. They must not! No, they _should_ not do it, and he must
+prevent them if possible. Poor little Ned Toodles could not understand
+that the very haste with which the carriage approached meant succor
+for Denise, for the occupants had witnessed the whole scene, and were
+filled with dismay at its ending.
+
+It was almost upon them when Ned gave another neigh, and did that which
+caused the lady in the carriage to clasp her hands together and almost
+scream aloud. He stepped directly over Denise, and stood with his front
+and hind legs astride her, thereby making it impossible for the big
+horses to harm her without first crushing him. The brave little head
+was raised in defiance, and the nostrils snorted a challenge to those
+great creatures which he thought were about to trample his mistress
+beneath their feet. Dear little Ned Toodles, you have been dust these
+many years, but your mistress has never forgotten that brave deed, and
+her eyes fill with tears when she recalls this proof of your devotion
+to her.
+
+The coachman drew up his horses beside the fallen girl and her
+courageous little horse, the lady hastily descended from the carriage,
+and a second later held Denise in her arms, Ned nosing and nickering
+over her as though he were trying to express his sorrow and console her
+for her fall.
+
+“You darling!” exclaimed the lady, sparing a hand to rub his velvety
+nose, even though she was seriously alarmed for Denise. But Denise was
+not injured, and presently opened her eyes to blink at Ned and look
+with surprise at the lady holding her.
+
+“Why, what happened to me?” she cried, sitting straight up and looking
+at those gathered about her.
+
+“Nothing serious, I hope,” answered the lady. “You took a header over
+your pony’s neck, and it stunned you for a moment. But he took such
+wonderful care of you that no great harm has come to you, I think.”
+
+“Oh! I fell off when Ned kicked at that horrid little dog, didn’t
+I? But I am not hurt a bit, although I feel sort of all shaken up
+and tossed about,” said Denise, as she got upon her feet and began
+settling her dusty habit. Ned scrooched close up to her, as though
+striving to apologize, and Denise put her arm about his neck.
+
+“Poor little Ned Toodles, did you think you had killed your missie?”
+she asked, as she rested her still dizzy head upon his shaggy mane.
+“No, I’m not a bit dead, and when I get my wits we will go home and
+tell mamma all about it before some one else has a chance to do it, and
+frighten her half to death. Thank you ever so much for helping me,” she
+said to the lady.
+
+“We are more than glad that we came along just as we did, even though
+you seem to have a very efficient protector in your pony. It was
+the most wonderful thing I have ever seen. Won’t you get into the
+carriage with me and tell me something about yourself and him? I am a
+stranger in Springdale, but I am sure I have stumbled upon one of its
+attractions.”
+
+“Ned is considered quite remarkable,” answered Denise, never for a
+moment appropriating even a portion of the compliment. “We have been so
+much together since I got him two years ago that I half believe he has
+grown to be just like folks. But I don’t believe that I would better
+get into the carriage. I feel nearly all right now, and if mamma were
+to see me coming home in the carriage and Ned following it, she might
+be frightened. Ned won’t spill me again, and it wasn’t so much his
+fault anyway; if I had been thinking what I was about I never would
+have fallen, for he often jumps a fence or ditch and I never think
+of spilling off. But that puppy drove all my wits out of my head, I
+believe; the horrid little thing!”
+
+“Well, we will drive along beside you, at all events, and if you do not
+feel just right you can dismount and come into the carriage with me.”
+
+“Thank you very much, but I don’t think that I shall have to,” and,
+turning to Ned, she cuddled and stroked him before mounting him again.
+Ned met her more than half-way, and the lady smiled at the pretty
+bit of by-play she was watching, although the actors were entirely
+unconscious that they were doing anything out of the ordinary.
+
+Leading Ned to the stepping-stone beside the road, Denise settled
+herself upon his back, although, ordinarily, she would not have
+required any aid in mounting. But her head was still unsteady, and the
+usual spring to her seat did not seem as easy a thing as it ordinarily
+would have seemed.
+
+They walked along side by side, the lady keeping a watchful eye upon
+Denise, and feeling greatly entertained by her. As though to make
+full amends for his temporary lapse from good behavior, Ned Toodles
+pattered along beside the carriage as sedately as any old stager might
+have done, and when they came to Denise’s home stopped for her to bid
+her friend farewell. But Mrs. Lombard was walking about the grounds,
+and only one glance from _that_ mother’s eye was needed to discover
+that something had happened to that very precious little daughter,
+and she hastened to the gate. Then followed explanations, and began an
+acquaintance which, ere long, ripened into a very warm friendship, and
+Ned’s first misdemeanor resulted in something very delightful for his
+little mistress and her mother.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+A BIRTHDAY FROLIC AND WHAT CAME OF IT
+
+
+“Oh, what fun! Are we all going? And way down to Summit Ridge? Who
+planned it? Are we to stay all day long?” were the questions which
+poured rapidly from Denise’s lips one bright October morning when Hart
+came rushing over to ask if she might accompany a party of young people
+upon an outing planned for the coming week. He had been away from
+Springdale for several weeks, reveling in the delights of the seashore,
+but his family had now returned for the winter, and his studies, as
+well as Denise’s, had commenced.
+
+Mrs. Lombard stood beside them listening, and smiling at the eager
+faces before her. Presently she said:
+
+“Which day next week have you chosen?”
+
+“We had to choose Saturday, you know, on account of school. We aren’t
+all so lucky as Denise, having a governess who will let us off at a
+pinch,” and Hart looked mischievously up into Mrs. Lombard’s face.
+
+She reached over to give a tweak to his curly “forelock,” and reply:
+“Don’t be so sure of that. She is not let off so easily as you seem to
+think. After such a long holiday we expect even more wonderful things.
+So the frolic is planned for Saturday next. Was it prearranged?”
+
+“Why no; what do you mean?”
+
+“Oh, oh! I know! It will the thirteenth, and my birthday! Isn’t that
+just splendid?”
+
+“Honest? Oh, I say, that’s just dandy, isn’t it? No, I didn’t know a
+thing about it, and I don’t believe the others did, either. At any
+rate, they didn’t say a word about it. But it’s great luck. Say, we
+sort of stumble on each other’s festive days, don’t we? Do you remember
+how you hit upon mine last spring? Then I’ll tell them you will go, of
+course?”
+
+“Of course I’ll go; won’t I, Moddie?”
+
+“First a positive assertion, and then a doubt; ‘he who hesitates is
+lost,’” quoted Mrs. Lombard, laughing.
+
+“Then I won’t hesitate; I’ll _go_,” and Denise ran prancing off to the
+Birds’ Nest, followed by Hart, for they had many things to talk over
+after a separation of six weeks, and much to plan for the coming picnic.
+
+The Saturday named dawned clear and frosty, promising in the form of
+many hickory nuts and chestnuts, an extra treat for the party gathering
+so merrily at Hart’s home. Not that they literally gathered at dawn,
+but it was not long after eight o’clock when the first horseman was
+seen coming along the road to the meeting-place. There were to be
+fourteen in the party, besides the older people who went along to guard
+against accidents, but who, as it later proved, did not succeed in so
+doing after all.
+
+Mrs. Murray and Mrs. Lombard drove in the former’s carriage, and
+carried a good portion of the refreshments, but each boy and girl
+rode their own beastie, whether it was a pony or a horse, for
+Springdale’s young folk were pretty well supplied with mounts of one
+sort or another, and could, when occasion called for it, turn out
+quite a brave array of equestrians. There were horses and ponies of
+all sorts and kinds gathered in Mrs. Murray’s driveway that beautiful
+October morning, and they possessed as varied dispositions as the
+boys and girls mounted upon them. Ned and Pinto were, of course,
+special cronies, and rubbed noses, and whispered secrets as only old
+cronies can. They tolerated the other horses, but did not encourage
+familiarities, and when one overgrown specimen of horsedom, noted
+especially for his pronounced Roman nose, and monstrous feet, undertook
+to force his way between them while they were comparing notes about
+the flavor of their morning oats, they promptly united forces and
+administered justice, thereby creating a wholesome respect for small
+horses in that misguided animal’s brains, and a lively diversion for
+their respective owners, who rushed to settle the disagreement.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  _Denise._
+
+“THEY HAD MANY THINGS TO TALK OVER.”]
+
+But all was ready in the course of half an hour, and away they went,
+as merry a party as ever set forth for Summit Ridge, a plateau upon
+the summit of South Mountain, where many years before a gentleman
+had erected a beautiful home and planted extensive orchards. It was
+an ideal spot for such an orchard, and the trees had flourished
+marvelously, bearing pears, plums, and apples, such as were not to
+be found for miles around. The gentleman had lived there until the
+death of his wife several years before, and then left the place
+abruptly, never to return. Its remoteness from all other dwellings,
+and the difficulty of reaching it, kept most people from visiting
+the place, and it was only at long intervals that the residents of
+Springdale plucked heart of grace and clambered up the rough, neglected
+mountain-road which led to it.
+
+During October the winter pippins and several other varieties of winter
+apples proved a strong inducement to the young people, and hardly an
+autumn passed without a party being made up to form a raid upon Mr.
+Powell’s orchard, and carry off apples enough to keep them supplied for
+months.
+
+Up the mountain scrambled the riders, the horses harnessed to the
+carriage scrambling along behind, and doing their best not to get left
+altogether. Denise, Hart, and one of their young friends, who had
+recently become the possessor of a little mustang, sent her by her
+uncle, who had a ranch in the West, and who assured her that Comanche
+was all that she could wish for, were leading the party, scrambling up
+the steep places, racing along the level ones, and picking their way
+down the descents. Flossy Bennett was a bright, pretty girl, but one
+wonderfully fond of her own way, and, once having taken it into her
+head to do a certain thing, it was no easy matter to persuade her to do
+differently.
+
+Two hours’ hard scrambling and picking their way at last brought them
+to the old house high up upon the mountain, and all dismounted to
+unsaddle their mounts, and tether them to the rustic fence which ran
+all about the neglected grounds, separating them from the orchards
+beyond. Then came the preparation of their luncheon, and rigging up a
+tripod to swing the kettle. After the merry feast ended, all repaired
+to the orchard to fill every sort and size of bag with the bright and
+luscious apples, which were almost breaking the branches with their
+weight.
+
+But October days are short ones, and, when three o’clock came, the
+preparations for the homeward journey were begun. Most of the boys
+and girls put their bags in the carriage, although some of them tied
+them in the middle and placed them across their saddle-bows. This plan
+worked well enough where the horses, or ponies, were accustomed to such
+liberties, but in some cases it was an entirely new experience, and
+the mountain-road was not a wise place upon which to make experiments.
+
+Flossy Bennett’s little mustang, although apparently as gentle as a
+kitten, seemed strongly disinclined to have her bag of apples strapped
+upon his withers, as his mistress wished to have it strapped, and
+fussed and fidgeted when one of the boys undertook to fasten it there.
+There was no one with the girl who was in a position to say either yea
+or nay, for she had joined the party just as many of the others had
+joined it, with the understanding that Mrs. Murray was, for the time
+being, both hostess and chaperon.
+
+Seeing how restless the pony seemed, Mrs. Murray came over to where
+the children were, and suggested that Flossy put her bag of apples in
+the carriage with the others, but Flossy did not care to act upon the
+suggestion, and Mrs. Murray, who did not possess Mrs. Lombard’s quiet
+dignity, and the power to control with a firm, though a gentle word,
+had rather an animated discussion with the young lady.
+
+“You must not try to carry those apples in that way, Flossy. It is
+dangerous, and I cannot allow it,” she said rather warmly, when
+suggestions failed to dissuade Flossy from having her own way.
+
+“He has just _got_ to carry them that way, Mrs. Murray. It is all
+nonsense. The other ponies are carrying the bags, so why shouldn’t he?
+Uncle Frank said that he was thoroughly broken, and if he is, he will
+do what I wish him to do.”
+
+“But this is neither the time nor the place to make him, and I insist
+upon your putting that bag into my carriage at once. I am astonished
+that you presume to argue the point with some one older than yourself.
+Give me that bag at once. You are keeping the entire party waiting. Do
+you hear me?”
+
+Now Flossy’s disposition was one which had never encountered, and never
+could brook, downright opposition. Her mother had died when she was a
+tiny child, and her father had either indulged or neglected her, as
+the occasion prompted. Having been left to the care of the maids, and
+a long-suffering, rather weak governess, it was no wonder that at the
+age of fourteen Flossy Bennett had pretty strong ideas of her own, and
+carried them out whenever she could.
+
+“Excuse me, Mrs. Murray, but I think it is, and I shall carry the bag
+right here. Comanche may as well submit at once, and, as you see, he is
+behaving properly now;” and, with a defiant toss of her golden head,
+Miss Flossy braced herself in her side-saddle with an air of, “How do
+you intend to stop me if I choose to do it?”
+
+Meantime, the other members of the party were gathered about listening
+to the controversy with varying emotions. Mrs. Lombard had seen and
+heard it all, but had not, of course, taken any part in it. Now Mrs.
+Murray turned to her and said impatiently:
+
+“Emilie, will you come here and see if you can dissuade this
+headstrong child from taking her life in her hands, as she seems
+determined to do? I am out of all patience to think that she will
+insist upon having her own way about such a trifle when it is so liable
+to prove disastrous to her. I am surprised at you, Flossy.”
+
+Now if there was one person upon earth for whom Flossy entertained a
+warm regard, and whose good opinion she valued, it was Mrs. Lombard’s.
+Had fate ordained that she should have been placed under such a wise
+training as that lady would have exercised over her, a very different
+girl would have sat upon Comanche’s back than the one who sat there
+at that moment, and whose face was the very picture of perversity and
+defiance. Deep down in the girl’s heart was a strong desire to do as
+she felt sure Mrs. Lombard, as well as Mrs. Murray, wished to have her,
+and had the first word been spoken by the former, there would never
+have been a sign of discord. Now, however, the first misstep had been
+taken, and she felt that she would lose prestige if she drew back.
+
+Mrs. Lombard walked over to where the disputants were standing, and,
+laying her hand gently upon Flossy’s, which grasped her reins, said, in
+her sweet, gentle voice:
+
+“Will you not oblige Mrs. Murray by yielding this point to her wishes?
+I should be much gratified if you would do so, as it will spare us all
+much uneasiness.”
+
+“I should be sorry to cause any one uneasiness, Mrs. Lombard, and would
+hate to make you anxious, but there really isn’t the least danger.
+Uncle Frank said that I could do anything with Comanche, and all he
+needed was firmness. I shall ride slowly, and you know that I have
+ridden all my life.”
+
+Mrs. Lombard did not say another word, but looked steadily into the
+girl’s eyes for just one moment, with a look which she remembered for
+a long time after, and never ceased to wish she had heeded. Then,
+returning to Mrs. Murray’s carriage, she took her seat in it, saying
+to that lady:
+
+“I think that we would better start without more delay. It is growing
+late.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+DENISE TO THE RESCUE
+
+
+Down the rough mountain-road wound the party, Hart, as usual, well in
+the lead, for Pinto hated to travel behind the others, but this time
+Denise kept close by the carriage, and, for some reason best understood
+by herself, Flossy chose to remain beside her.
+
+The greater part of the journey had been accomplished without mishap,
+and, even though he had from time to time demonstrated his dislike
+of the bumping bag of apples by tossing his head from side to side,
+Comanche had behaved far better than the older members of the party had
+expected he would, and they were beginning to breathe freer. But, alas!
+it is never safe to feel too sanguine, for the “slip” comes when we
+least look for it.
+
+“Who’s for a race?” cried one of the boys, when the last plateau was
+reached, and a long stretch of smooth, inviting wood-road stretched out
+before them. They were barely two miles from home, and the horses knew
+that stables and oats were not far away.
+
+“We are! we are!” was quickly shouted from all sides, and, before a
+word of remonstrance could be spoken by the occupants of the carriage,
+away dashed the riders, hot upon the track of the leader. As the other
+ponies and horses sprang forward, Comanche gave a plunge which caused
+the bag of apples upon his withers to shift dangerously to one side,
+and nearly fall to the ground. Flossy quickly changed her reins to one
+hand and with her free one made a wild grasp to steady the bag, just as
+Mrs. Lombard cried in a tone very unlike that generally used by her:
+
+“Flossy, stop! That bag must be put into the surrey!”
+
+Too late. Comanche was off like the wind, the bag pounding and banging
+upon his sides, and his young rider tugging with all her might to
+hold him in. The other boys and girls were not aware of the serious
+situation just behind them, and the cry of alarm which rose from the
+carriage as the pony sped forward was entirely drowned in the shouts of
+laughter and the challenges called from one to another of the racers.
+
+Denise gave one terrified look at her mother, and then there settled
+upon her face the look which showed her Lombard determination once she
+recognized the necessity for prompt and decisive action.
+
+Comanche was larger by at least two hands than Ned, but nothing like
+so sure-footed, for Ned had come straight from the mountains of Wales,
+where for generations his ancestors had scrambled over the wild
+mountain-passes and kept their footing like goats. Comanche had spent
+his entire life upon the grassy plains, and until within the past three
+months had never seen a mountain, much less scrambled over one.
+
+What Denise meant to do she could not have told, but she felt that
+she must keep beside that fleeing pony as long as Ned Toodles could
+run. For a pony of his size, Ned was wonderfully fleet of foot, and
+their perfect mutual understanding made many things possible for them
+which would have been quite impossible for an animal and rider less in
+sympathy.
+
+“Go!” said Denise in a low, tense voice, and “go” Ned did, bounding
+along the mountain-road like a roebuck, and keeping neck and neck with
+the wild little gray, which seemed to have lost his senses altogether.
+
+As they drew near the end of the level road the other riders began
+to check their horses, and prepare for the last short but very steep
+descent, leading into the town. But, even though Flossy tugged with the
+strength of desperation upon his reins, she failed to lessen the speed
+with which he was nearing that dangerous hit of road. Had she held the
+curb rein her chances would have been greater, but she had let it fall
+when she steadied her apples, and had not been able to regain it. Ned
+instinctively slackened his pace as he drew near the down grade, but
+Flossy’s pony was less wise, and tore ahead.
+
+“Oh, Ned, Ned!” cried Denise, as she bent over the shaggy neck, and
+poured her fears into the ears which seemed to have almost human
+understanding, “he will kill her! he will kill her! Please, please,
+let me catch him!” and as though he realized the peril, Ned gathered
+himself together for a mighty effort. By this time the others had
+awakened to the situation, and some were urging their horses forward,
+some were stopping stock-still in dismay, and others calling orders
+which fell upon unheeding ears, while those in the carriage were
+hastening after the runaway as rapidly as a well-laden carriage could
+travel over such a road. Mrs. Murray was shrieking aloud, but Mrs.
+Lombard, white to the very lips, sat rigid and with hands clasped as
+though asking the only aid which could help her in such a crisis. She
+had not called to Denise, for she understood all too well the resolute
+spirit which was urging the girl forward, and could not censure her for
+the very act which she herself would have been the first to perform.
+
+The brink was reached, and down it tore Comanche, with Ned sweeping
+behind him, bent upon bringing that lunatic horse to his senses if one
+well-conducted beast could compass it. Once upon the down grade the
+plains-bred pony began to flounder and swerve from one side of the road
+to the other, and that gave Ned his chance. Clatter, clatter! Click,
+click! went the flying hoofs, and with Ned’s next bound Denise reached
+forward and caught the dangling curb rein. How that bag of apples had
+remained upon the saddle until that moment was a mystery to all who
+saw its wild bumps and bounds, and had it only fallen off sooner it
+would have been far better for all concerned. But stick it did until
+Denise caught the rein, and then, with a jerk given to Comanche, down
+it fell, straight beneath his feet, to nearly throw him down, and cause
+the saddle to shift dangerously to his left side. Wild before, he was
+simply frantic now, and began to plunge and rear, Denise guiding Ned
+with one hand and jerking upon Comanche’s curb for dear life with
+the other. Ned never swerved, but seemed to understand that he had a
+duty to perform, and did it nobly. But neither Ned nor his mistress
+were equal to the terrified mustang, and, with one wild plunge, up he
+reared, swerved sidewise, sending his rider out of her saddle, and
+jerking the reins from Denise’s hand, to go tearing down the mountain
+at a rate which threatened instant destruction.
+
+At his last plunge a piercing cry came from Flossy’s lips, and she lay
+helpless in the ditch at the roadside, for Comanche’s flying hoofs had
+struck one final and crushing blow as he rushed off, shattering the arm
+which had been vainly striving to control him.
+
+Ned’s impetus made it impossible for him to come to a sudden
+standstill, and before Denise could stop entirely she had gotten nearly
+twenty yards beyond Flossy. Meanwhile, the rest of the party had
+hurried to her, and were doing all within their power for the suffering
+girl. But the moment had come when the mother in Mrs. Lombard cried out
+for her own, and as Denise came rushing back, a pair of outstretched
+arms awaited her and a tense voice cried: “My darling! Thank God you
+are unharmed, my brave little daughter!” as Denise dropped her reins
+and almost fell into the beloved arms awaiting her, for the tension was
+removed and she began to realize the situation as she had not been able
+to realize it earlier. “Oh, mamma, mamma! Is she killed?”
+
+Flossy was not killed, but was suffering keenly, and it would be many
+days before she recovered from that wilful ride. Willing hands helped
+to remove the baskets from the carriage, and make it ready for her,
+and a very subdued party of boys and girls made their way down the
+mountain. Comanche had rushed home as fast as he could go, and, when
+he arrived there, his saddle, or what was left of it, was dangling
+beneath his stomach. Mrs. Murray was too unnerved to do anything but go
+straight to her home, but Mrs. Lombard remained in the carriage to take
+Flossy to hers. Some of the party had already gone on ahead to secure a
+physician, and by the time he arrived at Mr. Bennett’s home poor Flossy
+had been placed in bed, and all was in readiness for the trying ordeal
+of setting the fractured arm. Feeling that Denise had experienced
+enough of a strain already, Mrs. Lombard had left her at their own
+home, where grandma came promptly forward with soothing words, and
+comforting ministrations, while John gave Ned the best rub-down and
+feed a small horse could wish for, to say nothing of praise enough to
+have turned his head had it not been a very “level” one indeed.
+
+Two hours later Flossy was lying weak and wretched upon her bed, and
+Mrs. Lombard was giving directions to the distraught governess before
+taking her departure for home and the rest of which she was sorely
+in need herself, for she had stayed to give all possible assistance,
+and, with two inexperienced maids, and a governess but little better
+qualified to meet an emergency, she had found her hands full. The
+girl had borne her suffering bravely, but had scarcely spoken a word
+to any one. After a few final words, Mrs. Lombard, with the governess
+following closely upon her heels, came to say good-by, and, taking
+Flossy’s hand, bent over to kiss her.
+
+“Send her out of the room. I want to speak to _you_,” were the words
+which came faintly from the girl’s white lips.
+
+“Oh, I must not leave you! I will do anything you wish!” was the none
+too wise answer made by the governess.
+
+“Please go and leave us together for a few moments,” said Mrs. Lombard,
+quick to understand that she could be helpful in a way which the
+governess never suspected, but ought to have fully understood if she
+would fill such a position as the one she held.
+
+“What can I do for you, dear?” she said very gently, as she sat upon
+the bedside, and smoothed back the tousled golden hair with a touch
+which was wonderfully soothing and quieting.
+
+Flossy reached up and rested her own hand upon the one upon her
+forehead, and looked into Mrs. Lombard’s eyes with the hungry, yearning
+look sometimes seen in a young girl’s eyes when the strongest of all
+ties--mother love--is wanting. Mrs. Lombard smiled encouragingly at her
+and waited.
+
+“Denise might have been killed,” Flossy whispered.
+
+“Let us thank the dear Father that you both escaped,” replied Mrs.
+Lombard gently.
+
+“But how can you forgive me?” continued the whisper.
+
+“Because you have no mother to help you exercise the one thing we all
+need to exercise at times--self-control. We have both had a trying
+experience to-day, and one we shall not soon forget. Let us strive to
+profit by it, dear. I know how hard it must be for you at times, but
+you can conquer the desire to carry your point if you will only believe
+it.”
+
+“I can’t; I just can’t, and I never shall because I am rubbed the wrong
+way all the time. I hate it, and almost wish Comanche had killed me and
+ended it all outright.”
+
+Mrs. Lombard laid her finger ever so gently upon the lips which were
+forming the bitter words, and said:
+
+“Don’t try to talk any more to-night. You are sorely unnerved.
+To-morrow you will feel differently, and then we will have what Denise
+calls one of our ‘comforting talks,’ and the world will look less
+dismal, I know.”
+
+“If I could have some one to talk to as she does I wouldn’t be so
+hateful. Somehow, I seem to need setting straight about a dozen times a
+day, and there is no one to set me.”
+
+“Will you let me try?” asked Mrs. Lombard very tenderly.
+
+“If you only would, oh! if you _only_ would,” wailed such a despairing
+voice that Mrs. Lombard’s heart ached to hear such a tone from one
+only a little older than her own sunny daughter, whose life was so
+well ordered from one day’s end to the next that very little “setting
+straight” was ever needed.
+
+“Then I shall have to call you my adopted daughter, and shall expect
+you to come to me with all the little vexations which come to young
+people at times, and which older people were made to smooth out. Do you
+think that you can do this, dear, and let me feel that I am helping
+another girl just as I would wish to have Denise helped if I had
+slipped from her life when she was a little child? Try, Sweetheart,
+and meantime we will see how we can make less trying the weeks which
+must bring some suffering and some weary hours to you. I will come
+to see you in the morning, and Denise will come also, if you would
+like to have her. I hope your night may not be a very trying one, but
+know that you will do your best to bear the pain bravely. Good-night,
+adopted daughter mine,” and, with a final motherly caress, Mrs. Lombard
+took her departure, leaving behind her the beginning of a far happier
+condition of things in that misdirected home, and the developing of a
+character which only needed the union of wisdom and affection to make
+it a very lovely thing indeed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+A COASTING EPISODE
+
+
+Winter had come in earnest. November was drawing to a close, and
+leaving behind convincing evidence that it had claimed the right to be
+classed as a winter, rather than as a fall, month, for snow lay thick
+upon the ground, and coasting and sleighing made life gay for the young
+people of Springdale. Directly lessons were ended for the day, a merry
+party of girls and boys gathered upon the hill leading down from the
+chapel, and thick and fast sped the sleds down the steep descent. Given
+to original performances, it was no wonder that even coasting held a
+novel feature as indulged in by Denise, or that Ned Toodles had to
+share the fun in some way. Outsiders might have been of the opinion
+that there was but little fun in his share of it, but to judge from
+the manner in which he took part in it, there was far more than they
+suspected. Accustomed to following Denise as a dog would have followed
+her, he had trotted along one day when she started off with her sled
+for a spin, and had watched her with those wise eyes of his as she
+settled herself upon the sled and went whizzing down the hill. Then,
+with one grand, hilarious kick-up, off he pelted after her, and reached
+the bottom of the hill very nearly as soon as the sled reached it. That
+he felt immensely proud of his achievement was evinced by the sort of
+hurrah he cut up as she got up from the sled and started up the hill
+for another coast, for he pranced and curveted and was as gay and giddy
+as possible. Then, apparently grasping the situation, he trotted along
+beside Denise until he reached the top, and the whole performance was
+repeated. There were several other children coasting at the time, and
+Hart among them.
+
+“Oh, say! What’s the matter with making him draw you up if he is so
+anxious to be in the fun?” he shouted, and thus it came about. The
+little Dutch collar and an old bridle were promptly brought from the
+Birds’ Nest, and, in far less time than it has taken to tell you about
+it, a whiffletree was rigged up, and fastened to the front of the sled
+and Ned harnessed to it. Then away he went up the hill dragging his
+little mistress to the top as easily as winking, and sometimes another
+sled “cutting” behind hers. After one or two trips he understood
+exactly what was expected of him, and the moment Denise’s sled started
+down the hill he was off after it like a shot. Reins and traces were
+carefully fastened so that he could not trip over them, and he usually
+managed to bring up at the foot of the hill very nearly as soon as
+Denise. That he was often borrowed by some of the other children need
+hardly be added.
+
+The coasting was at its very best when one morning on his way to school
+Hart stopped to give the signal whistle, which promptly brought Denise
+upon the piazza.
+
+“Are you coming out on the hill this afternoon?” he asked.
+
+“You would better believe I am! This is the finest day we have had yet.
+I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” Denise replied.
+
+“Well, you’ll see a show if you do. Charlie and Archie are coming out
+on the two o’clock train, and they are going to bring Lionel Algenon
+Montgomery with them, ha! ha! I say, that fellow is a piece of work,
+and if we don’t have a regular circus before this day is over then my
+name isn’t Hart Murray. Of all the Miss Nancys you ever saw he is just
+the greatest, and I dare say he will pad himself all up with cotton
+wool before he risks his precious bones upon anything so dangerous as
+a sled. Just wait until you see him, that’s all,” and Hart laughed as
+though the very thought of Lionel Algenon was enough to stir up any
+right-minded boy.
+
+“Who is he, any way?” asked Denise, her eyes already twinkling.
+
+“The greatest chump you ever heard tell of. He lives next door to
+Archie and Charlie, and is his mamma’s precious only son. How she ever
+made up her mind to let him come out here with my cousins I’m sure I
+don’t know, for he never stirs ten steps without either her or his
+tutor. Maybe she thinks that he is coming among such models that no
+harm can come to him. We’ll see,” and, with a farewell wave of his
+school-bag, Hart went tearing across the lawn.
+
+When two o’clock came, Hart and his guests came with it. All extra
+sleds to be obtained by either borrowing or begging had been pressed
+into service, and yet the supply was one short, but turn about was fair
+play, and so no great harm threatened.
+
+“Hullo, Denise!” called out the boys, for they had often visited Hart
+before, and looked upon her as one of themselves. “This is our friend,
+Lionel Montgomery. Denise Lombard, Lionel,” was the boyish, off-hand
+introduction.
+
+Now Lionel Algenon Montgomery had been taught that it was highly
+reprehensible to address a strange young lady by her Christian name,
+even though she were but twelve years of age and he fourteen, so,
+making his very best dancing-school bow, he lisped politely:
+
+“Charmed to meet you, Miss Lombard,” and then stood waiting for that
+young lady to take up the conversation. But Denise was far from being
+the society young lady he imagined, and nearly laughed in his face as
+she said:
+
+“I am afraid that I shall have to wait a few years before I can be
+called Miss Lombard, and meantime I’ll be just Denise, if you don’t
+mind. I guess we can have lots more fun coasting and snowballing if we
+don’t have to think that we may bang off Mr. Murray’s cap, or upset
+Miss Lombard in the snow.”
+
+“Oh, I shall be charmed if you will allow me,” was the stilted,
+unnatural reply.
+
+“I am afraid I shouldn’t know who you were talking to if you didn’t,”
+was the laughing answer. “But let’s begin our coasting before this
+lovely day is all gone,” and off she started for the “Birds’ Nest,”
+the boys tearing after her. At least, three of them “tore;” the fourth
+one paced along behind them as though he were promenading down Fifth
+Avenue. Presently Ned was brought from his stall, the bridle and collar
+put upon him, and off they started.
+
+Now, Chapel hill had one peculiarity, and that peculiarity needed to
+be studied. In the first place, it was a steep hill, and at the foot
+of it ran a road at right angles to the descent. During the summer the
+hill was covered with a luxuriant growth of clover, from which Mr.
+Lombard harvested a fine supply of hay for his horses. Where the fields
+bordered the road, a steep terrace, fully five feet high, made it
+impossible for a hay-wagon to enter it, but, to overcome that obstacle,
+the men had dug the terrace away in one place and made a gradual
+incline about ten feet wide, through which they could drive in and out
+without taking a flying leap into the roadway with their load. It was
+through this incline that the coasters guided their sleds, whizzing
+through it and out upon the smooth road, to make a sharp turn and go
+bounding on to the very edge of Mr. Lombard’s grounds, where they had
+thrown up a great pile of snow for a bumper.
+
+“Clear the track!” shouted Hart, flinging himself upon his sled, to go
+spinning down the hill, through the hay-wagon’s entranceway, and on
+pell-mell to the bottom, the other boys hard after him, leaving Lionel
+to do the gallant for Denise if she felt disposed to accept it.
+
+“Here, take my sled and have a spin,” she said. “The boys will be back
+in a minute, and I can have one of theirs.”
+
+“Oh, no! I couldn’t think of depriving you. Besides, I don’t know that
+I shall coast. It seems so dangerous.”
+
+“Mercy, me! No, it isn’t. You couldn’t get hurt if you wanted to. All
+you have got to do is steer straight down where we have gone, and you
+will come out all right. Go on! It’s great fun, and Ned will pull you
+up,” and she held her sled-rope toward him.
+
+“I will watch you go first. I am not accustomed to very violent
+exercise. Mamma does not approve of it.”
+
+“I guess she wouldn’t call coasting such violent exercise,” said
+Denise, as she settled herself upon the sled, gave the necessary hitch
+forward, and spun off over the icy hill, whistling for Ned to follow.
+
+By this time the boys were coming up, and became conscious of their own
+shortcomings.
+
+“Say, fellows, we need to be thumped,” cried Charlie, in contrition.
+“Look at Lionel standing up there. He hasn’t got so much as a shingle
+to coast down on.”
+
+“Bet five cents he won’t coast anyway. If he did he would want to roll
+himself up in a bearskin to keep warm,” was Archie’s comment.
+
+“I’m the one who ought to be thrashed. Wonder what sort of a host
+mother would say I am. Say, Lionel, we’ll be up in a minute, and then
+you can have a go! Awful sorry I didn’t think of my manners sooner.
+There you are,” and Hart brought his sled up with a flourish.
+
+“Thanks, awfully, but I don’t think that I care to go down. I’ll just
+watch you fellows. It’s pretty steep, don’t you know.”
+
+“Why, it’s the finest you ever saw! Not a bit steep. Just try it, and
+see if it isn’t just O. K. Take any sled you like, but mine’s a hummer.”
+
+“It is a very low one, don’t you think so?” asked Lionel, eying askance
+the rakish little sled built for speed and endurance, as a boy’s sled
+has need to be.
+
+“Why you can’t do a thing with them if they are high!” was the rather
+derisive comment.
+
+“Denise seems to manage hers very well,” replied Lionel, as Denise came
+up, Ned supplying the motive power.
+
+“Oh, she coasts girl fashion, of course. No fun in _that_! Got to go a
+whopper if you want to have fun,” cried Archie.
+
+“Seems to me I would prefer sitting up straight. Really, I should not
+like to have my head get there _first_,” was the remark which caused
+Charlie to cry:
+
+“You want to ‘get in with both feet,’ do you?”
+
+“Well, it would not hurt so much if one met with an accident, don’t you
+know,” was the reply, given in all seriousness.
+
+“Will you go down on my sled?” asked Denise.
+
+“Why, I hate to deprive you of it, but, really,--well, I think that,
+perhaps, I could manage that one better than the others, if you will
+let me take it.”
+
+“Of course you may take it, and Ned will be at the bottom of the hill
+nearly as quick as you are,” cried Denise.
+
+“Really? Will he follow me as he follows you? What a remarkable pony,”
+said Lionel, reaching toward Ned to stroke him, whereat Ned gave a
+comical bounce and evaded him.
+
+“Well, let’s do something beside standing here and freezing,” added
+Ned’s mistress, for she was accustomed to going up and down in hot
+pursuit of the other sleds, and found this polite parleying rather cold
+work.
+
+With many adjustings and false starts, questions as to whether it would
+not be wiser to keep to one side of the well-beaten slide, lest he
+lose control of the sled where the descent was so glassy, and if he
+should put down his left or his right heel if he wished to go to the
+right, Lionel Algenon, at last, got started amidst a hurrah of shouts
+at the send-off. It may have been the hurrah, and it may have been the
+sight of the long stretch of gleaming snow which spread before him like
+ground glass, or it may have been wicked Ned Toodles careering along
+just behind him, that caused him to become disconcerted long before the
+bottom of the hill was reached. Whatever it was, the climax came very
+speedily.
+
+“Keep in the track! Oh, keep in the track!” shouted those following
+close behind him. “You’ll jump the terrace if you steer way over to
+that side. Go through the opening where we went! You’ll smash the sled
+to bits if you go over the bank!”
+
+But their warnings fell upon deaf ears. Lionel felt that sled spinning
+along beneath him at a rate which struck terror to his very soul, and
+turned instinctively into the softer snow at the side of the beaten
+path. But that snow was treacherous, for it was merely a light coating
+of new-fallen snow upon a hard crust underneath, and his speed was
+hardly a particle lessened. On sped the sled with a perfect shower
+of fine, dry snow plowing up in front of it, and nearly blinding the
+bewildered boy. Through the opening whizzed the other two boys,
+landing in the road safe and right side up just in time to see Denise’s
+sled, with Lionel clinging to it with both hands, come bounding over
+the terrace with one wild, flying leap, and land in front of them.
+Whatever saved them from piling on top of it was a miracle. Then came
+the end, and when they finally got their sleds stopped, and made their
+way back to the spot, there sat Lionel, still clinging to the side
+bars, the sled beneath him, which was flattened out as though it had
+been put beneath a letterpress.
+
+“I really think that I prefer not coasting any more,” he remarked, as
+they assisted him to his feet.
+
+“Well, until Denise gets another sled I don’t believe you will. What
+the dickens made you do such a fool thing as try to jump that terrace,
+anyway?” demanded Archie, with some spirit, for he was growing just a
+trifle tired of “taking care of a sissy,” as he dubbed Lionel, and his
+own day was being spoiled by this boy’s affectations.
+
+“I did not see the terrace, and the other path was very slippery.”
+
+“You don’t expect to coast on _sandpaper_, do you?” demanded Charlie.
+
+“Well, I think it would be nicer to coast on _level_ ground. Then there
+would be no real danger.”
+
+“Oh, go get an automobile,” was the natural, boyish retort.
+
+“Yes, really, I think that I shall ask mamma to get me one. One can
+keep so comfortable, don’t you know.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+ANOTHER CHRISTMAS DAY DRAWS NEAR
+
+
+Once November passes, Christmas seems very near at hand, and, before
+we know it, the day dearest to all young people, with its plans, its
+secrets, and its surprises, is with us. But before that day arrived, a
+great sorrow came to Denise, and she felt that not even Christmas joys
+could entirely dispel her sadness.
+
+Since early winter Tan had been ailing, and as the weather grew colder
+and colder, the rheumatism which had caused him so much suffering the
+previous winter, and which the veterinary had said he feared he could
+not survive if it attacked him again, made life almost a burden for the
+dear old pet, and sometimes, when she saw how wretched he was, Denise
+almost wished that his suffering might be ended forever. But then came
+the thought of never seeing him again, and his long years of devotion
+to her; for eight years seem a very great number when one is young. And
+it really was a great number in Denise’s life; it was two-thirds of all
+she, herself, had lived.
+
+Tan still had his warm stall in the Birds’ Nest, and John cared for him
+very tenderly, but it was Denise alone who could soothe him and comfort
+him when the poor bones ached past endurance. Seated upon some fresh
+straw in his stall, she would hold the poor weary old head in her lap,
+rubbing and “pooring” it, and rambling on in the crooning voice she had
+always used when holding her little love-talks with her pets, and which
+they all understood and responded to, each in his own particular manner.
+
+December opened with a wild, driving snow, the sort that soon buries
+everything from sight, and creeps into every crevice. A high wind sent
+the snow scurrying before it, and the cold penetrated the very marrow
+of one’s bones.
+
+“I think I’ll stop in the Birds’ Nest the night, sir. The poor old
+goat can’t hold out through it, I’m afraid, and it sort of goes agin
+the grain of me fer me to lave him to give up the fight all by himself
+afther the years I’ve tuck care of him,” said John to Mr. Lombard, when
+he brought him home from the station that night.
+
+“Is it really so? Poor old Tan! If he is only a goat, he has certainly
+been a faithful creature, and I’ve known many a human being give less
+proof of affection and appreciation of kindness than he has given,”
+replied Mr. Lombard.
+
+“’Tis right ye are, sir, and the way he do be looking for Miss Denise
+and a listenin’ for her voice would clean break the heart of ye. Faith,
+he can hear her no matter where she is, I belave, and give his queer
+blaat av an answer. And the eyes av him whin she comes into the Nest
+are just fair human.”
+
+“I’ll go right out to the Nest with you,” replied Mr. Lombard, and John
+drove on through the grounds.
+
+A dim light was burning, shedding its rays upon the occupants of the
+tiny stalls, and the kittens curled up in their box in the corner
+of the stable. In the larger stall, well blanketed in his gay plaid
+blanket, stood Ned Toodles, peeping through the little slot in the
+door. The other stall did not have a door, and in it, lying upon a
+thick bed of fresh, clean straw, and swathed almost from head to foot
+in flannel bandages, lay Tan, no longer able to get upon his feet.
+As Mr. Lombard stooped down to stroke him he gave his usual friendly
+blaat, although not in the same vigorous tone.
+
+“Poor old pet,” said Mr. Lombard, “is the story of your devoted life
+almost told? Your little mistress will grieve long and sorely for you,
+I fear. No, he cannot last much longer, John, and, perhaps, we should
+be thankful, for he suffers cruelly. I’ll leave him to your care, for
+he could not be in better hands.”
+
+“Sure, he is Miss Denise’s, and that’s all that anny wan nade know,”
+answered John.
+
+Dawn was just breaking when John came up to the house to ask for Miss
+Denise. The good fellow had spent the entire night ministering to the
+pet he had cared for for eight years, and, as the night waned, the
+tender-hearted fellow felt that he could not see him suffer as he was
+without at least trying to do something more for his comfort. Nothing
+had soothed him as Denise’s stroking, and John felt that since it could
+only be for a few hours at most he would call the little mistress.
+
+It was not yet seven o’clock, but Denise and her father hurried into
+their clothing and hastened to the Nest.
+
+“Poor, dear old Tanny-boy,” called Denise, as she went toward the
+stall, and a weak, quavering blaat answered her as Tan strove to raise
+his head. But the head had been raised for the last time. Without a
+word, but with brimming eyes, Denise sat down upon the straw and lifted
+the weary head into her lap, crooning over it in the old, familiar way.
+For hours during that long night John had striven in vain to quiet
+Tan’s piteous moans by bathing him with hot lotions, but all to no
+purpose. But who shall say that love may not compass what skill cannot?
+No sooner did Tan feel that beloved little mistress’s gentle strokes
+than the moans ceased, and the sigh almost of a tired child testified
+that so far as human comfort could minister to him and bring relief, he
+had found it. The snow had ceased falling in the night, and when the
+sun arose it shone upon a gleaming white world--a world which seemed
+too beautiful to hold any sorrow. Breakfast-hour came and passed, but
+Denise did not give it a thought, and neither Mr. nor Mrs. Lombard
+would disturb her. Mr. Lombard deferred his departure for town, and
+waited for Denise to end her watch, which he felt sure must end very
+soon. It was not long past nine o’clock when Tan gave a sudden start,
+looked up into Denise’s face with the look of loving devotion she had
+known so long, gave one of the old familiar blaats, and dropped his
+head upon her lap again, to give one long, weary sigh, and close the
+great topaz eyes forever.
+
+“I just can’t believe it is so,” said Denise an hour later, when her
+sobs were subsiding and she was nestling in the arms which never failed
+her in any sorrow. “I have had him so long that it seems as though I
+couldn’t get on without seeing him every day. What will be done with
+him, mamma?”
+
+“Will you leave that entirely to papa and me, darling?” asked Mrs.
+Lombard, as she stroked back the rumpled locks from the hot forehead.
+
+“Yes; I don’t want to even see him again, for unless I could see him
+standing as he used to be, and his great eyes looking right at me, I
+just couldn’t stand it, mamma.”
+
+“Well, try not to think about it any more just now, dear, but have Ned
+put to the cutter and take me for a drive to the village. I wish to do
+some errands, and the roads are pretty well broken now. It will do us
+both good,” and so it happened that all that was left of Tan had passed
+from sight before Denise and her mother came home, both the happier for
+the drive in the crisp, keen air.
+
+Denise’s holiday began the week before Christmas, for Miss Meredith
+lived a long way from Springdale, and three days were required to
+make her journey home. Then came trips to the city, and one of them
+resulted in a funny enough addition to the family of pets, for, while
+passing through one of the streets in the lower part of the city with
+her father and mother, a forlorn, wretched dog, a tin saucepan tied to
+its tail, frightened nearly to death, and hotly pursued by a mob of
+howling, yelling boys, came tearing toward them. Denise was walking a
+few steps in advance of her father and mother, and, before she could
+gather herself together to resist the onslaught, the dog, as though
+he had instinctively recognized in her a protector of his kind and all
+helpless creatures, had sprung straight at her, knocking her flat upon
+the sidewalk. With never a thought for self, she instantly clasped her
+arms around the dirty, miserable beast, and clung to him for dear life
+and justice. Her father and mother had sprung toward her, as had one or
+two passers-by, each one feeling sure that they would find the dog’s
+teeth firmly buried in some part of her.
+
+But that dog had been wise in his choice of a protector, and was also
+wise enough not to abuse his good fortune.
+
+Now the sight of a handsomely dressed twelve-year-old girl sitting in
+the middle of the sidewalk and holding in her arms a dirty, forlorn dog
+with a tin pan securely fastened to the end of his tail, and trembling
+with fright, is certainly not a common one, and in just one brief
+little minute about one hundred people of all sorts and conditions, to
+say nothing of the boys who had been in hot chase after the dog, and a
+big policeman, who felt that he had, at least, the right to make a few
+polite inquiries, were surrounding her.
+
+“Denise, my darling!” was all Mrs. Lombard could exclaim, while Mr.
+Lombard endeavored to get the young lady and her dog upon their own
+legs. Close at hand was a large wholesale store, where fruits and
+vegetables of all sorts and kinds were piled in crates and barrels, and
+just behind some bouncing pumpkins loomed a fat, ruddy face, so like
+them that it might have been mistaken for one of them.
+
+This animated pumpkin had been standing in the door of the store, and
+had witnessed the whole scene, and, just as Mr. Lombard got Denise
+right side up, and the big policeman was shooing off the crowd, he
+waddled out of his store and, beckoning with one fat, pudgy hand,
+said:--
+
+“Yow prings dat yung lady und dat dog straightavay into mine store.
+She vas one fine trump already. Dat dog, he find himself in one great
+big luck, if he himself know. You git soom mud? Chust so. I take it
+you all off, and you pretty soon don’t know you got some bimeby.” As
+he talked, he took hold of Denise’s arm and led her into the store,
+Mr. and Mrs. Lombard being only too glad to follow and get away from
+the all-too-curious crowd. Into the store they hurried, and it was not
+until Denise was put into some sort of shape, and made fit to appear
+in public once more that they all realized that they had become the
+owners, willy-nilly, of about as forlorn a specimen of a dog as any one
+could have thrust upon them. Then arose the question of what in this
+world to do with him, and it _was_ a poser.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+CHRISTMAS FOR ALL THE PETS
+
+
+“Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!” was the cry which sounded from one
+end of the house to the other when Christmas morning dawned, bright and
+beautiful, as we always love to picture it, upon Denise’s home. Denise
+was wide awake long before there was any dawn at all, and scurrying
+about the house to get the others awake.
+
+As usual, Pokey was upon the scene, for Christmas day would hardly have
+seemed Christmas day without her. Ever since they were tiny children
+she and Denise had passed it together. Christmas eve had been filled
+with its usual merrymaking and secrets, and the constant ringing of
+the door-bell and delivering of packages by the belated expressmen
+had kept things wildly exciting. Among the last things delivered was a
+huge box, standing fully as high as Denise’s head, and so broad that
+it required the two men upon the wagon and John to carry it into the
+Birds’ Nest.
+
+“What can it be? Where did it come from? Who do you suppose sent it?”
+were the questions which greeted it.
+
+“St. Nick, of course,” said Mr. Lombard, laughing. “Who else sends
+mysterious boxes and bundles at this season of the year?”
+
+“It says New York on the cover, if that _is_ the cover,” said Pokey, as
+she walked around and around it, and touched it as though that might
+reveal the secret of what it contained.
+
+“Did you have that Christmas fun out in the Birds’ Nest because you
+knew that this big box was coming, papa?” asked Denise, with a twinkle
+in her eyes.
+
+“Who said that I knew it was coming, Miss Paulina Pry?”
+
+“He didn’t take that bait worth a straw, did he?” asked Denise,
+laughing, as she turned to Pokey.
+
+“Did you think that your old daddy was to be taken in so easily? I
+guess not,” and Mr. Lombard wagged a finger at her.
+
+The entire family had gathered in the Birds’ Nest on Christmas eve, and
+had decked the little house from end to end with greens. In one corner
+stood the tree laden with all manner of shining trifles to catch and
+reflect the light, while beneath it lay the almost endless number of
+parcels which had come from all directions. During the dressing of the
+tree, Ned Toodles, the dogs, and the cats, had roamed about at will,
+and more than once, in the midst of the gayety, Denise had peeped
+through the door leading into the little stable to look with saddened
+eyes at Tan’s empty stall, for Tan would have been in the midst of the
+merrymaking. When all had been arranged for the grand distribution
+next day, the big box was placed in the very middle of the little
+dining-room, thereby very nearly filling it up, and sending curiosity
+up to fever heat. So it was no wonder that Denise and Pokey were astir
+at an early hour, and leaving no stone unturned to get the other
+members of the family astir, too.
+
+The Birds’ Nest was not to be visited until after breakfast, for the
+maids and John were to be present when the gifts were distributed, and
+that meant more bottled up patience.
+
+But at last even domestic affairs came to an end, and the signal to
+start for the Nest was given, and pell-mell rushed the girls, with the
+older members of the family not very far behind.
+
+A brighter, prettier, more novel Christmas setting it would have been
+hard to picture, for John had been early astir, and all about the
+little playhouse everything was in spandy order for the reception of
+its young mistress and her friends, while within, the tall Christmas
+tree, and bright-green decorations, with the gleaming red berries
+of the holly, and pearly white ones of the mistletoe, proclaimed it
+Christmas day beyond all question. Nor was this all. There stood the
+pets, Ned, Sailor, Beauty Buttons, and “Charity Jack,” as the dog
+rescued in New York had been named. For Denise had begged so hard to
+have him sent to Springdale, “where,” she urged, “he could have such
+good care, and never again be in danger of being so misused, and where
+she, herself, could train him properly,” that consent had finally been
+given, and now, marvel of marvels that he knew himself at all, there he
+stood with the other respectable members of dog society. A “bra’ brass
+collar” was upon his neck, although, strictly speaking, it was not
+brass at all, but leather, with a nickel plate with “Charity Jack” and
+Denise’s name upon it, to say nothing of a small bell, for, even though
+filled to repletion with the best food that dog ever had, poor Charity
+Jack could never overcome his early habits, and would go straying
+off from a dinner such as he could never have dreamed of, even when
+imminent starvation quickened his dreams, to forage in every can and
+barrel for miles around, and return home triumphant with a bone which
+made his friends flee from his presence, until he had carefully buried
+it for future emergencies.
+
+The cats, too, were there, and each pet had a sprig of holly tied
+upon his collar or fastened on the gay ribbon about his neck. Whether
+they were fully alive to their honors was somewhat of a question, for
+now and again a holly prickle would prod them a trifle, and produce a
+demonstration of some sort or another, according to the animal which
+wore it.
+
+But what did Denise’s startled eyes behold? Had dear old Tan come to
+life again? Surely that beautiful creature standing in the midst of
+the other pets, although grown strangely tall, and so gayly decked
+with holly, must be Tan. The head was held in the same attitude he
+had always held it when listening for Denise’s voice, the ears were
+pricked forward as he had always turned them when listening for her
+footsteps, the splendid horns gleamed as they had always gleamed when
+John varnished them, and, most wonderful of all, the beautiful topaz
+eyes looked at her just as Tan had always looked. John had posed him
+well, and the taxidermist’s art had not omitted a single detail of
+those supplied by the fine photograph Mr. Lombard had shown him of Tan
+as the goat had looked in life; for the pets, with Tan among them,
+had been photographed again and again, in all possible, and sometimes
+almost impossible, attitudes.
+
+At Denise’s entrance the pets had greeted her in their usual manner,
+Ned neighing, the dogs barking, and the cats mewing, but for once
+their greetings were almost ignored, as Denise, with a cry of--“Oh,
+Tanny-boy! Tanny-boy! have you really come back?” rushed toward the
+great creature standing there upon his wheeled platform in such a
+lifelike attitude that it was hard to realize that it was not the true
+Tan once more among the mates of whom he was so fond.
+
+Denise forgot all else as she clasped her arms about the figure beside
+her, and if anything could have assuaged her grief at Tan’s loss,
+this came nearest doing so. After many questions had been answered,
+and the other pets had come in for their share of petting from all
+present, for they had no notion of being slighted, the distribution
+of the gifts took place, and fun ran riot. Last of all came the gifts
+for the pets--a funny enough collection. Ned had a box of chocolate
+cream drops, his favorite delicacy, with which he would have promptly
+made himself ill had he been permitted to do so; Sailor a huge Bologna
+sausage tied up with a scarlet ribbon, and when it was handed to him,
+he took it and paraded thither and yonder with the sausage sticking out
+one side of his mouth and the red bow waving at the other. Beauty’s
+present was a monstrous chocolate rat, from which he bit and bolted the
+head the very instant it was given to him, and was severely reproved
+for his greediness. Then, realizing the error of his ways, he followed
+Sailor about, the rat in his mouth, and the tail, the longest rat
+ever boasted, dragging upon the floor. Charity Jack made a wild grab
+for the huge bone offered him, and fled with it to some well-known
+hiding-place. Hero, the cat, had a dainty piece of fried liver neatly
+done up in paraffine paper, and created considerable diversion in her
+efforts to remove the paper, while Leander caused no little amusement
+by striving to remove the paper from his package of catnip, and at the
+same time roll upon it.
+
+And so we will leave them, these happy, well-cared-for pets, only
+stopping long enough to take a peep at the birds up in Denise’s
+bedroom, which were enjoying their Christmas gifts of celery and hemp
+seeds, and the bunnies reveling in a feast of parsley and carrots.
+
+Some day you will, perhaps, wish to learn more of their pranks, but
+now, since the story ends at the blessed Christmas season, I must wish
+you all a Merry Christmas, and let you bid farewell to this second
+story of Denise and her pets.
+
+
+[THE END]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber’s note
+
+Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice. Hyphenation
+has been standardized.
+
+Spelling was retained as in the original except for the following
+changes:
+
+  Page 19: “are simply inrepressible”      “are simply irrepressible”
+  Page 29: “Denise was in depair”          “Denise was in despair”
+  Page 142: “gure upon the couch”          “figure upon the couch”
+  Page 174: “MIRANDA COMES FROM TOWN”      “MIRANDA COMES TO TOWN”
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76807 ***