CHAPTER XI“LA SOMNAMBULA”
When the bell for retiring rang at half-past nine that night, it produced a most remarkable effect, for, instead of suggesting snug beds and dream-land, it seemed instantly to banish any desire for sleep which the previous study hour from eight to nine had aroused in several of the girls.
They all went to their rooms, to be sure, but once within them a startling change took place. Instead of undressing like wise young people, they slipped off their dresses, and put on their night-dresses over the rest of their clothing, then all crawled into bed to await the first act of “La Somnambula.”
They had barely gotten settled when footstepswere heard coming softly down the corridor, as though the feet taking the steps were encased in wool slippers, and the owner of those feet wished to avoid being heard. A few steps were taken, then a pause made to listen, then on went the cat-like tread from door to door.
Toinette’s and Cicely’s rooms communicated, and just beyond, with another communicating door, was the room occupied by Ruth and Edith, but the door was always fastened. Perhaps Miss Preston considered three communicating rooms altogether too convivial, and decided that “an ounce of prevention was always worth a pound of cure.”
As the stealthy footfalls passed on down the hall, a light tap fell upon Toinette’s door, and, springing out of bed, she flew to give a corresponding tap, and listen for what might follow.
“Sh-h!” came in a whisper from the other side.
“Yes,” was the low reply.
“Did you hear the ‘Princess’ walk down thehall?” The Princess was the big Maltese house cat, and a privileged character.
“A pretty bigcat,” was whispered back.
“That was Mother Stone, and she was just as anxious to avoid being heard by Miss Preston as she was anxious to hear what might be going on in our rooms. If Miss Preston caught her listening at anybody’s door, she would be angrier than if we sat up all night.”
“What does she think we’re up to, anyway?” whispered Toinette.
“No telling, but she knows we had a frolic last night and is on the lookout for another to-night, I guess.”
“Maybe she won’t look in vain,” laughed Toinette, softly.
Twelve o’clock had just been struck by the tall clock in the lower hall, when a white figure walked slowly down the corridor. Her hair fell in long, waving ringlets far below her waist, her pretty white hands were outstretched in front of her, and the great eyes, wide open, stared straightbefore her with a strange, unseeing stare. As she walked along she whispered softly to herself, but the words were hardly audible. On she went, through the long corridor, down the little side hall, which led to the pantry below, still muttering in that uncanny manner.
It had long been a standing joke in the school that Mrs. Stone slept like a cat, with one eye open and one ear alert for every sound, for she was continually hearing burglars, or marauders of some sort or other. So it is not surprising that before that ghost had gone very far another white figure popped its head out into the hall and uttered a smothered exclamation at sight of number one.
“Dear me! dear me!” she murmured, “my suspicions were not amiss. Poor, dear Marion, is so very self-confident. I was sure the last night’s folly would lead to something else. Such is invariably the case,” and she followed rapidly after the figure which was just vanishing around the turn in the lower hall.
“Those children are certainly planning another supper, and, what is far worse, are adding to the discredit of such an act by resorting to dishonest means of procuring the wherewithal for it. Oh, it is shocking, shocking! And yet Marion cannot be convinced that her girls are capable of deceit. Poor child, poor child, it is fortunate for her that there is someone at hand to come to her rescue at such a crisis,” and Mrs. Stone reached the bottom of the stairs just as the evil-intentioned ghost slipped into the housekeeper’s pantry.
“Really, I must be quite sure before I speak, or I may bring about still greater trouble. But whatcanshe want here at this hour of the night if it be not some of Mrs. Store’s provisions?” and she wrung her hands in despair.
A dim light burned in the lower hall, rendering everything there plainly visible from above; and if Mrs. Stone had not been so distressed by that which was before her, she might have been aware of certain happenings just above her. Whydid not some good fairy whisper in her ear just at that moment: “An’ had you one eye behind you, you might see more detraction at your heels than fortune before you,” but there were apparently none out of Dream Land.
As her foot touched the lower step, five or six heads peered over the banister railing above, and what mystery of gravitation prevented as many bodies from toppling over after them I am unable to say.
“Do look! Do look! She is after her full tilt, girls,” whispered Cicely. “Didn’t I tell you it would be the funniest thing you ever saw?”
“Sh! She’ll hear us, and the whole thing will be spoilt,” said Ethel.
“No, indeed, she won’t,” answered Ruth, “she is too intent upon catching Toinette.”
“O, whycan’tI stretch my neck out a yard or two so that I may see what is going on in that pantry? Come on girls, I’m going downstairs if I die for it,” and down crept Lou, followed byall the others, for there was no lack of bedroom slippers at Sunny Bank.
Meantime Toinette had entered the store-room, and, going straight to the corner where some smoked hams and bacon were hanging, took a monstrous ham from its hook, then, muttering, “Crackers, too, crackers, too,” opened the cracker box and drew forth a handful.
Mrs. Stone was thoroughly scandalized, but, just as she was about to speak, Toinette turned full upon her and said:
“Yes, I will have some mustard, and a beefsteak, and baked beans, please. Mrs. Stores had some on the table to-night.”
By this time Mrs. Stone began to realize that the girl was not accountable for her actions, for never was there a better bit of acting for an amateur. Yet she dared not wake her, for stories of the serious harm which had befallen somnambulists, when wakened suddenly in unfamiliar surroundings, flashed through her brain, and she was nearly beside herself with anxiety.
“What shall I do? whatshallI do?” she said aloud in great distress; and, as though in answer to her question, Toinette answered:
“Go, tell Mrs. Stone that she isn’t up to snuff as much as she thinks she is.”
This was too much, and, laying her hand gently on Toinette’s arm, she said, softly:
“My dear child, hadn’t you better come back upstairs with me?”
Without changing her expression, Toinette replied:
“How oats, peas, beans and barley grow, nor you, nor I, nor Mrs. Stone knows,” and began to dance around in a circle with her ham tightly clasped in one arm, and the crackers scattering from one end of the pantry to the other.
Now thoroughly alarmed, and almost in tears, Mrs. Stone said:
“Oh, my dear, dear little girl, won’t you come back to your room with me?” and, grasping hold of Toinette’s arm, endeavored to lead her from the pantry.
“GO, TELL MRS. STONE SHE ISN’T UP TO SNUFF.”
“GO, TELL MRS. STONE SHE ISN’T UP TO SNUFF.”
But my lady was having altogether too good a time to end her frolic so soon, while the audience upon the stairs were nearly dying from their efforts not to scream. So, without changing that dreadful stare which she had maintained throughout her performance, she said, as though repeating Mrs. Stone’s own words:
“Come back—come back—come back, my Bonny, to me,” and turned to leave the pantry. She had barely gotten outside the door, however, when she paused, and, muttering something about lemons and pickles, slipped away from Mrs. Stone’s grasp and disappeared within the pantry again.
Trembling with excitement, Mrs. Stone stood for one instant, and then saying, “Miss Preston must be called, Miss Preston must be called,” turned and literally flew up the stairs, for once too lost to everything but the matter in hand to be aware of anything else, which was certainly fortunate for the white-robed figures, which nearly fell over each other in their scramble to escape.
CHAPTER XII“HAVE YOU NOT BEEN DECEIVED THIS TIME?”
When Miss Preston arrived upon the scene Toinette was serenely making her way upstairs, her burdens still in her arms, but supplemented by several lemons and a bottle of pickles. She took no notice whatever of the new arrival, but walked straight to her own room, and, placing her treasures upon her bed, covered them carefully with her bedclothes. At this covert act poor Mrs. Stone gasped despairingly, and, grasping Miss Preston’s arm, said, in a most tragic whisper: “Marion, Marion, what did I tell you?”
But “Marion” was very much alive to the situation, and, had not a slight quiver about Toinette’s mouth while Mrs. Stone was speakingconfirmed her suspicions, some very audible giggles from the rooms close at hand would have done so.
Having tucked her ham snugly to bed, Toinette proceeded to tuck herself there, and, with a sigh as innocent as a tired infant’s, she closed those staring eyes and slipped off to the land of dreams.
“Well, I think the first act is ended,” said Miss Preston, with the funniest of smiles, “and we shall not have the second to-night, at any rate. But this one was certainly performed by a star,” and, stepping to Toinette’s bedside, she quietly drew from beneath the covers the “dry stores” there sequestered, placed them upon the table, and then smoothed the clothes carefully about her.
Mrs. Stone began to gather up the articles Miss Preston laid upon the table, and, consequently, did not see her slyly pinch the rosy cheek resting upon the pillow nor the flash of intelligence which two big brown eyes sent back.
They then left Toinette to her slumbers (?), and, after carrying the pilfered articles back to the housekeeper’s pantry, returned to Miss Preston’s room, where Mrs. Stone dropped into the first chair that came handy. She was as near a nervous collapse as she well could be, and came very close to losing her temper when Miss Preston seated herself upon her couch, clasped her hands before her, and laughed as poor Mrs. Stone had never known her to laugh before.
“Why, Marion! Marion!” she cried. “Haveyou taken leave of your senses?”
It was some seconds before Miss Preston could control her voice enough to reply, and, when she did, it proved the very last straw to complete Mrs. Stone’s discomfiture, for her words were:
“Mehitable Stone, had anyone told me that I was sheltering beneath my roof-tree such a consummate actress, I should have been the most surprised woman in Montcliff. Upon my word I never saw anything better done.”
“Acting!” exclaimed Mrs. Stone, aghast. “You do not for one moment imagine that poor child was acting? Impossible! Why, she was as sound asleep as she ever was in all her life, and there was not the least sign that she was conscious of my touch when I took hold of her arm to lead her from the pantry. Do you suppose it would have been possible for her to dissemble to that extent?Never!”
Miss Preston did not answer, but laughed softly again.
It was too much for Mrs. Stone; rising suddenly to her feet, she said, with asperity: “It is useless for us to discuss the matter further to-night, nay,this morning,” looking at the tiny clock ticking away upon Miss Preston’s desk, “but I trust that in broad daylight you may see more clearly. For my part, nothing will ever convince me that that child was deceiving me; my knowledge of girls is too perfect. It was a most pronounced case of somnambulism, the outcome of last night’s injudicious eating, and, inmy opinion, a very alarming condition, as one can never tell to what it may lead. Her digestion may be seriously impaired. It is quite unsafe to leave her alone to-night, for she may be seized with another attack at any moment. I shall spend the remainder of the night upon the couch in her room,” and away she went to take up her sentinel duty.
“It is quite unnecessary,” called Miss Preston after the retreating figure, but no heed was given to the words, and when Toinette waked in the morning what was her surprise to find Mrs. Stone bending over her asking, in the most solicitous of voices, if she were feeling quite well.
For a moment Toinette was unable to take in the situation, but her wits got into working order pretty quickly, and only her quivering lips would have betrayed her to a more discerning person. Mrs. Stone, however, saw nothing but an inclination to weep, and, stooping over Toinette, said, soothingly: “There, there, dear, don’t hurryto rise, you are a little nervous this morning and ought to rest.”
But Toinette was at the breakfast table as promptly as anyone, and as she took her seat she gave a quick glance toward Miss Preston; but that astute woman was pouring cream into her coffee-cup. An hour later, when all were scurrying about getting ready for the walk to the schoolhouse, which was situated several blocks from the home house and its adjacent cottages, Toinette came face to face with Miss Preston in one of the upper halls. Both stopped short, looked each other squarely in the eyes, and said nothing. Then Miss Preston’s eyes began to smile, and her mouth followed their example, and, placing one finger under Toinette’s chin, she said:
“I am forced to admit that it was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, and extremely well done, but it scared Mrs. Stone nearly to death; so, please, don’t favor us with the second act.”
And that was the only allusion ever made by Miss Preston to the midnight ramble, nor was it ever repeated for Mrs. Stone’s benefit, although nothing could ever have persuaded the good lady that she had been the victim of a hoax that night.
It would have been difficult to find a more consummate teacher than Miss Preston, or one who, without their ever suspecting it, could so bring her girls up to the mark. It was a rare exception when she failed to accomplish her aim, and her tact was truly wonderful. There was rarely a harsh word spoken, although Miss Preston could speak sharply enough when occasion required. But she seldom felt that it did. She had most unique methods, and they proved wonderfully successful. Then, too, some very old-fashioned ideas were firmly imbedded in her mind, which in the present day and age are often forgotten. That bad spelling is a disgrace to any girl was one of these, and most nobly did shelabor to make such a disgrace impossible for any of her girls.
Knowing how cordially human nature detests doing the very thing best for it, she never had regular spelling lessons in the school, but twice a week every girl in it, big and little alike, gathered in the large assembly room to choose sides and spell each other down. So irresistibly funny were these spelling matches, and so admirably did they display Miss Preston’s peculiar power over the girls, and their response to her wonderful magnetism, that I think they deserve a chapter to themselves.
CHAPTER XIIIENGLISH AS SHE IS SPELLED
The last half hour before recess on Wednesdays and Fridays was the time set aside for the spelling matches. On Wednesday the words were chosen at random, sometimes from history, sometimes from geography, again from something which the classes had been reading; but Friday’s words were invariably a surprise.
One morning, immediately after the opening exercises were concluded, Miss Preston rang her bell, and, when the girls were all attention, said:
“It will be well for those girls who are to lead the opposing sides of the spelling match to-day to choose with exceptional acumen—Annabel,spell that word!” So suddenly had the command been sprung upon her that, whatever knowledge poor Annabel might have possessed five seconds before, promptly flew straight out of her head, and she answered:
“Ackumen.”
“Sorry I haven’t time to pass it on just now, but I’ll reserve that honor. As I was saying, the heads had best keep their wits wide-awake, for I’m going to choose the words from a highly scientific and instructive volume to-day. It is called “How to Feed Children,” and in this you will observe that I have a double object in view: to teach you which words, as well as the sort of food, to be digested. Wholesome instruction, my dears; and now to work, every woman Jill of you.”
At ten-thirty all were again assembled in the big room, and a lively choosing of sides ensued. It was not by any means invariably the older girls who could spell best, for often some of the younger ones led them a fine race.
Taking up the brilliantly bound little book, Miss Preston said:
“Now, my friends, I hope you will look upon the cover of this book as a brilliant and rosy example of what I expect, and, I beg of you, do not disappoint me,” holding up the bright red book for the inspection of all. “Do not become excited, but learn to take a ‘philosophical’ view of it.” Miss Preston paused, and so well did the girls understand her original way of doing things that “philosophical” was at once essayed. The first attempt resulted in “philosopical.”
“A little too suggestive of milk-toast, I’m afraid, Marion. We must have our philosophy upon a sound basis. Next.”
Several words passed successfully down the line until “course” was given, and when that was spelled “cource” Miss Preston’s face was a study.
“That which we are most inclined to accept as a matterof coursewe may be sure will prove a matter of mortification to us. Katherine, youare given to poetic flights. Who was it that said: ‘The course of true love never did run smooth?’ He would have had an opportunity to learn that there were also other courses which did not run smoothly had he followed—‘pedagogy.’”
This proved a stumbling-block for the first girl, but the next one spelled it correctly.
“You see, Alma, that even the road thereto has its pitfalls, so take warning.”
“Catch me ever teaching,” was the half-audible reply, but softly as it was spoken sharp ears caught it.
“Posterity will be grateful for the blessings in store for it, ‘undoubtedly.’”
The word fell to a little girl, but was rattled off as quick as a wink, to Miss Preston’s great amusement, for the child was an ambitious little body who hated to be outdone by the big girls.
“Desirability” was the next word, and was given to one of the largest, although by no means the most brilliant, girls in the school.
She hesitated a moment, and then said: “Ifdesire is spelled d-e-s-i-r-e, I suppose the other end of it will be a-b-i-l-i-t-y.”
“A quality in which you are lacking,” was the instantaneous retort. “If you desired it more, your ability would be greater.”
When desirability had been successfully dealt with, ten or more words were happily disposed of, then came another poser in the form of ‘physiognomical,’ and the groans which greeted it foretold its fate.
“What does itmean, anyway, Miss Preston?” asked one girl.
“Well, there is more than one way of telling you its meaning, but I believe in simple explanations, so I will say, that when you all rush off to the cloak-room at one o’clock that it would be well for you to observe carefully the expression upon the other girl’s face when you throw down her hat and coat in your eagerness to get your own first. You will then, doubtless, have an excellent opportunity to form a correct idea of the meaning of physiognomical. Then you maycome and tell me whether you consider her character an angelic or impish one.”
How well Miss Preston was aware of their besetting sins, and how shrewdly did she use them to their undoing.
I should never dare tell the wonderful combinations of letters which were brought together ere that dreadful word was spelled correctly; but such a rapid sitting down followed that a stranger coming suddenly upon them might have supposed that Miss Preston’s girls were fainting one after another.
About fifty words, all told, were spelled with more or less success, and then came the grand summing up, and those girls who could not yield a clean record from beginning to end had to pay the penalty.
Not a very severe one, to be sure, but one they were not likely to forget, for each word that they had misspelled was written upon a good-sized piece of paper and pinned upon their breasts “as a reward of demerit,” Miss Preston toldthem, and, although it was all done in fun and joked and laughed over at the time, each girl knew that those words must be thoroughly committed to memory before the Wednesday spelling match began its lively session, or her report at the end of the term would be lacking in completeness.
And so, between “jest and earnest,” did Miss Preston handle her girls, drawing by gentleness from a sensitive nature, by firmness from a careless one, by sarcasm (and woe to the girl who provoked it, for it was, truly, “like a polished razor keen”) from a flippant, and by one of her rare, sweet smiles from the ambitious all that was best to be drawn.
Toinette was naturally a remarkably bright girl, and possessed qualities of mind which only required gentle suggestions to develop their latent powers. Refined and delicate by nature, keen of comprehension, she slipped into her proper niche directly way was made for her, and filled it to her own credit and the satisfaction of others.Nor did it take Miss Preston long to discover that a delicately strung instrument had been placed in her hands, and that it must be touched with skillful fingers if its best notes were to be given forth.
The weeks slipped away, and winter, as though to pay up for its tardy arrival, came in earnest, bringing in February the heavy snowstorms one looks for much earlier in the season in this part of the globe. The girls hailed them with wild demonstrations, for snow meant sleigh-rides, and it is a frosty old codger who can frown and grumble at the sound of sleigh-bells.
CHAPTER XIV“JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE BELLS”
One morning early in February the girls looked out of their windows to behold a wonderful new world—a white one to replace the dull gray one, which would have made their spirits sympathetically gray, perhaps, had they been older. But, happily, it must be a very smoky gray indeed that can depress fifteen.
“Quick, Edith, come and look!” and then, flying across the room, Ruth thumped upon Toinette’s door, and called out: “Sleigh-bells! Sleigh-bells! Don’t you hear them?”
The snow had fallen steadily all night, piling up softly and silently the great white mounds, covering up unsightly objects, laying the downiestof coverlids upon the dull old world until it was hardly recognizable. Every ledge, every branch and tiny twig held its feathery burden, or shook it softly upon the white mass covering the ground. Hardly a breath of air stirred, and the fir trees looked as though St. Nick had visited them in the night to dress a tree for every little toddler in the land.
Down, down, down came the flakes, as though they never meant to stop, and as one threw back one’s head to look upward at the millions of tiny feathers falling so gently, one seemed to float upward upon fairy wings and sail away, away into the realms of the Snow Maiden.
It was hard to keep one’s wits upon one’s work that day, and many a stolen glance was given to the fairy world beyond the windows of the recitation-rooms. About five o’clock the weather cleared, the sun setting in a glory of crimson and purple clouds. An hour later up came my lady moon, to smile approval upon the enchanting scene and hint all sorts of possibilities.
Lou Cornwall came flying into Toinette’s room just after dinner to find it well filled with seven or eight others.
“May I come, too?” she asked. “Oh, girls, if we don’t have a sleigh-ride to-morrow, I’ll have a conniption fit certain as the world.”
“Do you always have one when there is snow?” asked Toinette.
“Which, a sleigh-ride or a conniption fit?” laughed Lou. “You’d better believe we have sleigh-rides.”
“You’d better believe! I’ve been here five years, and we’ve never missed one yet. Do you remember the night last winter, when we all went sleighing and came home at eleven o’clock nearly frozen stiff, Bess? Whew! it was cold. When we got back we found Miss Preston making chocolate for us. There she was in her bedroom robe and slippers. She had gotten out of bed to do it because she found out at the last minute that that fat old Mrs. Schmidt had gone poking off to bed, and hadn’t left a single thing for us.”
“I guess Idoremember, and didn’t it taste good?” was the feeling answer.
“You weren’t here the year before,” said Lou. “Sit still, my heart! Shall I ever forget it?”
“What about it? Tell us!” cried the girls in a chorus.
“That was the first year Mrs. Schmidt was here, and, thank goodness, she isn’t here any longer, and she hadn’t learned as much as she learned afterwards. My goodness, wasn’t she stingy? She thought one egg ought to be enough for six girls, I believe. It took Miss Preston about a year to get her to understand that we were not to be kept on half rations. Well, that night we were expecting something extra fine. We got it!” and Lou stopped to laugh at the recollection. “We rushed into the house, hungrier than wolves, and ready to empty the pantry, and what do you think we found? A lot ofafter-dinner coffee cupsof very weak cocoa, withnarysaucer to set them in, and two small crackersapiece. ‘I was thinking you would come in hungry, young ladies, so I make you some chocolate. You don’t mind that I have not some saucers, it make so many dishes for washing,’ she said, smiling that pudgy smile of hers. Ugh! I can’t bear to think of it even to this day, and she was ten million times better before she left last spring. That was the reason Miss Preston took matters into her own hands the next time, I guess.”
Just then a tap came at the door, and Miss Preston put her head in to ask:
“Can you girls do extra hard work between this and eight o’clock?”
Had she entertained any doubts of their ability to individually do the work of three, the shout which answered her in the affirmative would have banished them forever, for the girls were not slow to guess that some surprise was afoot.
“Very well, I’ll trust you all to prepare tomorrow’s lessons without exchanging an unnecessary word, and at eight o’clock I’ll ring my bell,and then you must all put on extra warm wraps and go out on the piazza to—look at the moon. I shall not expect you to come in till ten-thirty.”
As the last word was uttered Miss Preston met her doom, for five girls pounced upon her, bore her to the couch and hugged her till she cried for mercy.
“Come with us, oh! come with us,” they cried. “It will be twice as nice if you’ll come!”
“Comewhere? Do you suppose I’ve lived all these years and never seen themoon?” and laughing merrily she slipped away from them, only pausing to add: “It is ten minutes of seven now.”
The hint was enough, and not a girl “got left” that night.
At eight o’clock a silvery ting-a-ling was heard, and never was bell more promptly responded to. Had it been a fire alarm the rooms could not have been more quickly emptied.
The moonlight made all outside nearly asbright as day, and when the girls went out upon the porch they found three huge sleighs, with four horses each, waiting to whirl them over the shining roads for miles. Miss Preston did not make one of the party, but Miss Howard was a welcome substitute, for, next to Miss Preston, the girls loved her better than any of the other teachers, and Toinette was sorely divided in her mind as to which she was learning to love the better.
Off they started, singing, laughing at nothing, calling merrily to all they overtook, or passed, and sending the school yell, which Miss Howard had made up upon the spur of the moment for them,
“Hoo-rah-ray! Hoo-rah-ray!
Sunny Bank, Montcliff,
U. S. A.,”
out upon the frosty air, until the very hills rang with the cry, and flung it back in merry echoes.
Miss Howard’s sleigh led the van, and one or two of the girls had clambered up to ride upon the high front seat with the driver, a sturdy oldIrishman, who would have driven twenty horses all night long to please any of Miss Preston’s girls. Ruth sat beside him, with Toinette next to her, and Edith was squeezed against the outer edge. But who cares about being squeezed under such circumstances? It’s more fun.
The snow had fallen so lightly that sometimes the runners cut through slightly; but, all things considered, the sleighing was very good. Still, the driver kept the horses well in hand, for they were good ones and ready to respond to a word. Moreover, the hilarity behind them seemed to have proved infectious, for every now and again a leader or a wheeler would prance about as though joining in the fun, and presently another animal became infected and wanted to prance, too. Had she not, the next chapter need not have been written.
CHAPTER XV“PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL”
More than five miles had slipped away under those swiftly-moving runners ere Ruth was suddenly seized with a desire to emulate a famous charioteer of olden time, one “Phæton, of whom the histories have sung, in every meter, and every tongue,” if a certain poet may be relied upon. So, turning a beguiling face toward the unsuspecting Michael beside her, she said:
“You’re a fine driver, aren’t you, Michael?”
“’T is experience ivery man nades; I’ve had me own,” observed Michael, complacently.
“It must be very hard to drive four horses at once.”
“Anny one what kin droive two dacentlyshould be able enough to handle four; ’t is not the number of horses, but the sinse at the other ind av the reins.”
“Is that so? I thought it needed a strong man to drive so many.”
“Indade, no; it does not that. I’ve seen a schmall, little man, hardly bigger than yerself, takin’ six along with the turn av his hand.”
“Could he hold them if they started to go fast?”
“Certain as the woirld, he cud do that same. ’T was meself that taught him the thrick av it. ’T is easy larnt.”
“Then teach me right now, will you?”
Poor Michael, he saw when it was too late that boasting is dangerous work, but to refuse anything to “wan av the young ladies” never for an instant occurred to him. Probably had he asked Miss Howard’s consent he would have been spared complying with a request which his better judgment questioned, but that did not occur to him, either, so, giving one apprehensiveglance behind him at the twenty or more passengers in the sleigh, he placed the reins in Ruth’s hands, adjusting them in the most scientific manner.
They were skimming along over a beautiful bit of road with a thick fir wood upon one side and open fields upon the other. The road was level as a floor, and no turn would be made for fully half a mile. Horses know so well the difference between their own driver’s touch and a stranger’s hand, and the four whose reins Ruth now held were not dullards. They had been going along at a steady round trot, with no thought of making the pace a livelier one, but directly the reins passed out of Michael’s hands the spirit of mischief, ever uppermost in Ruth, flew like an electric fluid straight through those four reins, and, in less time than it takes to tell about it, those horses had made up their minds to add a little to the general hilarity behind them.
The change was scarcely perceptible at first, but little by little they increased their pace, tillthey were fairly flying over the ground. Not one whit did the girls in the sleigh object; the faster the better for them. The sleighs behind did their best to keep up, but no such horses were in the livery stable as the four harnessed to Michael’s sleigh, for Michael was the trusted of the trusted.
But he was growing very uneasy, and, leaning down close to Ruth, said: “Ye’d better be lettin’ me take thim now, Miss. We’ve the turn to make jist beyant.”
“O, I can make it all right; you know you said that anybody who drives two horses decently could drive four just as well, and I’ve driven papa’s always.”
“Yis, yis,” said Michael quickly, seeing when too late that he had talked to his own undoing, “but ye’d better be lettin’ me handle thim be moonlight; ’t is deceptive, moonlight is,” and he reached to take the reins from her. But alas! empires may be lost by a second’s delay, and a second was responsible for much now.
As Michael reached for the reins the turn was reached also, and where is the livery stable horse that does not know every turn toward home even better than his driver, be the driver the oldest in that section of the country! Around whirled the leaders, and hard upon them came the wheelers, and a-lack-a-day! hard,veryhard, upon a huge stone at the corner came the runner of the front bob.
Had the whole sleighful been suddenly plunged into a hundred cubic feet of hydrogen gas, sound could not have ceased more abruptly for one second, and then there arose to the thousands of little laughing stars and their dignified mother, the moon, a howl which made the welkin ring.
Shall I attempt to describe what had happened in the drawing of a breath? A bob runner was hopelessly wrecked; two horses were sitting upon their haunches, while two others were striving to prove to those who were not too much occupied with their own concerns to notice that,after all is said and done, the Lorddidintend that such animals should walk upon two legs if they saw fit to do so. Michael stood up to his middle in a snow-drift; Ruth sat as calmly upon a snow bank as though she preferred it to any other seat she had ever selected, albeit she was well-nigh smothered by the back and cushions of her novel resting-place; Toinette was dumped heels-over-head into the body of the sleigh, where she landed fairly and squarely in Miss Howard’s lap; Edith hung on to the seat railing for dear life, and screamed as though the lives of all in the sleigh (or out of it) depended upon her summons for assistance. The sleigh had not upset, yet what kept it in a horizontal position must forever remain a mystery, and such a heap of scrambling, squirming, screaming girls as were piled up five or six deep in the bottom of it may never be seen again. Some had been dumped overboard outright, and were floundering about in the snow, which, happily, had saved them from serious harm. With the inborn chivalry of his race, Michael’s first thoughts said: “Fly to the rescue of the demoiselles,” but stern duty said: “Sthick to yer horses, Moik, or they’ll smash things to smithereens, and, bedad, I sthuck wid all me moight, or the Lord only knows where we’d all have fetched up at that same night,” he said, when relating his experiences some hours later.
“STHICK TO YER HORSES, MOIK.”
“STHICK TO YER HORSES, MOIK.”
When excitement was at its height the other sleighs arrived upon the scene, and if there had been an uproar before, there was a mighty cry abroad in the land now. But, dear me, it is all in a lifetime; so why leave these floundering mortals piled up in heaps any longer? They were unsnarled eventually, gotten upon their feet (or their neighbors’), packed like sardines into the two other sleighs, and, with six instead of four horses now drawing each, started homeward, none the worse for their spill, excepting a good shaking up, a few handfuls of snow merrily forming rills and rivulets down their necks, some badly battered hats and torn coats, andone of them, at least, with some wholesome lessons regarding handling four frisky horses when the air is frosty and a number of lives may depend upon keeping “top side go, la!”
CHAPTER XVILETTERS
When the sleighing party reached home they found hot chocolate and ginger cookies awaiting them. Before retiring, Miss Preston had seen to it that neither shivering nor hungry bodies should be tucked into bed that night.
Five weeks had now sped away, and Toinette was beginning to look upon her new abiding-place as home; at least, it was nearer to it than any she could remember. The old life at the Carter school seemed a sort of nightmare from which she had wakened to find broad daylight and all the miserable fancies dispelled.
She and Cicely were seated at their desks one afternoon. It was half-past four and study hour.Cicely was hard at work upon her algebra lesson, but Toinette was writing a letter. This, she knew quite well, was not what she was supposed to be doing, but the five weeks had not sufficed to undo the mischief done in seven years, and she was writing simply from a spirit of perversity. There was ample time to do it during her hours of freedom, but the very fact of doing it when she knew full well that she ought to be at work on her German added piquancy to the act. Moreover, the letter was to a boy with whom she had become acquainted while at Miss Carter’s, and had kept the acquaintance a most profound secret. Not that she cared specially for the boy, although he was a jolly sort of chap, and had been a pleasant companion during their stolen interviews, and often smuggled boxes of candy and other “forbidden fruit” into the girl’s possession.
Still, at Miss Carter’s a boy sprouting angel’s wings would have been regarded in very much the same light as though he were sprouting imp’shorns, and any girl caught talking to one—much less corresponding—would have had a very bad quarter of an hour, indeed. So, though she did not care two straws whether she ever saw him again or not, all the wrong-headedness which had been so carefully fostered for the past years delighted in the thought that she was doing something which might not be approved; indeed, from her standpoint, would be decidedly criticised, and to get ahead of a teacher had been the “slogan” of the Carter school.
It was the custom at Sunny Bank for the teachers to go around to the girls’ rooms during the study hour to help, suggest, or give a little “boost” over the hummocky places, so when a pleasant voice asked at the door: “Can I help you any, dearies?” Cicely answered from her room:
“Oh, Miss Howard, will you please tell me something about this problem? I am afraid my head is muddled.”
“To be sure, I will,” was the cheery reply,and Miss Howard passed through Toinette’s room to Cicely’s.
As she did so her dress created a current of air which carried a paper from Toinette’s desk almost to her feet. She stooped to pick it up and hand it back to Toinette, who had sprung up to catch it, and, as she handed it to her, Miss Howard noted the telltale color spring into the girl’s face.
“Zephyrus is playing you tricks, dear,” she said, smiling, and passed on to Cicely. After giving her the needed assistance, she left them, and a little further down the corridor met Miss Preston.
“How are my chicks progressing, Miss Howard?”
“Nicely, Miss Preston. Cicely needed a little help with a problem in algebra, but I think Toinette needs a little of yours in the problem of life,” and Miss Howard went her way.
A word to the wise is sufficient.
Meanwhile, the letter was finished, addressed,and slipped into Toinette’s pocket, to be mailed later.
Ordinarily, all letters were placed in a small basket to be carried to the office by the porter. As Toinette came down the hall shortly before dinner Miss Preston was just taking the letters from the basket to place them in the porter’s mailbag.
“Any mail to go, dear?” she asked.
“No, thank you, Miss Preston,” answered Toinette, and, jumping from the last step, ran off down the hall to join Cicely and the other girls. In jumping from the step something jolted from her pocket, but, falling upon the heavy rug at the foot of the stairs, made no sound. As the porter was about to take the pouch from her hands Miss Preston’s eyes fell upon the letter, and, supposing it to be one which had been dropped from the basket, stooped to pick it up. She was a quick-witted woman, and the instant she saw the handwriting and the address she drew her own conclusions.
“So that is part of the life problem, is it? Poor little girl, she has got to learn something which the average girl has to unlearn; where they entirely trust their fellow-beings, she entirely distrusts them. I wonder if I shall ever be able to show her the middle path?” Telling the porter to wait a moment, Miss Preston slipped into the library, and, catching up a pencil and slip of paper, wrote down the name and address which was written upon the envelope, then, stepping back to the hall, handed the porter the letter to post.
Toinette joined the girls, and in the lively chatter which ensued forgot all about the letter until several hours later, and then searched for it in every possible and impossible place, but, of course, without finding it, and was in a veryuncomfortable frame of mind for several days, and then something happened which did not serve to reassure her, for a reply came to her from her correspondent.
How in the world her letter had ever reachedhim was the question which puzzled her not a little, and she fretted over the thing till she was in a fever. Then she determined to write again to ask how and when the letter had reached him, although she was beginning to wish that boy, letter and all, were at the bottom of the Red Sea, so much had they tormented her. So a second letter was written, and then came the puzzle of getting it into the mail bag unnoticed. At Miss Carter’s school all letters had been examined before they were allowed to be mailed, and as Toinette’s correspondence was supposed to be limited to the letters she wrote to her father, she had never inquired whether Miss Preston first examined them or not, but, taking it for granted that she did so, handed them to her unsealed. On the other hand, Miss Preston, thinking that it was simply carelessness that they were not, usually sealed them and sent them upon their way.
Although she had not said anything about it, the little affair had by no means passed fromMiss Preston’s thoughts, but she was trying to think of the wisest way of going about it, and was waiting for something to guide her.
“If I can only win her confidence,” she said to herself more than once.