As Tavia reached the end sofa, upon which a pretty golden-haired baby lay curled beside a sleepy mother, she made a motion to attract the child's attention. The little one saw it at once, promptly slipped down and stole away from the sofa without in the least disturbing the woman.
The tot followed Tavia to the little end room—Dorothy saw her going, and though feeling very drowsy herself (which really was the reason Tavia left her alone) Dorothy kept her eyes opened long enough to see that the mother was sound asleep, and had not missed her baby.
"I am sure Tavia will take good care of her," thought Dorothy, as she settled down for a rest, "she is so fond of children, and it will be a change for the child—traveling must be very tiresome to such little ones."
The train rumbled on. Dorothy thought of home, of the good father and two dear brothers she had left there. Then she wondered what would happen at North Birchland. It was such a lovely summer place, and her relatives there were sure to do all they could to make the stay pleasant.
In the White family there were besides Mrs. Winthrop White, her two sons, Edward and Nathaniel, aged sixteen and fourteen years. Professor White, their father, had died suddenly some years before, while on an expedition out in quest of scientific data, but the White family possessed almost unlimited means, so that Major Dale's sister, while lonely enough in life without her husband, had the pleasant duty of bringing up two talented and good looking boys in a way that befitted the positions they would occupy as their father's sons—the White family being among the most aristocratic in New York state.
Dorothy had not seen her cousins in three years, the boys' time, between vacations, being spent at school, and the intervals of late being occupied with trips abroad. As she traveled on now, and became more and more sleepy Dorothy wondered if Nat were as full of mischief as he used to be when he visited Dalton, and if Ned still spent his spare time chasing butterflies to add new specimen to his collection.
But even these interesting reflections are not to be compared with such sedative influence as the rumbling of a train with a summer breeze coming In the window, and the girl, weary enough from her fright at the falls and its consequent shock to her nervous system soon forgot to think—she was asleep.
Meanwhile Tavia was occupied with the pretty baby in the end compartment. The child was about three years old, and remarkably communicative for her age. The little alcohol lamp, she told Tavia, was used to heat her milk, also to curl her hair, for mamma never took her to the hotel without curls, she said.
To bear out this statement, Lily, that was the little stranger's name, produced from a satchel under the wash basin a tiny pair of curling irons.
It seemed like fate to Tavia,—there was the very thing she had been wishing for—curling tongs.
"Let's try it," she suggested, as Lily prattled on about the wonderful "real" curls that the iron could make.
A careful investigation revealed to Tavia the secrets of the alcohol lamp. Everything was there—even to matches.
Being sure the lamp was placed firmly upon the marble slab, Tavia struck a match and lighted the wick.
"There," she said with evident satisfaction, "that part was easy enough."
"You put the iron right in there," directed Lily, and Tavia promptly followed the advice.
"Sit on my lap while it heats," Tavia told the child, not thinking it safe to allow her to move about in the small place with a strange kind of stove burning.
The child jumped up eager to hear a story. The wood-kind, full of bears with remarkable appetites, pleased her most, Tavia discovered, and it was in such a mental delight that the child passed a very happy little "minute."
"It must be hot—" said Tavia.
She turned and at that very moment a strange flash shot up to the ceiling!
An explosion! Then such a blinding flame!
With the child still in her arms Tavia made a dash for the door. Frantically she pulled at it but it would not open! The child screamed piteously.
"Help! Help!" shouted Tavia, clutching at the knob with one hand, while she clung to the child with the other.
Instantly Dorothy was on her feet and down at that little door.
"Open it!" she screamed, for the smell of smoke had reached her on the outside.
Without waiting for an answer, or for those at hand to act, Dorothy jumped to a seat and grasped the bell rope.
At that moment the door gave in to Tavia's pulling, and she fell headlong out into the aisle with the baby in her arms.
The train stopped, and brakemen were now running through the cars in search of the trouble. Passengers had broken the tool boxes and were fighting the spreading flames with hand grenades and portable extinguishers. Fainting women called for attention—among these being Lily's mother.
Tavia was now lifted to a seat, and Dorothy had called into her ears that the baby was safe—she was not even scratched!
But Tavia was not so fortunate, for an ugly red mark showed where the tongue of fire scorched her, and her hair—
One side was entirely burned off!
Dorothy's heart sank as she noticed the loss, but it was nothing, of course, compared to what might have happened to the baby.
The excitement in the rear of the car had, by this time subsided somewhat, showing that the flames were extinguished. Lily, safe and uninjured, sat in her mother's lap—no danger of her getting away again evidently.
Among the passengers was a doctor who offered his services to Tavia. The burns were slight, he declared but there was danger of shock, and the loss of her beautiful hair was to be regretted.
Tavia tried to laugh to assure Dorothy she was all right, and then she insisted upon talking about the accident.
"The lamp did not explode," she declared. "The fire came from the other end of the room."
The trainmen listened anxiously to this report. They were obliged to make a most careful investigation, and Tavia was very willing to help them. Professional looking men crowded around—one who introduced himself to the doctor as a well known lawyer of Rochester called Dorothy aside and offered to look out for the interests of the injured girl.
"Whatever you think best," Dorothy said, "I have never had any experience with law. But if you think we should take account of it at all I should be most grateful for your help."
Then Tavia was taken into a private compartment, and there, with Dorothy encouraging her, and the lawyer and doctor listening, she told the story of the accident.
"I had lighted the alcohol lamp," she declared, "but I am positive that did not explode. The flash came from behind us—the other end of the room. Then the door would not open—oh how dreadful that was!"
For a moment Tavia covered her eyes, then she resumed:
"I heard Dorothy's voice and that seemed to keep me from falling in the smoke. At last the door opened and that's all I know."
"Now, you just rest here," the doctor advised, "while Mr. French and I do some outside investigating."
Then it was that the important clew was discovered, for at the very door of the little room, where the fire had raged, was found a piece of glass with a label!
Gasoline!
"She was right," declared the lawyer, taking possession of the tell-tale piece of bottle, the railroad men would have been so glad to have seen first, "this tells the story. A bottle of gasoline exploded."
Looking carefully over the damaged room the lawyer made some entries in his note book and, with the doctor, approached Lily's mother. The woman positively refused to make known her name, and even the railroad men had not succeeded in learning who she was.
"That my baby is safe," she declared, "is all I ask. People saw the girl coax her off, but even this I am entirely willing to overlook, and I will positively make no claims against the company."
The doctor saw the child was not in the least injured, and also was convinced there was no danger of shock to the little nervous system, as the tot looked upon the whole occurrence as "good fun," so the professional men withdrew their offer to serve either the woman or her child.
Dorothy had fastened Tavia's hair up under her hat, so that the one long and uninjured side covered the burnt ends and hid the damage. She looked like a pretty boy, Dorothy told her, and the red line about her neck was not noticeable at all, for around the scar Dorothy had pinned her own white silk handkerchief. Except for a few tell-tale spots of "scorch" marking the back of her new dress, from her appearance Tavia might never have been suspected of being the heroine of a railroad accident.
"Oh, there is Aunt Winnie!" exclaimed Dorothy as the train stopped, and she looked out of the window near the door.
A depot wagon was drawn up to the platform, and in it sat a stylishly dressed woman.
If Tavia had felt "alarmed at the style" as she afterward told Dorothy, the moment Mrs. White grasped her hand in welcoming her to Birchland all nervousness left her, for Mrs. White had an unmistakable way of greeting her guests—she really was glad to see them. Dorothy climbed up beside her aunt, while Tavia took the spare seat at front, and it seemed to her the world had suddenly fallen from its level, everything was beneath her. She had risen physically, mentally and socially from her former self—the first ride on a box seat was an inspiration to the country girl, and Tavia felt its influence keenly.
Dorothy chatted pleasantly to her aunt, occasionally referring to something to Tavia to give her a chance to join in the conversation and Tavia noticed that Dorothy had already cheered up wonderfully.
"I suppose this is the sort of company Doro belongs in," Tavia thought."There is something so different about society people."
Mrs. White certainly was different. She knew exactly how to interest the girls, and she also knew how to make them feel at home. She had asked all sorts of polite questions about Dalton folks, and showed the keenest interest in the new appointment of Squire Travers. Tavia insisted that Dorothy had elected him, and this item of news Mrs. White begged Tavia would repeat to the "boys" as she declared they would be "just delighted to hear how their girl cousin managed Dalton politics."
The boys were at camp, Mrs. White told the girls, and an early visit to their quarters was among the treats promised.
From the station to the "Cedars" was but a short ride, and when the carriage turned into the cedar shaded driveway Tavia felt another "spasm" of alarm—it was such an imposing looking place.
"This is where you may play games," said Mrs. White, pointing out the broad campus behind the trees. "The boys have no end of sport hiding in the cedars, and I am sure you girls will find them jolly. There are some very pleasant neighbors at the next cottage—one young girl among them."
"This is splendid," Tavia said. "We can invent new games here. I think 'tree-toad' would be a novelty."
Presently the luggage was taken in by the man, while the girls followedMrs. White up the broad staircase to their rooms.
"Now, my dears," said their hostess, as she opened the doors to two connecting rooms, "here is where you will 'pitch your tents' as the boys would say. I hope you will be comfortable, but should you need anything Dorothy knows the plan of this house—just ask for anything you want. I'll leave you now. We will lunch as soon as you feel refreshed."
"But, auntie," called Dorothy, as Mrs. White passed into the hall, "won't you come here a moment? I have a very interesting thing to tell you," and as Mrs. White stepped back to the door again, Dorothy snatched the hat from Tavia's head.
Instantly the "installment" hair fell to the waist on one side, and clung to Tavia's neck at the other.
"Why!" exclaimed the aunt. "What on earth has happened to the child's locks?"
"Hair tonic model," laughed Dorothy, "sit down, auntie, and I will tell you."
Mrs. White took the uninjured mass of golden brown tresses into her hands.
"Some one stole them, of course," she ventured.
"One more guess!" smiled Dorothy.
At this the scar on Tavia's neck was discovered.
"Not in a fire?" exclaimed the aunt.
"Exactly," declared Dorothy, and then she told of the railroad accident.
"Why, you poor dear!" sighed Mrs. White to Tavia, "you must be quite ill from the shock. Get into bed immediately, and I will see how we can doctor you up," and before Tavia had a chance to protest against the "treatment" she found herself in bed, shoes and dress off, and wrapped in a comfortable robe Dorothy had brought in her bag.
"Now," teased Dorothy, "you wanted to know how it feels to be sick. How do you like it?"
"Best ever," replied the girl in the pillows. "Make it incurable please."
"Here," announced their hostess, appearing at the door with a steaming bowl that smelled good. "Just drink this bouillon. I believe that more lives might be saved by the hot bouillon process than by the reported efficacy of hot whisky. One stays hot, the other turns into chills. Just drink this dear, and I will banish Dorothy. I know how she can talk when one should sleep—she roomed with me one summer," and at this Dorothy was whisked out of the room by her aunt, and Tavia left to commune with the pleasant aroma of hot bouillon with chopped parsley flavoring.
"Riches are not to be despised," she commented, when the paneled door closed her away from friends for the moment. "I wonder Major Dale does not let Dorothy stay with her aunt; she would know exactly how to train her in society ways, and Dorothy is plainly cut out to be a leader where ever she goes. I suppose," reflected the girl, "some day Mrs. White will introduce her into her social world and then—"
A step in the hall aroused her from her rather tangled reverie, and presently Dorothy stood before her with an immense bunch of "Jack" roses.
"Oh!" exclaimed Tavia, in unfeigned admiration, "have you been to heaven stealing flowers?"
"No, an angel tossed them down," replied Dorothy, "and her card said they were for you." Whereat she held out to Tavia the "angelic" bouquet.
"Oh Dorothy Darling Dale! I never saw such flowers! I have always thought the wild kinds prettier than those that grew so proud-like but there is just as much difference between a Jack-in-the-pulpit and a real Jack rose as there is between you and me!"
"Well Jack, I like you just as well as if you grew in a hot house—better, because you have taught me the value of life's storms—you have grown outside and know the music of the winds," and with the flowers she gave her friend all the hug she dared risk in the presence of the "railroad line" on Tavia's neck.
"But you have the sweetness of the greenhouse," insisted Tavia, "and that blows off with the music of the winds."
"Well, we will not quarrel over our virtues," said Dorothy, "the thing to discuss at present is what are you going to do with the railroad money?"
"What money?" inquired Tavia, showing surprise.
"Your damages, of course. How much do you calculate your other braid was worth?"
"Not worth talking about."
"But if you were offered a fair price for it you would not refuse?" persisted Dorothy.
"No, I'd take most anything from a cream soda to a twenty-five cent piece."
"Well, my dear, now compose yourself. Get a good hold on the chair near you, or better still sit down, since you insist on getting out of bed. I have a very lively piece of news for you—the sensational kind."
"Let her go," called Tavia grasping the chair with both hands.
"It is this. Aunt Winnie says you will undoubtedly received damages for the accident. She says Mr. French is a noted lawyer and he will possibly arrange it so that all you will have to do is to put your name to the signing-off paper. The fact that you lighted the lamp, auntie says, will not do away with the fact that a careless employee left that explosive there."
"Do you know, Dorothy," said Tavia in her most serious tone, "the only thing that has consoled me for asking that baby in there is, that she told me she was going in for a drink of water, and had she done so she would, or at least might, have tasted the poison stuff. She was the most meddlesome child and might have killed herself."
"Certainly her mother would have allowed her to roam about as she pleased," said Dorothy, "for people told me after the accident that little Lily had been in almost every seat in the car, while her mother curled herself up on that sofa. It is a strange thing to me that most women travelers are more careful of their dogs than of their babies. Did you notice that blonde with the soft leather bag? Well, she had a poodle in that bag, it is against the rules, you know, to keep animals in the passenger cars, but that lady had her bag open on the seat, and every time a brakeman came through she would pull the string and close the bag. Then once in a while she would let the dog run around a bit. But indeed she did not let it get away like Lily's mother let her go."
"And do you really think the railroad people will pay me damages?"
"I am almost sure of it. Aunt Winnie is a very clever business woman, and if they come while we are here it will be all the better for you. Just think! Suppose they should offer five hundred dollars!"
"I am too poor to be able to think of five hundred dollars all at once. I will have to try it on the installment plan. But wouldn't it be jolly if I did get a good sum," and Tavia's eyes took on a far-away look—perhaps all the way to Dalton and happiness.
A week had passed at North Birchland, with Dorothy and Tavia enjoying every succeeding hour better than the last, when the expected lawyers arrived to interview the victim of the railroad fire.
Fortunately Mrs. White was at home, and more fortunately still was the arrival of Mr. French with the strange lawyer.
Tavia was flushed and nervous when Dorothy helped her to dress for the interview.
"Now don't you mind it a bit," said Dorothy. "Just keep thinking that you might have been very seriously injured, and that the railroad people should be more careful for the sake of others. Then you will forget all about the lawyers and their statements."
Mrs. White was talking to the men in the reception room. Certainly the shock had been severe, she said, and only the fact that Miss Travers was unusually lively in temperament had saved her from more serious results.
Dorothy entered the room with Tavia.
"These are the young ladies," said Mr. French, introducing them. "This one was shut in the room with the fire."
Tavia felt her face flush, and her nerves throb painfully. It was so embarassing to be the object of such scrutiny.
Then began a fire of questions, Mr. French in every instance indicating how Tavia should answer. The railroad lawyer, Mr. Banks, trying of course, to trip Tavia into admitting that the lamp exploded first, and the bottle blew up after. But Tavia was positive in declaring that the blaze came from the far corner of the room, whereas the stove was directly at her side. This was also indicated by a map which Mr. French produced, and upon which Tavia marked the various spots where the bench stood, where the marble slab with the stove was situated, and where the bottle appeared to come from—a far corner of the slab.
"Will you let down your hair, please," said Mr. French, and Dorothy promptly drew the pins from Tavia's tresses, allowing the unscorched braid to fall below her waist, while the burnt ends were charred almost to her neck, the red scar showing how close to her head the flames had really crept.
"That is a loss, of course," said Mr. French, taking the long waves inhis hand, "but it shows the great danger her life was in. Also, Mr.Banks, notice this scar. That was dressed on the train by Dr. Brown, ofFairview."
Both lawyers examined the scar. Tavia felt as if she would run from the room, the very moment they took their hands off her, but Dorothy smiled encouragingly, and Mrs. White rang for a maid to fetch a glass of water. This had the effect of distracting Tavia, who now stood there being cross-examined like an expert witness.
Finally Mr. French said:
"That will do, thank you."
Tavia had barely tasted the water, and as she crossed the room to reach her chair, she felt dizzy. The next moment she was in Mrs. White's arms, unconscious.
"I saw she was pale," exclaimed the lady, while the gentlemen opened the windows and Dorothy ran for some restoratives. "But I did not think she would go off like that."
It did not take long, however, to revive the fainting girl, and when she had been helped to her room the lawyers held a conference with Mrs. White and then left the Cedars.
"Wasn't that dreadfully stupid!" sighed Tavia, as she lay stretched out on the soft, white bed.
"Not at all, my dear," replied Mrs. White, who at that moment appeared at the door. "You could not have done better had you been coached, for it shows how the shock has unnerved you. And you may as well know that the company has offered to settle for five hundred dollars."
"Five hundred dollars!" echoed Tavia.
"Yes, my dear. For my part I should count a braid of hair such as you lost worth twice that sum, but even at that price I could not obtain it. No one ever values a fine head of hair until it is gone—like the dry well, you know. But you are young enough to grow another braid, and that is the beauty of it. Mr. French said your father gave him full power to act, and so he will accept the company's offer. And the fine thing about it is he does not want a commission—only his expenses, which are nominal."
"Isn't that perfectly splendid!" exclaimed Dorothy, throwing her arms about Tavia.
"Some people are born lucky, and others have luck thrust upon them," said Tavia pleasantly. "In this case it was as usual. I did the mischief and Dorothy did the rest. That lawyer would never have noticed me if Dorothy hadn't shown her pluck—why, she had my flaming hair wrapped up in a brakeman's coat before he had decided whether to throw it out of the window or over the ice cooler. He seemed to be worried about the ice, for it was directly in the path of the fire."
"Nonsense," said Dorothy, blushing. "He very politely pulled off his coat when I asked him to, and of course, he did not know just what to do with it."
"Lucky thing it was a railroad coat," went on Tavia, "or we might have had to pay damages."
"Lucky thing Dorothy had such presence of mind, at any rate," remarked Mrs. White, "for another touch of that flame and your face, Tavia, might have had a different bill against the railroad company. However, as it ends like a love story, we will live happily ever after," and she gave Tavia such an affectionate kiss, that the girl felt a strange nearness to her new-found friend as if she had been suddenly adopted, socially at least, into Dorothy's family.
"And now, my dears," went on their hostess, "I expect the boys out from camp this afternoon, so you must rest up, and look your prettiest."
Tavia sat up and looked about her.
"Did you ever hear that story about why a widower was like a baby?" she asked Dorothy. "Well, I feel just like him. They say he cried for the first six months, then sat up and looked around and it was hard to pull him through the second summer. Now I am looking around, but when I get my five hundred I am afraid I will hardly last through the second summer."
"I know you will like the boys," remarked Dorothy.
"But who will cut my poor old hair?" sang Tavia to the meerschaum pipe tune.
"We will have to put it up in the folded fire escape fashion," said Dorothy, "until we can drive out to a barber's. It is too late this afternoon."
"Whatever will momsey say?" thought Tavia aloud.
"That you would have made a very good-looking boy," replied Dorothy. "I am sure I never saw a girl to whom short hair was so becoming."
"It must look well with a five hundred-dollar note for a background. I tell you, Doro, money covers a multitude of crimes. I wonder if little Lily of the fire room has cooled off yet."
"But you haven't seen the new clothes auntie had brought us—yes us, for she has not forgotten you. You are well able to pay bills now, you know," and Dorothy gave a mischievous little tug at Tavia's elbow. "But wait, wait till you see what you are to wear this very evening. The box has just come up, and I will open it."
Whereupon Dorothy pulled in from the hall door a great purple box labeled "robes." Tavia was on her knees beside it before Dorothy had a chance to untie the strings. What girl does not like to see brand, new, pretty dresses come out of their original box?
Layers of tissue paper were first unwrapped, then a glow of brilliant red shown through the last covering.
"Whew!" exclaimed Tavia, "a rainbow gown, I'll bet. Then she gave her usual text, as Dorothy called her spontaneous rhymes:
"Breathes there a girl with soul so dead,Who never to herself has said,I love to wear a dress bright red!"
"And I love red better than butter, and I love butter better than ice cream—so there! Dorothy Dale, that dress on top I claim."
The "bright red" was in full view now, and it was really a beautiful gown. Not extravagantly so, but as Dorothy said "exquisitely so."
The material was of dimity, over muslin, and tiny rows of "val." lace formed a yoke and edgings. A broad sash of flowered ribbon—all in shades of red, with bows of the same in narrow width finished the shoulders.
"Yes, it is for you," said Dorothy, "Auntie said red would suit you."
"I have always loved it, but folks said my hair was red."
"Indeed it never was. And don't you know how great dressmakers insist upon sandy haired girls wearing red? The real red in material contrasts with hair red, so as to make the brown red browner. There now, is a new puzzle. When is brown red?"
"When a sassy boy calls it red," promptly answered Tavia, remembering how she always feared the "red-head" epithet.
"Isn't it sweet?" exclaimed Dorothy, holding the new gown up for inspection.
"Oh, a perfect love!" declared Tavia. "I thought my Rochester creation—doesn't that sound well—simply 'gloriotious,' but this is beatific!"
"Like a sunset," suggested Dorothy. "But I must get acquainted with mine."
Another layer of paper and a pale blue robe was extracted.
"Oh, I know," cried Tavia, clapping her hands like a delighted child, "It's morning and evening. I'm sunrise and you are evening. Or I'm sunset and you are evening."
"Oh!" exclaimed Dorothy, too enraptured to say more.
"And with your yellow head you will look like an angel."
"Now, see here, Miss Sunset and Sunrise, I don't mind being cloudy or even starry, nor yet heavenly, but don't you dare go one latitude or longitude further. I am mortally afraid Aunt Winnie has elected to wear amethyst this very evening, and when the combination gets together I expect something will happen—something like Mt. Pelee, you know."
"We might call it our elementary evening," went on Tavia, "and then look out for storms. You said the boys were coming?"
"Coming!" and Dorothy sprang to the door. "They are here now. Listen tothat shout? That's Ned. Oh, I must run down. Come along," and beforeTavia had a chance to "collect her manners" she was bowing afterDorothy's profuse introduction.
"I've heard of Miss Travers," said Edward pleasantly, while Nat was "weighing" Dorothy with one hand, and attempting to shake the other in Tavia's direction.
"You must call her Tavia," insisted Dorothy, getting away from Ned, "or if you prefer you may call her Octavia—she has a birthday within the octave of Christmas."
"Should have been called Yule, for yule-tide," said Nat. "Not too late yet, is it Tavia?"
Mrs. White was smiling at the good times "her children" had already made for themselves. She now insisted upon calling Dorothy daughter and she was so kind to Tavia that she made no distinction but said "daughters" in addressing both.
"Just see, boys," said their mother, unpinning Tavia's now famous half head of hair, "that is all there is left."
"Never!" exclaimed Nat, handling the braid gingerly. "How much did you settle for?"
"That would be telling," said Mrs. White, "but what I want you boys to do is to drive the girls down to your barber's. You said it was a very nice place."
"Tip-top," interrupted Ned. "Bay rum or old rum or anything else from oyster cocktail to Castile soap."
"But have you seen ladies go there?" asked the mother.
"Took 'em there myself," insisted the younger boy. "Don't you remember the day Daisy Bliss got burrs in her hair? Of course I did not put them there—"
"Oh, no!" drawled Ned.
"Well, she always was a dub at ducking," went on the other, "but I put up for the hair cut all the same."
"Now do listen, boys," and the mother spoke firmly. "Tavia must have her hair trimmed. I tried to get a hair-dresser to come out here, but we could not have it done until after the railroad man appraised it. So now the hair-dresser could not get here until after Sunday. That is why I am having recourse to a barber."
"Couldn't do better, mother," spoke up Ned, who had been trying to get a word in with Dorothy "on the other side."
"Then run along, girls, get your things. Don't dress up; it is country all the way, and the dinner folks are not out yet. It will be pleasanter to fix up after the operation," said Mrs. White.
"But I say, momsey," called Nat after her as she went upstairs, "you wouldn't suggest a 'Riley,' would you?"
"Nathaniel White, if you dare get that girl's hair cut in any but the most lady-like fashion I'll—disinherit you!"
"Shadows of the poorhouse! Don't! I'll make the fellow trim it with a butter knife. Come along, children. I'll show you the newest in chaperonage at Mike's!"
Both girls appeared on the veranda to which the depot cart had been drawn up. Dorothy looked like a pond lily, Tavia had told her, in her light green dress with her yellow hair falling over it. Tavia too was attractive, she had on a brown dress with gold in it that reflected the glint of her hair, and, as Ned handed Nat the reins he whispered: "A stunner and a hummer."
"It's real jolly to have a girl around," Nat remarked to Tavia, who had the front seat beside him, "and mother is so fond of girls—I have always worn my hair long to please her."
"Quite a protection in summer, isn't it?" asked Tavia, noticing how the sunburn stopped where the hair began, and that otherwise the young man was much tanned.
"Yes, some. But a fellow can't expect to be a peachblow at Camp HardTack."
"It must be a great sport to camp," ventured Tavia.
"The greatest ever! I would like to go out on a ranch but mother says 'no, little boy, you must stay home,' so home I stay."
Dorothy and Ned were evidently enjoying themselves as well as those at front, for, it seemed to Tavia that Dorothy's laugh had not rung out so jolly in many weeks—so much had happened lately to dampen mirthful spirits.
"Just fancy," said Tavia turning back to Ned, "I was sent along to keep Dorothy lively, she was actually threatened with nervous prostration, and think, how lively I did keep her? Came nearing firing a train."
"Oh, anything for a change," politely answered Ned. "One cannot tell just what sort of tonic is best, I am sure she looks first rate."
"Bully," added Nat, "but don't worry that you've laid aside nursing,Yule, I have not been well myself. Ahem! Just finish off on me!"
"There comes our barber shop," called Ned, as a striped pole appeared in view. "Now for the artistic clip-the-clip. Mike is a genius, blushing unseen here. But I mean to set him up some day. Tried to get him out to camp but he shied when we told him there were no 'cops.' Mike loves 'cops,' when the fellows get busy with his tonsorial apparatus."
"Don't faint this time," Dorothy cautioned Tavia with a merry smile, thinking that those two boys would likely dip her in the brook at the side of the shop should she attempt anything like that.
"Indeed I know where and when to faint," responded Tavia. "Mr. French has a way about him—"
"But you never tried me," said Nat, making a funny move as if to catch an armful of thin air. "I am an authority on faints. Every girl at school says I'm a perfect dear, for catching falls at commencement time. They all keel over then."
They were in front of the barber shop now. Mike opened the door with such a bow Tavia could scarcely repress a smile.
Ned made the arrangements, and Tavia mounted the high chair, allowed Mike, the Italian, to tuck the apron around her neck, then all she could see was a very queer looking girl in the glass in front of her.
"Just trim it evenly," said Dorothy, walking up to the chair, and feeling it was hardly safe to trust the boys with the order.
Carefully the barber let down the heavy coil.
"What!" he exclaimed, seeing it was only "half a head." "Fire, you been in explosion?"
"Sure!" answered Ned, mechanically.
Then Mike went through a series of groans, grunts and jabs at the air.
"So shame," he wailed. "The hair is so fine—like gold, brown gold."
With many a sigh and groan the barber plied his shears, stopping constantly to give vent to his feelings with a shrug of his broad shoulders and deep gutteral mutterings.
"Oh, quit gargling your throat, Mike, and get through with the job. The young lady is alive, you see, and expects to get back to the Cedars in time for breakfast," said Ned.
"I am sure that will do," said Dorothy at last, whereat Tavia gladly got out of the stuffy chair.
"Great!" both boys exclaimed in admiration as they saw how "smart"Tavia looked.
"It is becoming," said Dorothy.
"Handy," commented Tavia.
Presently the party was driving off again, Tavia indulging in the laughs she dared not take part in with the scissors at her ear, while Dorothy "scolded" the boys for making such sport of a poor foreigner.
"Poor indeed!" Ned echoed. "I wish we had some of his cash on hand. I mean the ready stuff. I have yet to make the acquaintance of a poor barber; especially the imported kind."
It was a jolly ride home—and the evening that followed was one full of pleasure.
[Illustration with caption: 'I AM SURE THAT WILL DO,' SAID DOROTHY ATLAST]
Dorothy wore her "heavenly" blue dress, while Tavia "blazed out" in her sunset costume. As Dorothy had predicted Mrs. White was radiant in her beautiful amethyst chiffon, so that the elementary evening "panned out" exactly as scheduled.
Mrs. White was a handsome woman. As Ruth Dale, youngest sister of Major Dale, she had been a belle, and now as Mrs. Winthrop White she was acknowledged a social leader and a favorite.
Her hair had the same brightness that made Dorothy's so attractive, except that years had tarnished that of Mrs. White, while her niece had seen only sunshine in life to polish the golden warp that beauty loves to spin. There were many features in both that marked relationship, and it was always declared that Dorothy was a Dale both in character and features.
The broad veranda at the Cedars was lighted with a flood of summer moonbeams, and there was seated on the lounging chairs a gay party of young persons and a few "grown ups."
Tavia and Dorothy, Ned and Nat, besides Rosabel Glen, the young girlwho lived in the pretty cottage next the Cedars, were there, and withMrs. White were Mrs. Theodore Glen and a visitor from Toledo, a MissBattin.
In meeting Rosabel Glen the girls from Dalton were both conscious of making the acquaintance of a society girl, one who though still in her teens, knew exactly what to say to be polite, and precisely what to do to show off to the very best possible advantage. She had called at the Cedars in the afternoon and remained just fifteen minutes, which time Mrs. White informed the girls after her departure was the social limit for a first call.
"But we were talking of something that could not possibly be finished in that time," Dorothy had complained.
"All the better chance for Rosabel to show off her manners," said Mrs. White with a laugh, for she had never agreed that young girls should enter society on stilts.
But the evening was different, informal and almost jolly. (The "almost" belonged to Miss Rosabel while the "jolly" was looked after by Ned and Nat, Dorothy and Tavia feeling like an appreciative audience.) All sorts of topics were introduced by the unhappy boys, who never had a good time when the Glens were present, but all resulted in the same failure to make a general conversation of firmer consistency than monosyllables.
"But you must come out to camp," said Nat in desperation. "We have the jolliest quarters, on a high knoll, just off the lake front and not too far from the hotel—a hotel is not bad to have around when a good blow takes the roof off your head at midnight."
"Oh, my!" exclaimed Rosabel, "you do not mean to say that your tents blow away in the night?"
"Not a bit particular as to time—night or day," went on the young man, "so long as they get away. Last time Ned clung to the ropes and the campers missed something for it was awfully dark."
"And you really were carried up by the force of the wind?" gasped the polite girl.
"And let down by it," admitted Ned, "I have a souvenir yet," rubbing his left arm.
"And girls camp!" gasped the one from the other cottage.
"Heaps of them. They're the best neighbors we've got. There's Camp Deb (all debutants you know), and I tell you their social guardians know how to fix them up for the season. They make a fellow think of the way fowls are treated before holiday time?"
"Oh," almost shrieked Rosabel, "Please don't!"
"But you ought to look into the treatment. I tell you those girls are beauts. They get fun, exercise, fresh air and have the last good time they ever expect to have in this world. Poor dears, they must all be engaged next season, you know."
Dorothy and Tavia were enjoying this, Rosabel had seemed to forget their presence, she at once became so absorbed in the society talk.
"I would like to visit camp," she ventured.
"Come along then," said Nat good naturedly, "Our girls are coming out to-morrow."
Tavia gave a significant sigh. Who could have any fun "with that door-bell floral piece tagging on," she thought.
Mrs. Glen was appealed to and it was finally arranged that she, Mrs. White, and the younger set should go on the following afternoon to visit Camp Hard Tack.
When the nine o'clock bell rang the visitors promptly rose to go, nor were they detained by any overwhelming entreaties to prolong their stay.
"Of all the sticks," began Ned, when they were at a safe distance.
"Hush, Neddie, Rosabel is being properly brought up," interrupted Mrs.White with more smiles than frowns.
"Properly! Save the mark! And if I had been a girl would you have done that to me? I did hope that Dorothy might be made comfortable here for some time, but if that is contagious I'll take her home myself. A case like that must be fatal," and Ned shook his head seriously.
"And her cheeks?" asked Nat, "what do you call that?"
"The very best," replied Tavia, "I know that kind is two dollars an ounce. I saw it in Rochester."
"Then we'll fix her out at camp," decided Nat. "We will put up some kind of a game that calls for a face wash and a forfeit. If Rosy objects I'll get the boys to wash it for her."
"Oh, that would be rude," insisted Dorothy.
"Not for campers," insisted the unquenchable Nat, "It might be for ministers, but not for campers."
It was not late enough to leave the porch, so the talk drifted toDalton matters.
"Now Dot," began Ned, "I'd like to hear more of the 'chaser' business. I am sure we have all heard the wrong story of it, and even at that I must admit it is not so slow—rather interesting. Give us the right version."
"Let Tavia tell it," Dorothy begged off.
"Well, who did the fellow turn out to be?" asked Ned.
"He hasn't turned out yet," replied Tavia. "The last we heard of him he tried to throw Dorothy over the falls—"
"Scamp," interrupted Ned. "Pity there's no fellows in Dalton big enough to lick a fellow like that."
"Oh, there are plenty of them," declared Dorothy, at once up in arms for the Dalton boys. "But he is such a coward he never appears except when he is sure we are alone."
"The entire boys' school hunted for him that day in the woods," addedTavia, "but he got away."
"What on earth is he after?" went on Ned.
"The Burlock money," promptly replied Dorothy. "At first we did not know that, but there is no doubt of it now. When he grabbed me he hissed into my ear, 'Did Miles Burlock leave his money with your father?' Oh!" exclaimed Dorothy, "I can't bear to think of it yet."
"Excuse me, coz," spoke up Ned, "perhaps I should not have made you think of it."
"Indeed, I scarcely ever get it out of my mind. It just haunts me."
"That's why she left school," Tavia reminded them, "And I left to keep her company," she finished with a merry laugh at the idea, and its evident consequences.
"A blessing all around," said Nat. "What would we have done if neither of you left and we got left—for this good time. I hope mom will kidnap Dorothy."
"Indeed you cannot have her," declared Tavia. "I should pine away and die at Dalton without her."
"Then stay at Birchland," suggested Ned. "Plenty of room."
"But what does the fellow want with the Burlock money?" asked Nat, getting back to the interesting affair that still remained so much of a mystery.
"It's a long story," began Dorothy, "and it has not all been told yet. Burlock was, in some way, in Anderson's power. I was with father when poor Mr. Burlock told us about it. He declared it was all the result of too much liberty in youth and bad company?"
"Be warned, Nat, my boy," interrupted Ned, jokingly. "I must have the mater cut you down. 'And he rambled till the mater cut him down,'" hummed the brother, paraphrasing the butcher song.
"Spare the allowance and cut anything else down you like," answeredNat. "But please do not interrupt again."
"Then it seems," went on Dorothy, "Mr. Burlock had a lot of money left him. From that time on this Anderson followed Mr. Burlock and even succeeded in separating him from his family."
"But how did Burlock hold on to the cash all that time?" asked Ned.
"Oh, that was kept for him. He only had the interest of it. But lately a Mrs. Douglass, of Dalton, died; she had charge of the money because Mr. Burlock was not considered capable of taking care of it himself."
"And now," said Ned, "the major has it, and Anderson is trying to get it away by means of information he hopes to get from the major's daughter? Easy as a, b, c. But to whom is the money left?"
"To an unknown or unfound daughter," said Dorothy. "Her name is Nellie or Helen Burlock, and it was in hopes of locating her, upon a false clew which Anderson sent, that poor Mr. Burlock met his death."
"But Dorothy had him all fixed for heaven," said Tavia. "Yes, if ever a man died, hoping to be forgiven, it was Miles Burlock. Those who were with him said so, and it was all Dorothy's doings. I must admit I did joke her about it," Tavia said earnestly, "but she had done so many things girls never do, and she was not strong enough to keep it up, so we all had to try to discourage it. But you will have to come to Dalton to hear her praises sung. She is a regular home missionary—the kind they tell about in meetings, but who are too busy to come and talk about themselves."
"I am sure Dorothy is an angel," said Nat, putting his arm affectionately around his cousin. "I only hope she will save some of her goodness for me—I do need a mission."
"Indeed," answered Dorothy, "joking aside, you boys are very good and so attentive to your mother. She told me so herself."
"Oh," gasped Nat, "when did she say that? Is it too late to make a strike now? I am horribly short—shore dinner this week you know."
"And there's Nellie," resumed Ned, determined to get at the bottom of the Burlock story. "Now she's to have money. What do you say, Nat, if we get on the case? Nellie might make it all right, you know."
"Great scheme, boy," said Nat, "you do the finding and I will act as your attorney."
"Isn't there any clue?" asked Ned.
"Yes, father is working on one, and I am so anxious to hear the result," said Dorothy. "Of course he will not write about it. I expect there will be lots of news when we get back to Dalton."
Tavia had been silent for some time. The boys had failed to "wake up her jokes," as they expressed it.
"Look here," said Ned tipping her chair back in a perilous way. "You can't claim to be sleepy for your eyes are just like stars. Nor need you pretend to be weeping inwardly for the coil of taffy we all forgot to bring back from Mikes' (if anything happens to that hair I'll have his license revoked), so now own up, what are you moping about?"
Dorothy was at Tavia's side instantly.
"You are tired, dear," she said. "Perhaps you are weak from shock.Let's go in."
"Indeed I'm all right—" stammered Tavia, but a hot tear fell onDorothy's hand, and told a different story.
"Homesick!" whispered Ned as he kissed Dorothy good night. "She'll be all right to-morrow."
Human life seems so like that depicted in the elements about us; a patch of blue here, and a streak of blackness stealing up there to cover it. A glint of gold there and a flurry of smoke almost upon it. So with life: brightness is so closely followed by shadows that gloom and glow become inseparable. Perhaps the contrasts save us from the blinding glare of extremes; it may be well to have even our joys tempered with moderation.
It had been such a happy day—Tavia felt she had never before known how to enjoy life. There had been many happy times of course, in Dalton, and Dorothy had often surprised her with entirely unexpected little treats; but somehow this was different, there was so much to be enjoyed at once.
Ah, Tavia! that is why reaction comes so suddenly. You left Nature behind you in Dalton—human wild flowers have a hard time of it when first thrust upon the pavements of social concrete.
Dorothy was with Tavia in the pretty bedroom. The moonlight made its way in at the curtained windows, and the two girls were clinging to each other there on the cushioned seat, trying to "think it out," Dorothy said.
"I had such a lovely time," sobbed Tavia, "and every one had been so good to me. But I could not help it Doro dear. When that Rosabel came I saw the difference—I saw I never could be your friend when we grew up. And then I got to thinking about home—Dorothy, I must go. I must talk about that money with dear mother and father and even little Johnnie—he did seem to need me so much! And I have been so selfish—to leave them all."
"Now, Tavia, you make me feel badly. It is I who am selfish to take you away, but I am sure your mother particularly wanted you to come, and your father was so pleased. I tell you, dear it is all that money. You just feel you cannot wait to talk all about it, and I don't blame you at all. You shall go home just as soon as you want to."
"But you must stay," said Tavia, brightening up at the thought of going home. "I came to be company for you, but you do not need me."
Was there just a sign of jealousy in her words? Dorothy instantly detected a change—Tavia drew herself up so like other girls, but so unlike Tavia.
"Not need you! Why, Tavia, who in all this world could take your place," and her arms were wound around the neck of the weeping girl, while the fondest sister-kiss was pressed to the tear-stained cheek.
"My, what a goose I am!" suddenly exclaimed Tavia, springing up. "I never was homesick or had the real blues in all my life, and I do not propose to do the baby act now. So there," and she gave a hearty hug to Dorothy. "I'm done with blubbering, and I'm more ashamed of myself than I was the day I ran away after the row with Sarah. Now, I'll beat you to bed, and to sleep, too, for that matter. We will have to do some tall snoring to catch up with the rosy Rosabel—her cheeks will make ours look like putty."
It was late, and Dorothy was glad to feel that Tavia had conquered her homesickness, for that is what Dorothy insisted the attack was. It was, however, the first—but the pain it left in Tavia's heart did not heal at once, nor did it leave the spot unscarred.
Mrs. White had prudently left the girls to themselves, but now, by some strange intuition she felt the "storm" was over, and sent a maid to ask Dorothy if some crackers or an ice would not taste good. In replying the girls discovered they were not the only ones up late, and presently the entire party had assembled in the beautiful chintz dining room, and the ices were being served between good-natured "jollyings."
"That hair cut went to your head," Ned told Tavia, "but wait until I go down for the tresses, I'll scare Mike stiff—make him believe we thought he had 'cribbed' them."
Tavia was entirely herself now, and had word for word with the jolly boys.
Mrs. White studied her closely, but of course, unobserved. She was a fine girl, no doubt of it, and a pleasant companion for Dorothy. Her humor was as pure as the bubbles in the brook, and just as unfailing. And what a pretty girl she was! Those hazel eyes and that bronze head. No wonder even the foreign barber had noted that it was "scarce."
"A veritable wildflower," concluded the hostess, just as others had said; Major Dale for instance.
Dorothy was of an entirely different type. Her beauty was the sort that grows more and more attractive, as character develops, not depending upon mere facial outline.
"Now, children, off to bed with you," said Mrs. White, touching the bell to tell the maid the late lunch was over, "and to-morrow you know we go to camp. You will not have a headache, Tavia?"
"I have never had one in my life," answered Tavia, in that polite tone she always used in speaking to the hostess. "Perhaps my head does not know enough to ache."
"Blissful ignorance then," replied Mrs. White, "see to it that you never become so worldly-wise as to learn how. A head that does not ache is a joy forever."
Hasty good nights were exchanged, and this time there was no "waking night-mare" for Tavia. She wanted to sleep—young hearts may ache once in a while, but they have a comfortable habit of deferring to tired nature at least once in twenty-four hours.
So the Cedars rustled to their hearts' content, and the pines whispered derisively at their attempt to make themselves heard in the world of music makers—poor little stunted cedars! So small beside the giant pines, so useless in a tree's great province—to give shade; but that file of trees, scarcely taller than a hedge, had for years and years made the division between one land and another, so they stood for that at least. As Nat had explained to Tavia "they knew where to draw the line."
The morning that followed was one of those beautiful streaks of Nature's capriciousness when she allows spring to turn back and give orders to summer. It was late in June, yet the air was soft and balmy, and the sunshine behaved so nicely that Tavia, looking out of her window actually found dew on the honeysuckle, and saw there was no need to close blinds at even ten o'clock—which was late for dew certainly, and late for a girl like Tavia Travers to get her first romp out of doors.
Dorothy looked in mischievously.
"We didn't call you," she said smiling, "because you were so anxious about your cheeks, you know. Let me see. I do declare, Tavia Travers, is that a blush? Or did you dream you were Rosabel? Now don't try to tell me that's perfectly natural. It isn't—it's simply divine," and she gave her friend a reassuring kiss.
"When we get to talking such nonsense," said Tavia with as much severity as she could summon on short notice, "I think we should do something for it—get busy at something you know. It is plainly the result of downright idleness."
"Dr. Gray's prescription, you know. But now for camp. The boys have gone on ahead, and Aunt Winnie is going to stop at the hotel for lunch, She said she thought we would enjoy it."
"Oh, I will, I am sure," answered Tavia, promptly. "That's what worries me, I am getting to enjoy everything. What in the world will I do when I get back to Dalton?"
"Write letters to Nat, I suppose. Now don't get any deeper shade of red, dear. The one that you woke up with is so becoming."
"How much time have we?" asked Tavia, bestowing more care on the brushing of her short hair now than she had ever thought of giving the mass that the barber still had in his keeping.
"Perhaps an hour, but we want to get out on the lawn, for a game of ball before we start. I am just dying to play real ball! I do miss Joe and Roger so!"
"I am sure they miss you, too, Doro. I have been wondering how you have managed to keep away from them."
"Well, I have to you know. Besides I get a letter every day. Joe said yesterday that your folks had taken the Baldwin house."
"Father said in his letter he expected to. But do you know, Doro, I would never advise a poor girl to go out of her own territory, I think I shall be unhappy now—at home."
"Nonsense. You will enjoy the simple life more thoroughly than ever.That is only a scruple, you are afraid you shouldn't enjoy anything butDalton. You know perfectly well you would rather digJacks-in-the-pulpit out by our back wall, than snatch thosehoneysuckles at your window."
"Perhaps," said Tavia vaguely. "But I guess you are right, Doro. You always are. I am just afraid to think of anything but what we've got."
"Not even the five hundred?"
"Oh, that is what upsets me. I shall expect it to make us millionaires."
"And so it will in happiness. I can't blame you one bit for wanting to get home to talk it over."
"Oh, that was yesterday. To-day I want to go to camp."
Dorothy looked at her uneasily. She remembered it was told her once that sudden changes were always unwholesome to young people.
"It must be that," she told herself, "Tavia has had too many sudden changes lately. And she always was so sentimental. I believe, after all, it is best for girls to keep busy at practical things. Tavia has never been trained."
"Now," said Tavia, who had been fixing before the pretty dressing table, "I'm ready. But I have a plan—to help Nat out with Rosabel's complexion test."
"Oh, he was only joking," exclaimed Dorothy. "He wouldn't be so rude."
"It's no harm, I'm sure; I've done it lots of times. Come out and I'll show you."
Out on the lawn Tavia ran about like the girl she used to be. She was looking for something. Down behind the hedge of Cedars then out on the open fields patches of clover and daisies were tangled—they grew outside the Cedars; beyond the line.
"Here it is!" she called to Dorothy. "Such a lovely bunch."
Then running back she brought to Dorothy a long stem of mullen leaves.
"What are they for?" asked Dorothy, for she knew the common plant well enough.
"To paint our cheeks with, and it doesn't come off! Won't Rosabel be surprised."
"But I wouldn't think of putting those sticky leaves to my face," objected Dorothy.
"Why, they're not poison," said Tavia, beginning to unfold the velvet leaves that look so soft and are really so very "scratchy."
"Don't!" begged Dorothy. "It is just as bad as paint, and paint is positively vulgar. I am sure you were mistaken about Rosabel. No respectable girl would be so foolish."
But Tavia was rubbing the leaves to her pink cheeks with absolute disregard of everything but "rubbing." That seemed to be the one thing necessary in the operation.
Presently a deep red stained her cheeks. She felt the sting but wanted to make sure it was all rubbed on.
"Does it burn?" asked Dorothy in surprise that Tavia should really carry out her threat to make her cheeks redder than Rosabel's.
"A little," admitted Tavia. "Don't you want to try it?"
"Not for worlds," answered Dorothy. "Since you say it will not wash off how are you going to explain it?"
"Sunburn," promptly answered the other, with a subtlety surprising toDorothy.
"You really must not help the boys play any joke on Miss Glen," said Dorothy. "You know they are Aunt Winnie's neighbors, and we are her guests."
"Oh, all right, if you feel that way about it," said Tavia a little stiffly, "perhaps, Dorothy, I had better have a headache and not go out to camp—I don't mean to be pouty," she hurried on, "but really, Dorothy, I have never been able to withstand that sort of temptation and I might embarrass you. I wouldn't do it for anything, Doro."
Dorothy Dale was perplexed. First Tavia had said sunburn instead of mullen leaves, and now she was willing to substitute headache for rudeness. Wasn't she learning a trifle too fast? Aunt Winnie never advocated that sort of thing—the rich may be just as honest as the poor, and more so, for they have opportunities of discerning the great difference between a gentle and polite way of saving persons' feelings and the rude unpardonable way of seeking refuge behind little quibbles at the expense of truth.
"We were only joking, of course," said Dorothy finally, jumping up from her seat on the old tree stump, "But it is different where some one else is concerned. Everybody is not willing to take a joke you know."
"I've noticed that lately," replied Tavia, pressing both hands to her cheeks to stop, if possible, the burning of the mullen leaves. "But you know I once promised to show you how I looked painted. Now I've kept my promise."
The flaming red of her cheeks seemed to make her eyes blaze as well, and it could not be denied she looked wonderfully pretty—or would look so at longer range, through opera glasses, perhaps. But in calm daylight there was something strange about her face. The short bronze hair, the dancing hazel eyes,—
"Tavia," exclaimed Dorothy, dismay in her voice, "I am so sorry—you look like—an actress."