CHAPTER XXII.THE INTERRUPTED SUPPER.
One evening the street musicians came home in a greatly disturbed state of mind and hurried into Frank’s room, where they found Merry.
“Oh, Mr. Merriwell!” cried Jack; “there is a man who has been following us about everywhere!”
“And—and he spoke to us!” fluttered the blind girl.
“He’s such a bad-looking man!” said the boy.
“He asked us where we lived,” said little Nell.
“I refused to tell him, and then he got angry.”
“And said we should be arrested as vagrants. Oh! I am so afraid of him!”
“There! there!” said Frank; “don’t get so excited. Was the man intoxicated?”
“No! no! no!” answered the boy. “I am sure he was not, and still—and still he might have been drinking.”
“Well, you escaped from him all right, and it’s not likely you will see him again.”
“I’m afraid we shall, for I am sure the same man followed us last evening, though I said nothing to Nellie about it, not wishing to frighten her.”
“I don’t see why he should follow you.”
“All I know is that he did.”
“Did he follow you here?”
“Part way, but I guess we gave him the slip by coming through an alley.”
“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it any more. If he makes any more trouble for you, I’ll see him.”
“Oh! you are so good!” said the girl, getting an arm about Frank’s neck. “I feel safe when we are with you.”
He kissed her tenderly and soothed her fears. Then they invited him in to have supper with them.
It happened that Frank had not eaten, having started in to study upon a certain part of an engine immediately after reaching his room and taken a sponge bath and changed his clothes, he finally agreed to take supper with the little musicians.
“You know what a good cook I am,” laughed the lame boy.
“I should be the one to cook,” said the girl; “but I can’t see to do that. I can help get supper ready, though.”
They went into the room occupied by the brother and sister. There were two small beds in opposite corners of the room, which was rather large, one of them being curtained off with cheap cloth.
At one side of the room was a cupboard and a bench. There was a small cook stove in the room.
“Now,” cried the boy, as he hopped about with his crutch, “I’ll show you what coffee and what biscuits I can make.”
“And I will set the table,” declared little Nell.
“I have a plan,” said Frank. “We will take the table into my room, for it will be hot in here after Jack gets his cooking done. We’ll eat in there.”
This was agreed upon, and Frank managed to move the table, with very little aid from the lame boy.
Jack built the fire and prepared for work. He took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, washed face and hands, and then got out the cake board. In a short time he was working in the flour, and the way he went at it proclaimed his skill.
“If you will bring the dishes, Frank, I’ll set the table,” said little Nell.
So Merry carried the dishes, what few there were, out through the short passage and into his room, where the blind girl, after the cloth was spread, stood by the table and arranged them. She seemed to do this work by instinct, for she could not have done it better had she been able to see.
“Oh, we will have such a lovely supper!” she laughed, her sweet face glowing with pleasure. “It seems to me that we have much better times since we knew you, Frank. I am certain we are far happier. I am so glad we found you!”
“And I am glad, Nellie!” Merry declared. “It would have been lonely living here, and you have brightened my life like sunshine bursting through a cloud.”
She came near him, her hands clasped, her sightless eyes turned upon his face, as if she could see.
“I love to hear you talk,” she murmured. “You have such a pleasant voice, and you say such beautiful things.Anyone would know there was nothing bad in your heart just to hear you speak.”
“I hope there is nothing bad in my heart, Nellie,” he said, with deep earnestness. “It is our duty to keep our hearts free from all evil, but sometimes I find it necessary to fight to do so.”
“But you fight so bravely I am sure you’ll never be conquered.”
“Thank you, dear little Nell,” he said, taking both her hands and looking down at her face. “Your confidence in me will help me in the battle of life. I am at the foot of the ladder now, but some day I may mount to the top. If I do, I shall not forget my little companions of my days of misfortune.”
“How good you are!” she murmured. “Oh, how I long to see your face!”
“Some day, as true as it is possible, you shall!” he cried. “I cannot believe you are fated to be blind forever. The money is coming in slowly, but it is coming. Pretty soon you will have enough to travel to New York, and have the great specialist treat you.”
“Yes! yes!” she fluttered. “The money never came in so fast as it has since we met you. Jack says each night that the time is growing shorter and shorter. I can remember something about the way things look. I remember the flowers, and I love them so much! They are like fairies, decked out in all their fancy dresses. Sometimes Jack, who knows how dearly I love them—sometimes he brings me home a few. Then I put them in water, and I sit by them, and smell them, and touch them, and whisperto them. It seems that they must hear and understand me.”
Her face was bright as she was speaking, but, of a sudden, it became shadowed and saddened.
“But, for all I can do,” she went on, mournfully, “they wither and die at last. And that hurts me so! I cry over them, and it makes brother feel bad, and he says he will not bring me any more flowers. It doesn’t seem right that beautiful things should fade and die. Oh, why is it so?”
“It is the law of nature,” said Frank, gently. “All things must have an end, but nothing perishes. The flower turns to dust, and from the dust another flower springs perhaps. Something comes from it. There is a constant and continual change, but nothing really perishes.”
“Yes, yes; Jack and I have talked of that. Sometimes we speak of the loss of our dear mother, for she seemed to fade like a flower, and he says we shall find her again—some time.”
“It is a beautiful belief,” said Frank. “But you are getting sad, little Nell; and we are to be happy to-night, you know.”
Then he cheered her up till soon she was laughing.
Jack came to the door and cried:
“Ready for the feast. The coffee is cooked, and the biscuits will be done in four minutes.”
“Wait,” said Frank. “I want to slip out to the street for something. I will be back directly.”
He seized his hat and went out. At the corner hepassed a man who was standing back in the deep shadow. He did not pay any attention to the man.
At a fruit store Frank purchased some oranges and bananas. With them he hurried back.
The man near the corner slunk deep into a doorway as he passed, and then stepped out and followed him lightly.
“Here we are!” cried Frank, gayly, as he deposited the fruit on the table. “To-night we will have a treat.”
Everything was ready, and they sat down. Little Nell folded her hands and asked a blessing, while Frank and Jack bowed their heads. Jack started to pour thecoffee. All at once he stopped and stared at his sister.
“Gracious, Nellie!” he cried. “You never looked so much like mother before! Why, somehow you look just like her as you sit there at that end of the table. You should have seen her, Frank. She was a beautiful woman.”
“Get her picture,” said the girl—“get it and show it to him.”
Jack sat down the coffee pot and hopped away into the other room. He quickly returned with a photograph, which he gave to Frank.
Merry looked at the picture, and, indeed, the blind girl showed a strong resemblance to the sad-faced, beautiful woman.
Rap! rap! rap!—a heavy knock on the door.
Little Nell uttered a startled exclamation, and then the door was flung open.
Outside stood a dark-faced man, whom Frank recognized instantly.
It was old Joe Hicks!
“It’s the man who followed us!” cried the lame boy, in a flutter of excitement.