CHAPTER XWHERE IS NANCY?“My, but I am glad we didn’t go back last night,” exulted Jeanette the next morning.“Why?” inquired Martha, as they sat in the sun parlor after breakfast.“Didn’t you see the fog when we got up?” asked Nancy.“Oh, yes. Itwasfoggy; wasn’t it?”“Mart likes fog,” said Jeanette, smiling.“I’m going for a long ramble along the shore this morning,” announced Nancy presently. “Anybody want to come along?”“I promised Miss Ashton that I’d go with her to look at some linens she is thinking of buying,” said Jeanette regretfully. “I’m sorry; for I’d love to go. I suppose she would postpone her shopping trip, but I sort of hate to ask her to.”“I know; she asks so little of us, that one can’t refuse when she does want something,” said Nancy.“I’d go, but I’m driving this morning,” said Martha. “But we’ll take you part way, if you like. Which way are you going?”“Oh, out the road toward Lower Woods Harbor, I think. I love that rocky coast. Thanks for the offer of a lift, Mart; but I really want to just ramble along the shore.”“You won’t be able to see much; will you, Nancy? It’s so foggy,” said Jeanette. Somehow she didn’t quite like the idea of Nancy going off alone this morning; and yet she had no reasonable objection to offer.“The fog will be entirely gone by ten o’clock, I imagine,” replied Nancy.“Don’t go so far you can’t get back for lunch,” advised Martha.“Oh,” laughed Nancy, “I always have a bar of chocolate in my bag for emergencies; so if I walk farther than I expect to, at least I won’t starve.”“If you get tired, or go too far, just hop on an oxomobile,” suggested Martha.“In that case, I’m afraid it would be dinner time before you reached the hotel,” said Jeanette.“Dinner time to-morrow, you mean,” corrected Nancy; “for the poor beasts move so painfully slowly.”“Better wear something warm, Nan,” advised Jeanette, as they all went upstairs to get ready for the morning’s trips. “It’s quite chilly.”“But it’s hard to walk in a long coat,” objected Nan. “I should think my knitted dress and heavy sweater would do.”“Perhaps,” said Jeanette, doubtfully.“Don’t lose your pocketbook, Nan,” called Martha, as they parted at the foot of the hotel steps later in the morning.“Don’t fall, Mart,” retorted Nancy.Laughing, they turned in opposite directions, Martha toward the garage where she knew Mr. Pierce would be waiting; and Nancy toward Lower Woods Harbor.The selection of a luncheon set took Miss Ashton and Jeanette much longer than they expected; then they spent an hour looking at the fascinating souvenirs in one of the shops devoted to such bait for the tourist. It is almost impossible to tear one’s self away from their attractive displays.Martha found driving on the dusty, winding roads of Nova Scotia quite a different thing from rolling smoothly over the concrete roads at home. Besides a stream, on one road, they saw a brand new maroon sedan on its side in the water, at the right of a narrow bridge. The bank at the entrance to the bridge plainly showed where the driver had gone over. Martha got so nervous that she wanted to give up the wheel to her companion at once; but he quietly refused.“Go right ahead,” he ordered. “You’ll have to learn to cross narrow bridges.”“But that car down there,” protested Martha.“Don’t look at it. Keep your eyes on the road ahead of the car.”Martha was not at all accustomed to being told so firmly what to do, and expected to do it. Everyone had always laughed at her and considered her ways and remarks a huge joke. She did not know now whether to obey or not; so she slowed up a bit.“Go on,” said her instructor. “Keep to the right of the center of the bridge, and you’ll be over it in a minute.”“Don’t ever let yourself become unnerved at the sight of an accident,” he went on sternly when they had left the bridge behind. “Put your mind on the managing of your own car, and let the other fellow attend to his.”Long before the lesson was over, Martha discovered that there are instructors;andinstructors.“Where is Nan?” inquired Miss Ashton, when they assembled for lunch.“I haven’t seen her since we parted at ten o’clock at the foot of the hotel steps,” replied Martha.“Nor I since she dressed to go out,” added Jeanette.“It is strange that she is not back by this time,” said Miss Ashton anxiously.“She said she had some chocolate in her bag,” observed Martha, “and that she wouldn’t starve if she went too far to get back by lunch time.”“Yes, she did,” agreed Jeanette. “I thought she was joking; but maybe she meant it.”“In that case, there is no sense in our waiting lunch for her,” decided Miss Ashton, practically. “Perhaps she will come before we have finished. If not, we’ll manage to feed her some way when she does come.”“Nan always walks farther than she intends,” said Jeanette, as they sat down at the table; “then has to sit down and rest before she can get home again.”“That’s probably the case this time,” decided Miss Ashton. “There is no occasion for worry about her.”Jeanette tried to take the same view of the situation; but, in spite of herself, she felt some misgivings. She wished now that she had asked Miss Ashton to put off the shopping trip, and had gone with Nan. However, there was nothing to do but wait; and everything probably was all right after all. As Nan always said, Jeanette was over-inclined to worry.Martha was so tired after her morning’s exertion that she threw herself across her bed, and slept most of the afternoon. Jeanette roamed anxiously from their room down to the lobby, out to the sun parlor, from which you can get a view of the street in both directions, and back again. Shortly after lunch, the fog crept in again; and the damp, gray, gloomy atmosphere added to her depression. She wanted to go out in search of Nancy, but since she was not very sure of direction in a strange city, she was afraid of losing her way. Miss Ashton had gone to the outskirts of the city to call upon a family whose address had been given her by a Boston friend with an urgent request to see them before she returned.By four o’clock, poor Jeanette was quite frantic. She was crossing the lobby for the tenth time, when she caught sight of Jim Jackson standing before the desk. Running across the room, she grabbed him by the arm; and he turned quickly.“Why, Miss Grant! What are you doing here?” he exclaimed in surprise. “I thought you were in Boston by now.”“No; we didn’t go—we’re still here,” replied Jeanette, incoherently; “but”—her voice almost broke—“Nan’s gone.”“Nan’s gone! What on earth do you mean?”“Nan’s lost, I think.”“When? How?”“Since morning. She went for a walk, and——”“In which direction? Do you know?”“She spoke of going toward Lower Woods Harbor.”The scene of their last ride together, thought Jim.“I’ll take the bus and go to look for her. Want to come?” he added kindly; for Jeanette’s distressed little face touched him.“If you don’t mind. I’ll not be a second.” She dashed upstairs, snatched her own heavy coat and Nan’s, and was down again by the time he had the bus at the door. Miss Ashton had not yet returned, and Martha was still asleep; but Jeanette was far too excited to think of leaving any word for them.“I was so shocked to see you standing beside me,” began Jim, as he guided the bus rapidly in the direction of the Harbor, “I could hardly believe my eyes.”“Well, I assure you I was delighted to see you. I have been nearly frantic all the afternoon. Miss Ashton is away off somewhere at the other end of the town, making a call, and Martha is asleep; and I didn’t know what to do.”“How did you happen to stay over!”With frequent pauses to examine the roadside more closely, Jeanette told him about their change of plan; and of what they had been doing since he left town.“Pierce, the purser?” he asked, when she mentioned Martha’s efforts to learn to drive. “Yes.”“He’s a fine fellow. A bit serious, and stern; but a good scout.”“I can’t imagine Martha with anyone of that type,” observed Jeanette; “for she’s always been laughed at and given her own way.”“She’ll never get it with him, unless it happens to be his way too; or he’s convinced that hers is the right way. Pierce doesn’t hold out for his own way through mere obstinacy; but when he’s sure he’s right, there’s no budging him.”“What’s that?” asked Jeanette suddenly; and Jim stopped the bus almost instantly.“Where!”“Down on those rocks.”Jim scrambled down, and came up with a piece of bright Blue bunting.“Just a bit of some of the decorations we saw the other day, evidently,” he said, tossing it aside after showing it to her. “If only this fog would lift,” he muttered, as he started the bus again.“You watch that side of the road,” he presently directed Jeanette; “and I’ll watch this.” They were going very slowly, and scanning every nook and cranny.In the meantime, Miss Ashton had returned, taken a peek into the girls’ room, and found Martha just rousing from her long nap.“Where are the other two girls?” asked Miss Ashton.“I don’t know—” yawned Martha. “I went to sleep right after lunch; for I was dead after this morning. Nan hadn’t appeared then, and Jeanette was waiting around for her. She must have come, and then she and Janie gone off somewhere; for I’m quite sure Jeanette would never have let me sleep until this hour if Nan hadn’t returned.”“It is very strange that they are staying out until now,” said Miss Ashton, half an hour later, going again to the girls’ room, where she found Martha partly ready for dinner.“That’s just what I was thinking. Do you suppose Nan didn’t come back, and Janie went to look for her?”“I don’t know what to suppose. It isn’t like Jeanette to go off without a word to anybody.”“I know it.”Worry and excitement gripped Martha, and she had a hard time to keep back the tears.They finished dressing, and went down to the lobby, where Miss Ashton inquired of the clerk if he knew anything about Jeanette’s whereabouts.“The day clerk is off duty now, Madam,” he replied, “and I have not seen the young lady this evening.”“Pardon me,” said the head bell boy, who had been standing near enough to hear the question and answer. “You mean the little blond lady?”“Yes, yes,” cried Martha.“She came into the lobby about four o’clock, just as Jim got here——”“Jim?” demanded Martha.“Yes, Jim. I don’t know his other name, but he drives the bus. They stood here talking, and then the lady went upstairs for her wrap, and went off with Jim when she came down again. They went away in the bus.”“Thank goodness!” breathed Miss Ashton, as they turned away after thanking the boy for his information. “Jim has evidently gone to look for Nan, and has taken Jeanette with him. Don’t worry, Martha,” she added, seeing that the girl beside her was struggling with emotion, “Jim knows these roads, as probably no one else does. He will find her, I’m sure.”“But—but—” faltered Martha, “suppose something hashappenedto Nan.”“We just won’t think about such a possibility,” decreed Miss Ashton determinedly.“But I don’t seewhyJeanette didn’t waken me.”“She probably thought every minute that Nancy would come. You know how it is, Martha, when one is waiting for somebody. Besides, after all, what could you have done?”“I could have kept her company, at least,” retorted Martha quickly.“Yes, of course; but she knew that you were tired out. We might as well eat dinner.”“I couldn’t swallow a mouthful——”“There is no sense at all in letting yourself get weak and more nervous for want of food,” said Miss Ashton firmly. “So we’ll eat. Order something light, if you prefer; but you must have nourishing food.”For the second time that day, Martha surprised herself by following the will of another.It seemed to Jeanette that they had ridden at least twice around the whole peninsula of Nova Scotia before she spied something red upon the rocks below the road.“Stop!” she cried, excitedly; and Jim obeyed.“Nan has a red purse. Maybe that’s it,” pointing to the scarlet spot at the water’s edge.They both scrambled across the rocks with what speed they could, for they were wet and slippery with the incoming tide, and strewn with seaweed.“It is!” exclaimed Jeanette, as they got closer to the object. “She must be drowned!”Jim made no reply, but with one long stride, and a sweep of his arm, he secured the little purse.“For Heaven’s sake!” he cried. “Look!”The purse was tied to the back of a toy duck.“That’s the prize Nan won at the bridge party in Digby,” he added.“You’re right, but how did it come here?” puzzled Jeanette.“I can’t tell any more than you, but it is what kept the purse from sinking. See how wet it is? Nan must have sent the toy ashore, hoping it would attract attention.”“But what can wedo?”Jeanette was twisting her hands and trying to keep from tears. She mustnotbecome hysterical.Jim was doing some rapid thinking.“I imagine she’s out on one of those rocks that are high and dry at low tide, but cut off from the mainland when the tide comes in. I can get a boat back there a ways,” waving his hand in the direction from which they had come, “and go out after her. Would you be afraid to stay in the bus if I lock it? I’d take you,” as Jeanette hesitated, “but I can go quicker alone; and, besides, it won’t help matters any for you to get soaked.”“I’ll stay,” said Jeanette, bravely going back toward the car, and getting in.“Good for you! You’ll be perfectly safe, and I’ll be just as quick as I can.”Jim disappeared into the fog, and Jeanette curled up on one of the seats for a good cry. She was soon over it, however, and straining her eyes, trying to see through the thick gray blanket which had wrapped itself around the coast. Once she heard the sound of oars, but she could not distinguish any objects.The minutes seemed to fairly crawl, and each one was like an hour! No one passed along the road, not even a stray dog. Suppose Jim could not find Nan? Suppose he too got lost? Suppose she had to just stay on and on here?In the meantime Jim was heading, as well as he could, toward a big rock called “The Turtle,” which he had pointed out and remarked upon to Nan on that last memorable ride. It was a big flat slab, with an end which reared up much higher than the rest of it, and formed the head of the turtle. The long tail, which joined the formation with the jutting point of the shore, was well under water long ere this. It was difficult to be sure of direction in the fog, and he paused frequently to get his bearings. He dared not go too far along the coast, either way, because he might get beyond his goal. If he rowed out any great distance, the current might catch him; and if he remained too close to the shore, he would ground on the rocks.If old Dave had only been at home, he would have come with him; or at least would have furnished a lantern. Lucky that the old dory, with the oars in it, was outside where all Jim had to do was help himself.“Nan!” he finally shouted at the top of his voice, when he figured he might be somewhere near the cut-off portion of the “Turtle.” He listened intently, holding his breath so as to hear better.No reply.He rowed a little farther to the right, and tried again with the same result. Then he turned back to the left, where he had called the first time.“N—A—N!”Was that an echo, or a faint answer?He tried again.“N—A—N!”“—e—r—e.”No mistake. Itwasa far-off reply. But from which side had it come?“Nan! Where are you?”He strained his ears for the answer, trying with all his might to get the direction when the answer did come.“—e—r—e.” It trailed off feebly in the fog at the right. He must have gone beyond The Turtle; for he felt quite positive that was where Nancy was. The purse and duck had been at a point nearly opposite it.He rowed as fast as he dared for some little distance to the right, and then called again.“Nan! Where are you?”“Here— Tur-tle.”Thank God she was safe!By repeatedly calling and waiting for the answer, he guided the boat successfully toward the rock formation. At last it loomed up beside him, and he saw Nancy perched on the head, all the rest being covered by water.“Hello, Jim!” she said, as he sat for a moment silently looking up at her.One would have thought it the most natural place in the world for them to meet.“Oh, Nan,” he faltered; and could get no further.“Jim, take me home,” she begged, her bravery and nonchalance quickly dispelled by the sight of his deep distress.“Can you slide down into the boat?”“I think so.”“Steady yourself with this,” holding up one oar and keeping the boat in place with the other.She succeeded in slipping down the rocks and into the dory, and Jim started to head for the shore. Neither said a word, until Nancy began to wring the water out of her skirt.“Nan, you’re soaked. Take this,” said Jim, pulling off his sweater quickly.“I won’t! You’ll catch your death of cold without it.”“I’m exercising. Put it on!”Nancy obeyed, and nothing more was said until the boat grated on the sand. Jim stepped out and gave her a hand. She was stiff and cold, and could hardly stand. Seeing her stagger, Jim stooped and picked her up like a doll.“Put your arms around my neck,” he directed.“But Jim,” she protested, “I’m too heavy. You’ll hurt yourself.”Paying no attention to her objections, he carried her across the beach and appeared so suddenly beside the bus that Jeanette gave a little scream.“She’s all right,” said Jim, placing Nan gently on the seat beside Jeanette, “only cold and stiff.”After one wild hug, Jeanette busied herself making Nancy comfortable.“Give Jim my coat,” directed Nan, when Jeanette tried to slip it on her. “He made me put on his sweater, and it’s too wet from my clothes now for him to use it.”“You’ll do no such thing,” said Jim decidedly. “Besides, what do you suppose would happen to your coat if I tried to get into it.”“Jim,please!” pleaded Nancy. “You’ll catch cold and have pneumonia—or—or something, and it will be all my fault——”Her voice broke.“I have a sheepskin somewhere here under the seat. I’ll put that on to satisfy you. Will that do?”“Yes.”Nobody talked on the homeward trip; each was too busy thinking of what might have happened.“Go ahead and open the doors for us, Miss Grant,” directed Jim, when they stopped in front of the hotel, and he prepared to carry Nancy in. Like a good soldier, Jeanette obeyed, and did not look behind.“It’s quite unnecessary to carry me, Jim,” said Nancy. “I can walk perfectly well now; see? I’d really rather not be carried in.Please!” as he hesitated.“I—I don’t know what to say to you, how to thank you,” she continued.“Don’t try. Go in now, dear. I’ll see you to-morrow.”At the top of the long flight of steps, up which he assisted her, a pillar shut off the light from the windows; and in its shadow Jim stooped and shyly kissed Nancy. Then he pushed her gently into the lobby, where Jeanette was waiting; ran down the steps, and out to the bus.“My goodness, Nan,” cried Jeanette, “you were so long getting in that I was afraid he had dropped you.”“He didn’t carry me, Janie. I’m all right now. Please don’t tell the others that part of it,” she begged.“All right, Nannie dear. I won’t.”It did not take them long to put Nancy to bed and give her a hot meal.“We’re not going to ask or answer any questions to-night,” decreed Miss Ashton, in her professional manner. “I want Nancy to be perfectly quiet now, and go to sleep. To-morrow, if she feels like it, she may tell us her experiences. Jeanette, you and Martha take my room for to-night. I’ll stay here in case Nan needs any care during the night.”Excited though they were, the girls respected Miss Ashton’s wishes too much to object to her decision. Jeanette hated to be separated from Nancy, but she knew that she would be in capable hands; for Miss Ashton was a tireless nurse.The girls bade Nancy good night and went to their room. Miss Ashton went to bed in Martha’s single, and, after bidding Nan call her if she wanted anything, or felt at all ill, she was soon asleep.Nancy herself lay wide awake in the big bed beside the fireplace, and watched the street lights flicker across the windowpane. She was quite cozy and comfortable, but not in the least sleepy. The events of the day passed and re-passed through her mind, especially those of the last two hours. How nice it had been to see Jim again, and how wonderful of him to rescue her. Her cheeks burned as she recalled his good night, yet she could not, some way, feel angry at him, as she should. Why? She had always hated any form of “necking” and a boy who tried it even once was out of her good graces.“You’re so funny, Nan,” remarked one of her admirers, smarting from a rebuke. “Everyone does it now.”“That may be,” she had replied. “Let ‘everyone.’Iwon’t.”“But why? There is no harm in it,” he had persisted.“Whether there is harm in it or not, I don’tlikeit. I consider love and all that goes with it such a wonderful, such a sacred thing, that I don’t care to spoil it by playing at it with Tom, Dick, and Harry. My kisses and hugs are going to be kept for the one right man; if he ever comes. This wholesale display of affection is unspeakably cheap and disgusting, and I won’t be a party to it.”Poor Jim!Hehad been so cut up over her disappearance, and the difficulty he’d had in rescuing her, that the relief of getting her home safely made him forget all about his shyness and customary reserve. She’d try to forget about the whole affair, and go to sleep.“But,” she thought, just before she fell into a doze, “I’m glad Jim’s coming to-morrow.”CHAPTER XIAFTER EFFECTSThe next morning, although Nancy appeared to be perfectly all right, Miss Ashton insisted upon her remaining in bed.“You were thoroughly soaked and chilled, and must have had quite a nervous shock,” replied that lady when her patient wanted to go down to breakfast; “so we’re going to be on the safe side. This afternoon, possibly, I will let you get up.”Jeanette brought up some breakfast, and insisted upon feeding her, though Nancy laughed at her. A little later in the morning, they all gathered around the bed to listen to the story of her adventure.“I went right out the Harbor road after I left you, Mart,” began Nancy. “The fog had risen, and the sunshine on the water was lovely; and I stopped often to admire the view. When I reached The Turtle, I walked out and sat down on his back to rest. First, I faced the water for a time; then I turned around, leaned against his head, and just reveled in the scenery.“Such scenery! Back from the shore, beyond the road, lay a stretch of forest land. The great, green tips of the pines on the background of the blue sky, the white birch trunks among the dull rough ones of the firs, the splash of russet, yellow, or crimson where a branch had put on autumn color made a wonderful picture. The rocks were very warm in the sun, and I was tired from walking; so I think I must have had a nap, although I didn’t mean to. I wakened from a dream of a sudden heavy rainstorm, to find a complete change in the landscape. The sun had disappeared. A fog was gathering, and between my rock and the shore was a sheet of water.“If I’d had any sense, I’d have waded ashore then; but the water looked pretty deep—I couldn’t even see the tail of the turtle. The waves kept creeping up to where I sat, and I realized that soon I’d be in them. So I climbed up on the head, and made myself as comfortable as I could.”“And what did you think about,” asked Martha, “while you were perched up there?”“First, that I was very stupid to go to sleep. Then I wondered how I’d get back here again; if I’d have to stay until the tide turned. I did not know when that would be, nor how much higher it would rise. I thought about all of you, and imagined just what you were doing. I knew you’d be worried after a while, and try to find me. I remembered telling you in which direction I was going; but the fog which kept growing more dense would prevent you from seeing me, even if you did pass along the road.“After a while, I became awfully hungry; so I opened my bag to get the bar of chocolate, and discovered my duck! Don’t you remember, my big needlepoint bag was on the table that night at Digby, Janie, and for want of a better place, I stuck my prize in it? I never bothered to take it out, fortunately. An idea came to me, and I fairly hugged the little beast. I emptied the red purse which I keep in that bag, fastened it on the duck’s back with some rubber bands, and on the nest wave set it afloat. The last I saw of it, it was headed straight for the shore. It made such a brilliant, unusual combination that I thought somebody might notice it when it went around on the rocks.”“But,” objected Martha, “if a stranger instead of Jim had happened to find it, how would that have helped you? A stranger would never connect it with anyone being out on the rocks.”“But my card was in it, with the message: ‘Am out on The Turtle. Please rescue me.’ Didn’t you find it, Janie?” turning to Jeanette.“We didn’t even open it, Nannie,” confessed her chum. “We knew at once that it was yours, and Jim said you must be on The Turtle.”“Jim, the Sleuth,” laughed Nancy; but Miss Ashton saw the light in her eyes as she said it.“Oh, Nan,” said Jeanette, “he was just wonderful! I’ll never forget it.”“Nor I,” replied Nancy, quietly.“Then what?” urged Martha. “Go on, Nan.”“There wasn’t much more. I simply sat there, curled up in a heap so as to keep as warm as I could, and waited. After, oh, hours and hours it seemed, I heard someone calling me, and I answered. I did not know at first whether he could hear me; for the fog seemed to force the tones of my voice right back upon me. Soon, however, we were keeping up a regular system of calls.”“Did you know it was Jim?” asked Martha.“Of course I wasn’tsureuntil he was nearly there; then I recognized his voice.“Thus endeth the tale,” she added laughing; “except that I want to say how awfully sorry I am to have caused you all so much worry.”“Anyway,” said Martha, “they lived happily ever after.”Nancy blushed, and looked sharply at Martha; but her remarks were apparently quite innocent of any hidden meaning.A maid rapped at the door at that moment.“I was to give these to Miss Pembroke,” she said, when Miss Ashton opened the door, “and ask if she is able to see anyone.”Miss Ashton took the mass of lovely red roses, freshly cut from some Yarmouth garden, and laid them on Nancy’s bed.“I’ll go down, and talk to him,” she said; “for I suppose it is Jim.”She was out of the room before Nancy could say a word; and in a few minutes she was back again.“It was Jim, as I supposed. He made the proper inquiries about your health, and is going to join us for lunch.”Nancy drew a breath of relief. She might have known that Miss Ashton would not simply send him away without letting her see him.After hearing what Jeanette and Martha did in her absence, Nancy got up and dressed; and they all went down to lunch.Jim, as Miss Ashton had directed, was waiting in the white parlor.“Go and get Jim,” she said to Nancy, as they turned toward the dining room. “We’ll go on in.”Jim, who had been sitting before the fireplace, rose as Nancy entered, and crossed the room to meet her.“You’re all right, Nan?” he asked, a bit breathlessly, his kind brown eyes gazing searchingly down into hers.“Perfectly, thanks to you,” she replied, giving him her hand.He held it, clasped firmly in both of his for a long moment.“And I want to thank you also for the lovely roses,” she added.“I robbed my landlady’s garden for those,” he said. “She has a huge trellis, just covered with them. Perhaps if we take a stroll this afternoon you’d like to see it?”“Just love to. Had we better go in to lunch now?”They joined the others, and had a merry time at the table laughing over Martha’s efforts to learn to drive. Much, to Jeanette’s confusion, and Jim’s amusement, they also told him about her struggles with the clams the first day they spent in Yarmouth.“Well,” said Martha, as they left the dining room, “in spite of your discouraging mirth, I’m going to drive again this afternoon; so I’ll have to leave you now. Shall I see you again, Jim?”“I’m going out at five this afternoon,” he replied; “but I’ll be back day after to-morrow.”“We’ll still be here then,” said Miss Ashton. “How much longer do you stay in Nova Scotia, Jim?”“I’m not sure. May get orders to go back the last of the week.”“It would be nice if you could go when we do,” suggested Miss Ashton.“Wish I could,” he said, fervently.“Would Miss Ashton object to your going walking if you feel able to?” Jim presently asked Nancy, as they followed the others down the hall.“I don’t think so.”“As long as you don’t get overtired,” said Miss Ashton, when Nancy asked her. “See that she doesn’t go too far, Jim,” she added.So they went out into the fresh sea air and brilliant warm sunshine with which Yarmouth was filled that afternoon, and rambled down one street and up another of that charming seaport town, pausing to admire a colorful garden here, some fine trees there, and many an attractive house of English architecture.The days passed rapidly after that, hurrying along toward Friday night, when they would sail.Early Friday morning, Jim ran in.“Good news!” he announced. “Orders have come to park the old bus on the steamer and return to Boston.”“Really, Jim?” said Miss Ashton. “How very nice,” while Nancy flashed him a happy smile.“I can’t stay now, for I’ve a dozen things to fix up before I leave. See you at the dock to-night,” and Jim ran out again.“I have some shopping to do,” announced Martha, when he had gone.The other two girls groaned.“What now, Mart?” asked Nancy.“Oh, that’s so. You didn’t get that ring you wanted. Did you?” inquired Jeanette.“Yes! No! That is, yes,” stammered Martha.“What do you mean by ‘Yes—no—yes’?” demanded Nancy.“I mean that I didn’t at first; but then I did,” explained Martha.“Just as clear as clear,” laughed Jeanette. “You didn’t tell us you bought it,” said Nancy reproachfully.“Well, with all the excitement we’ve had, could you blame me for forgetting something? It was extravagant, I admit; but I felt I’d never be happy without it. I’ll wear my last year’s clothes all year to make up for it.”“Yes, you will!” jeered Nancy.“But if you have the ring, why shop?” asked Jeanette.“I thought I’d buy a little fruit to eat on the steamer——”“Now, Mart, didn’t you learn better than that on the way over?” protested Nancy.“But I don’t expect to be sick this time. I’m a seasoned sailor now.”“You probably won’t touch it; and anyhow, you can buy some on board,” persisted Nancy.“Not such fruit as I saw.”“Well, go to it if you must.”So that night, when they went on board, Martha’s baggage included a fancy basket filled with various kinds of fruit.
CHAPTER X
WHERE IS NANCY?
“My, but I am glad we didn’t go back last night,” exulted Jeanette the next morning.
“Why?” inquired Martha, as they sat in the sun parlor after breakfast.
“Didn’t you see the fog when we got up?” asked Nancy.
“Oh, yes. Itwasfoggy; wasn’t it?”
“Mart likes fog,” said Jeanette, smiling.
“I’m going for a long ramble along the shore this morning,” announced Nancy presently. “Anybody want to come along?”
“I promised Miss Ashton that I’d go with her to look at some linens she is thinking of buying,” said Jeanette regretfully. “I’m sorry; for I’d love to go. I suppose she would postpone her shopping trip, but I sort of hate to ask her to.”
“I know; she asks so little of us, that one can’t refuse when she does want something,” said Nancy.
“I’d go, but I’m driving this morning,” said Martha. “But we’ll take you part way, if you like. Which way are you going?”
“Oh, out the road toward Lower Woods Harbor, I think. I love that rocky coast. Thanks for the offer of a lift, Mart; but I really want to just ramble along the shore.”
“You won’t be able to see much; will you, Nancy? It’s so foggy,” said Jeanette. Somehow she didn’t quite like the idea of Nancy going off alone this morning; and yet she had no reasonable objection to offer.
“The fog will be entirely gone by ten o’clock, I imagine,” replied Nancy.
“Don’t go so far you can’t get back for lunch,” advised Martha.
“Oh,” laughed Nancy, “I always have a bar of chocolate in my bag for emergencies; so if I walk farther than I expect to, at least I won’t starve.”
“If you get tired, or go too far, just hop on an oxomobile,” suggested Martha.
“In that case, I’m afraid it would be dinner time before you reached the hotel,” said Jeanette.
“Dinner time to-morrow, you mean,” corrected Nancy; “for the poor beasts move so painfully slowly.”
“Better wear something warm, Nan,” advised Jeanette, as they all went upstairs to get ready for the morning’s trips. “It’s quite chilly.”
“But it’s hard to walk in a long coat,” objected Nan. “I should think my knitted dress and heavy sweater would do.”
“Perhaps,” said Jeanette, doubtfully.
“Don’t lose your pocketbook, Nan,” called Martha, as they parted at the foot of the hotel steps later in the morning.
“Don’t fall, Mart,” retorted Nancy.
Laughing, they turned in opposite directions, Martha toward the garage where she knew Mr. Pierce would be waiting; and Nancy toward Lower Woods Harbor.
The selection of a luncheon set took Miss Ashton and Jeanette much longer than they expected; then they spent an hour looking at the fascinating souvenirs in one of the shops devoted to such bait for the tourist. It is almost impossible to tear one’s self away from their attractive displays.
Martha found driving on the dusty, winding roads of Nova Scotia quite a different thing from rolling smoothly over the concrete roads at home. Besides a stream, on one road, they saw a brand new maroon sedan on its side in the water, at the right of a narrow bridge. The bank at the entrance to the bridge plainly showed where the driver had gone over. Martha got so nervous that she wanted to give up the wheel to her companion at once; but he quietly refused.
“Go right ahead,” he ordered. “You’ll have to learn to cross narrow bridges.”
“But that car down there,” protested Martha.
“Don’t look at it. Keep your eyes on the road ahead of the car.”
Martha was not at all accustomed to being told so firmly what to do, and expected to do it. Everyone had always laughed at her and considered her ways and remarks a huge joke. She did not know now whether to obey or not; so she slowed up a bit.
“Go on,” said her instructor. “Keep to the right of the center of the bridge, and you’ll be over it in a minute.”
“Don’t ever let yourself become unnerved at the sight of an accident,” he went on sternly when they had left the bridge behind. “Put your mind on the managing of your own car, and let the other fellow attend to his.”
Long before the lesson was over, Martha discovered that there are instructors;andinstructors.
“Where is Nan?” inquired Miss Ashton, when they assembled for lunch.
“I haven’t seen her since we parted at ten o’clock at the foot of the hotel steps,” replied Martha.
“Nor I since she dressed to go out,” added Jeanette.
“It is strange that she is not back by this time,” said Miss Ashton anxiously.
“She said she had some chocolate in her bag,” observed Martha, “and that she wouldn’t starve if she went too far to get back by lunch time.”
“Yes, she did,” agreed Jeanette. “I thought she was joking; but maybe she meant it.”
“In that case, there is no sense in our waiting lunch for her,” decided Miss Ashton, practically. “Perhaps she will come before we have finished. If not, we’ll manage to feed her some way when she does come.”
“Nan always walks farther than she intends,” said Jeanette, as they sat down at the table; “then has to sit down and rest before she can get home again.”
“That’s probably the case this time,” decided Miss Ashton. “There is no occasion for worry about her.”
Jeanette tried to take the same view of the situation; but, in spite of herself, she felt some misgivings. She wished now that she had asked Miss Ashton to put off the shopping trip, and had gone with Nan. However, there was nothing to do but wait; and everything probably was all right after all. As Nan always said, Jeanette was over-inclined to worry.
Martha was so tired after her morning’s exertion that she threw herself across her bed, and slept most of the afternoon. Jeanette roamed anxiously from their room down to the lobby, out to the sun parlor, from which you can get a view of the street in both directions, and back again. Shortly after lunch, the fog crept in again; and the damp, gray, gloomy atmosphere added to her depression. She wanted to go out in search of Nancy, but since she was not very sure of direction in a strange city, she was afraid of losing her way. Miss Ashton had gone to the outskirts of the city to call upon a family whose address had been given her by a Boston friend with an urgent request to see them before she returned.
By four o’clock, poor Jeanette was quite frantic. She was crossing the lobby for the tenth time, when she caught sight of Jim Jackson standing before the desk. Running across the room, she grabbed him by the arm; and he turned quickly.
“Why, Miss Grant! What are you doing here?” he exclaimed in surprise. “I thought you were in Boston by now.”
“No; we didn’t go—we’re still here,” replied Jeanette, incoherently; “but”—her voice almost broke—“Nan’s gone.”
“Nan’s gone! What on earth do you mean?”
“Nan’s lost, I think.”
“When? How?”
“Since morning. She went for a walk, and——”
“In which direction? Do you know?”
“She spoke of going toward Lower Woods Harbor.”
The scene of their last ride together, thought Jim.
“I’ll take the bus and go to look for her. Want to come?” he added kindly; for Jeanette’s distressed little face touched him.
“If you don’t mind. I’ll not be a second.” She dashed upstairs, snatched her own heavy coat and Nan’s, and was down again by the time he had the bus at the door. Miss Ashton had not yet returned, and Martha was still asleep; but Jeanette was far too excited to think of leaving any word for them.
“I was so shocked to see you standing beside me,” began Jim, as he guided the bus rapidly in the direction of the Harbor, “I could hardly believe my eyes.”
“Well, I assure you I was delighted to see you. I have been nearly frantic all the afternoon. Miss Ashton is away off somewhere at the other end of the town, making a call, and Martha is asleep; and I didn’t know what to do.”
“How did you happen to stay over!”
With frequent pauses to examine the roadside more closely, Jeanette told him about their change of plan; and of what they had been doing since he left town.
“Pierce, the purser?” he asked, when she mentioned Martha’s efforts to learn to drive. “Yes.”
“He’s a fine fellow. A bit serious, and stern; but a good scout.”
“I can’t imagine Martha with anyone of that type,” observed Jeanette; “for she’s always been laughed at and given her own way.”
“She’ll never get it with him, unless it happens to be his way too; or he’s convinced that hers is the right way. Pierce doesn’t hold out for his own way through mere obstinacy; but when he’s sure he’s right, there’s no budging him.”
“What’s that?” asked Jeanette suddenly; and Jim stopped the bus almost instantly.
“Where!”
“Down on those rocks.”
Jim scrambled down, and came up with a piece of bright Blue bunting.
“Just a bit of some of the decorations we saw the other day, evidently,” he said, tossing it aside after showing it to her. “If only this fog would lift,” he muttered, as he started the bus again.
“You watch that side of the road,” he presently directed Jeanette; “and I’ll watch this.” They were going very slowly, and scanning every nook and cranny.
In the meantime, Miss Ashton had returned, taken a peek into the girls’ room, and found Martha just rousing from her long nap.
“Where are the other two girls?” asked Miss Ashton.
“I don’t know—” yawned Martha. “I went to sleep right after lunch; for I was dead after this morning. Nan hadn’t appeared then, and Jeanette was waiting around for her. She must have come, and then she and Janie gone off somewhere; for I’m quite sure Jeanette would never have let me sleep until this hour if Nan hadn’t returned.”
“It is very strange that they are staying out until now,” said Miss Ashton, half an hour later, going again to the girls’ room, where she found Martha partly ready for dinner.
“That’s just what I was thinking. Do you suppose Nan didn’t come back, and Janie went to look for her?”
“I don’t know what to suppose. It isn’t like Jeanette to go off without a word to anybody.”
“I know it.”
Worry and excitement gripped Martha, and she had a hard time to keep back the tears.
They finished dressing, and went down to the lobby, where Miss Ashton inquired of the clerk if he knew anything about Jeanette’s whereabouts.
“The day clerk is off duty now, Madam,” he replied, “and I have not seen the young lady this evening.”
“Pardon me,” said the head bell boy, who had been standing near enough to hear the question and answer. “You mean the little blond lady?”
“Yes, yes,” cried Martha.
“She came into the lobby about four o’clock, just as Jim got here——”
“Jim?” demanded Martha.
“Yes, Jim. I don’t know his other name, but he drives the bus. They stood here talking, and then the lady went upstairs for her wrap, and went off with Jim when she came down again. They went away in the bus.”
“Thank goodness!” breathed Miss Ashton, as they turned away after thanking the boy for his information. “Jim has evidently gone to look for Nan, and has taken Jeanette with him. Don’t worry, Martha,” she added, seeing that the girl beside her was struggling with emotion, “Jim knows these roads, as probably no one else does. He will find her, I’m sure.”
“But—but—” faltered Martha, “suppose something hashappenedto Nan.”
“We just won’t think about such a possibility,” decreed Miss Ashton determinedly.
“But I don’t seewhyJeanette didn’t waken me.”
“She probably thought every minute that Nancy would come. You know how it is, Martha, when one is waiting for somebody. Besides, after all, what could you have done?”
“I could have kept her company, at least,” retorted Martha quickly.
“Yes, of course; but she knew that you were tired out. We might as well eat dinner.”
“I couldn’t swallow a mouthful——”
“There is no sense at all in letting yourself get weak and more nervous for want of food,” said Miss Ashton firmly. “So we’ll eat. Order something light, if you prefer; but you must have nourishing food.”
For the second time that day, Martha surprised herself by following the will of another.
It seemed to Jeanette that they had ridden at least twice around the whole peninsula of Nova Scotia before she spied something red upon the rocks below the road.
“Stop!” she cried, excitedly; and Jim obeyed.
“Nan has a red purse. Maybe that’s it,” pointing to the scarlet spot at the water’s edge.
They both scrambled across the rocks with what speed they could, for they were wet and slippery with the incoming tide, and strewn with seaweed.
“It is!” exclaimed Jeanette, as they got closer to the object. “She must be drowned!”
Jim made no reply, but with one long stride, and a sweep of his arm, he secured the little purse.
“For Heaven’s sake!” he cried. “Look!”
The purse was tied to the back of a toy duck.
“That’s the prize Nan won at the bridge party in Digby,” he added.
“You’re right, but how did it come here?” puzzled Jeanette.
“I can’t tell any more than you, but it is what kept the purse from sinking. See how wet it is? Nan must have sent the toy ashore, hoping it would attract attention.”
“But what can wedo?”
Jeanette was twisting her hands and trying to keep from tears. She mustnotbecome hysterical.
Jim was doing some rapid thinking.
“I imagine she’s out on one of those rocks that are high and dry at low tide, but cut off from the mainland when the tide comes in. I can get a boat back there a ways,” waving his hand in the direction from which they had come, “and go out after her. Would you be afraid to stay in the bus if I lock it? I’d take you,” as Jeanette hesitated, “but I can go quicker alone; and, besides, it won’t help matters any for you to get soaked.”
“I’ll stay,” said Jeanette, bravely going back toward the car, and getting in.
“Good for you! You’ll be perfectly safe, and I’ll be just as quick as I can.”
Jim disappeared into the fog, and Jeanette curled up on one of the seats for a good cry. She was soon over it, however, and straining her eyes, trying to see through the thick gray blanket which had wrapped itself around the coast. Once she heard the sound of oars, but she could not distinguish any objects.
The minutes seemed to fairly crawl, and each one was like an hour! No one passed along the road, not even a stray dog. Suppose Jim could not find Nan? Suppose he too got lost? Suppose she had to just stay on and on here?
In the meantime Jim was heading, as well as he could, toward a big rock called “The Turtle,” which he had pointed out and remarked upon to Nan on that last memorable ride. It was a big flat slab, with an end which reared up much higher than the rest of it, and formed the head of the turtle. The long tail, which joined the formation with the jutting point of the shore, was well under water long ere this. It was difficult to be sure of direction in the fog, and he paused frequently to get his bearings. He dared not go too far along the coast, either way, because he might get beyond his goal. If he rowed out any great distance, the current might catch him; and if he remained too close to the shore, he would ground on the rocks.
If old Dave had only been at home, he would have come with him; or at least would have furnished a lantern. Lucky that the old dory, with the oars in it, was outside where all Jim had to do was help himself.
“Nan!” he finally shouted at the top of his voice, when he figured he might be somewhere near the cut-off portion of the “Turtle.” He listened intently, holding his breath so as to hear better.
No reply.
He rowed a little farther to the right, and tried again with the same result. Then he turned back to the left, where he had called the first time.
“N—A—N!”
Was that an echo, or a faint answer?
He tried again.
“N—A—N!”
“—e—r—e.”
No mistake. Itwasa far-off reply. But from which side had it come?
“Nan! Where are you?”
He strained his ears for the answer, trying with all his might to get the direction when the answer did come.
“—e—r—e.” It trailed off feebly in the fog at the right. He must have gone beyond The Turtle; for he felt quite positive that was where Nancy was. The purse and duck had been at a point nearly opposite it.
He rowed as fast as he dared for some little distance to the right, and then called again.
“Nan! Where are you?”
“Here— Tur-tle.”
Thank God she was safe!
By repeatedly calling and waiting for the answer, he guided the boat successfully toward the rock formation. At last it loomed up beside him, and he saw Nancy perched on the head, all the rest being covered by water.
“Hello, Jim!” she said, as he sat for a moment silently looking up at her.
One would have thought it the most natural place in the world for them to meet.
“Oh, Nan,” he faltered; and could get no further.
“Jim, take me home,” she begged, her bravery and nonchalance quickly dispelled by the sight of his deep distress.
“Can you slide down into the boat?”
“I think so.”
“Steady yourself with this,” holding up one oar and keeping the boat in place with the other.
She succeeded in slipping down the rocks and into the dory, and Jim started to head for the shore. Neither said a word, until Nancy began to wring the water out of her skirt.
“Nan, you’re soaked. Take this,” said Jim, pulling off his sweater quickly.
“I won’t! You’ll catch your death of cold without it.”
“I’m exercising. Put it on!”
Nancy obeyed, and nothing more was said until the boat grated on the sand. Jim stepped out and gave her a hand. She was stiff and cold, and could hardly stand. Seeing her stagger, Jim stooped and picked her up like a doll.
“Put your arms around my neck,” he directed.
“But Jim,” she protested, “I’m too heavy. You’ll hurt yourself.”
Paying no attention to her objections, he carried her across the beach and appeared so suddenly beside the bus that Jeanette gave a little scream.
“She’s all right,” said Jim, placing Nan gently on the seat beside Jeanette, “only cold and stiff.”
After one wild hug, Jeanette busied herself making Nancy comfortable.
“Give Jim my coat,” directed Nan, when Jeanette tried to slip it on her. “He made me put on his sweater, and it’s too wet from my clothes now for him to use it.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” said Jim decidedly. “Besides, what do you suppose would happen to your coat if I tried to get into it.”
“Jim,please!” pleaded Nancy. “You’ll catch cold and have pneumonia—or—or something, and it will be all my fault——”
Her voice broke.
“I have a sheepskin somewhere here under the seat. I’ll put that on to satisfy you. Will that do?”
“Yes.”
Nobody talked on the homeward trip; each was too busy thinking of what might have happened.
“Go ahead and open the doors for us, Miss Grant,” directed Jim, when they stopped in front of the hotel, and he prepared to carry Nancy in. Like a good soldier, Jeanette obeyed, and did not look behind.
“It’s quite unnecessary to carry me, Jim,” said Nancy. “I can walk perfectly well now; see? I’d really rather not be carried in.Please!” as he hesitated.
“I—I don’t know what to say to you, how to thank you,” she continued.
“Don’t try. Go in now, dear. I’ll see you to-morrow.”
At the top of the long flight of steps, up which he assisted her, a pillar shut off the light from the windows; and in its shadow Jim stooped and shyly kissed Nancy. Then he pushed her gently into the lobby, where Jeanette was waiting; ran down the steps, and out to the bus.
“My goodness, Nan,” cried Jeanette, “you were so long getting in that I was afraid he had dropped you.”
“He didn’t carry me, Janie. I’m all right now. Please don’t tell the others that part of it,” she begged.
“All right, Nannie dear. I won’t.”
It did not take them long to put Nancy to bed and give her a hot meal.
“We’re not going to ask or answer any questions to-night,” decreed Miss Ashton, in her professional manner. “I want Nancy to be perfectly quiet now, and go to sleep. To-morrow, if she feels like it, she may tell us her experiences. Jeanette, you and Martha take my room for to-night. I’ll stay here in case Nan needs any care during the night.”
Excited though they were, the girls respected Miss Ashton’s wishes too much to object to her decision. Jeanette hated to be separated from Nancy, but she knew that she would be in capable hands; for Miss Ashton was a tireless nurse.
The girls bade Nancy good night and went to their room. Miss Ashton went to bed in Martha’s single, and, after bidding Nan call her if she wanted anything, or felt at all ill, she was soon asleep.
Nancy herself lay wide awake in the big bed beside the fireplace, and watched the street lights flicker across the windowpane. She was quite cozy and comfortable, but not in the least sleepy. The events of the day passed and re-passed through her mind, especially those of the last two hours. How nice it had been to see Jim again, and how wonderful of him to rescue her. Her cheeks burned as she recalled his good night, yet she could not, some way, feel angry at him, as she should. Why? She had always hated any form of “necking” and a boy who tried it even once was out of her good graces.
“You’re so funny, Nan,” remarked one of her admirers, smarting from a rebuke. “Everyone does it now.”
“That may be,” she had replied. “Let ‘everyone.’Iwon’t.”
“But why? There is no harm in it,” he had persisted.
“Whether there is harm in it or not, I don’tlikeit. I consider love and all that goes with it such a wonderful, such a sacred thing, that I don’t care to spoil it by playing at it with Tom, Dick, and Harry. My kisses and hugs are going to be kept for the one right man; if he ever comes. This wholesale display of affection is unspeakably cheap and disgusting, and I won’t be a party to it.”
Poor Jim!Hehad been so cut up over her disappearance, and the difficulty he’d had in rescuing her, that the relief of getting her home safely made him forget all about his shyness and customary reserve. She’d try to forget about the whole affair, and go to sleep.
“But,” she thought, just before she fell into a doze, “I’m glad Jim’s coming to-morrow.”
CHAPTER XI
AFTER EFFECTS
The next morning, although Nancy appeared to be perfectly all right, Miss Ashton insisted upon her remaining in bed.
“You were thoroughly soaked and chilled, and must have had quite a nervous shock,” replied that lady when her patient wanted to go down to breakfast; “so we’re going to be on the safe side. This afternoon, possibly, I will let you get up.”
Jeanette brought up some breakfast, and insisted upon feeding her, though Nancy laughed at her. A little later in the morning, they all gathered around the bed to listen to the story of her adventure.
“I went right out the Harbor road after I left you, Mart,” began Nancy. “The fog had risen, and the sunshine on the water was lovely; and I stopped often to admire the view. When I reached The Turtle, I walked out and sat down on his back to rest. First, I faced the water for a time; then I turned around, leaned against his head, and just reveled in the scenery.
“Such scenery! Back from the shore, beyond the road, lay a stretch of forest land. The great, green tips of the pines on the background of the blue sky, the white birch trunks among the dull rough ones of the firs, the splash of russet, yellow, or crimson where a branch had put on autumn color made a wonderful picture. The rocks were very warm in the sun, and I was tired from walking; so I think I must have had a nap, although I didn’t mean to. I wakened from a dream of a sudden heavy rainstorm, to find a complete change in the landscape. The sun had disappeared. A fog was gathering, and between my rock and the shore was a sheet of water.
“If I’d had any sense, I’d have waded ashore then; but the water looked pretty deep—I couldn’t even see the tail of the turtle. The waves kept creeping up to where I sat, and I realized that soon I’d be in them. So I climbed up on the head, and made myself as comfortable as I could.”
“And what did you think about,” asked Martha, “while you were perched up there?”
“First, that I was very stupid to go to sleep. Then I wondered how I’d get back here again; if I’d have to stay until the tide turned. I did not know when that would be, nor how much higher it would rise. I thought about all of you, and imagined just what you were doing. I knew you’d be worried after a while, and try to find me. I remembered telling you in which direction I was going; but the fog which kept growing more dense would prevent you from seeing me, even if you did pass along the road.
“After a while, I became awfully hungry; so I opened my bag to get the bar of chocolate, and discovered my duck! Don’t you remember, my big needlepoint bag was on the table that night at Digby, Janie, and for want of a better place, I stuck my prize in it? I never bothered to take it out, fortunately. An idea came to me, and I fairly hugged the little beast. I emptied the red purse which I keep in that bag, fastened it on the duck’s back with some rubber bands, and on the nest wave set it afloat. The last I saw of it, it was headed straight for the shore. It made such a brilliant, unusual combination that I thought somebody might notice it when it went around on the rocks.”
“But,” objected Martha, “if a stranger instead of Jim had happened to find it, how would that have helped you? A stranger would never connect it with anyone being out on the rocks.”
“But my card was in it, with the message: ‘Am out on The Turtle. Please rescue me.’ Didn’t you find it, Janie?” turning to Jeanette.
“We didn’t even open it, Nannie,” confessed her chum. “We knew at once that it was yours, and Jim said you must be on The Turtle.”
“Jim, the Sleuth,” laughed Nancy; but Miss Ashton saw the light in her eyes as she said it.
“Oh, Nan,” said Jeanette, “he was just wonderful! I’ll never forget it.”
“Nor I,” replied Nancy, quietly.
“Then what?” urged Martha. “Go on, Nan.”
“There wasn’t much more. I simply sat there, curled up in a heap so as to keep as warm as I could, and waited. After, oh, hours and hours it seemed, I heard someone calling me, and I answered. I did not know at first whether he could hear me; for the fog seemed to force the tones of my voice right back upon me. Soon, however, we were keeping up a regular system of calls.”
“Did you know it was Jim?” asked Martha.
“Of course I wasn’tsureuntil he was nearly there; then I recognized his voice.
“Thus endeth the tale,” she added laughing; “except that I want to say how awfully sorry I am to have caused you all so much worry.”
“Anyway,” said Martha, “they lived happily ever after.”
Nancy blushed, and looked sharply at Martha; but her remarks were apparently quite innocent of any hidden meaning.
A maid rapped at the door at that moment.
“I was to give these to Miss Pembroke,” she said, when Miss Ashton opened the door, “and ask if she is able to see anyone.”
Miss Ashton took the mass of lovely red roses, freshly cut from some Yarmouth garden, and laid them on Nancy’s bed.
“I’ll go down, and talk to him,” she said; “for I suppose it is Jim.”
She was out of the room before Nancy could say a word; and in a few minutes she was back again.
“It was Jim, as I supposed. He made the proper inquiries about your health, and is going to join us for lunch.”
Nancy drew a breath of relief. She might have known that Miss Ashton would not simply send him away without letting her see him.
After hearing what Jeanette and Martha did in her absence, Nancy got up and dressed; and they all went down to lunch.
Jim, as Miss Ashton had directed, was waiting in the white parlor.
“Go and get Jim,” she said to Nancy, as they turned toward the dining room. “We’ll go on in.”
Jim, who had been sitting before the fireplace, rose as Nancy entered, and crossed the room to meet her.
“You’re all right, Nan?” he asked, a bit breathlessly, his kind brown eyes gazing searchingly down into hers.
“Perfectly, thanks to you,” she replied, giving him her hand.
He held it, clasped firmly in both of his for a long moment.
“And I want to thank you also for the lovely roses,” she added.
“I robbed my landlady’s garden for those,” he said. “She has a huge trellis, just covered with them. Perhaps if we take a stroll this afternoon you’d like to see it?”
“Just love to. Had we better go in to lunch now?”
They joined the others, and had a merry time at the table laughing over Martha’s efforts to learn to drive. Much, to Jeanette’s confusion, and Jim’s amusement, they also told him about her struggles with the clams the first day they spent in Yarmouth.
“Well,” said Martha, as they left the dining room, “in spite of your discouraging mirth, I’m going to drive again this afternoon; so I’ll have to leave you now. Shall I see you again, Jim?”
“I’m going out at five this afternoon,” he replied; “but I’ll be back day after to-morrow.”
“We’ll still be here then,” said Miss Ashton. “How much longer do you stay in Nova Scotia, Jim?”
“I’m not sure. May get orders to go back the last of the week.”
“It would be nice if you could go when we do,” suggested Miss Ashton.
“Wish I could,” he said, fervently.
“Would Miss Ashton object to your going walking if you feel able to?” Jim presently asked Nancy, as they followed the others down the hall.
“I don’t think so.”
“As long as you don’t get overtired,” said Miss Ashton, when Nancy asked her. “See that she doesn’t go too far, Jim,” she added.
So they went out into the fresh sea air and brilliant warm sunshine with which Yarmouth was filled that afternoon, and rambled down one street and up another of that charming seaport town, pausing to admire a colorful garden here, some fine trees there, and many an attractive house of English architecture.
The days passed rapidly after that, hurrying along toward Friday night, when they would sail.
Early Friday morning, Jim ran in.
“Good news!” he announced. “Orders have come to park the old bus on the steamer and return to Boston.”
“Really, Jim?” said Miss Ashton. “How very nice,” while Nancy flashed him a happy smile.
“I can’t stay now, for I’ve a dozen things to fix up before I leave. See you at the dock to-night,” and Jim ran out again.
“I have some shopping to do,” announced Martha, when he had gone.
The other two girls groaned.
“What now, Mart?” asked Nancy.
“Oh, that’s so. You didn’t get that ring you wanted. Did you?” inquired Jeanette.
“Yes! No! That is, yes,” stammered Martha.
“What do you mean by ‘Yes—no—yes’?” demanded Nancy.
“I mean that I didn’t at first; but then I did,” explained Martha.
“Just as clear as clear,” laughed Jeanette. “You didn’t tell us you bought it,” said Nancy reproachfully.
“Well, with all the excitement we’ve had, could you blame me for forgetting something? It was extravagant, I admit; but I felt I’d never be happy without it. I’ll wear my last year’s clothes all year to make up for it.”
“Yes, you will!” jeered Nancy.
“But if you have the ring, why shop?” asked Jeanette.
“I thought I’d buy a little fruit to eat on the steamer——”
“Now, Mart, didn’t you learn better than that on the way over?” protested Nancy.
“But I don’t expect to be sick this time. I’m a seasoned sailor now.”
“You probably won’t touch it; and anyhow, you can buy some on board,” persisted Nancy.
“Not such fruit as I saw.”
“Well, go to it if you must.”
So that night, when they went on board, Martha’s baggage included a fancy basket filled with various kinds of fruit.