ON the day after the one at the studio, Rose and Polly sat on the terrace, their laps filled with flowers. Each was weaving a wreath for the other, and each was intent upon making a very beautiful one.
"Mine will be syringas and pink geraniums," said Rose, "and, Polly Sherwood, would you ever think shadows could be so horrid as they were last night?"
"No, I wouldn't," said Polly, "specially when we're out here in the sunlight. Now, just see what I'm doing. I'm making this wreath of pink rosebuds and mignonette. You'll look fine in it when it's done."
"So will you, Princess Polly, when you wear the wreath I'm making. You always look like a TRULY princess, but you'll look more like one than ever when you have this on. I put syringas in it because they're so sweet," said Rose.
"That's why I used mignonette," said Polly. "Look! Mine is half done."
"Oh, it's lovely!" cried Rose.
They surely were having a fine time. The gay colored boxes filled with bonbons that Aunt Lois had given them lay on the grass between them, and they were almost empty boxes, because busy little hands had paused so often to dip into them.
"Six left," said Rose; "three for you and three for me. Let's keep the boxes for paper dolls, they're such pretty ones."
"We will," agreed Polly, "and now, Rose, try on the wreath."
"Oh, it looks fine on your brown curls," she cried, as she placed the pretty wreath on Rose's head.
"And here's yours," said Rose, as she laid it lightly upon Polly's flaxen curls.
"Oh, my, it's just the right kind of a wreath for you!" she cried."Let's go in and show them to Aunt Lois."
They sprang from the grass and turned toward the house just in time to meet Nora, the maid, as she was coming toward them.
"Yer Aunt Lois wants yer ter come right in, Miss Rose, an' bring MissPolly with yer," she said.
"That's funny," said Rose, with a merry laugh in which Polly joined, "for we were just going to run in and let her see our wreaths."
"Well, now, ye look like fairies with the bright flowers on yer hair, an' do ye go right in, because there's someone has come that's wantin' ter see yer. Keep the flowers on yer heads an' go right in," said Nora.
"Who is it, Nora?" Rose asked, her eyes bright with excitement.
"Well, I do'no whether she'd want yer ter be surprised or let me tell yer, but—it's yer Uncle John!"
The smiles fled from their faces.
"Uncle John!" gasped Rose. "Oh, Nora, is he very old? Does he carry a cane? Is he deaf? Is he going to take me away from here?"
She had clasped her hands nervously, and stood waiting for Nora to answer her questions.
"Now, Miss Rose," said Nora, her eyes twinkling, "I think ye better go right in an' see him."
"But should you think he's over NINETY?" persisted Rose.
"Well I shouldn't say he was OVER that," Nora replied dryly.
"Come Polly," said Rose. "There's nothing else to do but to go in."
With lagging steps they walked along the path and turned toward the house. Then for the first time they saw the automobile in which the guest had arrived.
"Why, who drove him here?" said Rose. "Look! There's no man waiting in it, and if he's NINETY he wouldn't drive alone, would he?"
Polly shook her head.
"Perhaps he isn't QUITE that," she said.
It was the only bit of encouragement that she could offer.
"I think I'll wait here on the piazza," she said when they had reached the door.
"Why, don't you want to meet him?" Rose asked.
"Oh, yes," Polly answered, "but if he's—if he, oh, I don't quite know how I mean it. I just thought perhaps you'd like to know him a little, and then I'll come in, and _I'_LL know him, too."
Nora, just behind them, reached forward and touched Rose's shoulder.
"Run right in," she said, "the gentleman's waiting to see you."
For the moment she forgot Polly, and hastening across the great hall, lest Uncle John might guess that she did not wish to meet him, little Rose Atherton entered the long, cool parlor, and found herself face to face with a tall, handsome man, who rose to greet her. His waving hair was touched with gray, his brown eyes were merry.
"So this is little Rose," he said, "will you come and let me look at you? Why, who made the dainty wreath for you?"
He offered not one, but both his hands to her, and with a happy cry, she laid her little hands in his.
"Will you come for a few days and make me a visit?" he asked. "You will have a pleasant time, and we shall get acquainted. I think I can make you like me, little Rose."
"Oh, I do, I DO like you NOW!" she cried, and her little heart was filled with delight.
Here was a cheery, handsome young uncle, in place of the unattractive old uncle that she had supposed awaited her.
"Don't remove your wreath," he said, as she raised her hands toward the flowers, "because it is really very becoming. Were you playing alone when I arrived?"
"Oh, no," said Rose, "I was so glad when I saw you, because—" she hesitated.
"Because?" he said, his eyes twinkling.
"Because you aren't OLD. I thought my Uncle John MUST be 'most ninety," she said softly, so that Aunt Lois might not hear.
"And Polly, Princess Polly, was with me. She's my little guest. May I bring her now? She's so beautiful you'll just love to look at her."
"Oh, then, bring Miss Polly at once," he said.
Rose ran to the hall.
"Oh, come, come!" she said, in a whisper so loud that it reached UncleJohn's ear and caused him to laugh softly.
"Come!" she repeated. "He's as handsome as a prince," and claspingPolly's hand, she returned to the parlor.
He greeted Polly as cordially as he had Rose, and Polly at once decided that Rose's Uncle John was the handsomest man, next to her dear papa, that she had ever seen.
"I have been asking Lois to loan Rose to me for a few days, and she has consented. Rose seems to think it might be enjoyable. I would not think, however, of taking her from you while you are her guest, Miss Polly, but if you will come with her, I shall be doubly happy. I have a lovely place at the shore. Will you come?"
"Oh, I'd love to," said Polly, "there's nothing finer than the shore."
"MAY we?" Rose asked, running to Aunt Lois.
"Why, certainly. I think the change will be pleasant for you. Nora must pack whatever you will need in your suit cases. Uncle John never did like to wait for anything, and he wishes to take you back with him."
Uncle John took a package from his pocket.
"I stopped on my way and purchased two veils. Men don't know much about such things, and when the clerk showed me a box full of them, I didn't know which to choose. I looked at a pink and a blue one, and because I'd no idea which you'd like best, I brought them both to you, Rose. You can loan one to Polly. You'll need your hats tied on securely on your ride to the shore."
"Oh, see the lovely, LOVELY VEILS!" cried Rose, when, having opened the parcel, the soft blue and pink gauze lay before them.
"No one could have found prettier ones," said Rose. "On, thank you for bringing them to me. I like to have gifts, but, oh, I LOVE to know folks care to give them to me. That's BEST of all."
"Dear little girl, you are right about that," Uncle John said heartily, "and now run and get your wraps, and we'll spin away to the shore."
"Oh, Polly, Princess Polly, Princess Polly! ISN'T he dear?" whispered Rose, when together they climbed the stairway to help Nora to choose what they would need for the visit.
"Oh, Nora!" cried Rose, "why didn't you tell me he wasn't old at all?"
"Sure, now," replied Nora, "if I'd said what I thought, I'd have said he looked like a noble lord, so he does."
"And I'm to go, too, Nora!" cried Polly, "and wasn't he kind to seem just as glad to have me as he was to have Rose. Of course, he wasn't TRULY, but he was SOME glad, and I wish he was my Uncle John, too."
"Well, now," said Nora, "do ye just PLAY he's yer own uncle, and go along with Rose, and himself ter have a fine visit."
Nora found it something of a task to pack the two suit cases, because the two little girls were so excited that they could hardly keep still long enough to choose what they wished to carry.
"Put my pink dress in, Nora, and Polly, you take your pink one, too," said Rose, "and, oh, come over here to the window and see how lovely the automobile looks from here!"
Away they ran to the window.
"It's a beauty," said Polly, "and I'd rather ride in a red one than—"
"Miss Polly, will I be puttin' yer pink frock in?" questioned Nora, "sure, he's waitin', an' we ought ter hurry the packin'!"
"Well we ought to hurry!" agreed Polly, "and, Rose, didn't his eyes just twinkle when he asked us to come!"
"And to think I EVER believed he was old!" said Rose.
"Hold still till I tie yer hats on with a veil. Now, which will ye wear,Miss Rose?"
"Pink, because it's ROSE color," cried Rose.
"No, no!" said Polly; "the blue is prettier!"
At last they were ready. They ran down the stairway, Nora following with the suit cases, and laughing because they hopped on every other stair.
"All ready? Why, what charming little ladies I have to take home! Those veils are really all right, and hugely becoming. Would you like to start now, or wait an hour or two?" As he asked the question his brown eyes were dancing.
"Oh, now, NOW!" they cried.
He laughed, and stooping, lifted little Rose so that he could look straight into her eyes, eyes as brown as his own.
"Little Rose Atherton," he said softly, "you are like your father, and your mother, too, but most of all you are every inch an Atherton."
He kissed her gently and set her down, but the look in his eyes and the kiss had won her little heart, and she clung to his hand.
Aunt Rose and Aunt Lois had been all that was kind, but Uncle John! Ah, he would LOVE her!
She had always wanted someone to love her.
"Do be careful, John," said Aunt Lois "I can't seem to think those automobiles are as safe as my carriage is."
"I'll take the best of care of my precious little passengers," he said, "and Lois!" speaking loudly, that she might hear, "I remember a ride that I took with you years ago. The horse shied at a piece of old paper in the road, at a girl with a red parasol, and a half dozen other equally harmless things. I'll promise you the automobile won't act like that! If it does, I'll sell it and get another!"
At last they were off. They had waved their hands to Aunt Lois, and now, side by side, they were spinning over the road, Uncle John feeling very proud of his lovely little guests.
They laughed and chattered all the way, and Uncle John thought he never had heard merrier music.
It was when they had left the country town behind and caught the first glimpse of the sea that their cries of delight charmed him.
"See the sails! The sails way out there against the sky!" cried Rose.
"And the big gulls!" cried Polly. "See them fly way, way up high, and then down, down again to the waves."
It had been a long, sunny road, with seldom a turn, and only occasionally a glimpse of the sea, but suddenly the road curved, winding around behind a high bluff, and there, blue and glistening in the sunlight, lay the sea, the big blue sea!
"We're here at the shore!" cried Rose, "and oh, I've never been there before. I didn't know it was so lovely!"
"You're a real little sailor's lass, or rather, a sea-captain's lass, if you love the sea so well!" said Uncle John, well pleased with her excitement and delight.
He stopped that they might watch the incoming tide for a few moments, then off over the road they sped.
"Here we are!" he cried, when after a half hour's more ride, they turned in at the driveway of a fine shore villa.
"Welcome to 'The Cliffs'!" said Uncle John.
He lifted them down, and taking each by the hand, turned toward the broad piazza.
"Ah, Mrs. Wilton, you were looking for us!" he said, greeting the housekeeper, a stout, cheery looking woman, who took the suit cases and smiled, as if caring for two small girls were the one thing that delighted her.
"Yes, I was watching for you, and when you drove up to the house I said to myself:
"'Well, he's TWICE lucky, for he wanted Rose for a visitor, and he's found another child to bring with her!'"
She greeted the children cordially as they were introduced.
"Her name could be nothing but Atherton," she said, "why, sir, she looks like you enough to be your own child."
"She is my BORROWED little girl," Uncle John replied, "she's MINE while here."
Three days had passed, and Uncle John Atherton had filled them full of pleasure.
They had bathed in the surf, they had taken long tramps along the beach when the tide was out, they had sailed in his yacht, "The Dolphin," they had been up at the great hotel, where a fine hop was enjoyed.
Was there any pleasure that he had not given them?
One morning he looked into the two bright little faces, as they sat at breakfast, and wondered what he would best choose for the day's chief event.
"I believe I'll ask you two little friends to choose your amusement for to-day. What shall we do first?" he asked.
"'The Dolphin!' A sail on 'The Dolphin!'" they cried without a moment's hesitation.
"Then get on those sailor frocks that you wore yesterday, and your big sailor hats, and we'll sail on the 'briny deep,' right after breakfast," was the quick reply.
He was well pleased, for they had chosen just that which he so loved to do.
They hurriedly finished their breakfast and ran up to their room to put on the pretty sailor suits that he had so admired.
"Rose!" called Uncle John.
"I'm almost ready," she answered.
"No hurry," he replied, "only when you, and Polly are ready, run right down to the boat. I've told Donald to take you for a row, and just as soon as I have finished some letters, I'll go with you for a sail."
"Oh, that will be fine!" cried Rose, "because while we are waiting for you we'll be on the water."
Uncle John returned to his letters, and soon Rose and Polly hurried down to the piazza and out onto the driveway.
It was a short run to the beach, where they found Donald, the littleScotch lad, waiting for them.
With a new knife he was whittling a bit of wood into the rude semblance of a boat.
He had intended to go fishing with another boy, and he was not pleased to be rowing two small girls, so much younger than himself; therefore he was sullen. True, he was well paid for rowing them, and he was glad of the money, but, ungrateful little lad that he was, he most unwillingly waited for Rose and Polly.
"I'd 'nough rather be fishing," he grumbled, but aloud he said:
"Come on!"
They followed him, clambered into the boat, and soon were out on the water, singing a pretty boating song that Uncle John had taught them:
"Floating, floating over the sea,Blithe of heart and gay are we.Riding lightly over the foam,O'er the sea 'tis joy to roam."
"I b'lieve I could row," said Rose.
"Huh! Girls can't do much," said Donald roughly.
"Girls CAN!" cried Polly, vexed that the boy should annoy Rose.
"Huh! Not MUCH!" he replied.
He was not in the least interested in their merry chatter. He felt sure that small girls were of no use.
He talked very loudly of lines, spars, windlass and davits. To be sure, he did not know one from the other, but then he knew that the little girls did not know, and he hoped to impress them.
"What ARE those things?" Polly asked, when he had been talking for some time, and constantly using names that they did not know.
"Oh, a man couldn't tell girls so they'd understand," said Donald, squaring his shoulders and trying to look as large as possible.
"A MAN!" cried Polly, and although neither had meant to do it, both laughed merrily.
Donald was angry, too angry to reply, but under his breath he muttered:
"Laugh if ye want ter, but I'll get even!"
It was in vain that Rose and Polly tried to talk with him.
He only glowered, and was too sullen to answer the questions that they asked, and for a time they were silent. Rose spoke first.
"Why are you rowing us back?" she cried. "We don't want to go back yet!"
"Got ter go back a minute," said the boy, "just for a arrant."
He rowed close to a short pile that was near the shore and in very shallow water. There was a huge iron ring attached to the pile, used for mooring small boats.
Donald, who had been watching the shore very closely, now, to hide his interest, bent all his energy in fastening the chain of the boat to the ring.
"There!" he said, "that's fast, an' you girls are safe if you sit still till I come back."
He sprang from the boat, and waded through the shallow water, then ran up on the beach, shouting:
"Jock! Jock! Wait a minute!"
"Donald! Don't stay long!" cried Rose, and Polly echoed her words, butDonald either did not, or would not hear!
They watched the two boys as they stood for a moment talking, then ran down the beach.
"I don't think he was very nice to go off and leave us here while he does errands," said Polly.
"He wasn't nice at all," said Rose, "and I'll tell Uncle John, if he gets here first."
"Is this chain VERY long?" Polly asked a moment later.
"I don't know," said Rose, looking over the side of the boat and down into the water.
"I don't see it," she said a moment later, "why did you ask that,Polly?"
"Oh, I was only wondering how far we could float before the chain would look tight. We've gone ever so far, and the boat doesn't tug at it yet!" Polly said.
"It will, though!" said Rose.
Still they floated, and for a time they were silent, contented to be out in the sunshine.
Then suddenly Rose looked up at Polly, quick terror in her eyes.
"Polly, Princess Polly!" she cried, "is there ANY chain on this boat?"
"Why of course!" said Polly, "didn't you see Donald fasten it to that big iron ring on the post?"
Rose leaned forward and looked into Polly's eyes.
"I saw him fasten ONE END of it, Polly, and so did you, but was theOTHER end fastened to this boat?'
"Why, yes, I—oh, Rose, you DON'T think we're—DRIFTING?" gasped Polly.
"You can't get up, and turn round," said Rose, "because Uncle John told us always to keep our seats in a boat, but can't you just twist round enough to see?"
With great care Polly turned, and saw just what she feared—the ring on the boat and NO CHAIN CONNECTED!
With a white little face Polly turned, and with parted lips looked atRose.
"We ARE drifting—JUST DRIFTING!" she whispered hoarsely.
"Drifting!" cried Rose. "Oh, Polly, what SHALL we do?"
"Sit still," whispered Polly, "and wait—just WAIT!"
"What WILL Uncle John do? And where will he think we are?" said Rose.
"Oh, I don't know!" wailed Polly, "but I'm SURE we ought to do something. Just look how far we are from the shore, and we're going all the time!"
They looked in despair toward the beach. No one was in sight, and the dancing waves glistened in the sunlight, as if they laughed, feeling no pity for the two frightened children in the boat.
"Do you s'pose we could row?" questioned Polly.
"I don't know how," said Rose, "but it didn't look hard when Donald did it."
They reached for the oars, but found that neither was strong enough to lift one, and Rose's eyes filled with tears when she looked at Polly, while Polly's brave effort to cheer Rose with a smile failed, because her own lips were quivering.
"Let's sit down in the bottom of the boat, it seems safer," said Rose.
They slipped from their seats, and each clung to the other.
"If only Uncle John knew!" wailed Rose.
"If only he knew!" echoed Polly, with a sob.
Still the little boat rocked lightly on the waves, and now they no longer tried to hide their fear, but cried, because they could not help it.
Out on a high bluff a tall, square-shouldered man leveled a powerful glass and looked out across the waves.
Evidently he saw what he was looking for, and hastily slinging the leather strap that held the glass over his shoulder, he strode down to the shore.
Completely tired, the two children lay sobbing and clinging to each other, no longer looking toward the shore, because now they were too far out to clearly see it.
A white gull circled near them, and the whirring of its wings made Polly open her eyes.
"A great gull!" she whispered, then, oh, the joy in her cry:
"'The Dolphin!' 'The Dolphin!'"
Rose scrambled to her knees.
"Oh, it is! It is! DEAR Uncle John!" she cried.
It was a quick turn from terror in the little boat to joy and safety in the big yacht, with Uncle John, big, brave Uncle John, to care for them.
"You must tell me all about this," he said, when they were once aboard the yacht, "but not a word until after we've had a wee lunch."
The steward brought dainty sandwiches, cakes, fruit and hot chocolate, and the happy little trio enjoyed it heartily, partly because it was a delicious spread, but far more because of their feeling of safety after their terror.
The children had been frightened, but bright, cheery Uncle John had suffered more than he would have admitted when, through his powerful glass, he had seen the two little occupants of the rowboat crouching close together, rocked at the will of the waves and going steadily out to the open sea.
He knew that it would take but a short time to reach them, but would they remember what he had so often told them?
If they should change places in the boat and thus capsize it, no yacht could reach them in time to save them!
Now, with Polly and Rose beside him, safe and sound, he felt as if a heavy cloud had lifted.
After the lunch had been enjoyed, Uncle John asked for the story of their plight, and together they told it, telling of the start with Donald, of his sullenness, his anger, and his muttered threat.
"I don't know SURELY, TRULY, what he said, but I thought he said:
"'I'll get even with them,' and Polly thought so, too," concluded Rose.
"And after he'd said that, he wouldn't talk at all," said Polly.
"And we thought he'd fastened the boat when we saw him hitching one end of the chain to the big ring," said Rose, "and he waded out to the shore, and ran off up the beach with another boy."
"We shouted to him, and told him not to stay long, but he didn't answer, and didn't look back, but just kept on running until he met another boy, and then they ran away together," said Polly.
"The other boy had a fishing pole," added Rose.
"Oh, he did, did he?" said Uncle John, "well, I wouldn't be surprised if young Donald had a fishing outfit tucked snugly away in some cranny in the rocks, where he doubtless found it after he left you."
"What WOULD have happened to us if you hadn't found us?" said Rose.
Uncle John Atherton's brown eyes were not twinkling as he turned to reply, and Polly thought she saw a tear on his lashes.
His arm tightened about Rose, and he drew her closer.
"I don't like to think what MIGHT have happened to you two little friends, alone on the open sea. I shall settle with Donald later," he said.
"What will you do?" questioned Rose, looking up into his face with eager, yet anxious eyes.
"Why do you ask?" he questioned.
"I wouldn't think to ask if you were smiling," said Rose, "but you look so stern—oh, I don't care if you scold him some, but 'tho he was mean, and naughty, don't make him feel TOO bad."
"You've a loving heart," was the quick reply, "and like all theAthertons, you are generous."
"Generous?" said Rose, in quick surprise, "I didn't say give him anything. I only said: 'Don't make him feel TOO bad!'"
"My dear little girl, there are other ways of being generous beside bestowing gifts. It is VERY generous of you, when Donald has treated you so cruelly, to ask mercy for him. I'll remember your tender pleading in his behalf, but Donald must be made to know, and fully understand that what he did was far worse than merely naughty, it was wicked!
"And now, for the time, we'll talk no more about Donald. You and Polly are safe and sound, the little boat is floating just behind us, all the sky is blue and cloudless. We are bounding over the sparkling waves, without a thought or care.
"I am master of the Dolphin, and you and Polly are two lovely little sea fairies that I have invited aboard to keep me company."
THE days spent at the shore sped as if on golden wings, and Uncle John declared that the sunlight seemed brighter while Rose remained under the red roof of "The Cliffs."
He had given his little guests every pleasure, he had bought them a beautiful collection of shells, and a tiny ship for each to sail in the brook at Sherwood Hall. Was there anything that he had not done for their happiness, their delight while with him at the shore?
Now the day for their departure had arrived, and his genial face looked strangely quiet, and he forgot to laugh and joke with them.
He watched Rose closely, and once, when she looked up at him, she thought his eyes looked grieved.
She laid her hand on his arm, and spoke the thought that was troubling her.
"You don't want me to go?" she questioned. "You wish I was not going back to Aunt Rose?"
Uncle John sat down in his great arm chair, and lifted Rose to his knee.
Looking into her brown eyes that were so like his own, he gazed for a moment, then he spoke, and his voice was very gentle.
"I wanted you to come to me for this little visit, but I did not dream how hard it would be to let you go. I shall miss you, I think you know that, little Rose."
"I do, oh, I do, and I don't want to go. I wouldn't EVER be ready to leave you Uncle John!" she cried.
Quickly two strong arms were around her, holding her fast, as he whispered:
"WHY, little girl? Tell me WHY?"
"Because you love me," sobbed Rose. "Aunt Judith took care of me because she HAD to, but she always said it was a nuisance, and now Aunt Rose and Aunt Lois are kind and good to me, and they like to have me with them, but they never—"
The soft little voice paused.
"They'd never think to hold me if I felt badly, and sometimes I'm so lonely. Other little girls have mamas to care for them, and big, tall papas who love them, and truly aunts, real GOOD aunts aren't the same."
"How about uncles? Are THEY worth while?" questioned Uncle John.
She lifted her head, and seeing the twinkle in his fine eyes, she smiled through her tears.
"I've only one uncle," she said, "but he's the best one in the world!"
"He's scheming now to find a way to be with you at least a part of each year," was the quick reply.
"Oh, WILL you, CAN you do that?" cried Rose.
"I think so," he said, "and I cannot now tell you just how I shall manage it, but I am quite sure that I can do it, and until I am ready to talk with your Aunt Rose regarding it, you must promise to keep it for a little secret, a pleasant thing to think of when days are a bit dull."
"Oh, I will, I will!" cried Rose. "I won't say a word about it, but I'll think of it every day!"
Her tears had vanished, and when Polly came running in she did not dream that Rose had been crying.
"Only think," said Polly, "I have to say 'Good-bye' twice to-day, forI'm to leave here, and then I'm to leave Rose's house to go back toSherwood Hall!"
"And we both knew that this was the day that Polly was to go home, but last night she got a letter," said Rose, "and her mama says that she's glad she's having such a lovely time, but that Sherwood Hall is so lonely without her, she can't spare her any longer.
"I do think it must be dreadful there with Princess Polly away, but I wish I didn't have to give her up."
"Well, now, suppose we make the trip as cheerful as possible," said Uncle John. "You have your suit cases, your boxes of shells, your little boats and two hand bags. Really, I think the automobile will be far more comfortable than the cars."
"Oh, yes, yes!" they cried in delight.
"And I'll drive you over to Aunt Rose's house. I'll stay while we lunch with her, and later in the afternoon we'll take Polly to Sherwood Hall, where I shall take the opportunity to tell Mrs. Sherwood how greatly I have enjoyed her little daughter as my guest."
"Oh, what fun!" cried Polly, "and mama will see you. I told her you wereALMOST as handsome as papa!"
"Oh, spare my blushes!" said Uncle John, "but all the same, I thank you, little Princess Polly, for your good opinion of me. I trust that Rose, and I may borrow you again some day."
[Illustration with caption: "Look!" she cried, "the waves never danced prettier."]
"And I'll love to be borrowed!" cried Polly, "for this has been a fine visit. Just think how much I have to tell when I am at home, and Lena and Rob and Leslie and Harry come up and ask:
"'Did you have a nice time Polly? Where did you go? What did you do while you were away,' and I'll hardly know where to begin, because there's so much to tell."
They ran down to the beach "Just to say 'Good-bye' to the waves," Rose said.
"Look!" she cried. "The waves never danced prettier."
It was with a light heart that Rose let Uncle John help her into the automobile beside Polly. She was to have two long rides with him, and, oh, the secret that she had promised loyally to keep!
"He will fix it so he can be with me PART of the time, SOME of the time!" sang her happy little heart, and her eyes brightened and her cheeks grew pinker with the thought.
She laughed and chattered with Polly all the way, and the long ride seemed all too short, for before she dreamed that they were near the old Atherton house, they turned in at the driveway, and Nora, who had seen them coming, stood smiling a welcome from the doorway.
They made a happy party at lunch, and Aunt Rose was so evidently glad that Rose had returned that the little girl felt almost guilty when she thought of the secret that Uncle John had given her to keep.
"It isn't that I don't want to stay here; I mean it isn't JUST that. It's that I can stay here, and be happier because I have Uncle John now, and he loves me, and, oh, he's planning, just simply planning to—"
Just as she reached that point Uncle John commenced to tell a very funny story, and in the laughter that greeted it she, for the moment, forgot the secret.
Uncle John said nothing of his plan to Aunt Rose. Indeed, he was not quite ready to do that. He knew Aunt Rose Jerusha Atherton too well to tell a part of any plan to her. He knew that she wished her little namesake to be always with her, and he wisely intended to say nothing of his wish regarding Rose until his scheme was complete.
"Then," thought Uncle John, "I'll have my way. I usually do!" and he smiled as if the thought amused him.
Rose felt that the house seemed less gloomy than she had thought, but she knew that it was Uncle John and Princess Polly who helped to make it cheery.
And when, in the afternoon, they were once more speeding over the shady roads toward Sherwood Hall, it seemed as if every day since she had first met Uncle John had been a holiday.
It was Polly who interrupted her dreaming.
"Why, Rose Atherton!" she said, "I said 'Good-bye' to your two Aunts andto Nora and to Lester Jenks, but I never thought to say it toEvangeline! I didn't want to talk to her, but I did mean just to say'Good-bye.'"
"Well, I guess you needn't mind," said Rose. "It may be you'd OUGHT to have said it, but she never'd let you go without writing an old poem, and p'raps it would have been a long one."
"Oh, dear," said Polly, "I'm ALMOST glad I forgot!"
It was a cordial welcome that awaited them at Sherwood Hall. Mrs. Sherwood could not wait until Polly should be beside her, but stood upon the broad piazza, watching until the big automobile appeared around the bend of the road.
"Ah, there they come!" she cried, "my own little Princess Polly is coming back to Sherwood Hall."
Up the broad driveway it came, and the moment it stopped Polly sprang out and into the arms that opened wide to receive her.
"Oh, it's lovely to be with Rose, and I've had a fine time, so why IS it so sweet to come home?" she cried.
"We who have loving hearts can easily understand," said Mrs. Sherwood, "and Mr. Atherton doubtless remembers of days when, as a boy, he went on vacation trips that he enjoyed with all the ardent spirit of youth, yet when the day came for returning, his heart beat faster. Home, after all, seemed the dearest place!"
"That is exactly as I remember it, but there's one thing that you did not mention, and that was the tears that I had to hide," said Uncle John.
"I started on my camping trips with high spirits, yet a bit of regret at leaving home caused my eyes to fill. I could not let the other boys see the tears for fear of being laughed at, so I made all sorts of excuses for the moisture by talking of dust and cinders; that, however, never deceived my comrades for a moment. Therefore, they dubbed me 'Softy,' a name that I detested."
The sound of a firm tread on the gravel walk caused them to turn as Arthur Sherwood came to greet his guest, and to welcome his little daughter, Polly.
The older members of the party seated themselves on the broad piazza, and while they were pleasantly chatting, Polly and Rose found their little boats that Uncle John had purchased for them, and away they ran to the brook to try them.
"Mine has rubies and emeralds for cargo," said Rose, "and a few, just aFEW necklaces. What has yours, Polly?"
"Mine has diamonds and sapphires," said Polly, "and there are bracelets and bangles in the hold."
"Oh, see their sails!" cried Rose, "how fine, they look just like real ships, that have truly cargoes."
"And see them in the water!" said Polly. "The real boats floating, and the shadow boats down, down in the water. Which are finest, the TRULY boats or the shadow boats?"
"The truly boats are dearest, because Uncle John gave them to us, and they are real, but the shadow boats are beautiful and they look like fairy ships," said Rose.
"Push yours out into the brook away from the shore," said Polly, "andI'll lash the water with this switch."
"All right," said Rose, and she gave the tiny craft a gentle push.
Polly struck the water sharply with her switch.
"Look! Look!" she cried, "See the boats rocking on the waves! See the bubbles! Don't it look almost like foam?"
The boats rocked, and danced on the little waves that were only ripples on the surface, and Polly was about to use the switch harder in an attempt to make a hurricane when they heard Uncle John calling:
"Rose! Rose!"
"Oh, he's calling me," cried Rose, and lifting the little boats from the water they ran back to the driveway.
A few weeks earlier Rose would have found it hard to leave Polly, and she did regret it, but the fact that Uncle John would be with her on the way back to Aunt Rose made it easier.
Then there was his promise, that only he and her own little self knew about!
And later she was to visit Polly! Oh, these were pleasant things to think of!
The "Good-byes" were said, Mrs. Sherwood had urged Rose to come a little later to visit Polly, Uncle John had agreed to call whenever Rose was at Sherwood Hall, Mr. Sherwood had promised to drive over to call upon the master of "The Cliffs" and enjoy a sail on the Dolphin, and Rose, as they drove away, spoke the thought that told of her happiness.
"I feel as if they were my own relatives," she said, "and oh, Uncle John, isn't it different from the way it was when I lived here with Aunt Judith. Then I felt so very poor, because I had only one person that was really my own and SHE didn't,—need a little girl. Now I have Aunt Rose and Aunt Lois and you, and you ALL want me."
"We need you, dear little Rose, and especially doIneed you."
"And you said perhaps, just PERHAPS, you could—" She paused.
"I said I should try to arrange things so that I could be with you a part of each year.
"I think I can manage it, little Rose, if you say nothing about it untilI tell you that you may."
"I'll keep it," said Rose, "you'll see how I'll keep it!"
On the way down the avenue they stopped at Aunt Judith's cottage.
Repeated raps at the door brought no response, however, and just as they turned to go, Gyp, the ever present Gyp, howled a bit of news from his perch on the roof of the hen coop.
"Say! 'Taint no use ter pound on that 'ere door. She ain't to home, 'cause she's somewhere else! I seen her go out. She had a basket on her head, an' a bunnit on her arm! No, a bunnit on her, oh—pshaw! I do'no' how ter say it! Heigh-o-dingerty-dingty-dum!"
He had done the usual thing. Whenever embarrassed Gyp took to the woods.
Uncle John looked after the flying figure, and laughed when Gyp paused in the middle of the field to turn a somersault before disappearing in the woods.