_ BOOK ONE
CHAPTER X. THE NUTTING PARTY
Peter Junior made no attempt the next day to speak further to his father about his plans. It seemed to him better that he should wait until his wise mother had talked the matter over with the Elder. Although he put in most of the day at the studio, painting, he saw very little of Betty and thought she was avoiding him out of girlish coquetry, but she was only very busy. Martha was coming home and everything must be as clean as wax. Martha was such a tidy housekeeper that she would see the least lack and set to work to remedy it, and that Betty could not abide. In these days Martha's coming marked a semimonthly event in the home, for since completing her course at the high school she had been teaching in the city. Bertrand would return with her, and then all would have to be talked over,--just what he had decided to do, and why.
In the evening a surprise awaited the whole household, for Martha came, accompanied not only by her father, but also by a young professor in the same school where she taught. Mary Ballard greeted him most kindly, but she felt things were happening too rapidly in her family. Jamie and Bobby watched the young man covertly yet eagerly, taking note of his every movement and intonation. Was he one to be emulated or avoided? Only little Janey was quite unabashed by him, and this lightened his embarrassment greatly and helped him to the ease of manner he strove to establish.
She led him out to the sweet-apple tree, and introduced him to the calf and the bantams, and invited him to go with them nutting the next day. "We're all going in a great, big picnic wagon. Everybody's going and we'll have just lots of fun." And he accepted, provided she would sit beside him all the way.
Bobby decided at this point that he also would befriend the young man. "If you're going to sit beside her all the way, you'll have to be lively. She never sits in one place more than two minutes. You'll have to sit on papa's other knee for a while, and then you'll have to sit on Peter Junior's."
"That will be interesting, anyway. Who's Peter Junior?"
"Oh, he's a man. He comes to see us a lot."
"He's the son of Elder Craigmile," explained Martha.
"Is he going, too, Betty?"
"Yes. The whole crowd are going. It will be fun. I'm glad now it rained Thursday, for the Deans didn't want to postpone it till to-morrow, and then, when it rained, Mrs. Dean said it would be too wet to try to have it yesterday; and now we have you. I wanted all the time to wait until you came home."
That night, when Martha went to their room, Betty followed her, and after closing the door tightly she threw her arms around her sister's neck.
"Oh, Martha, Martha, dear! Tell me all about him. Why didn't you let us know? I came near having on my old blue gingham. What if I had? He's awfully nice looking. Is he in love with you? Tell me all about it. Does he make love to you? Oh, Martha! It's so romantic for you to have a lover!"
"Hush, Betty, some one will hear you. Of course he doesn't make love to me!"
"Why?"
"I wouldn't let him."
"Martha! Why not? Do you think it's bad to let a young man make love to you?"
"Betty! You mustn't talk so loud. Everything sounds so through this house. It would mortify me to death."
"What would mortify you to death: to have him make love to you or to have someone hear me?"
"Betty, dear!"
"Well, tell me all about him--please! Why did he come out with you?"
"You shouldn't always be thinking about love-making--and--such things, Betty, dear. He just came out in the most natural way, just because he--he loves the country, and he was talking to me about it one day and said he'd like to come out some Friday with me--just about asked me to invite him. So when father called at the school yesterday for me, I introduced them, and he said the same thing to father, and of course father invited him over again, and--and--so he's here. That's all there is to it."
"I bet it isn't. How long have you known him?"
"Why, ever since I've been in the school, naturally."
"What does he teach?"
"He has higher Latin and beginners' Greek, and then he has charge of the main room when the principal goes out."
Betty pondered a little, sitting on the floor in front of her sister. "You have such a lovely way of doing your hair. Is that the way to do hair nowadays--with two long curls hanging down from one side of the coil? You wind one side around the back knot, and then you pin the other up and let the ends hang down in two long curls, don't you? I'm going to try mine that way; may I?"
"Of course, darling! I'll help you."
"What's his name, Martha? I couldn't quite catch it, and I did not want to let him know I thought it queer, so wouldn't ask over."
"His name is Lucien Thurbyfil. It's not so queer, Betty."
"Oh, you pronounce it T'urbyfil, just as if there were no 'h' in it. You know I thought father said Mr. Tubfull--or something like that, when he introduced him to mother, and that was why mother looked at him in such an odd way."
The two girls laughed merrily. "Betty, what if you hadn't been a dear, and had called him that! And he's so very correct!"
"Oh, is he? Then I'll try it to-morrow and we'll see what he'll do."
"Don't you dare! I'd be so ashamed I'd sink right through the floor. He'd think we'd been making fun of him."
"Then I'll wait until we are out in the woods, for I'd hate to have you make a hole in the floor by sinking through it."
"Betty! You'll be good to-morrow, won't you, dear?"
"Good? Am I not always good? Didn't I scrub and bake and put flowers all over the ugly what-not in the corner of the parlor, and get the grease spot out of the dining room rug that Jamie stepped butter into--and all for you--without any thought of any Mr. Tubfull or any one but you? All day long I've been doing it."
"Of course you did, and it was perfectly sweet; and the flowers and mother looked so dear--and Janey's hands were clean--I looked to see. You know usually they are so dirty. I knew you'd been busy; but Betty, dear, you won't be mischievous to-morrow, will you? He's our guest, you know, and you never were bashful, not as much as you really ought to be, and we can't treat strangers just as we do--well--people we have always known, like Peter Junior. They wouldn't understand it."
But the admonition seemed to be lost, for Betty's thoughts were wandering from the point. "Hasn't he ever--ever--made love to you?" Martha was washing her face and neck at the washstand in the corner, and now she turned a face very rosy, possibly with scrubbing, and threw water over her naughty little sister. "Well, hasn't he ever put his arm around you or--or anything?"
"I wouldn't let a man do that."
"Not if you were engaged?"
"Of course not! That wouldn't be a nice way to do."
"Shouldn't you let a man kiss you or--or--put his arm around you--or anything--even when he's trying to get engaged to you?"
"Of course not, Betty, dear. You're asking very silly questions. I'm going to bed."
"Well, but they do in books. He did in 'Jane Eyre,' don't you remember? And she was proud of it--and pretended not to be--and very much touched, and treasured his every look in her heart. And in the books they always kiss their lovers. How can Mr. Thurbyfil ever be your lover, if you never let him even put his arm around you?"
"Betty, Betty, come to bed. He isn't my lover and he doesn't want to be and we aren't in books, and you are getting too old to be so silly."
Then Betty slowly disrobed and bathed her sweet limbs and at last crept in beside her sister. Surely she had not done right. She had let Peter Junior put his arm around her and kiss her, and that even before they were engaged; and all yesterday afternoon he had held her hand whenever she came near, and he had followed her about and had kissed her a great many times. Her cheeks burned with shame in the darkness, not that she had allowed this, but that she had not been as bashful as she ought. But how could she be bashful without pretending?
"Martha," she said at last, "you are so sweet and pretty, if I were Mr. Thurbyfil, I'd put my arm around you anyway, and make love to you."
Then Martha drew Betty close and gave her a sleepy kiss. "No you wouldn't, dear," she murmured, and soon the two were peacefully sleeping, Betty's troubles quite forgotten. Still, when morning came, she did not confide to her sister anything about Peter Junior, and she even whispered to her mother not to mention a word of the affair to any one.
At breakfast Jamie and Bobby were turbulent with delight. All outings were a joy to them, no matter how often they came. Martha was neat and rosy and gay. Lucien Thurbyfil wanted to help her by wiping the dishes, but she sent him out to the sweet-apple tree with a basket, enjoining him to bring only the mellow ones. "Be sure to get enough. We're all going, father and mother and all."
"It's very nice of your people to make room for me on the wagon."
"And it's nice of you to go."
"I see Peter Junior. He's coming," shouted Bobby, from the top of the sweet-apple tree.
"Who does he go with?" asked Martha.
"With us. He always does," said Betty. "I wonder why his mother and the Elder never go out for any fun, the way you and father do!"
"The Elder always has to be at the bank, I suppose," said Mary Ballard, "and she wouldn't go without him. Did you put in the salt and pepper for the eggs, dear?"
"Yes, mother. I'm glad father isn't a banker."
"It takes a man of more ability than I to be a banker," said Bertrand, laughing, albeit with concealed pride.
"We don't care if it does, Dad," said Jamie, patronizingly. "When I get through the high school, I'm going to hire out to the bank." He seized the lunch basket and marched manfully out to the wagon.
"I thought Peter Junior always went with Clara Dean. He did when I left," said Martha, in a low voice to Betty, as they filled bottles with raspberry shrub, and with cream for the coffee. "Did you tie strings on the spoons, dear? They'll get mixed with the Walters' if you don't. You remember theirs are just like ours."
"Oh, I forgot. Why, he likes Clara a lot, of course, but I guess they just naturally expected him to go with us. They and the Walters have a wagon together, anyway, and they wouldn't have room. We have one all to ourselves. Hello, Peter Junior! Mr. Thurbyfil, this is Mr. Junior."
"Happy to meet you, Mr. Junior," said the correct Mr. Thurbyfil. The boys laughed uproariously, and the rest all smiled, except Betty, who was grave and really seemed somewhat embarrassed.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Mr. Thurbyfil, this is Mr. Craigmile," said Martha. "You introduced him as Mr. Junior, Betty."
"I didn't! Well, that's because I'm bashful. Come on, everybody, mother's in." So they all climbed into the wagon and began to find their places.
"Oh, father, have you the matches? The bottles are on the kitchen table," exclaimed Martha.
"Don't get down, Mr. Ballard," said Lucien. "I'll get them. It would never do to forget the bottles. Now, where's the little girl who was to ride beside me?" and Janey crawled across the hay and settled herself at her new friend's side. "Now I think we are beautifully arranged," for Martha was on his other side.
"Very well, we're off," and Bertrand gathered up the reins and they started.
"There they are. There's the other wagon," shouted Bobby. "We ought to have a flag to wave."
Then Lucien, the correct, startled the party by putting his two fingers in his mouth and whistling shrilly.
"They have such a load I wish Clara could ride with us," said Betty. "Peter Junior, won't you get out and fetch her?"
So they all stopped and there were greetings and introductions and much laughing and joking, and Peter Junior obediently helped Clara Dean down and into the Ballards' wagon.
"Clara, Mr. Thurbyfil can whistle as loud as a train, through his fingers, he can. Do it, Mr. Thurbyfil," said Bobby.
"Oh, I can do that," said Peter Junior, not to be outdone by the stranger, and they all tried it. Bertrand and his wife, settled comfortably on the high seat in front, had their own pleasure together and paid no heed to the noisy crew behind them.
What a day! Autumn leaves and hazy distances, soft breezes and sunlight, and miles of level road skirting woods and open fields where the pumpkins lay yellow among the shocks of corn, and where the fence corners were filled with flaming sumac, with goldenrod and purple asters adding their softer coloring.
It was a good eight miles to Carter's woods, but they bordered the river where the bluffs were not so high, and it would be possible to build a fire on the river bank with perfect safety. Bertrand had brought roasting ears from his patch of sweet corn, and as soon as they arrived at their chosen grove, he and Mary leisurely turned their attention to the preparing of the lunch with Mrs. Dean and Mrs. Walters, leaving to the young people the gathering of the nuts.
Mrs. Dean, a slight, wiry woman, who acted and talked easily and unceasingly, spread out a fresh linen cloth and laid a stone on each corner to hold it down, and then looked into each lunch basket in turn, to acquaint herself with its contents.
"I see you brought cake and cookies and jam, Mrs. Ballard, besides all the corn and cream--you always do too much, and all your own work to look after, too. Well, I brought a lot of ham sandwiches and that brown bread your husband likes so much. I always feel so proud when Mr. Ballard praises anything I do; he's so clever it makes me feel as if I were really able to do something. And you're so clever too. I don't know how it is some folks seem to have all the brains, and then there's others--good enough--but there! As I tell Mr. Dean, you can't tell why it is. Now where are the spoons? Every one brings their own, of course; yes, here are yours, Mrs. Walters. It's good of you to think of that sweet corn, Mr. Ballard.--Oh, he's gone away; well, anyway, we're having a lot more than we can eat, and all so good and tempting. I hope Mr. Dean won't overeat himself; he's just a boy at a picnic, I always have to remind him--How?"
"Did you bring the cups for the coffee?" It was Mrs. Walters who interrupted the flow of Mrs. Dean's eloquence. She was portly and inclined to brevity, which made her a good companion for Mrs. Dean.
"I had such a time with my jell this summer, and now this fall my grape jell's just as bad. This is all running over the glasses. There, I'll set it on this paper. I do hate to see a clean cloth all spotted with jell, even if it is a picnic when people think it doesn't make any difference. I see Martha has a friend. Well, that's nice. I wish Clara cared more for company; but, there, as I tell Mr. Dean--Oh, yes! the cups. Clara, where are the cups? Oh, she's gone. Well, I'm sure they're in that willow basket. I told Clara to pack towels around them good. I do hate to see cups all nicked up; yes, here they are. It's good of you to always tend the coffee, Mrs. Walters; you know just how to make it. I tell Mr. Dean nobody ever makes coffee like you can at a picnic. Now, if it's ready, I think everything else is; well, it soon will be with such a fire, and the corn's not done, anyway. Do you think the sun'll get round so as to shine on the table? I see it's creeping this way pretty fast, and they're all so scattered over the woods there's no telling when we will get every one here to eat. I see another tablecloth in your basket, Mrs. Ballard. If you'll be good enough to just hold that corner, we can cover everything up good, so, and then I'll walk about a bit and call them all together." And the kindly lady stepped briskly off through the woods, still talking, while Mrs. Ballard and Mrs. Walters sat themselves down in the shade and quietly watched the coffee and chatted.
It was past the noon hour, and the air was drowsy and still. The voices and laughter of the nut gatherers came back to them from the deeper woods in the distance, and the crackling of the fire where Bertrand attended to the roasting of the corn near by, and the gentle sound of the lapping water on the river bank came to them out of the stillness.
"I wonder if Mr. Walters tied the horses good!" said his wife. "Seems as if one's got loose. Don't you hear a horse galloping?"
"They're all there eating," said Mary, rising and looking about. "Some one's coming, away off there over the bluff; see?"
"I wonder, now! My, but he rides well. He must be coming here. I hope there's nothing the matter. It looks like--it might be Peter Junior, only he's here already."
"It's--it's--no, it can't be--it is! It's--Bertrand, Bertrand! Why, it's Richard!" cried Mary Ballard, as the horseman came toward them, loping smoothly along under the trees, now in the sunlight and now in the shadow. He leaped from the saddle, and, throwing the rein over a knotted limb, walked rapidly toward them, holding out a hand to each, as Bertrand and Mary hurried forward.
"I couldn't let you good folks have one of these fine old times without me."
"Why, when did you come? Oh, Richard! It's good to see you again," said Mary.
"I came this morning. I went up to my uncle's and then to your house and found you all away, and learned that you were here and my twin with you, so here I am. How are the children? All grown up?"
"Almost. Come and sit down and give an account of yourself to Mary, while I try to get hold of the rest," said Bertrand.
"Mrs. Dean has gone for them, father. Mrs. Walters, the coffee's all right; come and sit down here and let's visit until the others come. You remember Richard Kildene, Mrs. Walters?"
"Since he was a baby, but it's been so long since I've seen you, Richard. I don't believe I'd have known you unless for your likeness to Peter Junior. You look stronger than he now. Redder and browner."
"I ought to. I've been in the open air and sun for weeks. I'm only here now by chance."
"A happy chance for us, Richard. Where have you been of late?" asked Bertrand.
"Out on the plains--riding and keeping a gang of men under control, for the most part, and pushing the work as rapidly as possible." He tossed back his hair with the old movement Mary remembered so well. "Tell me about the children, Martha and Betty; both grown up? Or still ready to play with a comrade?"
"They're all here to-day. Martha's teaching in the city, but Betty's at home helping me, as always. The boys are getting such big fellows, and little Janey's as sweet as all the rest."
"There! That's Betty's laugh, I know. I'd recognize it if I heard it out on the plains. I have, sometimes--when a homesick fit gets hold of me out under the stars, when the noise of the camp has subsided. A good deal of that work is done by the very refuse of humanity, you know, a mighty tough lot."
"And you like that sort of thing, Richard?" asked Mary. "I thought when you went to your people in Scotland, you might be leading a very different kind of life by now."
"I thought so, too, then; but I guess for some reasons this is best. Still, I couldn't resist stealing a couple of days to run up here and see you all. I got off a carload of supplies yesterday from Chicago, and then I wired back to the end of the line that I'd be two days later myself. No wonder I followed you out here. I couldn't afford to waste the precious hours. I say! That's Betty again! I'll find them and say you're hungry, shall I?"
"Oh, they're coming now. I see Martha's pink dress, and there's Betty in green over there."
But Richard was gone, striding over the fallen leaves toward the spot of green which was Betty's gingham dress. And Betty, spying him, forgot she was grown up. She ran toward him with outstretched arms, as of old--only--just as he reached her, she drew back and a wave of red suffused her face. She gave him one hand instead of both, and called to Peter Junior to hurry.
"Well, Betty Ballard! I can't jump you along now over stocks and stones as I used to. And here's everybody! Why, Jamie, what a great man you are! I'll have to take you back with me to help build the new road. And here's Bobby; and this little girl--I wonder if she remembers me well enough to give me a kiss? I have nobody to kiss me now, when I come back. That's right. That's what Betty used to do. Why, hello! here's Clara Dean, and who's this? John Walters? So you're a man, too! Mr. Dean, how are you? And Mrs. Dean! You don't grow any older anyway, so I'll walk with you. Wait until I've pounded this old chap a minute. Why didn't I write I was coming? Man, I didn't know it myself. I'm under orders nowadays. To get here at all I had to steal time. So you're graduated from a crutch to a cane? Good!"
Every one exclaimed at once, while Richard talked right on, until they reached the riverside where the lunch was spread; and then the babble was complete.
That night, as they all drove home in the moonlight, Richard tied his horse to the rear of the Ballards' wagon and rode home seated on the hay with the rest. He placed himself where Betty sat on his right, and the two boys crowded as close to him as possible on his left. Little Janey, cuddled at Betty's side, was soon fast asleep with her head in her sister's lap, while Lucien Thurbyfil was well pleased to have Martha in the corner to himself. Peter Junior sat near Betty and listened with interest to his cousin, who entertained them all with tales of the plains and the Indians, and the game that supplied them with many a fine meal in camp.
"Say, did you ever see a real herd of wild buffalo just tearing over the ground and kicking up a great dust and stampeding and everything?" said Jamie.
"Oh, yes. And if you are out there all alone on your pony, you'd better keep away from in front of them, too, or you'd be trampled to death in a jiffy."
"What's stampeding?" said Bobby.
So Richard explained it, and much more that elicited long breaths of interest. He told them of the miles and miles of land without a single tree or hill, and only a sea of grass as far as the eye could reach, as level as Lake Michigan, and far vaster. And how the great railway was now approaching the desert, and how he had seen the bones of men and cattle and horses bleaching white, lying beside their broken-down wagons half buried in the drifting sand. He told them how the trail that such people had made with so much difficulty stretched far, far away into the desert along the very route, for the most part, that the railroad was taking, and answered their questions so interestingly that the boys were sorry when they reached home at last and they had to bid good-night to Peter Junior's fascinating cousin, Richard. _