HILDEGARDES 
 
 HARVEST 
 
 BY- LAURA- E RICHARDS 
 
EDDC1TIOH IIBB. 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Education 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 Louise Farrow Barr 
 
HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
EDUCATION LIBBi 
 
 " Queen Hildegarde " Series. 
 
 By Laura E* Richards, 
 
 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 Thej^/jfA volume of the Hildegarde Series. Illustrated with 
 eight full-page cuts. Square i6mo, cloth, $1.25. 
 
 A new volume in the " Hildegarde" series, some of the best 
 and most deservedly popular books for girls issued in recent 
 years. This new volume is fully equal to its predecessors in 
 point of interest, and is sure to renew the popularity of the 
 entire series. 
 
 HILDEGARDE'S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 Fourth volume. Illustrated from original designs. Illus- 
 trated by L. J. Bridgman. Square i6mo, cloth, $1.25. 
 
 HILDEGARDE'S HOME. 
 
 Third volume. Illustrated with original designs by Merrill. 
 Square i6mo, cloth, $1.25. 
 
 HILDEGARDE'S HOLIDAY. 
 
 Second volume. Illustrated with full-page plates by Cope- 
 land. Square i6mo, cloth, $1.25. 
 
 QUEEN HILDEGARDE. 
 
 First volume. Illustrated from original designs by Garrett 
 (292 pp.). Square i6mo, cloth, $1.25. 
 
 "We would like to see the sensible, heroine-loving girl in 
 her early teens who would not like this book. Not to Tike it 
 would simply argue a screw loose somewhere." Boston Post. 
 
 THE HILDEGARDE SERIES. 
 
 as above. 5 vols., square i6mo, put up in a neat box, $6.25. 
 
 *** Next to Miss Alcott's famous " LITTLE WOMEN " series 
 they easily rank, and no books that have appeared in recent 
 times may be more safely put into the hands of a bright, intelli- 
 gent girl than these five "Queen Hildegarde " books. 
 
 Estcs & Lauriat, Publishers, Boston* 
 
HILDEGARDE DANCED THE VIRGINIA REEL WITH THE 
 COLONEL." 
 
EDUC.- 
 
 HlLDEGARDE'S HARVEST 
 
 BY 
 
 LAURA E. RICHARDS 
 
 AUTHOR OF "CAPTAIN JANUARY," " HlLDEGARDE'S NEIGHBOURS," 
 "QUEEN HILDEGARDE," ETC. 
 
 CUustratrt 
 
 BOSTON 
 DANA ESTES & COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
Copyright, 1897, 
 BY ESTES AND LAUKIAT, 
 
 Education 
 
 Colonial 
 
 Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co. 
 Boston, Mass., U.S.A. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 317 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. THE MORNING MAIL ... 
 
 II. THE CHRISTMAS DRAWER . 21 
 
 III. AUNT EMILY . .41 
 
 IV. GREETINGS . . . 59 
 V. AT THE EXCHANGE . 73 
 
 VI. MORE GREETINGS . 96 
 
 VII. MERRY WEATHER SIGNS . - 117 
 
 VIII. CHRISTMASING . 137 
 
 IX. AN EVENING HOUR . 162 
 
 X. DIE EDLE MUSICA ... .176 
 
 XI. THE BOYS .... .196 
 
 XII. JIMMY'S POND . . 217 
 
 XIII. MERRY CHRISTMAS . 238 
 
 XIV. BELLEROPHON . . 257 
 XV. AT LAST . 279 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 " HlLDEGARDE DANCED THE VIRGINIA REEL WITH 
 
 THE COLONEL " Frontispiece 
 
 BELL'S LETTER 14 
 
 "MRS. DELANSING SCRUTINISED HER AS SHE CAME 
 
 THROUGH THE LONG ROOM " . . . .50 
 " ' HlLDEGARDE GRAHAME, IN THE NAME OF ALL 
 
 THAT'S WONDERFUL ! '" 91 
 
 " ' CONSIDER THE BEAUTY OF YOUR OFFSPRING ' " . 140 
 
 DlE EDLE MUSICA 177 
 
 ON JIMMY'S POND 223 
 
 " A LITTLE FIGURE . . . STOOD OUT CLEAR AGAINST 
 
 THE DARK FIRS " . 274 
 
HILDEGAKDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE MORNING MAIL. 
 
 HILDEGARDE was walking home from the 
 village, whither she had gone to get the mail. 
 She usually rode the three miles on her bicycle, 
 but she had met a tack on the road the day 
 before, and must now wait a day or two till 
 the injured tire could be mended. 
 
 Save for missing the sensation of flying, 
 which she found one of the most delightful 
 things in the world, she was hardly sorry to 
 have the walk. One could not see so much 
 from the wheel, unless one rode slowly; and 
 Hildegarde could not ride slowly, the joy of 
 flying was too great. It was good to look at 
 
10 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 everything as she went along, to recognise the 
 knots on the trees, and stop for a friendly word 
 with any young sapling that looked as if it 
 needed encouragement. Also, the leaves had 
 fallen, and what could be pleasanter than to 
 walk through them, stirring them up, and hear- 
 ing the crisp, clean crackle of them under her 
 feet? Also, and this was the most potent 
 reason, after all, she could read her letters as 
 she walked, and she had good letters to-day. 
 
 The first that she opened was addressed in 
 a round, childish hand to " Mis' Hilda," the 
 " Grahame " being added in a different hand. 
 The letter itself was written in pencil, and read 
 as follows : 
 
 "MY DEER, 
 
 " I hop you are well. I am well. Aunt Wealthy is well. 
 Martha is well. Dokta jonSon is well; these are all the 
 peple that is well. Germya has the roomatiks so bad he 
 sase he thinks he is gon this time for sure. I don't think 
 he is gon, he has had them wers before. Aunt Wealthy gave 
 me a bantim cock and hens, his nam is Goliath of Gath, and 
 there nams is Buty and Topknot. The children has gon 
 away from Joyus Gard; they were all well and they went 
 home to scool. I miss them ; I go to scool, but I don't lik it, 
 
THE MORNING MAIL. 11 
 
 but I am gone to have tee with Mista Peny pakr tonite, Aunt 
 Wealthy sade I mite. He has made a new hous and it is nise. 
 " So goodbi from 
 
 " BENNY." 
 
 Hildegarde laughed a good deal over this 
 letter, and then wiped away a tear or two that 
 certainly had no business in her happy eyes. 
 
 " Dear little Benny ! " she said. " Dear little 
 boy ! But when is the precious lamb going to 
 learn to spell ? This is really dreadful ! I 
 suppose ' Germya ' is Jeremiah, though it looks 
 more like some new kind of porridge. And 
 Mr. Pennypacker with a new house! This is 
 astonishing ! I must see what Cousin Wealthy 
 says about it." 
 
 The next letter, bearing the same postmark, 
 of Bywood, and written in a delicate and tremu- 
 lous hand, was from Miss Bond herself. It 
 told Hildegarde in detail the news that Benny 
 had outlined ; described the happy departure 
 of the children, who had spent their convales- 
 cence at the pleasant summer home, all rosy- 
 cheeked, and shouting over the joy they had 
 had. Then she went on to dilate on the won- 
 
12 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 derful qualities of her adopted son Benny, 
 who, it appeared, was making progress in every 
 branch of education. 
 
 "I may be prejudiced, my dear," the good 
 old lady wrote, "but I am bound to say that 
 Martha agrees with me in thinking him a most 
 remarkable child." 
 
 Miss Bond further told of the event of the 
 neighbourhood, the building of Mr. Galusha 
 Pennypacker's new house. The neighbourhood 
 of so many little children, his friendship with 
 Benny, "but more than all, his remembrance of 
 you, my dear Hildegarde," had, it appeared, 
 wrought a marvellous change in the old hermit. 
 The kindly neighbours had met him half-way in 
 his advances, and were full of good-will and 
 helpfulness ; and when, by good fortune, his 
 miserable old shanty had burned down one 
 summer night, the whole neighbourhood had 
 turned out and built him a snug cottage which 
 would keep him comfortable for the rest of his 
 days. 
 
 " Mr. Pennypacker came here yesterday to invite Benny to 
 drink tea with him (I employ the current expression, my 
 
THE MORNING MAIL. 13 
 
 dear, though of course the child drinks nothing but milk at 
 his tender age; I have always considered tea a beverage for 
 the aged, or those who are not robust), and in the course of 
 conversation, he begged me most earnestly to convey to you 
 the assurance that, in his opinion, the comfort which sur- 
 rounds his later days is owing entirely to you. His actual 
 expression, though not refined, was forcible, and Martha 
 thinks you would like to hear it: 
 
 " ' I was a-livin' a hog's life, an' I should ha' died a hog's 
 death if it hadn't been for that gal.' 
 
 " I trust your dear mother will not think it coarse to have 
 repeated these words. There is something in the very men- 
 tion of swine that is repugnant to ears polite, but Martha was 
 of the opinion that you would prefer to have the message 
 in his own words. And I am bound to say that Galusha 
 Pennypacker, though undoubtedly an eccentric, is a thoroughly 
 well-intentioned person." 
 
 " Dear Cousin Wealthy ! " said Hildegarde, as 
 she folded the delicate sheet and put it back 
 into its pearl-gray envelope with the silver seal. 
 " It must have cost her an effort to repeat 
 Mr. Penny packer's words. Poor old man ! I 
 am glad he is comfortable. I must send him 
 a little box at Christmas, some little things 
 to trim up his new house and prettify it. 
 Oh ! and now, Bell, now for your letter ! I 
 have kept it for the last, my dear, as if it 
 
14 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 were raisins or chocolate, only it is better than 
 either." 
 
 The fat square envelope that she now opened 
 contained several sheets of paper, closely cov- 
 ered, every page filled from top to bottom with 
 a small, firm handwriting, but no line of cross- 
 ing. The Merryweathers were not allowed to 
 cross their letters, under penalty of being con- 
 demned to write entirely on postal cards. Let 
 us peep over Hildegarde's shoulder, and see 
 what Bell has to say. 
 
 " DEAREST HILDEGARDE : 
 
 " It is two full weeks since I have written, and I am 
 ashamed ; but it is simply because they have been full weeks, 
 very full! There is so much to tell you, I hardly know 
 where to begin. A week ago to-night our play came off, 
 ' The Mouse Trap.' It went beautifully, not a hitch any- 
 where, though we had only had five rehearsals. I was Willis, 
 as I told you. I wore my ulster without the cape, and really 
 looked quite masculine, I think. I had a curly, dark-brown 
 wig (my hair tucked down my neck, it didn't show at 
 all !) and the prettiest little moustache ! Marion Wilson was 
 Amy, and she screamed most delightfully. In fact, they all 
 screamed in such a natural and heartfelt way, that some of 
 the ladies in the audience seemed to feel quite uncomfortable, 
 and I am sure I saw Madame Mirabelle tuck her skirts close 
 
BELL S LETTER. 
 
THE MORNING MAIL. 15 
 
 around her feet, and put her feet up on the bench in front of 
 her. Well, we all did our best, though Clarice Hamrrfond 
 was the best ; she is a born actress ! and the audience was 
 very cordial, and we were called before the curtain five times ; 
 and altogether it was a great success. I enclose a flower from 
 a bouquet that was thrown at me. It was a beauty, and it 
 struck me right on the head. I thought it was for Clarice, 
 and was going to hand it to her, but somebody in the audi- 
 ence cried out, < Why don't you speak for yourself, Willis ? ' 
 and everybody laughed, and they said it was really for me, so 
 I kept it, and was pleased and proud. I have pressed two or 
 three flowers in my blue-print book, with the pictures of the 
 play. I am going to send you some as soon as I can print 
 some more. The girls snatched all the first batch, so that I 
 have not a single one left. 
 
 " Let me see ! What comes next ? Oh, next you must hear 
 about my surprise party. I was in my room one evening, 
 grinding hard at my Greek (do you think your mother would 
 object to grinding ? ' It is such old, respectable college slang, 
 mamma allows it once in a while), when I heard whispering 
 and giggling in the hall outside. I don't mind telling you, 
 my dear, that my heart sank, for I had a good lot of Pindar 
 to do, and there is no sense in shirking one's lessons. But I 
 went to the door with as good a grace as I could, and there 
 was our dear Gerty, and Clara Lyndon, and three or four 
 other girls from Miss Russell's school. They said they had 
 double permission, from Miss Russell at that end, and Mrs. 
 Tower at this, to come and give me a surprise party ; and here 
 they were, and they were coming in whether I liked it or not. 
 
16 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 Of course I did like it after the first minute, for they were all 
 so dear and jolly. They had borrowed chairs as they came 
 along through the hall, and one had her pocket full of spoons, 
 and another had a basket, oh, but I am getting on too 
 fast. Well, Gerty and I sat on the bed, and the others on the 
 chairs, and we chattered away, and I heard all the school news. 
 Then presently Mabel Norton opened a basket, and took out 
 oh, Hilda! the most beautiful, beautiful rose-bush, simply 
 covered with blossoms. It was for me, with a card from 
 Miss Russell and the whole school ; and when I asked what 
 it all meant, why, it seems that this was the anniversary of 
 the day last year when I pulled a little girl out of the river, 
 down near the mill-dam. It was the simplest thing in the 
 world to do, for any one who was strong and knew how to 
 tread water ; but these dear people had remembered the date, 
 and had done this lovely thing to well, Hilda, I didn't 
 cry that evening, but somehow I want to now, when I come 
 to tell you about it. You will understand ! It is so lovely to 
 have such dear, kind friends, that I cannot help it. Well, 
 then out of another basket came a most wonderful cream 
 tart, with my initials on it in caramel, and a whole lot, 
 dozens and dozens, of the little sponge-cakes that I am so 
 fond of. They cannot make them anywhere in the world, I 
 think, except at Miss Russell's, and dear good Miss Gary, the 
 housekeeper, remembered that I was fond of them. Oh, and 
 a huge box of marshmallows ; and we all knew what that 
 meant. Marshmallows are the what shall I say ? the un- 
 official emblem of Miss Russell's school; and soon two or 
 three were toasting over the gas on hat-pins, and I was cut- 
 
THE MOKNING MAIL. IT 
 
 ting the tart, and Gerty was handing round the sponge- 
 cakes, and we were all as happy as possible. I ran and 
 asked the girls along the hall to come in, and as many of 
 them did come as could get in the 4 door, and the rest sat 
 in a semicircle on the floor in the hall, and we sang every- 
 thing we could think of. All of a sudden we heard a knock- 
 ing at the window. I ran and looked out, and there was 
 something hanging and bobbing against the glass. I opened 
 the window, and drew in a basket, full of all kinds of things, 
 oranges and bananas and candy, with a card, Compliments 
 of the Third Floor ! ' So of course I was running up to 
 thank them, and say how sorry we were that there was not 
 room for them, when I almost ran plump into Mrs. Tower, 
 who was coming along the entry, very stately and superb. 
 She had heard all about it, and she came to say that, if we 
 liked, we might dance for half an hour in the parlour. You 
 can imagine no, you cannot, for you never were at college ! 
 the wild rush down those stairs. We called the third floor 
 (they are mostly freshmen), and they came careering down like 
 a herd of ponies ; and the first floor came out of their studies 
 when they heard the music, and we had the wildest, merriest, 
 most enchanting dance for just half an hour. Then it was 
 hurry-scurry off, for Miss Russell's girls were on the very edge 
 of their time allowance, and had to run most of the way 
 home (it is only a very little way, and one of the maids had 
 come with them, and waited for them). And we all thanked 
 Mrs. Tower as prettily as we knew how, and she said pleasant 
 things, and then some of the girls helped me to take back 
 the chairs and straighten things up generally. So the great 
 
18 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 frolic was over, and most delightful it was ; but, my dear, I 
 had to get up at five o'clock to finish my Greek next morning, 
 and the ground floor was not much better off with its phi- 
 losophy. And now there are no more gaieties, for the exam- 
 inations are on,' and we must buckle to our work in good 
 earnest. I don't expect to have much trouble, as I have kept 
 up pretty well ; but there is enough for any one to do, no 
 matter how well up she is. So this is the last letter you will 
 have, my dear, before the happy day that brings us all out 
 to the beloved Pumpkin House. Oh, what a glorious time 
 we shall have, all together once more ! Roger is still out 
 West, but hopes to get back -for the last part of the holidays, 
 at least; and Phil's and Jerry's vacation begins two days 
 before Gerty's and mine. Altogether, the prospect is en- 
 chanting, and one of the very best parts of it is the seeing 
 you again, dear Hilda. Only three weeks more! Gerty 
 paints a star on her screen for every day that is gone. Funny 
 little Gerty ! Give my love to your mother, please, and be- 
 lieve me always, dear Hilda, 
 
 " Your affectionate 
 
 " ISABEL MERRYWEATHER." 
 
 Hildegarde gave a half-sigh, as she finished 
 this letter, and walked N on in silence, thinking 
 many things. Bell's life seemed very free and 
 full and joyous; it suited her exactly, the strong, 
 sensible, merry girl ; and oh, how much she was 
 learning ! This letter said little about studies, 
 
THE MORNING MAIL. 19 
 
 but Hildegarde knew from former ones how 
 much faithful work was going on, and how 
 firm a foundation of scholarship and thorough- 
 ness her friend was laying. 
 
 " Whereas I," she said aloud, " am as igno- 
 rant as a hedge-sparrow." 
 
 As she spoke, a sparrow hopped upon a twig 
 close by her, and cocked his bright eye at her 
 expressively. 
 
 " I beg your pardon ! " said Hildegarde, hum- 
 bly. " No doubt you are right, and I am 
 a hundred times more ignorant. I could not 
 even imagine how to build a nest ; but neither 
 can you crack a nut ask Mr. Emerson ! 
 or play the piano." 
 
 The sparrow chirped defiance, flirted his tail 
 saucily, and was gone. 
 
 " And all girls cannot be students ! " said Hil- 
 degarde, stopping to address a young maple that 
 looked strong-minded. " Everybody cannot go 
 to college ; there must be some who are to be 
 just girls, plain girls, and stay at home. 
 As for a girl going to college when there is 
 only herself to to help make a home 
 
20 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 why, she might as well be Nero, and done 
 with it." 
 
 She nodded at the maple-tree, as if she had 
 settled it entirely, and walked on more quickly ; 
 the cloud it was a slight one, but still a cloud 
 vanished from her brow, leaving it clear and 
 sunny. 
 
 " The place one is in," she said, " is the place 
 to be happy in. Of course I do miss them all ; 
 of course I do ! but if ever any girl ought 
 to be thankful on her knees all day long for 
 blessings and happinesses, Hildegarde Grahame, 
 why, you know who she is, and that she does 
 not spell her name Tompkins." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE CHRISTMAS DRAWER. 
 
 CHRISTMAS was coming. Christmas was only 
 three weeks off. Oh, how the time was flying ! 
 " How shall I ever get ready ? " cried Hilde- 
 garde, quickening her pace as she spoke, as if 
 the holiday season were chasing her along the 
 road. 
 
 " One is always busy, of course ; but it does 
 seem as if I were going to be about five times 
 as busy as I ever was before. Naturally ! there 
 are so many more people that I want to make 
 presents for. Last Christmas, there was Mam- 
 mina, and Col. Ferrers and Hugh, and the box 
 to send to Jack, dear Jack ! and Auntie, and 
 Mrs. Lankton and the children, and, well, of 
 course, Cousin Wealthy and Benny, and all the 
 dear people at Bywood, why, there were a 
 good many, after all, weren't there ? But now 
 I have all my Merryweathers hi addition, you 
 
22 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 see. Of course I needn't give anything to the 
 boys, or to any of them, for that matter, 
 but I do want to, so very much ; if only there 
 were a little more time ! I will go up this min- 
 ute, if Mammina does not want me, and look 
 over my drawer. I really haven't looked at it 
 thoroughly, that is for three days ! Hilda 
 Grahame, what a goose you are ! " 
 
 By this time she had arrived at Braeside, the 
 pretty house where she and her mother passed 
 their happy, quiet life. Running lightly up the 
 steps, and into the house, the girl peeped into 
 the sitting-room and parlour, and finding both 
 empty, went on up the stairs. She paused to 
 listen at her mother's door ; there was no sound 
 from within, and Hildegarde hoped that her 
 mother was sleeping off the headache, which 
 had made the morning heavy for her. Kiss- 
 ing her hand to the door, she went on to her 
 own room, which always greeted her as a friend, 
 no matter how many times a day she entered it. 
 She looked round at books and pictures with a 
 little sigh of contentment, and sank down for 
 a moment in the low rocking-chair. "Just to 
 
THE CHRISTMAS DRAWER. 23 
 
 breathe, you know ! " she said. " One must 
 breathe to live." Involuntarily her hand moved 
 towards the low table close by, on which lay a 
 tempting pile of books. Just one chapter of 
 " The Fortunes of Nigel," while she was get- 
 ting her breath ? 
 
 " No," she said, replying to herself with sever- 
 ity, " nothing of the kind. You can rest just 
 as well while you are looking over the drawer. 
 I am surprised, or rather, I wish I were sur- 
 prised at you, Hilda Grahame. You are a hard 
 case ! " 
 
 Exchanging a glance of mutual sympathy 
 and understanding with Sir Walter Scott, who 
 looked down on her benignly from the wall, 
 Hildegarde now drew her chair up beside a tall 
 chest of drawers, and proceeded to open the 
 lowest drawer, which was as deep and wide as 
 the whole of some modern bureaus. It was 
 half filled with small objects, which she now 
 took out one by one, looking them over care- 
 fully before laying them back. First came a 
 small table-cover of heavy buff linen, beautifully 
 embroidered with nasturtiums in the brilliant 
 
24 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 natural colors. It was really a thing of beauty, 
 and the girl looked at it first with natural pride, 
 then went over it carefully, examining the work- 
 manship of each bud and blossom. 
 
 " It will pass muster ! " she said, finally. " It 
 is well done, if I do say it ; the Beloved Per- 
 fecter will be satisfied, I think." 
 
 This was for her mother, of course ; and she 
 laid it back, rolled smoothly round a pasteboard 
 tube, and covered with white tissue paper, be- 
 fore she went on to another article. Next came 
 a shawl, like an elaborate collection of snow- 
 flakes that had flitted together, yet kept their 
 exquisite shapes of star and wheel and triangle. 
 Cousin Wealthy would be pleased with this ! 
 Hildegarde felt the same pleasant assurance of 
 success. " There ought to be a bit of pearl- 
 coloured satin ribbon somewhere ! Oh, here it 
 is ! A bit of ribbon gives a finish that nothing 
 else can. There ! now that is ready, and that 
 makes two. Now, Benny, my blessed lamb, 
 where are you?" 
 
 She drew out a truly splendid scrap-book, 
 bound in heavy cardboard, and marked " Benny's 
 
THE CHRISTMAS DRAWER. 25 
 
 Book/' with many flourishes and curlicues. 
 Within were pictures of every imaginable kind, 
 the coloured ones on white, the black and white 
 on scarlet cardboard. Under every picture was 
 a legend in Hildegarde's hand, in prose or verse. 
 For example, under a fine portrait of an impos- 
 ing black cat was written : 
 
 " Is this Benny's pillow-cat ? 
 No ! it is not half so fat ! 
 No ! it is not half so fair, 
 So it mews in sad despair, 
 Feeling that it has not any 
 Chance for to belong to Benny." 
 
 Hildegarde had spent many loving hours over 
 this book ; her verses were not remarkable, but 
 Benny would like them none the less for that, 
 she thought, and she laid the book back with 
 a contented mind. Then there was a noble 
 apron for Martha, with more pockets than any 
 one else in the world could use ; and a pin- 
 cushion for Mrs. Brett, and a carved tobacco- 
 stopper for Jeremiah. Beside the tobacco-stopper 
 lay a pipe, also carved neatly, and Hildegarde 
 took this up with a sigh. " I don't like to part 
 
26 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 with it ! " she said. " Papa brought it from 
 Berne, all those years ago, and I am so used to 
 it ; but after all, I am not likely to smoke a 
 pipe, even if I have succumbed to the bicycle, 
 and I do want to send some little thing to dear 
 Mr. Hartley. Dear old soul ! how I should like 
 to see him and Marm Lucy ! We really must 
 make a pilgrimage to Hartley's Glen next sum- 
 mer, if it is a possible thing. Marm Lucy will 
 like this little blue jug, I know. We have the 
 same taste in blue jugs, and she will not care 
 a bit about its only costing fifteen cents. Ah ! 
 if everything one wanted to buy cost fifteen 
 cents, one would not be so distracted ; but I 
 do want to get ' Robin Hood ' for Hugh, and 
 where am I to get the three dollars, I ask 
 you?" 
 
 She addressed William the Silent ; the hero 
 drew her attention, in his quiet way, to his 
 own sober dress and simple ruff, and seemed to 
 think that Hugh would be just as well off with- 
 out the record of a ruffling knave who wore 
 Lincoln green, and was not particular how he 
 came by it. 
 
THE CHRISTMAS DRAWER. 27 
 
 " Ah ! but that is all you know, dear sir ! " 
 said Hildegarde. " We all have our limitations, 
 and if you had only known Robin, you would 
 see how right I am." 
 
 And then Hildegarde fell a-dreaming, and 
 imagined a tea-party that she might give, to 
 which should come William of Orange and 
 Robin Hood, Alan Breck Stuart and Jim 
 Hawkins. 
 
 " And who else ? let me see ! Hugh, of 
 course, and Jack, if he were here, and the 
 boys and and Captain Roger; only I am 
 afraid he would think it nonsense. But Bell 
 would love it, and I would invite Dundee, just 
 to show her how wrong she is about him. 
 And oh, none of the King Arthur knights, 
 because they had no sense of humour, and Alan 
 would be at their throats in five minutes ; but 
 
 why, I have left out David Balfour himself, 
 
 Roger would love David, anyhow, and 
 Robin might bring Little John and Will Scarlet 
 and Allan- a-Dale. We would have tea out on 
 the veranda, of course, and Auntie would 
 make one of her wonderful chicken pies, and 
 
28 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 I would ask Robin whether it was not just 
 as good as a venison pasty. Alan would have 
 his hand at his sword, ready to leap up if it 
 was denied ; but jolly Robin would make me 
 a courtly bow, and say with his own merry 
 smile Come in! oh! what is it?" 
 
 Rudely awakened from her pleasant dream 
 by a knock at the door, Hildegarde looked 
 -up, half expecting to see one of her heroes 
 standing cap in hand before her. Instead, 
 there stood, ducking and sidling, the Widow 
 Lankton. 
 
 " How do you do, Mrs. Lankton ? " said 
 Hildegarde, with an effort. It was a sudden 
 change, indeed, from Robin Hood and Alan 
 Breck, to this forlorn little body, with her 
 dingy black dress and crumpled bonnet ; but 
 Hildegarde tried to " look pleasant," and waited 
 patiently for the outpouring that she knew she 
 must expect. 
 
 " 6r0o<i-mornm', dear ! " said the widow, 
 ducking a little further to one side, so that 
 she looked like an apologetic crab in mourning 
 for his claws. "I hope your health is good, 
 
THE CHRISTMAS DRAWER. 29 
 
 Miss Grahame. There ! you look pretty well, 
 I must say ! " 
 
 " I hope you are not sorry, Mrs. Lankton," 
 smiling ; for the tone was that of heartfelt 
 sorrow. 
 
 " No, dear ! why, no, certainly not ! I'm 
 pleased enough to have you look young and 
 bloomin' while you can. Looks ain't allers 
 what we'd oughter go by, but we must take 
 'em and be thankful for so much, as I allers 
 say. Yes, dear. Your blessed mother's lyin' 
 down, Mis' Auntie told me. She seems slim 
 now, don't she ? If I was in your place, I 
 should be dretful anxious about her, alone in 
 the world as you'd be if she was took. The 
 Lord's ways is " 
 
 " Did you want to see me about anything 
 special, Mrs. Lankton ? " said Hildegarde, inter- 
 rupting. She felt that she was not called upon 
 to bear this kind of thing. 
 
 The widow sniffed sadly and shook her head. 
 
 " Yes, dear ! You're quick and light, ain't 
 you, as young folks be ! Like to brisk up and 
 have done with a thing. Well, I come to see 
 
30 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 if I could borry a crape bunnit, to go to a 
 funeral ; there, Miss Grahame, I hope you 
 won't think me forth-puttin', but I felt that 
 anything your blessed ma had worn would 
 be a privilege, I'm sure, and so regardin' it, 
 I come." 
 
 " Oh ! " said Hildegarde, with a little shudder. 
 " We we have no crape, Mrs. Lankton. My 
 father that is, my mother never wore it." 
 
 " Didn't ! " said Mrs. Lankton. " Well, now, 
 folks has their views. I was one that never 
 liked to spare where feelin's was concerned. 
 Ah ! I've wore crape enough in my time to 
 bury me under, you might say. When my 
 poor husband died, I got a veil measured three 
 yards, countin' the hem ; good crape it was, 
 too. There ! I took and showed it to him 
 the day before he was took. He'd been failin' 
 up quite a spell, and I was never one to hide 
 their end from them that was comin' to it. 
 ' There, Peleg ! ' says I. ' I want you should 
 know that I sha'n't slight nothin' when you're 
 gone,' I says. ' I'll keep you as long as I 
 can/ I says, 'and I'll have everything right 
 
THE CHRISTMAS DRAWER. 31 
 
 and fittin' as far as my means goes/ I says. 
 He was real gratified. I was glad to please 
 him, goin' so soon as he was. 
 
 " He turned up his toes less than twenty-four 
 hours after I said them words ; died off real 
 nice. His moniment is handsome, if I do say 
 it. I have it scrubbed every spring, come house- 
 cleanin' time, and it looks as good as new. Yes, 
 dear ! I've got a great deal to be thankful for, 
 if I have suffered more than most." 
 
 Hildegarde set her teeth. Inwardly she was 
 saying, " You dreadful old ghoul ! When will you 
 stop your grisly recollections, and go away?" 
 But all she said aloud was, " Well, Mrs. Lank- 
 ton, I am sorry that we cannot help you. Per- 
 haps one of the neighbours, but I ought to ask, 
 I trust it is no near relative that is dead ? " 
 
 " No, dear ! " replied the widow, with unction. 
 " No relation, only by marriage. My sister's 
 husband married this man's sister for his third 
 wife ; old man Topliffe it is, keeps the grocery 
 over t' the Corners." 
 
 " Why, I did not know he was dead ! " said 
 Hildegarde. 
 
HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " Not yet he ain't, dear ! " said Mrs. Lankton. 
 " But he's doomed to die, and the doctors don't 
 give him more than a few hours. I'm one that 
 likes to be beforehand in such matters, there's 
 them that looks to me to do what's right and 
 proper, and I shouldn't want to be found with- 
 out a bunnit provided. Well, dear, I must be 
 goin'. Ah! 'twill seem nat'ral to be goin' to a 
 funeral again, Miss Grahame. I ain't b'en to one 
 for as much as five months. I've seen the time 
 when three funerals a week was no uncommon 
 thing round these parts, and most all of 'em kin 
 to me by blood or marriage. Yes, no one knows 
 what I've b'en through. You're gettin' fleshy, 
 ain't you, dear ? I hope the Lord'll spare you 
 and your ma, she's like a mother to me, I 
 allers say, through my time. It ain't likely 
 to be long, with these spells that ketches me. 
 Gfood-by, dear ! " 
 
 With a tender smile, and another sidelong 
 duck, the widow took herself oft' ; and Hilde- 
 garde drew a long breath, and felt like opening 
 all the windows, to let the sunshine come in more 
 freely. The door of her room being still open, 
 
THE CHRISTMAS DRAWER. 33 
 
 she became aware of sounds from below ; sounds 
 as of clashing metal, and rattling crockery. 
 
 What could Auntie be about ? she would wake 
 Mamma at this rate. 
 
 Running down-stairs, Hildegarde went into the 
 kitchen, and was confronted by the sight of 
 Auntie, perched on top of a tall step-ladder, 
 with the upper part of her portly person buried 
 in the depths of a cupboard. 
 
 " Auntie, what are you about ? " she cried. 
 " Do you know what a noise you are making ? 
 Mamma is asleep, and I don't want her to 
 wake till tea-time, for her head has ached all 
 day." 
 
 Auntie did not seem to hear at first, but con- 
 tinued to rattle tins in an alarming way ; till 
 Hildegarde, in despair, grasped the step-ladder, 
 and shook it with some force. Then the good 
 woman drew her head out of the depths, and 
 looked down in astonishment. 
 
 " Why, for goodness sake, honey, is dat you ? " 
 she said. " I fought 'twas dat old image cack- 
 lin' at me still. She gone, is she ? well, dat's 
 mercy enough for one day ! " 
 
34 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 She sat down on the top of the ladder and 
 panted; and Hildegarde burst out laughing. 
 
 " Auntie, did you go up there to get rid of 
 Mrs. Lankton ? " 
 
 " For shore I did, chile ! I'd ha' riz through 
 de roof if I could, but dis was as fur as I could 
 git. She was in hyar an hour, 'most, 'fore she 
 went up-stairs, and I told her not go near you, 
 but she snoke up, and I dassn't holler, fear ob 
 waking yer ma, and my head is loose on my 
 shoulders now, listenin' to her clack. So when 
 I hear her comin' down again, I jest put up de 
 ladder here, and I didn't hear no word she said. 
 Did she hab de imp'dence to ask you lend her a 
 crape bunnit ? " 
 
 " Yes ; that is what she came for. We had 
 none, of course." 
 
 Auntie snorted. " None ob her business 
 whedder you had none or a hunderd ! " she 
 Baid. " I tole her if she ask you dat, I'd pull 
 her own bunnit offn her next time she come; 
 and I will so ! " 
 
 " Oh, no, you won't, Auntie ! " said Hildegarde. 
 
 "Well, now, you'll see, Miss Hildy chile! 
 
THE CHRISTMAS DRAWER. 35 
 
 I had 'miff ob dat woman. Ole barn-cat, comin' 
 snoopin' round here to see what she can git 
 out'n you and yer ma, 'cause she sees yer like 
 two chillen. What yer want for supper, honey, 
 waffles, or corn-pone ? " 
 
 " Waffles," said Hildegarde, with decision. 
 " But Auntie, what have you there ? No, not 
 the pitcher; those little tin things that you 
 just laid down. I want to see them, please." 
 
 " I been rummagin' dis shelf," said Auntie. 
 " I put a lot ob odd concerns up here, 
 foun' em in de place when we come, and 
 dey ain't no good, and I want de room. Dose ? 
 Dem's little moulds, I reckon. Well, now, I 
 don't seem as if I noticed dem before. Kin' 
 o' pretty, ain't dey, honey ? " 
 
 She handed down a set of tin moulds, of 
 fairy size and quaint, pretty shapes. Tulips, 
 lilies, crocuses, " Why, it is a tin flower-bed ! " 
 cried Hildegarde. " Why did you never show 
 me these before, Auntie ? " 
 
 But Auntie was not conscious of having no- 
 ticed them before. She had cleaned them, 
 of course, but her mind must have been 
 
36 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 on her cooking, and she did not remember 
 them. 
 
 " And what could one do with them ? " Hilde- 
 garde went on. " Oh, see ! here is a scrap of 
 parchment fastened to the ring of one of them. 
 ' The moulds for the almond cakes. The receipt 
 is in the manuscript book with yellow covers.' 
 Why, how interesting this is ! Almond cakes ! 
 It sounds delightful ! Do you remember where 
 I put that queer old book, Auntie ? You thought 
 the receipts so extravagant that I have not 
 used it at all. Oh ! here it is, in your table- 
 drawer. I might have been sure that you 
 would know exactly where it was. Now let us 
 see. This may be a special providence, Auntie." 
 
 "I don't unnerstand what you talkin' 'bout, 
 chile," said Auntie, good-naturedly. "I made 
 you almond cake last week, and I guess dat 
 was good 'nuff, 'thout lookin' in de grandmother 
 books. But you can see, mebbe you find 
 somethin' different." 
 
 Hildegarde was already deep in the old 
 manuscript book. Its leaves were yellow with 
 age, the ink faded, but the receipts were per- 
 
THE CHRISTMAS DRAWER. 87 
 
 fectly legible, many of the later ones being 
 in Miss Barbara Aytoun's fine, crabbed, yet 
 plain hand. 
 
 " ' Bubble and Squeak ! ' Auntie, I wish you 
 would give us Bubble and Squeak for dinner 
 some day. You are to make it of cold beef, 
 and then at the end of the receipt she tells 
 you that pork is much better. ' China Chilo ! 
 Mince a pint basin of undressed neck of 
 mutton ' How is one to mince a basin, do you 
 suppose ? I should have to drop it from the 
 roof of the house, and then it would not be 
 fine enough. ' Serve it fried of a beautiful 
 colour ' no ! that's not it ! ' Pigs' feet. Wash 
 your feet thoroughly, and boil, or rather stew 
 them gently' Miss Barbara, I am surprised 
 at you ! c Ramakins ' those might be good. 
 ' Excellent Negus' ah! here we are! 'Almond 
 cakes ! ' H'm ! ' Beat a pound of almonds fine ' 
 and a pleasant thing it is to do ' with rose 
 water half a pound of sifted sugar beat 
 with a spoon ' ah, this is the part I was 
 looking for, Auntie ! < Bake them in the flower- 
 moulds, watching carefully ; when a beautiful 
 
38 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 light gold colour, take them out, and fill when 
 cold with cream into which is beat shredded 
 peaches or apricots.' oh ! doesn't that 
 sound good, Auntie ? " 
 
 " Good 'miff," Auntie assented, nodding her 
 turbaned head. " Good deal of bodder to make, 
 'pears to me, Miss Hildy. I'm gittin' old for 
 de fancy cakes, 'pears like." 
 
 " Oh, you dear soul ! I don't want you to 
 make them," cried Hildegarde. "I want to 
 make them myself. Now, Auntie, I am going 
 to be very confidential." 
 
 Auntie's dark face glowed with pleasure. 
 She loved a little confidence. 
 
 " You see," Hildegarde went on, " I want 
 some money. Not that I don't have enough 
 for everything; but I want to earn a little 
 myself, so that I can make all the Christmas 
 presents I want, without feeling that I am 
 taking it out of the family purse. You under- 
 stand, I am sure, Auntie ! " and Auntie, whc 
 had held Hildegarde in her arms when she 
 was a baby, nodded her head, and understood 
 very well. 
 
THE CHRISTMAS DRAWER. 39 
 
 " So I thought that possibly I might make 
 something to send to the Woman's Exchange 
 in New York. I saw in a magazine the other 
 day that the ladies who give a great many 
 lunches are always wishing to find new little 
 prettinesses for their tables. I saw something of 
 that myself, when I was there this fall." But 
 Hildegarde checked herself, feeling that she was 
 getting rather beyond Auntie's depth. 
 
 " And I had been wondering what I could 
 make, this very afternoon, and thinking of one 
 thing and another ; and when I saw these pretty 
 little moulds, it seemed the very thing I had 
 been looking for. What do you think, Auntie ? " 
 
 " T'ink ? I t'ink dem Noo York ladies better 
 be t'ankful to git anything you make for 'em, 
 Miss Hildy ; dat's my 'pinion ! And I'll help 
 ye make de cake, and fuss round a little wid 
 de creams, too, if you let me." 
 
 But Hildegarde declared she would not let 
 her have any hand whatever in the making 
 of the almond cakes, and ran off, hearing her 
 mother's voice calling her from up-stairs. 
 
 " My dear suz ! " said the black woman, gaz- 
 
40 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 ing after her. " T'ink ob my little baby missy 
 growed into dat capable young lady, wat make 
 anything she touch her finger to. Ain't her 
 match in Noo York, tell yer ; no, nor Yirginny, 
 nudder!" 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 AUNT EMILY. 
 
 " AND you really think I would better stay 
 several days, Mammina ? I don't like to leave 
 you alone. Some one might come and carry you 
 off ! How should I feel if I came back next week, 
 and found you gone ? " Hildegarde looked down 
 at her mother, as she sat in her low chair by 
 the fire ; she spoke playfully, but with an under- 
 tone of wistfulness. Mrs. Grahame had grown 
 rather shadowy in the last year ; she looked 
 small and pale beside Hildegarde' s slender but 
 robust figure ; and the girl's eyes dwelt on her 
 with a certain anxiety. But nothing could be 
 brighter or more cheerful than Mrs. Grahame' s 
 smile, nor could a voice ring more merrily than 
 hers did as she responded to Hildegarde's tone, 
 rather than her words. 
 
 " There have been rumours of a griffin lurking 
 in the neighbourhood. He is said to have a 
 
42 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 particular fancy for old there, there, Hilda ! 
 don't kill me ! well, for middle-aged ladies, and 
 his preference is for the small and bony. I feel 
 that I am in imminent peril ; but still, under all 
 the circumstances, I prefer to abide my fate ; 
 and I think you would decidedly better spend 
 two or three days at least with your Aunt 
 Emily. She has never invited you before, and 
 her note sounds pretty forlorn, poor old lady ! 
 Besides, if you really want to do something at 
 the Exchange, you could hardly manage it in 
 one day. So you shall pack the small trunk, 
 and take an evening gown, and make a little 
 combination trip, missionary work and money- 
 making." 
 
 "And what will you do?" asked Hildegarde, 
 still a little wistfully. 
 
 " Clean your room ! " replied her mother, 
 promptly. 
 
 " Mamma ! as if I would let you do that while 
 I was away ! " 
 
 " Kindly indicate how you would prevent it 
 while you were away, my dear ! But indeed, 
 I don't mean a revolutionary, spring cleaning ; 
 
AUNT EMILY. 43 
 
 I just want to have the curtains washed, and the 
 paint touched up a little ; I saw several places 
 where it was getting shabby. Indeed, Hilda, I 
 think the trip to New York is rather a special 
 providence, do you know ? " 
 
 " Humph ! " said Hildegarde, looking suspi- 
 ciously at her parent. " And while I am gone, 
 it might be a good plan to take up the matting, 
 and re-cover some of the chairs, and have the 
 sofa done over, you think ? " 
 
 " Exactly ! " said Mrs. Grahame, falling in- 
 nocently into the trap. Whereupon she was 
 pounced on, shaken gently, embraced severely, 
 and forbidden positively to attempt anything of 
 the kind. Finally a compromise was effected, 
 allowing the washing of the curtains, but leav- 
 ing the details of painting, etc., till Hildegarde's 
 return ; and the rest of the evening was spent 
 in the ever-pleasant and congenial task of mak- 
 ing out a list. 
 
 " You cannot be expected to make visits, of 
 course, dear, in so short a stay ; but there are 
 one or two people you ought to see if pos- 
 sible," said Mrs. Grahame. 
 
44 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 Hildegarde looked up apprehensively from 
 her jottings of towels, gloves, and ribbons to 
 be bought. Her mother's ideas of family duty 
 were largely developed. 
 
 " Aunt Emily will expect you to call on 
 Cousin Amelia, and no doubt the girls will 
 come to see you. Your Aunt Anna is in Wash- 
 ington." 
 
 " For what we are about to escape " mur- 
 mured the daughter. 
 
 " Hildegarde, I wonder at you ! " 
 
 " Yes, dear mamma ! what else were you going 
 to say ? " 
 
 Mrs. Grahame tried to look severe for a 
 moment, did not succeed, and put the subject 
 
 by- 
 
 " Then there is old Madam Burlington ; she 
 would take it as a kindness if you went to see 
 her ; you need not stay more than a quarter of 
 an hour. A Cranford call is all that is neces- 
 sary, but do try to find an hour to go and sit 
 with poor Cousin Harriet Wither ; it cheers her 
 so to see some young life. Poor Harriet ! she 
 is a sad wreck ! You will probably dine at 
 
AUNT EMILY. 45 
 
 your Cousin Robert Grahame's, and if Aunt 
 Emily wishes you to call on any of the Delan- 
 sings " 
 
 "Were you expecting me to stay away over 
 Christmas?" inquired Hildegarde, calmly. 
 
 " Why, darling, surely not ! what do you 
 mean ? " 
 
 " Only that you seem to have started on a 
 month's programme, my love, that's all. Don't 
 look so, angel ! I will go to see all of them ; 
 I will spend a month with each in turn ; only 
 don't look troubled ! " 
 
 By and by everything was settled as well as 
 might be. Mother and daughter went to sleep 
 with peaceful hearts, and the next day Hilde- 
 garde departed for New York, determined to 
 make as short a visit as she could in propriety 
 to Aunt Emily Delansing. 
 
 Of her reception by that lady she herself 
 shall tell: 
 
 "BLESSEDEST MOTHER : 
 
 " As usual, you were quite right, and I am glad I came. 
 Hobson was at the station, and brought me up here in a 
 hansom, and Aunt Emily was in the drawing-room to receive 
 
46 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 me. She is very kind, and seems glad to have me here. I 
 have not done much yet, naturally, as I have not been here 
 two hours yet. I could not let the six o'clock mail go with- 
 out sending you a line, just to say that I am safe and well. 
 Very well indeed, dearest, and no more homesick than is 
 natural, and loving you more than you can possibly imagine. 
 But oh, the streets are so noisy, and there are no birds, and 
 no, I will not! I will be good. Good-by, dearest and 
 best ! Always your very ownest, 
 
 " HILDA." 
 
 Hilda sealed and addressed her letter, and 
 then rang the bell. A grave footman in plum- 
 coloured livery appeared, received the letter as 
 if it were an official document of terrible import, 
 and departed. Then, when the door was closed 
 and she was alone again, Hildegarde leaned 
 back in her chair and gave herself up to reverie. 
 Her eyes wandered over the room in which she 
 was sitting, a typical city room, large and lofty, 
 with everything proper in the way of furnishing. 
 " Everything proper, and nothing interesting ! " 
 said Hildegarde, aloud. The oak furniture was 
 like all other oak furniture ; the draperies were 
 irreproachable, but without character; the pic- 
 tures were costly, and that was all. 
 
AUNT EMILY, 47 
 
 Rather wearily Hildegarde rose and began 
 the somewhat elaborate toilet which was neces- 
 sary to please the taste of the aunt with whom 
 she had come to stay. Mrs. Delansing was her 
 father's aunt. Since Mr. Grahame's death, his 
 widow and child had seen little of her. She 
 considered their conduct, in moving to the 
 country, reprehensible in the extreme, and sig- 
 nified to Mrs. Grahame that she could never 
 regard her as a sane woman again. Mrs. Gra- 
 hame had borne this affliction as bravely as she 
 might, and possibly, in the quietly happy years 
 that followed the move, she and her daughter 
 did not give much thought to Aunt Emily or 
 her wrath. She was well, and did not need 
 them, and they were able to get on very toler- 
 ably by themselves. Now, however, things had 
 happened. Mrs. Delansing was much out of 
 health ; her own daughters were settled in dis- 
 tant homes, and could not leave their own 
 families to be with her ; she felt her friends 
 dropping away year by year, and loneliness 
 coming upon her. For the first time in years, 
 Emily Delansing felt the need of some new face. 
 
48 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 some new voice, to keep her from her own 
 thoughts. Accordingly she had written to Mrs. 
 Grahame a note which meant to be stately, and 
 was really piteous, holding out the olive-branch, 
 and intimating that she should be glad to 
 have a visit from Hildegarde, unless her mother 
 thought it necessary to keep the girl buried 
 for her whole life. 
 
 In replying, Mrs. Grahame did not think 
 it necessary to reply to the last remark, nor 
 to remind Mrs. Delansing that Hildegarde 
 had spent a month in New York the winter 
 before, with an aunt on the Bond side, who 
 was not in the Delansing set. She said simply 
 that Hildegarde would be very glad to spend 
 a few days in Gramercy Park, and that she 
 might be expected on the day set. And, accord- 
 ingly, here Hildegarde was. She had fully 
 agreed with her mother that it was her duty 
 to come, if Aunt Emily really needed her ; 
 but she confessed to private doubts as to the 
 reality of the need. "And you do want me, 
 Mrs. Grahame, deny it if you dare ! " she said. 
 
 " Heigh ho ! " said Hildegarde again, looking 
 
AUNT EMILY. 49 
 
 about her for something to talk to, as was 
 her way. " Well, so I packed my trunk, and 
 I came away, and here I am." She addressed 
 a small china sailor, who was sitting on a 
 pink barrel that contained matches. 
 
 "And if you think I like it so far, my 
 friend, why, you have less intelligence than 
 your looks would indicate. What dress would 
 you put on, if you were I ? I think your 
 pink-striped shirt would be extremely becoming 
 to me, but I don't want to be grasping. You 
 advise the brown velveteen ? I approve of your 
 taste!" 
 
 Hildegarde nodded to the sailor, feeling that 
 she had made a friend ; and proceeded to array 
 herself in the brown velveteen gown. It was 
 a pretty gown, made half-low, with full elbow- 
 sleeves, and heavy old lace in the neck. When 
 Hildegarde had clasped the gold beads round 
 her slender neck, she felt that she was well 
 dressed, and sat down with a quiet conscience 
 to read " Montcalm and Wolfe " till dinner- 
 time. Presently came a soft knock at the 
 door, and the announcement that dinner was 
 
50 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 served ; and Hildegarde laid aside her book 
 and went down to the drawing-room. 
 
 Mrs. Delansing, seated in her straight, high- 
 backed armchair, was on the watch for her 
 grandniece, and scrutinised her as she came 
 through the long room. Then she nodded, and, 
 rising, laid her hand on the arm that Hildegarde 
 offered her. 
 
 " Who taught you to enter a room ? " she 
 asked, abruptly. " You have been taught, I 
 perceive." 
 
 " My mother/' said Hildegarde, quietly. 
 
 " Humph ! " said Mrs. Delansing. " In my 
 time, one of the most important accomplish- 
 ments was to enter a room properly. Nowa- 
 days I see young women skip, and shuffle, and 
 amble into the drawing-room ; I do not often 
 see one enter it properly. You will, perhaps, 
 tell your mother that I have mentioned this ; 
 she may be gratified." 
 
 Hildegarde bowed in silence, and as they came 
 into the dining-room, took the place to which 
 her aunt motioned her, at the foot of the table. 
 It was a long table, and Hildegarde could only 
 
AUNT EMILY. 51 
 
 see the bows of Mrs. Delansing's cap over the 
 stately epergne that rose between them ; but 
 she was conscious of the old lady's sharp black 
 eyes watching her through the ferns and roses. 
 This awoke a rebellious spirit in our young 
 friend, and she found herself wondering what 
 would be the effect of her putting her knife 
 in her mouth, or drinking out of the finger- 
 bowl. The dinner seemed interminable. It is 
 not easy to talk to some one whom you cannot 
 see ; but Hildegarde replied as well as she could 
 to the occasional searching questions that were 
 darted at her like spear-points through the 
 ferns, preserved her composure, and was not 
 too unhappy to enjoy the good food set before 
 her. 
 
 It was a relief to go back to the drawing- 
 room, which seemed a shade less formal than 
 the one they left ; also, she found a comfort- 
 able chair, and received permission to take out 
 her embroidery. 
 
 " Where did you get that lace ? " asked Mrs. 
 Delansing, suddenly, after a silence during which 
 Hildegarde had thought her asleep, till, on look- 
 
52 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 ing up, she met the steady gaze of the black 
 eyes, still fixed on her. 
 
 " It is extremely valuable lace ; are you aware 
 of it ? " The tone was reproachful, but Hilde- 
 garde preserved a quiet mind. 
 
 " Yes, I know it is valuable ! " she said. "Old 
 Mr. Aytoun left all his personal property to 
 Mamma, you know, Aunt Emily ; there was a 
 great deal of lace, some of it very fine indeed ; 
 this is a small piece that went with some broad 
 flounces. Beautiful flounces they are ! " 
 
 Mrs. Delansing's eyes lightened, and her 
 fingers moved nervously. Lace was one of her 
 few passions, and she could not see it, or even 
 hear of it, unmoved. 
 
 " And what does your mother propose to 
 do with all this lace ? " she asked. " She can- 
 not wear it herself, in the wilderness that she 
 chooses to live in." 
 
 " Oh, she keeps it ! " said Hildegarde. " It is 
 delightful to have good lace, don't you think so ? 
 even if you don't wear it. And when either of 
 us wants a bit to put on a gown, like this, for 
 example, why, there it is, all ready." 
 
AUNT EMILY. 53 
 
 " It seems wanton ; it seems almost criminal/' 
 said Mrs. Delansing, with energy, " to keep valu- 
 able lace shut up in a mouldering country-house. 
 I it distresses me to think of it. I shall feel 
 it a point of duty to write to your mother." 
 
 Hildegarde wondered what her aunt would 
 feel it her duty to say. It was hardly her 
 mother's fault that the lace had been left to 
 her ; it seemed even doubtful whether she should 
 be expected to mould her life upon the lines of 
 lace ; but this seemed an unsafe point to suggest. 
 
 " That is very beautiful lace on your dress, 
 Aunt Emily ! " said this wily young woman. 
 
 Mrs. Delansing's brow smoothed, and she 
 looked down with a shade of complacency. 
 "Yes, this is good," she said. "This is very 
 good. Your grandfather, I should say your 
 great-uncle, bought this lace for me in Brussels. 
 It is peculiarly fine, you may perceive. The 
 young woman who made it lost her eyesight in 
 consequence." 
 
 " Oh, how dreadful ! " cried Hildegarde. 
 " How could you - " How could you bear 
 to wear it?" was what she was going to say, 
 
54 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 but she checked herself, and the old lady went 
 on, placidly. 
 
 " Your great-uncle paid something more than 
 the price asked on that account. He thought 
 something more was due ; he was a man of 
 great benevolence. This is point lace." 
 
 "Yes," said Hildegarde, "Point d'AlenQon ; 
 I never saw a more delicate piece." 
 
 " Ah ! you know point lace ! " said Mrs. De- 
 lansing. Her voice took on a new tone, and 
 she looked at the girl with more friendly eyes. 
 " I did not know that any young women of the 
 new generation understood point. These mat- 
 ters seem to be thought of little consequence 
 nowadays. I have myself spent months in the 
 study of a special point, and felt myself well 
 repaid." 
 
 She put some searching questions, relative to 
 the qualities of Spanish, Venice, and Rose point, 
 and nodded her head at each modest but intelli- 
 gent answer. Hildegarde blessed her mother 
 and Cousin Wealthy, who had expounded to her 
 the mysteries of lace. At the end of the cate- 
 chism, the old lady sighed and shook her head. 
 
AUNT EMILY. 55 
 
 "It is an exceptional thing," she said, "to 
 find any knowledge of laces in the younger gen- 
 erations. I instructed my own daughters most 
 carefully in this branch of a gentlewoman's 
 education, but they have not thought proper to 
 extend the instruction to their own children. I 
 a shocking thing happened to me last year ! " 
 She paused, and Hildegarde looked up in sym- 
 pathy. 
 
 " What was it, Aunt Emily ? " she asked. 
 
 Mrs. Delansing was still silent, lost in dis- 
 tressful reverie. At length, " It is painful to 
 dwell upon," she said, " and yet these things 
 are a warning, and it is, perhaps, a duty to 
 communicate them. You have met my grand- 
 daughters, your cousins, Violette and Blanche?" 
 
 " Oh, yes ! " said Hildegarde, smiling a little, 
 and colouring a little too. These cousins were 
 rather apt to attempt the city-cousin r61e, and 
 to treat her as a country cousin and poor rela- 
 tion. She did not think they had had the best 
 of it at their last meeting. " Yes, I know 
 them," she said, simply. 
 
 " They are girls of lively disposition," Mrs. 
 
56 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 Delansing continued. " Their mother your 
 Cousin Amelia has been something of an 
 invalid, I make allowance for all this, and 
 yet there are things " She broke off; then, 
 after a moment, went on again. " Violette 
 made me a visit last winter, here, in this house. 
 She was engaged in what she called fancy work, 
 for a bazaar (most objectionable things to my 
 mind), that was to be held in the neighbour- 
 hood. One day she came to Hobson I was 
 unwell at the time and said, Hobson re- 
 members her very words : 
 
 " ' Oh, Hobson, see what a lovely thing I have 
 made out of a bit of old rubbishy lace that was 
 in this bureau drawer.' 
 
 " Hobson looked, and turned pale to her soul, 
 as she expressed it in her homely way. She 
 recognised the pattern of the lace. 
 
 " ' I cut out the flowers,' said the unhappy 
 girl, ' and applied them ' - she said ' appliqued ' 
 them, a term which I cannot reproduce 
 6 applied them to this crimson satin ribbon ; it 
 will make a lovely picture-frame ; so unique ! ' 
 
 " She had she had taken a piece of my old 
 
AUNT EMILY. 57 
 
 Mechlin, which Hobson had just done up and 
 had laid in the drawer till I should feel strong 
 enough to examine and approve its appearance, 
 
 she had taken this and cut it to pieces, cut out 
 the flowers, to sew them There are things 
 that have to be lived through, my dear. It was 
 weeks before Hobson felt able to tell me what 
 had occurred. I was in danger of a relapse for 
 several weeks, though she did it as delicately 
 as possible, good Hobson. I did not trust my- 
 self to speak to Yiolette in person ; I sent for 
 her mother, and told her of the occurrence. She 
 
 she laughed ! " 
 
 There was silence for some minutes. Hilde- 
 garde wanted to show the sympathy that she 
 truly felt, for she liked lace, and the idea of 
 its stupid destruction rilled her with indignation. 
 She ventured to lay her hand timidly on the 
 old lady's arm, but Mrs. Delansing took no 
 notice of the caress ; she sat bolt upright, 
 gazing out of the window with stony eyes. 
 Presently she said: 
 
 " You may ring for Hobson, if you please. 
 I feel somewhat shaken, and will have my 
 
58 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 malted milk in my own room. Another even- 
 ing, I may ask your patience in a game of 
 backgammon, you have been taught to play 
 backgammon ? Yes ; but not to-night. You 
 will find books in the library, and the piano 
 does not disturb me. Good-night, my niece." 
 She shook hands with Hildegarde, and de- 
 parted on Hobson's arm, looking old and feeble, 
 though holding herself studiously erect. Hilde- 
 garde went to her room, feeling half sad, half 
 amused, and wholly homesick. She greeted 
 the china sailor with effusion, as if he were 
 a friend of years. " Oh, you dear fellow ! " 
 she said. " You are young, aren't you ? and 
 happy, aren't you? Well, mind you stay so, 
 do you hear ? " She nodded vehemently at 
 him, and took up her book, to read till bedtime. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 GREETINGS. 
 
 THERE was no family breakfast at the house 
 in Gramercy Park. A smiling chambermaid 
 brought up a tray to Hildegarde's room, with 
 all manner of pleasant things under suggestive 
 little covers. Hilda ate and was thankful, 
 and then, finding that her aunt would not 
 be visible before noon, she put on her hat 
 and went for a walk. The streets were chilly, 
 in the November morning, but the air was 
 fresh and good, and Hildegarde breathed it 
 in joyously. 
 
 This was just a walk, she said to herself. 
 She had many visits to make, of course, and 
 more or less shopping to do, but there was 
 time enough for all that. Now she would 
 walk, and get her bearings, and consider that 
 one might live well in a city. The brick 
 
60 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 sidewalks seemed at once strange and familiar ; 
 she had known the brown-stone streets all 
 her life. Once they had seemed her own, the 
 only place worth walking in ; now they were 
 a poor apology, indeed, for shady lanes and 
 broad sunny roads along which the feet trod 
 or the wheel spun, winged by "the joy of 
 mere living." She passed the house where 
 her childhood had been spent, and paused to 
 look up at the tall windows, in loving thought 
 of the dear father who had made that early 
 home so bright and full of cheer. Dear Father ! 
 There was his smoking-room window, where 
 he used to sit and read aloud to her, so many 
 happy hours. How he would dislike those heavy 
 brocade curtains ; he used to thunder, almost 
 as loud as Colonel Ferrers, about curtains that 
 kept out the blessed sunshine. How the 
 house was a corner one, and at this moment, 
 as Hildegarde stood gazing up at the windows, 
 a gentleman turned the corner, and ran plump 
 into her. 
 
 "Upon my soul," said the gentleman, with 
 great violence, "it is a most extraordinary 
 
GREETINGS. 61 
 
 thing that a human being should turn himself 
 into a post for the express purpose of I beg 
 your pardon, madam. I was not conscious 
 that I was addressing a lady ! Can I serve 
 you in any way ? Command me, I beg of you ! " 
 
 The moment Hildegarde caught the sound 
 of the gentleman's voice, she turned her head 
 away, so that he could not see her face ; and 
 now she spoke over her shoulder. 
 
 "A place hi thy memory, dearest sir, is 
 all that I ask at thy hands. It is hard to be 
 forgotten so soon, so utterly ! " 
 
 "What! what! what! what!" said the 
 Colonel. " Who ! who ! why why the mis- 
 chief will you not turn your head round, young 
 woman? There is only one young woman in 
 the world who would address me in this man- 
 ner, and she is a hundred miles away. Now, 
 in the name of all that is elfish, Hildegarde 
 Grahame, what are you doing here?'* 
 
 Hildegarde turned round, her eyes full of 
 happy laughter, and took her friend's arm. 
 
 " And in the name of all that is occult, and 
 necromantic, and Rosicrucian, Colonel Ferrers, 
 
62 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 what are you doing here ? " she asked. " I 
 thought you were in Washington." 
 
 " I was, till last night ! " the Colonel replied. 
 " We have seen all the sights, the boy and I, 
 and now we have come to see the sights here 
 on our way home. Well ! well ! and the first 
 sight I see is the best one for sair een that I 
 know. What a pity I left the boy at the hotel ! 
 He was still asleep. We arrived late last night. 
 I went to wake him, and I give you my word, 
 I could as soon have thought of waking an 
 angel from a dream of paradise ; the little fel- 
 low smiled, you understand, Hildegarde, and 
 and moved his little arms, and I came 
 away, sir, my dear, I should say, and left 
 him to sleep as long as he would. Where are 
 you going now, my child ? have you had break- 
 fast? if not, " 
 
 " Oh, yes, I have had breakfast, dear sir ! " said 
 Hildegarde. " And you were thinking, if I had 
 had it, how pleasant for me to go in and surprise 
 that blessed lamb in his crib ; now, weren't 
 you?" 
 
 " The point, as usual ! " cried the Colonel. 
 
GREETINGS. 63 
 
 " Country neighbours learn to know each others' 
 thoughts, they say, but I never believed it, till 
 I had neighbours. Well, shall we go ? Now, 
 upon my soul, this is the most surprising and 
 delightful thing that has happened to me for 
 forty years. But you have not told me where 
 you are staying, Hilda, nor why you are here, 
 nor in fact anything ; have simply wormed 
 information out of the confiding friend, and re- 
 mained silent yourself ! " and the Colonel looked 
 injured, and twirled his moustaches with mock 
 ferocity. 
 
 " I like that ! " said Hildegarde. " That really 
 pleases me ! Kindly indicate, dear sir, the mo- 
 ment at which I could have got in a word edge- 
 wise, since you began your highly interesting 
 remarks ! I have been simply panting with 
 eagerness to tell you that I left home yester- 
 day, and arrived in New York at five o'clock 
 in the afternoon ; that I am staying with my 
 great-aunt in Gramercy Park; that I am wo- 
 fully homesick, and that the sound of your 
 voice was the most ecstatic sound I have heard 
 for half a century." 
 
64 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " Ha ! " said the Colonel. " Humph ! mock- 
 ery, I perceive ! of the aged, too ! Very well, 
 Miss Grahame, your punishment will be decided 
 hereafter. Meanwhile, here we are at my hotel, 
 and we will go straight up and wake the boy, 
 if he seems to be ready to wake, my dear. I am 
 sure you will agree with me that it would be a 
 pity to rouse him from a sound sleep. ' Sleep, 
 that knits up the ravelled sleeve of care,' you 
 remember, Hildegarde ! " 
 
 " Yes, dear Colonel Ferrers ! " said Hildegarde. 
 " But I don't believe Hugh's sleeve is very deeply 
 ravelled, do you ? and indeed, it is high time for 
 him to be awake." 
 
 They turned in at a great white marble por- 
 tal, and the elevator soon brought them to the 
 Colonel's door. He opened it softly witli a 
 latch-key, and led the way into the apart- 
 ment ; then paused, and beckoned Hilda to 
 come in quietly. 
 
 " Listen ! " he whispered. " Hugh is awake ! " 
 
 They listened, and heard a clear, sweet voice 
 discoursing calmly: 
 
 " I have three pillows to my head, though I 
 
GREETINGS. 65 
 
 am not ill. I wish that other boy was here, 
 that was in bed, and made songs about himself, 
 and said it was the Land of Counterpane. He 
 was the Giant great and still, that sits upon the 
 pillow-hill, and I am that kind of giant too. 
 Now I play he is here, and he sits up against 
 that pillow, and I sit up against this. And I 
 say, ' How can you say all the things that come 
 in your mind ? I can have the things in my 
 mind, too, but they will not have rhyme-tails to 
 them. How do you make the rhyme-tails ? ' 
 
 "And then" he says, I call him Louis, for that 
 is the prettiest part of his name, Louis says, 
 6 It has to be a part of you. I think of things 
 in short lines, and after every line I look for 
 the rhyme-tail, and I see it hanging somewhere. 
 But perhaps your Colonel can help you about 
 that,' Louis says. 
 
 " But I say, ' No ! my Colonel cannot help me 
 about that. My Colonel is good, and I love him 
 with love that grows like a tree, but he cannot 
 make rhymes. Now, if my Beloved were here, 
 she might be able to help me ; but she is far 
 away, and the high walls shut her out from me. 
 
66 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 The walls are very high here, Louis, and my 
 Colonel has gone away now, and I don't know 
 how soon he will come back ; so don't you leave 
 me, Louis, for I am alone in a sandy waste, 
 and there are no quails. But manna would 
 be nasty, I think.' " 
 
 At this point the listeners could bear no more. 
 Hilda ran into the room, and had Hugh in her 
 arms, and was laughing and crying and cooing 
 over him all at once. The Colonel followed, 
 very red in the face, blowing his nose and 
 clearing his throat portentously. 
 
 " Why, darling," Hilda was saying between 
 the kisses, " darling Boy, did you want me ? 
 and did you think your Colonel would leave you 
 for more than a few little minutes ? Of course 
 he would not ! And where do you suppose I 
 came from, Boy, when I heard you say you 
 wanted me? Do you think I came down the 
 chimney ? " 
 
 Hugh gravely inspected her spotless attire ; the 
 blue serge showed no wrinkle, no speck of dust. 
 
 "I should say not the chimney!" he an- 
 nounced, " But from some strange where you 
 
GREETINGS. 67 
 
 must have come, Beloved, if it was a place 
 where you heard me talking when I was not 
 there. Was it the up-stairs of the Land of 
 Counterpane?" he added, his eyes lighting up 
 with their whimsical look. " Was it the Coun- 
 terpane Garret? Then it must have been over 
 the top of the bed that you came from, and you 
 seemed to come in at the door. Did Louis tell 
 you to come ? " 
 
 " Louis ? " said the Colonel. " What does the 
 boy mean ? Stuff and nonsense ! I met your 
 Beloved in the street, ran into her, and thought 
 she was a post ; and then I brought her along, 
 and here she is ; and what do you think about 
 breakfast, Young Sir ? " 
 
 Young Sir thought very well of breakfast, 
 but he could not think of eating it without his 
 two friends looking on ; so Hildegarde waited 
 in the parlour, chatting merrily with the Colo- 
 nel till Young Sir's toilet was completed, and 
 then breakfast was brought, and Hugh ate, 
 and the others watched him ; and Hildegarde 
 found that she was quite hungry enough to eat 
 Black Hamburg grapes, even if it was only two 
 
68 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 hours since breakfast, and altogether they were 
 very merry. 
 
 "And what shall we do now?" asked the 
 Colonel, when the pleasant meal was over. 
 " The Metropolitan, eh ? The boy must see 
 pictures, Hilda, hey ? ' The eye that ne'er on 
 beauty dwells,' h'm ! ha ! folderol ! I forget the 
 rest, but the principle remains the same. Never 
 seen any pictures except those at home, and the 
 few in Washington. Chiefly rubbish there, I 
 observe. What do you say, Miss Braeside ? 
 Will you give Roseholme the honour of your 
 company as far as the Metropolitan ? " 
 
 " Why not ? " thought Hildegarde. " Hobson 
 said positively that Aunt Emily would not see 
 me before lunch, and there is no one else that 
 I need go to see quite so very immediately." 
 
 " Yes, I will go with pleasure ! " she said. 
 So off they started, the cheerfullest three in 
 New York that morning. Busy men, hurrying 
 down-town to their business, turned to look 
 back at them, and felt the load of care light- 
 ened a little just by the knowledge that there 
 were three people who had no care, and were 
 
GREETINGS. 69 
 
 going to enjoy themselves somewhere. Hugh 
 walked in the middle, holding a hand of each 
 friend, chattering away, and looking up from 
 one to the other with clear, joyful looks that 
 made the whole street brighter. The Colonel 
 was in high feather; flourishing his stick, he 
 strode along, pointing out the various objects 
 of interest on the way. He paused before a 
 mercer's window, filled with shimmering silks 
 and satins. 
 
 " Now here 2 " he said, " is frippery of a supe- 
 rior description; frippery enough to delight the 
 hearts of a dozen women." 
 
 " Possibly of two dozen, dear sir," put in Hil- 
 degarde ; " consider the number of yards in all 
 those shining folds." 
 
 " Hum ! ha ! precisely ! " said the Colonel. 
 " Now, Hildegarde, you have some taste in 
 dress, I believe ; you appear to me to be a well- 
 dressed young woman. Now, I say, what seems 
 to you the handsomest gown in all this folderol, 
 hey ? the handsomest, mind you ? " 
 
 " ' Said the Kangaroo to the Duck, this requires 
 a little reflection ! ' ' Hildegarde quoted. 
 
70 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " Perhaps, on the whole, that splendid purple 
 velvet; don't you think so, Colonel Ferrers?" 
 
 " Hum ! " said the Colonel. " Ha ! possibly ; 
 but ha ! hum ! that I may be wrong, Hilde- 
 garde but that seems to me hardly suited 
 to a young person, hey? More a gown for a 
 dowager, it strikes me ? I may be wrong, of 
 
 course." 
 
 "Not in the least wrong, dear sir," said 
 Hilda, laughing. " But you said nothing about 
 a young person. You said 'the handsomest.' ' 
 
 "Precisely," said the Colonel again. "And 
 after all, a gown is a temporary thing, Hugh. 
 Now, a bit of jewelry but now, Hildegarde, 
 I put it to you, if you were going to choose 
 a gown for Elizabeth Beadle, for example ; 
 suppose Hugh and I were going to take a 
 present home to Elizabeth Beadle ; there's no 
 better woman of her station in the mortal 
 universe, sir, I don't care who the second may 
 be. What do you think suitable, hey ?" 
 
 " Oh, Guardian ! " and " Oh, Colonel Ferrers ! " 
 cried Hugh and Hildegarde, in a breath. " How 
 delightful ! " 
 
GREETINGS. 71 
 
 " I think Hugh ought to choose," said Hilde- 
 garde, with some self-denial ; and she added to 
 herself : 
 
 " If only he will not choose the blue and red 
 plaid ; though there is nothing she would like so 
 well, to be sure ! " 
 
 Hugh surveyed the shining prospect with 
 radiant eyes. 
 
 " I think you are the very kindest person 
 in all the world!" he said. "I think my 
 mind is full of thoughts, but now I will make 
 my choice." 
 
 He was silent, and the three stood absorbed, 
 heedless of the constantly increasing crowd that 
 surged and elbowed past them. 
 
 " My great-aunt is fond of bright colours," 
 said the child, at last. Hildegarde shivered. 
 
 "She would like best the red and blue 
 plaid. But, people must not always have the 
 things they like best. You remember the 
 green apples, Guardian, and how they weren't 
 half as good as the medicine was horrid." 
 
 " Most astonishing boy in the habitable uni- 
 verse ! " murmured the Colonel, under his breath. 
 
72 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " Don't undertake to say what kind of boys 
 there may be in Mars, you understand, but so 
 far as this planet goes, hey ? Ha ! well, have 
 you made your choice, Young Sir ? " 
 
 Hugh pointed out a gray silk, with a pretty 
 purple figure. " That is the very best thing 
 for my great-aunt," he said. 
 
 " That will fill her with delirious rapture, 
 and it will not put out the eyes of anybody. 
 We shall all be happy with that silk." 
 
 So in they went to the shop, and Hugh 
 bought the silk, and the Colonel paid for it, 
 and then they all went off to the Metropolitan, 
 and spent the rest of the morning in great joy. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 AT THE EXCHANGE. 
 
 "AND how have you spent the morning, 
 my dear ? " asked Mrs. Delansing. 
 
 They were sitting at the luncheon-table. 
 Hildegarde could just see the tip of her aunt's 
 cap above the old-fashioned epergne which 
 occupied the centre of the table ; but her tone 
 sounded cheerful, and Hildegarde hastened to 
 tell of her delightful morning. She had en- 
 joyed herself so heartily that she made the 
 recital with joyful eagerness, forgetting for the 
 moment that she was not speaking to her 
 mother, who always enjoyed her good times 
 rather more than she did herself ; but a sudden 
 exclamation from Mrs. Delansing brought her 
 to a sudden realisation of her position. 
 
 "What!" exclaimed the old lady, and at 
 her tone the very ferns seemed to stiffen. 
 " What are you telling me, Hildegarde ? You 
 
74 HILDEGAKDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 have been spending the morning with with 
 a gentlemen, and that gentleman " 
 
 " Colonel Ferrers ! " said Hildegarde, hastily, 
 fearing that she had not been understood. 
 " Surely you know Colonel Ferrers, Aunt Em- 
 
 Uy." 
 
 " I do know Thomas Ferrers ! " replied Mrs. 
 Delansing, with awful severity; "but I do not 
 know why I must add that I am at a loss 
 to imagine how my niece should have been 
 careering about the streets of New York with 
 Thomas Ferrers or any other young man." 
 
 Hildegarde was speechless for a moment ; 
 indeed, Mrs. Delansing only paused to draw 
 breath, and then went on. 
 
 " That your mother holds many dangerous 
 and levelling opinions I am aware ; but that 
 she could in any degree countenance anything 
 so so monstrous as this, I refuse to believe. 
 I shall consider it my duty to write to her im- 
 mediately, and inform her of what you have 
 done." 
 
 Hildegarde was holding fast to the arms of 
 her chair, and saying over and over to herself, 
 
AT THE EXCHANGE. 75 
 
 " Never speak suddenly or sharply to an old 
 person ! " It was one of her mother's maxims, 
 and she had never needed it before ; but now it 
 served to keep her still, though the indignant 
 outcry had nearly forced itself from her lips. 
 She remained silent until she was sure of her 
 voice ; then said quietly, " Aunt Emily, there is 
 some mistake ! Colonel Ferrers is over sixty 
 years old ; he was a dear friend of my father's, 
 and and I have already written to my mother." 
 
 Mrs. Delansing was silent ; Hildegarde saw 
 through the screen of leaves a movement, as if 
 she put her hand to her brow. " Sixty years 
 old ! " she repeated. " Wild Tom Ferrers, 
 sixty years old ! What does it mean ? Then 
 then how old am I ? " 
 
 There was a painful silence. Hildegarde 
 longed for her mother ; longed for the right 
 word to say ; the wrong word would be worse 
 than none, yet this stillness was not to be en- 
 dured. Her voice sounded strange to herself 
 as she said, crumbling her bread nervously: 
 
 " He is looking very well indeed. He has 
 been in Washington with little Hugh, his ward ; 
 
76 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 he had been suffering a great deal with rheu- 
 matism, but the warm weather there drove it 
 quite away, he says." 
 
 There was no reply. 
 
 " Colonel Ferrers is the kindest neighbour that 
 any one could possibly have ! " the girl went on. 
 " I don't know what we should have done with- 
 out him, mamma and I ; he has really been one 
 of the great features in our life there. You 
 know he is a connection of dear papa's, on 
 the Lancaster side, as well as a lifelong 
 friend." 
 
 " I was not aware of it ! " said Mrs. Delansing. 
 She had recovered her composure, and her tone, 
 though cold, was no longer like iced thunder- 
 bolts. 
 
 " I withdraw my criticism of your conduct, 
 in a measure. But I cannot refrain from saying 
 that I think your time would have been better 
 employed in your room, than in gadding about 
 the street. I was distinctly surprised when Hob- 
 son told me that you had gone out. Hobson was 
 surprised herself. She has always lived in the 
 most careful families." 
 
AT THE EXCHANGE. 77 
 
 Hildegarde " saw scarlet." " Aunt Emily," 
 she said, " blame me if you will ; but I can- 
 not suffer any reflection on my mother. I do 
 not consider that it would be possible for any 
 one to be more careful of every sensible pro- 
 priety than my mother is ; though she does not 
 mould her conduct on the opinions of servants!" 
 she added. She should not have said this, and 
 was aware of it instantly ; but the provocation 
 had been great. 
 
 " You admit that your mother is human ? " 
 said the old lady, grimly. " She has faults, I 
 presume, in common with the rest of human- 
 kind?" 
 
 " She may have ! " said Hildegarde. " I have 
 never observed them." 
 
 Silence again. Hildegarde tried to eat her 
 chicken, but every morsel seemed to choke her ; 
 her heart beat painfully, and she saw through a 
 mist of angry 'tears. Oh, why had she come 
 here ? What would she not give to be at home 
 again ! 
 
 Presently Mrs. Delansing spoke again, and her 
 tone was perceptibly gentler. 
 
78 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " My dear, you must not think that I mean 
 to be unkind, nor did I mean consciously 
 to reflect upon your mother, for whom your affec- 
 tion is commendable, though perhaps strongly 
 expressed." 
 
 " I am sorry ! " said Hildegarde, impulsively. 
 " I ought not to have spoken so. I beg your 
 pardon, Aunt Emily ! " 
 
 Mrs. Delansing bowed. " You are freely par- 
 doned ! I was about to say, when this little 
 interruption occurred, that I had hoped you 
 could be content for a few days under my roof, 
 without seeking pleasure elsewhere ; but age is 
 poor company for youth." 
 
 " But you could not see me this morning, 
 Aunt Emily ! You said last night that you 
 never saw anybody before lunch. And what 
 should I do in my room ? It is a charming 
 room, but you surely did not expect me to stay 
 in it all the morning, doing nothing ?" 
 
 " I should have thought you might find plenty 
 of occupation ! " said Mrs. Delansing. " In my 
 time it was thought not too much for a young 
 lady to devote the greater part of the day to the 
 
AT THE EXCHANGE. 79 
 
 care of her person ; this, of course, included fine 
 needlework and other feminine occupations." 
 
 " I did not bring any work with me," said 
 Hildegarde. " You see, I must go back to- 
 morrow, Aunt Emily, and there are so many 
 errands that I have to do. This afternoon I 
 must go out again ; and is there anything I can 
 do for you ? I shall be going by Arnold's, if 
 you want anything there." 
 
 " I thank you ; Hobson makes my purchases 
 for me ! " said Mrs. Delansing, stiffly. " She 
 would better accompany you to Arnold's ; there 
 is apt to be a crowd in these large shops, which 
 I consider unsuited for gentlewomen. I will 
 tell Hobson to accompany you." 
 
 But Hildegarde protested against this, saying, 
 with truth, that she must pay a visit first. The 
 idea of going about with Hobson at her heels 
 was intolerable for the girl who had spent the 
 first sixteen years of her life in New York. 
 
 She finally carried her point, and also ob- 
 tained permission to read to her aunt for an 
 hour before going out. It was a particularly 
 dull weekly that was chosen, but she read as 
 
80 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 well as she knew how, and had the pleasure of 
 seeing Mrs. Delansing's stern face relax into 
 something like cheerfulness as she went through 
 two chapters of the vapid, semi-religious story. 
 At length the cold, gray eyes closed ; the stately 
 head nodded forward ; Aunt Emily was asleep. 
 Hildegarde read on for some time, till she was 
 sure that the slumber was deep and settled. 
 Then she sat for a moment looking at the old 
 lady, and contrasting her face and form, rigid 
 even in sleep, with those of dear Cousin Wealthy 
 Bond, who always looked like the softest and 
 most kissable elderly rose in her afternoon nap. 
 " Poor soul," she said, softly, as she slipped out 
 of the room to find Hobson. " So lonely, and 
 so unloved and unloving ! I can't bear to hear 
 Blanche and Violette speak of her, I can 
 hardly keep my hands off them, and yet 
 why exactly should they be fond of her ? She 
 is not fond of them, or of anybody, I fear, unless 
 it be Hobson." 
 
 The visit was paid, and Hildegarde took her 
 way towards the Woman's Exchange, with a 
 
AT THE EXCHANGE. 81 
 
 beating heart. It beat happily, for she had 
 enjoyed the half -hour's talk with the kind 
 cousin, an elderly woman, who seldom moved 
 from her sofa, but whose life was full of inter- 
 est, and who was the friend and confidante of 
 all the young people in the neighbourhood. She 
 had heard with pleasure of the proposed plan, 
 and had given Hildegarde a note to the manager 
 of the Exchange, whom she knew well ; had 
 tasted a crumb of one of the cakes, and pre- 
 dicted a ready sale for them. Moreover, and 
 this was the best of all, she had talked so wisely 
 and kindly, and with such a note of the dear 
 mother in her voice, that Hildegarde's homesick- 
 ness had all floated away, and she had decided 
 that it was not, after all, such a hardship to 
 spend three days in New York as she had 
 thought it an hour ago. 
 
 As I said, she took her way towards the 
 Exchange, carrying her neat paper box care- 
 fully. As she went, she amused herself by 
 building castles, a la Perrette. How many 
 things she would buy with the money, if she 
 sold the cakes ; and she should surely sell 
 
82 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 them. No one could resist who once tasted 
 them, and she had made several tiny ones 
 for samples ; just a mouthful of " goody " in 
 each. 
 
 Fine linen, several yards of it, and gold 
 thread, and " Underwoods " in green morocco, 
 that was really almost a necessity, for 
 Mamma's birthday; and some pink chiffon 
 to freshen up her silk waist, and and 
 here she was almost run over, and was shouted 
 at and seized by a policeman, and piloted gen- 
 tly to a place of safety, with an admonition to 
 be more careful. 
 
 Much ashamed, Hildegarde stood still to 
 look about her, and found herself at the very 
 door of the Exchange. She went in. The 
 room was filled with customers. "I ought 
 to have come in the morning," she said to 
 herself, and the quick blush mounted to her 
 cheeks, as she made her way to the counter 
 at the back of the shop, where a sweet-faced 
 woman was trying to answer four questions 
 at once. 
 
 " No, the Nuns have not come in yet. 
 
AT THE EXCHANGE. 83 
 
 Yes, they are generally here before this. No, 
 I cannot tell the reason of the delay. Yes, it 
 happened once before, when the maker was 
 ill. I do not know why more people do not 
 make them. Yes, just the one person, so far 
 as I know. Marguerites ? Yes, madam, in 
 one moment. The orange biscuits will come 
 in at two o'clock. No, we have never had them 
 earlier than that. Perhaps you are thinking 
 of the lemon cheese-cakes. These are the 
 lemon cheese-cakes." 
 
 She paused for breath, and looked anxiously 
 round. It was plain that she was expecting 
 assistance, and equally plain that it was late 
 in coming. Hildegarde stepped quietly round 
 behind the counter. 
 
 "Can I help you?" she whispered. 
 
 The lady gave her a grateful glance. " I 
 should be so thankful," she murmured. " All 
 these ladies must be served instantly. The 
 prices are all marked." 
 
 The lady who had demanded the "Nuns" 
 had also paused for breath, being stout as 
 well as clamorous ; but she now returned to 
 
84 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 the attack. Hildegarde met her with a calm 
 front, and eyes which tried not to smile. 
 
 " Can you oh ! this is a different person. 
 Perhaps you can tell me why the Nuns are 
 not here. It really seems an extraordinary 
 thing that they should not be here at the 
 usual time." 
 
 " The messenger may have lost a train, or 
 something of that sort," suggested Hildegarde, 
 soothingly. 
 
 " Oh ? but that would be no excuse ! No 
 excuse at all ! When one is in the habit of 
 supplying things to people of consequence, 
 one must not lose trains. Now, are you per- 
 fectly sure that they have not come ? You know 
 what they are, do you ? Little round cakes, 
 with a raisin in the middle, and flavoured with 
 something special. I don't remember what 
 the flavour is, but it is something special, of 
 that I am sure. Have you looked have you 
 looked everywhere? What is in that box at 
 your elbow ? They might have been brought in 
 and laid down without your noticing it. Oblige 
 me by looking in that box at your elbow." 
 
AT THE EXCHANGE. 85 
 
 A sudden thought flashed into Hildegarde's 
 mind ; she began to unfasten the box, which 
 was her own, whispering at the same time 
 into the ear of her companion in distress. 
 
 " Oh ! Oh, yes, certainly ! " said the latter, 
 also in a whisper. " Anything, I am sure, that 
 will give satisfaction! If you can only " 
 
 " Stop her noise," was evidently what the 
 patient saleswoman longed to say ; but she 
 checked the words, and only gave Hildegarde 
 an eloquent glance, as she turned to meet 
 a wild onset in demand of macaroons. 
 
 Perhaps Hildegarde's fingers trembled a little 
 as she untied the narrow blue ribbon that bound 
 ip her hopes ; perhaps she was purposely slow, 
 collecting her thoughts and words. The stout 
 lady fumed and fidgeted. " You should never 
 allow things to be tied in a hard knot ! It 
 should be one of the first rules in a place like 
 this, that boxes should be fastened with india- 
 rubber bands. Surely you know the usefulness 
 of india-rubber bands ? I hope those Nuns are 
 fresh. If you did not see them come in, or 
 speak to the person who brought them, how can 
 
86 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 you be sure of their being fresh ? Stale cakes 
 are out of the question, you know; nobody 
 could think of enduring stale cakes ; and Nuns, 
 in particular, must be eaten the same day 
 
 they- 
 
 " These are not Nuns, madam," said Hilde- 
 garde, as she opened the box. " Perhaps you 
 would like to see " 
 
 " Not Nuns ! Then why did you tell me they 
 were Nuns ? What are they, I should like to 
 know ? H'm ! ha ! very pretty ! What do you 
 call these?" 
 
 "Novices!" said Hildegarde, with a flash of 
 inspiration. 
 
 " Aha ! Novices, eh ? Yes, yes ! a good name, 
 if they are are they something new ? I have 
 never seen them here before." 
 
 " Entirely new ! " Hildegarde assured her. 
 "This is the first box that has ever been 
 brought in." 
 
 " Eh ? the first ? Then how do you know they 
 are good ? How can you conscientiously rec- 
 ommend them ? I always expect conscientioue 
 treatment here, you know." 
 
AT THE EXCHANGE. 87 
 
 " Will you try one ?" 
 
 Hildegarde handed her the box ; and she was 
 soon crunching and nodding and smiling, all 
 at the same moment. 
 
 " De-licious ! I assure you, delicious ! some- 
 thing entirely new Novices ! Why, they are 
 exactly what I want for my party to-night. 
 Much better than Nuns, Nuns have really 
 become quite tiresome. What is the price of 
 the Novices?" 
 
 Hildegarde hesitated, and glanced at the 
 saleswoman. The latter leaned swiftly for- 
 ward, looked, tasted a crumb, 
 
 " Five cents apiece ! " she said, quietly. Five ! 
 Hildegarde had thought of three, and had built 
 all her castles on that basis. 
 
 But the stout lady was crying to heaven 
 against the price. "Impossible! absurd! Why, 
 Nuns were only two cents apiece, Marguerites 
 only three ! The price was ridiculous, exorbi- 
 tant. She could not think of paying " 
 
 Here a small lady, richly but quietly dressed, 
 came up, and looked at the box. " Pretty ! " 
 she said. " Graceful and ingenious ! Five cents 
 
88 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 apiece, you say ? Give me a dozen and a half, 
 please ! I should like to have them sent 
 to me once a week for the season ; they are 
 just the things to please my daughter's lunch- 
 club." 
 
 She nodded kindly to Hildegarde, and passed 
 on. The stout lady gazed after her reverentially. 
 
 " Mrs. Cameron Pine ! " she murmured. " She 
 will make them the fashion instantly. I - - I will 
 take the rest!" she cried, wildly. "Put them 
 up, and send them to me, Mrs. Newcomb 
 Rich, Madison Avenue. Send me two dozen 
 every week, wait ! send them the day before 
 you send Mrs. Pine's, do you hear ? the day 
 before ! Don't forget ! It is most important ! " 
 and puffing and nodding, she, too, went on. 
 
 There was a little lull now, during which the 
 saleswoman turned to thank Hildegarde so heart- 
 ily that our heroine would have felt well repaid 
 even if she had not sold all her cakes. 
 
 " I cannot imagine where Miss Berden is ; 
 she is always so punctual. This is our busiest 
 day, and one of our busiest hours, and some 
 of the ladies, as you saw, rather hard to please. 
 
AT THE EXCHANGE. 89 
 
 I really don't know what I should have done 
 if you had not helped me; it was very kind 
 and thoughtful of you." She gazed earnestly 
 at Hildegarde, and added, "You have a good 
 mother, I know, who has taught you to think 
 and help." 
 
 Hildegarde nodded and smiled, but said noth- 
 ing, for the tears came springing to her eyes. 
 
 "And you sold all the pretty cakes!" added 
 the saleswoman. " I knew they would make a hit 
 the moment I saw them. That was partly why 
 I put a good price on them ; but it was also 
 because I knew there must be a good deal of nice 
 and careful work in making them. I wonder 
 - you have been so good, I am ashamed to ask 
 you anything more, but there is no one here now ; 
 would you be willing to hold the fort while I run 
 to the corner and post a letter ? " 
 
 Hildegarde assented cheerfully, and Miss 
 Adams (for by this name she now introduced 
 herself) put on her hat and went out. Hilde- 
 garde remained mistress of the situation, and oc- 
 cupied herself in tidying up the marble counter, 
 brushing away the crumbs, and rearranging 
 
90 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 some biscuits that had fallen from their dainty 
 pyramid. 
 
 Now voices were heard at the door, and 
 a gay group entered. A splendid carriage 
 stood without, and these rustling, high-plurned 
 ladies had evidently just dismounted from it. 
 There were four of them, and they were joined 
 in another moment by two or three more. Ap- 
 parently, all had been at some concert, for they 
 were talking all at once, and Hildegarde heard 
 the words, " Exquisite ! " " Technique ! " " An- 
 dante ! " etc., repeated over and over. She 
 became interested, and forgot for the moment 
 her position, when something curious recalled it 
 to her. She recognised, in one of the younger 
 ladies, her cousin Blanche Van Dene, one of 
 Mrs. Delansing's granddaughters ; and almost at 
 the same instant, she became aware that Blanche 
 had recognised her, and that she was anxious to 
 avoid any open recognition. Her eyes had met 
 Hildegarde's for one second ; the next, she had 
 turned her back squarely, and was chattering 
 volubly in the ear of her neighbour. 
 
 A wave of anger surged over Hildegarde, leav- 
 
IIILDEGARDE GRAIIAME, IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT'S 
 WONDERFUL ! ' " 
 
AT THE EXCHANGE. 91 
 
 ing the very tips of her ears pink as it receded ; 
 but the wave of amusement followed it quickly, 
 and the second wave bore a little spray of malice. 
 Should she call to her, and say, "Dearest Blanche, 
 how is your dear mother ? " Or she might put on 
 a twang Hildegarde had an excellent twang at 
 her disposal, and say, " Hello, Blanchey ! Haow's 
 yer haalth, and haow's the folks to home?" Oh! 
 it would be fun ! And surely the girl deserved it ! 
 Such bad form, to say nothing of bad feeling ! 
 But here Hildegarde seemed to hear a certain 
 familiar voice saying, " My dear, a debt of rude- 
 ness is one that should never be paid ! " So she 
 held her tongue, and contented herself with look- 
 ing hard at Blanche's back, which showed con- 
 sciousness and discomfort in every line. 
 
 So intent was Hildegarde on her cousin's 
 back, that she did not notice that one of the 
 other ladies had turned round, and was gazing at 
 her in perplexity ; next moment a shout rang out, 
 in a clear, joyous voice that made every one start. 
 
 "Hilda Grahame, in the name of all that 
 is wonderful ! My dear, what sky have you 
 dropped from?" 
 
92 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 Hildegarde started, and saw a splendid vision 
 advancing towards her with outstretched hand. 
 A girl somewhat older than herself, with the 
 walk and figure of a goddess and the dress of a 
 queen; a face of almost faultless beauty, and 
 large clear eyes through which looked a soul 
 like a child's ; she was one of the famous beau- 
 ties of the day, famous alike for her loveliness, 
 her great fortune, and the pride of her ancient 
 name. 
 
 " My dear," she repeated, taking both Hilde- 
 garde's hands in hers, "what sky have you 
 dropped from, and what are you doing here ? " 
 
 " Dear Imperia ! " said Hildegarde, calling her 
 by the old familiar school name that came natu- 
 rally to her lips. " How delightful to see you ! I 
 am selling cakes ; will you have some ? There 
 were some that I made myself, but they are all 
 sold. Here are various others, doubtless inferior, 
 but still good." 
 
 " Of course I will have some ! " cried Imperia. 
 " Why, this is perfectly delightful ! Do you really 
 come here ? regularly, I mean, and have all the 
 cakes you want ? I never heard of such fun. Give 
 
AT THE EXCHANGE. 93 
 
 me three dozen of everything, and we'll have a 
 carouse. Here, girls ! " she turned and called to 
 the others, who were looking curiously at the 
 two ; " come here, and tell me who this is ! 
 Shade of Madame Haut-ton, hover over us, and 
 bless this reunion ! " 
 
 " Hildegarde Grahame ! Hilda ! Queen Hilde- 
 garde ! " cried several voices ; and Hildegarde 
 was instantly surrounded by the crowd of but- 
 terflies, all caressing and questioning, laughing 
 and talking at once. One or two looked puz- 
 zled, other one or two sad, as they saw their 
 gay schoolmate of former days standing behind 
 the counter, quiet and self-possessed, and appar- 
 ently entirely at home. But visible distress was 
 on one countenance, and Hildegarde, charitable, 
 refrained from looking at her cousin, when 
 Imperia exclaimed, " Why, here is Blanche Van 
 Dene ! She is your cousin, isn't she ? Blanche, 
 here is Hilda, who used to be so good to you at 
 school, and help you with your spelling. Dear 
 me, Hilda, do you remember how Blanchey used 
 to spell?" 
 
 Hildegarde shook hands with her cousin com- 
 
94 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 posedly, and only her dancing eyes showed any 
 consciousness of the situation. Blanche mut- 
 tered some greeting, and then recollected an 
 engagement and hurried off. The lady Imperia 
 looked after her with good-natured contempt. 
 
 " Same little animal, my dear ! I beg your 
 pardon, Hilda, but really, you know, we remem- 
 ber her in her pinafores, and she was a snob 
 then. But now tell us all about it, like a good 
 girl ! You are not in trouble, dear old thing ? " 
 
 At this moment the door opened and Miss 
 Adams came hurrying in, breathless and apolo- 
 getic. There had been a block in the street 
 she was on the wrong side and could not get 
 back would Hildegarde please excuse her for 
 being so long ? 
 
 " Oh, but I have had a delightful time, Miss 
 Adams ! " cried Hildegarde. " And I have sold 
 three dozen of everything was that a real 
 offer, Imperia?" 
 
 Imperia vowed that it was ; and Hildegarde 
 and Miss Adams together tied up the parcels, 
 while all chatted together like old friends. The 
 situation was explained, and so many dozens of 
 
AT THE EXCHANGE. 95 
 
 " Novices " were ordered for every week that 
 Hildegarde declared her intention of taking back 
 with her to Braeside a chef and three kitchen- 
 maids to help her in the manufacture. Finally, 
 she was whirled away in her friend's purple 
 chariot for a drive in the park, and had the 
 pleasure of passing her cousin Blanche on the 
 way, looking sad and sorry. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MORE GREETINGS. 
 
 " AND you won't think better of it ? Hilda, I 
 am in despair! Think of it, my dear! Calve, 
 and both the De Reszkes there will never be 
 such a performance again, perhaps, in our life- 
 times ! And all the good time we should have 
 between the acts and our box will be simply 
 full of people all the evening oh, you must 
 come, Hilda Grahame ! " 
 
 People said of Helena Desmond that if she 
 had a fault, it was that of speaking too loud. 
 She was so full of the joy of living, so powerful 
 and vigorous in all her emotions, pleasurable or 
 painful, that her clear, resonant voice was apt to 
 be heard like the sound of a trumpet, dominat- 
 ing other and feebler organs. Mrs. Delansing, 
 sitting erect behind her tea equipage, heard it, 
 and shivered slightly ; but Hildegarde's reply 
 
MORE GREETINGS. 97 
 
 was spoken so low that she could not catch a 
 syllable. Then came : " No, no, I shouldn't ! 
 Don't tell me ! I should do nothing of the sort ! 
 We are to take our opportunities as they come, 
 time enough for sacrifices when Lent comes. 
 You know I don't mean that, Hilda; and you 
 know you are a dear, dear, " here followed the 
 sound of good hearty kisses, and Mrs. Delansing 
 shivered again ; then the door closed with a solid 
 slam, and all was silent. 
 
 Hildegarde came into the room, her hands full 
 of roses. 
 
 "Aunt Emily," she said, "Helena Desmond 
 sent you these ! She would have come in, but 
 she was late already for a reception. Aren't 
 they lovely?" 
 
 Mrs. Delansing bent her head over the flow- 
 ers ; they were among the few things she en- 
 joyed. 
 
 " Beautiful ! " she said. " It was very kindly 
 done of Miss Desmond. I should have been 
 glad to see her. Was was that she at the 
 door, speaking so loud?" 
 
 " Yes," said Hildegarde. " She was speak- 
 
98 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 ing rather loud, perhaps ; but her voice is so 
 musical, I don't think one minds it in her, some- 
 how. She is a glorious creature ! " 
 
 Mrs. Delansing seemed absent and disturbed. 
 "She it is not always possible to avoid over- 
 hearing portions of conversations, when carried 
 on in a high key I gathered that some invita- 
 tion had been extended to you, Hildegarde 
 for this evening." 
 
 " Yes ! " said Hildegarde, rather reluctantly. 
 "She wanted me to go to the opera with her, 
 but I didn't think I would better." 
 
 " Why not ? " demanded her aunt, severely. 
 " Miss Desmond is not accustomed to have her 
 invitations refused, and you are bound to take 
 advantage of such opportunities as may present 
 themselves to you, living in the extraordinary 
 way that your mother thinks suitable for you." 
 
 " Oh, well ! " said Hildegarde, " Helena under- 
 stood perfectly, and I thought it best not to go." 
 
 She was arranging the flowery as she spoke, 
 and did not see the curious change that seemed 
 to come over Mrs. Delan sing's face. It was as 
 if the stony repose of her features were broken, 
 
MORE GREETINGS. 99 
 
 some shifting light seemed to pass over her, 
 changing into shadow, but a shadow softened 
 into something approaching tenderness. 
 
 " Hildegarde, it is not on my account that 
 you are making this sacrifice ? I cannot per- 
 mit " 
 
 Hildegarde looked up ; then laid down her 
 roses, and crossed the room to lay her hand 
 on her aunt's shoulder. 
 
 " Of course it is, Aunt Emily ! " she said, 
 impulsively. " I came here to . see you, not to 
 go to the opera. I have been out already more 
 than I should to-day, but but things hap- 
 pened, somehow. And this is the last evening 
 we shall have together, and you know we are to 
 play the grand final rubber ; and and I wanted 
 to stay." 
 
 The old lady began to tremble in her chair ; 
 a mist came over her keen black eyes. 
 
 " My grandchildren would have gone ! " she 
 cried. " Blanche and Violette would have gone, 
 and not have thought it necessary even to tell 
 me. I have done everything for them, and 
 nothing- Blanche has been here this after- 
 
100 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 noon ! " she added, in a different voice, strug- 
 gling for her usual composure. " She said 
 but it is of no consequence what she said." 
 
 " No, it really isn't, Aunt Emily ! " said Hilde- 
 garde, venturing to stroke the silken shoulder 
 affectionately. " Suppose we don't mind about 
 Blanche now; she is very young for her age, 
 don't you think ? I can finish that story before 
 I go to dress for dinner." 
 
 But Mrs. Delansing had something else to 
 say. 
 
 " Thomas Ferrers came to see me, also ! " 
 she said. " Did you ask him to do so ? " 
 
 Oh no ! " said Hildegarde. I - - 1 only 
 told him that you did not go out very much, 
 and and he said at once that he should come 
 to see you before he left town." 
 
 " He is grown an old man ! " said Mrs. 
 Delansing. "Wild Tom Ferrers! We had a 
 great deal of talk ; much of it about you. I am 
 bound to say that he gave me a different impres-. 
 sion of your life. You you must all be very 
 happy there together ! " 
 
 The tone was piteous in its wistfulness, and 
 
MORE GREETINGS. 101 
 
 Hildegarde responded heartily. " You must 
 come and see for yourself some day, Aunt 
 Emily ! We are happy, as happy as the day 
 is long ! " 
 
 The evening passed quickly and pleasantly. 
 Mrs. Delansing unbent more than Hildegarde 
 could have supposed possible, and even smiled 
 as she told, over the backgammon board, some 
 anecdotes of Colonel Ferrers' s wild youth. One 
 could not imagine her laughing under any cir- 
 cumstances, but her smile, when she was amused, 
 was fine and delicate, and made a wonderful 
 difference in her face. 
 
 When bedtime came, she held Hildegarde' s 
 hands in hers for several minutes, looking at her 
 with a searching gaze. 
 
 " You have not found it too dull ? " she said. 
 " Hobson says she heard you singing in your 
 room to-day ! You do not find this a dreary 
 cage, where no young life could be happy ? " 
 
 Hildegarde had found it so the first day, but 
 now all was changed, and she could answer 
 heartily, "No, indeed, Aunt Emily! I have 
 had a very pleasant visit, and I am oh, so 
 
102 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 glad I came ! I don't believe I should ever 
 have known you if I had not been here in the 
 house ; and I am very, very glad to know you, 
 Aunt Emily. May I come again ? " She bent, 
 and kissed the old lady's cheek, and was de- 
 lighted to have her kiss warmly returned. 
 
 "Come whenever you will, my child!" Mrs. 
 Delansing said. " Come as often as you can ; 
 I shall be better for every time I see you." 
 
 So it was arranged that later in the winter 
 Hildegarde was to come to Gramercy Park for 
 a good visit, and hear the German opera ; and 
 when the aunt and niece finally said good-bye at 
 the bedroom door, Hildegarde felt that she had 
 made a new friend ; while the lonely old woman 
 went to bed with a warmer heart than she had 
 felt in her bosom for years. 
 
 "Why, mum," said Hobson, "I declare to 
 goodness, you look ten years younger since that 
 young lady come here ! " 
 
 " I am ten years younger, Hobson ! " said 
 Mrs. Delansing, gravely. " I will have the 
 nightcap with the Valenciennes frill, if you 
 please." 
 
MORE GREETINGS. 103 
 
 Hildegarde sent her little trunk off by the 
 expressman, and after bidding good-bye to Hob- 
 son, who begged her most earnestly to come 
 again soon, started off for her final shopping- 
 bout. She had some idea of lunching at Pur- 
 cell's, and taking an afternoon train for home. 
 There were still several things to be attended 
 to, and she might it was not very far from 
 Blank & Blank's she might be able to run 
 round and see if Rose Flower were at home. 
 It was doubtful, for she had been away most 
 of the fall, but there was always a chance of 
 her having returned. The dear Rose ! How 
 good it would be to see her, and Doctor Flower, 
 and, perhaps, Bubble ! 
 
 It was eleven o'clock before she reached 
 Blank & Blank's, and the vast shop was filled 
 with a surging crowd of women, young and old, 
 smart and dowdy, rich and poor. Here and 
 there a lone man was seen, standing bewildered, 
 with a sample in his hand of something that he 
 was to match ; here and there, too, stood the 
 floor - walkers, in calm and conscious dignity, 
 the heroes of the shopping - world ; but these 
 
104 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 were only occasional flecks on the frothing tide 
 of womanhood. Hildegarde, after several vain 
 attempts, succeeded in reaching the counter she 
 sought. Before it stood a row of women, elbow 
 to elbow, each bent on her own quest ; behind 
 it were the shop-women, endeavouring to satisfy 
 all demands at one and the same moment. 
 
 Endeavouring, most of them, that is ; but even 
 the shop-woman, tried as she is in the furnace, is 
 not always pure gold. The young woman who 
 stood near Hildegarde may have been too tired, 
 or may have been ill ; she certainly was rude. 
 Hildegarde had taken her stand directly behind 
 a plainly dressed, elderly woman, shrewdly judg- 
 ing that she would be likely to make some 
 definite purchase and then depart, instead of 
 fingering half the goods on the counter, as 
 many of the customers were doing. The el- 
 derly woman was evidently in haste. She 
 held up the black cashmere that she had been 
 examining, and said, civilly, " Will you please 
 tell me the price of this ? " The question was 
 repeated several times ; the shop-woman, after 
 one glance at the quiet, unstylish figure, turned 
 
MORE GREETINGS. 105 
 
 her shoulder, and began to press some goods 
 volubly on a departing shopper. 
 
 " Please ! " said the quiet woman again. " I 
 am in haste, and want to buy some of this. 
 Will you please tell me the price ? " 
 
 " You'll have to wait your turn, lady ! " was 
 the reply ; and voice and tone were equally ill- 
 bred. " I can't wait on everybody at once." 
 
 "I have been waiting fifteen minutes," was 
 the reply ; " and my turn has come over and 
 over again." 
 
 That was enough for Hildegarde. She reached 
 over the woman's shoulder, and rapped sharply 
 on the counter. " Will you tell the lady the 
 price of this cashmere, or shall I call Mr. 
 Jones?" 
 
 The shop -woman looked up hastily, caught 
 sight of two blazing eyes, and a face like white 
 lightning, and quailed. 
 
 "I I'm sure I was doing my best!" she 
 muttered. "It's sixty cents a yard." 
 
 "If this is your best, you have no place 
 here ! " said the flashing person before her. 
 " How many yards would you like, madam ? 
 
106 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 You shall oh ! oh, my dear ! Oh, Nurse 
 Lucy, it is not really you ? " 
 
 " Oh, my blessed lamb ! " cried Nurse Lucy, 
 " Am I awake or dreaming, I says to myself the 
 minute I heard your darling voice ! " 
 
 And the stately maiden in blue serge, and the 
 gray-haired woman in black alpaca, fell on each 
 other's neck, and fairly cried for joy, while the 
 roar of the shopping actually ceased for one 
 moment. Then it rose again, what did it 
 matter to anybody, when a bargain sale was 
 on, who met or who parted ? And the two 
 friends, holding each other fast by the hand, 
 got into a quiet corner apart, in a haven dedi- 
 cated to Marseilles quilts, which nobody was 
 buying, and sat down on two stools, and gazed 
 their fill. 
 
 "I wonder what is the meaning of it all!" 
 cried Hildegarde. " One after another, I keep 
 meeting all the people I care most about ; first 
 one friend, and then another, and now you, 
 you dear, blessed Nurse Lucy. Oh ! what are 
 you doing here ? and where is Mr. Hartley ? and 
 and have you seen Rose and Bubble ? I 
 
MORE GREETINGS. 107 
 
 was wondering whether I could find them. 
 And oh, do tell me all about everything, 
 please ! " 
 
 She paused, breathless, and Nurse Lucy took 
 up the tale, drying her joyful tears the while. 
 
 "My pretty! to think of it being you! and 
 me thinking of you miles away, and wishing I 
 could run down and see you and your blessed 
 mother, as you've asked me a many times so 
 kind. And Jacob, why, he's right outside, 
 dear, waiting for me. He can't abear a crowd 
 of people, you know, and New York almost 
 smothers him anyway, poor soul. We came up 
 for the day, dear, to see Pinkrosia, and Bubble, 
 and the Doctor. We had a note from Doctor 
 Flower ah ! what a good man he is ! and he 
 wouldn't take no for an answer, but we must 
 come up and see them in their own home ; and 
 so here we are, came up on the early train 
 this morning, as Jacob had business in the city. 
 And now ! and my dear looking so well and so 
 beautiful, and the living spirit of her mother " 
 
 " Oh, hush, Nurse Lucy ! you must not flatter 
 me ! " cried Hildegarde. " See ! there is your 
 
108 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 parcel all done up ! I will take it for you ; and 
 I don't think that young woman will neglect a 
 customer again for one while." 
 
 Arm in arm, they passed through the crowd. 
 As they reached the street, Mrs. Hartley pressed 
 Hildegarde's arm. "Hush, dear! stop a min- 
 ute! there's Jacob; waiting so patient, poor 
 soul ! To think how surprised he will be ! 
 What shall we say to him ? " 
 
 "I know!" said Hildegarde. "Let me tell 
 him, Nurse Lucy ! " 
 
 A tall, stalwart man was standing with his 
 back to them ; his legs were rather wide apart, 
 his shoulders squared, and he seemed to have 
 planted himself against the throng of people 
 that hurried and jostled by him. Discontent 
 was visible in every line of his figure, and Hil de- 
 garde knew just how his mouth was puckered, 
 though she could not see it. 
 
 Hildegarde stepped up softly behind him, and 
 spoke in his ear. 
 
 " And what do you expect to get for winter 
 wheat, Mr. Hartley?" 
 
 The farmer turned round as if he had been 
 
MORE GREETINGS. 109 
 
 shot. " What in now take me away ! take 
 me away home, before I lose any senses this 
 place has left me. This ain't Huldy Grahame, 
 no way of the world ! " 
 
 Convinced that it was that young person her- 
 self, he seized her two hands, and drew her for- 
 cibly along, as he made his way through the 
 crowd. "Lucy found ye?" he said. "I bet 
 Lucy found ye. Nothin' like women ! I've been 
 thinkin' about ye all this blessed day, and looked 
 at every gal that went by, and they was about 
 ten thousand of 'em, and not one I'd look at 
 twice. Come along, Lucy ! I've done all the 
 shoppin' I want ! Let's get home to Doctor 
 Flower's, and have a sight at this gal, before I 
 wake up and find she's a dream ! " 
 
 As the good man spoke, he hurried Hilde- 
 garde along at a surprising rate, Nurse Lucy 
 following as best she might. Hildegarde was 
 fairly bewildered by all these sudden meetings. 
 She began to feel as if every street corner must 
 reveal some new vision; she looked for Bub- 
 ble, for the Merry weathers ; it seemed to her, 
 too, almost dreamlike in its strangeness. Yet 
 
110 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 after all, there is nothing wonderful in meeting 
 all sorts and conditions of men in the course of 
 two days in New York. 
 
 A short walk brought them to a quiet, pleas- 
 ant street, where the usual brown stone houses 
 had rather a special look of care and neatness. 
 There were many flowers in the windows ; the 
 curtains were more often muslin than lace, but 
 they were fresh and white, and one felt that it 
 was a pleasant neighbourhood, a neighbourhood 
 of homes. 
 
 " You have been here before, dear ? " asked 
 Mrs. Hartley. 
 
 " No, " replied Hildegarde. " I have been 
 meaning all the fall to come, ever since they 
 came back from Europe and took this house, but 
 one thing and another has prevented. As I told 
 you, I meant to try to see them to-day, in any 
 case. But Rose does not know I am in town ; 
 it will be another surprise. Dear Kose ! " 
 
 "Well, I do suppose Pinkrosia '11 be glad 
 to see you ! " said Jacob Hartley. " But if 
 she sets up to be as glad as Marm Lucy arid 
 I be, she'll have to hear something, that's all. 
 
MORE GREETINGS. Ill 
 
 Huldy Grahame's my gal this time, and no 
 mistake ! " 
 
 Hildegarde wondered what the Colonel would 
 say to this ; wondered also if there were any 
 one else but the thought dismissed itself un- 
 finished. 
 
 Here they were now, in a pretty, homelike 
 parlour, hung with rose-colour, ah ! Doctor 
 Fowler always had the prettiest ideas ! wait- 
 ing for their hostess. A light step on the stairs ! 
 As it came down, quickly and steadily, Hilde- 
 garde saw many pictures, all in a moment. 
 First, a girl in a wheeled chair, pale and sweet- 
 faced, saying quietly that she could not walk, 
 that she had not walked since she was three 
 years old, pointing out the beauty and conven- 
 ience of 'her precious chair, in which she was a 
 prisoner. Then, herself, Hildegarde Grahame, 
 walking up and down the anteroom of the hos- 
 pital, waiting in an agony of suspense for news ; 
 then her mother's face, and Doctor Flower be- 
 hind her, both smiling, and the blessed words, 
 " It is all right ! " 
 
 The tears sprang to her eyes. Then came 
 
112 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 the vision of their two selves, herself and her 
 friend, in their happy, happy holiday summer at 
 Cousin Wealthy Bond's ; the gradual recovery, 
 the roses coming in the pale cheeks, the step, 
 growing ever firmer, more elastic. Then but 
 there was time for no more. Here she was at 
 the doo'r, Rose Flower, no longer a cripple, no 
 longer even an invalid, but the happy wife of one 
 of the best men in the world. 
 
 Rose's cry of surprise was very different from 
 the clarion shout with which Helena Desmond 
 had greeted her friend. It was soft and low, 
 a note like that of a bird coming home to its 
 nest. " Hilda ! my Hilda ! oh, happy, happy 
 day!" 
 
 The two girls (for Rose was a girl still, if 
 she was a married woman!) held each other 
 close for a little, without a word; the words did 
 not come, nor was there need of them ; each 
 knew the other's heart was full of love that 
 had had steady life and growth for five years. 
 " My dear ! " they said ; and then again, " My 
 dear ! " and that was all. 
 
 But a few minutes later, when all four 
 
MORE GREETINGS. 113 
 
 were seated in a circle, the girls hand in hand, 
 the old people looking from one to the other 
 with eyes of delight, the words came fast 
 enough. 
 
 Rose had to tell of her summer abroad, of all 
 the new worlds that had opened before the coun- 
 try-bred girl, worlds of which she had dreamed 
 all her life, which she had never thought to see 
 with her bodily eyes. Then Hildegarde must 
 tell of her summer, all the wonders of the 
 camp, the new friends, grown so dear in so 
 short a time ; of Hugh and the Colonel, and 
 all the delights of Braeside and Roseholme ; 
 and then both girls must hear all about affairs 
 at Hartley's Glen, from the greatest to the 
 least. 
 
 " Oh, Nurse Lucy, is the old yellow hen still 
 alive Mrs. Whittaker, I mean? Surely you 
 know the hen we always called Mrs. Whittaker. 
 She used, to tell us her name whenever she laid 
 an egg. And the cats ! How are the dear cats ? 
 Do you think Camaralzaman remembers me, 
 Nurse Lucy? And do you try to say his whole 
 name once in a while, so that he will not forget 
 
114 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 it ? And how are all the people in the village ? 
 How is Miss Bean ? Does she still trim hats ? 
 Oh, Rose, do you remember the funny hats? 
 There was a green satin one, the first time I 
 went there my dear ! she wanted me to buy 
 it ! But she was so good, and kind, and nice ! 
 Everybody in the village is nice ! " 
 
 "Hilda, do you remember when Bubble 
 sprained his ankle, and the letter he wrote 
 you ? Oh, such a funny letter, wasn't it ? " 
 
 " Remember it ? I have it in one of my most 
 precious portfolios ! But, oh, Nurse Lucy, you 
 haven't told us a word about the cows. Dear 
 cows! How are they all?" 
 
 And so on, and so on, happy, foolish talk, 
 with laughter breaking through it at every 
 moment, as one recollection brought up another. 
 And in the midst of it all, who is this tall youth 
 who comes silently into the hall, and stands 
 silent in the doorway, gazing at all the merry 
 talkers ? No one sees him ; he stands and looks 
 from one to the other, with shining eyes. A 
 slight, trim figure, well-dressed, alert, quickness 
 and energy in every line of it ; a face not hand- 
 
MORE GREETINGS. 115 
 
 some, certainly, but so full of life and intelli- 
 gence and good-will that whoever looks at it 
 once is sure to look again. There he stands, 
 silent, absorbed ; and so standing, he, too, sees 
 visions. A garden, and a boy at work in it; 
 a freckled, towsled boy, fighting weeds with a 
 hoe, but keeping one eye on a tattered spell- 
 ing-book that lies beside him. Ten weeds to 
 a word, that was the rule ; big weeds, of course, 
 he did not count chickweed. What was the 
 word, ah ! yes ! anticipate ! That was it ! 
 And then he looked up, and saw the face look- 
 ing through the hedge, the beautiful face, 
 with the proud, pretty mouth, and the bright 
 eyes. It had hardly changed, save that the 
 mouth was now gentle, instead of proud. And 
 then she came forward, and talked to him, to 
 him, in his old shirt and trousers, and asked 
 about his lessons, and offered to teach him. Ah, 
 yes ! that was the beginning of it all, the new 
 life, the new world, the new joy ! 
 
 There was a suspicion of moisture in the 
 youth's bright blue eyes, but they twinkled 
 nevertheless; and when he spoke, it was in 
 
116 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 the old, homely speech that he loved, and in 
 the very words that he had spoken that day, 
 all these happy years ago. 
 
 " I swan ! " said Zerabbabel Chirk. "I reelly 
 do ! I swan to man ! " 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MERRY WEATHER SIGNS. 
 
 BUT the best of all, perhaps, was telling about 
 it afterward. Sitting by the fire that evening, 
 in the pleasant sitting-room, Hildegarde told her 
 mother all about the Great Frisk, as she called 
 it; and it would have been hard to say whether 
 narrator or listener were the more interested. 
 
 " But, child," said Mrs. Grahame, " how was it 
 possible for you to do so much, and see so many 
 people in three days, or, rather, two days and a 
 half ? I cannot comprehend it ! " 
 
 " Nor can I ! " laughed Hildegarde. But 
 it just happened, you know ! Why, dear, it 
 seemed to rain friends ! Wherever I turned 
 I ran into some one I loved. Oh, I feel so 
 rich, rich in every way ! The money in my 
 pocket is the least part of it all, and yet I am 
 glad enough of that, too. Only think of my get- 
 
118 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 ting such a price ! And eight or ten dozen to 
 send every week ! It is like a fairy story, isn't 
 it, darling ? And then to meet Helena, dear 
 Helena ! Oh, she was so delightful ! And just 
 to see her was enough to fill one with beauty for 
 the whole day. She wears her hair brushed 
 back now, you remember how it waves, 
 wonderful hair ! And she was in dark blue 
 velvet, trimmed with chinchilla, and and alto- 
 gether, my love, if the Queen of Sheba had seen 
 her, her spirit would have died within her twice 
 over. And just the same dear, whole-souled 
 creature as ever ! She never can change. She 
 promises to come out here before she goes to 
 Washington." 
 
 "That will be delightful!" said Mrs. Gra- 
 hame. "I shall be very glad to see Helena 
 again; I have always hoped that when she 
 came back you would see something of her 
 again. She was the one of your schoolmates 
 that my heart always warmed to. How came 
 Mrs. Desmond to be willing to leave Paris ? 
 When she went away, she said it was for 
 life." 
 
MERRY WEATHER SIGNS. 119 
 
 " Oh, Helena would come ! " said Hildegarde. 
 " She told me about it ; they must have had 
 a scene. She said to her mother, ' Mamma, 
 I am an American ! I have never committed 
 any crime, and I refuse to be exiled from my 
 native country any longer. If you will come 
 with me, it will be much the pleasantest thing ; 
 if not, I go alone.' Well, it was not the 
 thing to say, of course, but " 
 
 " I am not sure about that ! " said Mrs. Gra- 
 hame, flushing slightly. " I am inclined to think 
 Helena was perfectly justified. When a woman 
 has not sense enough to guide her daughter, she 
 must submit to be guided. The idea of keeping 
 that girl over there five years, frittering about 
 the continent ; preposterous ! My sympathy is 
 entirely with Helena." 
 
 Mrs. Grahame sat very erect, and her eyes 
 were very bright ; then, catching Hildegarde' s 
 eyes, full of laughter, she relaxed her muscles, 
 and began to laugh too. 
 
 " I am sorry, dear," she said. " I never could 
 like Mrs. Desmond." 
 
 " I should think not ! " said Hildegarde, 
 
120 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 promptly. "I should be under the painful 
 necessity of disowning you if you did. But you 
 love Mrs. Honiton, Mammina ! " 
 
 " Ah, Mrs. Honiton ! how could two sisters 
 be so different ? It is Margaret Honiton who 
 should be Helena's mother, they are wonder- 
 fully alike." 
 
 " Yes. Helena feels that. She is lovely with 
 her mother, firm, but devoted, but Aunt 
 Margaret is the one of the world to her. It is 
 a terrible thing for a girl to have an incompetent 
 mother ! " 
 
 " Yes, darling, it is indeed," said Mrs. Gra- 
 hame, meekly. " I feel it so in your case. No, 
 don't kill me, Hildegarde ! my time is not yet 
 come. Tell me more about Rose and her hus- 
 band. She is very happy, you say ? " 
 
 " Happy as the day is long. I told you I did 
 not see Doctor Flower, the only one I missed, 
 really ; he was in Philadelphia. But their 
 house is as pretty as pretty ; it is evident that 
 he furnished it, you know what taste he has ; 
 and everywhere roses, roses ! carved and painted 
 and embroidered, it is really the Rose-bower, 
 
MERRY WEATHER SIGNS. 121 
 
 as he calls it. Her own little sitting-room, up- 
 stairs oh, such a little rosy-posy nest ! rose- 
 wood desk, and everything soft covered with 
 rose-flowered chintz curtains, too, and the 
 most de-lightful sofa I ever did see ! And her 
 little work-table, and oh, well, Mammina, I 
 think, after all, that made me happier than any- 
 thing, unless it was the sight of Nurse Lucy's 
 face when she recognised me ! But, remember- 
 ing all that Rose suffered, and all the cramped, 
 anxious days and years, and then seeing her, a 
 rose in full bloom, in her own pretty house, with 
 such signs of loving care all about her, it was 
 good, good ! " 
 
 " Yes, indeed ! " said Mrs. Grahame, heartily. 
 " I am sure that was a real treat, darling. And 
 Bubble you say he is grown such a fine lad! " 
 
 " Bubble is enchanting ! not handsome well, 
 but you need not laugh, Mammina, for he is 
 very good looking, and certainly has an air of 
 distinction. He holds his head so well ; and he 
 walks well, and, altogether oh, I am proud 
 of Bubble. And Rose says that Doctor Flower 
 is sure the boy has a career before him ; he 
 
122 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 never had so apt a pupil. And he speaks such 
 beautiful English, Rose says." 
 
 "Rose says!" repeated Mrs. Grahame. "I 
 thought you had a good little talk with the boy 
 himself." 
 
 " Oh, so I had, but he would not talk anything 
 but the broadest Yankee. He insisted that he was 
 precisely the same freckled boy that he was when 
 I first saw him ; and he carried on in the most 
 absurd way. He was almost like Gerald ; dear 
 Gerald ! I didn't see any of the Merry weathers, 
 Mamma ; so there was something lacking, after 
 all." 
 
 " It would be a weary world if there were 
 not," said her mother. " But speaking of the 
 Merryweathers have you noticed, Hilda dear, 
 whether the night is clear ? " 
 
 " Whether the night is clear, Mammina ? No, 
 I did not look. What do you mean, darling? 
 Shall I go to the door " 
 
 " No ; not to the door," said Mrs. Grahame. 
 " Go to the window, child ; the west window, 
 that looks across the hedge. Tell me if the 
 stars are out." 
 
MERRY WEATHER SIGNS. 123 
 
 Wondering greatly at this sudden solicitude 
 about the weather, Hildegarde crossed the room 
 and drew the curtain. 
 
 " Clear as a bell," she said. " Stars all out, 
 and wind, oh, oh, Mammina ! Why, there are 
 lights in the windows of Pumpkin House ! 
 Mamma, they have come ! " 
 
 She turned upon her mother with eyes alight 
 with happy inquiry. 
 
 " They have come," Mrs. Grahame repeated. 
 " Some of them, that is. Oh, things can happen 
 here as well as in New York, mademoiselle ! 
 They came yesterday, Mrs. Merryweather and 
 Kitty and - 
 
 " And you never told me ! " cried Hildegarde. 
 " And you have let me talk on and on for three, 
 four hours, oh, Mrs. Grahame ! " 
 
 " You never asked me," replied that lady, 
 demurely. " You had a great deal to tell, and 
 I wanted very much to hear it ; perhaps, too, 
 I did not want to have your mind distracted 
 until I had had my turn. Mrs. Merryweather 
 is looking very well." 
 
 "Oh, the dear!" cried Hildegarde. "Oh, 
 
124 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 Mammina, do you think I might go over ? Do 
 you think it is too late ? It is only half -past 
 eight. Don't you think I might run over now ? " 
 
 " Hark ! " said Mrs. Grahame, raising her 
 hand. " What is that ?" 
 
 Hildegarde, in full tide of excitement, checked 
 herself, and listened. Under the window some 
 unseen hand swept the strings of a guitar, 
 lightly, yet firmly; and next moment a voice 
 broke out, singing the old air of " Gentle Zi- 
 tella." 
 
 " Under thy window, 
 Maiden, I sing, 
 Though the night's chilly 
 For this kind of thing. 
 Weather is merry, 
 Hearts too are light ; 
 Speak to thy Jerry, 
 Hilda the Bright ! " 
 
 Hildegarde threw up the sash. 
 
 " Come in, Gerald ! " she cried. " Oh, you 
 dear boy, I am so glad to see you hear you, 
 rather ! come in, quick ! " 
 
 She shut the window hastily. 
 
 " Did you feel the air, Mamma ? I thought if 
 
MERRY WEATHER SIGNS. 125 
 
 I opened it just for a second, the room seemed 
 pretty warm. Sure you are not cold, love ? " 
 
 Mrs. Grahame was quite positive ; but Hilde- 
 garde must feel her hands to make assurance 
 doubly sure ; must tuck a shawl round her 
 mother's shoulders, and throw an encouraging 
 glance towards the fire, before she turned to the 
 door, which now opened to admit Mr. Gerald 
 Merryweather. 
 
 " You dear boy ! " she repeated, going to meet 
 him with outstretched hand. " To think that 
 you have been here two days without my seeing 
 you. Gerald, how you have grown ! " 
 
 " ' Great weeds do grow apace,' " said the tall 
 lad, looking down on her. " I forestall the 
 remark, you observe. It is the one with which 
 I am commonly greeted by my affectionate 
 family. But it's awfully good to see you, 
 Hilda. I say, how well you're looking ! " 
 
 " You, too/' said Hilda. " And they are all 
 well ? and all here, or coming ? Oh, sit down 
 and tell me all about everything, do ! " 
 
 " I have already told her, Gerald," said Mrs. 
 Grahame ; " but I don't think she paid much 
 
126 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 attention ; you may as well tell her over 
 again." 
 
 " Well, I was so excited, you see ! " cried the 
 girl. " I have been having the most wonderful 
 time in town ; and then to come out here and 
 find you, my cup is rather brimming over, 
 that's all. Now tell, Jerry." 
 
 " We came," said Gerald, curling up his long 
 legs on the hearth-rug ; " we have seen sev- 
 eral things ; we expect to conquer shortly 
 the dust, and to get the house to rights. Our 
 holidays Ferguson's and mine began on 
 Saturday, so the Mater thought we'd better 
 come right down and get things ready for the 
 others. Then she reflected that she could not 
 trust us ; so she decided to come herself ; then 
 she further reflected that she could not possibly 
 leave the kids alone with the Pater, so she brought 
 them along. Behold us ! Bell and Toots arrive 
 next week, and the Codger at some time known 
 to himself. He is in Arizona, or somewhere this 
 side of it, sent for to inspect a mine, and see 
 whether it is a good place for planting cab- 
 bages." 
 
MERRY WEATHER SIGNS. 127 
 
 "Gerald!" said Hildegarde. 
 
 " Honoured miss ! " replied the boy. " I may 
 not be quite accurate in the details, but there is 
 a mine, I do assure you." 
 
 " And what kind of winter have you all had ? 
 You have been in Boston all the time, that is, 
 your mother and father ? " 
 
 " In Boston, yes. The winter has been such 
 as might have been expected, far from the 
 sun which etcetera. Barring the fact that we 
 have all existed in a state of acute anguish at 
 being separated from you, we have all been 
 exceedingly well, thank you." 
 
 " And how do you and Phil like college ? Is 
 it as much fun as you thought it would be ? 
 Do you like your rooms ? Are you doing all 
 right in your Greek ? " 
 
 "Hilda," put in Mrs. Grahame, "do let the 
 boy draw breath, and allow yourself to do so. 
 Two such panting young creatures I have sel- 
 dom seen. And Gerald is not going away on 
 the night train." 
 
 " I suppose not ! " said Hildegarde. " But, oh, 
 it does seem so long since I have heard anything 
 
128 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 about him and Phil. Bell, you see, writes the 
 most enchanting letters, but they are mostly 
 about college and music, her college, I mean ; 
 and she tucks in a little postscript to say that 
 all are well at home, and that is all the news 
 I get." 
 
 " Which accounts for your pallid and emaci- 
 ated appearance ! " said Gerald. 
 
 " ' Thy cheek, my love, of late a living rose, 
 Which could the bulbul cheat with its rich hue, 
 Looks pale 
 
 " I don't remember any more. I learned that 
 in the Finden book, when I was six years old." 
 
 "Why, Gerald, did you have the Finden 
 books, too ? How delightful ! Dear, ridiculous 
 books! We have them now. I still think the 
 6 Diamond ' lady the most beautiful creature 
 that ever lived, and simpered. But you are 
 not telling me a word about college ! " 
 
 " I have had so much opportunity, you ob- 
 serve ! " said Gerald, appealing to Mrs. Gra- 
 hame. " My natural diffidence has been allowed 
 such free play by the silent and unconversational 
 attitude of your daughter " 
 
MERRY WEATHER SIGNS. 129 
 
 Mrs. Grahame shook her head, and declared 
 that there was a pair of them, and she would 
 have nothing to say on either side. 
 
 Finally, however, boy and girl settled down 
 into an amicable and more or less coherent ex- 
 change of information. It appeared that the 
 boys were doing well in college, enjoying the 
 new life to the full, and keeping well in their 
 classes. 
 
 " Of course we started in with about three 
 times as much sail as we could carry. I had 
 five courses, and Ferguson seven. But some 
 of them were half ones, and after the first term 
 we began to see where we were a bit, and to 
 perceive that Roger and Pater were right. We 
 couldn't see it at first, of course, being such as 
 
 we are." 
 
 " And such as boys have been since the begin- 
 ning of colleges ! " said Mrs. Grahame. 
 
 " Dear madam, how well you know ! Well, 
 Greek has been pretty stiff, but still we peg away, 
 and like it no end. Then we both have Chem. 
 2, that's great sport ! I blew myself up " 
 
 "Gerald!" 
 
130 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " Fact, I assure you ! Pounding something in 
 a mortar, nice little glass mortar, you know, 
 pounding away, having fine sport ; suddenly I 
 pounded a little too hard, old Comprehensive 
 told us we must not pound hard, and away 
 went the mortar, and away went I. My eye- 
 brows are only just growing out ; and you never 
 noticed ! " And the boy looked deeply injured. 
 
 " My dear boy ! What a narrow escape ! Oh, 
 your mother must have had a fright ! " 
 
 " Rather ! " said Gerald. " Roger, you know, 
 had that bad time ten years ago, and she thought 
 I had done something of that sort, and would 
 have to live on dark room and excruciating tor- 
 tures for months. But I got my eyes shut all 
 right, you see ; so it only burned my hyacin- 
 thine locks a bit, and took off my eyebrows, and 
 spoiled a good suit of clothes. But I learned 
 something, and now I pound the way old Comp 
 tells me to." 
 
 " What is the professor's name ? " inquired 
 Hildegarde. 
 
 "Comprehensive? Oh, well, his real name 
 is Worcester, you know. Of course no one 
 
MERRY WEATHER SIGNS. 131 
 
 could stand that, and he is so short that it 
 would never do to call him ' Unabridged/ so 
 I suggested ' Comprehensive/ which is the size 
 you have in school, you know ; and the fellows 
 took to it, and now he is called that altogether, 
 or 6 Comp ' for short." 
 
 " I see ! By the way, what are you and Phil 
 called ? Anything except your own names, I 
 suppose ! " 
 
 " Pretty much ! " Gerald admitted. " Phil is 
 called the < Holy Poker ' don't know why, I'm 
 sure ! and ' Thumbling,' he has grown about 
 nine feet, Phil has ; really, he is a whole head 
 taller than I am ! " 
 
 " Dear me ! " said Hildegarde, innocently. " I 
 had no idea your head was so big as that, Ger- 
 ald ! of course I knew it was rather " 
 
 " Mrs. Grahame ! " cried Gerald, in a tone of 
 anguish. " Will you speak to her, please ? She 
 is trampling all over my delicate sensibilities, 
 and talking slang besides ! " 
 
 " Hildegarde," said Mrs. Grahame, " I am 
 surprised at you ! " 
 
 " Yes, dear madam ! " said Hildegarde, meekly. 
 
132 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " You didn't hear the things he said. Go on 
 with the names, Gerald ! " 
 
 " They call him ' Bottle - washer/ too, and 
 ( Cappadocia.' I think that is rather the fa- 
 vourite name for Ferguson." 
 
 " Why ' Cappadocia ? ' " asked Hildegarde. 
 
 " Oh, well, there isn't really much reason, 
 but then, it doesn't take much. They call me 
 6 Capsicum,' you see, and we are twins, and ' Cap- 
 padocia ' begins, surely I need explain no fur- 
 ther even to a person of limited intelligence ? " 
 
 " Go on, Master Impudence ! Do they call 
 you ' Cayenne,' too ? " 
 
 " Yes, indeed ! And ' Bricks,' and ' Mortar/ 
 and ' Flag/ short for < Conflagration/ and 
 everything of that sort. I don't care ; I don't 
 mind any of these ; but when they call me 
 ' Hamlet/ I knock them down." 
 
 66 Dear Jerry ! Why do they call you ' Ham- 
 let?'" 
 
 "Oh! just some idiot started it, you can't 
 tell how these things start. One comfort is, 
 I called him the 'Grave-digger/ and it will 
 stick to him through college, for he looks it 
 
MERRY WEATHER SIGNS. 133 
 
 to the life. And the joke of it, I don't 
 know whether it's safe to tell you the joke of 
 it, Hilda." 
 
 " Try and see ! " 
 
 " Well, the real joke of it is that his father is 
 an undertaker, and I never knew it. 
 
 " But I haven't finished about the courses ! " 
 he added, hastily, seeing Hilda look serious. " I 
 am taking French, and Ferguson German. We 
 have delightful conversations every evening, I 
 speaking my language, and he his. You shall 
 have a specimen when you see us togeth 
 Hullo! What's that?" 
 
 Mrs. Grahame uttered a slight cry, and rose 
 hastily to her feet. 
 
 " I I don't know," she said. " I thought - 
 I surely did see a face looking in at the window. 
 Hark ! " 
 
 They listened, and heard a rustling in the 
 great linden - tree outside. Then something 
 gleamed white at the window, a face, beyond 
 all doubt. 
 
 " Ferguson ! " said Gerald. " If I don't give 
 it to him for startling you, Mrs. Grahame ; he 
 
134 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 shall be flayed, I assure you! Set your mind 
 at rest on that point ! Flayed an inch at a 
 time ! " 
 
 "May I come in?" asked Phil's voice, as he 
 swayed back and forth on the linden branch. 
 
 " ' Begging for a dole of crumbs, 
 Little Robin Redbreast comes ! ' ' 
 
 " Quick ! " said Hildegarde, as she threw up the 
 window once more. " When will you boys learn 
 to move and act like reasonable mortals ? How 
 are you, Phil? I am delighted to see you ! " 
 
 Phil wriggled his length swiftly into the 
 room, and closed the sash with a single quick 
 movement. Then, after shaking hands warmly 
 with his two friends, he fixed a withering glance 
 on his brother. 
 
 " How about that box ? " he asked. 
 
 "Now may Julius Caesar promote you to a 
 captaincy in the Skidmore Guards ! " replied 
 Gerald, with great sweetness. " I clean forgot 
 the box, sweet chuck ! And I just threatening 
 to flay you ! Didst open it with thine own fairy 
 paws, beloved ? " 
 
MERRY WEATHER SIGNS. 135 
 
 " I didst, beloved ! And I intend to do the 
 same by thy head, at a convenient season. 
 He promised to be back in ten minutes," Phil 
 added, turning to Mrs. Grahame, "to open a 
 box for the Mater. I was putting up book- 
 cases the while. It's frightful, the way books 
 multiply in our family.. I've put them up all 
 along all the up-stairs passages now, and 
 it gives us a little breathing-space, but not 
 enough." 
 
 " That is a good idea ! " said Mrs. Grahame. 
 "We must remember that, Hilda; though, 
 indeed, there is still plenty of space in these 
 
 rooms." 
 
 " I wish there were in ours," said Phil. 
 " The disadvantage of the passage bookcase 
 is, that the whole family stops and reads as 
 it goes along, and we seldom get anywhere. 
 Which reminds me ! I'm afraid I must go 
 back, Mrs. Grahame, and take this wretched 
 object with me. It is nearly ten o'clock, and 
 my Obadiah should have been tucked up in his 
 little nest some time ago." 
 
 " Your Obadiah will inquire into the condition 
 
136 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 of your little nest before he sleeps ! " said Gerald, 
 threateningly. 
 
 " But remember that the Mater said the 
 next time we scrapped a bedstead to pieces, 
 we must sleep in the pieces. Come along, 
 Child of Doom ! " 
 
 And with many hearty greetings, and prom- 
 ises to meet the next day, the friends separated, 
 the boys saying good-night, and clattering off 
 down the stairs like a regiment of horse. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CHRISTMASINGL 
 
 THE next day seemed to be largely spent in 
 running to and fro between the two houses. 
 Kitty and Willy were at Braeside before break- 
 fast, eager to embrace their dear Mrs. Grahame 
 and Hilda, and full of wonderful tales of school 
 and play. Then, as soon as Hildegarde had fin- 
 ished breakfast, she must go back with them to 
 greet Mrs. Merry weather, and tell her how de- 
 lighted she was at their coming, and hear a more 
 detailed account of the girls' movements. Mrs. 
 Merryweather was sitting at her desk, with a pile 
 of papers before her, and books heaped as high 
 as her head on every side. 
 
 "My dear," she said, after greeting Hildegarde 
 most affectionately, " I am just looking for the 
 girls' letter. It came this morning, and I put 
 it somewhere, in quite a safe place, as I knew 
 
138 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 the boys would want to see it, and then I meant 
 to send it on to your father, I mean to their 
 father, of course. Here it oh, no ! that is an 
 old one ! Now, this is really unfortunate, for 
 I was to send -some thing to Gertrude, and I can- 
 not remember what it was. Dear me ! I am 
 really too would you mind saying over a few 
 things, Hildegarde, that she would be likely to 
 want ? Perhaps it will come back to me ; and 
 I can keep on looking all the while, not to lose 
 time." 
 
 Much amused, Hildegarde began to suggest, 
 " Boots, hat, muff, handkerchiefs, gloves," but 
 at each article named Mrs. Merry weather shook 
 her head, and sighed as she sorted papers. 
 
 " No, dear, no ! Thank you just as much ; 
 but it was none of those. ' This only shows, dear 
 Hildegarde, the dreadful misfortune of being 
 unmethodical. I have no manner of doubt that 
 I have wasted at least ten good years of life in 
 looking for things. My sister-in-law, now, could 
 find a needle in a top bureau drawer at midnight, 
 without a moment's hesitation. It is a gift ! I 
 trust you cultivate now, you see, I may spend 
 
CHRISTMASING. 139 
 
 half the morning hunting for this letter, when 
 I might what amuses you, my dear? " 
 
 For Hildegarde's eyes were dancing, and her 
 whole face eloquent of fun. 
 
 " Dear Mrs. Merry weather, I know you will 
 excuse me, but is not that the letter, pinned 
 to your dress ? It looks like Gertrude's hand- 
 writing." 
 
 Mrs. Merryweather looked down, and gave 
 a sigh of relief. 
 
 " My child, your coming in was providential, 
 nothing less. Of course, I remember now, I 
 pinned it there for fear I should do what 
 I thought I had done. Well, well ! and it is a 
 Roman sash that the child wants, I am sure I 
 should never have thought of that. Ah, dear ! 
 I do miss my girls, Hildegarde. You see, they 
 inherit from their father a sense of order, in 
 a measure,- and they help me a great deal. 
 Are my glasses on my forehead, dear ? Whereas 
 Gerald and Phil are rather like me, I am afraid. 
 I wonder if Gerald has found his waistcoat yet ? 
 He is wearing ah, there he is now ! Gerald, 
 you are really an object for a circus, my son." 
 
140 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 Gerald looked down thoughtfully at himself. 
 He was attired in white corduroy knickerbock- 
 ers, an ancient swallow-tail coat so large that 
 it hung in folds upon him, and a red velvet 
 waistcoat reaching to his knee. 
 
 " I hesitated about coming in," he said. 
 " Hildegarde is so susceptible, I fear the impres- 
 sion I shall make upon her tender heart. The 
 lily is painted, the fine gold is gilded. Hilda, 
 confess that I am the dream of your existence." 
 
 " What does it mean ? " asked Hildegarde, 
 laughing. 
 
 " Trunks not come yet ; not mine, at least. 
 Upset a bath-tub over my only suit this morn- 
 ing, lo, the result ! Wouldst not that I were 
 ever habited thus, mirific Mammy? Consider 
 the beauty of your offspring." 
 
 He seated himself on his mother's desk, draw- 
 ing the folds of the dress-coat about him, and 
 beamed upon her. 
 
 "If you would send him away, dear Mrs. 
 Merryweather," said Hildegarde, " I should be so 
 glad to help you a little with the papers and books. 
 I have a whole hour to spare, do let me help ! " 
 
CONSIDER THE BEAUTY OF YOUR OFFSPRING.' 
 
CHRISTMASIXG. 141 
 
 "My dear, I should be only too thankful," 
 said Mrs. Merryweather. " Jerry, go away, and 
 find something to do ! You might unpack the 
 blankets, like a dear." 
 
 But Gerald declared that a wet blanket was 
 the only one with which he had any concern 
 after this cruel treatment, and retired weeping 
 bitterly, wiping his eyes with a long coat-tail. 
 
 Hildegarde devoted the morning to helping 
 her friends, and when she went home at noon 
 the rooms wore a very different aspect. The 
 books were all off the chairs and on the tables, 
 or in the bookcases. 
 
 "Not that it makes any permanent differ- 
 ence," said Mrs. Merryweather, plaintively. 
 " They will put books on the chairs, Hildegarde. 
 It is against the rules, but it is their nature. 
 I made a rhyme about it once : 
 
 " < The book is on the chair, 
 And the hat is on the stair, 
 And the boots are anywhere, 
 Children mine ! ' ' 
 
 Hildegarde especially enjoyed helping to ar- 
 range the girls' room, tacking up the curtains. 
 
142 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 and putting fresh flowers (from the Roseholme 
 greenhouse) in the vases. To-morrow she would 
 see those dear girls, and then who so happy as 
 she ! 
 
 And to-morrow came, and with it Bell and 
 Gertrude, escorted by their father. All the 
 Merryweathers were now here, except Roger. 
 The question was on Hildegarde's lips several 
 times, " When will he come ? " but somehow she 
 waited a little each time, and the moment 
 passed, till she heard Mr. Merryweather say : 
 
 " A letter from Roger, Miranda ! He will be 
 here next week, day uncertain, but surely in 
 time for Christmas." 
 
 A chorus of joy arose, in which Hildegarde 
 joined heartily. 
 
 "Think!" said Bell. "We have not seen 
 Roger since the summer ; hardly since we have 
 seen you, Hildegarde. Oh, my dear, how long 
 it seems since camp ! and yet when you look at 
 it the other way, it might be yesterday. Heigh, 
 ho ! whose turn is it to get supper to-night ? and 
 who is going to get the fish for the chowder ?" 
 
 "Dear, happy days!" said Hildegarde, "I 
 
CHRISTMASIXG. 143 
 
 have not lost a minute of one of them, Bell. 
 If I should wake up to-morrow morning and 
 find myself at camp, I should not be in the 
 least surprised, but should just ' put the kettle 
 on and stand by to go about.' ' 
 
 " Dear old camp motto ! " said Bell. " It 
 makes a pretty good one anywhere, Hilda, do 
 you know ? If they give me the class oration, 
 the girls are talking about it, I might take 
 that for my text." 
 
 " Are you talking camp and graduation," put 
 in Gertrude, who came into the room at this 
 moment, " when Christmas is almost here ? 
 Oh, think of it, and we have not planned what 
 we are going to do, or or anything ! " 
 
 " Speak for yourself, Gertrude," laughed Hilde- 
 garde. " I have three bureau drawers full of 
 things ready, and I ought to be tying up a box 
 this minute, to go out West." 
 
 " Missionary box ? " asked Bell. 
 
 "No, at least, not in the regular way. 
 But there are some distant cousins out in Col- 
 orado, they have a hard time to get along, 
 and there are a great many of them, and 
 
144 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 Mamma and I always send them a box at 
 Christmas. A kind of grab-bag box, with 
 clothes and whatever we can think of." 
 
 " My dear," cried Bell, sitting up with shin- 
 ing eyes, " don't you want some contributions ? 
 Let me tell you, this is the position ! We also 
 have such cousins, fourteen in number, in 
 Minnesota. And there was an auction at school, 
 and I got all kinds of odd picknickles and buck- 
 nickles, thinking they would do for the box, 
 and I returned to find that Mother had sent it off 
 three days ago, filled to overflowing. You see, 
 the boys are just behind ours in age and size, so 
 there are always lots of jackets (never any 
 trousers, of course), and she thought they 
 would be needed for the cold weather, and I 
 forgot to tell her about my purchases. What 
 do you say, Hilda ? Oh, come up into my 
 room, and see some of the things ! They are 
 rather nice, some of them, and others just funny. 
 Come on ! " 
 
 Away went the three girls, up to Bell's sunny 
 room, where the trunks stood open, with trays 
 of hats on the bed, and a general effect of " just- 
 
CIIRISTMASING. 145 
 
 arrive d-and-haven't-had-time-to-get-settled " per- 
 vading all. Bell cleared a chair for Hildegarde, 
 and bidding Gertrude " perch where she could/' 
 began to pull things out of the big, brown trunk, 
 talking as she went. 
 
 " You see, girls, the way of it was this. There 
 is always an auction at the end of the year, and 
 generally things stay over for that ; but this 
 time there had been a fire in the town, and a 
 good many poor families were left destitute. 
 Mrs. Tower suggested that, perhaps, we might 
 make up a little purse, or take charge of one 
 family for the winter. We agreed to do the 
 latter, and made up a committee to order coal 
 and wood, and another to make clothes for the 
 children, seven children, poor little things ! 
 and the father so badly hurt in saving the 
 youngest baby that he will not be able to work 
 for several weeks. Well, I was on the commit- 
 tee to order the things ; but when I came to 
 collect the money, some of the girls, who wanted 
 most to help, were very hard up, myself in- 
 cluded. So near the end of the term, you see, 
 and we had been buying Christmas things and 
 
146 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 all. So I said, ' Suppose we have an auction ! ' 
 for there were some girls not many, but I 
 suppose there are a few everywhere who 
 didn't care a bit about the poor family, and yet 
 we knew they had money, and we were bound 
 to get some of it. I had the sale in my room. 
 It was great fun. I hung out a red flag, and 
 posted flaming notices in all the halls and corri- 
 dors ; and we had a great crowd. Me ! oh, no, 
 I was not auctioneer ! I could not possibly talk 
 fast enough. Caroline Hazen did it splendidly. 
 Her mother was Irish, and she can drop into 
 the most delicious brogue you ever heard, and 
 she was so funny, we were in fits of laughter all 
 the time. We made twenty dollars, think of 
 it ! all in a little over an hour. And some of 
 these things I bought with what little money I 
 had, and the rest were just left over, and as the 
 girls would not take them back, I brought them 
 along for the box. See ! here is a pair of knitted 
 shoes, really perfectly new. Anna Waring 
 said that she had a dear aunt who sent her a 
 pair every Christmas and every birthday, and 
 she has ten pair now, and never hopes to catch 
 
CHRISTMASING. 147 
 
 up. Three pair were sold beside these ; got 
 them for ten cents, and see how pretty they 
 
 are ! 
 
 " Why, charming ! " cried Hildegarde. " Bell, 
 why don't you wear these yourself ? " 
 
 " I ! Perish the thought ! I never wear any 
 shoes in my room, Hilda ; bare feet are part of 
 my creed." 
 
 " But but you have no carpet here, dear," 
 said Hildegarde, with a little shiver. " And it 
 must be very cold " 
 
 "Delightfully cold!" cried Bell. "I know 
 few things pleasanter than the touch of a good 
 cold floor to the bare feet on a winter morning." 
 
 " She is volcanic, Hilda ! " put in Gertrude. 
 " She sleeps under a sheet all winter, and never 
 looks at a blanket ; it is true ! " 
 
 Bell nodded gaily in answer to Hildegarde' s 
 horrified look. " No use, dear ! I am hardened 
 in mind as well as in body, and cannot change 
 my ways. Look here ! Perhaps one of the boys 
 might like this ? " 
 
 She held up a string of chenille monkeys, and 
 danced them up and down. 
 
148 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " Of course he would," said Hildegarde. 
 "And what 'what is that, Bell Merry- 
 weather?" 
 
 Bell looked rather ruefully at the object she 
 now drew from the trunk. 
 
 " Nobody else would buy it," she said. " The 
 girl who brought it down is new and shy, and 
 well, somehow, you felt that she wanted to help, 
 and had nothing else to bring. I was so sorry 
 for her, I gave my last quarter for it." 
 
 It was a long strip of coarse twine lace, with 
 a yellow ribbon quilted in and out its entire 
 length. One of those objects that sometimes 
 appear at fancy fairs, for which no possible use 
 can be imagined. 
 
 "It is queer," said Bell. "I suppose it must 
 have been meant for something ; I didn't like to 
 ask her what." 
 
 " Oh, but, my dear, it is a lovely ribbon ! " 
 said Hildegarde. " Why not take the ribbon 
 out, and make bows and things ? I am sure 
 you must want ribbon for some of your Christ- 
 masings." 
 
 Bell confessed that she might, and the ribbon 
 
CHRISTMASING. 149 
 
 was carefully laid aside, freed from its snarl of 
 twine. 
 
 " Here," said Bell, diving into the trunk again, 
 " is a highly interesting article, mesdames ! a 
 pheasant, you see, carved, Swiss, I suppose, - 
 with all his feathers spread out. Now, I think 
 I did pretty well to bring that home without 
 breaking. Is there a boy in your box, Hilda ? 
 I meant this for a boy." 
 
 " There is, indeed, and I know he will be 
 enchanted with such a pretty thing. Oh, and 
 the marbles ! Now, Bell, will you tell me what 
 college girls do with marbles ? " 
 
 " I will," said Bell, laughing. She Martha 
 Sinclair is very near-sighted, poor thing. She 
 thought these were moth-balls. She brought 
 a lot of them from home, and put them up with 
 her furs this spring, and was horrified to find 
 them the furs all moth - eaten this fall. 
 Poor Martha ! That, Hildegarde, is the sad 
 tale of the marbles. They are very good ones ! 
 I should not dare to let Willy see them, here, 
 put them in your pocket ! Here are assorted 
 pen-handles, went in one lot, forty cents 
 
150 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 for the dozen of them. Some of them are rather 
 nice, I think." 
 
 " This is a beauty ! " cried Gertrude. " This 
 Scotch plaid one. May I have this, Bell ? " 
 
 " Certainly, dear ! Hilda shall have the pearl 
 one, there ! This is the prettiest, Hilda " 
 
 "But why am I to have all the prettiest?" 
 inquired Hildegarde. " You are very reckless, 
 Bell." 
 
 " No, my love, I am not," said Bell. " Pen- 
 handles are, generally speaking, a drug in this 
 family. For several Christmases Willy dear 
 child ! could not think of anything else to 
 give us, so we had pen-handles all round how 
 many years, Gertrude ? " 
 
 " Three, I think," said Gertrude. Then some 
 one laughed, and hurt his dear little feelings, 
 and he never gave us any more. I miss the 
 Christmas pen-handle myself, for I always get 
 mine nibbled pretty short in the course of the 
 fall term. It is the only way I can possibly 
 write a composition." 
 
 " And is your next composition to be on the 
 ' Scottish Chiefs ? ' " asked Hildegarde. " Or do 
 
CHRISTMASING. 151 
 
 you hope to cure yourself by the taste of varnish 
 and red paint ? " 
 
 " Puppies ! " cried Bell, emerging once more 
 from the depths of the trunk. " Five china pup- 
 pies in a row. And thereby hangs a tale." 
 
 " I don't see a sign of a tail/' said Gertrude, 
 inspecting the five little terriers, all sitting up 
 very straight, with their paws exactly on a 
 line. 
 
 " Spell it the other way, miss ; and don't for- 
 get your Shakespeare," said her sister. 
 
 " This reminds me of the very most foolish 
 charade I ever heard. We were playing one 
 evening in Martha Sinclair's room ; and Janet 
 Armour took this row of puppies from the man- 
 telpiece and set it on the floor, and told us to 
 look at it. Then she kicked it over with her 
 foot, and told us it was a word of three syl- 
 lables, all three and the whole word given 
 at once. See if you can guess, Hildegarde ? 
 You give it up ? Well, it is too silly to guess. 
 6 Kick-a-row,' do you see ? Cicero, Gertrude, 
 my lamb. I explain on account of your tender 
 years." 
 
152 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " She must be a silly girl," said Gertrude. 
 " We wouldn't put up with such a poor charade 
 as that here, would we, Hilda ? " 
 
 " There are different kinds of brains," said 
 Bell, laughing. " Janet Armour leads the whole 
 college in mathematics, and is head of the bas- 
 ket-ball team. So you see, dear, talents vary. 
 Well, Hildegarde, I am afraid there is nothing 
 else that would do ; unless you would like this 
 cologne-bottle doll? She is a superior doll." 
 
 " Very," said Hildegarde. " And you know 
 Kitty would be enchanted with her. No, Bell, 
 I shall take nothing else, and I am ever so much 
 obliged for all these nice things. Now you 
 must come over with me and help me fasten up 
 the box. u, too, dear Gertrude." 
 
 The thrd> raced across the lawn and through 
 the hedged and were soon in Hildegarde's room. 
 Bell looked round her with a sigh, half admira- 
 tion, half regret. 
 
 " Hilda, there is no room but this ! " she said. 
 " How do you make it so so well, your own 
 portrait in a way ? If I were to be shown into 
 this room in the furthest corner of the Soudan 
 
CHR1STMASING. 153 
 
 I should say, ' And is Hildegarde in, or shall I 
 wait for her?'" 
 
 Hildegarde laughed, and looked about her, 
 her eyes resting lovingly on this or the other 
 treasure of picture or book. 
 
 " Dear room ! " she said. " I am glad you like 
 
 it, for I love it very much. And if it looks like 
 
 j> 
 me 
 
 " You must be pretty good-looking ! " cried 
 Gertrude. " Is that what you were going to 
 say, Hilda?" 
 
 " No, you absurd child, it was not. But 
 well, girls, of course it is different when people 
 have two or three places, in town and country, 
 and move about as you do, to and from school 
 and college, and all that. But this, you see, is 
 my home, my only home and abiding-place ; and 
 so my own things grow to be very real to me, 
 and very much a part of my life. I suppose 
 that is it. I know you will understand what 
 I mean, Bell whenever I go out of this room, 
 it seems as if one part of me stayed here, and 
 was ready to greet me when I came back. But 
 that is enough about me," she added, lightly. 
 
154 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " Here is the box ! Now we shall see how nicely 
 all Bell's prettinesses will fit into the corners ! 
 
 " This is Mamma's present for Cousin Ursula. 
 A nice, fat down puff, for her feet in winter ; it 
 is very cold there, and she is not strong, poor 
 dear. And I trimmed this hat for Mary, the 
 daughter. Rather pretty, do you think ? " 
 
 " Rather pretty ! " cried both girls. " Hilda, 
 it is a perfect beauty ! Oh, how did you learn to 
 do these things ? Will you trim all our hats for 
 us, for the rest of our lives ? " 
 
 " I should be delighted," said Hildegarde, 
 laughing. " I learned all I know from my 
 mother. She is clever, if you will. I cannot 
 compare with her in skill. Yet I was once 
 offered a position as assistant to a milliner. 
 These things underneath are things we have 
 worn, but they are all good." 
 
 " This has never been worn ! " exclaimed Bell, 
 lifting a pretty gray silk blouse, trimmed with 
 knots of cherry-coloured ribbon. " This is just 
 out of the box, Hildegarde. Oh, what a pretty, 
 dainty thing ! " 
 
 Hildegarde laughed. " I am proud of that ! " 
 
CHRISTMASING. 155 
 
 she said. " I made that out of an old under- 
 skirt of Mamma's. Yes, I did ! " as the girls 
 exclaimed with one accord. " It was good silk to 
 begin with, you see. I washed it, and pressed it, 
 and made it up on the other side ; and it really 
 does look very nice, I think. The ribbon is 
 some that Mamma had had put away ever since 
 the last time they wore cherry colour, twenty- 
 five years, she says. Lovely ribbon ! Well, and 
 I knew that Mary, the daughter, is just my age, 
 so I had to ' run for luck,' and make it to fit me. 
 I do hope she will like it ! " 
 
 " Like it ! " exclaimed Bell. " If she does not 
 like it, she deserves to wear brown gingham all 
 her life. It is as pretty a blouse as I ever saw." 
 
 " What is the matter with brown gingham ? " 
 asked Hildegarde. " One of my pet dresses, 
 a year or two, was a brown gingham." 
 
 " Oh, but not like our brown gingham ! " said 
 Bell. " You see well, it is treasonable, I 
 know, Gerty, but Hildegarde is almost like our- 
 selves. You see, our blessed Mammy (this was 
 long ago, when Toots was a baby, and the boys 
 still in kilts) got tired of all our clothes, and 
 
156 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 felt as if she could not bear to think about them 
 for a while. So she got a whole piece of brown 
 check gingham, forty mortal yards, and had 
 it all made up into clothes for us. Oh, dear ! 
 Shall I ever forget those clothes ? It was a 
 small check, rather coarse, stout gingham, be- 
 cause she thought that would wear better than 
 the Scotch. It did ! I had four frocks of it, 
 and the boys each had three kilt suits, and even 
 the baby wore brown slips. You cannot remem- 
 ber it, Toots?" 
 
 Gertrude shook her head. 
 
 " I remember the effect on the family mind," 
 she said, laughing. 
 
 "Yes," said Bell. "I don't know whether 
 you have ever noticed, Hildegarde, that none 
 of us ever wear brown ? Well, we never do ! 
 Pater will never see it. He did not realise for 
 some time what had been done. But one day, 
 oh, you ought to hear the Mammy tell about 
 this ! I can't begin to make it as funny as she 
 does. One day he came home, and the twinnies 
 were playing in the front yard. He stood and 
 looked at them for a while. 
 
CHRISTMASING. 157 
 
 " ' Are you making mud pies, boys ? ' 
 
 " ' No, Papa ! ' 
 
 " ' Then why have you on these clothes ? ' 
 
 " The boys didn't know much about their 
 clothes ; he looked at them a little more, and 
 then he came into the house. There was I, in 
 my brown gingham, playing with my doll. 
 
 " ' Great Caesar ! ' says Papa. ' Here's an- 
 other ! Been making mud pies, Pussy ? ' 
 
 " ' No, Papa ! I am playing with my dolly/ 
 
 " ' Do you get dirty, playing with your dolly ? ' 
 
 " ' Why, no, Papa ! ' 
 
 " ' Then why do you wear such things as 
 this?' 
 
 " I was just going to tell him that ' this ' was 
 the dress I was wearing every day and all day, 
 when dear Mammy came out of the sitting-room 
 with the baby. And, Hilda, the baby wore a 
 brown gingham slip, and Mammy had on a long, 
 brown gingham apron. 
 
 " ' Napoleon Bonaparte ! ' said Papa. ' Here's 
 two more of 'em.' Then he sat down on the 
 stairs, and looked from one to the other. Then 
 he went to the door and called the boys ; and he 
 
158 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 took us all into the sitting-room, and stood us in 
 a row, and sat and looked at us. 
 
 " ' Miranda,' he said, ' What have you been 
 doing here ? ' 
 
 " ' Doing, my dear Miles ? ' said Mamma. 
 ' What should I have been doing ? Dressing 
 baby after her afternoon nap, to be sure.' 
 
 " ' Dressing her ! ' says Pater. ' Dressing her ! ' 
 Then he broke off, Mammy says, and put his 
 hand to his forehead, as if he were in a kind of 
 dream. 
 
 " ' Miranda,' he said, ' I have been greatly 
 occupied for the last few weeks, and have not 
 fully realised what was going on. I have been 
 dimly aware that, when I came home, the whole 
 world seemed to turn brown and dingy. At 
 first I thought it was the weather; then I 
 thought it was the condition of business ; at 
 last I began to think that my sight must be 
 failing, and cataracts forming, or something of 
 the kind, so that I could see nothing without a 
 brownish tinge over it. Now, I I realise 
 what the matter is ; and I ask what what is 
 this stuff in which my family is masquerading ? ' 
 
CHRISTMASING. 159 
 
 " ' Masquerading, Miles ? I don't understand 
 you. This is brown gingham, a most excellent 
 material, inexpensive, durable, and neat. I 
 bought forty yards of it, so that the children 
 might all be dressed alike, and without all this 
 fuss and expense of different materials. You 
 know you said we must economise this summer, 
 andl- 
 
 " ' Yes/ said Pater. < Yes, I understand now. 
 Miranda, you are a good woman, but you have 
 your limitations.' 
 
 " He would not say another word, but went off 
 into the garden to smoke. We forgot all about 
 what he said, all but Mammy, and she thought 
 he would get used to the brown gingham in 
 time, and, anyhow, she had meant to do the best, 
 dear darling. 
 
 " Hildegarde, the next morning, when we all 
 came to dress, our clothes were gone." 
 
 " Gone ! " repeated Hildegarde. 
 
 " Gone, vanished ; frock and kilt, slip and 
 apron. Not an atom of brown gingham was to 
 be found in the house. And the rest of the piece, 
 which Mammy had meant to make into a gown 
 
160 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 for herself, was gone, too. Mammy looked 
 everywhere, but in a few minutes she understood 
 how it was. She didn't say a word, but just 
 put on our old dresses, such as were left of 
 them. They were pretty well outworn and out- 
 grown, but we were glad to get into them. We 
 hardly knew how we had hated the brown ging- 
 ham ourselves, till we got out of it. Well, that 
 day there came from one of the big shops a box 
 of clothes ; an enormous box, big as a packing- 
 case. Oh ! dresses and dresses, frocks and pina- 
 fores and kilts, everything you can imagine, and 
 all in the brightest colours, pink and blue, yel- 
 low and green, a perfect flower-garden. White 
 ones, too, three or four apiece ; and the prettiest 
 slips for Baby, and a lovely flowered silk for 
 Mammy. You can imagine how I danced with 
 joy ; the boys were delighted, too, and as for old 
 Nursey, she beamed all over like an Irish sun. 
 When Papa came home that afternoon, we were 
 all dressed up, the boys in little white sailor 
 suits, I in a ruffled pink frock, and Mammy 
 and Baby most lovely in white and flowers. 
 He looked us all over again. ' Ha ! ' he said, 
 
CHRISTMASING. 161 
 
 ' once more I have a family, and not a shoal of 
 mud-fish. Thank you, my dear.' And none 
 of us has ever worn brown since that day, Hilde- 
 garde." 
 
 " Poor, dear Mrs. Merry weather ! " cried Hilde- 
 garde, laughing. " I think it was pretty cruel, 
 all the same. And did you ever find the 
 brown gingham ? " 
 
 " Oh, that was naughty ! " cried Gertrude. 
 " He buried it all in the back garden. That was 
 truly naughty of Papa. Mammy found them 
 there a week after, when she was setting out the 
 asters. They were all neatly laid in a box, and 
 buried quite deep down. But Mammy took 
 them up, and sent them to the Orphans' Home. 
 Dear Mammy ! " 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 AN EVENING HOUR. 
 
 "AND what shall we play this evening?" 
 asked Mrs. Merry weather. 
 
 Hildegarde and her mother had been taking 
 tea at Pumpkin House. Hugh was there, too, 
 and now Colonel Ferrers had come in, so the 
 cheerful party was nearly complete. 
 
 " If we only had Roger and Papa ! " sighed 
 Bell. " Nothing seems just right without the 
 whole clan together." 
 
 " We shall have them soon," said her mother. 
 " Meanwhile let us be merry, and honour their 
 name. It is too soon after tea for charades, I 
 suppose. Why not try the Alphabet Stories ? " 
 
 " Alphabet Stories ? " repeated Hildegarde. 
 " Is that a new game ? I don't seem to remem- 
 ber it." 
 
 " Brand-new ! " cried Gerald. " Mater in- 
 
AN EVENING HOUR. 163 
 
 vented it one evening, to keep us quiet when 
 Pater had a headache. Jolly good game, too. 
 Tell Hildegarde one or two of yours, Mater, to 
 show how it's played." 
 
 " Let me see ! Can " I remember any ? Oh, 
 yes, here is one ! Listen, Hilda, and you will 
 catch the idea at once. This is called ' The 
 Actions of Alcibiades : ' Alcibiades, brilliant, 
 careless, dashing, engaging fop, guarded Hellas 
 in jeopardy, king-like led many nobles on. 
 Pouncing quite rashly, stole (though unduly, 
 violently wailing) Xerxes' s young zebra. 
 
 " That is the story. You see, it must have 
 twenty-six words, no more, no less ; each word 
 beginning with a successive letter of the alpha- 
 bet." 
 
 "Oh! delightful! enchanting!" cried Hilde- 
 garde. " Mammina, this is the very game for 
 you and me. We have been longing for a 
 new one, ever since we played ' Encyclopaedics ' 
 to death. Tell us another, please, Mrs. Merry- 
 weather ! " 
 
 " Let me see ! Oh, but they are not all mine ! 
 Bell made some of the best ones. I will give 
 
164 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 you another, though. This is ' A Spanish Ser- 
 enade.' Andalusian bowers, castanets, dances, 
 enraptured Figaro. Gallant hidalgo, infuriately 
 jealous, kittenish lady, made nocturnal orisons. 
 ' Peri ! Queen ! Star ! ' Then, under veiled win- 
 dows, Ximena yielded. Zounds ! " 
 
 " That is extremely connotative ! " said Mrs. 
 Grahame. " This really is an excellent game. 
 Colonel Ferrers, shall we enter the list ? " 
 
 " Not I, my dear madam. Curls my brain up 
 into bow-knots, I assure you. Clever people, 
 word-plays, that sort of thing always floors me 
 completely. Delightful, you understand ! I en- 
 joy it immensely, if I may be allowed to play 
 the listener. Let us hear some more, hey? 
 6 Alcibiades ' hum, ha ! How did that go ? 
 Quite a ring to it, hey?" 
 
 " I have one," said Bell ; " but it is a good 
 deal like Mammy's Spanish one. Still, perhaps 
 it will pass. It is called ' An Elopement.' Ar- 
 bitrary barber, charming daughter, engaging 
 foreigner, graceful, handsome, insinuating. Jeal- 
 ously kept lady. Midnight nuptials ; opposing 
 parent. Questing, raged savage tonsor, ' Un- 
 
AN EVENING HOUR. 165 
 
 grateful ! Vamosed with Xenophon Young ? 
 Zooks ! ' " 
 
 " Oh, but that is a beauty ! " cried Hildegarde. 
 " Where do you get your X's and Z's ? I cannot 
 think of one." 
 
 "There aren't many," said Bell. "And I 
 rather fear we have used them all up. Try, 
 though, Hilda, if you can make one. I am sure 
 you can." 
 
 " Give me a few minutes. I am at work, 
 but, oh, I must have pencil and paper. How 
 do you keep them in order in your head ? " 
 
 " Habeo ! Habeo ! " cried Gerald, who had 
 had his head buried in a sofa-pillow for the 
 past few minutes. " Through all the flash of 
 words I have maintained the integrity of mine 
 intellect." (This was lofty!) "Hear, now, <A 
 Tale of Troy.' Agamemnon brutally called 
 Diomed ' Elephant ! ' Fight ! Great Hector, 
 insolently jocular, kicked Lacedaemonian Mene- 
 laus's nose. ' Phoebus ! Quit ! ' roared Sten- 
 tor. Turning, Ulysses valiantly waded Xan- 
 thus. < Xield, zealots ! ' " 
 
 A general acclamation greeted Gerald's story 
 
166 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 as the best yet. But Bell looked up with shin- 
 ing eyes. 
 
 "Strike, but hear me!" she cried. "Shall 
 Smith yield to Harvard ? Perish the thought ! 
 Hear, gentles all, the tale of ' The Light of 
 Persia.' Antiochus, braggart chief, devastated 
 Ecbatana; rinding golden hoards, invested Jeri- 
 cho. Median nobles, overcome, plead quarter! 
 Rescuing, springs through underbrush, victorious, 
 wielding Xerxes's yataghan, Zoroaster." 
 
 " Hurrah ! " cried both boys. " Good for you, 
 Smith College ! That is a buster ! " 
 
 " Boys ! " said Mrs. Merry weather. 
 
 " Yes, Mater ! We did not mean that. We 
 meant 6 that is an exploder ! ' 
 
 " You are very impertinent boys ! " said their 
 'mother. " Shall I send them away, Mrs. Gra- 
 hame?" 
 
 " Oh, please don't ! " said that lady, laughing. 
 " I am sure we have not had all the stories yet. 
 Phil, you have not given us one." 
 
 " Mine won't come right," said Phil, rather 
 ruefully. " I shall have to cheat on my X. 
 Have I leave?" 
 
AN EVENING HOUR. 167 
 
 "Well, for once, perhaps," said his mother. 
 " It must not be a precedent, however. Let us 
 hear ! " 
 
 And Phil gave what he called "A Mewl of 
 Music." " A bandit cheerful dog ! enjoyed 
 fiddling. ' Go home ! ' insolently jawing ki-yied 
 local musician. ' Nay ! Oh, peace, queasy rustic ! 
 Take unappreciated violin. We execrate your 
 zither ! ' " 
 
 " Yes ! " said Mrs. Merry weather. " That is 
 imperfect, but the first part is good. Next ? " 
 
 " I think," said Hildegarde, rather timidly, 
 " I think I have one ready. I hope it is correct, 
 - shall I try it ? It is ' The Sea.' Amid briny, 
 cavernous depths, entrancing fishes gambol, hila- 
 rious, iridescent jewels. Kittenish, laughing mer- 
 maids nod ; or perhaps, quietly resting, softly 
 twine, under vanished wave-worn xebecs, yellow 
 zoophytes." 
 
 " My dear Hildegarde, that is the best of 
 all! " said Mrs. Merry weather, warmly. " That 
 is a little poem, a little picture. We shall have 
 nothing prettier than that to-night, and as we 
 must not overdo a good thing, suppose we stop 
 
168 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 the stories for this time, and try something 
 else. Where is our music, girls ? " 
 
 Bell glanced at Hildegarde, and then at Colo- 
 nel Ferrers. She had heard something of the 
 passages between Jack Ferrers and his uncle, 
 and knew that classical music was not the thing 
 to make the Colonel enjoy himself. But Hilde- 
 garde nodded brightly in return. 
 
 "Let us sing!" she said. "Let us all have 
 a good sing, as we used at camp. Where is the 
 old song-book ? " 
 
 Bell, comprehending, fetched an ancient vol- 
 ume, rubbed and thumbed into a comfortable 
 mellowness. 
 
 " Here it is ! " she said. " Come, boys, now 
 for a chorus ! Sing it as we used to sing it, six- 
 teen campers strong, etc." 
 
 The whole family clustered round the piano, 
 Kitty and Will and Hugh close beside Bell, 
 Hildegarde and Gertrude looking over their 
 shoulders, while Phil and Gerald did what the 
 latter called the giraffe act in the background. 
 And then they sang ! One song after another, 
 each choosing in turn, the chorus rolling out 
 
AX EVENING HOUR. 169 
 
 nobly, in such splendid songs as " October/' 
 "A-hunting we will go," and "John Peel." 
 Then Hildegarde must sing " Annie Laurie " 
 for the Colonel, and she sang it in a way that 
 brought tears to the eyes of the ladies, and made 
 the Colonel himself cough a good deal, and go 
 to the window to study the weather. 
 
 "Ah, Colonel Ferrers," said Hildegarde, when 
 the sweet notes had died away, and it was time 
 for the silence to be broken, " where is the lad 
 who should play that for us, better than any 
 human voice could sing it ? When shall we have 
 our Jack home again ? " 
 
 The Colonel hummed and hawed, and said it 
 was absurd to suppose that any fiddle, however 
 inoffensive, and he acknowledged that his 
 nephew's fiddle gave as little offence as any he 
 had ever heard, still it was absurd to think 
 for an instant that it could be compared with 
 the sound of the human voice. 
 
 " Give me a young woman's voice, my dear 
 madam," he said, turning to Mrs. Grahame ; 
 " give me that organ, singing a song with mel- 
 ody and feeling in it, none of your discordant 
 
170 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 Dutch cobwebs, none of your Italian squalling, 
 or your French caterwauling, but a song, a 
 thing which is necessarily in the English lan- 
 guage, and I ask nothing more, except that 
 the singer be young and good-looking." 
 
 " Are you so very reasonable, I wonder, as 
 you think, my dear Colonel ? " said Mrs. Gra- 
 hame, laughing. " Surely we cannot expect that 
 every person who sings shall be beautiful." 
 
 " Then she has no business to sing, madam," 
 said the Colonel. " My opinion, worth noth- 
 ing, I am aware, from a musical point of view. 
 Now, when I was in Washington last week, 
 stayed at a friend's house, delightful people, 
 very good to the Boy here. Weren't they, 
 Young Sir?" 
 
 " They were fountains in the valley ! " said 
 Hugh. " They were ducks, but they quacked, 
 instead of singing." 
 
 "Precisely! Exactly! The child has de- 
 scribed it, my dear madam. There were two 
 young ladies in the family, charming girls, - 
 when they kept their mouths shut. The moment 
 they opened them to sing, a pair of grinning 
 
AN EVENING HOUR. 171 
 
 idols. I do not exaggerate, Mrs. Merry weather, 
 grinning idols, madam ! " 
 
 " Really ! " said Mrs. Merryweather. " How 
 distressing ! " 
 
 " Distressing ? My dear lady, it was excruci- 
 ating ! They opened their mouths - 
 
 " But, dear Colonel Ferrers ! " cried Hilde- 
 garde. " They had to open their mouths, surely ! 
 You would not have had them sing with closed 
 lips?" 
 
 "I am aware that they had to open their 
 mouths, my child, to some extent. They were 
 not, I conceive, forced to assume the aspect of 
 the dentist's chair. They opened their mouths, 
 I say, red gulfs, in which every molar could 
 be counted, and they shut their eyes. They 
 hunched their shoulders, and they wriggled their 
 bodies. Briefly, such an exhibition that I won- 
 dered their mother did not shut them in the coal- 
 cellar, or anywhere else where they might escape 
 being seen. Frightful, I assure you ! frightful ! " 
 
 Hildegarde and Bell exchanged glances; the 
 Colonel was on his high horse, and riding it hard. 
 
 " And what did they sing ? " asked Bell. 
 
172 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 "They squalled, my dear young lady, I 
 refuse to call such performance singing, some 
 Italian macaroni kind of stuff. Macaroni and 
 soap-suds, that was what it made me think 
 of. When I was a young lad, they made a 
 song about the Italian opera, new, it was 
 then, and people didn't take to it at first, how 
 did that go, now ? Hum, ha ! I ought to be 
 able to remember that." 
 
 " Was it ' Meess Nancy,' perhaps, Colonel ? " 
 asked Mrs. Mejry weather. " I think I can 
 recall that for you." 
 
 " My dear lady, the very thing ! < Meess Nancy 
 said unto me ' if you would be so obliging, 
 Mrs. Merry weather." 
 
 And Mrs. Merry weather sang, to the funniest 
 little languishing tune : 
 
 " Meess Nancy said unto me one day, 
 'Vill you play on my leetle guitar?' 
 Meess Nancy said unto me one day, 
 Vill you play on my leetle guitar? 
 Vich goes " tinky-tink-ting ! " 
 Vich goes " tanky-tank-tang 1 " 
 Vich goes "ting," 
 Vich goes " tang," 
 Vich goes "ta!"'" 
 
AN EVENING HOUR. 173 
 
 "Exactly!" said the Colonel. "Precisely! 
 tanky-tank-tang ! that is the essence of half 
 the drawing-room music one hears ; and the 
 other half is apt to be the kind of cacophonous 
 folderol that my nephew Jack tortures the in- 
 offensive air with. By the way, Hildegarde, 
 hum, ha ! nothing of the sort ! " 
 
 " I beg your pardon, Colonel Ferrers ! " said 
 Hildegarde, somewhat perplexed, as was no 
 wonder. 
 
 " Nothing of the slightest consequence," said 
 the Colonel, looking slightly confused. " My ab- 
 sent way, you know. Oblige us with another 
 song, will you, my dear ? ' Mary of Argyle,' if 
 you have no special preference for anything else. 
 My mother was fond of < Mary of Argyle ' ; used 
 to sing it when I was a lad, hum, ha ! sev- 
 eral years ago." 
 
 "In one moment, Colonel Ferrers. I just 
 wanted to ask you, since you spoke of Jack, - 
 have you any idea when we shall see the dear 
 fellow ? Is there any chance of his getting 
 home in time for Christmas ? " 
 
 But here the Colonel became quite testy. He 
 
174 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 vowed that his nephew Jack was the most irre- 
 sponsible human being that ever lived, with the 
 exception of his father. " My brother Raymond 
 
 Jack's father, you are aware, Mrs. Grahame 
 
 never knows, it is my belief, whether it is 
 time to get up or to go to bed. As to eating 
 his meals it is a marvel that the man is alive 
 to-day. Never sits down at a Christian table 
 when he is alone. Housekeeper has to follow 
 him round with plates of victuals, and put them 
 under his nose wherever he happens to stand 
 still. Never sits down, my brother Raymond. 
 Like Shelley the poet in that respect 
 
 " Did Shelley never sit down ? " asked Bell, 
 innocently. " I never heard " 
 
 "I hum, ha ! alluded to the other pecu- 
 liarity," said the Colonel. " Shelley would stand 
 - or sit for hours, I have been told, with his 
 dinner under his nose, entirely unconscious of 
 it. I have never believed the story that he 
 wrote a sonnet with a stalk of asparagus one 
 day, taking it for a pen. Was surprised, you 
 understand, at finding nothing on the paper. 
 Ha!" 
 
AN EVENING HOUR. 175 
 
 "Colonel Ferrers," said Hildegarde, gravely, 
 "it is my belief that you made up that story 
 this very instant." 
 
 " Quite possible, my dear," said the Colonel, 
 cheerfully. "Absence of mind, you know " 
 
 " Or presence ! " said the girl, significantly. 
 " I wonder why we are not to hear about our 
 Jack." 
 
 " Possibly, my love, because I do not intend 
 to tell you," said the Colonel, with his most 
 beaming smile. " Did you say you would be so 
 very obliging as to sing ' Mary of Argyle ' for 
 me?" 
 
 And Hildegarde sang. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 DIE EDLE MUSICA. 
 
 BELL MERRYWEATHER was sitting alone in 
 the parlour at Braeside. She was waiting for 
 Hildegarde to finish some piece of work up-stairs 
 before going for a twilight walk. So waiting, 
 she naturally drifted to the piano, and, opening 
 it, began to play. 
 
 Bell might love her Greek and her botany, 
 might delight, too, in rowing and riding, and in 
 all the out-door life that kept her strong, young 
 body in such perfect condition ; but, after all, 
 these things filled the second and third place 
 only in her life ; her music was first, once and 
 always. All through school and college she had 
 kept it up steadily, seeking always the best 
 instruction, loving always the best music ; till 
 now, at eighteen, she was at once mistress and 
 faithful servant of her beloved art. Hildegarde 
 played with taste and feeling, but she never 
 
DIE EDLE MUSICA. 
 
DIE EDLE MUSICA. 177 
 
 cared to touch the piano when she might listen 
 to Bell instead ; there was all the difference 
 in the world, and she knew it far better than 
 modest Bell herself. So when Hildegarde 
 now, up-stairs, heard the firm, light touch on 
 the keys below, she nodded to herself, well 
 pleased, and went on with her work. " Such 
 a treat for Mammina ! " she said. " And I do 
 want to finish this, and the dear girl will not 
 know whether she plays five minutes or an 
 hour." 
 
 Hildegarde was right. Bell played on and 
 on, one lovely thing after another ; and forgot 
 her friend up-stairs, and her walk, and every- 
 thing else in the world, save herself and die 
 edle Musica. 
 
 Now, it happened about this time, or it 
 may have been half an hour after, that some 
 one else stood and listened to the music that 
 filled the early December twilight with warmth 
 and beauty and sweetness. A young man had 
 come running lightly up the steps of the veranda, 
 with a tread that spoke familiarity, and eager- 
 ness, too ; had hastened towards the door, but 
 
178 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 paused there, at the sound of the piano. A 
 young man, not more than twenty at the most, 
 very tall, with a loose-jointed spring to his gait, 
 that might have been awkwardness a year or 
 two ago, but sat not ungracefully on him now. 
 He had curly brown hair, and bright blue eyes, 
 set rather far apart under a broad, white fore- 
 head; not a handsome face, but one so honest 
 and so kindly that people liked to look at it, 
 and felt more cheerful for doing so. 
 
 The blue eyes wore a look of surprise just 
 now; surprise which rapidly deepened into 
 amazement. 
 
 " Oh, I say ! " he murmured. " That can't be, 
 and yet it must, of course. How on earth 
 has she learned to play like this ? " He listened 
 again. The notes of Schumann's " Faschings- 
 schwank" sounded full and clear. The bright 
 scene of the Vienna carnival rose as in a magic 
 vision ; the flower-hung balconies, the gardens 
 and fountains, the bands of dancers, like long 
 garlands, swinging hand in hand through the 
 white streets. The young man saw it all, 
 almost as clearly as his bodily eves had seen it 
 
DIE EDLE MUSICA. 179 
 
 a year before. And the playing! so sure and 
 clear and brilliant, so full of fire and tender- 
 ness 
 
 " But she cannot have learned all this in two 
 years ! " said Jack Ferrers. " It's incredible ! 
 She must have worked at nothing else ; and she 
 has never said a word Ah ! but, my dear girl, 
 you must have the violin for that ! " 
 
 The player had struck the opening chords of 
 the great Mendelssohn Concerto for piano and 
 violin. 
 
 The youth lifted something that he had laid 
 down on the veranda seat, an oblong black 
 box ; lifted it as tenderly as a mother lifts her 
 sleeping child. Then he stepped quietly into the 
 twilight hall. 
 
 So it came to pass that Bell, who was very 
 near the gate of heaven already, heard suddenly, 
 as it seemed to her, the music of angels ; a tone 
 mingling with her own, pure, thrilling, ecstatic ; 
 lifting her on wings of lofty harmony, up, up, - 
 far from earth and its uncertain voices, nearer 
 and ever nearer to where love and light and 
 music were blended in one calm blessedness. It 
 
180 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 never occurred to her to stop ; hardly even to 
 wonder what it meant, or who was doing her 
 this service of heavenly comradeship. She 
 played on and on, as she had never played 
 before ; only dreading the end, when the spirit 
 would leave her, and she must sink to earth 
 again, alone. 
 
 When the end did come, there was silence in 
 the room. It was nearly dark. Any form that 
 she should see on turning round would needs be 
 vague and shadowy, yet she dreaded to turn ; 
 and she found herself saying aloud, uncon- 
 sciously : 
 
 " Oh ! I thought I was in heaven ! " 
 
 " I knew I was ! " said Jack Ferrers. " Oh, 
 Hilda, how have you done it? How was it 
 possible for you to do it ? My dear " 
 
 He was stepping forward eagerly; but two 
 voices cried out suddenly, one in terror, it 
 seemed, the other, was it joy or pain ? The 
 girl at the piano turned round ; even in the 
 dark, Jack knew instantly that it was not his 
 cousin. He looked helplessly towards the door, 
 and there stood another shadowy figure ; what 
 
DIE EDLE MUSICA. 181 
 
 did it all mean ? But now, after that pause of 
 an instant, this second figure came forward with 
 outstretched arms. 
 
 "My dear, dearest old Jack! I have been 
 listening; I could not speak at first. Oh, wel- 
 come, dear old fellow ! Welcome home a hun- 
 dred thousand times ! " 
 
 Ah! now Jack knew where he was. This 
 was the welcome he had thought of, dreamed 
 of, all the way home across the ocean. This 
 was the surprise that he had planned, and car- 
 ried out so perfectly. This was Hilda herself, 
 in flesh and blood ; his best friend, better than 
 any sister could be. These were her kind, ten- 
 der eyes, this was her sweet, cordial voice, in 
 which you felt the heart beating true and steady, 
 all was just as he had pictured it in many a 
 lonely hour during the past two years. Only, 
 only, who was it he had gone to heaven with just 
 now ? A stranger ! 
 
 Before his bewildered mind could grasp any- 
 thing more, Hildegarde had put out her hand, 
 and caught the silent shape that was flitting past 
 her through the doorway. 
 
182 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " No ! " she cried. " You shall not go ! It is 
 absurd for you two to pretend to be strangers, 
 after you have been playing together like that ; 
 absurd, and you both know it. Bell, of course 
 you know this is my cousin Jack, whom I have 
 so wanted you to meet. Jack, I have written 
 you of my friend Isabel Merryweather. Oh, oh, 
 my dears ! It was so beautiful ! So beautiful ! 
 And I am so happy, I really think I am going 
 to cry ! " 
 
 "Oh, don't!" cried Bell and Jack together; 
 and the sheer terror in their voices made Hilde- 
 garde laugh instead. 
 
 " And you thought it was I ! " she cried, still 
 a little hysterical. " Jack, how could you ? I 
 thought better of you ! " 
 
 "I I didn't see how it could be," said honest 
 Jack. " I didn't see how you could possibly have 
 done it in two years, or, or in a lifetime, for 
 that matter; but how could I suppose, how 
 could I know " 
 
 " You couldn't, of course. Oh, and to think 
 of all the delight you are going to give us, the 
 two of you ! Jack, your playing is I can't 
 
DIE EDLE MUSICA. 183 
 
 tell you what it is. My dear, I am afraid to 
 light the lamp. Shall I see a totally different 
 Jack from the old one ? You have learned such 
 an infinity, haven't you ? " 
 
 " I should be a most hopeless muff if I hadn't 
 learned something ! " said her cousin. " But you 
 needn't be afraid to light the lamp, Hilda. You 
 will see the ostrich, or the giraffe, or the kanga- 
 roo, whichever you prefer. But first I must 
 thank Miss Merryweather for playing so delight 
 fully. You have played with the violin before, 
 of course ? I felt that instantly." 
 
 There was no reply ; for Bell, feeling simply, 
 desperately, that she must get away, must re- 
 lieve the two cousins of her presence, since it 
 could not by any possibility be welcome, had 
 seen her moment, and slipped quietly out while 
 Hildegarde was busy with the lamp. 
 
 The light sprang up, and both looked eagerly 
 round. 
 
 Why, she is gone ! " cried Jack. " I say ! 
 And I never thanked her. What an idiot she 
 must think me! " 
 
 "She thought nothing of the sort," said 
 
184 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 Hildegarde. " She is the most modest, un- 
 selfish creature in the world, and she thought 
 we would rather be without her. I know 
 her ! " 
 
 " Well, I suppose she was right," yet Hilde- 
 garde fancied a shade of regret in his hearty 
 tone ; " anyhow, she is a brick, isn't she ? " 
 
 " How would you define a brick ? " asked 
 Hildegarde, demurely. 
 
 " A musician," said Jack, emphatically ; " and 
 a a good fel Oh, well, you know what I 
 mean, Hilda ! And isn't it pretty hard, now, 
 when a fellow has been away two years, that he 
 should come back and have the girl of his heart 
 begin to tease him within five minutes ? Oh, I 
 say, Hilda, how well you're looking ! You have 
 grown prettier ; I didn't suppose you could 
 grow prettier. Would you mind shaking hands 
 again?" 
 
 Hildegarde held out her hand gladly, and 
 laughed and blushed when her cousin raised it 
 to his lips in the graceful European fashion. 
 
 "You have learned something besides violin- 
 playing, Jack," she said. " If any one had pro- 
 
DIE EDLE MUSICA. 185 
 
 posed your kissing hands two years ago, what 
 would you have done ? " 
 
 " Taken to the woods," replied Jack, promptly. 
 "But well, they all do it there, of course; 
 and I saw the gnadige Frau Frau J. ex- 
 pected it when I went to dine there, so so I 
 learned. But all the time, Hilda, I thought 
 I was only learning so that I could kiss your 
 mother's hand, and yours ! " 
 
 " Dear lad ! " said Hilda. " Mamma will be 
 pleased ; she always wishes people would be 
 'more graceful in their greetings.' Can't you 
 hear her say it ? But why do we stand here, 
 when she is waiting for us in her room ? She 
 has rheumatism to-day, so I would not let her 
 come down, poor darling ; and here I am keep- 
 ing you all to myself, like the highwayman I 
 am." 
 
 " Yes, I always thought you were cut out for 
 a highwayman," said Jack. " Come along, then ! 
 I have a thousand things to tell you both." 
 
 Hand in hand, like happy children, the two 
 ran up-stairs. Mrs. Grahame was waiting with 
 open arms. Indeed, she had been the first to 
 
186 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 hear the notes of the violin ; and her cry 
 " Hilda ! Jack is come ! our boy is come ! " 
 had brought Hildegarde flying from the re- 
 cesses of the linen-closet. Her eyes were full 
 of happy tears ; and when Jack bent to kiss 
 her hand, she folded him warmly in her arms, 
 and pressed more than one kiss on his broad 
 forehead. 
 
 " My boy ! " she said. " My boy has come 
 back to me ! Hilda, it is your brother ; do you 
 understand ? It is as if my little son, who went 
 away so long ago, had been sent back to me." 
 
 " Yes, Mother," said Hildegarde, softly. " I 
 know ; we both know, Jack and I. Dear Mother, 
 blessed one ! let the tears come a little ; it will 
 do you good." 
 
 They were silent for a little. The two young 
 people pressed close to the elder woman, who 
 felt the years surge up around her like a flood ; 
 but there was no bitterness in the waters, only 
 sweet and sacred depths of love and memory. 
 The boy and girl, filled with a pas.sionate long- 
 ing to cheer and comfort her whom they loved 
 so dearly, felt perhaps more pain than she did, 
 
DIE EDLE MUSICA. 187 
 
 for they were too young to have seen the smile 
 on the face of sorrow. 
 
 But now Mrs. Grahame was smiling again. 
 
 " Dears ! " she said. " Dear children ! They 
 are such happy tears, you must not mind them. 
 And now they are all gone, and that is enough 
 about me, and too much. Jack, sit down on 
 that stool ; draw it close, so that I can see you 
 in the firelight. So ! And you are there, 
 Hilda?" 
 
 " On the other stool ! " said Hildegarde. 
 " Here we are, love, close beside you." 
 
 " That is good ! And now, Odysseus, let us 
 hear! Mr. Ferrers has the floor." 
 
 "He certainly has a good deal of it!" said 
 Jack, looking rather ruefully at his long legs, 
 which did extend a prodigious distance along 
 the hearth-rug. 
 
 "What do you think of my having grown 
 two whole inches since I went away ? I call it 
 a shame ! Uncle Tom measured me with his 
 stick before I had been in the house five min- 
 utes ; six feet four ! It is disgraceful, you 
 know ! " 
 
188 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " Dear Colonel Ferrers ! " cried Hildegarde. 
 " Isn't he coming soon, to tell us how happy he 
 is ? Why, Jack, do you know, he was so funny 
 about you last night ! I asked when you were 
 coming, and he quite growled, the dear, and 
 called you irresponsible, and wouldn't tell us a 
 thing." 
 
 " Of course he wouldn't ! Spoil my surprise, 
 that I had planned so carefully ? It is well he 
 did not ! But he told me about it, too, about 
 last night, I mean. He said you would persist 
 in asking questions, and looking straight at him 
 as you asked them, so that his only refuge was 
 in gruff ness. Yes, Hilda, he is coming over 
 after tea, I may stay to tea, mayn't I ? He 
 I thought they wouldn't mind being alone 
 for a bit, Oh, wait ! I haven't come to that 
 yet. Where shall I begin ? Come back to 
 Leipsic with me, will you ? " 
 
 Both ladies signified their willingness to take 
 the voyage at once. 
 
 " I have spread the magic carpet ! " cried Jack. 
 " Be seated, if you please ! Whisk ! Presto ! 
 Behold us in Leipsic. Mesdames, let me have 
 
DIE EDLE MUSICA. 189 
 
 the honour of presenting you to Herr J, the 
 
 greatest living violinist. Herr Professor, these 
 are the people I love best in the world, except 
 two. Well, you see it is very simple, after all. 
 The Maestro was going on a tour in Russia ; 
 was invited to play before the Czar, and all 
 kinds of things. He will be gone all winter ; so 
 he said, why should I not come home and see 
 my father and uncle, and talk over plans with 
 them? He the Maestro wants me to work for 
 the Royal Medal. It's only given out once in three 
 years, and it's a pretty big thing, but he thinks 
 I would better try for it. I did I write you 
 about the scholarship I got ? No ? Well, I 
 think I did, but it must have been in my last 
 letter, and Uncle Tom thinks my last letters did 
 not get posted, or something. Well, yes ; I got 
 a pretty good scholarship, enough to pay my 
 expenses both ways, and leave me a hundred 
 dollars besides." 
 
 " Oh, Jack ! how splendid ! " cried Hildegarde, 
 in delight. " That is pretty glorious, I do think. 
 Wasn't Colonel Ferrers enchanted ? Oh ! and 
 when can you see your father ? Is he still 
 
190 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 in Virginia? Of course you want to fly to 
 him." 
 
 " Not in the least ! " replied Jack. " I am 
 coming to that presently. I think that hundred 
 
 
 
 dollars rather went to my head. The first thing 
 I did when I got it was to cable to my father 
 that I was coming on the Urania. Then I shut 
 myself up in my room and played a bit, and 
 then I turned somersaults till my head was like 
 like an apple dumpling ; and then I went 
 shopping." 
 
 "Shopping, Jack? I can hardly fancy you 
 shopping." 
 
 " Well, I did ! I got a pipe for my father, 
 oh, a beauty ! meerschaum, of course, carved 
 with a head of Schumann, the most perfect like- 
 ness ! Hilda, when the smoke comes out of it, 
 you expect to hear it sing the ' Davidsbiindler,' 
 one after another. Of course anybody except 
 Schumann would have been ridiculous, but it 
 seems to suit him. ' Then for Uncle Tom a 
 pipe is horror to him, of course I got a walk- 
 ing-stick, ebony, with no end of a Turk's head 
 on it. He hates the Turks so, you know. I 
 
DIE EDLE MUSICA. 191 
 
 knew he would enjoy squeezing it, and rapping 
 it up against things, and he does like it, I think. 
 And then- " the boy began to fumble in his 
 pockets, blushing with eagerness " Mrs. Graj 
 hame, I I saw this in a shop, and it made 
 me think of you. Will you put it somewhere, 
 please, where you will see it now and then, and 
 and think of me ? " 
 
 The tiny parcel he held out was wrapped in 
 folds of soft, foreign-looking paper. Mrs. Gra- 
 hame, opening it, found an exquisite little copy 
 of the Nuremburg Madonna, the sweetest and 
 tenderest figure of motherhood and gracious 
 womanliness." 
 
 " My dear boy ! " she said, much moved. 
 " What a beautiful, beautiful thing ! Is it 
 really mine ? How can I thank you 
 enough?" 
 
 " So glad you like it ! Is it right, Hilda ? " 
 
 " Quite right," said Hilda ; and they nodded 
 and smiled at each otjier, while the mother bent 
 over her treasure, absorbed in its beauty. 
 
 " And you, Hilda ! " said Jack, searching his 
 pockets again. " Do you suppose I have anything 
 
192 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 for you ? Do .you really suppose I had time to 
 stop and think about you ? " 
 
 The boy was in such a glow of happiness, the 
 joy so rippled and shone from him, that Hilde- 
 garde could not take her eyes from his face. 
 
 " Dear fellow ! " she said. "As if I needed 
 anything but just the sight of you, and the sound 
 of your fiddle ! And yet, oh, Jack ! Jack ! 
 How could you ? ' How could you let yourself 
 do it?" 
 
 Jack had put something into her hands, and 
 was now leaning back in perfect content, watch- 
 ing her face in turn, and delighted with every 
 light that danced over it. The something was 
 a bracelet ; a little, shining garland of stars, each 
 star a cluster of " aquamarine " stones, clear as 
 crystal, with the faintest, most delicate shade of 
 green, hardly seen in the full light. Not a jewel 
 of great value, but as pretty a thing as ever a 
 girl saw. 
 
 " Jack ! " sighed Hilda figain. " How could 
 you? There never was anything so beautiful 
 in the world ; that is confessed." 
 
 " And the clasp is the moon, you see ! " Jack 
 
DIE EDLE MUSICA. 193 
 
 explained, eagerly. "I thought it looked like 
 the Moonlight Sonata, Hilda, and you used to 
 like me to play it, you know ; and so I thought 
 you do like it ? Now I am quite happy ! Fate 
 has nothing better for me than this. Except 
 one thing ! " he added, turning with boyish shy- 
 ness from Hilda's warm, almost reproachful 
 thanks, she was hardly reconciled to his spend- 
 ing his hard-earned money on trinkets for her, yet 
 she was genuinely delighted with the exquisite 
 gift, as any right-minded girl would have been. 
 
 " There is one thing more ! " said Jack. " And 
 I think I am going to have that now. Hark ! 
 Is not that a step on the veranda ? May he 
 may they come up here, dear Mrs. Grahame ? " 
 
 Mrs. Grahame hesitated a moment, glancing 
 at her dainty tea-gown, and then around at the 
 perfection of the pleasant sitting-room. 
 
 " Certainly ! " she said, heartily. " If you do 
 not think Colonel Ferrers will mind, such an 
 old friend, and he knows I am not well to-day." 
 
 Jack and Hilda flew down -stairs as fast as 
 they had flown up ; indeed, Hilda was nearly 
 overthrown by her cousin's impetuous rush. 
 
194 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " I haven't told you yet ! " he cried. " Hilda, 
 you guess, don't you ? You know what the best 
 of all is to be ? He is here ! He here he is ! " 
 
 He threw open the door. Colonel Ferrers's 
 stalwart form loomed against the pale evening 
 sky, and behind it was a tall, slender figure, 
 stooping somewhat, with a shrinking air like 
 a shy boy. 
 
 " Hilda, it is my father ! " cried Jack, now at 
 the top of his heaven, and " Hilda, my dear, 
 my brother Raymond ! " cried the Colonel, not 
 a whit less pleased. Hilda found her hand taken 
 between two slender, white hands, that trembled 
 a little, as they drew her towards the light. 
 
 "My boy's best friend!" said Mr. Ferrers; 
 and Hilda thought that the gentle blue eyes 
 were even kinder than those fierce gray ones 
 of the Colonel's, now twinkling with tears, which 
 he brushed away with furious impatience. 
 
 " My boy's kind sister and helper ! God bless 
 you, my dear ! I owe you a great debt, which 
 only love can repay. And now take me to your 
 mother. I have not seen her for many a long 
 year," 
 
DIE EDLE MUSICA. 195 
 
 Hildegarde hardly knew how they all got up- 
 stairs, she was so flurried, so joyfully shaken and 
 melted and confused. But it was only a moment 
 before the tall man was bending over her mother's 
 chair, taking her hands in turn, and gazing at 
 her wistfully, tenderly. 
 
 " Mildred Bond ! " said Raymond Ferrers. 
 " Am I fifty years old, or fifteen, Mildred ? 
 Where are the years gone, my child ? You 
 are utterly unchanged." 
 
 But this was more than the Colonel could bear. 
 
 " Raymond, you are as great an ass as ever! " 
 he cried, bringing down his hand with formi- 
 dable violence on the slender, stooping shoulder. 
 " Jack, what did I tell you ? I said he was a 
 mixture of angel and idiot. Look at him ! 
 Hear him ! and contradict me if you dare." 
 And then, as his brother turned and laid an arm 
 round his shoulder, the Colonel fairly broke down, 
 and was heard to mutter behind his handkerchief 
 that the world consisted principally of a parcel 
 of fools, and that he was the biggest of them. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE BOYS. 
 
 " MAMMINA ! " 
 
 " Yes, Hilda ! " 
 
 "Are you quite sure you will not mind my 
 asking?" 
 
 " I am not at all sure ! Suppose you try it, 
 and find out." 
 
 " Well, I don't believe you will really mind. 
 But was not Mr. Raymond Ferrers very fond 
 of you, dear ? " 
 
 Mrs. Grahame coloured like a girl. 
 
 " Yes, dear, he was. He was I am afraid 
 very fond of me, Hilda. It was years and years 
 ago, of course ; he was only a lad. But, well, 
 it happened that we had never met since, you 
 see ; I think we were both a little overcome, for 
 I, too, was very fond of him, Hilda, though not 
 in the way he wished. Poor Raymond ! " 
 
 " You you couldn't care for him, dear ? " 
 
THE BOYS. 197 
 
 " My child ! I had seen your father ; how 
 could I think of any one else ? But Raymond 
 did not know that ; and and it was hard for 
 him. I trust I did not appear foolish, Hilda ? " 
 
 She spoke anxiously, and Hilda laughed out- 
 right. 
 
 " Darling, you appeared like an angel, and 
 were perfectly calm. I never should have 
 guessed it from you ; but he, it was all over 
 him, at the first glance." 
 
 " Poor Raymond ! " said Mrs. Grahame again, 
 meditatively. " And yet he was very happy in 
 his marriage, I have always heard. His wife 
 was a lovely person, and sincerely attached to 
 him. But I suppose the seeing me brought 
 
 * 
 
 back his boyhood, and some of the old feeling, 
 -we are singular creatures, Hilda. Perhaps 
 you think I might have told you of this before, 
 Hilda. You see, I never thought of it as any- 
 thing belonging to me, dear." 
 
 " Of course," said Hilda. I know ! And I 
 should not have asked if if he had not made 
 it so very obvious. But, oh, how charming, 
 how lovely he is! And how beautiful to see 
 
198 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 him with Jack, and the dear Colonel with both 
 of them ! My mother, do you know that we have 
 the very most delightful friends in the habitable 
 universe ? " 
 
 "It really does seem so/' said her mother. 
 " And what a Christmas we shall have, with so 
 many of them around us ! Let me see ! Mr. 
 Merryweather came to-day. Now the whole 
 Smiling Signal Service, as absurd Gerald calls 
 it, is here, except the good Roger." 
 
 Except, indeed ! Hildegarde's heart gave a 
 great bound, and she felt the colour rushing to 
 cheek and forehead. 
 
 " We shall be very glad to see Roger ? " said 
 Mrs. Grahame. " Very glad, daughter dear?" 
 
 " Very glad indeed, dearest mother ! " said 
 Hilda. She met her mother's loving glance 
 bravely, with her own bright smile ; here, the 
 blushing did not matter, for the two hearts, 
 mother's and daughter's, beat in such true time 
 together that words were hardly needed to carry 
 the swift thought from mind to mind. 
 
 There was a moment's pause ; then Mrs. Gra- 
 hame went on. 
 
THE BOYS. 199 
 
 "And are they not planning all kinds of 
 merrymaking for Christmas week ? Dear me ! 
 Why, it is this very coming week, Hilda ! Where 
 has the month gone?" 
 
 " Oh, it is to be a great time ! " said Hilde- 
 garde. " The flower party, and lots of peo- 
 ple coming down from town for it ; and a 
 toboggan-party, if the snow will only come ! 
 and the tree at Roseholme, and I don't know 
 what else. Do you know, I almost thought the 
 Colonel and Mr. Merry weather would quarrel 
 about the tree ; both wanted it so much. And 
 then they both gave up at the same minute, 
 and each insisted that the other should have 
 it, till I thought they would quarrel over that. 
 But it all ended most happily. Hugh, of course ! 
 He came up quietly, and held out two straws ; 
 and they drew, and neither said another word. 
 Oh, Mother, Hugh is so happy with Jack! I 
 met them just now ; his little face was shining 
 like a star. Jack was chattering German to 
 him, and he did not understand a word, but 
 that made no difference at all. And dear old 
 Jack ! I believe he would have liked to kiss 
 
200 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 every stone in the garden wall there ! he is 
 calling me now ! I promised to go for a walk 
 when my work was done. Are you sure you 
 don't want anything, darling ? absolutely sure ? 
 Then good-bye for an hour ! " 
 
 Hildegarde ran down, and found Jack pacing 
 the veranda with yard-long strides. 
 
 " Do you remember/' he said, abruptly, " the 
 first time I came here, Hilda?" 
 
 " Of course I do ! " said Hilda. 
 
 " How I fell over a chair, and then knocked 
 down a hanging-basket? Hilda, I do believe 
 I should have made away with myself that night, 
 if there had been any weapons about. I was 
 simply full of rage and misery ; I hated every- 
 body, myself included ; and it did seem to me 
 as if you might let me alone, and not insist 
 upon making me talk. I couldn't talk, you 
 know." 
 
 " No, dear, you certainly could not ; but you 
 had to learn. And you are not sorry now, 
 Jack?" 
 
 " Sorry ! well, rather not ! Fancy, if I had 
 stayed the hateful noodle that I was that night ! 
 
THE BOYS. 201 
 
 Fact is, I was brimful of my own self ; that was 
 the trouble with me. Ah who are all these 
 people Uncle Tom has been telling me about, 
 next door, in the yellow house ? I didn't bar- 
 gain for strangers, Hilda ! " And my lord 
 looked slightly injured. 
 
 " No, dear ! " said Hildegarde. " Of course 
 we ought to have thought of that, and have 
 prevented their coming here. We don't own 
 the house, it is true, but we might have turned 
 the hose on them, or put rat-poison about, or 
 kept them off in some way." 
 
 " Oh, there you go ! " cried Jack. " I say ! I 
 haven't been teased for two years. I forget 
 what it's like. But seriously, are they really 
 nice ? Do you care for them ? I I really am 
 jealous, Hilda; you needn't laugh. I thought 
 I was going to have you all to myself, and now 
 here are a lot of people, with unreasonable 
 names, it seems to me, and Uncle Tom says 
 they are your most intimate friends, and that 
 he loves them all like brothers." 
 
 " That was one of them you met last night," 
 said Hildegarde, demurely. 
 
202 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " Oh, I say ! I was going to ask you, was 
 it, though ? of course ; I didn't notice her name 
 much, but I remember now. Well, Hilda, she is 
 a musician, and of course I'm glad you have had 
 such a friend as that. I liked her face, too, " 
 
 " You couldn't see her face ! " 
 
 " Oh, I saw enough. I saw her eyes just for 
 a minute, and I know what she's like, anyhow ; 
 didn't I play the Mendelssohn Concerto with her ? 
 So that's all right, and I mean to get her to play 
 with me a lot, if she will. I like to play with 
 the piano, only you so seldom find any one 
 any pianist who understands the violin ; they 
 are generally thinking about their own playing. 
 But well, what was I saying ? It is so jolly 
 to be talking one's own language again, and 
 talking to you. I just want to go on and on, 
 whether I say anything or not." 
 
 " So I infer ! " said Hildegarde. 
 
 " Oh, I say ! " cried Jack again. " But 
 well, to go back to these people, there are 
 a lot of them, aren't there ? A lot of fellows, 
 or something ? " 
 
 "There are!" said Hildegarde, gravely 
 
THE BOYS. 203 
 
 " Here are two of them coming now, Jack. . 
 These are the twins, Phil and Gerald; they 
 are particularly nice fellows, and I want you 
 to meet them." 
 
 " Look here, Hilda ! I can't, you know. I'm 
 going to cut across the field here. I didn't 
 expect to see anybody this first morning. You 
 won't mind if I ' 
 
 " I shall mind very much indeed ! " said Hilde- 
 garde, with decision. " Jack, you must not be 
 absurd! You are behaving like a child. 
 
 " Oh, good - morning, Phil ! Good -morning, 
 Gerald ! I am so glad to see you ! This is my 
 cousin, John Ferrers, who came last night, and 
 is staying at Roseholme. Jack, these are my 
 neighbours, Philip and Gerald Merry weather." 
 
 The three bowed with mutual distrust. 
 
 " Glad to see you ! " said Phil, in a tone which 
 contradicted his words. 
 
 "Fine morning!" said Gerald. " You had a 
 pretty rough passage, I ho I'm afraid ! " 
 
 " Thanks ! " said Jack, with a detestable little 
 drawl, which Hildegarde had never heard before. 
 " I had an excellent passage." 
 
204 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 The three drew back and looked at each other, 
 so exactly like strange dogs that the tails only 
 were wanting, it seemed to Hildegarde. She had 
 difficulty in keeping her countenance. " What 
 a comfort," she thought, " if I could only shake 
 them all, and tell them to behave themselves ! " 
 But outwardly she was calm and smiling, look- 
 ing from one scowling face to the other as if all 
 were wreathed in smiles. 
 
 " And whither are you bound, boys ? " she 
 asked. " And what frolic is there on hand for 
 to-day ? If the snow would only come ! I do 
 want some tobogganing." 
 
 " There is good skating on Jimmy's Pond ! " 
 said Gerald. " We were just coming to see if 
 you would go this afternoon, Hilda." 
 
 At the familiar name, Jack Ferrers glared so 
 ferociously that Hildegarde almost expected to 
 hear him bark, and to see him spring at the 
 other lad's throat. Gerald perceived the impres- 
 sion, and hastened in pure malice to deepen it. 
 
 " I have been counting on a skate with you, 
 Hilda ; you remember the last we had together ? 
 I never shall forget it ! " 
 
THE BOYS. 205 
 
 Now Hildegarde had never skated with Gerald 
 in her life, and she had no idea of putting up 
 with this kind of thing. 
 
 " I shall be delighted to come ! " she said, with 
 a little ring of steel in her voice that all three 
 lads knew very well ; "if you can find a pair of 
 skates for my cousin. I know you have a whole 
 closet full of them. You would like very much 
 to come, Jack ? Very well, then, that is settled ! 
 We will be ready at three o'clock. Good-morn- 
 ing, boys ! Bell and Gertrude will come, too, of 
 
 course ! : 
 
 And with a quick, decided nod she walked on, 
 Jack following after, after a defiant bow which 
 was returned with interest. 
 
 The cousins walked on in silence for a few 
 steps ; then 
 
 " I don't think you really misunderstood what 
 I said, Hildegarde ! " said Jack, coldly. " I did 
 not say that I should like to go skating. I said 
 I should be unable to go. Of course it is of no 
 consequence." 
 
 "Of none in the world!" said Hildegarde, 
 turning upon him with gleaming eyes. "The 
 
206 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 absurd behaviour of three ridiculous boys, 
 Jack ! How could you ? I was so mortified, 
 - so ashamed of you all ! All ! But you are 
 my own; I am responsible for your behaviour. 
 I never- ' but here she caught a glimpse of 
 Jack's face, and suddenly burst into a fit of 
 laughter. 
 
 " Oh, it was so funny ! Jack, none of you 
 will ever know how funny it was. I am very 
 angry, but I cannot help laughing." 
 
 " I am glad you are amused ! " said Jack Fer- 
 rers, stiffly. " It was worth while to come home 
 for that." 
 
 " Jack ! I I won't laugh any more if I 
 can help it ! Oh, dear ! If you had only 
 
 seen " 
 
 But Hildegarde saw that her cousin was really 
 hurt. Instantly she controlled her laughter, and 
 laid her hand quietly on his arm. 
 
 " Dear lad," she said, " you are not really 
 angry, any more than I was. Dear Jack, think 
 about it a little ! " 
 
 They walked on in silence. Jack was still 
 smarting under a sense of injury ; yet the steady, 
 
THE BOYS. 207 
 
 friendly hand on his arm seemed to smooth down 
 his ruffled feelings, whether he would or no. 
 
 " You know how it is," he said, presently, 
 speaking in a more natural voice. " I have been 
 thinking so long about the home-coming! I 
 thought it was going to be just the same. 
 I thought I should have you all to myself ; 
 and now ' 
 
 "Jack, dear," said Hildegarde, quietly, "are 
 you thinking of falling in love with me, by any 
 chance?" 
 
 Jack looked down at her with startled eyes. 
 
 "Why no! I wasn't, Hilda; but I will, if 
 you want me to. I what makes you say that ? 
 I thought we were brother and sister." 
 
 " I thought so, too," said Hildegarde, smiling. 
 " But if my brother is going to show his teeth 
 and growl at all the other dogs I mean boys 
 -he meets, I don't think I shall find it com- 
 fortable. There was a dog in a manger once ; 
 perhaps you have heard of him." 
 
 Jack winced, but owned he had. 
 
 "And and even if you were not my 
 brother," Hildegarde went on, "the idea of 
 
208 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 being jealous of the twins is so funny that 
 well, when you know them, Jack, you will 
 laugh as much as I did. They are not that 
 kind of boy, at all. No boys were ever less 
 so." 
 
 " That red-haired fellow," said Jack, still dis- 
 trustful ; " what was he saying about skating 
 with you before ? I thought he sounded de- 
 cidedly spoony, Hilda. I won't be disagreeable 
 any more, but I say this seriously." 
 
 " Gerald ! naughty, naughty Gerald ! that was 
 so like him ! He is quick as a flash, Jack, and 
 he said that just to torment you. I have never 
 skated with him in my life ; I never knew them 
 till this last summer. Oh, he is such a funny 
 boy ! Come on, and I will tell you some of his 
 pranks as we go along ! " 
 
 Gerald and Philip Merryweather walked home 
 in moody silence. They came upon a loose 
 stone, and kicked it along before them with 
 savage and purposeful kicks. Neither men- 
 tioned the fact of the stone's representing any 
 particular person, but when either made a spe- 
 
THE BOYS. 209 
 
 cially successful kick, he looked at the other 
 for sympathy, and found it in a grim nod and 
 chuckle. Only once did they break silence. 
 
 " Poor Codger ! " said Gerald. 
 
 " H'm ! " growled Philip, assenting. 
 
 " Know when he's coming ? " 
 
 " No ! Don't suppose it will make any differ- 
 ence, though." 
 
 " S'pose not ! " 
 
 "H'm!" 
 
 H'm ! " 
 
 Reaching the house, they sat down on the 
 steps and pitched gravel stones in gloomy rivalry. 
 So sitting, it chanced that Bell came upon them ; 
 Bell, with a face more than commonly bright 
 (though she was always one of the most cheer- 
 ful of mortals), with her hands full of ground 
 pine, fresh from a walk in the woods, humming 
 a fragment of the Mendelssohn Concerto. 
 
 " What's the matter with my boys ? " she 
 demanded, promptly. 
 
 " Nothing ! " responded the twins, with alac- 
 rity. And they lowered like toppling thunder- 
 clouds. 
 
210 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " Then tell me all about it ! " said Sister Bell, 
 sitting down on the step, and taking a hand of 
 each. 
 
 " What happened to my twinnies ? Did some 
 one throw away their tadpoles, or did the dog 
 eat their molasses candy?" 
 
 This allusion to early misfortunes could gener- 
 ally bring a smile, but this time it failed, and 
 Bell looked from one to the other in genuine 
 concern. 
 
 "Phil! Jerry! What is it?" she asked 
 again. " Oh, there has been no bad news, 
 boys ? Roger ! " 
 
 Gerald groaned. 
 
 " Roger ! " he said. " That's just it, Bell ! 
 No, nothing of the kind you mean. He's well, 
 poor dear old Codger. Better than he will be, 
 when he hears what is going on." 
 
 " What is going on ? Come, boys, I really 
 must know." 
 
 "We met Hilda just now," said Gerald. 
 " Her cousin's come ; kind of fiddler-chap from 
 Germany. I'm afraid it's all up with the 
 Codger, Bell." 
 
THE BOYS. 211 
 
 "Indeed!" said Bell, quietly. "And what 
 makes you think that, Jerry?" 
 
 "Oh, we met them just now! He he's 
 about nine feet tall, to begin with." 
 
 " That is a beginning ! Where does he expect 
 to end ? But I have seen Mr. Ferrers, Jerry. 
 I saw him last night." 
 
 " You did ? Why didn't you tell a fellow ? " 
 
 " Oh, I I hardly know ! " said downright 
 Bell, unused to even the whitest fib. She really 
 could not, perhaps, have put into words the feel- 
 ing that had kept her silent about the scene of 
 the night before. 
 
 " But that is no matter ! " she went on. 
 "What else is the matter with him, besides 
 height ? He can't help that, you know." 
 
 "I don't suppose he can. But he can help 
 making up to Hilda, Bell, and he'd better ! " 
 savagely. " Only it's too late now, I sup- 
 pose ! " despondently. " Why on earth the fel- 
 low couldn't stay and fiddle over there, where 
 he's wanted, don't admire their taste, by the 
 way ! instead of coming over here to spoil 
 everything, is more than / know ! " 
 
212 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 "Horrid shame!" murmured Phil, taking 
 careful aim with a pebble at an innocent cat 
 that was crossing the lawn. 
 
 Bell struck his hand up. 
 
 " I won't have the cats teased, Phil ! And as 
 for all this nonsense " 
 
 " It isn't nonsense ! " cried both boys, ear- 
 nestly. 
 
 " I tell you we met them just now," Gerald 
 went on, " and when he saw us, he looked black 
 as thunder, and had hardly manners to speak to 
 us. Perfectly odious ; wasn't he, Ferguson ? " 
 
 " Absolutely ! " echoed Phil. 
 
 " And you were very cordial to him, of 
 course ? " said Bell. " You let him see that 
 you were glad to meet him, and that as Hilda's 
 warm friends you were anxious to welcome her 
 cousin cordially, and to show him all the cour- 
 tesy you could ? " 
 
 The twins looked at each other. Bell had an 
 extraordinary way of putting things sometimes. 
 
 " We didn't do anything of the sort ! " said 
 Phil, with an attempt at bluster. 
 
 " Because if you did not," his sister went on, 
 
THE BOYS. 213 
 
 " I am afraid you must have seemed very rude, 
 my children. Rude and silly ! " 
 
 " I wouldn't call names, Tintinnabula ! " said 
 Gerald, turning red. 
 
 " Sorry to be obliged to," retorted his sister, 
 in perfect good humour. " But if you looked at 
 Mr. Ferrers as you are looking now, there really 
 can be no doubt about the matter. Now listen, 
 boys ! I know Hilda has told me a great 
 deal about this Mr. Jack Ferrers. Hilda loves 
 him dearly, as dearly as if he were her own 
 brother, and in exactly the same way. You 
 need not shake your heads and try to look wise, 
 my dears, because you are not wise ! You are 
 two very foolish boys, who are trying to run 
 your heads against a stone wall when there is 
 no wall there. That is the state of the case 
 about Mr. Ferrers. I know Hildegarde pretty 
 well, and I am sure of what I am saying. You 
 need have no fear of him. As for Roger, well, 
 I don't think you need have any fear for Roger 
 either." 
 
 " Has he has she do you think they 
 
 are " 
 
214 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " Hush ! " cried Bell, putting a hand over the 
 mouth of each. " I don't think anything ! At 
 least well, that isn't true, of course ; but it 
 does no good to talk about these things, dear boys. 
 I do not think Hilda and Roger are are en- 
 gaged." Bell dropped her voice to a whisper. 
 " But I feel quite sure they will be some day, 
 when the time comes. I think they under- 
 stand each other very well. Roger will be here 
 soon ; suppose you leave it all to him, Phil and 
 Jerry, and don't worry about it. But there is one 
 thing you can do, and it should be done soon." 
 
 " What ? " cried both boys, eagerly. 
 
 " Put on your good clothes, and your good 
 manners, and go to call at Roseholme." 
 
 " We'll be shot if we will ! " cried the twins. 
 
 " Be just as nice as you know how to be to 
 Mr. Jack Ferrers. He he is a remarkable 
 person, I have reason to think. You see," she 
 spoke rather hastily, " Hilda has told me so 
 much about him. And I well, I heard him 
 play last night, and he is a very wonderful per- 
 former, boys. You never, in your little lives, 
 heard anything like his playing. He is too 
 
THE BOYS. 215 
 
 much in love with his art to think of any such 
 nonsense as has been troubling, your silly heads ; 
 you will understand that, the moment you hear 
 him." 
 
 Gerald made a feeble protest to the effect that 
 he hated fiddling, but there was little hope in 
 his tone. And he was promptly reminded of 
 his having spent his last fifty cents the winter 
 before on a ticket for Sarasate's concert, and 
 saying that it was the best investment he ever 
 made. 
 
 The boys knew that their cause was lost ; and 
 when Bell added, as a clincher, " Ask Mammy, 
 and see what she says," they retired from the 
 unequal contest. 
 
 " Oh, we know what Mammy will say ! 
 Don't hit us when we are down, Bell. We'll 
 go, and make asses of ourselves as well as we 
 know how." 
 
 " Oh, not that, dears, I entreat ! " cried Bell ; 
 and then ran swiftly into the house, laughing. 
 
 The twins resumed their occupation of pitch- 
 ing gravel stones, but a change had come over 
 their spirits. Phil was actually whistling, and 
 
216 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 Gerald hummed a bass with perfect cheerful- 
 ness. The cat came back across the lawn, and 
 they threw stones before her nose and behind 
 her tail, avoiding contact with her person (for 
 she was a beloved cat, in hours of joy), and con- 
 tenting themselves with seeing her skip hither 
 and thither in uninjured surprise. 
 " Philly ! " 
 " Yes, Jerry ! " 
 
 " Us feels a lot better, don't us, Philly ?" 
 " H'm ! " said Phil, and the sound was now 
 one of content and peace. 
 
 " She's not a bad sort, the Tintinnabula ! " 
 Gerald went on, meditatively. " She doesn't 
 harry a fellow, as some fellows' sisters do. She 
 pokes you up and smooths you down at the same 
 time, somehow. That's the way a girl ought 
 to be my opinion. Come along, Ferguson, and 
 let's do something to celebrate ! " 
 
 " All right !" said Phil. What shall we do ?" 
 " Oh, any old thing ! Come along ! " 
 And they went and wrestled in the conserva- 
 tory, and broke three flower-pots, and had a 
 delightful morning. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 JIMMY'S POND. 
 
 So it came to pass that, as Jack Ferrers was 
 strolling about the garden with Hugh after din- 
 ner, talking about old times, and pausing at 
 every other step to greet some favourite shrub 
 or stick or stone, it came to pass that he heard 
 steps at the gate, and, turning, saw the Messrs. 
 Merryweather, holding themselves very straight, 
 and looking very sheepish. They had compro- 
 mised with Bell on skating dress, instead of the 
 detested " good clothes," and Gerald carried sev- 
 eral pairs of skates in his hand. They fumbled 
 with the latch a moment, during which Jack felt 
 extremely young, and was conscious of redness 
 creeping up to his ears. But then, they were 
 quite as red, he reflected ; and, after all, as 
 Hilda said, he was two years older than these 
 boys, and if they really were all she made them 
 out to be why 
 
218 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 So it was a very different-looking Jack who 
 advanced to meet the embarrassed boys at the 
 gate. It was perhaps the first time in his young 
 life that Gerald had been embarrassed, and he 
 found the sensation unpleasant. 
 
 Before any of them could speak, however, a 
 joyous whoop was heard from another quarter. 
 Hugh had been investigating an old nest, and 
 had just caught sight of the friends from Pump- 
 kin House. He came running now, his face 
 alight with welcome. 
 
 " Oh ? Jerry ! How do you do ? How do you 
 do, Phil ? I am very well, thank you ! Do you 
 know my Jack ? Because he has come home ; 
 and he is almost the dearest person in the world. 
 And he has grown up his own beanstalk, he 
 says, and that is what makes him so tall. And 
 he has brought me the most beautiful soldiers 
 that ever were, and we are going to have bat- 
 tles, even the prancings, the prancings of their 
 mighty ones ! Hurrah ! " 
 
 " Hurrah it is ! " said Jack. " How d'ye 
 do?" And he held out his hand cordially 
 enough. "Awfully good of you to bring the 
 
JIMMY'S POND. 219 
 
 skates ! Come in, won't you, and see my father 
 and my uncle ? " 
 
 "Didn't know whether you liked Acmes or 
 Clubs/' said Gerald, " so I brought both. Clubs 
 are the best, we all think." 
 
 " So do I ! These are just right, I think. 
 Awfully good of you, I'm sure ! You ought to 
 see the things they wear in Germany ; like the 
 old ones Uncle Tom has hanging up in that 
 trophy in the hall." 
 
 Chatting cheerfully, they moved on towards 
 the house, taking note of one another as they 
 went. Jack found the tones of the boys' voices 
 very clear and good, free from any nasal qual- 
 ity ; Phil and Gerald decided that there must be 
 a good deal of muscle in those long, lean arms, 
 and that it would not be so easy to " lick " the 
 stranger as they had thought on first seeing 
 him. 
 
 On Phil's remarking that his sisters and the 
 "kids" had gone across the fields to the pond, 
 there to await the rest of the party, Jack said 
 he would be ready in three minutes, and ushered 
 them into the library, where the two reunited 
 
220 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 brothers were peacefully smoking together. The 
 Colonel received the boys most cordially, and, 
 while Jack hurried away to put on jersey and 
 knickerbockers, presented them to " My brother 
 Raymond. Jack's father, young gentlemen ! 
 I trust you and my nephew Jack will be friends. 
 The young should be friendly, eh, Raymond? 
 My brother Raymond, boys, is a man of genius. 
 He is probably studying the lines of a fiddle 
 at this moment, an imaginary fiddle, you 
 understand, and I doubt if he is aware of 
 your presence, or of one word I have been 
 saying." 
 
 " Not quite so bad as that, Tom ! " said Mr. 
 Ferrers, holding out his hand to the boys, 
 with the peculiarly sweet smile that won all 
 hearts to him at the first glance, " not quite 
 so bad as that. I am delighted to see you, 
 young gentlemen. I have already heard a good 
 deal about your cheerful circle here. I am, it is 
 true, somewhat absent-minded, " 
 
 " Absent-minded ! Jupiter Capitolinus ! When 
 it comes to a man putting sugar and cream on 
 his mutton-chop at breakfast, " 
 
JIMMY'S POND. 221 
 
 " How do you know that I do not prefer it 
 so, Tom ? We have many curious customs in 
 Virginia, you know. It wasn't bad, really ! " 
 
 " Not bad ! " snorted the Colonel. " Five- 
 year-old mutton, hung a fortnight, and broiled 
 by Elizabeth Beadle ; and this man treats it as 
 a pudding, and then says it was not bad ! Eliza- 
 beth Beadle wept when Giuseppe told her about 
 it ; shed tears, sir ! Said there was no pleasure 
 in feeding you." 
 
 " Poor Elizabeth ! " said Raymond Ferrers, 
 laughing. " Dear, good soul ! I must go and 
 ask her to make me some molasses cookies with 
 scalloped edges. Will that pacify her, Tom ? 
 Where is the boy ? " 
 
 " Raymond, do not try me further than I can 
 bear ! " said his brother, with marked ferocity. 
 " Ask for the boy every five minutes, my dear 
 brother ! a shorter interval than that is beyond 
 my powers of endurance, which have their 
 limits. The boy, sir, if you persist in applying 
 that epithet to a young giraffe who has already 
 scraped more paint off my lintels than I can 
 supply in six months, well, I will make it 
 
222 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 three, if you specially desire it, is putting on 
 his togs, to go skating with these young fellows. 
 And what is more, Raymond, I know two old 
 fellows who are going to be asses enough to put 
 on their togs and go skating with the youngsters. 
 Come along, sir ! Jimmy's Pond, Ray ! Come 
 along ! " 
 
 A pleasant sight was Jimmy's Pond an hour 
 later, when all the party had assembled. Hilde- 
 garde came in regal state, escorted by Colonel 
 Ferrers and his brother, one walking on either 
 side, while the three tall lads strode along be- 
 fore, now thoroughly at ease with each other, 
 and Hugh capered and curveted in the rear. 
 The child had a horse's tail fastened to his belt 
 behind, and was Pegasus on Helicon, oblivious 
 of all things earthly. 
 
 They found Bell and Gertrude awaiting them, 
 their cheeks already glowing from a preliminary 
 tour of the pond. In the distance Willy and 
 Kitty could be seen tugging each other valiantly 
 along, falling and scrambling down and up. 
 Bell was looking her best, in her trim suit of 
 brown velveteen, with the pretty little mink cap. 
 
,-,; 
 
 ON JIMMY S POND. 
 
JIMMY'S POND. 223 
 
 Hildegarde thought her more like a snow-apple 
 than ever, and hoped Jack saw how pretty and 
 sweet she was. Air-castles are pleasant build- 
 ing, and our Hildegarde had one well under way 
 already ; a castle whose walls should rise to the 
 sound of music, and in which two happy people 
 should play, play, play, all day and every day. 
 
 Hildegarde herself, in dark blue corduroy 
 trimmed with chinchilla, was very good to look 
 at, and more than one pair of eyes followed her 
 as she swept along in graceful curves, holding 
 Hugh's hands in hers. 
 
 " A very lovely young creature, Tom ! " said 
 Raymond Ferrers, as he stood a while, after 
 fastening his skates. "Not so beautiful as her 
 mother. I find Mildred more beautiful than 
 ever, Tom." 
 
 " You were always near-sighted, Raymond, 
 you will allow me to observe ! " cried the Colonel, 
 ruffling instantly. " I admire Mrs. Grahame 
 beyond any woman of her age that lives. 
 She is a noble woman, sir ! an admirable crea- 
 ture ! But to say that she compares in looks 
 with a blooming creature like that, a princess, 
 
224 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 by Jove*! A young Diana, the very sight of 
 whom makes a man young again. By the way, 
 Raymond," he added, after a pause, in an altered 
 voice. " I don't know, my dear fellow, whether 
 you have noticed any a resemblance, any 
 look of eh?" 
 
 " Yes, indeed, my dear Tom ; I noticed it 
 instantly. Sweet Hester ! This might be her 
 younger sister. Yes ! yes ! Tempo passato, eh, 
 brother ? We are old fellows, but we once were 
 young." 
 
 " Stuff and nonsense ! " cried the Colonel, 
 throwing off his mood with sudden violence. 
 " Speak for yourself, sir ! If a man chooses 
 to spend his days hunched over a table, mak- 
 ing fiddles, I don't say how things may turn out 
 with him ; but for myself, here, Young Sir ! 
 bring me a hockey-stick, will you ? " 
 
 Hugh, prancing by in full career, paused, and 
 surveyed his guardian with dreamy eyes. 
 
 "Hi -hi -hi!" he replied, with a creditable 
 attempt at a whinny. 
 
 The Colonel stiffened to attention." 
 
 " What did I understand you to remark, sir ? " 
 
JIMMY'S POND. 225 
 
 he inquired. " I experience a difficulty in fol- 
 lowing your interesting observation." 
 
 " Hi-hi-hi ! " repeated the boy. " I am Pegasus ; 
 I do not understand your language. I will find 
 Bellerophon, and send him to you." 
 
 He retired a few paces, and gravely removed 
 his tail, then came back, beaming with cheerful- 
 ness, every inch a boy. 
 
 " What was it you wanted, Guardian ? " he 
 cried. " I was a horse then, you see, so I really 
 couldn't ; please excuse me ! " 
 
 " I wanted a hockey-stick, sir ! " said the Colo- 
 nel, with some severity. " And it is my opinion 
 that two-legged horses would better keep their 
 wits about them. 
 
 "A game of hockey, Raymond," here he turned 
 to his brother, "will warm your blood, and 
 bring back your wits. ' Polo,' they call it now- 
 adays ; parcel of fools ! It's my belief that 
 nine-tenths of the human race to-day don't 
 know what they are talking about. Don't un- 
 derstand their own language, sir ! Polo, indeed ! 
 Ha ! here are the sticks. Now we shall see about 
 this ( old fellow ' business ! " 
 
226 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 Indeed, it was a marvellous thing to see the 
 agility of the Colonel in his favourite sport. He 
 swept here and there, he made the most aston- 
 ishing hits, he hooked the ball from under the 
 very noses of the amazed and delighted boys. 
 Raymond Ferrers, too, after watching the sport 
 for a few minutes, yielded to the spirit of the 
 hour, and was soon cutting away with the best 
 of them. 
 
 A pleasant sight was Jimmy's Pond, indeed ! 
 The pond itself was a thing of beauty, a disk of 
 crystal dropped down in a hollow of dark woods ; 
 dropped into the middle of this again, a tiny 
 islet, with a group of slender firs, lovely to 
 behold. And dotted here and there on the 
 shining gray-silver of the ice, these happy play- 
 ers, young and old, darted hither and thither, 
 filled with the joy of the hour and the pleasure 
 of each other's presence. 
 
 It might have been interesting, could one 
 have stood invisible on the bank, to hear the 
 fragments of talk, as the different groups swept 
 by in the chase. They seemed to drop naturally 
 into couples, without any special prearrange- 
 
JIMMY'S POND. 227 
 
 ment. First came the two brothers, intent on 
 the ball, bent on keeping it ahead of them, and 
 unconscious of anything else. 
 
 " Now, sir ! " the Colonel would cry. " Let 
 me see you beat that ! Hi ! There she no ! 
 she doesn't ! Ha ! ha ! Beat you that time, sir ! 
 
 " Poor old Raymound, 
 Fell into a hay-mound ! ' 
 
 " Do you remember that, sir ? Only rhyme I 
 ever made in my life ; proud as a peacock I was 
 of it, sir ! And what was the scurrilous verse 
 you made about me ? " 
 
 " ' Tommy, Tommy Tantrum, 
 Crowing like a bantrum ! ' " 
 
 said his brother, laughing. 
 
 " I always call them ' bantrums/ always shall. 
 Aha ! Where are you now, boy ? Off she goes ! " 
 
 Next came Gertrude and Phil, swinging easily 
 along together. 
 
 " So glad he is really nice, because he looks 
 so, and it would be so horrid if he were horrid, 
 wouldn't it, Phil? And Bell says he plays 
 oh, wonderfully, you know." 
 
228 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " Playing isn't everything in the world, Toots ! 
 But he does seem to be a good fellow enough. 
 Told us a lot, coming over here, about the way 
 he lived over in Germany. I say ! I'd like to 
 go there ! Two or three duels every day ; great 
 sport, it must be ! " 
 
 Now it was Willy and Kitty, skating away 
 sturdily, with short, energetic strokes, and hold- 
 ing each other up bravely. 
 
 "So he asked me if I would swap with him 
 for another hard one, and I said yes, if it was 
 hard enough ; for this Mexican one, you see, 
 was very hard indeed. He said it was. 
 
 "So I said all right, hand it over. Well, 
 it was just the end of recess, and he handed it 
 over, all scrumpled up, in a kind of hurry, and 
 I crammed it into my pocket without looking. 
 And when I came to look at it after school, it 
 was a mean old three-cent ' Norji.' So I 
 knocked him down, and it just happened that 
 one of his old teeth was loose, and it came out. 
 I was glad of it, and so were all the fellows, for 
 he meant to cheat, you see ; that's why I had 
 the black marks." 
 
JIMMY'S POND. 229 
 
 Now come Jack and Bell, she a little out of 
 breath, being unused to skating with a giraffe ; 
 he all unconscious, discoursing high themes. 
 
 " Yes, a good many people play it short, with 
 a kind of choppiness. I hate to hear a violin 
 
 chop. But J gives it with a long, smooth 
 
 crescendo that seems to carry you straight out 
 of the room, you know, out into the open air, 
 and up among tree-tops. Do you ever feel that 
 way ? You seem to feel the air blowing all 
 about you, and hear all the voices that are 
 shut up in the trees and flowers, and can't get out 
 generally. You know what I mean, I am sure ! " 
 
 " Yes," says Bell, softly. " But they are all 
 answering to the violin, don't you think ? They 
 would not speak to the piano in that way." 
 
 " Depends upon who plays it," says gallant 
 Jack. And Hildegarde, close behind, hears, and 
 stumbles a little, and catches Gerald's hand, 
 laughing. 
 
 " Take them both! " says Gerald. " Take, in- 
 cidentally, my heart with them ; unless its size 
 and its lacerated condition would make the bur- 
 den unwelcome, Hilda ? " 
 
230 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " I doubt if I should notice," says Hildegarde. 
 " Yes, I will take both hands, Jerry ; let us try 
 the outer edge, now. There ! that is a delight- 
 ful swing ! You do skate very well, my child." 
 
 " Ah ! you should see Roger skate ! " cried 
 loyal Gerald ; and is rewarded by seeing a very 
 pretty blush deepen in his companion's bright 
 cheek. 
 
 " Good old Codger ! I wish he were here, 
 skating with you, Hilda ! " 
 
 " Thank you ! " says Hilda. " I am sorry to 
 incommode you, Gerald. I can skate perfectly 
 well alone, thank you. There ! Don't be absurd, 
 Jerry ! You'll get out of step if you don't take 
 care. Do you think we could do a figure of 
 eight together ? Let's try ! " 
 
 Last of all, alone, yet in a world peopled with 
 fantastic joys, came little Hugh. He had his 
 tail on again, and he was skating with a high- 
 stepping gait, rather more suggestive of trotting 
 than was compatible with safety. He mur- 
 mured to himself as he went, and his talk was 
 far from hockey or any delights of skating. 
 
 " Yonder, dear Bellerophon ! look yonder, far 
 
JIMMY'S POND. 231 
 
 down below this fleecy cloud that I am just go- 
 ing to plunge into ! Now wait till I get through 
 it, and you will see. The cloud is all full of 
 monsters, whales, and crocodiles, and hairy 
 mammoths ; and we have to plunge through 
 them, and they claw after us and try to catch 
 us. But I switch my tail, dear Bellerophon" 
 (here he switched the tail vigorously), " and that 
 frightens them, so that they crawl back into 
 their holes, the ugly things. But down on the 
 earth there, do you see three little spires of 
 smoke, right by the mouth of that black hole ? 
 That is the Chimaera, Bellerophon! We have 
 come all the way, and now we are going to 
 have the most terrible fight that any one ever 
 had, Samson or Hercules or any one else. Aha! 
 now is the time, you see, for me to say ' Aha ' 
 among the trumpets ; that is why I made you 
 bring your trumpet along. My neck is clothed 
 with thunder, and I am pawing in the valley. 
 See me paw ! " 
 
 Alas, for the winged steed ! Pawing in the 
 valley is a dangerous pastime on smooth ice, 
 and unsustained by hind legs. Pegasus, his 
 
232 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 head high in air, looking forward to battle and 
 glory, paid little attention to things at his feet. 
 His skate caught in a crack, and, checked in 
 full speed, he came heavily to the ground, and 
 lay motionless. 
 
 Hildegarde and Gerald heard the crash, and 
 were at his side in a moment, raising him. The 
 little fellow was stunned, and there was an ugly 
 cut on his forehead. 
 
 " Hugh, dear ! " cried Hildegarde. " Is it 
 very bad, little boy ? You are all right now ; 
 Jerry and I are here, and you will be feeling 
 better in a moment." 
 
 She took the child's head in her lap, and 
 stanched the blood with her handkerchief, rub- 
 bing his temples gently, while Gerald chafed his 
 hands. Presently Hugh opened his eyes. At 
 first his look was vacant, but soon the light 
 came back into the blue eyes, and he tried to 
 smile. 
 
 " I pawed too hard ! " he whispered. " Be- 
 loved, it wasn't the right valley to paw in." 
 
 Hildegarde and Gerald exchanged glances. 
 
 " He's a little out ! " murmured Gerald. " We'd 
 
JIMMY'S POND. * 233 
 
 better get him home as quick as we can. Phil 
 and I will carry him." 
 
 By this time the others, looking back, had 
 seen that something was wrong, and came hur- 
 rying back. Colonel Ferrers turned very white 
 when he saw Hugh lying motionless, his head 
 pillowed on Hildegarde's lap, and the red stain 
 on his temple. 
 
 " My little boy ! " he gasped. " Jack, where 
 are you ? The child ! The child is hurt ! " Jack 
 was already bending over Hugh; indeed, the 
 anxious group pressed so close that Hildegarde 
 motioned them to back. 
 
 "I don't think he is much hurt," she said, 
 looking up at the Colonel, and speaking as 
 cheerfully as she could. " He spoke to me just 
 now, Colonel Ferrers. He was stunned by the 
 fall. I don't think the cut amounts to any- 
 thing, really." 
 
 " No," said Jack, who had been examining 
 the cut, "this isn't anything, Uncle Tom. 
 It's the shock that is the trouble, and he'll be 
 over that in a minute. You're better already, 
 aren't you, old chap ? " 
 
234 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 Hugh opened his eyes again, but slowly, as 
 if it were an effort. 
 
 " How do you do ? " he said, politely. " Yes, 
 I am better, thank you, but not quite well yet. 
 You did not seem to understand what I said, so 
 I thought I would wait till I could speak better." 
 
 Seeing Jack look bewildered, Gerald whis- 
 pered, " He was talking nonsense. He takes you 
 for me now; it was to me he. was talking." 
 
 " I was not talking nonsense ! " said Hugh, 
 clearly. " I said I had been pawing in the 
 valley, and that this was not the right valley 
 to paw in. It wasn't ! My Beloved will under- 
 stand what I mean, if she uses her mind." 
 
 " He was a horse ! " cried the Colonel. " As- 
 tonishing thing, that nobody can understand that 
 child, when he is speaking perfectly rationally. 
 He was a horse, I tell you ! Whinnied at me, 
 sir, when I asked him to get me a hockey-stick. 
 Try it again, Boy ! Let's hear you once more, 
 eh?" 
 
 Hugh smiled, but could not do more than 
 shake his head. 
 
 " Thank you for explaining, Guardian ! " he 
 
JIMMY'S POND. 235 
 
 said. " I was Pegasus, you see, and Bellerophon 
 and I were just going to plunge down through 
 the clouds and kill the Chimaera ; but I forgot 
 where I was for a minute, and began to paw in 
 the valley, and say ' Aha ! ' and, of course, the 
 cloud broke through, and down we went. I hope 
 dear Bellerophon isn't hurt." 
 
 " Bellerophon is all right ! " said Jack. " Right 
 as a trivet. He says he thinks you'd better go 
 home, old man ; he thinks it will be better Chi- 
 maera-hunting to-morrow, anyhow." 
 
 " Yes ! yes ! " cried the Colonel, making a 
 brave effort to enter into the child's idea. 
 
 " Go back to the stable, Boy, I mean Dobbin, 
 or whatever your name is, and and have some 
 hay ! " 
 
 But Hugh's brow contracted. 
 
 " Pegasus didn't eat hay ! " he murmured, still 
 leaning against Hildegarde's shoulder. 
 
 " No, dear," said the girl. " The Colonel did 
 not mean hay; he meant asphodels and amar- 
 anth and moly." 
 
 "That sounds better," said Hugh. 
 
 " I say," whispered Gerald, who was begin- 
 
236 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 ning to recover from his alarm, " you know, I 
 suppose, that asphodel is a kind of pigweed ? " 
 
 " Hush ! Yes ! There is no need of the child's 
 knowing it yet. How shall we get him home, 
 Jack ? " 
 
 " But I will walk home ! " cried Hugh, hear- 
 ing the last words. " I will perhaps trot home, 
 only slowly." 
 
 He tried to rise, but sank back again. 
 
 " It appears as if there were wheels in my 
 head," he murmured. " They go round too 
 fast." 
 
 " Of course they do," said Jack, in the most 
 matter-of-fact way. " I'm going to harness my- 
 self into them, and take you home that way. 
 Put him up on my back, will you, Merry weather ? 
 So ! there we are ! " 
 
 Delighted to find himself in the once familiar 
 position, Hugh looked up to smile at the anxious 
 Colonel, who stood wiping his brow, and wishing 
 for once that he were twenty and a giraffe. 
 
 " I'm all right now, Guardian ! " he said. 
 " All right, Beloved ! My Jack is an ostrich 
 again, and I am not Pegasus any more just 
 
JIMMY'S POND. 237 
 
 now. I am only Hugh. Good-bye ! Good 
 hunting ! " 
 
 " Only Hugh ! " repeated Colonel Ferrers, gaz- 
 ing after the two, as they went across the field, 
 Jack walking steadily, with long, even steps, 
 very different from his usual hop-skip-and-jump 
 method of progression. 
 
 " Only Hugh ! Only the greater part of the 
 world eh ? what are you saying, Hilda, my 
 dear?" 
 
 " Only that we will go home together, dear 
 Colonel Ferrers ! " said Hildegarde, who had 
 already taken off her skates. " We will go back 
 together, and the others can follow whenever 
 they are ready. We shall find him comfortable 
 already, with Mrs. Beadle tucking him up in 
 bed, and talking about chicken broth and wine 
 jelly, neither of which he will need in the least. 
 Come, dear sir ! " 
 
 " I will come ! " said the Colonel. " You are 
 a good child, Hilda ! I I am rather shaken, 
 I believe. I will come with pleasure, my love ! 
 Be good enough to take my arm ! " 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 MERRY CHRISTMAS. 
 
 HILDEGARDE awoke in the dark, with the 
 sound of bells in the air. Her first thought 
 was that of all women in similar case fire ! 
 She sat up in bed and listened ; but these were 
 no fire-bells that rang so joyously, breaking 
 through the hush of the winter morning with 
 glad rejoicing. " Glory to the newly born ! " 
 she said, softly, and was silent for a little. Pres- 
 ently she waved her hand in a comprehensive 
 greeting to the friends on walls and shelves, 
 whom she could not yet see. 
 
 " Merry Christmas ! " she cried. " Merry 
 Christmas, Sir Walter ! Merry Christmas, Vis- 
 count, and you too, Saint William ! What a 
 pity I cannot say it in Dutch ! " 
 
 She hummed a carol to herself, as she recalled 
 the night before, Christmas Eve, which she had 
 spent with the Merry weathers. They had gone 
 
MERRY CHRISTMAS. 239 
 
 together to the carol service at the little church, 
 which they had all helped to make beautiful 
 with spruce and fir and hemlock. After that 
 they sang hymns and carols at home, in full 
 chorus, with such hearty good-will and earnest 
 feeling as it was a joy to remember ; and then 
 came the hanging of the stockings. An only 
 child for so long, Hildegarde had never seen 
 before the bewildering, enchanting bustle of 
 Christmas Eve in a large family; the hanging 
 of the stockings, six in a row, the whole length 
 of the great fireplace in the nursery ; the de- 
 lightful mysteries, the parcels which no one 
 saw, the whisperings which no one heard save 
 those to whom they were addressed, the tip- 
 toeing hither and thither, the rustle of tissue- 
 paper, ah ! it was all very pleasant ! The kind 
 friends had begged her to stay with them, and 
 share the morning fun, which they declared to 
 be the best of all; but that Hildegarde could 
 not do. 
 
 " Mamma and I have only each other ! " she 
 said. " You would not really have me leave 
 her alone, dear people ! " and the Merryweathers 
 
240 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 were obliged to confess that they would not, 
 upon any account. So they had parted, with 
 many plans and promises for the next day, 
 the great, the blessed day of the year. And 
 now it was here! and oh, was it could it 
 really be snowing? 
 
 Hildegarde listened, and heard a sound as 
 of fairy hands beating softly on the window- 
 panes. It was growing lighter every moment, 
 but the light came through a soft, white dim- 
 ness. Hildegarde ran to the window ; the 
 ground was white, the dark branches of the 
 evergreens were bending under a weight of 
 snow, and it was snowing still, not furiously, 
 but in a quiet, determined way, that meant 
 business. Oh, joy ! At last, the longed - for 
 winter had come ! This ungrateful girl had 
 already received many favours from the Frost 
 King ; she had skated, she had had icicles to eat, 
 she had broken through the ice, and got a good 
 wetting, still she was not content, but longed 
 for snow ; and now she had her heart's desire. 
 
 " And we'll all go tobogganing, 
 Bog, bog, bogganing 1 " 
 
MERRY CHRISTMAS. 241 
 
 she sang, as she dressed herself, stopping now 
 and then to dance about the room a little when 
 she felt cold ; for the morning was evidently 
 sharp, and the cold had got into the house in 
 good earnest. 
 
 Running down-stairs, she found the breakfast- 
 room warm and bright with a crackling, leaping 
 fire on the hearth. Mrs. Grahame was already 
 down, and her long, silent embrace was the 
 first and best Christmas greeting. Then it was 
 "Merry Christmas ! " and again " Merry Christ- 
 mas ! " as Auntie came into the room, bringing 
 the fragrant coffee, and the tray piled high with 
 good things. 
 
 " Oh, and the mail has come ! " cried Hilde- 
 garde, fairly dancing round the table to her 
 place. " See, my love ! Letters from every- 
 body, heaps upon heaps! Oh, what joy!" 
 
 There were greetings from all the distant 
 friends, it seemed ; from all the good people at 
 Bywood, from Rose and Doctor Flower, from 
 the dear old couple at Hartley's Glen. 
 
 " Oh, how good every one is ! " cried Hilde- 
 garde. "And here is a parcel Mammina, 
 
242 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 what can this be ? It looks like Aunt Emily's 
 hand." 
 
 "It seems a desperate measure to propose/' 
 said Mrs. Grahame, " but I have heard of parcels 
 being opened in such a case. I should not wish 
 to influence you " 
 
 " Oh, my dear ! " cried the girl, who had been 
 acting on the suggestion, and undoing the box 
 tied carefully with floss silk. "My Respected 
 Parent, will you look at this ? " 
 
 It was the prettiest watch, surely, that ever 
 was seen, set with blue enamel and pearls ; and 
 with it came a stately little note, assuring " my 
 grandniece " that this was a slight return indeed 
 for the pleasure that she had given to her affec- 
 tionate E. D. 
 
 " Poor dear Aunt Emily ! " cried Hildegarde. 
 " She has so little pleasure, I suppose every little 
 attention counts for a good deal. Oh, aren't 
 you glad we sent her the Mechlin tabs ? She 
 and Hobson will have good times over them, I 
 am sure. Well, Auntie, what now ? " 
 
 Auntie brought in a huge box. "Dis ain't 
 for you, Miss Hildy, chile, dis for you' Ma. 
 
MERRY CHRISTMAS. 248 
 
 You can' 'spec 5 to have everything, young 
 lady ! " 
 
 " Flowers, Mammina ! Oh, the lovely things ! 
 Do let me see From Mr. Raymond Ferrers ! 
 The dear thing! Why, we shall be a perfect 
 bower, for I know the Colonel is going to send 
 you a box. Dear me ! What a delightful time 
 we are having, aren't we, love ? " 
 
 " If you don't eat your breakfast, Hilda, I 
 shall have all these things taken away, and 
 kept till dinner." 
 
 "Oh, I will eat, I will indeed! See me! 
 Observe me sacrificing myself to rolls and 
 orange marmalade ! But do you see that it is 
 snowing, my own? And do you know what 
 that means? Tobogganing this afternoon, if 
 there is any faith in Merry weathers." 
 
 Hildegarde was so excited it was really diffi- 
 cult for her to eat anything like enough to sat- 
 isfy the demands of Auntie. 
 
 "You ain't goin' to no chu'ch on no empty 
 stomick ! " that potentate announced ; and she 
 actually stood over Hildegarde till a fair portion 
 of her good things was disposed of. Then, when 
 
244 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 church-time came, she must see personally that 
 both her " Missies " were properly wrapped, and 
 properly toasted before going out. 
 
 " You ain't no right to go out at all, Mis' Gra- 
 hame, and you knows it well as I do ; but dere 
 ain't no holdin' you some times, and dis is one 
 of 'em, I know. Nothin' for old woman to do, 
 'cept just see dat you's fixed up right. You' 
 bonnet ain't straight, mum; I should go crazy 
 if you started out like ob dat." 
 
 The chore-man had already been at work with 
 shovel and broom, so that there was a path cleared 
 through the snow to the road ; the snow was al- 
 ready quite deep, and Hildegarde and her mother 
 were glad of their high snow-boots, as they picked 
 their way along. Hildegarde stopped every other 
 moment to take a handful of snow from some 
 hanging branch, sometimes to eat it, oftener to 
 toss it in the air for pure joy. It was beautiful 
 snow, soft and dry, the crystals showing with 
 exquisite distinctness. 
 
 " I feel about ten years old, darling! " the girl 
 announced, as she frisked hither and thither. 
 
 " So I perceive ! " said Mrs. Grahame, who 
 
MERRY CHRISTMAS. 245 
 
 was walking soberly along, even deigning to 
 protect her bonnet with a prosaic umbrella. 
 
 "I feel rather doubtful about taking you, 
 Hildegarde. Suppose you should turn round 
 and smile at the little boy behind you, as you 
 did the first time I took you to church ! " 
 
 But by the time they reached the old stone 
 church, Hildegarde was grave enough. This 
 was the best of all, she said to herself, as she 
 took her place in the choir, and heard Bell's firm 
 touch on the keys of the organ behind her. 
 
 The Pastoral Symphony ! Hildegarde gave 
 a long sigh of pure happiness, and leaned back 
 in her seat. She might have known Bell would 
 play it ! She knew that her friend was to take 
 the organist's place during the Christmas vaca- 
 tion ; but she did not know that somehow, in all 
 the hurry and happy bustle of yesterday, two 
 young musicians had contrived, by hook or by 
 crook, to get an hour's practice together in the 
 church, as a Christmas surprise for her very own 
 self, and when, above the deep, throbbing tones 
 of the organ, rose the exquisite voice of the vio- 
 lin, Hildegarde felt her cup very full indeed, and 
 
246 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 hardly tried to check the thankful tears that 
 sprang to her eyes. The church was full of the 
 warm fragrance of balsam fir ; the long garlands 
 of green clothed the old gray walls with a lovely 
 grace ; she saw her mother's face in the pew near 
 by ; the music soared heavenward, and her soul 
 mounted with it. " Glory to God in the highest, 
 and on earth peace, good-will to men ! " When 
 it came her turn to sing, she felt heaven near, 
 indeed, and the peace of blessedness descending 
 on her.' 
 
 By noon it had stopped snowing ; by three 
 o'clock the sky was clear, and the world lay 
 white and glittering, a new thing, under a sky 
 of crystal. 
 
 " Just like the biggest plummy cake that ever 
 was baked ! " cried Willy Merry weather, as he 
 capered about before his toboggan. The clan 
 was gathering for the first tobogganing of the 
 season. Here was Mr. Merry weather, tall and 
 stalwart, in a fur cap big enough for the Czar of 
 all the Russias ; here were all the children, big 
 and little, in " muffs and furs and fluffs," all rosy 
 and happy and beaming; here was Hildegarde, 
 
MERRY CHRISTMAS. 247 
 
 in moccasins, and the prettiest scarlet blanket- 
 suit ; finally, here was Jack Ferrers, striding 
 across the fields at a tremendous rate when he 
 saw that the others were waiting for him. 
 
 " Oh, Jack ! couldn't Hugh come ? " cried 
 Hildegarde, as her cousin came up. " He 
 looked pretty pale this morning, I thought, 
 dear little fellow ! Is he f eeling badly to- 
 day?" 
 
 Hugh had not been like himself since the fall 
 on the ice. He had a good deal of headache, 
 and seemed heavy and drowsy, not at all his 
 own bright self. Hildegarde spoke anxiously, 
 and Jack answered her look as well as her 
 question. 
 
 "Not much the matter, I hope, but Uncle 
 Tom thought he'd better keep quiet this after- 
 noon, so as to be all fit for the tree this evening. 
 His head does ache, Hilda, but he says it isn't 
 bad, and he sent you all kinds of messages, and 
 said you were to have twice as good a time, for 
 his sake, as you would have had if he had been 
 on hand. Poor little chap ! I promised him 
 I would give you a famous time; so come on, 
 
248 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 Hilda, and don't let me see those grave looks 
 any more." 
 
 "You are darkening the sky, Hilda," cried 
 Gerald, " and we can't have our Christmas sun- 
 shine spoiled ! Look at the Pater ! Isn't he im- 
 mense ? Like a Russian Boyar, or a Wallachian 
 Hospodar, or something of that kind." 
 
 " We might all find some good, snowy title ! " 
 said Bell. " You shall be a Starosta, Jerry, and 
 Phil a Voevoda, and Mr. Ferrers a Magyar." 
 
 " Oh, there are plenty more titles ! " said 
 Jack. " We must have a Sotnik, and a Het- 
 man, and a " 
 
 " Who is coming tobogganing ? " cried Mr. 
 Merryweather. "Is this a conversazione, or an 
 expedition ? " 
 
 They all started off, talking and laughing, for 
 the nearest hill. They chose the well-known 
 slope that swept round the foot of Braeside, 
 beyond the stone wall that separated it from 
 Roseholme. Climbing the slope, Hildegarde re- 
 membered the first time she had climbed it, and 
 how she climbed a tree, too, and was caught by 
 Colonel Ferrers in the act, and taken for a 
 
MERRY CHRISTMAS. 249 
 
 marauding boy. How long ago it all seemed ; 
 and how strange to think of their ever having 
 been strangers to their dear Colonel, or to any 
 of the good friends who had grown so near and 
 so dear. 
 
 At the top, they paused to draw breath, for 
 the ascent was steep ; then Mr. Merry weather, 
 as commander-in-chief, marshalled his forces, 
 and arranged them in line of march. 
 
 " Let me see ! Hilda, will you come with me ? 
 and Gertrude ? So ! Now, Phil, you shall take 
 Bell and Kitty ; and you and Mr. Ferrers, Gerald, 
 take the little one. There ! How will that do ? " 
 
 All declared themselves satisfied, and pro- 
 ceeded to take their places on the toboggans. 
 The girls tucked up their skirts carefully, the 
 boys pressed their caps down firmly over their 
 ears. 
 
 " All ready ?" asked the Chief. Now then ! 
 one, two, three off ! " 
 
 Down swept the toboggans ; down, down, 
 down ! Hildegarde was clutching Mr. Merry- 
 weather's leather belt, and she felt as if it were 
 the only thing that kept her from flying off en- 
 
250 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 tirely. The swift motion took her breath away ; 
 the light snow, puffing in her face, rising up in 
 clouds on every side, half blinded her. On and 
 on, gliding now over the long meadow at the 
 foot of the hill, still with the flight of an arrow ; 
 till at last, with a skilful turn, they were brought 
 up alongside the stone wall that bounded the 
 field, and landed in a good soft drift. 
 
 Up they all jumped, rosy and snow-powdered, 
 shouting with glee. 
 
 " Oh ! wasn't it glorious ! " cried Hildegarde. 
 " We kept the lead, didn't we, Mr. Merry- 
 weather ? And I kept the top of my head on, 
 which is more than could have been expected. 
 I really never felt anything so delightful in my 
 life. Where are Jack and Gerald ? " 
 
 " There they come ! They went round the other 
 way, down the steep side." 
 
 " The steep side ! Oh, me ! Is there a steeper 
 side ? Why, they must have turned somersaults 
 all the way down. Oh ! oh, my poor dears ! " 
 
 The boys came round the curve in fine style, 
 shooting straight as a dart, both leaning back, 
 and evidently enjoying themselves to the full. 
 
MERRY CHRISTMAS. 251 
 
 Suddenly, as if propelled by some invisible 
 engine, they shot into the air, the toboggan 
 followed, and for a moment there was an ex- 
 traordinary vision of legs and arms, caps and 
 splinters, all whirling together. Then they 
 plunged into an enormous drift, and disap- 
 peared. 
 
 The girls cried out in terror, but Mr. Merry- 
 weather and Phil shouted with laughter, and 
 ran to the spot. 
 
 " Gone to ground ! " they cried. " Dig 'em 
 out, Phil!" cried the Chief. " Here's a foot; 
 give a good pull, now ! " 
 
 Phil gave a vigorous pull, and was rewarded 
 by a kick which sent him sprawling on his back 
 in the snow. Then, laughing and spluttering, 
 the boys emerged from the drift, rubbing the 
 snow from their eyes, and shaking it from their 
 clothing. 
 
 " I say ! " cried Jack. " What do you keep 
 in this field, sir ? Was it a torpedo, or an elec- 
 tric eel?" 
 
 " It's your uncle's field, young man ! " replied 
 Mr. Merryweather. "I suspect it was nothing 
 
252 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 more than a rock, however. I thought the hill 
 was all smooth grass." 
 
 " You might try it, sir ! " said Gerald. " If 
 there is a sound bone in my body, write me 
 down Hollander. How are you, Ferrers ? Any- 
 thing broken ? " 
 
 " No, indeed ! Lost a button, and where is 
 my other mitten ? Oh ! thank you, Hilda ! Did 
 we make a pretty picture, flying through the 
 air?" 
 
 " Lovely ! " said Hilda. " If I had only had 
 my camera ! But I was really frightened. I 
 am hardly sure now that you are not killed, 
 you did go so very hard!" 
 
 " The toboggan is killed ! " said Gerald, rue- 
 fully. " Kindling-wood, poor old thing ! Just 
 look at it ! " He dragged to light some forlorn 
 remnants, which certainly did not look as if 
 they could be of service again save in some 
 humble capacity. 
 
 "Too bad!" said his father. "Fortune of 
 war, my boy ! But there is plenty of room for 
 you and Ferrers on the two others. We must 
 see about this stone, and get it out of the way." 
 
MERRY CHRISTMAS. 253 
 
 Search revealed a big, jagged stone, so fitted 
 into the slope of the hill that the snow had lain 
 smoothly over it ; but it had caught the tobog- 
 gan in mid-flight. It was soon torn from its 
 bed, rolled down the hill, and deposited on 
 the other side of the wall. Then they all 
 climbed the hill again, trying as they went 
 to sing the Tobogganing Song ; failing for 
 lack of breath, panting, singing again, and 
 all sthe while struggling upward, laughing 
 and chattering and pelting each other with 
 the soft snow. 
 
 " When the field lies clear in the moon, boy, 
 
 And the wood hangs dark on the hill, 
 When the long white way shows never a sleigh. 
 And the sound of the bells is still, 
 
 " Then hurry, hurry, hurry ! 
 
 And bring the toboggans along ! 
 A last < Never fear ! ' to Mother-my-dear, 
 Then off with a shout and a song. 
 
 " A-tilt on the billowy slope, boy, 
 
 Like a boat that bends to the sea, 
 With the heart a-tilt in your breast, boy, 
 And your chin well down on your knee, 
 
254 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " Then over, over, over, 
 
 As the boat skims over the main, 
 A plunge and a swoop, a gasp and a whoop, 
 And away o'er the glittering plain ! 
 
 " The boat, and the bird, and the breeze, boy, 
 
 Which the poet is apt to sing, 
 Are old and slow and clumsy, I know, 
 By us that have never a wing. 
 
 " Still onward, onward, onward, 
 
 Till the brook joins the meadow below, 
 And then with a shout, see us tumbling out, 
 To plunge in the feathery snow. 
 
 " Back now by the side of the hedge, boy, 
 
 Where the roses in summer grow, 
 Where the snow lies deep o'er their winter sleep, 
 Up, up the big hill we go. 
 
 " And stumbling, tumbling, stumbling, 
 
 Hurrah ! 'tis the top we gain ! 
 Draw breath for a minute before you begin it 
 Now over, and over again ! " 
 
 "How are you, noble Hetman?" said Hilde- 
 garde, finding herself near Gerald, as they gained 
 the top of the hill. " Aren't you all full of snow, 
 my poors, and very cold and wet ? " 
 
 " ' Oh, days of me boyhood, I'm dreamin' of ye 
 
MERRY CHRISTMAS. 255 
 
 now ! ' " quoted Gerald. " I never thought that 
 my mother's words would come true in my 
 
 person : 
 
 " < Woffsky-poffsky, Woffsky-poffsky, 
 Once he was a Cossack hetman ; 
 But he fell into the Dnieper, 
 
 And became a Cossack wetman.' 
 
 " And to speak sooth, sweet chuck, there may 
 be a matter of half a bushel of snow if you 
 measure it by bushels, it's a matter of fancy 
 -down my manly back at this moment." 
 
 " Oh, Gerald ! But do go home, my dear, and 
 change your things ! You will get your death 
 of cold, if you go about in this state." 
 
 "I'll move into the adjoining territory at 
 once ! " said Gerald. " But calm yourself, an- 
 gelic being ! Consider that in this manner I 
 avoid all danger of sunstroke ! Every man his 
 own refrigerator ; patent applied for ; no Irish 
 need apply." 
 
 " What is the use of talking to people like 
 this ! " cried Hildegarde. " Jack, are you as wet 
 as that ? Because if you are, " 
 
 " As wet as what ? " said Jack. " I am not, 
 
256 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 anyhow, if you are going to look at me in that 
 way. Just wet enough to cool me off delight- 
 fully ; very sultry to-day, don't you think so ?" 
 
 " Mr. Merryweather," cried Hildegarde. " Will 
 you use your authority, please, and try to get 
 some sense out of these boys ? They are both 
 wet through to the skin, and they will not " 
 
 " Wet, are they ? " said the Chief, cheerily. 
 " Best thing in the world for 'em, my dear ! 
 Quicken the circulation, and keep the pores open. 
 Now then, boys and girls, we must pack closer 
 this time. Sit close, Kitty ! Hilda, hold tight, 
 my dear ! All ready ? Now, one, two, three, 
 and off we go ! " 
 
 And off they went. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 BELLEROPHON. 
 
 " ALL ready, boys ? " asked the Colonel. 
 
 " All ready ! " responded the boys, namely, 
 Raymond Ferrers, aged sixty, Jack Ferrers, aged 
 twenty, and Hugh Allen, aged nine. Barring 
 more or less difference in height, and a trifle of 
 gray hair in one case, they all appeared of much 
 the same age ; nor had the Colonel, evidently, 
 a day the advantage of them. On the contrary, 
 he was the youngest of the four, as he walked 
 round and round the Christmas Tree, poking 
 among the branches, readjusting a string of pop- 
 corn here, or a glittering ornament there. It 
 was their own tree, every twig, every needle of 
 it their own. Not Hildegarde herself, nor her 
 mother, nor any Merryweather, had had a word 
 to say, or knew a single detail about it. They 
 were invited, they were coming; that was 
 
258 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 their part ; all the rest had belonged to the four 
 boys. Had they not gone in town together, and 
 gone to Schwartz's, and bought out the greater 
 part of the shop ? And had they not spent the 
 greater part of the day (save dinner-time, and 
 church-time, and the hour that Jack had taken 
 for tobogganing) in decorating their plaything, 
 and tying on the presents ? Surely, such a tree 
 had never been seen ! It glittered from top to 
 toe with icicles ; it shone with globes of gold 
 and silver ; it was powdered with diamond snow, 
 and hung with golden nuts ; silver cobwebs 
 draped it, hanging in long festoons from every 
 bough, while round and round, in graceful fes- 
 toons, went the long garlands of snowy pop-corn. 
 Now nothing was left to do, save to light the 
 candles ; and still the Colonel walked and looked, 
 puffing with pleasure, and still Brother Raymond 
 followed at his heels, and Jack followed Ray- 
 mond, and Hugh kept close behind Jack. And 
 Elizabeth Beadle, surveying this scene from the 
 depth of the hall, was so moved by it that she 
 retired to the kitchen and wept for a quarter of 
 an hour, for pure joy. 
 
BELLEROPHON. 259 
 
 " Sure you have the pail of water handy, 
 Jack ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, quite sure ! Stepped into it just 
 
 now." 
 
 " Then you had it footy, not handy ! " mur- 
 mured Hugh. His guardian turned, and looked 
 anxiously at the Boy. 
 
 "Hum, ha!" he said. "Talk a little non- 
 sense, eh, Young Sir ? That's right ! Feel 
 quite well this evening, hey ? " 
 
 Hugh certainly did not look well. His rosy 
 colour was gone, and there were dark circles 
 under his blue eyes ; but he answered so brightly, 
 and was so full of joy and delightful anticipa- 
 tion, that Colonel Ferrers smiled even as he 
 sighed, and turned to his brother. 
 
 " Pretty sight, Raymond ? " he said, for per- 
 haps the twentieth time. " Pretty custom, eh ? 
 Give you my word, sir, I haven't enjoyed any- 
 thing so much for years." 
 
 " If you go on at this rate, Tom," rejoined his 
 brother, "you will be in short jackets again 
 in a year or two. After all, what is there in 
 the world so good as youth, my dear fellow ? 
 
260 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 Let us hold it fast, say I, as long as we 
 
 can ! 
 
 "Yes!" growled the Colonel. "But you 
 wouldn't have said that before you came here, 
 Raymond Ferrers ; and I shouldn't have said it 
 before Hildegarde Grahame came here, " 
 
 " And her mother ! " put in Raymond. 
 
 " And her mother, of course ! " cried the Colo- 
 nel, testily. " She never thought of coming here 
 without her mother, did she ? Don't be a quib- 
 bler, my good fellow ! t If there is one thing I 
 find it difficult to have Christian patience with, 
 it is a quibbler. I tell you, sir, that before those 
 people came here my life was a stagnant fish- 
 pond, sir ; with no fish in it, either, and and 
 it shows what a young woman can do, sir, when 
 she is willing just to be a young woman, and to 
 minister cheerfulness and joy and and affec- 
 tion to the people around her. Three years ago 
 I had not a friend in the world, or thought I 
 had not, which amounts to the same thing, 
 except a round-shouldered fiddle-maker in an- 
 other State, whom I never expected to see again. 
 I was morose, sir ! I was unfit for human com- 
 
BELLEROPHON. 261 
 
 panionship! And now- ' the Colonel stopped 
 to wipe his eye-glasses, and blew his nose porten- 
 tously " now I have a son in my own house, 
 -two sons just now, for if you pretend that 
 Jack is more your son than mine, I scoff at 
 you, sir, and I deride you! and a daughter 
 close by, who will come to me if my little 
 finger aches. And to that daughter, sir,- 
 under Providence," and the Colonel bowed his 
 head and dropped his voice, " to Hildegarde 
 Grahame, I owe all this, and more. So I 
 say,-" 
 
 " Here they come ! " cried Hugh, who had been 
 watching from the window. " Here they all 
 come, Guardian ! My Beloved and her mother, 
 and after them all the others. Oh ! but Captain 
 Roger is not with them ! " 
 
 The four hosts hurried out into the hall to 
 meet their guests, and many and warm were 
 the greetings. Hildegarde in white, Bell in 
 pink, and Gertrude in blue, looked like a posy 
 of fresh flowers, and Kitty like the little rose- 
 bud she was. Mrs. Merry weather and Mrs. 
 Grahame were already taking off their wraps, 
 
262 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 and Miles Merryweather and Phil brought up 
 the rear, with Willy. 
 
 "Where's the Professor?" cried the hospit- 
 able Colonel, rubbing his hands. " Where is 
 Professor Roger? I was definitely promised 
 that he would be here." 
 
 Where was Roger ? Hildegarde's heart echoed 
 the question ; and though she greeted the Colo- 
 nel with her own bright smile, it was rather an 
 effort to be as gay as usual ; for the disappoint- 
 ment had been severe. Roger had telegraphed 
 that he would be with them that afternoon with- 
 out fail ; and now all the trains had come and 
 gone, and no Roger had come. All the Merry- 
 weathers were crying out, and saying that some 
 tiresome man of science must have captured him, 
 and carried him off. Hildegarde was only a 
 little more silent than usual ; she slipped quietly 
 into the drawing-room, and took her seat by Mr. 
 Raymond Ferrers, whose smile always seemed 
 like a kind of sublimated music, music that 
 soothed while it cheered. But when she saw 
 her little Hugh, with his pale face, and the suf- 
 fering look in his dear blue eyes, she reproached 
 
BELLEROPHON. 263 
 
 herself for a selfish, unloving girl, and went and 
 sat with her arm round the child, looking affec- 
 tionately and anxiously at him, and listening to 
 his story of the joy of the blessed day. 
 
 " And Gerald ?" now cried the Colonel. " Am 
 I to be robbed of half my guests, I ask you? 
 Mrs. Merry weather, my dear madam, this is 
 positively unfriendly, I must inform you. A 
 Christmas Tree without Gerald Merryweather, 
 the idea is incongruous ! I can say nothing 
 
 more." 
 
 " Oh, Colonel Ferrers, that is my fault ! " 
 cried Hildegarde. " Gerald will be here in a 
 moment ; he ought to be here now, indeed. I 
 very carelessly forgot something, a little par- 
 cel that I wanted to bring, and Gerald was 
 so kind as to go back for it." 
 
 " Quite right, my child ! " said the Colonel. 
 " Of course you sent him ! Preposterous if you 
 had done anything else." He bustled off, and 
 Hildegarde turned to look out of the window ; 
 for truth to tell, the parcel that she had left 
 behind contained a little gift for the Colonel 
 himself (it was a copy of "Underwoods." Hil- 
 
264 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 degarde would have given copies of "Under- 
 woods " to all her friends, if she could have 
 afforded it), and she wanted to catch the first 
 glimpse of Gerald. How long he was in com- 
 ing ! They were lighting the candles, Hugh 
 whispered her ; Jack and Mr. Raymond Ferrers 
 and Mr. Merry weather were to light them as 
 soon as the party was assembled. Gerald was 
 wanted to take the second tenor in the carol. 
 Why had she been so careless ? Ah ! there he 
 was at last ! 
 
 Hildegarde ran out to the porch, to receive 
 the precious parcel. 
 
 "Oh," she cried, "how long you have been, 
 child ! I thought you would never come ! " 
 
 " So did I," said a voice that certainly did 
 not belong to Gerald, " but that is no reason 
 why you should be out here with nothing on 
 your head, and the thermometer at zero." 
 
 Hildegarde felt her two hands grasped, and 
 herself drawn firmly back into the house. 
 
 " They do not take proper care of you ! " said 
 Roger. " And are you glad to see me, Hilda ?" 
 
 Everything seemed misty to Hildegarde after 
 
BELLEROPHON. 265 
 
 that. She heard the welcomes and rejoicings ; 
 heard Gerald's voice of panting apology, 
 " Couldn't keep up with the Codger, you know ! 
 Couldn't, 'pon my word, he was in such a 
 hurry!" and received the Colonel's book in 
 time to tie it on the tree. She took her part 
 in the carol, too, and wondered that her voice 
 should be so strong, and not tremble, as the rest 
 of her seemed to be trembling. Yes, and she 
 saw the glorious Tree, in all its splendour, and 
 helped untie the presents, and sat with her lap 
 full of pretty things, sharing the wild delight 
 of Will and Kitty, and the quieter raptures of 
 Hugh. 
 
 Yes, the lion was truly splendid ; she had 
 never heard such a roar, or seen such a mane. 
 She should really be afraid to come to Pumpkin 
 House, if she would be in danger of meeting 
 him on the stairs. And Hugh's fleet was a 
 joy, and, yes, certainly they would go sailing 
 together ; and they'd go to the Dee, and the 
 Jellybolee, over the land and over the sea 
 
 And all the time, the girl felt that she was in 
 a dream, in which the only real thing was the 
 
266 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 tall, broad-shouldered figure that moved so lightly 
 and cheerfully among the rest; was the deep, 
 sweet voice that was talking, explaining, parry- 
 ing, the attack of the Colonel and all his own 
 family ? 
 
 "Well, but it is true, my dear Miranda. I 
 could not have helped it ; really I could not. 
 No, I dined with no other friends. I dined on 
 a cold sausage, at a railway restaurant. I have 
 travelled day and night to get here, and I do 
 not mean to be abused for my efforts. There 
 was a railway accident, " 
 
 " An accident ! Oh, Roger ! are you hurt ? 
 Where are you hurt ? How did it happen ? 
 Tell us all about it ? Whose fault was it ? Was 
 any one killed ? " 
 
 Thus the Merryweathers in chorus, with Colo- 
 nel Ferrers thundering a bass. Roger Merry- 
 weather looked from one to the other ; his eyes 
 twinkled, but he was silent. 
 
 " Well, sir ? " cried his brother Miles, in a 
 fine baritone solo. 
 
 "Well, sir!" retorted Roger. "I thought 
 you were all doing it so beautifully, it was a 
 
BELLEROPHON. 267 
 
 pity to interrupt. No, no one was hurt. A 
 freight train broke down, and blocked all the 
 trains on the road. The delay was apparently 
 endless ; there seemed no particular reason why 
 we should ever go on. Finally, I ran ahead, 
 and found the engineer of the night express, 
 the first train in the block, fighting mad, and 
 vowing that he would plough his way through 
 the freight train, if they didn't get it out of 
 the road in five minutes. A lot of us took 
 hold in good earnest, and in ten minutes the 
 track was free. Then the express driver found 
 that his fireman was hurt, I forgot him ! 
 He was really the only one, and he was 
 madder than ever, and said he could not go 
 on without a fireman. So I said I was his 
 fireman, and his long-lost uncle besides ; and I 
 jumped on, and off we went. It was an exhil- 
 arating ride. We were an hour late, and we 
 made up half of it; but that did not let me 
 make my connections. Finally, here am I ; the 
 question is, are you glad to see me, or shall I go 
 back ? " 
 
 Well, there seemed little doubt that they 
 
268 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 were glad to see him. It seemed to Hildegarde, 
 still sitting in her corner, with Hugh's hand in 
 hers, as if the other children would fairly devour 
 him ; and the elders were not much better. 
 Miles must hear all about the mines, and piled 
 question upon question till his brother cried for 
 mercy. Will and Kitty hung about his neck, 
 Bell and Gertrude could hardly take their eyes 
 off him. Only Gerald, after the first moment, 
 came and sat by Hildegarde, and asked if he 
 should not take Hugh, and if she did not want 
 to go and join the others. 
 
 " No ! " cried Hildegarde. " Go yourself, Jerry, 
 and hear all about it. I I shall hear it all 
 another time." 
 
 ." I met him, you see ! " said Gerald, guiltily. 
 " I heard it all as as we came from the other 
 house. We came along together, and then he 
 he got ahead of me somehow, and came in 
 first." 
 
 Hildegarde heard him, but only half under- 
 stood what he said. Now, however, there came 
 a change in the boy's voice, and he rose hastily. 
 
 "I I think I will go, Hilda, if you really 
 
BELLEROPHON. 269 
 
 don't mind, if you will excuse me. I think 
 Phil wants me for something " 
 
 He vanished, and Hildegarde turned to find 
 Roger at her elbow. 
 
 " I have a little gift for you," he was saying. 
 "I I won't give it to you to-night, I think, 
 but bring it to-morrow, if I may. It is some- 
 thing I made myself, and I am rather proud of 
 it. May I come to-morrow morning ? Oh, it is 
 good to be at home again ! Good to see what 
 one has been dreaming about for all these " 
 
 " Supper ! supper ! " cried the Colonel, rub- 
 bing his hands. " Come, young folks ! the tree 
 is stripped, and now for an honest, old-fashioned 
 supper. None of your kickshaws and folderols ! 
 No flummery, that leaves a man tired and hun- 
 gry when he leaves the table. Food, my dear 
 madam, is one of the blessings what was it 
 this Boy said about food the other day, Ray- 
 mond ? Hugh, you understand, Mrs. Grahame ; 
 more and more astonishing that child grows, as 
 he grows older. He was disappointed the other 
 day, Hildegarde could not come as he expected, 
 or something happened, hum, ha! And he 
 
270 HTLDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 was distressed; a good deal distressed. Then 
 he ate his supper, ate it like a man, and I 
 told him so, sir, and congratulated him on keep- 
 ing his appetite. He looks up at me, and says 
 he, ' Food stops sorrow ! ' His very expression, 
 give you my word ! Food stops sorrow ! Ha, 
 ha ! so it does, my dear madam, so it does ! 
 This way, if you please ! Hildegarde, my child, 
 you will bring the Boy ? He is hum, ha ! 
 not quite up to concert pitch to-night. Nothing 
 much the matter, growing boys, eh, Mrs. Gra- 
 hame ? Come on, all hands ! " 
 
 Well, the supper was great, and the games 
 were glorious. Hildegarde did her very best to 
 appear just as usual, and, indeed, no one who 
 had seen her flying down the long drawing-room 
 in the Virginia reel (the Colonel had engaged 
 her for it a month before) would have thought 
 her anything but the gayest of the gay ; but, 
 happy though she was, the world still seemed 
 misty, the rooms confused, the talk mere babble ; 
 and she was glad, for once, when the frolic was 
 over, and the greetings said, and she was at 
 home once more, in her own quiet room. 
 
BELLEROPHON. 271 
 
 There was a cosy little fire burning on the 
 hearth, and late though it was, Hildegarde was 
 in no mood for going to bed. She sat down by 
 the window and looked out. The snow lay clear 
 and white in the moonlight ; here and there the 
 dark evergreens rose like steadfast guardians; 
 all was peaceful and lovely. Lovely ! How 
 brown and handsome he looked! And had he 
 really been glad to see her ? She thought so ; 
 yes, surely he was glad, only somebody inter- 
 rupted him every time he came near her. Of 
 course, selfish creature that she was ! They 
 were his own dear people, he was theirs ; he 
 belonged to them. They had not seen him for 
 months, and how preposterous of her to expect 
 to have any of his time the very first evening. 
 Besides, he said particularly that he was coming 
 in the morning. Would the day be fair ? But 
 men did not mind weather, certainly not the 
 Merryweather men. And and her mother 
 would be so glad to have a good talk with 
 him. 
 
 Were they all asleep now, the good, merry 
 neighbours? They made a good deal of noise 
 
272 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 sometimes, but they all meant so well, and were 
 so hearty and genuine. Gerald was the most 
 like Roger, after all; she had never noticed 
 before how much alike they were. Dear Jerry ! 
 He had always been her favourite, though Phil 
 was as nice as he could be, and, of course, she 
 was very, very fond of Bell, and all of them. 
 How perfectly clear and still it was ! Silver 
 and pearl and diamond, oh, what beauty ! 
 
 " Deep on the convent roof the snows 
 Are sparkling to the moon." 
 
 She wondered if her white dress was really 
 the one she should have worn, or whether 
 whether any one would have thought the pink 
 one prettier. No ; he always liked white ; she 
 remembered his saying so. There was a light 
 in the corner room of Pumpkin House; ah, 
 yes ! it was Roger's room. Such a funny room, 
 all full of minerals and dried specimens, and 
 with lengths of copper wire hanging all about 
 the walls. Jerry said that Roger had put them 
 there against the time he should be crossed in 
 love, so that he could hang himself whenever he 
 
BELLEROPHON. 273 
 
 felt like it. What was it he had brought for her ? 
 A specimen, probably. No ! for he had made it 
 himself. What was he doing now, she wondered. 
 Oh, it was so good, so good, to know that he 
 was near, and that she should see him in the 
 morning ! 
 
 " But now," said Hildegarde, shaking her 
 shoulders, and pulling herself together, "you 
 are going to bed, miss ! Let me have no more 
 of this ridiculous ^icon-gazing, do you hear? 
 Have you any sense ? Take one look at the 
 white glory of it, and then off with you ! " 
 
 Wrapping a shawl round her (for she was still 
 in her white evening dress, though it was an 
 hour and more since she came back from Rose- 
 holme), she opened the window for an instant, 
 softly, for fear of rousing her mother, and leaned 
 out, to take one deep draught of the magical 
 beauty of the night. As she gazed, held as with 
 a charm, what was that, that seemed to move 
 by the corner of the hedge ? What was it, white 
 against the snow, that was stealing along by the 
 garden wall, silent as a dream ? Was she, indeed, 
 dreaming ? Hildegarde' s heart stood still for a 
 
274 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 moment. A little figure came forward now 
 across the lawn, it stood out clear against the 
 dark firs. Good heavens ! It was little Hugh ! 
 Barefoot, in his white nightgown, his head held 
 high, his eyes gazing straight forward, the child 
 came on, with swift, certain steps. One more 
 glance told Hildegarde the truth ; he was walk- 
 ing in his sleep. 
 
 In a flash she had stolen down the stairs, only 
 stopping to snatch a warm cloak from the hall 
 as she went. The bar and chain delayed her, 
 for she dared not strike a match, her mother's 
 light sleep was too precious, still, it seemed 
 only an instant before she was on the lawn, 
 gazing wildly about her. The child was gone ! 
 An instant she stood undecided ; was it possible 
 that the whole had been a vision, a hallucination, 
 brought on by excitement and fatigue ? No ! 
 For here were the little footprints in the 
 snow. 
 
 Oh, the little, tender feet, stung by the bitter 
 cold ! How was it possible that the touch of 
 the snow had not waked him ? But here was 
 her clue ; in another moment, surely, she 
 
" A LITTLE FIGURE . . . STOOD OUT CLEAR AGAINST 
 THE DARK FIRS." 
 
BELLEROPHON. 275 
 
 should have him in her arms. Breathless and 
 panting, Hildegarde ran round the corner of 
 the house, following those little white tracks 
 and stopped. The footsteps broke off short. 
 Looking up, bewildered, she uttered a low cry 
 of terror. Hugh was climbing up the wall. 
 This part of the house was -low, a kind of shed 
 or outhouse, seldom used. It was easy climbing 
 enough, a window-sill here, a cornice there, and 
 a spout that ran the whole way up to the shin- 
 gled roof. Hildegarde had climbed it herself, in 
 pursuit of a runaway kitten ; if the child would 
 only stop at the shed roof she could easily fol- 
 low him. But above rose the steep-pitched 
 upper roof ! What should she do if he went on ? 
 What should she do ? She dared not call, for 
 now the little figure, steadily climbing upward, 
 stood on the shed roof ; hesitated a moment, 
 turned half towards her, then turned back, and 
 set his foot on the short ladder that led to the 
 upper roof. Instantly Hildegarde's knee was on 
 the first low window-sill. She was reaching up, 
 on the point of raising herself to her feet, when 
 she started violently, and nearly lost her bal- 
 
276 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 ance. A hand was laid on her shoulder ; a steady, 
 restraining hand. 
 
 " What upon earth does this mean ? " asked 
 Roger Merryweather. 
 
 His voice was stern, or Hildegarde fancied it 
 so ; she answered like a child : 
 
 " I am going after Hugh! " 
 
 "Going after began Roger, stupefied. 
 Then following her upward gesture, he broke 
 off short. 
 
 " Go into the house, my child ! " he said, 
 quickly, in his own kind tone. "Go at once ; 
 you must not stay out another moment in this 
 thin dress. I will bring him to you in the house. 
 It will be only a minute now, and he will be 
 quite safe." 
 
 With that he was up like a cat, clinging here, 
 springing there, never pausing, never seeming to 
 take his eyes from the little white figure, which 
 had now reached the summit of the steep-pitched 
 roof. Hildegarde gave one glance at the child, 
 and saw him standing with outstretched arm* 
 on the ridge-pole itself. His voice came down, 
 clear and calm. 
 
BELLEROPHON. 277 
 
 " I am ready, dear Bellerophon ! We will fly 
 together now, down, down, " 
 
 The girl covered her face, and prayed. It 
 was a breath of time, it was eternity, before 
 Roger's voice came down to her, strong and 
 cheerful. 
 
 " We will go down together, Hughie.' I was 
 up here, too, and I will take you down, because 
 you will be more comfortable that way. Put 
 your arms round my neck, so ! Hold on tight 
 that's right ! Now, down we go! " 
 
 Hildegarde stood still in the snow, her hands 
 still clutching the window-sill. She seemed in- 
 capable of speech or motion ; could only listen 
 to the quiet, steady voice, as it soothed the now 
 awake and frightened child. 
 
 " Why, I suppose you went up to get a ball, 
 or something that had been thrown up there. 
 Eh? No? Something about Bellerophon? 
 Where is he? Well, he may be in the house, 
 laddie. We'll go in and see, anyhow. Your 
 Beloved is there, you know, and she will be 
 Hildegarde ! " 
 
 " Yes, Roger ! " said Hildegarde, faintly. 
 
278 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 " I told you to go into the house ! " 
 " Yes, Roger ; I am going ! " And then Hil- 
 degarde sank down in a little white heap at 
 Roger's feet, and knew nothing more. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 AT LAST. 
 
 HILDEGARDE was sitting by Hugh's bedside. 
 He had been laid in her bed that night; how 
 long ago was it ? She hardly knew, and was 
 still too ill to be moved. A concussion of the 
 brain, the doctor said, the result of his fall on 
 the ice. There was danger of brain fever, but 
 it might be averted. Absolute quiet for a few 
 days, and the trouble might pass off without 
 any serious developments. Meantime, a shaded 
 room, plenty of ice, no noise, and as little change 
 of faces around him as might be, they would 
 hope for the best. 
 
 Hildegarde had hardly left his side, save 
 when Auntie came in to watch through the 
 night, or her mother took her place for the short 
 time that her strength allowed. Mrs. Grahame 
 was far from strong, and was not allowed to 
 take charge of the nursing, as she would so 
 
280 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 gladly have done. Colonel Ferrers hung about 
 the house all day, like a man distracted ; and 
 it took all Mrs. Grahame's tact, and all his 
 brother's and Jack's watchful devotion, to keep 
 him out of the sick child's room. He seemed to 
 have aged ten years in these few short days. 
 His ruddy colour was gone ; his eyes had lost 
 their fiery spark ; his military stride had given 
 place to an anxious shuffle. 
 
 "We shall have you ill, sir!" Elizabeth 
 Beadle remonstrated, with many tears. 
 
 " You ain't like Mr. Raymond, sir ; you can- 
 not go without your food. It's hard enough as 
 I can't go to my baby, my own dear niece's 
 child, to nurse him myself, as go I would if I 
 was let, though Miss Hilda may be a better 
 nurse, as you say; but blood is thicker than 
 water, Colonel Ferrers, and if I have to have 
 you sick, too, it will be more than I can bear, 
 sir; yes, it will ! " Thus Mrs. Beadle, with her 
 apron at her eyes. The Colonel, roused for a 
 moment from his anxious musing, turned upon 
 her with something like his natural fury. 
 
 "You go to the child, Elizabeth Beadle? 
 
AT LAST. 281 
 
 You, who cannot keep from crying for ten 
 minutes together ? If you would stop poison- 
 ing my food with salt water, ma'am, you might 
 have less complaint to make of my not eating. 
 You have no more sense, ma'am, no more 
 sense than than some other people have. 
 Don't look at me in that manner, I desire you ! 
 God bless you, my dear old soul ; go along, will 
 you, or I shall be crying, too." 
 
 Rumours of these things, and others like them, 
 came to Hildegarde, as she sat hour after hour 
 by the sick child's side, shifting his pillow now 
 and then when it grew hot, laying the cool wet 
 cloths on his forehead, giving him food, drink, 
 medicine, at the appointed times. The whole 
 world seemed narrowed down to this one room ; 
 everything outside was unreal, all save the scene 
 in white and black that she saw whenever she 
 closed her eyes, the moonlight on the snow, 
 the black firs, the child in his white dress, front- 
 ing death with his sleeping smile, and by her 
 side the friend who was to save him. How long 
 ago was it ? Had she been sitting here three 
 days, or three weeks ? 
 
282 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 Little Hugh lay still, with his eyes shut. He 
 seemed unconscious for the most part. Only 
 now and then came a motion of the head, a low 
 moan that was hardly more than a whisper; 
 then the blue-veined lids would lift heavily for 
 an instant, and the sweet eyes look out, but 
 with no light in them ; and after a moment the 
 lids would fall again wearily, and the heavy 
 sleep close round him again like a curtain. 
 How long would it last ? 
 
 More snow had fallen. She heard the sound 
 of bells, and the soft swish of sleigh-runner? 
 passing swiftly by. The voices of her neigh- 
 bours came to her, now and then, but never 
 calling loud and joyous, as they were wont to 
 do. Every sound was subdued ; every one moved 
 softly and spoke low, with the sick child con- 
 stantly in their thoughts. 
 
 Guests came to Pumpkin House ; long-invited 
 guests, who could not well be put off. Hilde- 
 garde knew this, and knew that her friends 
 loved her and the child no less because they 
 were now forced to play the hosts, and to make 
 pleasure for the holiday visitors. Was this the 
 
AT LAST. 283 
 
 evening of the Flower Party ? Her dress was 
 hanging ready in the closet. Such a pretty 
 dress ! She was to be a wild rose, and the 
 graceful pink petals curved over the skirt, and 
 curled upward to form the bodice. 
 
 What a pity that some one could not wear it ! 
 She might send it over, in case some one of the 
 guests had no costume ready. Bell was to be 
 an apple-blossom ; Gertrude, a lily. The twins 
 would be splendid as Larkspur and Scarlet Run- 
 ner. And would Roger would he go in fancy 
 dress ? She could not imagine him doing any- 
 thing of the kind, somehow. She thought of 
 him in boating dress, or in his camp jersey 
 and knickerbockers or, as she saw him last, 
 in evening dress, climbing over the snowy roofs 
 she shuddered, and laid her hand on Hugh's 
 arm, to make sure that he was there. The 
 child was safe, at any rate. He was not going 
 to die. Hildegarde kept this thought resolutely 
 away from her, and was only conscious of it as 
 a dim horror, lurking in a corner of her brain. 
 He would be better soon, perhaps in a day or 
 two. It might even be that she would see Roger 
 
284 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 before he went back to the West, for he would 
 be going soon, no doubt. He would be sorry, 
 she thought, to go without seeing her. But 
 she had his gift ; he had sent it to her the day 
 after Christmas. She put her hand to her 
 throat, to make sure it was there the brooch 
 that he had made himself for her, digging 
 the gold, refining, hammering, fashioning it, 
 all with his own hands. She would never 
 wear any other brooch ! Dear old Jack, too. 
 He was missing her from his vacation, she 
 knew. Her mother said that he and Bell 
 were practising together every day, and that 
 all the Merry weathers were delighted with 
 him. He and the twins were becoming fast 
 friends. But they all missed her. They all 
 said that there was no luck about any of the 
 houses, with Hildegarde awa'. The tears came 
 to the girl's eyes. Everybody was so good to 
 her, so kind, so loving ! 
 
 Hugh moved uneasily, and she bent over 
 him ; his lips moved. " Play ! " said the child. 
 
 " Dear ! " said Hildegarde, softly. " My lad- 
 die ! Do you want something ? " 
 
AT LAST. 285 
 
 Hugh did not open his eyes, but a smile, or 
 the shadow of a smile, hovered about his lips for 
 an instant. 
 
 " Play Jack play ! " he whispered. 
 
 "Yes, dear! He shall come. We will send 
 for him ; rest now, my boy, quietly ! " 
 
 But now, seeing her mother at the door, Hil- 
 degarde stole softly to her, and told of the whis- 
 pered words. "Will you ask the doctor? He 
 might it might do him good, if he is 
 thinking about it ? You will see what is best, 
 dear ! " 
 
 Mrs. Grahame nodded, and went away. An 
 hour passed, as all the others passed. Then 
 Hildegarde heard steps on the veranda ; the 
 door opened and closed quietly ; the next 
 moment the voice of the violin came stealing 
 through the house. Ah ! what was it ? Were 
 angels singing the child to sleep ? Schubert's 
 Cradle Song ; there is no sweeter melody on 
 earth, and many times had Jack played little 
 Hugh to sleep with it, in the days before he 
 went abroad. Hildegarde watched the child 
 intently. At the first note of the music he 
 
286 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 stirred, and opened and closed his hands, which 
 lay listless on the counterpane. Then, as the 
 song flowed on, so low, so tender, it seemed the 
 voice of a spirit, or of some wandering wind, 
 caught and trained to melody ; the brows which 
 had been knitted, as if in an effort to think, 
 relaxed, a smile came to the sweet lips and set- 
 tled there happily. 
 
 " Schlafe, schlafe, siisser, holder Knabe ! 
 Leise wiegt dich deiner Mutter Hand." 
 
 " Sing ! " whispered Hugh ; and Hildegardc 
 sang, her heart beating high with joy and hope ; 
 for this was the first time she had been sure of 
 his knowing her. She bent over him, hoping 
 for a glance of recognition ; but he did not open 
 his eyes. His face seemed to clear and lighten 
 every moment ; it was as if a cloud were pass- 
 ing, and the day shining out fair and lovely; 
 but he turned his head drowsily, and whispered, 
 " Sleepy!" 
 
 Now Jack was playing the Chopin berceuse, 
 and all the world seemed lulling to sleep ; the 
 sound floated in waves through the darkened 
 
AT LAST. 287 
 
 room, whispering in corners, rippling round the 
 drowsy child, bearing him on, away, through 
 the gates of pearl, till now he was asleep, in 
 no heavy lethargy this time, but lying easily, 
 breathing deeply, his whole little form at rest, 
 at peace. And seeing this, the weary girl beside 
 him laid her head on the child's pillow, and 
 borne on those waves of dreamy sound, she, too, 
 passed through the white gates, and slept. 
 
 They slept so all through that night. Mrs, 
 Grahame and Auntie, coming to relieve Hilde- 
 garde, could not bear to wake her. The doctor put 
 his head in at the door, gazed for a moment, and 
 then nodded, and tiptoed off down-stairs and 
 home to bed, wiping his eyes as he went. The 
 Colonel and Jack, making their last call for the 
 night, heard the joyful report, and departed 
 treading on air. And still they slept. The 
 black woman nodded in her chair in the corner ; 
 she had put Mrs. Grahame to bed, and returned 
 to watch the night with her charge, all the more 
 precious now that her " own chile " was sleeping 
 beside him. Now and then a coal fell, and tin- 
 kled in the fireplace ; the night - light burned 
 
288 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 steadily, but the fire flared, and drooped, and 
 leaped up again, filling the quiet room with 
 flitting lights and shadows. Were they spirits, 
 bending over those two fair heads on the pillow, 
 side by side ? The angels might be glad to come 
 a good way to see such a sight as that, Auntie 
 said to herself. And she nodded, and dreamed 
 of the Golden City, and woke again to see always 
 the same quiet room, to hear always the same 
 sweet breathing of peace and rest and returning 
 health. 
 
 It was morning when Hildegarde awoke ; dim, 
 early morning, with the stars still shining, but 
 with a faint, pearly radiance growing momently 
 stronger in the east. She wondered at first what 
 was the matter, and why she was sitting up in 
 bed, rather stiff, with soft things wrapped round 
 her. Before she moved her eyes fell on the little 
 face beside her, and she remembered all, and 
 gave thanks to God for his mercy before she 
 stirred. Raising herself softly, she saw Auntie 
 sitting in her* great chair, bolt upright, but 
 sound asleep. 
 
 " Poor dear ! " thought the girl. " She need 
 
AT LAST. 289 
 
 not have come at all. We did not need any- 
 thing, Hugh and I. We have had a good, good 
 rest." 
 
 Beyond changing her position, and stretching 
 her limbs, cramped by staying so long in one 
 posture, she did not move, but sat with folded 
 hands, full of such happy thoughts that the 
 morning seemed to come on wings of gold. 
 
 The sun was up before Auntie woke, and 
 her frightened exclamation, " Fo' gracious good- 
 ness ! ef I ain't be'n 'sleep myself ! " though 
 hardly spoken above a whisper, echoed sharply 
 through the silent room. 
 
 Hugh opened his eyes, and his glance fell di- 
 rectly on Hildegarde. He smiled, and stretched 
 out his arms. 
 
 " Beloved," he said, " I am very glad to see 
 you ; but what are you doing in my room ? " 
 
 Hildegarde made no answer. She bent over 
 and took the child in her arms ; raised him a 
 little, with his head resting on her shoulder, so 
 that he could see beyond her. His eyes trav- 
 elled round the room, growing rounder and 
 larger every moment, as in the broadening light 
 
290 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 one object after another shone out, familiar, and 
 yet strange. 
 
 " Beloved," he said, "I beg your pardon! 
 But what am / doing in your room? Will 
 you make me understand, please ? " 
 
 " You have been asleep, darling ! " said Hil de- 
 garde. "You were not very well, and and 
 you happened to be here at the time, and so 
 we put you to bed here, you see." 
 
 "I don't see very well! " said Hugh, in quite 
 his own manner. " But probably I shall in a 
 little while. How long have I been asleep ? " 
 
 " Oh, quite a long time. But aren't you 
 hungry now, little boy ? See, here is Auntie, 
 and she is going to bring you up some breakfast, 
 the very best breakfast you can think of. What 
 do you say to chicken broth ? " 
 
 Hugh nodded and smiled at Auntie, who stood 
 devouring him with her eyes. 
 
 " Thank you ! " he said. " I think I shall be 
 hungry, when my think comes back a little 
 more. My think my mind has been asleep, 
 [ am pretty sure ! " he added, looking up at Hil- 
 degarde with his quiet, penetrating gaze. 
 
AT LAST. 291 
 
 " If I had Only just gone to sleep with my 
 eyes, Beloved, I should remember about it ; and 
 I don't remember much of anything." 
 
 " Oh, never mind about it now, Hughie ! 
 When you feel stronger we will talk it all over. 
 See ! I want to bathe your face and smooth 
 your hair before breakfast comes. Now you 
 shall be my baby, and I will curl your golden 
 locks for you. Shall I put something good in 
 the water ? There ! Isn't that nice and fresh ? 
 And now you shall put on my dressing-jacket ; 
 my beautiful new dressing-jacket, that Bell made 
 for me. Here it is, all fluttering with pink rib- 
 bons. Wasn't it dear of Bell to make it ? " 
 
 " Bell ! " said Hugh, meditatively ; he seemed 
 to be searching for something in his mind. 
 
 " Bell ~ Bellerophon ! " 
 
 " Never mind about Bellerophon now, dear," 
 said Hildegarde, trying to hide her anxiety, and 
 to speak lightly. " We will have Bellerophon 
 by and by ; we don't want him here." 
 
 But Hugh was not to be turned aside ; his 
 brain was now fully awake, and at work, but 
 his look was so calm and clear, his voice so 
 
292 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 natural and peaceful, that Hildegarde felt re- 
 lieved in spite of herself. 
 
 "I have to consider a little, Beloved," he 
 said, cheerfully, "just to straighten out my 
 think, which appears to be somewhat mixed. 
 What was I doing on a roof?" 
 
 Hildegarde held her peace. The child must 
 cake his own way, she felt ; she did not dare to 
 cross him. 
 
 "I went up on a roof!" Hugh went on. 
 * : I think it was a roof, Beloved?" 
 
 .Hildegarde nodded. 
 
 " And there I was Pegasus, you remember ; 
 I have been Pegasus a great deal lately, but 
 I shall not be him for a good while now, be- 
 cause I have had enough, I was Pegasus, and 
 I wanted Bellerophon. The Christmas Tree 
 frightened him away, so I came somewhere 
 perhaps here ? and I thought it was a moun- 
 tain. I thought it was Helicon, and if I climbed 
 up to the top, Bellerophon would come to me, 
 and we would fly down and kill the Chimsera, 
 don't you see ? " 
 
 (6 I see, dear, of course ! And then ? " 
 
AT LAST. 293 
 
 " Then I called out to Bellerophon that I was 
 ready, and we would fly. But but just as we 
 were going to fly, some strong person took hold 
 of me, and I looked, and I was on a roof, with 
 Captain Roger holding me. Where is Captain 
 Roger, Beloved? And where was the roof?" 
 
 " The roof was here, dear child ! You were 
 walking in your sleep, Hugh. You climbed up 
 to the upper roof, and and Captain Roger saw 
 you, and went after you, and brought you down. 
 That is how you came to be in my room, Hugh. 
 Now you understand it all, darling, and you will 
 not worry any more about it." 
 
 Hugh looked relieved. 
 
 " Now I shall not worry any more about it ! " 
 he repeated, with satisfaction. " It was puzzling 
 me dreadfully, Beloved, and I could not get 
 straight till I saw how it was, but now I see. 
 My head has been queer ever since I fell down on 
 the ice ; I think Bellerophon got bumped into it, 
 don't you? But now he is bumped out again, 
 and he may go and kill the Chimaera himself, 
 for I sha'n't stir a step." 
 
 His laughter rang out fresh and joyous; and 
 
294 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 at the sound Mrs. Grahame came running in, 
 at first in great anxiety, fearing delirium ; but 
 when she saw the two happy faces, beaming 
 with smiles, and heard Hugh addressing her 
 in his own quaint fashion, and hoping that she 
 had slept very well indeed, she could not keep 
 back the tears of joy. Seeing these tears, Hilde- 
 garde must needs weep a little, too ; but they 
 were such tears as did no one any harm, and 
 Hugh said at once, " This is a sun-shower ! And 
 now we shall have a rainbow, and after that 
 some breakfast." 
 
 When the breakfast came, you may be sure 
 it was served on the very best tray the house 
 afforded, the gold - lacquered one, with the 
 bronze dragon curling about it ; and the broth 
 was in the blue Sevres bowl, with golden pheas- 
 ants strutting round it. 
 
 " Dem's de nearest to chick'ns I could find ! " 
 said Auntie, and Hildegarde forbore to point out 
 to her that she, Hildegarde, had never been 
 allowed to so much as dust this precious piece 
 of china, much less to eat out of it. And the 
 toast was like thin strips of edible gold, so that 
 
AT LAST. 295 
 
 both Hugh and Hildegarde declared King Midas 
 could not have had such a bad time of it after 
 all, if he had a cook anything like Auntie. It 
 was hard to tell who most enjoyed the broth 
 and toast, Hugh who ate it, Auntie who made 
 it, or Hildegarde who held the spoon, and broke 
 off the crisp bits. It was a happy little feast, 
 and the doctor was a joyful man when he looked 
 in on it an hour or so later. He said that all 
 would go well now. 
 
 " Slowly ! slowly ! No hurry ! Keep him 
 here a while yet, and don't let him see too 
 many people ; no excitable folks, who will weep 
 over him," Hilda and her mother exchanged 
 a guilty glance, " keep him in bed for a day 
 or two, till he gets his balance entirely. Good- 
 bye ! God bless you ! " 
 
 The good man trotted off briskly, and they 
 heard him greeting some one on the veranda 
 below. 
 
 "Doing finely! finely! All right now; a 
 little quiet, a little care, going in ? Yes ! 
 Oh, yes! See you all right! Told them to 
 keep noisy folks away. Good-morning ! " 
 
296 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 Mrs. Grahame went out, and spoke in a low 
 voice with some one now in the hall. Some 
 one was speaking in return, very low; yet 
 not so low but that Hildegarde's heart began 
 to throb, and the colour to mount high over 
 cheek and brow; not so low but that Hugh, 
 who had the fine ear of some woodland creature, 
 sat up in bed, and clapped his hands. 
 
 " It is Captain Roger, Beloved ! It is him- 
 self ; do you hear his voice ? And he must come 
 up, please, this moment of time, to see me, and 
 to let me tell him what is in my heart for him." 
 
 Hildegarde hesitated ; there was a tumult 
 within her that made her feel uncertain what 
 was best to do or say ; but in this moment Mrs. 
 Grahame had brought Roger up-stairs, and now 
 he was here, on the threshold. He was in the 
 room ; he was holding her hand, and looking at 
 her with his bright, kind gaze. 
 
 Neither of them spoke ; it was Hugh who 
 broke the silence. Roger had sat down by him, 
 after that first silent greeting, and kissed his 
 forehead, and took both the child's hands in 
 his. 
 
AT LAST. 297 
 
 " I heard you, Captain Roger ; I heard the 
 first tone of your voice, and you sounded like 
 an angel." 
 
 " Did I, Hugh ? I don't think I look like an 
 angel, do you ? Did you ever see a picture of 
 one with a moustache ? " 
 
 " Perhaps not ; but it says that they don't 
 always look like themselves, you know. Many 
 times they looked just like common men in the 
 Bible. And you were an angel when you came 
 to me on the roof the other night." 
 
 Roger glanced quickly at Hildegarde ; the girl 
 nodded. 
 
 "He knows," she said. "I could not keep 
 it from him, the moment he was himself again. 
 He pieced it all out, with hardly any help from 
 me." 
 
 Roger looked grave, but his anxious look 
 rested on Hildegarde, not on Hugh. 
 
 " Did you take cold ? " he asked. 
 
 " I ? No, certainly not ! Why should I take 
 cold?" 
 
 " In your thin evening dress ! " said Roger, 
 reproachfully. " With slippers on your feet, 
 
298 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 there you stood in the snow, arid would not go 
 in when I told you. I have thought of nothing 
 but pneumonia and consumption ever since. 
 But you look pretty well, I think!" 
 
 Hildegarde laughed in spite of herself. 
 
 "I I thought you believed in being wet ! " 
 she said. 
 
 " For myself of course ! We are all polar 
 bears, more or less ; but it is different with 
 you." 
 
 " Very different ! " said Hildegarde. " I had 
 snow - boots on, Captain Roger, all the time ! 
 Your anxiety has been thrown away, you see." 
 
 "So!" said Roger, with a look of intense 
 relief. " I never thought of that ! I I didn't 
 think " 
 
 " You didn't think I had sense enough ! " 
 cried Hildegarde. " No more I had ! They 
 just happened to be on my feet, because I 
 hadn't taken them off. I had been sitting and 
 looking out of the window, ever since the Christ- 
 mas Tree." 
 
 " So had I ! " said Roger. " That was how 
 we both happened to see. The moral is " 
 
AT LAST. 299 
 
 He did not say what the moral was, but sat 
 pulling his moustache, and looking at Hilde- 
 garde. Hildegarde felt herself blushing again ; 
 she tried to speak of some trivial thing, but the 
 words died on her lips ; the silence deepened 
 every moment, and it seemed as if she and Roger 
 were drowning in it, going deeper and deeper 
 down, down, 
 
 Hugh looked cheerfully from one to the other ; 
 he saw that they were embarrassed for some 
 reason, and came to the rescue with his usual 
 calm philanthropy. 
 
 " Have you forgotten what you wanted to 
 say ? When I am going to say anything, and 
 then forget what I wanted to say, I say, ' I 
 love you ! ' 
 
 Roger broke into a short laugh. 
 
 " Thank you, Hugh!" he said. "There is 
 not much need of my saying it, but shall I, 
 Hilda?" 
 
 Hildegarde could not speak. She looked up, 
 and meeting her eyes, Roger held out his hand 
 across the little bed, the strong, faithful hand 
 that had helped her now so many times, and 
 
300 HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST. 
 
 she laid hers in it, and felt its earnest clasp, and 
 knew that there was no more any parting be- 
 tween Roger and her. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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