Nor was she deficient in a sense of humour, for she openly doted on Jimmie, and listened intently for his jokes, with the laudable intention of seeing them before they were explained to her, if she could.
His absurd misadventures, however, came well within her ken, and this last one so tickled her fancy that--I blush to say it, but it is true--our imported Guernsey cow is responsible for Jimmie"s invitation to Combe Abbey to visit the d.u.c.h.ess of Strowther, when Lady Mary goes home to her mother next May.
This is how it happened.
We were all out on the tennis-court one afternoon, when our attention was attracted by the strange antics of the Guernsey. She was generally quite shy and would allow no one to whom she was not accustomed to come near her. But on this occasion she lurched up near where we were standing, and crossed her forefeet and leered at us in such a way that we women instinctively moved backward and put the men between us and her.
We all stared at her, and she stared back and switched her long tail and hung her tongue out and rolled from side to side, until Jimmie said:
"I"m blessed if the old girl doesn"t look drunk!"
Just then old Amos ambled up, his fat sides shaking.
"Dat"s jest what!" he exclaimed. "You sho"ly am a jedge ob jags, Mistah Jimmie, tah be able tah tell "em in man er beas"! Dat cow"s drunk. Dat"s what she is. Jest plain drunk an" disorderly. She broke her rope dis mornin" en got at de apples en filled hersif full ob dem.
And apples always mek a cow drunk!"
"I never heard of such a thing," said Captain Featherstone.
Amos scratched his head.
"Well, Mars Captain, I reckon dere"s a heap o" tings about a farm dat army ossifers never hearn tell of--meaning no onrespect to dere book larnin". But jes" de same, dat air Guernsey am drunk."
We all looked at her with interest.
"But what will she do?" I said. "How does being drunk affect a cow?"
"Jes" same as er man, Miss Faith, honey. Jes" look at her! She used to be de shyest, mos" ladylake cow awn de place. She always seemed to "member dat she"d had a calf en was a lady ob quality. Now look at her! She don" keer! She"d jes" as soon lean her head on de Boss"s shoulder en ax him fer a drink er de loan ob his cee-gyar. She"s done forgot dat she"s a mudder. She feels lake she don" know which is de odder side ob de street en she don" want to be tol"! Dat"s what drink does for man or beas"."
"But will it hurt her milk?" I said, soberly, for the rest were screaming at the imbecile expression of the Guernsey while Amos thus diagnosed her case.
"No"m, no"m. Leastways. .h.i.t won"t hurt huh none. It"ll dry her up, dough. Such a jag as dat Guernsey"s got will dry up her milk for two weeks er mo". En I wouldn"t keer to be de one ter milk huh, neider!"
Here was Jimmie"s opportunity.
"Nonsense!" he said. "I"ll milk her! I"m not afraid of what a drunken cow will do. Let me know, Amos, when you want her milked."
"All right, Mistah Jimmie. I sho will let you know, yas, sir. Now den, Missus fool cow! Ef you can leab off chattin" wid de quality long enough to go teh yo" stall, I"ll show you de way."
I repeat--the Guernsey used to be our best-behaved, most intelligent and ladylike cow, but when Amos endeavoured to lead her away, she calmly sank down just where she was, and went to sleep.
This was too much for Amos. Fun was fun, to be sure, and he seemed glad we were pleased by the Guernsey"s antics, but his wrath at a cow"s taking the tennis-court for her afternoon nap upset his ideas of propriety.
"Doesn"t she remind you for all the world," cried Jimmie, with tears in his eyes, "of a man who sinks to sleep with his arm affectionately around a lamp-post? Her feet are in an att.i.tude that a painter would call "one of unstudied grace!""
But Amos, in a fury, pushed, pulled, slapped, and shoved her into a sitting posture, and, by dint of leaning upon each other as if both were under the weather, he finally got her started toward the barn, she, every once in awhile, pausing to lift a fore foot hilariously before planting it on her next uncertain step.
Several hours later I saw Jimmie, with a shining new milk-pail on his arm, followed by Amos with the milking-stool in his hand and his tongue in his cheek, go toward the Guernsey"s stall.
We all looked expectantly at each other, then rose, as if by common consent, and followed.
Lady Mary tucked her arm under Mrs. Jimmie"s, and gurgled deliciously.
"Oh, dear Mrs. Jimmie! Is your husband always as amusing as he has been here at Peach Orchard? If he is, I am sure mamma would just delight in him--only things aren"t always happening at Combe Abbey to show him off as they are at Mrs. Jardine"s."
Mrs. Jimmie looked dubious at the first part of this remark, flushed with pleasure at the middle of it, and looked reproachfully at me at the last.
Why is everything always my fault, I wonder?
"Well, I don"t know," she said, slowly, "but it does seem as if Jimmie always gets into more troub--I mean, has more adventures when he and Faith are together than when he and I are alone. Oh, oh! What can be the matter with that cow! Oh, I wonder if she has killed my husband!"
We all looked just in time to see the Guernsey gallop madly across the garden, plough her way through the sweet corn, and disappear gaily over the fence, heading for the trolley-tracks, with Amos a close second as she took the hurdle.
Bee"s English coachman, who took great pride in the kitchen-garden, hastily followed to see what damage she had done, but at Mrs. Jimmie"s agonized entreaty to know what had become of Jimmie, I called him, and he came, respectfully touching his forelock in a way which Jimmie always said "was worth the price of admission."
"I think she has about done for the Country Gentleman, ma"am. She has trampled it so it will never be any good."
Mrs. Jimmie turned white, and leaned gaspingly on Lady Mary.
"Trampled him!" she cried. "Oh, come! Come quickly, and see if she has killed him!"
"My dear!" I cried, almost hysterical over her mistake. "The Country Gentleman is a kind of sweet corn--not Jimmie! See, there he is now.
Look, dearest!"
Sure enough, there came Jimmie, a trifle sheepish, but defiant. His derby hat was without a brim, the milk-pail was jammed together like a folding lunch-box, and had a little foam on the outside, as the sole product of his milking prowess.
We asked no questions, but our eager faces demanded an explanation.
He gave it,--terse as was his wont.
"Well, I"ll bet that d.a.m.ned cow never switches her tail in anybody"s face again!"
We needed no further description of what had happened. The picture was complete.
Strange to say, Lady Mary seemed to comprehend better than any of us.
She gurgled with laughter the whole evening, and lavished attentions upon Jimmie so flatteringly that he ceased to look furtively at me and became quite c.o.c.ky before the evening was over, pretending that he had done all these things to help me entertain my guests.
As we went up-stairs that night, Mrs. Jimmie clutched my arm, and, with eyes as big as stars, said, in a tense whisper:
"My dear, we are invited to Combe Abbey! Think of it! To visit the d.u.c.h.ess of Strowther! Lady Mary is going to write to her mother immediately!"
If it had been anybody except dear Mrs. Jimmie, I should have said:
"Is she going to invite the cow, too?"
But as it was, I squeezed back, and said, earnestly:
"I am so glad, dear Mrs. Jimmie!"