"And you won"t be disturbing me in the least, Sue," Blue Bonnet said, "for I"m with you both. I want to have a little "heart-to-heart" session with Mr. Emerson in the morning on his compensation article. I believe that I can do it justice now that the tea is over."
"But I must get my clock, Annabel. If it should go off at daylight, and Wee found me missing, there"d be trouble."
"All right, trot along, Sue; but come back instantly."
Is it necessary to add that, after talking until the wee small hours of morning, daylight found three girls peacefully slumbering, utterly oblivious to the faithful alarm which trilled forth its summons to unheeding ears?
It was Blue Bonnet who first opened her eyes to the broad sunlight, and sat up with a start. It took her a full minute to get her bearings: then she rushed to Annabel"s bed and shook that young person roundly.
"Annabel! Annabel! Sue! For goodness" sake, get up! It"s seven-thirty this minute. I hear the girls now, going to breakfast. How am I ever to get into my own room for my clothes? Oh, I never should have stayed here last night--I knew that I shouldn"t all the time."
But Sue, sitting up in Ruth"s bed, rubbed her eyes vigorously and poured oil on the troubled waters.
"Don"t get so excited, Blue Bonnet. It"s no killing matter to be late to breakfast. You"ll only get a mark in the "Doomsday Book;" and thank your lucky stars the girls _are_ going down to breakfast. When they"re all gone you can slip out easily."
"Yes--but oh, my Emerson!"
"Emerson isn"t a patching to a Latin exam!"
"And the two couldn"t match up with a Physics test!" Annabel groaned, putting on her clothes with eager haste. "I have a vision of the mark I"ll get!"
She went to the door and took a sweeping glance down the hall.
"Coast"s clear," she announced. "Shoo--both of you."
CHAPTER XVI
ANTIc.i.p.aTIONS
Spring had come at last. In Woodford, up among the hills, the We Are Sevens--or "Sixes," in the absence of Blue Bonnet--were celebrating its advent with a riding party.
It was Sat.u.r.day afternoon, as might be suspected from the leisurely way the girls rode through the woods, stopping often to admire the maples and elms and the beautiful chestnuts, just beginning to feel the thrill of life after their long winter nap.
"Seems to me those leaves grow greener while you wait," Kitty Clark said, reining her horse beside a chuckling brook and pointing to a near-by birch grove. "I feel just like this water. I want to run as fast as I can, calling, "Spring is here! Spring is here!" Don"t you perfectly love this odor of growing things? Listen to that phbe! Doesn"t it sound as if he were saying, "Spring"s come! Spring"s come!""
She was off her horse before the other girls had time to answer, climbing the steep sides of the glen in search of the first hepaticas.
"Here they are!" she called back joyfully a moment later. Under the lichen-plastered rocks, among the damp leaves, the delicate blossoms peeped forth shyly. Kitty fell upon her knees and buried her nose in the delicious fragrance.
"Oh, the darlings!" Debby exclaimed, close behind. "Girls! Let"s gather as many as we can find, and send a box of them to Blue Bonnet. Remember how she raved over them last year? She said they were almost as lovely as the blue bonnets that bloom in Texas about this time."
The suggestion met with instant approval, and for the next half hour six girls worked busily.
"Seems to me they"re awfully early this year," Amanda said, searching under the mahogany colored leaves for the little furred heads. "I never knew them to come before April."
"Oh, you forget from year to year, Amanda," Kitty reminded. "Anyway, it"s almost April. A week from to-day is the first. That"s the day Blue Bonnet gets here. And, by the way, I have a letter from Blue Bonnet. It came just as I was leaving the house and I waited until we were all together to read it. Suppose we go up on the hill a little farther and get in a patch of sunshine. It"s a trifle chilly in the shade, even if Mr. Phbe does keep insisting that "Spring"s come!""
"Humph! Short and sweet," Kitty commented, as she drew forth the letter.
"Suppose it is because she will be with us so soon."
"DEAREST GIRLS:--
"This is a joint letter to-day. I am so busy with exams this week that I can"t do much letter writing. The tests have been something awful. The girls say they grow stiffer all the time--- but no matter! I daresay you have troubles in this line of your own.
"I have the pleasure to inform you, girls, that Uncle Cliff will be in Boston the first day of April, and that he has written me to invite the We Are Sevens to be his guests at the Copley Plaza for three days, beginning on that date. This means that we shall all return to Woodford together for the rest of my vacation. I hope nothing will prevent your acceptance. Grandmother and Aunt Lucinda have been included in the invitation, so you will be well chaperoned. Please answer as soon as possible, so that Uncle Cliff can make his reservations at the hotel. I know that we are going to have a splendid time. Bring your prettiest clothes, as there will be something doing every minute. I can hardly wait to see you all, and to have the "Lambs" meet you.
"Hoping to hear from you very soon, "I am, ever with dearest love, "BLUE BONNET."
There was an instant"s silence after Kitty stopped reading, and then everybody broke forth at once.
"At the Copley Plaza! For three days! To visit Blue Bonnet!"
"Isn"t it a blessing that our vacation begins on the first, too?" Debby said. "There ought not to be a thing to hinder our going."
"Nothing but--just one thing, Debby. It takes a lot of pretty clothes to stay in a place like the Copley Plaza. And those "Lambs!" Blue Bonnet says they dress beautifully. Now, what have we got to wear in a crowd like that?"
"If they"re going to like us just for our clothes, Kitty!" protested Amanda. "Besides, you have that new blue voile; you"re a dream in it; and Sarah has her wine-colored henrietta. Maybe the rest of us could sc.r.a.pe up something; there"s--let"s see, four or five days yet."
"Maybe we could get something in Boston," Debby suggested. "Blue Bonnet says they have wonderful bargains. You know she got all her clothes for school ready made, and they were as stylish as could be."
"Perhaps we could; that"s an idea, Debby," Kitty remarked thankfully.
"It"s time for spring clothes anyway. We shouldn"t want Blue Bonnet to be ashamed of us."
Debby scoffed.
"Blue Bonnet wouldn"t be ashamed of us--no matter what we wear. She"s not that kind."
"But she"d like to be proud of us, nevertheless. Those "Lambs" come from awfully rich families; they must, or they couldn"t be in that school. It costs a small fortune to go there."
"Blue Bonnet says they are not a bit airy, though, Kitty; and you hardly ever hear a word about money. Blue Bonnet says Miss North is a regular stickler for simplicity, and that she"s forever telling the girls where to place values in this world."
"Where does she place them--these values? What are values anyway?"
It was Sarah"s turn to speak up quietly.
"I believe I know," she said. "That"s one of father"s hobbies. It means getting a true estimate of life. We should value things that are worth while, like education and refinement, honesty and courage. It"s very vulgar to put value on money; gentle birth and good breeding count for much more."
"I guess our grandsires could measure up with anybody"s," Amanda said proudly. "We"re every one eligible to the Daughters of the Revolution."
"What"s the matter with the We Are Sevens?" Kitty shouted, and the rest took up the cry:
"Who"s all right? We"re all right!"