Blue Bonnet rose to go.
"Wait a minute, Blue Bonnet," Carita said. "I"ve some news for you. What do you think! Knight Judson"s coming to Boston; my cousin, you know.
He"s coming with your Uncle Cliff. I"ve just had a letter."
"Knight Judson! What for?"
"He"s always wanted to come, and now he has the opportunity. He"s been wild to study engineering, saved his money for it for a long time.
Well--he had a chance to come on and do a little work at the Ma.s.sachusetts Tech. It"s awfully late in the year, of course, to enter, but he wants to look up a lot of things and be ready to start in the fall. I"m so anxious to see him. He"ll have so much news from home."
"And Sandy? Why didn"t he come, too?"
"He will, next year."
"It will be fine to see Knight again," Blue Bonnet said. "Alec will be delighted to know he"s coming. They were great friends in Texas."
"Yes, Knight is going to Washington first, then on to Woodford for a few days, with Alec."
"How splendid! Oh, Carita, everything is going so beautifully that it almost makes me afraid. I feel as if the fairies had given me three wishes and they had all come true. I don"t know whether I can walk down-stairs or not. I feel like taking a flying leap."
"Take the banister," Mary suggested. "It"s safer, and heaps more fun. I tried it yesterday."
Blue Bonnet looked properly shocked.
"Fortunate you didn"t run into any one," she remarked.
"But I did! A nice lady who was trying to find Madam de Cartier. We fell--all in a heap!"
The morning of the first of April broke clear and calm.
"Even the weather is on my side," Blue Bonnet said. "I ought to be the very happiest girl in the world--and I am!"
It was a busy time at the school; a general breaking up for spring vacation. In the halls girls scurried in every direction and hasty good-bys were said; trunks were carried out noisily by careless expressmen to the vans that stood waiting outside.
"Terribly exciting, isn"t it?" Sue said, pa.s.sing Blue Bonnet in the hall shortly after breakfast. "I"m so glad Annabel and I are staying over until Monday. Has your uncle arrived yet?"
"I"m just watching for him. He should be here in about ten minutes. I"m keeping my eye on the front door--oh, Sue, there"s a ring now; perhaps it"s he! It is! It is!"
And the next moment Blue Bonnet was folded in her uncle"s arms.
"Uncle Cliff! dear Uncle Cliff!" she cried, rapturously, while she led him toward the reception-room, holding to his arm tightly as if by some chance he might escape. "How ever did you get up here so soon? It"s only a quarter to nine, now."
"Taxi, Honey. And the train was on time, fortunately. Come over to the light and let me have a look at you. Why, child, how you have grown! And what"s this--long dresses! Honey, Honey, where"s Uncle Cliff"s little girl?"
There was a note in the man"s voice that struck deep at the girl"s heart.
"Here she is," she cried, snuggling into the warm embrace again. "She"ll never be anything but a little girl to you--never! That"s proper length--just a speck below my shoe-tops. Will you sit here a minute while I find Carita? Poor Carita has been a little homesick the last few days. It"s seeing the girls start for home, I reckon."
She was away in a trice, bringing back Carita, who welcomed Uncle Cliff with almost as much enthusiasm as Blue Bonnet had.
"Now the plans, Honey. What are they?" Mr. Ashe said, looking at his watch. "Have you had breakfast?"
"Uncle Cliff! An hour ago."
"Well, I haven"t. Suppose you get your things together--both of you--and come over to the hotel with me right away. The taxi is waiting."
It didn"t take the girls long to get their suitcases and run back to Mr.
Ashe.
"All ready?" he inquired.
"Just as soon as we say good-by to Miss North."
At the hotel Blue Bonnet and Carita found themselves in the daintiest suite of rooms imaginable.
"I will come for you in twenty minutes," Mr. Ashe said. "Then we will go down to breakfast. I have a suspicion that you could eat another bite if you tried, while we talk over the plans. Suppose you have them all settled, Honey?"
"Yes, I have, Uncle Cliff. It"s going to be very strenuous, too, I"m afraid. I hope you aren"t awfully, _awfully_ tired."
At which Uncle Cliff smiled one of his tender, adoring smiles, and patted Blue Bonnet"s shoulder affectionately.
"I think I shall be equal to the demand," he said, and was off.
In the dining-room a cosy table was found for three. Many a head turned in pa.s.sing to gaze at the little party, who, oblivious to time or surroundings, chatted merrily.
It was after they had left the dining-room, that Blue Bonnet, pausing at her uncle"s door, asked Carita if she would mind going on to their rooms for just a minute: she had something she must say to Uncle Cliff alone--a secret.
"It"s this, Uncle Cliff," she said, when the door had closed, "I want to talk something over with you before Aunt Lucinda comes. You see, I"m not quite sure she"d approve of it, and I want so much to do it. That is--I want to, if we can--without hurting anybody"s feelings."
"All right, Honey. What is it?"
She was holding on to Uncle Cliff"s coat lapels now, and looking up into his face with the childish trust and confidence she had shown since babyhood, and the man"s arm went round her as of old, protectingly.
"You see, it"s this way, Uncle Cliff. There"s that dinner for the Lambs and the We Are Sevens to-morrow night. Every single one of the Lambs ordered a new gown to wear. I didn"t want them to--but they would do it--and--I"m afraid it"s going to make the We Are Sevens sort of uncomfortable. So I was thinking, Uncle Cliff--I was _wishing_ that--we--you and I, maybe--could have a little shopping expedition to-morrow morning and--"
She stopped short, not knowing how to go on without putting herself in the wrong light.
"You understand--don"t you, Uncle Cliff? It isn"t that I"d be ashamed of the girls; you know that. Their clothes are all right--only I know how girls feel not to be dressed quite like others. It makes them awkward and ill at ease, and--"
Mr. Ashe bent over and imprinted a kiss on the brown head, and for a moment his eyes were suspiciously bright.
"I understand perfectly, Honey," he said.
"But just how could we do it, Uncle Cliff--get them some pretty things without making them think--that--that their things weren"t right,--good enough, you know? It"s an awfully delicate matter."
[Ill.u.s.tration: "SHE WAS HOLDING ON TO UNCLE CLIFF"S COAT LAPELS."]
"So it is, Honey, but I think we can find a way. Was it some pretty frocks you wanted to give them?"