Blue Bonnet glanced about quickly to see if this reflection had given offence. None was visible. A relieved expression was rather more in evidence.
"I think _I_ could help, perhaps, Miss Clyde," Sarah said, determined not to have her one accomplishment thrust aside so lightly.
"I am sure you could, Sarah, and thank you very much; your work is always beautiful. Perhaps you would do some of the handkerchiefs."
The next two weeks seemed to take wings--they flew along so fast. The grey days had come; bleak, raw days when clouds hung over the hills, threatening snow and ice.
"Only five days now until Uncle Cliff comes," Blue Bonnet said one morning, pausing in her sewing--she was making bureau scarfs for her room at school, taking the greatest pride and interest in them.
"Five days! I can hardly wait. Grandmother, did you ever think what Uncle Cliff"s been to me? Why, he"s been father, mother, brother, sister! Many"s the time on the ranch when I"d get lonesome he"d play tag with me, or marbles, or cut paper dolls and make me swings--anything to make me happy. Seems like I"m only just beginning to understand how much I owe him; always before I"ve just kind of taken everything for granted.
Sometimes I can hardly wait until I"m grown up to make a nice home for him--to take care of him, and do the things--the little things men like to have done for them."
Miss Clyde turned and scrutinized Blue Bonnet"s face closely.
What was this child saying? This woman-child, who only yesterday was romping through the house, indulging in childish dreams--childish sports.
"I"m beginning to feel grown up, sometimes, Grandmother. Going on seventeen is a pretty good age, isn"t it? It won"t be long now until I"m twenty-one, and then I suppose I"ll have to take up responsibilities--learn how to run the ranch."
She sighed heavily.
"I fancy Uncle Cliff will stand back of you for some time yet, dear."
Blue Bonnet nodded confidently.
"Yes, and there"s Alec. Pretty soon he"ll know how to manage everything on the ranch, too. Uncle Cliff"s getting awfully fond of him. Maybe when Alec is through school he"ll make him manager of the whole place.
Wouldn"t that be fine? I think Alec will always be better out in the open. He can"t stand city life, it"s too cramped for him."
"It certainly would be fine for Alec."
"Yes, and for Uncle Cliff, too. He gets mighty tired of the grind--that"s what he calls it sometimes. Why, his little trips East are about the only pleasure he has; and yet--I don"t believe you could drive him off the Blue Bonnet Ranch. He loves everything about it, from the smallest yearling to each blade of gra.s.s. He says my father did too, and _his_ father. It"s a kind of a family trait."
She laughed softly.
"And you have inherited the feeling?" Grandmother asked.
"Oh, I love it," the girl answered. "Of course I love it--but I"m not crazy to winter and summer on it."
Mrs. Clyde seemed satisfied. It would be easier to transplant Uncle Cliff sometime in the future, she thought, than to sacrifice Blue Bonnet to the Texas wilderness. The bond between herself and the child was riveting so close that the thought of a possible separation often appalled her. Yet she did not wish to be selfish; Blue Bonnet"s allegiance was to her uncle--there could be no doubt of that.
"By the way, Grandmother, did I tell you that the General has a new picture of Alec? It"s just fine. I"ll run over and get it."
She was back in the shortest possible time, excited and breathless.
"There he is," she said, thrusting the picture in her grandmother"s hands. "Did you ever see anybody change so in your life? That shows what Texas air will do for people. Why, he"s fat, positively fat, for him, isn"t he?"
"He certainly seems to have grown stouter," Mrs. Clyde admitted.
"And those corduroys--don"t they look good--and the sombrero?"
Blue Bonnet"s face glowed.
"I don"t think you like it," she said, after a moment, taking the picture in her own hands and regarding it jealously.
"Why, yes, I do, dear. Only it seems a bit strange to see Alec in that garb. It is cowboy style, is it not?"
"Yes, but it"s cowboy dress, and cowboy life, and cowboy freedom that has given Alec health. He"d never have got it here in Woodford in a thousand years."
"That is true, Blue Bonnet. You are right. What did the General think of the picture?"
"He loves it! I reckon it looked better to him than a West Point uniform with nothing inside of it."
Mrs. Clyde smiled.
"I think the General got over that dream long ago, Blue Bonnet. He is perfectly delighted with Alec"s recovery."
Blue Bonnet put the picture on the mantel-shelf, and, folding her work neatly, went to the window and looked out. She stood a moment lost in thought.
"I think I"ll go for a gallop, Grandmother," she said, turning suddenly.
"I"ve just time before dinner. I won"t have many more chances."
"The clouds look heavy, dear."
"I know; that"s why I want to go. I love the damp air in my face. It"s so refreshing."
But out among the hills where the clouds lay the thickest and the wind blew the sharpest, the world seemed a little dreary to Blue Bonnet.
"You poor little things," she said to the sparrows hopping from fence to tree forlornly. "The prospect of a New England winter is not as alluring as it might be, is it? Why don"t you try Texas? It"s warm down there--and sunshiny--and--
"What"s the matter with me?" she said, pulling herself up in the saddle.
Then she laughed.
"I know. I"m homesick because I"m going away, and it"s perfectly ridiculous. Who ever heard of any one being homesick before they started? I sha"n"t stand for it!
"It"s a good thing Aunt Lucinda didn"t hear that, Chula. She"d be horrified. What I mean is, I sha"n"t let it creep in. If I do it will make me miserable, and I can"t afford to be miserable with Uncle Cliff coming."
Blue Bonnet turned Chula sharply and headed toward home, forcing a little tune to her lips, a smile to her eyes, with a determination that would have done credit to a much older person.
"Why, dearie, you did not ride far, did you?" was Grandmother"s cheery welcome.
"No, it was bleaker than I thought. The wind was cold, too, but it was refreshing just the same."
Mrs. Clyde eyed her lovingly.
Little tendrils from the fly-away hair strayed over her forehead and a healthy red showed through the tan of her cheeks.
Her grandmother thought of a sweet wild rose just bursting into bloom as she looked at her. There was something about Blue Bonnet that breathed the spirit of all wild things--flowers and sweeping prairies, broad expanses.
"There is a letter for you, Blue Bonnet. You must have known to have hurried so."