"Oh, are you Carlia Duke?"
"Yes; how did you know?"
"Dorian has told me about you."
"Has he? We"re neighbors; an" you"re the girl that"s visiting with the Trent"s?"
"Yes."
"Well, I"m glad to meet you. Dorian has told me about you, too."
Thus these two, meeting for the first time, went on chatting together; and thus Dorian saw them. He had missed Mildred at the lower pasture, and so, with shovel again on shoulder, he had followed up the homeward path. The girls were some distance ahead, so he did not try to overtake them. In fact, he slackened his pace a little, so as not to get too close to them to disturb them; but he saw them plainly walk close together up the road in the twilight of the summer evening, the tall, light-haired Mildred, and the shorter, dark-haired Carlia; and the child in Dorian seemed to vanish, and the man in him a.s.serted himself in thought and feelings which it would have been hard for him to describe in words.
CHAPTER FOUR.
Indian summer lay drowsily over the land. It had come late that season, but its rare beauty compensated for its tardiness. Its golden mellowness permeating the hazy air, had also, it seems, crept into the heart of Dorian Trent. The light coating of frost which each morning lay on the gra.s.s, had by noon vanished, and now the earth was warm and dry.
Dorian was plowing, and he was in no great haste with his work. He did not urge his horses, for they also seemed imbued with the languidness of the season. He let them rest frequently, especially at the end of the furrow where there was a gra.s.sy bank on which the plowman could lie p.r.o.ne on his back and look into the dreamy distances of the hills or up into the veiling clouds.
Dorian could afford to take it a little easy that afternoon, so he thought. The summer"s work was practically over: the wheat had been thrashed; the hay was in the stacks; the potatoes were in the pit; the corn stood in Indian wigwam bunches in the yard; the fruit and vegetables, mostly of the mother"s raising, had been sufficient for their simple needs. They were well provided for the winter; and so Dorian was happy and contented as everyone in like condition should be on such an Indian summer afternoon.
Mildred Brown"s visit to the farm had ended some weeks ago; but only yesterday his mother had received a note from Mrs. Brown, asking if her daughter might not come again. Her former visit had done her so much good, and now the beautiful weather was calling her out into the country. It was a shame, Mildred had said, that Indian summer should "waste its sweetness on the desert air of the city."
"What do you say?" Mrs. Trent had asked Dorian.
"Why--why--of course, mother, if she doesn"t make too much work for you."
And so Mildred had received the invitation that she was very welcome to come to Greenstreet and stay as long as she desired. Very likely, she would be with them in a day or two, thought Dorian. She would draw and paint, and then in the soft evening dusk she would play some of those exquisite melodies on her violin. Mildred did not like people to speak of her beloved instrument as a fiddle, and he remembered how she had chastised him on one occasion for so doing. Yes, she would again enter into their daily life. Her ladylike ways, her sweet smile, her golden beauty would again glorify their humble home. Why, if she came often enough and remained long enough, she might yet learn how to milk a cow, as she had threatened to do. At the thought, the boy on the gra.s.s by the nodding horses, laughed up into the sky. Dorian was happy; but whether he preferred the somewhat nervous happiness of Mildred"s presence or the quiet longing happiness of her absence, he could not tell.
The plain truth of the matter was, that Dorian had fallen deeply in love with Mildred. This statement may be scoffed at by some people whose eyes have been dimmed by age so that they cannot see back into that time of youth when they also were "trailing clouds of glory" from their heavenly home. There is nothing more wholesomely sweet than this first boy and girl affection. It is clean and pure and undefiled by the many worldly elements which often enter into the more mature lovemaking.
Perhaps Mildred Brown"s entrance into Dorian"s life did not differ from like incidents in many lives, but to him it was something holy. Dorian at this time never admitted to himself that he was in love with the girl. He sensed very well that she was far above him in every way. The thought that she might ever become his wife never obtained foothold in him more than for a fleeting moment: that was impossible, then why think of it. But there could be no harm in loving her as he loved his mother, or as he loved the flowers, the clear-flowing water, the warm sun and the blue sky. He could at least cast adoring eyes up to her as he did to the stars at night. He could also strive to rise to her level, if that were possible. He was going to the High school the coming winter, then perhaps to the University. He could get to know as much of school learning as she, anyway. He never would become a painter of pictures or a musician, but surely there were other things which he could learn which would be worth while.
There came to Dorian that afternoon as he still lay on the gra.s.s, his one-time effort to ask a girl to a dance. He recalled what care he had taken in washing and combing and dressing, how he had finally cut cross-lots to the girl"s home for fear of being seen, for surely he had thought, everybody must know what he was up to!--how he had lingered about the back door, and had at last, when the door opened, scudded back home as fast as his legs could carry him! And now, the finest girl he had ever seen was chumming with him, and he was not afraid, that is, not very much afraid.
When Mildred had packed up to go home on the occasion of her former visit she had invited Mrs. Trent to take her pick of her drawings for her own.
"All but this," Mildred had said. "This which I call "Sunset in the Marshland" I am going to give to Dorian."
The mother had looked over the pile of sketches. There was a panel in crayon which the artist said was the big cottonwood down by the Corners.
Mrs. Trent remarked that she never would have known it, but then, she added apologetically, she never had an eye for art. There was a winter scene where the houses were so sunk into the earth that only the roofs were visible. (Mrs. Trent had often wondered why the big slanting roofs were the only artistic thing about a house). Another picture showed a high, camel-backed bridge, impossible to cross by anything more real than the artist"s fancy. Mrs. Trent had chosen the bridge because of its pretty colors.
"Where shall we hang Dorian"s picture?" Mildred had asked.
They had gone into his room. Mildred had looked about.
"The only good light is on that wall." She had pointed to the s.p.a.ce occupied by Dorian"s "best girl."
And so Lorna Doone had come down and Mildred"s study of the marshlands glowed with its warmer colors in its place.
The plowboy arose from the gra.s.s. "Get up there," he said to his horses.
"We must be going, or there"ll be very little plowing today."
Carlia Duke was the first person to greet Mildred as she alighted at the Trent gate. Carlia knew of her coming and was waiting. Mildred put her arm about her friend and kissed her, somewhat to the younger girl"s confused pleasure. The two girls went up the path to the house where Mrs. Trent met them.
"Where"s your baggage?" asked the mother of the arrival, seeing she carried only a small bag and her violin case.
"This is all. I"m not going to paint this time--just going to rest, mother said, so I do not need a lot of baggage."
"Well, come in Honey; and you too, Carlia. Dinner is about ready, an"
you"ll stay."
By a little urging Carlia remained, and pretty soon, Dorian came stamping in to be surprised.
"Yes; we"re all here," announced Carlia, as she tossed her black curls and laughed at his confusion.
"I see you are," he replied, as he shook hands with Mildred. After which ceremony, it did not just look right to slight the other girl, so he shook hands with her also, much to her amus.e.m.e.nt.
"How do you do, Mr. Trent" she said.
"Carlia is such a tease," explained the mother.
"For which I like her," added Mildred.
"We all do. Even Dorian here, who is usually afraid of girls, makes quite a chum of her."
"Well, we"re neighbors," justified the girl.
After dinner Carlia took Mildred home with her. It was not far, just around the low ridge which hid the house from view. There Mildred met Pa Duke, Ma Duke and Will Duke, Carlia"s older brother. Pa Duke was a hard-working farmer, Ma Duke was likewise a hard-working farmer"s wife, and Will Duke should have been a hard-working farmer"s boy, but he was somewhat a failure, especially regarding the hard work part. Carlia, though so young, was already a hardworking farmer girl, with no chance of escape, as far as she could see, from the hard-working part. The Duke house, though clean and roomy, lacked the dainty home touches which mean so much. There were no porch, no lawn, no trees. The home was bare inside and out.
In deference to the "company" Carlia was permitted to "visit" with her friend that afternoon. Apparently, these two girls had very little in common, but when left to themselves they found many mutual interests.
Toward the close of the afternoon, Dorian appeared. He found the girls out in the yard, Carlia seated on the topmost pole of the corral fence, and Mildred standing beside her.
"h.e.l.lo girls," Dorian greeted. "I"ve come to give you an invitation."
"What, a party!" exclaimed Carlia, jumping down from her perch.
"Not a dancing party, you little goose--just a surprise party."
"On who?"
"On Uncle Zed."
"Uncle Zed. O, shucks!"