"I"m wild to hear it," Nancy said, "because the very way he looked made me think that the other lines, whatever they were, would be funny."
She stooped to gather more of the little blossoms to add to Dorothy"s bouquet, and then commenced to make a bouquet of her own.
"Arabella will be coming over to see you," she said, a moment later, "and I wonder if it is naughty to say, "I wish she wouldn"t?" Do you think it is?"
"I don"t know," said Dorothy, "but I _do_ wish it. I wouldn"t, only she is so hard to please. Mamma wishes us to be nice to every one, but, Nancy, you _do_ know that when we try the hardest to please Arabella, we don"t please her at all."
"I know it," agreed Nancy, "but perhaps she"ll come some time when we are out, and then we won"t have to amuse her."
"I"m sure I ought not to say it, but I _do_ wish it would happen that way," said Dorothy.
They had reached the birches, and they paused to wake the echo. What fun it was to hear their shouts repeated.
Again and again they called, and then a droll thing happened. They had called this name and that, and each time the echo, like a voice from the mountain, had repeated it with wonderful distinctness. Then Dorothy, leaning forward, called, loudly:
"Dorothy!"
"_What?_" came the reply.
She turned, and looked at Nancy. "Dorothy!" she cried, again.
"_Dainty!_" was the answer, and upon looking toward a little path that was nearly opposite where they were standing, they saw the low bushes move, and faintly they heard a smothered laugh.
Dorothy was laughing now.
"Boys!" she cried, and back came the laughing echo:
"_Girls!_" and then the boys peeped out a bit too far, and Dorothy saw who had been playing echo.
It was Jack Tiverton and a boy whom he had chosen for a "chum." Jack had not intended so soon to be discovered, and he and his friend disappeared in a little grove, while Dorothy and Nancy continued their walk.
There were sunny paths and bits of woodland that were so near the hotel as to be absolutely safe, where all the summer guests, especially the children, loved to roam at will. Along one of these little paths were sweet little yellow blossoms, and these they gathered to brighten their bouquets.
"Let"s have some of these little vines to hang from our bouquets," said Dorothy, and the graceful vines proved to be an added beauty.
When they returned to the Cleverton there were but few people upon the piazza.
Mrs. Dainty and Aunt Charlotte sat talking with Mrs. Vinton, and farther along, Mrs. Fenton sat with an open book upon her lap, although she was not reading.
She often had a book or magazine, but rarely did she read them.
She would sit looking off at the distant mountain-range, the white clouds, or the sunny valley over which those clouds cast floating shadows.
Did she hear the conversation, or notice what was going on about her?
Floretta Paxton said that Mrs. Fenton acted as if she sat there to watch some one; and was Floretta right? Mrs. Fenton"s actions certainly seemed strange day after day. She talked little, took slight interest in what was going on about her, and was a mystery to all the other guests.
But what, or whom could she be watching?
Dorothy and Nancy, returning from their walk, saw the group, and also noticed Mrs. Fenton, who always chose to sit apart from the others.
"I"ll give my flowers to mamma and Mrs. Vinton," said Dorothy.
"And I"ll give mine to Aunt Charlotte and to Mrs. Fenton,--if she wants them," said Nancy, hesitating because it was so hard to guess what might, or might not, please Mrs. Fenton.
Dorothy ran to show her blossoms to her mamma and to Mrs. Vinton, while Nancy, pausing beside Mrs. Fenton"s chair, held forth her pretty bouquet, as she said:
"We"ve just gathered them. Aren"t they pretty?"
"Lovely, very lovely," said Mrs. Fenton, with more interest than usual.
"I remember picking just such flowers; even the long vines I know are like those I used to see when I was a little girl."
"Would you enjoy some of these? I"d so like to give them to you," Nancy said, and she was surprised at the quick reply.
"I would really prize them, Nancy, and you"re a sweet child to give them to me," she said.
Quickly Nancy divided the bouquet, and smiled as she laid the pretty things in Mrs. Fenton"s lap.
"I cannot let them wilt, so I will take them at once to my room," said Mrs. Fenton, and Nancy saw her bend to catch their perfume, as she turned toward the hall.
That night, when nearly all the guests had entered the dining-room, Mrs.
Fenton came in at the main entrance, and as she sat nearly opposite Mrs.
Dainty"s party, they noticed that the bodice of her black lace gown was given color by the pretty wildflowers that Nancy had given her. They were the first flowers that she had worn since her arrival.
Nancy smiled with pleasure, and Mrs. Fenton, looking across the table, returned the smile.
Had the gift of simple wildflowers cheered her?
Thus far she had worn only black, but to-night a dull gold slip shimmered through the black lace; and were her eyes brighter?
Nancy thought so, and without knowing why, was glad.
There was a musicale in the evening, and Mrs. Fenton joined Mrs. Dainty and Aunt Charlotte, and seemed to enjoy the conversation, between the numbers of the program.
Once, while she was talking, she laid her hand lightly upon Nancy"s shoulder, and Nancy looked up to smile. Aunt Charlotte saw that the lady was more cheerful, and also noticed that she wore Nancy"s flowers. The evening pa.s.sed pleasantly, and Nancy"s drowsy words, just before she went to sleep, were:
"I do really think I cheered her."
A few days later Mrs. Dainty invited Mrs. Fenton to be her guest during a drive over a lovely road that neither of them had yet seen. It was said to be one of the most picturesque roads in that section of the country.
Mrs. Fenton accepted, and with Aunt Charlotte and Mrs. Vinton they formed a pleasant party.
Dorothy and Nancy were to drive in their little phaeton, and they felt quite as important as the four ladies in the barouche.
True, Mrs. Dainty owned a handsome span of bays, but was not the pony, Romeo, a beauty?
The road was some distance from the Cleverton, and there were some charming places to be seen on the way, so it happened that the trip, which proved to be most enjoyable, occupied the afternoon.