CHAPTER VII
PATRICIA"S PROMISE
At the Barnet house all was excitement. Servants were rushing this way and that, searching for Flossie and the baby.
Again and again the maid insisted that she had left them in the hall but a few moments, and the cook and the butler declared that she had spoken truly, yet it seemed strange that in so short a time the two could have so completely disappeared.
In the midst of the excitement Uncle Harry came home, and he looked very grave when he learned the cause of their alarm.
Yes, the house and grounds had been thoroughly searched, they told him, and neither could be found, nor could any one remember having seen them after the baby had been brought in from her ride.
And while the other members of the household were searching in every direction, Uncle Harry secured a lantern, and went out into the shadowy garden, hoping that he might, in some forgotten corner, find the two children whom he so dearly loved.
Around the house, along the driveway toward the stable, down a little path to where the tall dahlias nodded; across the lawn to the open s.p.a.ce where the new moon spread its sheen, then toward the shrubbery and the hedge.
Flossie saw the gleam of the bright lantern through the bushes, and huddled closer to the little shrubs. She believed that it was the butler who carried the lantern, and that he had been sent to capture the baby.
"Hush, hush--sh--sh!" she whispered, patting its shoulder gently. It had no idea of crying, but she was so afraid that it might, and thus tell where they were hiding. It happened that the baby was sleepy, and snug and warm in Flossie"s loving arms, it was quite content.
Nearer, and yet nearer came the light! Now it was going farther from her,--now returning, and now, oh, she must hold her breath!
A firm step trampled the underbrush, the lantern was swung high, and the two runaways were discovered. With a sob Flossie clasped the infant closer, hiding its face with her own.
"You sha"n"t have this baby!" she cried, "for I won"t let you! n.o.body shall touch my Uncle Harry"s baby; n.o.body"s going to _quantine_ her. I"m "fraid out here, but I"ll stay to take care of his own baby!"
"Flossie! Flossie, little girl, who has frightened you? Why are you hiding out here with the baby?"
"Go away!" she cried, holding the baby closer, "they"ve sent you to find us, but you don"t know that they"re going to _quantine_ this baby, but I"ll never let them do it."
"Flossie, Flossie, you"re frightened, listen to me."
He put the lantern down, and seating himself upon the gra.s.s, placed his strong arm around Flossie, drawing the two closer as if to protect them.
"They _are_ going to _quantine_ this baby!" she cried, "and they sha"n"t cut her head off "cause there"s spots on her face. She"s your baby, and oh, I _love_ you both!"
The wild note in her voice showed how genuine was her terror.
"n.o.body shall harm baby, I promise you that, dear," said Uncle Harry, an odd quiver in his voice, "and you were a dear little girl to take care of her for me, but now I must take you both up to the house, for every one is hunting for you."
"But Bridget said they"d have to quantine,"--sobbed Flossie.
"Bridget was mistaken," he said, "and besides, no one is harmed by being quarantined. I"ll tell you all about that at another time. You are about chilled through, and as you"re not very huge, I guess I"ll carry you both."
There was no help for it, so Flossie laid her head upon his shoulder, the baby, sound asleep, still in her arms, and Uncle Harry strode across the lawn, up to the piazza, and into the hall, where a frightened group were talking.
They crowded around him to learn where he had found them, but he raised his hand to stop the eager questioning.
Flossie had been badly frightened, and he felt that she must not be excited.
Once in her own little room with her mother bending over her, she listened eagerly while Uncle Harry explained what the maids had meant, and she sighed happily when she at last realized that the baby was safe from harm, and that she would remain right under the roof of their beautiful home.
When on the following day the old doctor called to see the baby, he laughed heartily at the story of Flossie"s fear, and he declared that Flossie must have done a very fine thing for the baby. Its little pink cheeks were fair, and the tiny spots which had so frightened its young mother had been chased away, so the doctor said, by its long stay out in the evening air. "Then I _did_ do something nice for that baby," said Flossie, to which Uncle Harry responded:
"You were a brave little niece, Flossie," and Flossie was happy.
When the postman called on the morning of the next day, he brought an invitation for the long-dreamed-of party.
Then the secret was out as to what kind of party it was to be.
A fancy dress party! A costume carnival!
Of course the first question that each little friend asked of the other was:
"What are you going to wear?"
"Why, our prettiest party dresses, of course," said Mollie Merton.
Mollie, who was always very positive, was greatly surprised when Dorothy overtook them on the way to school, and explained that each little guest was expected to appear in a costume which should represent some well-known character in history or story.
"And mamma says we are not to tell each other what we"re going to be,"
said Dorothy; "we"re to wear long dominoes over our frocks, and we"ll dance and play games, just peeping through eyeholes to see where we"re going."
"And n.o.body"ll know who anybody is," chimed in Nancy, "for Mrs. Dainty and Aunt Charlotte will receive, and Dorothy will walk up to greet them, so neither of us will even know who Dorothy is."
"What fun!" cried Jeanette, and the little group laughed gaily. "Any boys besides me invited?" questioned Reginald.
"Yes, indeed, there are ever so many boys invited," Dorothy said. "My cousins Russell and Arthur are coming, and three of papa"s nephews will be here. I"ve never met them, but they"re coming for a little visit of a few days, and I"m to have my party while they"re here."
"If you girls are going to wear those funny long cloaks, of course they"ll hide who you are, but you"ll every one of you know us fellows,"
said Reginald, who felt that the girls were more favored.
"Indeed, we won"t know you," laughed Dorothy, "for papa insists that you boys must wear dominoes, too."
"Hurrah for us, I say!" shouted Reginald; "we"ll have as much fun as you girls will." "And we"ve two weeks to wait," said Katie Dean, "and all that time we"re not to tell what we"re to be."
"Nor even the color of our dominoes," said Jeanette.
"I sha"n"t tell what I"m to be," Reginald proudly said, "but some of you girls will just _have_ to tell; girls can"t keep a secret."
"We can keep a secret, Reginald Dean," said Mollie, to which Flossie chimed in:
"Yes, indeed we can. I _can"t_ tell what I"m to be, because I don"t know; mamma hasn"t told me, but I _do_ know what color I"m to wear, and I won"t tell that!"
Reginald liked to tease.