"You have! And I, too, for the first time," said Littlejohn Smith at her elbow. "But I "low it"ll be real handy for the men in the winter time, to warm messes for the cattle and keep themselves from freezin".
Guess I know what it means to do your ch.o.r.es with your hands like chunks of ice! Wish to goodness Pa Smith could see this barn; "twould make him open his eyes a little!"
"A body could cook on that stove, it"s so nice and flat. Or even pop corn," returned Alfaretta, practically.
"Bet that"s a notion! Say, Alfy, don"t let on, but I"ll slip home first chance I get and fetch some of that! I"ve got a lot left over from last year, "t I raised myself. I"ll fetch my popper and if you can get a little b.u.t.ter out the house, some night, we"ll give these folks the treat of their lives. What say?"
Whatever might be the case with others of that famous Party these two old schoolmates were certainly "happy as blackbirds"--the only comparison that the girl found to fully suit their mood.
When the premises had been fully explored and admired, cried Mr. Seth:
"Blind man"s buff! Who betters me?"
"n.o.body could--"Blind man"s" it is!" seconded Monty, and gallantly offered: "I"ll blind!"
"Oh! no choosing! Do it the regular way," said Dolly. "Get in a row, please, all of you, and I"ll begin with Herbert.
"Intry-mintry-cutry-corn; Apple-seed-and-apple-thorn; Wire-brier-limber-lock; Six-geese-in-a-flock; Sit-and-sing-by-the-spring; O-U-T--OUT!" Frazer Moore, you"re--IT!"
The bashful lad who was more astonished to find himself where he was than he could well express, and who had really been bullied into accepting Dorothy"s invitation by his chum, Mike Martin, now awkwardly stepped forward from the circle. His face was as red as his hair and he felt as if he were all feet and hands, while it seemed to him that all the eyes in the room were boring into him, so pitilessly they watched him. In reality, if he had looked up, he would have seen that most of the company were only eagerly interested to begin the game, and that the supercilious glances cast his way came from Herbert Montaigne and Mabel Bruce alone.
Another half-moment and awkwardness was forgotten. Dorothy had bandaged the blinder"s eyes with Mr. Seth"s big handkerchief, and in the welcome darkness thus afforded he realized nothing except that invisible hands were touching him, from this side and that, plucking at his jacket, tapping him upon the shoulder, and that he could catch none of them. Finally, a waft of perfume came his way, and the flutter of starched skirts, and with a lunge forward he clasped his arms about the figure of:
"That girl from Baltimore! her turn!" he declared and was for pulling off the handkerchief, but was not allowed.
"Which one? there are two Baltimore girls here, my lad. Which one have you caught?"
Mabel squirmed, and Frazer"s face grew a deeper red. He had been formally introduced, early upon Mabel"s arrival, but had been too confused and self-conscious to understand her name. He was as anxious now to release her as she was to be set free, but his tormentors insisted:
"Her name? her name? Not till you tell her name!"
"I don"t know--I mean--I--"tain"t our Dolly, it"s t"other one that"s just come and smells like a--a drug store!" he answered, desperately, and loosened his arms.
Mabel was glad enough to escape, blushing furiously at the way he had identified her, yet good-naturedly joining in the laugh of the others.
Though she secretly resolved to be more careful in the use of scents of which she was extravagantly fond; and she allowed herself to be blindfolded at once, yet explaining:
"Maybe I shall have to tell who you are by just such ways as he did me. I never was to a House Party before and you"re all strangers, "cept Dolly C., and anybody"d know her!"
But it wasn"t Dolly she captured. Susceptible Monty beheld in the little Baltimorean a wonderfully attractive vision. She was as short and as plump as he was. Her taste ran riot in colors, as did his own.
He was bewildered by the ma.s.s of ruffles and frills that one short frock could display and he considered her manner of "doing" her hair as quite "too stylish for words." It was natural, therefore, that he should deliberately put himself in her way and try his best to be caught, while his observant mates heartlessly laughed at his unsuccessful maneuvers.
But it was handsome Herbert upon whose capture Mabel"s mind was set, and it was a disappointment that, instead of his arm she should clutch that of James Barlow. However, there was no help for it and she was obliged to blindfold in his turn the tall fellow who had to stoop to her shortness, while casting admiring glances upon the other lad.
So the game went on till they were tired, and it was simple Molly Martin who suggested the next amus.e.m.e.nt.
"My sake! I"m all beat out! I can"t scarcely breathe, I"ve run and laughed so much. I never had so much fun in my life! Let"s all sit down in a row and tell riddles. We"ll get rested that way."
To some there this seemed a very childish suggestion, but not to wise Seth Winters. The very fact that shy Molly Martin had so far forgotten her own self-consciousness as to offer her bit of entertainment argued well for the success of Dorothy"s House Party with its oddly a.s.sorted members. But he surprised Helena"s lifted eyebrows and the glance she exchanged with the other Molly, so hastened to endorse the proposition:
"A happy thought, my la.s.s; and as I"m the oldest "child" here I"ll open the game myself with one of the oldest riddles on record. Did anybody ever happen to hear of the Sphinx?"
"Why, of course! Egypt----" began Monty eagerly, hoping to shine in the coming contest of wits.
Seth Winters shook his head.
"In one sense a correct answer; but, Jamie lad, out with it! I believe _you_ know which Sphinx I mean. All your delving into books--out with it, man!"
"The monster of the ancients, I guess. That had the head of a woman, the body of a dog, the tail of a serpent, the wings of a bird, the paws of a lion, and a human voice;" answered Jim blushing a little thus to be airing his knowledge before so many.
"The very creature! What connection had this beauty with riddles, if you please?"
They were all listening now, and smiling a little over the old farrier"s whimsical manner, as the boy student went on to explain:
"The Sphinx was sent into Thebes by Juno for her private revenge. The fable is that he laid all that country waste by proposing riddles and killing all who could not guess them. The calamity was so great that Creon promised his crown to anyone who could guess one, and the guessing would mean the death of the Sphinx."
"Why do you stop just there, Jim, in the most interesting part? Please go on and finish--if you can!" cried Dorothy.
Mr. Winters also nodded and the boy added:
"This was the riddle: What animal in the morning walks on four feet, at noon on two, and at evening on three?"
"At it, youngsters, at it! Cudgel your brains for the answer. We don"t want any mixed-anatomy Sphinxes rampaging around here," urged the farrier.
Many and various were the guesses hazarded but each fell wide of the mark. Helena alone preserved a smiling silence and waited to hear what the others had to say.
"Time"s up! Five minutes to a riddle is more than ample. Helena has it, I see by the twinkle of her eyes. Well, my dear?"
"I can"t call it a real guess, Mr. Winters, for I read it, as James did the story. The answer is--_Man_. In his babyhood, the morning of life, he crawls or walks on "all fours"; in youth and middle age he goes upright on two feet; and at evening, old age, he supplements them by a staff or crutch--his three feet."
"Oh! how simple! Why couldn"t I guess that!" exclaimed Molly, impatiently. "But who did solve the silly thing, first off?"
"Oedipus; and this so angered the Sphinx that he dashed his head against a rock and so died."
"Umm. I never dreamed there could be riddles like that," said Molly Martin; "all I thought of was "Round as an apple, busy as a bee, The prettiest little thing you ever did see," and such. I"d like to learn some others worth while, to tell of winter evenings before we go to bed."
"I know a good one, please, Mr. Seth. Shall I tell it?" asked Frazer Moore. "Pa found it in a "Farmers" Almanac," so maybe the rest have seen it, too."
"Begin, Frazer. Five minutes per riddle! If anybody knows it "twon"t take so long," advised Mr. Seth, whom Dolly had called "the Master of the Feast."
"What is it men and women all despise, Yet one and all so highly prize?
Which kings possess not? though full sure am I That for the luxury they often sigh.
That never was for sale, yet, any day, The poorest beggar may the best display.
The farmer needs it for his growing corn; Nor its dear comfort will the rich man scorn; Fittest for use within a sick friend"s room, Its coming silent as spring"s early bloom.
A great, soft, yielding thing that no one fears-- A little thing oft wet with mother"s tears.
A thing so hol(e)y that when it we wear We screen it safely from the world"s rude stare."
"Hmm. Seems if there were handles enough to that long riddle, but I can"t catch on to any of them. They contradict themselves so," cried Dorothy, after a long silence had followed Frazer"s recitation.
Handles enough, to be sure; but like Dorothy, n.o.body could grasp one, and as the five minutes ended the mountain lad had the proud knowledge that he had puzzled them all, and gayly announced: