CHAPTER XV
A MARVELOUS TALE AND ITS ENDING
Oliver Sands was shut up in his private office. It opened from another larger room that had once been tenanted but was now empty. The emptiness of the great chamber, with its small bed and simple furnishings, both attracted and repelled him, as was witnessed by the fact that he frequently rose and closed the door, only to rise again directly and open it again. Each time he did this he peered all about the big room, whose windows were screened by wire netting as well as by a row of spruce trees. These trees were trimmed in a peculiar manner and were often commented upon by pa.s.sers along the road beyond.
All the lower branches, to the height of the window-tops, were left to grow, luxuriantly, as nature had designed. But above that the tall trees were shaven almost bare, only sufficient branches being left to keep them alive. Also, beyond the trees and bordering the road was a high brick wall, presumably for the training of peach and other fruit trees, for such were carefully trained to it.
But the same wondering eyes which had noticed the trees had observed the wall, where indeed the fruit grew lusciously after a custom common enough in England but almost unknown in this region.
"Looks like both trees and wall were planned to let light into that side the house and keep eyes out. But, has been so ever since Heartsease was, and nothing different now."
No, everything was outwardly unchanged, but his home was not like his home, that morning, when Mrs. Betty Calvert came to call. The rain that had kept him within had sent him to pa.s.s the hours of his imprisonment in his "den," or office, and to the congenial occupation of looking over the cash in his strong box. He was too wise to keep much there, but there had been a time when the occupation had served to amuse the inmate of the big room, and he was thinking of her now.
Indeed, when there came a knock on the outer door he started, and quickly demanded: "Well?"
"Oliver, Betty Calvert, from Deerhurst, has called to see thee," said the trembling voice of Dorcas.
"Why? What does she want?"
"To bring thee news. To bring thee a blessing, she says."
"I will come."
He rose and locked the strong box, inwardly resolving that its contents must be placed in the bank when next he drove to town, and he again carefully closed the door of the further room. But if there had been any to observe they would have seen his face grow eager with hope while his strong frame visibly trembled. He was not a superst.i.tious man but he had dreamed of Deerhurst more than once of late and news from Deerhurst? A blessing, Dorcas said?
He entered the living-room, cast one eager glance around, and sat down. He had offered no salutation whatever to Mrs. Calvert and the gloom had returned to his face even more deeply. Dorcas was standing wringing her hands, smiling and weeping by turns, and gazing in a perfect ecstasy of eagerness upon Ananias and Sapphira, huddled against Dorothy"s knees. She held them close, as if fearing that cross old man would do them harm, but they were not at all abashed, either by him or by the novelty of the place.
"Well, Oliver Sands, you like plain speech and use it. So do I--on occasion. I have brought home your grandchildren, Rose"s children.
Their grandfather on the other side has been committed to an inst.i.tution and will give you no trouble. He "pa.s.sed them on" to my household and I, in turn, "pa.s.s them on," to yours, their rightful home. You will feel happier now. Good-morning."
"What makes thee think he is unhappy?" ventured Dorcas, at last turning her eager gaze away from the twins.
"All the world sees that. He"s a changed man since last we met, and I suppose his conscience is troubling him on account of the way he treated Rose and her children. Their demented grandfather, on the other side, gave them horrible names. I"d change them if I were you.
Good-morning."
But if the miller had not sought to detain her nor responded to her farewell, Dorcas caught at her cloak and begged:
"Wait, wait! Oliver, does thee hear? Elisabeth Calvert is going. She is leaving Rose"s babies! What--what--shall I do? May I keep them here? Say it--Oliver speak, speak, quick! If thee does right in this thing mayhap the Lord will bless thee in the other! Oliver, Oliver!"
He shook her frail hand from his sleeve but he spoke the word she longed to hear, though the shadow on his face seemed rather to deepen than to lighten and astute Betty Calvert was non-plussed. She had so fully counted upon the fact that it was remorse concerning his treatment of his daughter which burdened him that she could not understand his increased somberness.
But he did speak, as he left the room, and the words his wife desired:
"Thee may do as thee likes."
Then Mrs. Calvert, too, went out and Dorothy with her; strangely enough the twins making no effort to follow; in fact no effort toward anything except a pan of fresh cookies which stood upon the table!
and with their fists full of these they submitted indifferently not only to the desertion of their friends but to the yearning embraces of their grandmother.
"Oh! what perfectly disgusting little creatures! Didn"t mind our leaving them with a stranger nor anything! Weren"t they horrid? And it didn"t make him look any happier, either, their coming."
"No, they were not disgusting, simply natural. They"ve been half-starved most of their lives and food seems to them, just now, the highest good;" said Aunt Betty, as the carriage door was shut upon them and they set out for home. "I cannot call it a wasted morning, since that timid little woman was made glad and two homeless ones have come into their own. But--my guess was wide of the mark. It isn"t remorse ails my miller neighbor but some mystery still unsolved. Ah!
me! And I thought I was beautifully helping Providence!"
"So you have, Aunt Betty. Course. Only how we shall miss those twins!
Seems if I couldn"t bear to quite give "Phira up. Deerhurst will be so lonesome!"
"Lonesome, child! with all you young folks in it? Then just imagine for an instant what Heartsease must have been to that poor wife. Shut up alone with such a glum, indifferent husband, in that big house. I saw no other person anywhere about, did you?"
"No, and, since you put it that way, of course I"m glad they"re to be hers not Molly"s and mine."
"The queer thing is that he was so indifferent. I thought, I was prepared to have him rage and act--ugly, at my interference in his affairs; but he paid no more attention than if I had dropped a couple of puppies at his fireside. Hmm. Queer, queer! But if I"m not mistaken his young relatives will wake him up a bit before he"s done with them."
After all, though Dorothy had hated to leave the other young folks on such an errand, through such weather, and in some fear of further "lectures," the ride to Heartsease had proved delightful. She wouldn"t have missed the rapture on lonely Dorcas Sands"s pale face for the wildest frolic going and, after all, it was a relief to know the "twinses" could do no more mischief for which she might be blamed; and it remained now only to appease the wrath of Molly Breckenridge when she was told that her adopted "son" had been removed from her authority without so much as "By your leave."
Naturally, Molly said nothing in Mrs. Calvert"s presence, but vented her displeasure on Dorothy in private; until the latter exclaimed:
"You would have been glad, just glad, Molly dear, to hear the way the poor old lady said over and over again: "Rose"s children! Rose"s children!" Just that way she said it and she was a picture. I wish I was a Quaker and wore gray gowns and little, teeny-tiny white caps and white something folded around my shoulders. Oh! she was just too sweet for words! Besides--to come right to the bottom of things--neither of us _could_ adopt a child, yet. We haven"t any money."
"Pshaw! We could get it!"
"I couldn"t. Maybe you could; but--I"m glad they"re gone. It"s better for them and we shouldn"t have been let anyway, and--where"s Helena?"
"Up garret, yet. They"re all up there. Let"s hurry. They"ll have all the nicest things picked out, if we don"t."
They "hurried" and before they knew it the summons came for luncheon.
After that was over Danny Smith and Alfaretta Babc.o.c.k mysteriously disappeared for a time; returning to their mates with an I-know-something-you-don"t sort of an air, which was tantalizing yet somehow suggested delighted possibilities. The afternoon pa.s.sed with equal swiftness, and then came the costume parade in the barn; the charades; and, at last, that merry Roger de Coverly, with Mrs. Betty, herself, and Cousin Seth leading off, and doing their utmost to teach the mountain lads and la.s.sies the figures.
All the servants came out to sit around and enjoy the merry spectacle while old Ephraim, perched upon a hay-cutter plied his violin--his fiddle he called it--and another workman plunked away on his banjo till the rafters rang.
"Oh, such a tangle! And it seems so easy!" cried Jane Potter, for once aroused to enthusiasm for something beside study. "Come on, Martin!
Come half-way down and go round behind me--Oh! Pshaw! You stupid!"
Yet uttered in that tone the reproof meant no offense and Jane was as awkward as her partner, but the dance proved a jolly ending for a very jolly day. Only, the day was not ended yet; for with a crisp command:
"Every one of you get your places an" set round in a circle. It"s Danny"s and my turn now, and--Come on, Daniel!" Alfaretta vanished in the harness room.
Danny followed, rather sheepishly, for despite his love of fun he didn"t enjoy being forced into prominence; and from this odd retreat the pair presently emerged with great pans of snowy popped-corn, balanced on their heads by the aid of one hand, while in the other they carried each a basket of the biggest apples even Melvin had ever seen; yet the wonder of the Nova Scotian apples had been one of his proudest boasts.
"Jump up, Jim, in your "Uncle Sam" clothes and fetch the jugs out.
Fresh sweet cider, made to farmer Smith"s this very day! There"s nuts in there all cracked, for some of you other fellows to bring and tumblers and plates "t Aunt Malinda let us take. We"ve had ice-cream and plum-puddin" and every kind of a thing under the sun and now we"re going to have just plain up-mounting stuff, and you"ll say it"s prime!
Danny and me done this. We planned it that night Monty got stuck--Oh!
my soul, I forgot!"
"Never mind. I don"t care," said Monty; and, maybe to prevent another doing so, promptly related for Mrs. Calvert"s benefit the tale of his misadventure. Indeed, he told it in such a funny way that it was plain he was no longer sensitive about it; and he finished with the remark that:
"If Deerhurst folks don"t stop feeding me so much I may even get stuck in that big door!"
The quiet sitting and talking after so much hilarity was pleasant to all and tended to a more thoughtful mood; and finally clapping her hands to insure attention Molly Breckenridge demanded: