"That was Bobby," smiled Mother Blossom. "He"s seven years old now. This is Meg, and the two youngsters are our twins, Twaddles and Dot. We"re going to Apple Tree Island. I have never been back since--"
She stopped, afraid that perhaps she had recalled painful memories to Mr. Harley. But his attractive smile slowly overspread his face again.
"That so?" he said with interest. "I haven"t been there myself in quite a spell. I expect the boys have grown out of sight. I"m on my way now to see the wife and kids."
The Blossom family remained perfectly silent. What could they say?
CHAPTER VIII
OLD BROOKSIDE FRIENDS
"Yes," repeated Mr. Harley comfortably. "I don"t suppose the boys will know me. d.i.c.k must be ten now, and Herbert"s a year older. I calculate to stay over to-night with Joe Gates and his wife in Pomona (that"s why you folks overtook me walking along this road) and he"ll row me up to the island."
The four little Blossoms wriggled uneasily. Even Dot and Twaddles, young as they were, could guess something of what Mr. Harley"s sorrow would be when he learned that no wife and children waited for his coming on pretty Apple Tree Island. Meg glanced at Mother Blossom. That lady shook her head slightly, as a signal not to speak.
"Isn"t that a sign of spring water for sale?" said Father Blossom suddenly. "Hand me the vacuum bottles, Margaret, please, and I"ll have them filled. The children may be thirsty again before we get to Polly"s. d.i.c.k, will you help me? We"ve a bottle for each youngster and they"re slippery things to handle."
Father Blossom stopped the car on the other side of the road from a pretty cottage where a sign on the gate offered "Guaranteed, a.n.a.lyzed Spring Water for Sale," and he and Mr. Harley disappeared with the bottles through the odd, rustic gate.
"Now he"ll tell the poor man," sighed Mother Blossom. "Whatever they do or say when they come back, children, I don"t want you to say a word unless you"re spoken to. Can you remember?"
"Yes"m," promised the four little Blossoms, four little hearts warm with sympathy for poor Mr. Harley.
"Where do you suppose he was all the time he wasn"t there?"
whispered Meg.
"I don"t know," answered her mother. "He may have been ill. He may not even know how long it has been since he has been home. Anyway, darlings, the kindest thing we can do is not to bother him with talk or questions."
Father Blossom and Mr. Harley were gone for what seemed a long time to the children, but in reality was not more than twenty minutes. The four little Blossoms saw them coming, Father Blossom in the lead. Such a change had come over Mr. Harley! His shoulders sagged, he scuffed his feet and his eyes were heavy and dull.
"I suppose you know?" he said wearily to Mother Blossom, as he climbed into the car and Father Blossom took the wheel. "If I only knew where she went! But she quarreled with her people when she married me, and I never rightly knew where they lived, or who they were."
"You"ll probably find her," Mrs. Blossom tried thus to encourage him. "It isn"t easy for a woman with two children to drop out of sight, you know. Some one will be able to give you a clue."
Mr. Harley shook his head despondently.
"It"s been two years, your husband tells me," he replied. "And I"ve been missing for four. Like as not she doesn"t want to see me. I was out o" my mind for three years, Ma"am, and when I came to I was in a hospital on the California coast. It took me a year to work my way East. I kept writing and writing and wondering why Lou didn"t send me a line. She was never one to bear a grudge."
"But what will you do?" asked Mrs. Blossom, her kind eyes filling with tears as she pictured the ruined little shack on the island.
"Don"t go back there and try to live, Mr. Harley--it will only make you ill again. You know Mrs. Harley isn"t there, and I can not bear to think of you there alone."
"I"ll stay to-night in Pomona," said Mr. Harley slowly. "Then I"ll go on to Sunset Lake and put up a while with Chris Smith; he owns a boathouse and I can earn my keep taking folks about the lake.
I"ll be on the spot then if she should come back or if any one comes with news of her. And if your sister knows where she went--"
"We"ll ask her to-night and tell you as soon as we reach Sunset Lake," promised Mother Blossom heartily.
The rest of the drive was accomplished almost in silence, Mr.
Harley busy with his own brooding thoughts and the Blossoms anxious not to annoy him. When they reached the town of Pomona, they left him at the post-office, where he said Joe Gates was always to be found. Another five miles brought the Blossoms to Brookside Farm.
"There"s Foots!" shouted Twaddles, standing up on the seat and waving to Aunt Polly, who came flying down the drive.
"And Linda!" cried Meg.
"And Jud! And Peter Apgar!" shrieked Bobby.
"My darling lambs!" babbled Aunt Polly, almost beside herself with pleasure. "I never was so glad to see any one in all my life!
Margaret, you look positively beautiful! Ralph, Jud will show you where to drive the car in. Oh, isn"t this the nicest thing that ever happened to us, Linda?"
Linda smiled happily and nodded. She had grown taller since the four little Blossoms had seen her and she wore her hair pinned up in a pretty knot on top of her head.
Still laughing and talking, Aunt Polly marshaled her guests into the house. The twins were so sleepy from the long ride that they could hardly keep their eyes open, but they insisted on coming to the supper table. Linda and Aunt Polly had spent hours over that supper, and Father Blossom declared that he would drive fifty miles any day to get a slice of Linda"s homemade bread.
"Mother," whispered Meg, pulling her mother"s sleeve half-way through the meal, "Dot"s crying!"
Sure enough, Dot was crying, big, slow, salty tears running down her pink cheeks and dropping off into her bowl of rich milk and bread.
"Why darling!" said Mother Blossom in alarm. "Don"t you feel well?
Are you tired? Here, come sit in Mother"s lap and tell her what the trouble is."
Dot put down her spoon and ran to her mother, who lifted her up.
The little girl buried her face in Mother Blossom"s frilly collar and began to sob.
"P-oor Mr. Harley!" she choked. "We"re having such a nice time, and he can"t find his two little boys! I kn-ow he"d like to eat supper wif "em!"
Dot seldom used "baby talk" but to-night she was tired and excited.
"Bless the child, what is she talking about?" demanded Aunt Polly curiously. "And look at this battery of solemn round eyes! What ever ails these lambs, Margaret?"
Mother Blossom, holding Dot close, explained about Mr. Harley.
"Didn"t his wife stop here, Polly?" she asked. "Can you recall whether she said where she was going? Just a word might give him something definite to work on."
Aunt Polly shook her head.
"I remember seeing her very well," she said. "She had the two boys with her and I wanted her to spend the night. But no, she insisted she must "go to the city". Then I suggested that she leave the boys with me until she found work, if that was what she wanted, and that, I think, frightened her. I couldn"t coax her to stay for supper after that. I certainly am sorry for Mr. Harley. Tell him his wife spoke most kindly of him and evidently believed that he was not in his right mind when he left her and the children."
Twaddles being discovered asleep with a cake in one hand and a piece of bread and b.u.t.ter in the other, the four little Blossoms were swept away to hot baths and bed a few minutes after Aunt Polly finished. And the next thing they knew it was bright daylight and Jud was whistling on his way to the milking.
"I"m going, too!" Bobby hopped out of bed and began to dress hastily.
"So"m I!" Dot sat up and shook Meg. The troubles of Mr. Harley had fled with Dot"s dreams and she was her usual merry self. "Come on, Meg, we haven"t seen Carlotta yet."
Meg was ready to get up and Twaddles woke before Bobby had tied one shoe, so the four little Blossoms, helping each other, managed to be dressed and downstairs before Jud had started to milk.
"Well, if this doesn"t seem like old times!" he exclaimed grinning at them as they entered the barn.