"I don"t know, but if it is pleasant to-morrow, let"s hunt for some,"
said Polly.
Mrs. Sherwood called, and Polly putting the tray full of sh.e.l.ls upon the table, went out across the hall to reply.
Rose hurried down stairs to the hall, out onto the piazza, along the flower bordered path to the gate, then out and off down the beach.
Polly never liked to be out when the sky was cloudy and the wind raw, but Rose cared not a bit, and she had gone out thinking to give Polly a surprise.
She meant to find some of the coveted sh.e.l.ls, and run home with them before Polly should have missed her.
She looked back at the Sherwood cottage. How pretty it was, and quite like a country house with its well kept lawn, its flowers in the gardens, and even at the gate, a rose vine clambering over.
Swiftly she ran along the beach to a spot where usually they had found the most sh.e.l.ls.
A few there were, but none like those that Polly wanted, and she trudged along, looking sharply at every sh.e.l.l that lay imbedded in the hard, wet sand, from which the tide had receded.
She had been gone nearly an hour although she did not dream that it was so long since she had left the house.
She had known that Polly would not follow her, because of the cold wind that was blowing so briskly. A rift in the clouds had let the sunlight through, and when she reached the gate, the garden was bathed in sunlight.
Rose paused for a moment to look at the flowers, now gay in the bright sunshine, when the sound of voices came toward her, and while one was the pleasant voice of Mrs. Sherwood, the other was surely the voice of--Great Aunt Rose!
"Captain Atherton asked that Rose might remain with us while he is away," Rose heard Mrs. Sherwood say to which the cold voice of Great Aunt Rose replied sternly:
"Well, and if he did, I see no reason why she can not spend a part of the time with me at the old Atherton house which I have always felt was her proper home."
Little Rose Atherton"s heart beat faster. She still stood at the gate, and she wondered that, for a moment, neither spoke.
Then Great Aunt Rose broke the silence.
"I was away at the time of the wedding, but had I been present, I should have at that time _insisted_ that the Captain leave her with me, not only during his cruise on the _Dolphin_, but after his return.
"The young woman whom he has married is a beauty, and so of course, will be too full of dress and society to have any interest in little Rose. If John has chosen to wed a flighty beauty, he should at least give Rose to me."
"Miss Vandmere is indeed beautiful to look at, but she is lovely in character as well, and I know that she loves Rose," Mrs. Sherwood said quietly.
She would not argue, but she felt that, in justice she must give utterance to the fine regard in which she held Iris Vandmere.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "She still stood at the gate."]
"There are, I suppose, some beauties who are neither vain nor foolish, but however that may be, I am determined to see Rose to-day, and to ask her if she does not wish to return with me."
At these words uttered in a shrill, angry voice, Rose turned and raced down the beach.
She dropped the sh.e.l.ls that she had been tightly holding, and without a thought of recovering them, she ran at top speed, as if, at that very moment stately Great Aunt Rose had been actually chasing her.
She had no idea how far she had run, she had not paused for even a second, nor had she once looked back. Now as she looked up, she saw a narrow side street that commenced at the sh.o.r.e, but well up from the water, and ran toward the center of the little village.
She was almost breathless as she turned into the little street, but she dared not stop running.
The very thought of ever returning to the stately old Atherton house, with its great dark halls, its formal drawing-room, and for companion, gentle Aunt Lois, kind but so deaf that it was almost impossible to talk with her, and cold, dignified, haughty Great Aunt Rose, filled little Rose with terror.
She was now completely tired out, and as she turned the corner of the next street, she stumbled, and would have fallen but for two strong arms that caught her. She looked up.
"Why little Rose!"
"Oh, Aunt Judith! Dear Aunt Judith, take me home with you now, right off, this very minute!" cried Rose. "Don"t stop to ask why! Just take me now! Come! They may be here any minute! Come!"
"Why, Rose! What does this mean?" cried Aunt Judith.
"I was on my way to call upon Mrs. Sherwood, and ask you and Polly to come up to my little cottage and spend to-morrow with me, and here you are, looking for all the world as if you were running away. I musn"t run off with you like this."
"Oh, but _do_, Aunt Judith. Please do! It isn"t safe to wait a minute.
I"ll tell you everything when we"re safe at your cottage. Come!"
The fear in Rose"s brown eyes was so evident, that although it seemed a strange thing to do, Aunt Judith turned about, and with Rose clinging to her arm, started in the direction of the station. A train was already made up, and about to start for Avondale.
They were soon seated, and Rose drew a sigh of relief when the train started.
"Now, I"m safe," she said, leaning against Aunt Judith.
It was not until they were inside the cottage at Avondale, at twilight, the shades drawn and the lamps lighted that Rose told what had frightened her, and why she had run away.
"I don"t wonder that you were frightened," Aunt Judith said. "If John had been at home you would have been brave, but gentle Mrs. Sherwood seemed to you to be no match for Great Aunt Rose. I do not think as you do. For all her gentleness Mrs. Sherwood is a fine character, and I do not think she would permit anyone to take you from her home when you had been left in her care by your Uncle John.
"There is another thing to be thought of. Great Aunt Rose has left the Sherwood cottage long before this, and Mrs. Sherwood and Princess Polly I believe are greatly frightened by your absence. Don"t you know that they must have been searching for you now for at least two hours, and not finding you, they will fear that you have come to harm.
"If only you had told me what it was that had so frightened you, I would have returned with you to Mrs. Sherwood, and have helped convince your aunt that you could not go home with her.
"Great Aunt Rose would not actually take you by force."
"Oh, she would!" cried Rose, "and I"m glad we"re here, but we can let them know that I am safe, and that I am here with you, and why I came.
I"d go back to them to-morrow if I knew Great Aunt Rose wouldn"t go there again, and try to get me.
"Oh, the great old Atherton house is so grand, and yet so lonely, and she doesn"t love me. She was always telling me while I was there that the reason she wanted me to live there was because I was an Atherton, and she said the proper place for me to live was in the old Atherton house.
"She said there had always been a "Rose Atherton" in the family even "way, "way back, and that every "Rose Atherton" had lived in that house, and when I said I pitied them, she was angry, and she said I"d no reason to. She said the others were proud of this family, and glad to live there, and that I was the odd one. She said it was strange I"d rather live with Uncle John, and I said it _wasn"t_ strange because he was so loving.
"Oh, I can"t bear to think of the time that I lived there, and I"m glad I ran away from Polly"s house before Great Aunt Rose saw me. I know she would have s.n.a.t.c.hed me away from the Sherwood"s.
"I was peeping in at the gate when I heard her voice.
"She was telling Mrs. Sherwood that I ought to go home and stay with her while Uncle John is away.
"I didn"t wait a minute, but raced down the beach just as fast as I could. Then I thought if she came out, she might see me on the beach even at a distance, so I turned into a side street, and the next corner I turned brought me straight to you."
There was indeed consternation in the Sherwood cottage when, after the unpleasant caller had left the house, Polly commenced to look for Rose, and no Rose could be found, though thorough search was made, the servants gladly a.s.sisting, and just as Polly was crying, and declaring that she could not taste the least bit of food until Rose was found, the telephone rang.