I was annoyed and provoked at this. We had given Pomona positive orders not to leave the place, under any pretense, while we were gone. If necessary to send for anything, she could go to the fence, back of the barn, and scream across a small field to some of the numerous members of old John"s family. Under this arrangement, I felt that the house was perfectly safe.
Before she could reach us, I called out:
"Why did you leave the house, Pomona? Don"t you know you should never come away and leave the house empty? I thought I had made you understand that."
"It isn"t empty," said Pomona, in an entirely unruffled tone. "Your old boarder is there, with his wife and child."
Euphemia and I looked at each other in dismay.
"They came early this afternoon," continued Pomona, "by the 1:14 train, and walked up, he carrying the child."
"It can"t be," cried Euphemia. "Their child"s married."
"It must have married very young, then," said Pomona, "for it isn"t over four years old now."
"Oh!" said Euphemia, "I know! It"s his grandchild."
"Grandchild!" repeated Pomona, with her countenance more expressive of emotion than I had ever yet seen it.
"Yes," said Euphemia; "but how long are they going to stay? Where did you tell them we were?"
"They didn"t say how long they was goin" to stay," answered Pomona. "I told them you had gone to be with some friends in the country, and that I didn"t know whether you"d be home to-night or not."
"How could you tell them such a falsehood?" cried Euphemia.
"That was no falsehood," said Pomona; "it was true as truth. If you"re not your own friends, I don"t know who is. And I wasn"t a-goin" to tell the boarder where you was till I found out whether you wanted me to do it or not. And so I left "em and run over to old John"s, and then down here."
It was impossible to find fault with the excellent management of Pomona.
"What were they doing?" asked Euphemia.
"I opened the parlor, and she was in there with the child,--putting it to sleep on the sofa, I think. The boarder was out in the yard, tryin"
to teach Lord Edward some tricks."
"He had better look out!" I exclaimed.
"Oh, the dog"s chained and growlin" fearful! What am I to do with "em?"
This was a difficult point to decide. If we went to see them, we might as well break up our camp, for we could not tell when we should be able to come back to it.
We discussed the matter very anxiously, and finally concluded that under the circ.u.mstances, and considering what Pomona had said about our whereabouts, it would be well for us to stay where we were and for Pomona to take charge of the visitors. If they returned to the city that evening, she was to give them a good supper before they went, sending John to the store for what was needed. If they stayed all night, she could get breakfast for them.
"We can write," said Euphemia, "and invite them to come and spend some days with us, when we are at home and everything is all right. I want dreadfully to see that child, but I don"t see how I can do it now."
"No," said I. "They"re sure to stay all night if we go up to the house, and then I should have to have the tent and things hauled away, for I couldn"t leave them here."
"The fact is," said Euphemia, "if we were miles away, in the woods of Maine, we couldn"t leave our camp to see anybody. And this is practically the same."
"Certainly," said I; and so Pomona went away to her new charge.
CHAPTER XI. THE BOARDER"S VISIT.
For the rest of the afternoon, and indeed far into the night, our conversation consisted almost entirely of conjectures regarding the probable condition of things at the house. We both thought we had done right, but we felt badly about it. It was not hospitable, to be sure; but then I should have no other holiday until next year, and our friends could come at any time to see us.
The next morning old John brought a note from Pomona. It was written with pencil on a small piece of paper torn from the margin of a newspaper, and contained the words, "Here yit."
"So you"ve got company," said old John, with a smile. "That"s a queer gal of yourn. She says I mustn"t tell "em you"re here. As if I"d tell "em!"
We knew well enough that old John was not at all likely to do anything that would cut off the nice little revenue he was making out of our camp, and so we felt no concern on that score.
But we were very anxious for further news, and we told old John to go to the house about ten o"clock and ask Pomona to send us another note.
We waited, in a very disturbed condition of mind, until nearly eleven o"clock, when old John came with a verbal message from Pomona:
"She says she"s a-comin" herself as soon as she can get a chance to slip off."
This was not pleasant news. It filled our minds with a confused ma.s.s of probabilities, and it made us feel mean. How contemptible it seemed to be a party to this concealment and in league with a servant-girl who has to "slip off!"
Before long, Pomona appeared, quite out of breath.
"In all my life," said she, "I never see people like them two. I thought I was never goin" to get away."
"Are they there yet?" cried Euphemia.
"How long are they going to stay?"
"Dear knows!" replied Pomona. "Their valise came up by express last night."
"Oh, we"ll have to go up to the house," said Euphemia. "It won"t do to stay away any longer."
"Well," said Pomona, fanning herself with her ap.r.o.n, "if you know"d all I know, I don"t think you"d think so."
"What do you mean?" said Euphemia.
"Well, ma"am, they"ve just settled down and taken possession of the whole place. He says to me that he know"d you"d both want them to make themselves at home, just as if you was there, and they thought they"d better do it. He asked me did I think you would be home by Monday, and I said I didn"t know, but I guessed you would. So says he to his wife, "Won"t that be a jolly lark? We"ll just keep house for them here till they come. And he says he would go down to the store and order some things, if there wasn"t enough in the house, and he asked her to see what would be needed, which she did, and he"s gone down for "em now. And she says that, as it was Sat.u.r.day, she"d see that the house was all put to rights; and after breakfast she set me to sweepin"; and it"s only by way of her dustin" the parlor and givin" me the little girl to take for a walk that I got off at all."
"But what have you done with the child?" exclaimed Euphemia.
"Oh, I left her at old Johnses."
"And so you think they"re pleased with having the house to themselves?"
I said.
"Pleased, sir?" replied Pomona; "they"re tickled to death."
"But how do you like having strangers telling you what to do?" asked Euphemia.