The Blue Birds" Winter Nest.
by Lillian Elizabeth Roy.
CHAPTER I
HOW AUNT SELINA FLEW
"Sally! I say, Sally! Come here!" cried a peevish voice, belonging to a querulous old lady who was huddled up on a couch in the bright morning room of her fine old mansion.
"I"se here, Miss S"lina--comin" straight an" fas" as mah laigs kin brings me!" replied a cheerful colored woman, bustling around, and moving some toast so it would not scorch.
"Are you quite sure you told Abe to meet the eleven-thirty train at Greenfields station? Just fancy how dreadful it would be to have Miss Ruth get off the train and not find anyone there to meet her!"
complained Miss Selina, her face twitching with pain as she raised her hands to emphasize her remark.
"Laws"ee, Miss S"lina! Don" you be "fraid dat I han"t tended to eberyt"ing for little Miss Rufie"s welcome! Leave it to ole Sally, what likes dat chile like her own kin!"
"Well, then, Sally, hurry with my toast and tea--and for goodness" sake, don"t you bring scorched toast again! There, I can smell it burning this very minute! How many times must I tell you that I will not trust those electric toasters? The old-fashioned coal fire is good enough for me--and it would be for you, too, if it were not for your ridiculous ideas of being progressive and having all these electric fol-de-rols put up in the house. My house, too! Think of it! A servant to order these contraptions and use them in my very own home and make me pay for them, when I prefer the ways of my forefathers." Then utterly wearied with her long complaint, Miss Selina collapsed, and closed her eyes.
Sally, the old family servant who had lived all her days with the Talmage family at Happy Hills, had been a playmate of Miss Selina"s; in fact, she had grown up with all the children of the "big house." She smiled indulgently at her mistress" words, as she bent over a fresh piece of toast.
"Pore chile--Sally knows a heap of time is saved "twixt "lectricity an"
coal, an" she"s goin" to cleave to the bestes" way ever foun" yit--an"
she knows what dem old rheumaticks is a-doin" to your temper,"
soliloquized the astute servant.
The toast was nicely browned, and the tea brewed perfectly, and Sally placed them on a dainty tray which she carried over to the couch.
"Want I should leave you alone, or he"p you break the bread?" asked Sally, soothingly.
Miss Selina opened her eyes and answered, "If I were sure you had Miss Ruth"s room all ready, and everything else as it should be, I would let you pour that tea for me; but I suppose you have neglected half your work to be in here with me."
Sally"s broad grin wrinkled the corners of her mouth, as she took the teapot and poured the fragrant beverage into a j.a.panese cup. At the same time her mind seemed to dwell upon a pleasant subject.
"Does you "member, Miss S"lina, de las" time little Rufie visited us?
Dat"s de time she was all full of a plan for havin" some kin" of a bird"s nest at home. I wonder ef she ever did fix it up?"
Miss Selina forgot to find fault for a few moments, as Sally"s words caused her to remember the plan her grand-niece had talked over.
"Seems to me, her mother wrote something in a letter about a Blue Bird Nest they were going to start. But I haven"t the slightest idea what it is. I should think they would build nests for robins and birds who are plentiful in our country places. Blue Birds are not very numerous in our woods."
"T"wan"t for real birds--don" you recomember? It was jus" de name dey was goin" to use fer a li"l "sociation like!" corrected Sally, as she held the plate of toast within reach of the invalid"s hand.
"No, I don"t remember! How should I?--with all this pain forever tying me into knots!" mumbled Miss Selina, as a toothsome morsel of toast entered her mouth.
Suddenly, the crunching of wheels on the gravel drive was heard, and Sally craned her neck to look from the window.
"There goes Abe now," she said.
The same day the Blue Birds of Happy Times Nest, at Oakdale, had become "Fliers," little Ruth Talmage, the favorite of the Nest, had received an invitation to spend a week at her Aunt Selina"s house, and Abe was now on his way to the station to meet her.
Aunt Selina was an unpleasant old lady, and few of her relatives cared to visit her; so, when she had her attacks of rheumatism she generally had to spend her time on the couch with no one to amuse her. She had invited Ruth the previous Spring, and had enjoyed the little girl"s visit so much, that she had sent for her now when helpless with another attack.
Of course, when the telegram came to Ruth"s home, asking the little girl to visit Aunt Selina, the Blue Birds felt sorry for her, knowing what a miserable time Ruth would have. Then, too, Ruth"s father was expected home that Sat.u.r.day, and Ruth had not seen him for almost a year.
Ruth, however, was willing to sacrifice her own pleasure to help Aunt Selina--as every Blue Bird tries to follow the Golden Rule--so she left her playmates Sat.u.r.day morning, with promises to write every day until she returned, and they, in turn, earnestly promised to explain to her father just why she went away the day he was expected home.
Now, Happy Hills, Aunt Selina"s home, was several miles from Greenfields Station, and the country about this section of Pennsylvania was so beautiful and healthful that city people gradually settled upon estates and spent their summers there. Beautiful carriages and automobiles daily pa.s.sed over the fine old road that divided Happy Hills in half. But no one had much of an opportunity to admire the place as high board fences had been built on either side of the road as far as the property fronted it.
Happy Hills was an old family estate comprising more than two thousand acres, half woodland and half cultivated fields and green pastures. A spring of clear water, hidden among the rocks of the highest hill at the back of the farm, furnished plenty of water for the noisy brook that tumbled from rock to rock on the hillside, and, after splashing in and out among the trees, ran like a broad ribbon through the green meadows.
The entire property was enclosed with a high fence, even the woodland being carefully hemmed in so no little children could get in to play in the brook, or pick wild berries and flowers that decayed in profusion year after year.
Sally was a trusted old housekeeper who had her mistress" confidence; Abe was her husband who had driven the Talmage coupe ever since he came North at the time of the Civil War.
Miss Selina had not always been so disagreeable. She had old-fashioned pictures of herself at the age of eighteen when hoop-skirts were the fashion, and the young women wore their hair in "water-falls." At that time a handsome young man was in love with her, but he was shot in the war, and she brooded over her loss so long that she lost all the sweetness of living. The older she grew the more disagreeable she became, until, not one of her relatives wanted to be with her, but managed to keep far from her complaining voice.
And for this old lady, Ruth had waived the antic.i.p.ated home coming of her dear father!
Breakfast over, Sally propped Miss Selina up on the cushions and left her for a time.
After wondering how long it would take Abe to drive back from the eleven-thirty train, Miss Selina started to think of something she had been pondering the last few days. What should she do with her vast estate if she died? She had never made a will, for she abhorred the idea of dying and having any strangers in her home. But she couldn"t take it with her, and she was nearing seventy years of age with all the signs of old age breaking over her defenceless head.
She tried to think of someone to whom she really wanted to leave her home, but there was no one. She generally sighed at this point and dropped the unpleasant thought. To-day, however, she wondered if her nephew and his wife could be plotting to get her property by having Ruth visit whenever she was invited. This idea seemed to take hold of her, and she frowned as she made up her mind to ask Ruth questions about her mother"s intentions and opinions regarding Aunt Selina and Happy Hills.
Miss Selina had been so engrossed in her thoughts that the sound of carriage wheels on the drive failed to reach her. Therefore, it was with a start of surprise that she heard the door flung open and a happy child"s voice cry:
"Aunt Selina! I"m here! Are you glad to have me?" while a pair of soft little arms were gently placed about her withered old neck and fresh little lips pressed her cheek.
The caress was such an unusual experience that Miss Selina forgot to wince or complain, and before she did remember, Ruth was bubbling over with news.
"What do you think is to happen to-day?--Oh! Aunt Selina, we all have new names at home; even mother is now called Mother Wings and I am Fluff. The other Blue Birds have names they chose for themselves, and Ned is an Owl, and prints our weekly paper called the _Chirp_. Now, instead of Aunt Selina, I want to call you a bird-name, too. May I?"
Aunt Selina smiled sympathetically at Ruth"s words, but, recalled to her condition by a twinge of pain, she moaned, "Child, poor old Aunt Selina would make a wretched specimen of a bird nowadays. The only kind I feel that I could represent truly is a raven--for it always croaks."
Ruth laughed consolingly, but cried, "Oh, Aunt Selina, that is just because you feel blue with those old rheumatics. Mother says we always look at life through dark spectacles when we"re in pain, and we b"lieve the lovely world has lost all its brightness. Now, I"ve come to make you forget your blues and I _must_ have a new name to say, because there is so _much_ to tell you that I would lose time if I had to say "Aunt Selina" every time. Besides, a new name will make you forget yourself."
"What could you call me?" questioned her aunt, trying to fall in with the child"s whim.
"We"ll have to think! It isn"t as easy as it may sound to find a name to suit. We had a dreadful hard time to do it."
""Fluff" suits you beautifully. Who found it?" said the old lady interestedly.
"I chose two, but we can only have one. One was "Flutey" the other "Fluff"; Ned and the Blue Birds liked "Fluff" best, and they have called me by that name ever since we were christened in the Nest."
"When I was a little girl like you I used to enjoy whistling about the place so much that father called me his little flute. I can still see the shocked expression of my aunt who visited us, when she heard me running about whistling like a boy. She was a grand dame of society in New York, and _her_ girls were doing embroidery and being taught how to curtsey and behave in the drawing-room." And Miss Selina smiled at Ruth who fully understood the remark and clapped her hands delightedly at her aunt who had been a hoyden so long ago.
"I just love to whistle, too. Ned says I can pipe higher and carry a tune better than anyone he knows!" declared Ruth, and aunt and grand-niece felt a common bond of unity.