[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CONFERENCE.]
"Well," said Maine, modestly. "I did have an idea, girls. I don"t know whether you will approve or not, but--what do you say to a fancy ball?"
"A fancy ball! at two days" notice!"
"Pen.o.bscot is losing her mind. Pity to see it shattered, for it was once a fine organ."
"Be quiet, Tennessee! I don"t mean anything elaborate, of course.
But I thought we might have an informal frolic, and dress up in--oh, anything we happened to have. Not call it a dance, but have dancing all the same; don"t you see? There are all kinds of costumes that can be got up with very little trouble, and no expense to speak of."
"For example!" said Ma.s.sachusetts. "She has it all arranged, girls; all we have to do is to sit back and let wisdom flow in our ears."
"Ma.s.sachusetts, if you tease me any more, _I"ll_ sit back, and let you do it all yourself. Well, then--let me see! Tennessee--to tell the truth, I didn"t sleep very well last night; my head ached; and I amused myself by planning a few costumes, just in case you should fancy the idea."
"Quack! quack!" said Ma.s.sachusetts. "I didn"t mean to interrupt, but you _are_ a duck, and I must just show that I can speak your language.
Go on!"
"Tennessee, I thought you might be an Indian. You must have something that will show your hair. With my striped shawl for a blanket, and the c.o.c.k"s feather out of Jersey"s hat--what do you think?"
"Perfect!" said Tennessee. "And I can try effects with my new paint-box, one cheek stripes, the other spots. Hurrah! next!"
"Old New York, you must be a flower of some kind. Or--why not a basket of flowers? You could have a basket-work bodice, don"t you see?
and flowers coming out of it all round your neck--your neck is so pretty, you ought to show it--"
"Or carrots and turnips!" said the irrepressible Ma.s.sachusetts.
"Call her a Harvest Hamper, and braid her lovely locks with strings of onions!"
"Thank you," laughed Old New York, a slender girl whose flower-like beauty made her a pleasure to look at. "I think I"ll keep to the posy, Ma.s.sachusetts. Go on, Maine! what shall Ma.s.sachusetts be, and what will you be yourself?"
"Ma.s.sachusetts ought by rights to be an apple, a nice fat rosy apple; but I don"t quite know how that can be managed."
"Then I shall be a codfish!" said Ma.s.sachusetts, decidedly.
"I am not going to desert Mr. Micawber--I mean the Bay State. I shall go as a salt codfish. _Dixi_! Pa.s.s on to the Pine-Tree!"
"Why, so I might be a pine-tree! I didn"t think of that. But still, I don"t think I will; I meant to be October. The leaves at home are so glorious in October, and I saw some scarlet leaves yesterday that will be lovely for chaplets and garlands."
"What are they? the maples don"t turn red here--too near the sea, I suppose."
"I don"t know what they are. Pointed leaves, rather long and delicate, and the most splendid color you ever saw. There is just this one little tree, near the crossroad by the old stone house. I haven"t seen anything like it about here. I found it yesterday, and just stood and looked at it, it was so beautiful. Yes, I shall be October; I"ll decide on that. What"s that rustling in the wood? aren"t we all here? I thought I heard something moving among the trees. I do believe some one is in there, Ma.s.sachusetts."
"I was pulling down a branch; don"t be imaginative, my dear. Well, go on! are we to make out all the characters?"
"Why--I thought not. Some of the girls will like better to choose their own, don"t you think? I thought we, as the Committee, might make out a list of suggestions, though, and then they can do as they please. But now, I wish some of you others would suggest something; I don"t want to do it all."
"Daisy will have to be her namesake, of course," said Tennessee.
"Jersey can be a mosquito," said Old New York; "she"s just the figure for it."
"Thank you!" said Jersey, who weighed ninety pounds. "Going on that theory, Pennsylvania ought to go as an elephant, and Rhode Island as a giraffe."
"And Chicago as a snake--no! I didn"t mean that!" cried Maine.
"You said it! you said it!" cried several voices, in triumph.
"The Charitable Organ has called names at last!" said Jersey, laughing. "And she has. .h.i.t it exactly. Now, Maine, what is the use of looking pained? the girl _is_ a snake--or a sneak, which amounts to the same thing. Let us have truth, I say, at all hazards."
"I am sorry!" said Maine, simply. "I am not fond of Chicago, and that is the very reason why I should not call her names behind her back. It slipped out before I knew it; I am sorry and ashamed, and that is all there is to say. And now, suppose we go home, and tell the other girls about the party."
The Committee trooped off across the hill, laughing and talking, Maine alone grave and silent. As their voices died away, the ferns nodded beside a great pine-tree that stood just within the border of the wood, not six yards from where they had been sitting. A slender dark girl rose from the fern-clump in which she had been crouching, and shook the pine-needles from her dress. Very cautiously she parted the screen of leaves, and looked after the retreating girls.
"That was worth while!" she said; and her voice, though quiet, was full of ugly meaning. "Snakes can hear, Miss Oracle, and bite, too.
We"ll see about those scarlet leaves!"
PART II
"Tra la, tra lee, I want my tea!"
Sang Tennessee, as she ran up-stairs. "Oh, Maine, is that you? my dear, my costume is simply too perfect for anything. I"ve been out in the woods, practising my war-whoop. Three yelps and a screech; I flatter myself it is the _most_ blood-curdling screech you ever heard.
I"m going to have a dress-rehearsal now, all by myself. Come and see--why, what"s the matter, Maine? something is wrong with you.
What is it?"
"Oh! nothing serious," said Maine, trying to speak lightly.
"I must get up another costume, that"s all, and there isn"t much time."
"Why! what has happened?"
"The scarlet leaves are gone."
"Gone! fallen, do you mean?"
"No! some one has cut or broken every branch. There is not one left.
The leaves made the whole costume, you see; it amounts to nothing without them, merely a yellow gown."
"Oh! my dear, what a shame! Who could have taken them?"
"I cannot imagine. I thought I would get them to-day, and keep them in water over night, so as to have them all ready to-morrow. Oh, well, it can"t be helped. I can call myself a sunflower, or Black-eyed Susan, or some other yellow thing. It"s absurd to mind, of course, only--"
"Only, being human, you do mind," said Tennessee, putting her arm round her friend"s waist. "I should think so, dear. We don"t care about having you canonized just yet. But, Maine, there must be more red leaves somewhere. This comes of living near the sea. Now, in my mountains, or in your woods, we could just go out and fill our arms with glory in five minutes, whichever way we turned. These murmuring pines and--well, I don"t know that there are any hemlocks--are all very splendid, and no one loves them better than I do; but for a Harvest festival decoration, "_Ils ne sont pas la dedans_," as the French have it."
"Slang, Tennessee! one cent!"
"On the contrary; foreign language, mark of commendation.
"But come now, and see my war-dance. I didn"t mean to let any one see it before-hand, but you are a dear old thing, and you shall. And then, we can take counsel about your costume. Not that I have the smallest anxiety about that; I"ve no doubt you have thought of something pretty already. I don"t see how you do it. When any one says "Clothes" to me, I never can think of anything but red flannel petticoats, if you will excuse my mentioning the article. I think Black-eyed Susan sounds delightful. How would you dress for it? you have the pretty yellow dress all ready."