As the Winton _Weekly News_ declared proudly, it was the gayest summer the village had known in years. Mr. Paul Shaw"s theory about developing home resources was proving a sound one in this instance at least.
Hilary had long since forgotten that she had ever been an invalid, had indeed, sometimes, to be reminded of that fact. She had quite discarded the little "company" fiction, except now and then, by way of a joke. "Who"d want to be company?" she protested. "I"d rather be one of the family these days."
"That"s all very well," Patience retorted, "when you"re getting all the good of being both. You"ve got the company room." Patience had not found her summer quite as cloudless as some of her elders; being an honorary member had not meant _all_ of the fun in her case. She wished very much that it were possible to grow up in a single night, thus wiping out forever that drawback of being "a little girl."
Still, on the whole, she managed to get a fair share of the fun going on and quite agreed with the editor of the _Weekly News_, going so far as to tell him so when she met him down street. She had a very kindly feeling in her heart for the pleasant spoken little editor; had he not given her her full honors every time she had had the joy of being "among those present"?
There had been three of those checks from Uncle Paul; it was wonderful how far each had been made to go. It was possible nowadays to send for a new book, when the reviews were more than especially tempting. There had also been a tea-table added to the other attractions of the side porch, not an expensive affair, but the little j.a.panese cups and saucers were both pretty and delicate, as was the rest of the service; while Miranda"s cream cookies and sponge cakes were, as Shirley declared, good enough to be framed. Even the minister appeared now and then of an afternoon, during tea hour, and the young people, gathered on the porch, began to find him a very pleasant addition to their little company, he and they getting acquainted, as they had never gotten acquainted before.
s.e.xtoness Jane came every week now to help with the ironing, which meant greater freedom in the matter of wash dresses; and also, to s.e.xtoness Jane herself, the certainty of a day"s outing every week. To s.e.xtoness Jane, those Tuesdays at the parsonage were little short of a dissipation. Miranda, unbending in the face of such sincere and humble admiration, was truly gracious. The glimpses the little bent, old s.e.xtoness got of the young folks, the sense of life going on about her, were as good as a play, to quote her own simile, confided of an evening to Tobias, her great black cat, the only other inmate of the old cottage.
"I reckon Uncle Paul would be rather surprised," Pauline said one evening, "if he could know all the queer sorts of ways in which we use his money. But the little easings-up do count for so much."
"Indeed they do," Hilary agreed warmly, "though it hasn"t all gone for easings-ups, as you call them, either." She had sat down right in the middle of getting ready for bed, to revel in her ribbon box; she so loved pretty ribbons!
The committee on finances, as Pauline called her mother, Hilary, and herself, held frequent meetings. "And there"s always one thing," the girl would declare proudly, "the treasury is never entirely empty."
She kept faithful account of all money received and spent; each month a certain amount was laid away for the "rainy day"--which meant, really, the time when the checks should cease to come---"for, you know, Uncle Paul only promised them for the _summer_," Pauline reminded the others, and herself, rather frequently. Nor was all of the remainder ever quite used up before the coming of the next check.
"You"re quite a business woman, my dear," Mr. Shaw said once, smiling over the carefully recorded entries in the little account-book she showed him. "We must have named you rightly."
She wrote regularly to her uncle; her letters unconsciously growing more friendly and informal from week to week. They were bright, vivid letters, more so than Pauline had any idea of. Through them, Mr. Paul Shaw felt himself becoming very well acquainted with these young relatives whom he had never seen, and in whom, as the weeks went by, he felt himself growing more and more interested.
Without realizing it, he got into the habit of looking forward to that weekly letter; the girl wrote a nice clear hand, there didn"t seem to be any nonsense about her, and she had a way of going right to her point that was most satisfactory. It seemed sometimes as if he could see the old white parsonage and ivy-covered church; the broad tree-shaded lawns; the outdoor parlor, with the young people gathered about the tea-table; Bedelia, picking her way along the quiet country roads; the great lake in all its moods; the manor house.
Sometimes Pauline would enclose one or two of Hilary"s snap-shots of places, or persons. At one of these, taken the day of the fishing picnic, and under which Hilary had written "The best catch of the season," Mr. Paul Shaw looked long and intently. Somehow he had never pictured Phil to himself as middle-aged. If anyone had told him, when the lad was a boy, that the time would come when they would be like strangers to each other--Mr. Paul Shaw slipped the snap-shot and letter back into their envelope.
It was that afternoon that he spent considerable time over a catalogue devoted entirely to sporting goods; and it was a fortnight later that Patience came flying down the garden path to where Pauline and Hilary were leaning over the fence, paying a morning call to Bedelia, sunning herself in the back pasture.
"You"ll never guess what"s come _this_ time! And Jed says he reckons he can haul it out this afternoon if you"re set on it! And it"s addressed to the "Misses Shaw," so that means it"s _mine, too_!"
Patience dropped on the gra.s.s, quite out of breath.
The "it" proved to be a row-boat with a double set of oar-locks, a perfect boat for the lake, strong and safe, but trig and neat of outline.
Hilary named it the "Surprise" at first sight, and Tom was sent for at once to paint the name in red letters to look well against the white background and to match the boat"s red tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs.
Its launching was an event. Some of the young people had boats over at the lake, rather weather-beaten, tubby affairs, Bell declared them, after the coming of the "Surprise." A general overhauling took place immediately, the girls adopted simple boating dresses--red and white, which were their boating colors. A new zest was given to the water picnics, Bedelia learning to know the lake road very well.
August had come before they fairly realized that their summer was more than well under way. In little more than a month the long vacation would be over. Tom and Josie were to go to Boston to school; Bell to Vergennes.
"There"ll never be another summer quite like it!" Hilary said one morning. "I can"t bear to think of its being over."
"It isn"t--yet," Pauline answered.
"Tom"s coming," Patience heralded from the gate, and Hilary ran indoors for hat and camera.
"Where are you off to this morning?" Pauline asked, as her sister came out again.
"Out by the Cross-roads" Meeting-House," Tom answered. "Hilary has designs on it, I believe."
"You"d better come, too, Paul," Hilary urged. "It"s a glorious morning for a walk."
"I"m going to help mother cut out; perhaps I"ll come to meet you with Bedelia "long towards noon. You wait at Meeting-House Hill."
"_I"m_ not going to be busy this morning," Patience insinuated.
"Oh, yes you are, young lady," Pauline told her. "Mother said you were to weed the aster bed."
Patience looked longingly after the two starting gayly off down the path, their cameras swung over their shoulders, then she looked disgustedly at the aster bed. It was quite the biggest of the smaller beds.--She didn"t see what people wanted to plant so many asters for; she had never cared much for asters, she felt she should care even less about them in the future. Tiresome, stiff affairs!
By the time Tom and Hilary reached the old Cross-Roads" Meeting-House that morning, after a long roundabout ramble, Hilary, for one, was quite willing to sit down and wait for Pauline and the trap, and eat the great, juicy blackberries Tom gathered for her from the bushes along the road.
It had rained during the night and the air was crisp and fresh, with a hint of the coming fall. "Summer"s surely on the down grade," Tom said, throwing himself on the bank beside Hilary.
"So Paul and I were lamenting this morning. I don"t suppose it matters as much to you folks who are going off to school."
"Still it means another summer over," Tom said soberly. He was rather sorry that it was so--there could never be another summer quite so jolly and carefree. "And the breaking up of the club, I suppose?"
"I don"t see why we need call it a break--just a discontinuance, for a time."
"And why that, even? There"ll be a lot of you left, to keep it going."
"Y-yes, but with three, or perhaps more, out, I reckon we"ll have to postpone the next installment until another summer."
Tom went off then for more berries, and Hilary sat leaning back against the trunk of the big tree crowning the top of Meeting-House Hill, her eyes rather thoughtful. From where she sat, she had a full view of both roads for some distance and, just beyond, the little hamlet scattered about the old meeting-house.
Before the gate of one of the houses stood a familiar gig, and presently, as she sat watching, Dr. Brice came down the narrow flower-bordered path, followed by a woman. At the gate both stopped; the woman was saying something, her anxious, drawn face seeming out of keeping with the cheery freshness of the morning and the flowers nodding their bright heads about her.
As the doctor stood listening, his old shabby medicine case in his hand, with face bent to the troubled one raised to his, and bearing indicating grave sympathy and understanding, Hilary reached for her camera.
"Upon my word! Isn"t the poor pater exempt?" Tom laughed, coming back.
"I want it for the book Josie and I are making for you to take away with you, "Winton Snap-shots." We"ll call it "The Country Doctor.""
Tom looked at the gig, moving slowly off down the road now. He hated to say so, but he wished Hilary would not put that particular snap-shot in. He had a foreboding that it was going to make him a bit uncomfortable--later--when the time for decision came; though, as for that, he had already decided--beyond thought of change. He wished that the pater hadn"t set his heart on his coming back here to practice--and he wished, too, that Hilary hadn"t taken that photo.
"Paul"s late," he said presently.
"I"m afraid she isn"t coming."
"It"s past twelve," Tom glanced at the sun. "Maybe we"d better walk on a bit."
But they had walked a considerable bit, all the way to the parsonage, in fact, before they saw anything of Pauline. There, she met them at the gate. "Have you seen any trace of Patience--and Bedelia?" she asked eagerly.
"Patience and Bedelia?" Hilary repeated wonderingly.
"They"re both missing, and it"s pretty safe guessing they"re together."