"But I want to work," the white girl insisted. "I don"t want you two to do everything."
"It ain"t much we kin do," the old woman went on as though apologizing for the house, "not much fer an Ogilvie. Miss Hertha Ogilvie, dat"s what dey"ll call yer. Miss Hertha Ogilvie! Oh, my Lawd!"
Hertha rose from the seat into which she had been pushed and began to set the table. But while handling the knives and forks and smoothing the tablecloth into place, she found herself repeating, "Miss Hertha Ogilvie, _Miss_ Hertha Ogilvie, _Miss_"!
How the white people had steadily refused to give her that t.i.tle! No matter how refined she was, how well educated, since she had colored blood she must always hear her first name. But Lee Merryvale had said, "Miss Hertha," and Miss Witherspoon had said, "Miss Ogilvie."
"Sister," she said, turning to Ellen with attempted gaiety, "can"t we have sugared sweet potatoes to-night to celebrate? You cook them so well. Just think, I"m going to have two thousand dollars. Isn"t that rich?"
"It depends on how you use it," replied the always practical Ellen. "If you want you can get rid of it quickly enough; but I do hope, Hertha, you"ll use some of it for your education."
"What do you want me to study?"
"You know what I told you the other day, but now you"ll have a better chance of success."
"You mean dressmaking. I think myself I"ll try stenography."
It was a wild statement, an exciting jump into an unknown business world.
"Why, Hertha," Ellen said in surprise, "I didn"t know you had any bent that way."
"I haven"t, but I believe I should like it. Stenographers work in offices, and have short hours and good wages."
"Not colored ones. Oh, I forgot." Ellen lost her composure, and to cover her slip went into the kitchen.
There was a knock and Mammy went outside to admit Mr. John Merryvale. He at once entered the room and seeing Hertha walked up to her and took her hand. "My dear," he said, "we have done you a great injustice."
"Yes?" Hertha said, questioning.
She was angry at his coming, but his kindly manner made it difficult for her to maintain her anger. He crossed over to where her mammy stood, saying gravely: "Aunt Maggie, it seems like you were the only one who did the right thing in all this tangle. You and your husband opened your hearts and brought up this forsaken child. You surely deserve your reward."
"I don" want no reward," the colored woman replied. "I had my reward ebery day dis chile lib. Wat you t"ink a lil" bread an" a shelterin"
roof mean to yer when yer hab a lily like dis by you" side? An" oh, how is I eber ter git on wid her away?"
"I haven"t gone yet, Mammy," Hertha said with an attempt at a laugh.
"I"m right here."
"No, but I can"t keep you no longer; you"s crossed de line when you is Miss Hertha Ogilvie. You"s gone across."
"Well, I"m Hertha Williams just at present, and I"m going to see how Ellen"s sweet potatoes are getting on," and she left the room.
When she returned a few minutes later she found Mr. Merryvale seated in the rocker while Aunt Maggie stood by the table. He rose as she entered, a tribute he had never paid her before. The girl felt it acutely as the old woman had remained standing while the man sat. "White, white, white," she said to herself. "That"s the way the people treat you when you"re white. I"m white now, and they"ll rise when I enter the room, and they"ll serve me instead of my serving them."
"Supper is most ready, Mammy," she called out. "Ellen will bring in the potatoes as soon as you tell her to."
She tried to ignore their visitor, but he was oblivious of her attempt.
"Your mammy and I have been talking things over," he said, "and we think, Hertha, that it would be well for you to go home with me. I came to reiterate Miss Patty"s invitation. Come and visit with us until you decide what you will do and whether you desire to go away to complete your education."
"This is my home." The girl"s voice trembled despite her efforts to control it. "Mammy has told me she won"t turn me out."
"Turn you out, my baby!"
"Yes, I"m the baby you took in, Mammy, and I want to stay on here now with you. Don"t send me away! Ellen," she called into the kitchen, "come in, won"t you?"
Ellen appeared at the doorway and all three turned to her expectantly: Mr. Merryvale, tall, quiet; Mammy, tearful, bewildered; and Hertha with the new excited look upon her face. "Ellen," she cried again, "don"t let them take me from my only home!"
The colored girl put down the dish that she was carrying and said to the gentleman who stood looking at her so pleasantly and yet with such a gently persistent manner: "Hertha is very tired, Mr. Merryvale, I think she had better eat a little supper and then go right to bed. She looks like she hadn"t slept a wink last night, and to-day"s news is enough to get any one crazy! You"ll excuse her, I know, if she doesn"t go back with you."
"You"re a right good woman, Ellen," Mr. Merryvale replied, "and likely you"ll understand. We want Hertha to be with us very much."
The white girl moved to where Ellen stood and, clasping her erstwhile sister by the arm, pressed close to the strong figure as though nothing should draw her away.
"Hertha is over twenty-one," Ellen remarked, "I suppose that gives her the right to do as she likes."
Mr. Merryvale looked at the two young women and then addressed himself directly to Hertha. He seemed very impressive as he stood before her clad in his long coat. His voice was more serious than usual, and he spoke gently, with deliberation.
"Everybody in Merryvale has heard of your good fortune, Hertha," he said, "and I reckon the earth won"t be a day older before everybody knows it up and down the river. It"s a wonderful story and if you lived in the city the newspaper men would be rushing in and taking your picture, and they only know what foolishness they might say. For a little time you"ll be a person of prominence. Now, I understand there isn"t anything your mammy wouldn"t do for you, but right now she can"t help you, you need the protection of my home. Everybody"s wondering if it"s true, and asking themselves and others all sorts of questions. If you come with me the questions will stop, and you will be Hertha Ogilvie to all the world. Miss Patty would have come herself," he added, "but she didn"t feel rightly that she could walk so far."
"Of course not," Hertha a.s.sented, her affection for her mistress at once a.s.serting itself, "she never walks as far as this."
"Don"t you think then that you had better come with me like a wise young lady? Mammy and Ellen will know that your affection for them has not changed, and they will be glad to have you escape any gossip or unkind talk. It isn"t like we were strangers to you. You love my sister and she loves you and will be glad to advise you regarding the new place you will take in the world. Maggie," he said, turning to the older woman, "you understand, and I think Ellen is beginning to. I leave it to you both to convince Hertha that she will do best by coming with me. Your chickens look likely this year," he said with apparent irrelevance, "I"m going out to see them;" and with a slow step he left the room.
Ellen was the first to speak. "Look after the supper, Mammy," she said, "while Hertha comes with me." And she led the girl into Tom"s bedroom.
"Is there a special reason why you don"t want to go?" she asked; and then, as Hertha did not answer, in a lower tone, "Has it anything to do with Mr. Lee Merryvale?"
Still Hertha did not speak.
"Hertha!"
"Oh, you needn"t worry." The girl looked up quickly. "Nothing has happened. Only," and she spoke with bitterness, "I found out he despised me."
"Well," Ellen observed after a pause, "you"re a white girl now, you can despise him."
"Yes," Hertha answered, but her tone did not carry conviction.
Ellen looked at the delicate face, at the slender hands, at the shy figure, and swallowed hard. "Sister," she said authoritatively, "the time has come for you to hold up your head. You"ve got to make your own way. You"ll be lonely and frightened and you"ll miss home, but you"ve got to do it. As for Mr. Lee, I"m pretty sure he won"t bother you if you let him see you don"t like it. He"ll have to take a little time to find his bearings, now he knows you"re white."
"I don"t want him around."
"If he wants to be around he can see you one place as well as another.
You can"t stay forever in these few rooms."
"Then you send me away?" Hertha turned to her former sister, her head up.
"You"re going to your lawyer, you"re taking the name of Hertha Ogilvie, you"re coming into two thousand dollars from your grandfather"s estate; isn"t that so?"