But the roads were in places rough and full of ruts; the wagon was pretty well loaded; and Vinnie was weary enough, when, late in the afternoon, they approached the thriving new village of North Mills.
"Here we come to Lanman"s nurseries," said Jack, as they pa.s.sed a field of rich dark soil, ruled with neat rows of very young shrubs and trees.
"Felton is interested in the business with him; and I work for them a good deal when we"ve no surveying to do. They"re hardly established yet; but they"re sure of a great success within a few years, for all this immense country must have orchards and garden fruits, you know. Ah, there"s Lion!"
The dog came bounding to the front wheels, whining, barking, leaping up, wagging his tail, and finally rolling over in the dirt, to show his joy at seeing again his young master.
The Lanman cottage was close by; and there in the door was its young mistress, who, warned by the dog of the wagon"s approach, had come out to see if Jack"s horse was with him.
"No news of Snowfoot?" she said, walking to the gate as the wagon stopped.
"Not a bit. But I"ve had good luck, after all. For here is--who do you suppose? Vinnie Dalton! Vinnie, this is the friend you have heard me speak of, Mrs. Annie Felton Lanman."
Vinnie went out of the wagon almost into the arms of Annie; so well had both been prepared by Jack to know and to love each other.
Of course the young girl received a cordial welcome; and to her the little cottage seemed the most charming in the world. It contained few luxuries, but everything in it was arranged with neatness and taste, and exhaled an atmosphere of sweetness and comfort which mere luxury can never give.
"Lion has been watching for you with the anxiety of a lover all the afternoon," Mrs. Lanman said to Jack, as, side by side, with Vinnie between them, they walked up the path to the door. "And he is jealous because you don"t give him more attention."
"Not jealous; but he wants to be introduced to Vinnie. Here, old fellow!"
Vinnie was delighted to make acquaintance with the faithful dog, and listened eagerly to Annie"s praise of him as they entered the house.
"He is useful in doing our errands," said Mrs. Lanman. "If I wish to send him to the grocery for anything, I write my order on a piece of paper, put it into a basket, and give the basket to him, just lifting my finger, and saying, "Go to the grocery, go to the grocery," twice; and he never makes a mistake. To-day, Jack, for the first time, he came home without doing his errand."
"Why, Lion! I"m surprised at you!" said Jack; while Lion lay down on the floor, looking very much abashed.
"I sent him for b.u.t.ter, which we wanted to use at dinner. As I knew, when he came back, that the order, which I placed in a dish in the basket, had not been touched, I sent him again. "Don"t come home," I said, "till somebody gives you the b.u.t.ter." He then went, and didn"t return at all. So, as dinner-time came, I sent my brother to look after him. He found the grocery closed, and Lion waiting with his basket on the steps."
"The grocer is sick," Jack explained; "his son had gone to town with me; and so the clerk was obliged to shut up the store when he went to dinner." And he praised and patted Lion, to let him know that they were not blaming him for his failure to bring the b.u.t.ter.
"One day," said Annie, "he had been sent to the butcher"s for a piece of meat. On his way home he saw a small dog of his acquaintance engaged in a desperate fight with a big dog,--as big as Lion himself. At first he ran up to them much excited; then he seemed to remember his basket of meat. He couldn"t go into the fight with that, and he was too prudent to set it down in the street. For a moment he looked puzzled; then he ran to the grocery, which was close by,--the same place where we send him for things; but instead of holding up his basket before one of the men, as he does when his errand is with them, he went and set it carefully down behind a barrel in a corner. Then he rushed out and gave the big dog a severe punishing. The men in the grocery watched him; and, knowing that he would return for the basket, they hid it in another place, to see what he would do. He went back into the store, to the corner behind the barrel, and appeared to be in great distress. He snuffed and whimpered about the store for a while, then ran up to the youngest of the men--"
"Horace,--the young fellow who came out with us to-day," commented Jack.
"He is full of his fun; and Lion knew that it would be just like him to play such a trick."
--"He ran up to Horace," Annie continued, "and barked furiously; and became at last so fiercely threatening, that it was thought high time to give him the basket. Lion took it and ran home in extraordinary haste; but it was several days before he would have anything more to do with Horace."
"Who can say, after this, that dogs do not think?" said the admiring Vinnie.
"Mr. Lanman thinks he has some St. Bernard blood," said Jack, "and that is what gives him his intelligence. He knows just what we are talking about now; and see! he hardly knows whether to be proud or ashamed. I don"t approve of his fighting, on ordinary occasions; and I"ve had to punish him for it once or twice. The other evening, as I was coming home from a hunt after my horse, I saw two dogs fighting near the saw-mill."
Jack had got so far when Lion, who had seemed to take pleasure in being in the room till that moment, got up very quietly and went out with drooping ears and tail.
"He knows what is coming, and doesn"t care to hear it. There"s a little humbug about Lion, as there is about the most of us. It was growing dark, and the dogs were a little way off, and I wasn"t quite sure of Lion; but some boys who saw the fight told me it was he, and I called to him. But what do you think he did? Instead of running to greet me, as he always does when he sees me return after an absence, he fought a little longer, then pretended to be whipped, and ran around the saw-mill, followed by the other dog. The other dog came back, but Lion didn"t. I was quite surprised, when I got home, to see him rush out to meet me in an ecstasy of delight, as if he then saw me for the first time. His whole manner seemed to say, "I am tickled to see you, Jack! and if you think you saw me fighting the sawyer"s dog just now, you"re much mistaken." I don"t know but I might have been deceived, in spite of the boys; but one thing betrayed him,--he was wet. In order to get home before me, without pa.s.sing me on the road, he had swum the river."
"Now you must tell the story of the chickens," said Annie.
"Another bit of humbug," laughed Jack. "Our neighbors" chickens trouble us by scratching in our yard, and I have told Lion he must keep them out. But I noticed that sometimes, even when he had been on guard, there were signs that the chickens had been there and scratched. So I got Mrs.
Lanman to watch him for two or three days, while he watched the chickens. Now Lion is very fond of company; so, as soon as I was out of sight, he would let the chickens come in, and scratch and play all about him, while he would lie with his nose on his paws and blink at them as good-naturedly as possible. But he kept an eye out for me all the while, and the moment I came in sight he would jump up, and go to frightening away the chickens with a great display of vigor and fidelity. So you see, Lion isn"t a perfect character, by any means. I could tell you a good deal more about his peculiarities; but I think you are too tired now to listen to any more dog stories."
Jack carried Vinnie"s trunk to a cosey little room; and there she had time to rest and make herself presentable, before Mrs. Lanman came to tell her that tea was ready.
"See here, Vinnie, a minute!" said Jack, peeping from a half-opened door. "Don"t make a noise!" he whispered, as if there were a great mystery within. "I"ll show you something very precious."
Mrs. Lanman followed, smiling, as Jack led Vinnie to a crib, lifted a light veil, and discovered a lovely little cherub of a child, just opening its soft blue eyes, and stretching out its little rosy hands, still dewy with sleep.
"O how sweet!" said Vinnie, thrilled with love and tenderness at the sight.
"She has a smile for you, see!" said the pleased young mother.
Of course Vinnie had never seen so pretty a baby, such heavenly eyes, or such cunning little hands.
"The hands are little," said Jack, in a voice which had an unaccustomed tremor in it; "but they are stronger than a giant"s; they have hold of all our heart-strings."
"I never knew a boy so fond of a baby as Jack is," said Annie.
"O, but I shouldn"t be so fond of any other baby!" Jack replied, bending down to give the little thing a fond caress.
As they went out to tea, there was a happy light on all their faces, as if some new, deep note of harmony had just been struck in their hearts.
At tea Vinnie made the acquaintance of Annie"s brother and husband, and Jack"s friends, Mr. Forrest Felton and Mr. Percy Lanman, and--so pleasant and genial were their ways--felt at home in their presence at once. This was a great relief to her; for she felt very diffident at meeting men whom she had heard Jack praise so highly.
Any one could see that Vinnie was not accustomed to what is called society; but her native manners were so simple and sincere, and there was such an air of fresh, young, joyous, healthy life about her, that she produced an effect upon beholders which the most artificially refined young lady might have envied.
Jack watched her and Annie a good deal slyly; and there was in his expression a curious mixture of pride and anxiety, as if he were trying to look at each with the other"s eyes, and thinking how they must like each other, yet having some fears lest they might not see all he saw to admire.
Vinnie was made to talk a good deal of her journey; and she told the story with so much simplicity, speaking with unfeigned grat.i.tude and affection of the friendships she had made, and touching with quiet mirthfulness upon the droll events, as if she hardly knew herself that they were droll, that all--and especially Jack--were charmed.
But she had not the least idea of "showing off." Indeed, she thought scarcely at all of what others thought of her; but said often to herself, "What a beautiful home Jack has, and what pleasant companions!"
After tea she must see more of the baby; then Jack wanted to show her the greenhouses and the nurseries; and then all settled down to a social evening.
"Vinnie is pretty tired," said Jack, "and I think a little music will please her better than anything else."
And so a little concert was got up for her entertainment.
Forrest Felton was a fine performer on the flute; Mr. Lanman played the violin, and his wife the piano; and they discoursed some excellent music. Then, still better, there was singing. The deep-chested Forrest had a superb ba.s.s voice; Lanman a fine tenor; Annie"s voice was light, but exceedingly sweet and expressive; and they sang several pieces together, to her own accompaniment on the piano. Then Lanman said,--
"Now it is your turn, Jack."
"But you know," replied Jack, "I never play or sing for anybody, when your wife or Forrest is present."
"True; but you can dance."
"O yes! a dance, Jack!" cried Annie.
Vinnie clapped her hands. "Has Jack told you," she said, "how, on the steamboat going from Albany to New York, after they had had their pockets picked, he and George Greenwood collected a little money,--George playing the flute and Jack dancing, for the amus.e.m.e.nt of the pa.s.sengers?"