The match fell from papa"s fingers, and he looked up at me with an expression that was half bewilderment, half relief. "Eh! burn _what_?"
he said.
"I--I--mean--were you going to burn--your book?" I remembered in time that he did not know we called it the Fetich. "Oh, papa," I pleaded, "_why_ are you doing this? Your wonderful book, that mamma was so proud of!"
Papa got up and sat in his chair, and the sadness of his face made me think of Fee"s that awful night; the tears came rushing to my eyes, and I knelt down and took his hand in my two and held it fast. He let me keep it, and peered earnestly at me for a few minutes in his near-sighted way. "It might as well be destroyed; I shall never finish it--_now_" he said presently, in a low voice, as if he were speaking to himself, and looking beyond me at the Fetich in the grate. "She is no longer here to praise and encourage--my lifelong work,--a failure!"
Then, all at once, a daring idea came to me; and, without giving my courage time to cool, I said quickly: "Papa! dear, dear papa,"--how my voice shook!--"_please_ let me help you with your work of an afternoon, something as mamma used to do!" I thought I saw a refusal in his face, and went on hastily: "I know quite a good deal of Latin and Greek, and I write a plain hand; I could copy for you, anyway, and I would be _very_ careful. Will you? Ah, _please_! I know she would like me to do it. And perhaps"--the words faltered--"perhaps she can see and hear us now; and if she can, I _know_ she will be glad to have me do this for you."
Papa gave an eager, startled glance around the room; then he drooped his head, and covered his face with the hand I wasn"t holding, and for several minutes we didn"t speak. Presently he said slowly,--and the unsteadiness of his voice told me more than his words did,--"I suppose I could let you try; for I do need--some one. You might be useful to me, my dear, if you could come regularly to help me--every day; on that condition I will accept your offer, and thank you for it--"
"I can--I will; _indeed_ I will!" I broke in.
A look of relief came over papa"s face, a faint little smile stirred his lips, and he gently patted my shoulder. "You are like your mother," he said; and turning up my chin he kissed me,--a light little kiss that just brushed my face, but I knew what it meant from him.
Then, as he stooped over and began to gather up the Fetich, he added, in his usual voice: "These are some chapters that I"ve written lately, and become somewhat discouraged over. Help me put them back in their place on my desk, Nannie; and be careful to keep every page in its regular order." I did so, and listened attentively while he explained, with great care and insistence, what I should have to do, and how much time he would require me to spend in the study.
It was not until I had left him, and was on my way to the schoolroom, that I remembered that the hours I had promised papa were those I had set aside for my violin lessons and practice. And then--I am sorry and ashamed, but I _couldn"t_ help it--I ran swiftly away and hid in a corner by myself, and cried bitterly. It wasn"t that I wished I hadn"t made papa that offer, for I would have done it over again, even while I felt so badly; but, oh, how hard it was to give up my dear music! And I really didn"t know what to do about my teacher and aunt Lindsay.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ""I CAN--I WILL; _INDEED_ I WILL!""]
But it all came right after a while; dear old Felix came to the rescue, as he generally does, and offered to go to the conservatory and take the lessons for me, and then give them to me in the evenings in the old store-room,--that is, if aunt Lindsay didn"t object. Of course I was thankful; for while Fee does not love violin music as I do, he is very thorough, and would, I know, do his best for me. So I wrote and explained to aunt Lindsay, and she did not object in the least; in fact, her letter was the nicest she has written us yet. And this is the way that things stand at present: Papa is still writing the Fetich, and I am helping him; evenings, Fee and I have great times in the store-room, with the door closed and heavily m.u.f.fled, giving and receiving music lessons, and practising with our squeaky violins,--we really do have lots of fun!
And now to-day comes the good news from Max that he will soon be home; he writes that he has a "surprise" for us, and of course we are all very curious. Dear old fellow! It will be such a comfort to have him among us again!
V.
A FRACAS AND AN ARRIVAL.
TOLD BY BETTY.
Of all people in the world, _Jack_ has been in a fight! Phil brought him in, and such a sight as he was! his nose bleeding, his coat torn, and a lump on his forehead as big as a hen"s egg! "Why," said Phil, "I couldn"t believe my eyes at first; but true it was, all the same,--there was our gentle "rosebud" pommelling away at a fellow nearly twice his size! And what"s more, when I pulled him off, and separated them, if my young man didn"t fly at the other fellow again like a little c.o.c.k sparrow! I could hardly get him home."
"Yes, and I"d do it again!" cried Jack, ferociously, mopping his wounded nose with his handkerchief, while Nannie rushed to get water and court-plaster.
"What"d he do?" asked Phil and Fee and I, all together. We knew it must have been something very dreadful to rouse Jack to such a pitch; for, as nurse says, he is one of the "most peaceablest children that ever lived." But he wouldn"t tell. "Never you mind," was all he"d say.
By this time Nannie had brought a basin of water and the other things, and when Fee waved his arm and called out tragically, "Gather round, gather round, fellow-citizens, and witness the dressing of this bleeding hero"s wounds," we crowded so near that Nannie declared we made her nervous. Jack did look so funny, with a big bath-towel pinned round his shoulders, and the basin right up under his chin, so the water shouldn"t get over his clothes! And of course, as we looked on, everybody had something to say. "Tell you what, Jack," said Phil, "you could paint the town red now, and no mistake, just from your nose; _what_ an opportunity lost!"
"And I shouldn"t wonder if the bridge of that cla.s.sic member were broken. Oh the pity of it!" put in Fee, in mock sympathy.
"You"ll be a sight to-morrow,--all black and blue," remarked Nora, eyeing him critically. "I thought you were too much of a gentleman to fight on the street, Jack,--just like a common rowdy!"
"I"m glad you didn"t get beaten," I said; "but my! won"t Miss Marston give it to you to-morrow!" She was out this afternoon.
"Your nose is all swelling up!" announced Judge, solemnly, and Kathie murmured sympathetically, "_Poor_ Jack!"
[Ill.u.s.tration: ""GATHER ROUND, GATHER ROUND, FELLOW-CITIZENS, AND WITNESS THE DRESSING OF THIS BLEEDING HERO"S WOUNDS.""]
Even Nannie--and she isn"t one bit a nagger--said, "Oh, Jackie, I"m _so_ ashamed of you! Mamma wouldn"t want her gentle boy to become a fighter."
"Yes, she _would_ so, if she knew what this fellow did," a.s.serted Jack, as positively as he could with the water pouring down over his mouth.
"_What_ did he do?" we all shouted. "Tell us, what _did_ he do, Jack?"
But Jack got furious. "None of your business!" he roared; and twisting himself away from us, he dashed out of the room, Nannie following after him, basin in hand, imploring him to let her finish dressing his nose.
We really didn"t mean to make him angry,--it"s just a way we have of speaking out our minds to one another; but Nannie felt very sorry,--she said we had teased Jack. I felt sorry, too, when he told me all about it,--Jack generally does tell me things,--after making me promise "truly and faithfully" that I would not say "one word about it to any single person we know." Many a time since I"ve wished that I hadn"t promised,--it isn"t fair to Jack himself; but he won"t let me off.
Jack is really a _very_ odd boy.
Well, it seems that as Felix pa.s.sed along the street where Jack and some of his friends were playing, one of the boys caught up a piece of straw, and twisting it across his nose like a pair of spectacles, limped after Fee, mimicking his walk, and singing, "H"m-ha! hipperty hop!" Jack clinched his hands tight while he was telling me. "Betty," he said, "I got such a queer feeling inside; I just _swelled_ up, and if he"d been _three_ times as big, I"d have tackled him. I waited for Fee to turn the corner,--you see I didn"t want him to know what Henderson was doing behind his back,--and _then_ didn"t I just _go_ for him! I _tell_ you, I whacked him!"
My blood fairly boiled to think that anybody could have been so contemptibly mean as to mock our dear old Fee,--as if he didn"t feel badly enough about being near-sighted and lame! I would like to have gone right out and thrashed Henderson all over again; but, as Jack very truly said, "that would only make a grand row, and then the whole thing"d be sure to get to Fee"s ears, and that"s what we don"t want." So I had to cool down. This was the reason Jack wouldn"t tell the others what the trouble was--and there Felix himself had been teasing him! Nor has he said one word to anybody but me about it, though he has been blamed and punished for fighting on the street, when, if he had only told, or let me tell for him, the true reason for his acting so, I"m sure everybody would have changed their mind at once; but he will not.
This was very nice of Jack,--he has some ways that really make me very fond of him; but he is also a very queer and provoking boy sometimes, as you will hear.
The worst was to get through dinner that evening without papa"s noticing. Of course Miss Marston would be sure to tell him as soon as she knew, and of course Jack would be punished; but he did want to put off the evil hour as long as possible. His seat at table is quite near to papa, but I come between, and I promised I"d lean as far forward as I could, all through the meal, so as to shield him. We got downstairs and settled in our places safely; but Jack was as nervous as a cat. I really think he wouldn"t have minded taking his dinner _under_ the table for that one occasion; and no wonder, for everybody, even to Hannah, kept looking at him, and Phil and Felix kept pa.s.sing him all sorts of things, with such unusual politeness as was enough to fl.u.s.ter anybody. Still, everything went well until we came to dessert; it was cottage pudding,--Jack"s favourite,--and I suppose he got reckless, or forgot, in his enjoyment of it, and leaned a little too far forward, for presently papa said, very quietly, "Betty, sit properly in your chair."
Of course I had to obey, and that brought poor Jack into full view.
A broad strip of white court-plaster across one"s nose, and a big bruised lump on one"s forehead _are_ rather conspicuous things, and, I tell you, papa did stare! but he didn"t say a word. Neither did Jack speak, though he knew papa was looking at him; he just kept right on eating very fast. He said afterward he"d have eaten the whole pudding, had it been before him, for he was so nervous he didn"t really know what he was doing; but he got redder and redder in the face, and presently he choked,--a regular snort! I immediately flew up and pounded him on the back; but papa made me sit down again, and as soon as Jack had stopped coughing violently, he said, "Leave the table, sir, and come to my study to-morrow morning at nine o"clock."
I think, had we dared, we could all have roared with laughter as Jack got up and walked out of the room; not because we didn"t feel sorry for him, for we did,--I especially, knowing how it was he got into this sc.r.a.pe,--but he did look _so_ funny! I don"t know why it is, but Jack is a person that makes one laugh without his intending in the least to be funny; it"s the way he does things.
I can"t begin to tell you how I urged Jack to tell papa why it was he had gotten into that fight. I scolded, and coaxed, and talked, _and_ talked, but I _couldn"t_ get him to say he would, nor to let me tell; in his way, I do believe he is as obstinate as Kathie. Even the next morning, when he stood at the study door, ready to knock, though his hands were as cold as ice, and he looked awfully scared, all he"d say to my repeated, "_Do_ speak out like a man, and tell it, Jack," was, "_Perhaps_." I would like to have gone right in and told papa the whole matter myself, but you see I had promised; and besides, we are none of us very fond of going into the study,--though Nannie is in there pretty often lately,--I"m sure I can"t say why it is, for papa never scolds us violently: whatever he says is very quietly spoken, but I tell you every word goes home!
The schoolroom bell rang while I was talking to Jack; so of course I had to go, and it was fully half an hour before he walked in and took his place. His face was very red, even his ears, and he didn"t look happy; but it wasn"t until after school that I had a chance to ask him anything, and he wasn"t very amiable then. He had a book,--some story of wild adventure and hair-breadth escape, and he hated to be interrupted.
For all that Jack is such a quiet, gentle sort of a boy, he likes to read the most exciting books, about fighting and shipwrecks and savages,--though I"m _sure_ if an Indian should walk into the room, he"d fly into the remotest corner of the closet and hide,--and the hymns he loves the best are the ones that bring in about war and soldiers. You should hear him sing, "The Son of G.o.d goes forth to war," in church! he positively shouts. So when I said, "Well, Jack, how"d you get along this morning?" he went right on turning over the leaves to find his place, and answered shortly:--
"Oh, no play out-of-doors for a week, and a double dose of that vile Latin, and a sound rating for getting into a row on the street,--that"s all."
"But didn"t you tell him--" I began indignantly, but Jack interrupted.
"He didn"t ask why I did it, and I didn"t tell him," he said.
"What a _silly_ you are!" I cried, I was _so_ mad! "That Henderson ought to be told about and punished--now!"
"Henderson is a beast!" Jack said severely; then, having come to his place in the story, he added: "Now please go away, and don"t bother me, Betty; I want to read." He settled himself on the schoolroom sofa in his favourite position, with his back against the arm of the sofa, and his legs straight out along the seat, and began to read. I knew he"d get cranky if I said any more, so I went away.
But for all that he called Henderson names, what did Jack do but go and make _friends_ with him just a day or two after he was allowed to go out!
I was so provoked when I heard of it, that I fairly stormed at Jack; he took it all in the meekest way, and when I finished up,--with a fine attempt at sarcasm,--"If _I"d_ been you, I would have snubbed such a mean boy for at least a _week_ longer," he grinned and said, "If you"d been I, you"d have done just as I did." Then he added, in that old-fashioned, confidential way he has, "I couldn"t help it, Betty; you see the boys wouldn"t have a thing to do with him, or let him join in any of the games, until I had forgiven him, and I just _couldn"t_ stand seeing him hanging around and being snubbed."
"Oh, yes, you"re very considerate for him; but _he_ will make fun of _your_ brother again to-morrow, if he feels like it," I said, still angry.
"No, he _won"t_" a.s.serted Jack, positively; ""cause I told him--not disagreeably, you know, but so he"d feel I was in earnest--that if he ever did, I"d just have to thrash him again. And he said, "A-a-h, what d"you take me for? D"you s"pose I knew "twas _your_ brother?" And that"s a good deal from Henderson, for he"s an awfully rough boy. You know, Betty, you"ve _got_ to make allowances for people, or you"d never get along with "em. And, besides, he looks worse than I do," went on Jack, feeling of his nose and forehead. "I really felt ashamed to think I"d hit him so hard, and,"--shuffling his feet, and looking very sheepish,--"well, you know, the Golden Rule is my motto for this year, and, as I thought to myself, what"s the use of a motto, if you don"t act up to it? So I just made friends with Henderson. I knew you"d say I was silly to do it, but I don"t care,--I feel better; I do hate to be mad with people!" And with that he walked off, before I could think of anything to say.