Part 9 (1/2)
”Now that everything is comfy,” observed Grace, ”I, for one, think it is great fun. Our little house in the woods! For one night, it is almost as good as the cabin in the Berks.h.i.+res.”
”Yes, for one night; but give me a roof when the rain comes,” cried Ruth.
”You are safe for to-night, at any rate, Ruth,” said Barbara, looking up at the sky through the branches of the tall forest trees. ”There's not a cloud, even as small as a man's hand. And how bright the stars are!
There comes the harvest moon. It looks like a great, red lantern.”
”Money, money!” cried Mollie excitedly.
”What is the matter with you, child?” said Miss Sallie, startled into finding her voice at last.
”Didn't you see it?” said Mollie. ”It was a splendid shooting star. It had a tail that reached halfway across the heavens. Don't you know that, if you remember to say 'money, money, money,' before it fades out of sight or goes wherever it disappears to--”
”'Oh, mother, where do the shooting stars go'?” laughed Ruth, breaking in upon Mollie-”you will inherit a large sum of money,” continued Mollie.
”We shall be sleeping at the feet of an heiress, then,” said Bab. ”Or did the star fade out before you had finished, Molliekins?”
”I don't know,” replied Mollie. ”I was so excited that I forgot to look.”
By this time tea was ready and a rug had been spread in front of the tent for the guests to sit upon. Miss Sallie with her air cus.h.i.+on between her shoulders and the trunk of a tree that spread its branches over the tent, was beginning to feel that life, after all, held a number of pleasant things, including a certain favorite blend of tea that was as delicious, fragrant and expensive as heart could wish.
The night breeze touched their faces gently, and the stillness and sweet scents of the woods soothed them into forgetfulness of their troubles.
While they sipped their tea and talked, in subdued voices, of the mystery of the forest at night, the Gypsy girl crept up and gazed curiously, almost wistfully, at them.
”Do have some chocolate,” called Ruth, as she held the box toward the girl. ”Come over and sit down, won't you? What is your name?”
”My name is Zerlina,” replied the Gypsy, as she nibbled gingerly at a piece of chocolate.
”And is Granny Ann your mother?” asked Ruth.
”She is my grandmother,” replied Zerlina. ”My mother died many years ago.”
Ruth looked at her sympathetically. They had, she thought, at least one thing in common in their widely separated circ.u.mstances.
”Would you like,” she asked gently, ”to live in a city and go to school?”
For a moment Zerlina's face flushed with a deep glow of color. Her eyes traveled from one to another of the automobile party. She noted their refined, well-bred faces, their dainty dresses, the luxurious pile of long silk coats and chiffon veils. Nothing escaped the child, not even the elegant little tea basket with its fittings of silver and French china.
”There are times when I hate this life,” Zerlina said finally, turning to Ruth, who was watching her curiously. ”There are times in the winter when we have been too poor to go far enough South to keep warm. It is then that I would like the city and the warm houses. But my grandmother is very strict.”
She paused and bit her lip. She had spoken so fiercely that the girls had felt somewhat embarra.s.sed at their own prosperity. ”But,” continued Zerlina in a quieter tone, ”when summer comes, I would rather be here in the woods. Gypsies do not live in houses,” she went on a little proudly.
”My grandmother has told me that they have been wanderers for thousands of years. They do not go to school. They teach each other. My grandmother has taught me to read and write. She was taught by her mother, who was adopted and educated by a n.o.ble lady. But she came back to the Gypsies afterwards.”
”And your mother?” asked Mollie.
”My mother is dead,” returned Zerlina, and closed her lips tightly, as if to block all further inquiries in that direction.
”It is very interesting!” exclaimed Ruth. ”And your education is then really inherited from your great-grandmother.”