Part 9 (2/2)

”I don't want to leave Gentilla,” said Susan, as she joined the group before the tent. ”Do you suppose I can come and play with her to-morrow?” ”Perhaps Mrs. Lee will let Gentilla come and play with you,”

answered Mr. Whiting, who thought Susan better off at home than in the gypsy camp.

So it was settled that Mr. James Lee would bring Gentilla to-morrow to spend the day, and Susan went home with a happy heart, chattering to Grandfather about her new-found friends.

”Wouldn't you like to be a gypsy, Grandfather?” asked she. ”Wouldn't you like to live in a tent? Why isn't everybody a gypsy? It's such a nice way to live.”

”Well, Susan, most people think it better to stay in one place instead of wandering over the face of the earth,” answered Grandfather. ”And among other things, they want their children to go to school and to church, too.”

”I don't care so much about going to school,” said Susan, honestly. ”I know I would like to live in a tent and ride around in that van.”

”It seems pleasant enough now, while it is warm weather,” admitted Grandfather. ”But what about cold, and rain, and snow, and not any too much to eat?”

”They were hungry, weren't they?” pondered Susan. ”How they did like Grandmother's cake!”

That night at supper Susan looked round the pleasant, well-lighted room, with its table spread with good things to eat. She thought of the tent in the woods, the trees standing tall and black about it, and the near-by brook gurgling over its stones without a pause. It seemed dark and dreary and lonely, and with a little shudder Susan bent down and whispered to Snuff:

”I wouldn't have us be gypsies, Snuff, for anything in the world.”

And when she went to bed, she astonished Grandmother by saying in the midst of her prayers:

”Thank you, G.o.d, for not making Grandmother a gypsy, because then I wouldn't have any apple sauce for my supper.”

CHAPTER VII-IN THE SCHOOLHOUSE

Susan and Gentilla were at play in the garden, walking Indian fas.h.i.+on up one path and down the other between the rows of summer vegetables. The little girls held their arms outstretched to keep their balance, and, now and then, with shrill little screams, one or the other would almost, but not quite, topple over.

Occasionally Gentilla, unsteady on her feet, made a misstep among the beets and peas, and once she sat down upon a cabbage. But, as she was as light as a feather, it certainly did the cabbage no harm, and perhaps a great deal of good for all we know to the contrary.

”Gentilla,” said Susan, struck with a happy thought, ”let's go play on the schoolhouse steps.”

”Yes, let's,” said Gentilla agreeably. She did not know where the schoolhouse steps were, but she would have gone as willingly to the North Pole if Susan had suggested it.

She and Susan had become warm friends. Gentilla spent almost every day at the house on Featherbed Lane, and Grandmother and Grandfather and even Miss Liza had grown fond of the little gypsy girl because of her happy disposition and loving little ways. Gentilla was not a great talker, but she made smiles and a dimple and funny little bobs of her head take the place of speech. She liked to steal up behind you and place a kiss as soft as thistledown in the palm of your hand. She rubbed gently up against one as a little kitten would, and by her pats and what Susan called ”smoothings” told you how much she loved you without a single word.

”She is a good child,” said Grandmother. ”I can hardly believe that she is a real gypsy child. She doesn't seem like one to me.”

”She does wind herself round your heart,” confided Miss Liza. ”If I lived alone I would almost think of adopting her, though I don't know whether her people would be willing to part with her.”

”Mr. Whiting says they are a little jealous because we do so much for Gentilla, and not for their own little girls. He thinks we haven't been very wise,” answered Mrs. Whiting. ”And now that you have made Gentilla these ap.r.o.ns, I don't know what they will say.”

From the shady back porch, where Grandmother and Miss Liza sat rocking and sewing together, it looked as if two Susans, one large and one small, were walking down the path toward them. For Gentilla wore, fitted to her small person, a dress Susan had outgrown, and on her feet a pair of Susan's shoes, the toes well stuffed with cotton.

”Grandmother, we are going to play,” called Susan. ”And I want to whisper in your ear.”

”Can't you say it out loud?” inquired Grandmother mildly. ”It isn't polite to whisper, Susan.”

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