Part 15 (1/2)
”I'd like to be one. Do you suppose we can ever settle down to slumber again to-night? I'd like to have larks the rest of the time, till morning. We will have them to-morrow night, Joey Burnside, if we can manage to stay in this house.”
It certainly was hard to get to sleep under these new conditions. Even after everybody was quiet, there were still sources of amus.e.m.e.nt for Sally. The sound of a low growl in the hall was enough to set her off, and she leaned over to Josephine's cot to whisper: ”That's Max, muttering, 'I hope you're satisfied!'”--at which Josephine began to laugh, and the two shook together for some time thereafter.
The first thing in the morning of which Josephine was conscious was Sally again, breathing joyously in her ear, ”Jo, Jo--it's raining!”
So it was. The long dry spell had been broken by the severe storm of the night, and a heavy rain was now falling. As she dressed, Sally gazed out upon it with satisfaction.
”How on earth are we to have any breakfast?” came booming from the hall, as Max, reluctantly getting to his feet, took in the situation.
”Mr. Ferry and I brought all the kitchen tent stuff into the back of this house,” said Bob. ”He said it was best in time of peace to prepare for war, and we might get another storm before morning. So we're all fixed.”
”Very nice for those who can stay here, but not so fine for the ones who have to catch the trolley.” Max applied himself discontentedly to the business of dressing.
”Oh, what's that! Who minds a little walk in the rain? I wouldn't be such a granny. You've done nothing but fuss ever since the tent came down. n.o.body else has howled a minute. You must enjoy being everlastingly in a grouch.”
It was not often that Bob's good humour forsook him to the point of addressing his elder brother in such disrespectful terms, and Max glared at him wrathfully.
”Cut that! I'm a few years older than you are, and you've no business to be impudent. When you work the way I do, you'll earn the right to have your rest undisturbed.”
”Yes, grandpa,” mocked Bob. Alec, sitting on the edge of his cot, laughed. This was too much for Max. He seized his younger brother by the collar and attempted to shake him. But Bob was more athletic than Max had realized. The st.u.r.dy young figure resisted doughtily, and Max, who was by no means muscular, found his hands full. Uncle Timothy and Alec looked on in amus.e.m.e.nt as the battle raged, and when Bob finally succeeded in depositing Max on the latter's own cot, back downward, the victor's knee on the conquered one's chest, they applauded heartily.
”Take it good-naturedly, nephew,” advised Mr. Rudd, catching sight of Max's angry countenance. ”It was a fair encounter, and the lad is stronger than you.”
”If there was any way of pounding a laugh into Maxwell Lane, I'd tackle him myself,” declared Alec.
”Boys, what are you doing?” called Sally. ”Are you dressed? May we come through? We want to help Mary Ann about breakfast.”
Max rose to his feet, his face red and his collar awry. As the girls appeared he strode away up the stairs affecting not to see them.
”Max, are you going up to find out if any burglars got in overnight?”
called Sally after him, ”If you are, please see if my jewel case is undisturbed.”
To Sally's intense gratification, it rained all day. To be sure, she had invited her friends to a tent party, not to stay in an empty house, but it seemed to be so much more fun for everybody to roam about the house, exploring it from attic to cellar, suggesting what could be done to make it all inviting and attractive, that the hours by no means dragged. Mrs.
Burnside, especially, seemed to take deep interest in every detail of the rooms, declaring them to be susceptible to treatment which should easily make them homelike and beautiful.
The rugs from the tent had been laid in the hall, by the fireplace, where a small fire burned, its cheer and warmth grateful to those who gathered round it, for the change in the weather had become more p.r.o.nounced as the day advanced, and a north-east wind was doing its part in making indoors desirable. Such of the camp furniture as fitted the uses of a sitting-room had also been placed in the hall, and the result was that at least one spot in the big house presented a highly inviting appearance.
”I wish we had some books and magazines now,” said Josephine, disposing herself comfortably in a steamer chair, with her back toward the fire.
”I've read all those we had in the tent.”
”I'll find you some,” and Sally disappeared--by way of the kitchen, where Mary Ann was sure to need coaching from time to time. Thence she ran up a back stairway to the floor above, and on to the small flight of steps which led to the door opening on the stairway between the walls, above which was the old library. She meant to make a selection of volumes for Josephine's delectation, more as a joke than as an offer of reading matter, for she did not suppose there was much in the collection which might serve to entertain her friend. To her surprise, she found it unnecessary to use her key, and went on up the stairs, remembering that she had not seen Jarvis for the last hour. If he should be up here reading, it was well that she had come, for the fine print of the old books was the worst thing possible for his eyes.
But Jarvis was not reading. Instead, she found him standing by one of the windows, staring out through the curious old wrought-iron latticework, which, after the fas.h.i.+on in many old houses, made the upper windows impregnable. His hands were in his pockets, his eyes were fixed on the outlook of field and meadow stretching away up the slope of the hillside to the woods beyond. It was a fine prospect, even through the falling rain, and Jarvis appeared to be fascinated by it, so that he did not hear the light fall of Sally's footsteps on the stairs.
She came softly up and stood beside him. ”Isn't that lovely off there?”
she asked, and Jarvis started. Then he laughed, bringing his gaze back to rest with a look of pleasure upon the girl at his side.
”It certainly is. From this height one gets a better idea of the way the farm lies than from below.”