Jewel
by
Clara Louise Burnham
Part 2 out of 6
"It certainly is. So you see you have a doctor handy if anything ails
the baby."
The child gazed at him with grave scrutiny. "Do you believe in materia
medica?" she asked.
The young doctor threw back his head and laughed heartily. "Well,
yes," he answered at last. "I am supposed to."
To his surprise his neighbor returned to the attitude in which he had
found her, with one hand over her eyes.
He ceased laughing and looked at her in some discomfiture. Her mouth
was set seriously. There was no quiver of the rosy lips.
To his relief, in a minute she dropped her hand and began to hum and
arrange her doll's hat.
The conductor approached, and as the doctor presented his ticket, he
said, "This little girl's fare is paid, I believe." The conductor
nodded and passed on.
"I'm to get off at Bel-Air," said Jewel. "I hope he doesn't forget."
"If he does, I shan't," said the doctor, "for I'm going to get off
there myself."
The child's eyes brightened. "Isn't that nice!" she returned. Then she
lifted Anna Belle and whispered something into her ear.
"No secrets," said the doctor.
"I was just reminding Anna belle how we are always taken care of,"
returned Jewel.
The young man regarded her with increasing interest and curiosity.
"Don't you wonder how I knew that your fare was paid?" he asked.
"How did you?"
"I met Mr. Evringham hurrying through the station. He said his
granddaughter was on this train and asked me to look out for a little
girl with a doll."
"Oh," returned the child, pleased, "then you know grandpa."
"I've known him ever since I was no bigger than you are. But even
then," added the doctor mentally, "I hadn't supposed him capable of
sending this baby out from the city alone."
Jewel watched the kind eyes attentively. "So you see," he went on,
"all I had to do was to look for Anna Belle."
"And you nearly sat on her," declared the child.
"I deny it," returned the doctor gravely. "I deny it. You weren't
looking. For one second I was afraid you were crying."
"Crying! What would I be crying for, coming to have a lovely visit at
grandpa's!"
"I suppose you are in a hurry to see your aunt and cousin?" remarked
the doctor.
"Yes, but I don't know them. You see," explanatorily, "they aren't my
real relations."
"Indeed?"
"No, aunt Madge is my uncle's wife and cousin Eloise is her little
girl, but not uncle Lawrence's."
The doctor thought a minute.
"Really? She is a very charming little girl, is your cousin Eloise.
Aren't you going to tell me your name?"
"My name is Jewel."
"And I am Dr. Ballard, so now we are properly introduced." He smiled
upon her with merry eyes, and she responded politely:--
"I'm very glad you found us."
Arrived at Bel-Air, the doctor picked up his case and Jewel followed
him from the train. He looked about expectantly for Mrs. Evringham or
her daughter. They were not there.
The little girl's quick eyes discerned a light-haired driver and a
brown horse coming around a curve of the pretty landscape gardening
which beautified the station. At the same moment Dr. Ballard
recognized the equipage with relief.
"They've sent for you. That is all right," he said, and 'Zekiel, with
one side glance at the little stranger, drew up by the platform.
"Good-morning, Zeke. Here is your passenger." He lifted Jewel to her
place beside the driver, whose smooth, stolid face did not change
expression.
"Do I wait for Mr. Evringham?" he asked, without turning his head in
its stiff collar.
"No, Mr. Evringham remained in town."
"Is there a trunk?" pursued Zeke immovably.
"How about your trunk, little one?" asked the doctor.
Jewel produced a paper check. "A man gave grandpa this for it at the
boat place."
"I'll see to having it sent up then." The doctor looked along the
platform. "It didn't come this trip." He took the child's hand in his.
"I shall see you again before long. Good-by."
Jewel looked after his retreating figure with some regret. Her present
companion seemed carved out of wood. His plum-colored livery fitted
without a wrinkle. His smooth, solemn face appeared incapable of
speech.
The swift horse trotted through the village street at a great pace,
and the visitor enjoyed the novel experience so intensely that she
could not forbear stealing a look up at the driver's face.
He caught it. "Ain't afraid, are you?" he asked.
She looked doubtful. "Is it error for the horse to go so fast?" she
returned.
"Error?" 'Zekiel regarded the child curiously. "Well, I guess it's
considered one o' the biggest virtues a horse can have."
"Then why did you ask me if I was afraid? You're the third person
who's asked me that this morning," returned Jewel, with wondering
inflections in her soft voice. "Are New York people afraid of things?"
"Well, not so's you'd notice it as a rule," returned Zeke. "I'm glad
if she ain't one o' the scared kind," he pursued, as if to himself.
"Oh, this is splendid," declared Jewel, relieved by her companion's
smile; "I don't know as Anna Belle ever had such a good ride. See the
trees, dearie! How the leaves are coming out! They aren't nearly so
far out in Chicago; but oh," as the horse turned, "there's a big storm
coming! What a black cloud! We're just in time."
"I don't see any cloud," said Zeke, staring about.
"Why, right there in front of us," excitedly, pointing at the long
opaque mass against the sky.
"That? Why, that's hills." Zeke laughed. "The mountain they call it
here. Pretty sickly mountain we'd think it was up Berkshire way."
"Oh, it's a mountain, Anna Belle," joyfully, "we're really seeing a
mountain!"
"No you ain't," remarked Zeke emphatically. "Not by a large majority.
Guess Chicago's some flat, ain't it?"
"We don't have hills, no. So now we're going to see grandpa's park,
and the ravine, and the brook, and--and everything!"
Zeke stole a furtive look at the owner of the joyous voice. The
voluminous ribbon bows behind her ears were mostly in evidence, as she
bent her face over her doll in congratulation.
"Left Mr. Evringham in town, did you?" he asked.
"Yes, he was busy, and in a hurry to get to his office. Grandpa's such
an important man."
"Is he?" asked Zeke.
"Why ye--es! Didn't you know it?"
"I surmised something of the kind. So Dr. Ballard looked after you."
"Yes,--and I do hope my trunk will come."
Jewel looked wistfully at the driver. In spite of his stiff and
elegant appearance he had been surprisingly affable. "I have a checked
silk dress," she added modestly."
"You don't say so!" ejaculated Zeke, wholly won by the smile bent upon
him. "Well, now, if that trunk don't show up by noon, I'll have to do
something about it."
"Oh, thank you!" exclaimed the child.
They now sped through the gates of the park and by the porter's lodge,
and began the ascent of a winding road. Handsome residences were set
among the fine trees, and at sight of each one Jewel looked expectant
and eager.
"I expect mother'll be kind of looking out for us," continued Zeke.
"Poor kid!" he added mentally.
"Grandpa said something about your mother."
"His housekeeper, Mrs. Forbes."
"Oh yes, of course I know about Mrs. Forbes," returned Jewel hastily
and politely. "He told me your name too," she added suggestively.
"Yes, I'm Zeke. And you just remember," emphatically, "that I come
when I'm called. Will you?"
"Yes," replied the child, laughing a little. "Do you know my name?"
"It's Julia, isn't it?"
"Yes, but if you called me by it perhaps I shouldn't come, for I'm
used to the name of Jewel."
"Pretty name, all right," returned Zeke sententiously. "Now you can
see your grandpa's house. The one with the long porch."
Jewel jumped up and down a little in the seat and held Anna Belle to
get a good view. The brown horse trotted with a will, and in a minute
more they had passed up the driveway and paused beneath the /porte-
cochere/.
Mrs. Forbes threw open the door and stood unsmiling.
"Where is Mr. Evringham?" she asked, addressing her son.
"Stayed in town."
The housekeeper stepped forward and helped down the little girl, who
had risen and was looking brightly expectant.
"How do you do, Julia," she said. "Did you come out alone on the
cars?"
"No. Dr. Ballard came with me."
"Oh, that was the way of it. Zeke, hitch up the brougham. The ladies
are going out to lunch."
"Why didn't they let me know?" grumbled Zeke. "Could have hitched up
the brougham just as well in the first place."
"Don't ask /me/," returned his mother acidly. "Where is your bag,
Julia? I hope you haven't left it in the train?"
"No, I didn't have any. I used mother's. She knew I'd have my trunk
to-night."
"Then come in and I'll show you where your room is."
The child looked eagerly and admiringly from side to side as she
followed Mrs. Forbes up two flights of broad shallow stairs and into
an apartment which to her eyes seemed luxurious.
"Was this ever my father's room?" she asked.
"Why yes, I believe it was," returned Mrs. Forbes, to whom that
circumstance had not before occurred.
"How kind of grandpa to let me have it!" said Jewel, highly pleased.
"He wasn't in it much, your father wasn't. Away at school or some
other place mostly. Where's your trunk?"
"It's coming. Zeke said he'd attend to it." Jewel looked up happily.
"I have a"--she was intending to communicate to Mrs. Forbes the
exciting detail of her wardrobe when the housekeeper interrupted her.
"My son's name is Ezekiel," she said impressively.
"Oh," returned Jewel abashed. "He told me Zeke." She still stood in
the middle of the large white room, Anna Belle in her arms, and with
the surprised look in her serious face drew upon herself an
unflattering mental comment.
"The image of Harry," thought Mrs. Forbes.
"Can I see aunt Madge and cousin Eloise?" asked the child, beginning
to feel some awe of the large woman regarding her.
"They're getting ready to go out to lunch. They can't be disturbed
now. You can sit here, or walk around until lunch time. You'll know
when that is ready, because the gong will sound in the hall. Now when
you go downstairs be careful not to touch the tall clock on the
landing. That is a very valuable chiming clock, and you mustn't open
its doors, for fear you would break something. Then if you go into the
parlor you must never play on the piano unless you ask somebody, for
fear Mr. Evringham might be trying to take a nap just at that time;
then you mustn't go into the barn without permission, for it's
dangerous where the horses are, and you might get kicked. If you're
tired from your journey you can lie down now till lunch time; but
whenever you do lie down, be sure to turn off this white spread, for
fear you might soil it. Now I'm very busy, and I shan't see you again
till lunch."
Mrs. Forbes departed and Jewel stood for half a minute motionless,
feeling rather dazed by a novel sensation of resentment.
"As if we were babies!" she whispered to her doll. "She's the most
afraid woman I ever saw, and she looks so /sorry/! She isn't our
relation, so no matter, dearie, what she says. This is father's room,
and we can think how he used to run around here when he was a little
boy."
Tiptoeing to the door, Jewel closed it and began to inspect her new
apartment.
The sweet smelling soap on the marble stand, the silver mountings of
the faucets, the large fine towels, the empty closet and drawers, all
looked inviting. Throughout her examination the little girl kept
pausing to listen.
Surely aunt Madge and cousin Eloise would look in before they went out
to their engagement. Mother had so often said how nice it was that
they were there. Surely they didn't know that she had arrived. That
was it, of course; and Mrs. Forbes was so sorry and anxious she would
probably forget to tell them.
Some altercation was just then going on in the apartments of those
ladies.
"We ought to speak to her before we go," said Mrs. Evringham
persuasively. "Father would probably resent it if we didn't."
"I have told you already," returned Eloise, "that I do not intend
doing one thing henceforward that grandfather could interpret as being
done to please him."
"But that is carrying it ridiculously far, not to greet your cousin,
who has come from a journey and is your guest."
"My guest!" returned the girl derisively. "We are hers more likely. I
will not go to her. The sooner grandfather sends us away the better."
Mrs. Evringham looked worried.
"This is mania, Eloise!" she returned coaxingly. "Very well, I shall
go and speak to the child. She shan't be able to tell her grandfather
of any rudeness."
In a few minutes Jewel, sitting by her window, Anna Belle in her lap,
heard the /frou-frou/ of skirts in the hall, and with a knock at the
door, a lady entered. She was arrayed in a thin black gown and wore a
large black hat, that was very becoming.
Jewel's admiration went out to her on the instant and she started up.
The lady swept toward her, and bending, a delicate perfume wafted
about Jewel as she felt a light touch of lips on her cheek.
"So this is Julia Evringham," said the newcomer.
"And you are aunt Madge," returned the child gladly, clinging to the
gloved hand, which endured for a moment, and then firmly disengaged
itself.
"Your father and mother got off all right I hope?" went on the airy
voice. "I'm always afraid of winds at this season myself, but they may
not have them. Your cousin Eloise and I are hurrying away to a
luncheon, but we shall see you at dinner. You're very comfortable
here? That's right. Good-bye."
She swept away, and the light again faded from Jewel's face as she went
slowly back to her seat.
"Aunt Madge is afraid, too," she said to the doll. "We know there won't
be winds, don't we, dearie? God will take care of father and mother."
An uncomfortable lump rose towards the child's throat.
Mrs. Evringham followed Eloise into the brougham, smiling.
"It couldn't be better," she announced with much satisfaction as they
drove away.
"What?"
"She is plain--oh, plain as possible. Small eyes, large mouth,
insignificant nose. She will never get on with father. He never could
endure ugliness in a girl or woman. I have heard him say it was
unpardonable. If it hadn't been that we were what we are, Eloise, I
should never have dreamed of doing as I have done. Now if only some
good fairy would open your eyes to see which side your bread is
buttered on! You could do marvels with such a foil for contrast."
CHAPTER VII
THE FIRST EVENING
In the excitement of the early morning start, Jewel had eaten little
breakfast, but the soft resonance of the Japanese gong, when it
sounded in the hall below, found her unready for food.
However, she judged the mellow sound to be her summons and obediently
left her seat by the window. As she went down she looked askance at
the tall dark clock which, even as she passed, chimed the half hour
melodiously. Certainly her important grandfather lived in a wonderful
house. She paused to hear the last notes of the bells, but catching
sight of the figure of Mrs. Forbes waiting below, she started and
moved on.
"That's right. Come along," said the housekeeper. "Mr. Evringham likes
everybody to be punctual in his house."
"Oh, has grandpa come home?" inquired Jewel eagerly.
"No, he won't be home for hours yet. Come this way."
The little girl followed to the dining-room, which she thought quite
as wonderful as the clock; but her admiration of all she saw was no
longer unmixed. Mrs. Forbes seemed to cast a shadow.
One place was laid at the table, one handsome chair was drawn up to
it. Jewel longed to call Anna Belle's attention to the glittering
array on the sideboard and behind the crystal doors of cabinets, but
something withheld her.
She looked questioningly at the housekeeper. "I think I'll draw up
another chair for Anna Belle," she said.
Mrs. Forbes had already decided, from small signs of assurance, that
this Western child was bold. "Give her an inch, and she'll take an
ell," she had said to herself. "I know her sort."
"Do you mean the doll?" she returned. "Put it down anywhere. You must
never bring it to the table. Mr. Evringham wouldn't like it."
In silence Jewel seated the doll in the nearest chair against the
wall, and as she slid up into her own, a neat maid appeared with a
puffy and appetizing omelet.
Mrs. Forbes filled the child's glass with water, and the maid set down
the omelet and departed.
Jewel's heart sank while Mrs. Forbes presented the souffle.
"I'm sorry," she began hesitatingly, "I never--I can't"--then she
swallowed hard in her desperate plight. "Isn't it pretty?" she said
rather breathlessly.
"It's very good," returned the housekeeper briefly, misconstruing the
child's hesitation. "Shall I help you?"
"I--could I have a drink of milk? I don't--I don't eat eggs."
"Don't eat eggs?" repeated the housekeeper severely. "I'm sorry you
have been allowed to be notional. Children should eat what is set
before them. Taste of it."
"I--I couldn't, please." Jewel's face was averted.
Mrs. Forbes touched an electric bell. The maid reappeared. "Remove the
omelet, Sarah, and bring Miss Julia a glass of milk."
That was the order, but oh, the tone of it! Jewel's heart beat a
little faster as she took some bread and butter and drank the milk,
Mrs. Forbes standing by, a portentous, solemn, black-robed figure,
awful in its silence.
When the child set down the glass empty, she started to push back her
chair.
"Wait," said Mrs. Forbes laconically. She again touched an electric
bell. The maid reappeared, removed the bread and milk and served a
dainty dessert of preserved peaches, cream, and cake.
"I've really had enough," said Jewel politely.
"Don't you eat peaches and cream, or cake either?" asked Mrs. Forbes
accusingly.
"Yes'm," returned the child, and ate them without further ado.
"Your trunk has come," said Mrs. Forbes when at last Jewel slipped
down from the table. "I will come up and help you unpack it."
"If only she wouldn't!" thought the child as she lifted Anna Belle,
but the housekeeper preceded her up the stairs, breathing rather
heavily.
Sure enough, when they reached the white room, there stood the new
trunk that had been packed with so much anticipation. The bright black
letters on the side, J. E., had power even now to send a little glow
of pride through its possessor. She stole a glance at Mrs. Forbes,
but, strange as it may appear, the housekeeper gave no evidence of
admiration.
"I don't need to trouble you, Mrs. Forbes. I can unpack it," said the
child.
"I'm up here now, and anyway, I'd better show you where to keep your
things. Where's your key?"
Jewel laid down the doll and opened her leather side-bag, producing
the key tied with a little ribbon.
Mrs. Forbes unlocked the trunk, lifted out the tray, and began in a
business-like manner to dispose of the small belongings that had last
been handled so tenderly.
"Mrs. Harry certainly knows how to pack," ran her thoughts, "and she'd
naturally know how to sew. These things are as neat as wax, and the
child's well fixed." In the tray, among other things, were a number of
doll's clothes, some writing materials, a box of different colored
hair ribbons, and a few books.
"Glad to see a Bible," thought Mrs. Forbes. "Shows Mrs. Harry is
respectable." She glanced at the three other books. One was a copy of
"Heidi," one was "Alice in Wonderland," and the third a small black
book with the design of a cross and crown in gilt on the cover. Mrs.
Forbes looked from this up at the child.
"What's this? Some kind of a daily book, Julia?"
"I--yes, I read it every day."
"Well, I hope you'll be faithful now your mother's gone. She's taken
the trouble to put it in."
Jewel's eyes had caught a glimpse of green color. Eagerly she reached
down into the trunk and drew out carefully a dress in tiny checks of
green and white.
"That's my silk dress," she said, regarding it fondly.
"It is very neatly made," returned Mrs. Forbes repressively. "It
doesn't matter at all what little girls have on if they are clean and
neat. It only matters that they shall be obedient and good."
Jewel regarded her with the patience which children exercise toward
the inevitable. "I'd like to fix Anna Belle's drawer myself," she said
modestly.
"Very well, you may. Now here are your shoes and slippers, but I don't
find any rubbers."
"No, I never wear rubbers."
"What? Doesn't it rain in Chicago?"
"Oh yes indeed, it rains."
"Then you must get your feet wet. I think you better have had rubbers
than a silk dress! What was your mother thinking of?"
Jewel sighed vaguely. She wondered how soon Mrs. Forbes would go away.
This happy event occurred before long, and the little girl amused
herself for a while with rearranging somewhat the closet and drawers.
Then putting on her hat and taking her doll with her, she stole
quietly down the thickly carpeted stairs, and opening the heavy hall
door, went out upon the piazza. It was sheltered from the wind, and
wicker chairs were scattered about. Jewel looked off curiously amid
the trees to where she knew, by her father's description, she should
find, after a few minutes' ramble, the ravine and brook. Pretty soon
she would wander out there. Just now the sun was warm here, and the
roomy chairs held out inviting arms. The child climbed into one of
them. Father would come back here some happy day and find her. The
thought brought a smile, and with the smile on her lips, her head fell
back against a yielding cushion, and in a minute she had fallen
asleep. Anna Belle toppled over backward. Her plumed hat was pushed
rakishly askew, but little she cared. Her eyelids had fallen, too.
Mrs. Evringham and Eloise, returning late from their luncheon, came
upon the little sleeping figure as they walked around the long piazza.
"There she is!" exclaimed Mrs. Evringham softly, putting up her
lorgnette. "Behold your rival!"
Eloise regarded the sleeper without curiosity.
"At least she has not come uninvited," was her only comment.
"But she has come unwelcome, my dear," returned Mrs. Evringham with
relish. "Just wait until our gracious host realizes what he has let
himself in for. Oh, there's a good time coming, you may be sure. Hush,
don't waken her! It would be a blessed dispensation if she were always
to sleep while her grandfather is absent," and Mrs. Evringham led the
way into the house, her laces fluttering.
On the first landing the ladies met Mrs. Forbes, troubled of
countenance.
"I am looking for the child Julia," she said. "I can't think where she
can have disappeared."
"You've not far to seek," returned Mrs. Evringham airily. "She is
asleep on the piazza."
"Thank you." Mrs. Forbes hastened downstairs and out of doors.
Glancing about she quickly perceived the short legs stretched in a
reclining chair, and advanced toward the relaxed little figure.
"Julia, wake up!" she said, touching her.
The child stirred and opened her eyes. Her movement made the doll slip
to the floor, and this caused her to come to herself suddenly.
"Why, I fell asleep, didn't I?" she said drowsily, reaching for the
doll.
"Yes, and in Mr. Evringham's own chair!" responded Mrs. Forbes.
"They're all his, aren't they?" asked the child.
"Yes, but this is his special favorite, where he always lies to rest.
Remember!" returned Mrs. Forbes. "Come right upstairs now and change
your dress for dinner. He will be coming home in a few minutes."
"Oh, good!" exclaimed Jewel with satisfaction, and passed into the
house. Mrs. Forbes was following ponderously. "Oh, you don't need to
come with me," protested the child earnestly. "I can do it all
myself."
"Are you sure?" doubtfully.
"Oh, ye--es!" replied the little girl, running lightly up the stairs.
"I ought to put her on the second floor," mused Mrs. Forbes, "if I've
got to be running up and down; but I suppose she has done for herself
a great deal. I suppose the mother hadn't time to be bothered. I'd
like to make Mamzell change rooms with her."
Jewel hummed a tune as she took off her sailor suit, performed her
ablutions, and then went to her closet to choose a frock for dinner.
She decided on a blue dress with white dots chiefly because she would
not have to change her hair ribbons. She had never herself tied those
voluminous bows.
At last she was ready and danced toward the door, but some novel
timidity made her hesitate and go back sedately to the chair by the
window. Mrs. Forbes's impressive figure seemed to loom up with an order
to her to wait the summons of the gong.
She sat there for what seemed a very long time, and at last a knock
sounded at the door. Perhaps grandpa had come up. Jewel flew to open
to him--and saw the white capped maid who had appeared at luncheon.
"They are all at table, and Mr. Evringham wishes you to come down,"
she said.
"But I was waiting for the gong."
"We only have that at noon."
Jewel's feet flew down the stairs. Her grandfather had sent for her.
She was eager to reach him, yet when she entered the dining-room, her
little face all alight, it was not so easy to run to him as she had
fancied.
He sat stiffly at the foot of the table. Opposite him was aunt Madge,
and at her left sat the prettiest young lady the child had ever seen.
Mrs. Forbes stood near Mr. Evringham, looking very serious.
Jewel took in all this at a glance, and contenting herself with
greeting her grandfather's lifted eyes with a smile, she ran to Mrs.
Evringham and turned her back.
"There's just one button in the middle, aunt Madge, that I can't
reach," she explained softly.
Every eye at the table was regarding the child curiously, but she took
no note of any one but her grandfather, and her dress buttoned, she
ran to her chair and slid up on its smooth morocco. Eloise observed
the little girl's loving expression.
"I am sorry you are late, Julia," said Mr. Evringham.
"Yes, so am I, grandpa," was the prompt response. "I wanted to be down
here as soon as you came home, but I thought I ought to wait for the
gong, and then it didn't ring."
Her eyes roved to where, directly opposite, the beautiful young lady
was regarding her soberly.
Mrs. Evringham spoke. "That is your cousin Eloise, Julia."
Eloise inclined her graceful head, but made no further recognition of
the child's admiring look.
"They haven't met before?" said Mr. Evringham, looking from one to the
other.
"No," returned Mrs. Evringham with her most gracious manner. "It just
happened that Eloise and I were engaged at luncheon to-day, and when
we returned the little girl was taking a nap."
By this time Mrs. Forbes had brought Jewel's soup and she was eating.
She looked up brightly at Mr. Evringham.
"Yes, grandpa, I went to sleep in your big chair on the piazza. I
didn't know it was your special chair until Mrs. Forbes waked me up."
Her grandfather regarded her from under his heavy brows. He was
resenting the fact that Eloise had made no effort to welcome the
child. "Indeed?" he returned. "What did she wake you up for?"
"Because it was time to get ready for dinner," returned Jewel. "It
reminded me of the story of Golden Hair, when she had gone to sleep on
the bear's bed, the way Mrs. Forbes said, 'This is your grandfather's
chair!' "
She looked around the table, expectant of sympathy. Only Mrs.
Evringham seemed to wish to laugh, and she was making heroic efforts
not to do so. Lovely Eloise kept her serious eyes downcast.
"Ha!" ejaculated Mr. Evringham, after a lightning glance of suspicion
at his daughter-in-law. "I think I remember something about that. But
Golden Hair tried three beds, I believe."
"Yes, she did, but you see there wasn't any little bear's chair on the
piazza."
"Very true. Very true."
"Golden Hair was a great beauty, I believe," suggested Mrs. Evringham,
looking at the child oddly. "She had yellow hair like yours."
Jewel put up a quick hand to the short tight braid which ended behind
her ear. "Oh no, long, lovely, floating hair. Don't you remember?"
"It's a good while since I read it," returned Mrs. Evringham, laughing
low and glancing at Eloise. Her father-in-law sent her a look of
displeasure and turned back to Jewel.
"Dr. Ballard found you on the train, I suppose?"
"Yes, grandpa. We had a nice time. He is a very kind man." The child
glanced across at her cousin again. She wished cousin Eloise would
lift her eyes and not look so sorry. "I wonder," she added aloud, "why
Dr. Ballard called cousin Eloise a little girl."
No one spoke, so Mrs. Evringham broke the momentary silence. "Did he?"
she asked.
"Yes, he said that my cousin Eloise was a very charming little girl."
Jewel wondered why Eloise flushed and looked still sorrier, and why
aunt Madge raised her napkin and turned her laugh into a cough.
Perhaps it teased young ladies to be called little girls. Jewel
regretted having mentioned it.
"I guess he was just April-fooling me," she suggested comfortingly,
and the insistence of her soft gaze was such that Eloise looked up and
met a smile so irresistible, that in spite of herself, her expression
relaxed.
The softened look was a relief to the child. "I've heard about you, of
course, cousin Eloise," she said, "and I couldn't forget, because your
name is so nice and--and slippery. Eloise Evringham. Eloise Evringham.
It sounds just like--like--oh, like sliding down the banisters. Don't
you think so?"
Eloise smiled a little. "I hadn't thought of it," she returned, then
relapsed into quiet.
Mrs. Forbes's countenance was stony. "Children should be seen and not
heard," was her doctrine, and this dressmaker's child had an assurance
beyond belief. She seemed to feel no awe whatever in her grandfather's
presence.
The housekeeper caught Jewel's eye and gave her such a quenching look
that thenceforward the little girl succumbed to the silence which the
others seemed to prefer.
After dinner she would have a good visit with grandpa and talk about
when father was a little boy. Her hopes were dashed, for just as they
were rising from the table, a man was announced, with whom Mr.
Evringham closeted himself in the library.
In the drawing-room aunt Madge and cousin Eloise both set themselves
at letter-writing, and entirely ignored Jewel. The child looked
listlessly at a book with pictures, which she found on the table,
until half-past eight, when Mrs. Forbes came to say it was time for
her to go to bed.
She rose and stood a moment, turning hesitatingly from her aunt to her
cousin.
"Oh, is it bedtime?" asked aunt Madge, looking up from her letter.
"Good-night, Julia. I hope you'll sleep well." Then she returned to
her writing.
Eloise bit her lip as she regarded the little girl with a moment's
hesitation, but no, she had decided on her plan of action. Mrs. Forbes
was observing her. Eloise knew the housekeeper's attitude toward them
was defensive, if not offensive. "Good-night," she said briefly, and
looked down again.
"Good-night," returned Jewel quietly, and went out.
In the hall she hesitated. "I want to say good-night to grandpa," she
said.
"Well, you can't," returned Mrs. Forbes decidedly. "He is talking
business and mustn't be disturbed."
She followed the child up the staircase.
"I could go to bed alone, if I only knew where the matches are."
"You said you could dress alone, but you had to ask Mrs. Evringham to
button your frock. Remember after this that I am the one to ask. She
and Miss Eloise don't want to be bothered."
"Is it a bother to do a kindness?" asked Jewel in a subdued tone.
"To some folks it is," was the response. They had reached the door of
the child's room; "but some folks can see their duty and do it," she
added virtuously.
Jewel realized regretfully that her present companion belonged to the
latter class.
"Now here, right inside the door," proceeded Mrs. Forbes, "is the
switch. There's electricity all over this house, and you don't need
any matches. See?" Mrs. Forbes turned the switch and the white room
was flooded with light.
A few hours ago this magic would have evoked much enthusiasm. Even now
Jewel was pleased to turn the light on and off several times, as Mrs.
Forbes told her to do.
"Now I'll see if you can undress yourself," said the housekeeper.
Jewel's deft fingers flew over the buttons in her eagerness to prove
her independence. When at last she stood in her little white
nightgown, so neat and fine in its small decorations, Mrs. Forbes
said, "Do you want me to hear you say your prayers?"
"No, I thank you." With her hasty response Jewel promptly jumped into
the bed, from which the white spread had been removed.
"I hope you always say them," said Mrs. Forbes, regarding her
undecidedly.
"Yes'm, I always do."
The child cuddled down under the covers with her face to the wall,
lest Mrs. Forbes should see a further duty and do it.
"You ought to say them on your knees," continued the housekeeper.
"I'd just as lief," replied Jewel, "but I don't believe God cares."
"Well," returned Mrs. Forbes solemnly, "it is a matter for your own
conscience, Julia, if your mother didn't train you to it. Good-night."
"Good-night," came faintly from beneath the bedclothes.
Mrs. Forbes turned off the light and went out, closing the door behind
her.
"If she'd always speak when she's spoken to, and be quiet and modest
as she is with me, she'd be a very well-behaved child," she
soliloquized. "I could train her. I shouldn't wonder at all if her
mother should see a great difference in her when she comes back."
The housekeeper went heavily downstairs. Jewel, pushing off the
bedclothes, listened attentively to the retiring steps, and when they
could no longer be heard, she jumped out of bed nimbly, and feeling
for the electric switch, turned on the light. Her breath was coming
rather unevenly, and she ran over the soft carpet to where her doll
lay. Catching her up, she pressed her to her breast, then sitting down
in the big chair, she began to undress her, crossing one little bare
foot over the other knee to make a lap.
"Darling Anna Belle, did you think I'd forgotten you?" she asked
breathlessly. "Did you think you weren't going to have any one to kiss
you good-night? It's hard not to have any one you love kiss you good-
night." Jewel dashed her hand across her eyes quickly, then went
swiftly on with her work. "You might have known that I was only
waiting until that--that giantess went away. She wouldn't let me bring
you down to dinner, dearie, but you didn't miss anything. Poor
grandpa, I don't wonder any longer that he doesn't look happy. He has
the sorriest people all around him that you ever saw. He lives in a
big, beautiful castle, but it's Castle Discord. I named it that at
dinner. Nobody loves one another. Of course grandpa loves me, because
I'm his own little grandchild, but he's too sorry to show it. The
beautiful enchanted maiden, and the Error fairy, and the giantess, are
all making discord around him. A little flat is better than a big
castle, isn't it? We know a flat--let's call it Harmony Flat, Anna
Belle. Perhaps if we're very, /very/, good, we'll get back there some
time." Jewel suddenly pressed the doll's nightdress against her wet
eyes. "Don't, don't, dearie! I know it does seem a year since--since
the boat this morning. If all the days were as long as this, we'd be
very, very old when father and mother come home." The soft voice broke
in a sob. "I don't know what I should do if you weren't a Christian
Scientist, Anna Belle. We'll help each other all we can. Now come--
come into bed and say your prayers."
"Say your--your prayer first, dearie," she whispered, sobbing:--
" 'Father, Mother, God,
Loving me,--
Guard me when I sleep;
Guide my little feet
Up to Thee.'
"Now you'll feel--better, dearie. In a minute you won't be so--
homesick for--for--father and mother. Hush, while I say mine."
Jewel repeated the Lord's Prayer. When she had finished, her breath
still caught convulsively, so she continued:--
"Dear Father, Mother, God, loving me, help me to know that I am close
to Thee. Help me to remember that things that are unhappy aren't real
things. Help me to know that everything is good and harmonious, and
that the people in this castle are Thy children, even if they do seem
to have eyes like fishes. Help me to love one another, even the
giantess, and please show grandpa how to meet error. Please let Dr.
Ballard come to see me soon, because he has kind eyes, and I'm sure he
doesn't know it's wrong to believe in materia medica. Please take more
care of father and mother than anything, and say 'Peace be still' if
the wind blows the sea. I know, dear Father in Heaven, that Thou dost
not forget anything, but I say it to make me feel better. I am Thy
little Jewel, and Anna Belle loves Thee, too. Take us into the
everlasting arms of Love while we go to sleep. Amen."
Jewel brushed away the tears as she ceased, and with her usual
quickness of motion, jumped out of bed to get a handkerchief. Turning
on the electric light, she went to the chair over which hung the
dotted dress. She remembered having slipped a clean handkerchief into
its pocket before going to dinner.
In reaching for it her fingers encountered a scrap of paper in the
depths of the pocket. She drew it forth. It was folded. She opened it
and found it written over in a clear round hand.
"Is my little darling loving every one around her? People do not
always seem lovely at first, but remember that every one is
lovable because he is a thought of God. Those who seem unlovely
are always unhappy, too, in their hearts. We must help them, and
the best way to help is to love. Mother is thinking about her
little Jewel, and no seas can divide us."
A slow smile gladdened the child's tear-stained face. She read the
message again, then turned out the light for the last time and cuddled
down in bed, her warm cheek pressing the scrap of paper in her hand,
her breath still catching.
"Mother has spoken to us, Anna Belle," she whispered, clasping the
doll close. "Wasn't it just like God to let her!" Then she fell asleep
smiling.
CHAPTER VIII
A HAPPY BREAKFAST
Mrs. Forbes was on the porch next morning when Mr. Evringham returned
from his canter.
"Fine morning, Mrs. Forbes," he said, as he gave Essex Maid into
Zeke's hands.
"Very fine. A regular weather breeder. It'll most probably rain to-
morrow, and what I wanted to speak to you about, Mr. Evringham, is,
that the child hasn't any rubbers."
"Indeed? What else does she need?"
"Well, nothing that I can see. Her things are all good, and she's got
enough of them. The trouble is she says she has never worn rubbers and
doesn't want to, and if she gets sick I shall have to take care of
her; so I hope, sir, you'll say that she must have them."
"Not wear them? Of course she must wear them," returned Mr. Evringham
brusquely. "Get them to-day, if convenient, Mrs. Forbes."
The housekeeper looked relieved.
"I hope she's not making you any trouble, eh?" added Mr. Evringham.
"Not any more than she can help, I suppose," was the grudging reply.
"She's a smart child, and being an only one, she's some notional. She
won't eat this and that, and doesn't want to wear rubbers, but she's
handy and neat, and is used to doing for herself; her mother hasn't
had time to fuss with her, of course, and that's lucky for me. She
seems very well behaved, considering."
Jewel had made heroic efforts while Mrs. Forbes assisted at her
morning toilet, and this was her reward.
"Well, we mustn't have you imposed upon," returned Mr. Evringham,
feeling guilty of the situation. "The child must obey you implicitly,
implicitly."
So saying he passed into the house, and after making a change in his
toilet, entered the dining-room. There he was seated, deep in his
newspaper and waiting for his coffee, when the door opened, light feet
ran to him, and an arm was thrown around his neck. He looked up to
meet a happy smile, and before he could realize who had captured him,
Jewel pressed a fervent kiss upon his cheek.
"Oh, grandpa, how nice and cold your cheek feels! Have you been out
doors already?"
Mr. Evringham could feel the said cheek grow hot in surprise at this
onslaught. He held himself stiffly and uncomfortably in the encircling
arm.
"Yes, I've been out on horseback," he returned shortly. "I go every
morning."
Jewel's eyes sparkled. "Oh, I'm so glad. Then I can watch you. I love
to see anybody ride. When I see a beautiful horse something inside me
gets warm. Father says I like just the same things he does. I must let
you read your paper, grandpa, but may I say one thing more?"
"Yes."
"I didn't come last evening to kiss you good-night because you had
somebody with you in the library, and, the giant--and Mrs. Forbes
wouldn't let me; but I wanted to. You know I wanted to, don't you? I
felt all sorry inside because I couldn't. You know you're the only
real relation I have in the castle"--Here Mrs. Forbes's entrance with
the coffee interrupted the confidence, and Jewel, with a last
surreptitious squeeze of Mr. Evringham's neck, intended to finish her
sentence eloquently, left him and went to her chair.
"You're to sit here this morning," said Mrs. Forbes, indicating the
place opposite her employer. "Mrs. Evringham and her daughter don't
come down to breakfast."
Jewel looked up eagerly. "Not ever?" she asked.
"Never."
The child shot a radiant glance across at her grandfather which he
caught, the thread of his business calculations having been hopelessly
broken. "Oh, grandpa, we're always going to have breakfast alone
together!" she said joyously. Noting Mrs. Forbes's set countenance,
she added apologetically, "They're so pretty, cousin Eloise and aunt
Madge, I love to look at them, but they aren't my real relations,
and," her face gladdening again, "to think of having breakfast alone
with you, grandpa, makes me feel as if--as if I had a birthday!"
Mr. Evringham cleared his throat. The situation might have been a
little easier if Mrs. Forbes had not been present, but as it was, he
had never felt so embarrassed in his life.
"Now eat your oatmeal, Julia," said the housekeeper repressively. "Mr.
Evringham always reads his paper at breakfast."
"Yes," replied the child with docility. She poured the cream from a
small silver pitcher with a neatness that won Mrs. Forbes's approval;
and Mr. Evringham read over headlines in the paper, while he sipped
his coffee, without understanding in the least the meaning of the
words. Mrs. Forbes was right. Discipline must be maintained. This was
the time during which he wished to read his paper, and it was most
astonishing to be so vigorously taken possession of by an utter
stranger. Now was the time to repress her if she were to be repressed.
Mrs. Forbes was right. After a while he glanced across at the child.
She looked very small and clean, and she was ready with a quick smile
for him; but she put a little forefinger against her lips jocosely. He
cleared his throat again and averted his eyes, rumpling the paper as
he turned a leaf.
Mrs. Forbes left the room with the oatmeal dishes.
Jewel leaned forward quickly. "Grandpa," she said earnestly, "if you
would declare every day, over and over, that no error could come near
your house, I think she would go away of her own accord."
Mr. Evringham stared, open paper in hand. "What? Who?"
"Mrs. Forbes."
"Go away? Mrs. Forbes? What are you thinking of! I couldn't get on
without Mrs. Forbes."
"Oh!" Jewel leaned back with the long-drawn exclamation. "I thought
she was what made you look sorry."
"No indeed. I have enough things to make me sorry, but she isn't one
of them."
"Do you like her?" wonderingly.
"I--why--I respect her profoundly."
"Oh! It must be lots easier to respect her pro--the way you do, than
to like her; but," with firm lips, "I've got to love her. I told Anna
Belle so this morning, and especially if you want her to stay."
"Bless my soul!" Mr. Evringham looked in dismay as his /vis-à-vis/.
"You must be very careful, Julia, not to offend or trouble her in any
way," he said.
"All right, grandpa, I will, and then will you do me a favor too?"
"I must hear it first."
"Would you mind calling me Jewel? You know it isn't any matter about
the rest, because they're not my real relations, but Julia is mother's
name, and Jewel is mine; and when I love people very much, I like them
to call me Jewel."
Mrs. Forbes here entered with a tray, and Mr. Evringham merely said,
"Very well," twice over, and retreated into his newspaper.
On the tray were boiled eggs. Jewel glanced quickly up at Mrs.
Forbes's impassive face. She might have remembered. Probably she did
remember.
Life had not taught the child to be shy, as has been evidenced; so
although Mrs. Forbes was an awing experience, she felt strong in the
presence of her important grandfather, and only kept silence now in
order not to interrupt his reading.
When at last he laid down his paper and began to chip an egg, Jewel
glanced at those which Mrs. Forbes had set before her. Her little face
had grown very serious.
"Grandpa, do you think it's error for me not to like eggs?" she asked.
"Mother never said it was. She was willing I should eat something
else."
"Of course, eat whatever you like," responded Mr. Evringham quickly.
Mrs. Forbes seemed to swell and grow pink. "You always have eggs, sir,
and if there's two breakfasts to be got, will you kindly tell me what
the other shall be?"
Mr. Evringham glanced up in some surprise at the unfamiliar tone.
"Oh, the oatmeal is a plenty," said Jewel, looking at the housekeeper,
eager to mollify her.
"Try an egg. Perhaps you'll like them by this time," suggested Mr.
Evringham.
"Do you like everything to eat, grandpa?"
Mr. Evringham, being most arbitrary and peculiar in his tastes, could
only gain time by clearing his throat again, and taking a drink of
coffee.
"Mrs. Forbes will bring you a glass of milk, I dare say," he returned
at last, without looking up; and the housekeeper turned with ponderous
obedience and left the room.
Nimbly Jewel slid down from her chair, and running around the table to
her grandfather's place, put both her arms around his neck and
whispered to him eagerly and swiftly, "If you have such a pro--
something respect for Mrs. Forbes, and it makes her sorry because I
won't eat eggs, perhaps I ought to. If it offends thy brother to have
you eat meat, you mustn't, the Bible says, so I suppose, if it makes
Mrs. Forbes turn red and perhaps get the stomach ache to have me not
eat eggs, I ought to; but grandpa, if you decide I must, please let me
wait till to-morrow morning, so I can say the Scientific Statement of
Being all day--"
Here Mrs. Forbes entered with a glass of milk on a little tray. She
stood transfixed at the sight that met her.
"That child hasn't the fear of man before her eyes!" she ejaculated
mentally, then she marched forward and deposited the milk beside
Jewel's empty plate, while the child ran back and took her seat.
Mr. Evringham, gazing at his visitor in mute astonishment, was much
disconcerted to receive a confiding gesture of raised shoulders and
eyebrows, which, combined with a little smile, plainly signified that
they had been caught. He took up his newspaper mechanically.
He had never had a daughter, and caresses had seldom passed between
him and his children. His duties as a family man had always been
perfunctory. He was tingling now from the surprise of Jewel's action,
the feeling of the little gingham clad arms about his neck, the touch
of the rose-leaf skin as she swept his cheek and ear in her emphatic
half-whisper.
His mental processes were stiff when the subject related to things
apart from the stock market, his horses, and golf, but he was finally
understanding that his granddaughter had come to Bel-Air, prepared by
accounts which had cast a glamour over everything and everybody in it.
She had evidently found Mrs. Forbes fall below her expectations. He
had been disillusioned concerning Mrs. Evringham and Eloise. As yet
the halo with which he himself had been invested was intact. Was it to
remain so? He still saw how foolish he had been to send for the child.
He still wished, of course, that she was in Chicago now, instead of
sitting across there from him in crisp short skirts, her head and
shoulders only showing above the high table, and a little smile of
good understanding waiting for him each time he looked up.
He had done very well during a lifetime without being hugged, yet the
innocent incense, which had been rising spontaneously before him ever
since the child entered the dining-room, had a strangely sweet savor.
Such was the joy of breakfast alone with him that it made her feel as
if she had a birthday! Perfectly absurd! Quite the most absurd thing
that he had ever heard in his life.
Mrs. Forbes spoke. "Perhaps it is to be the same way about the
rubbers, Mr. Evringham!" she said, much flushed. "Perhaps you will not
insist upon Julia wearing rubbers!"
"Oh yes, yes, certainly," returned Mr. Evringham hastily, anxious to
reinstate himself. "I wish you to have a pair of rubbers at once,
Julia--Jewel. You surely don't mean that your mother has allowed you
to wet your feet."
"I--I never noticed, grandpa, but," hopefully, "she lets me wet my
hands, so why not my feet?"
"Bless me, what ignorance! Because the soles of your feet have large
pores through which to catch cold. Hasn't any one ever told you that?"
Jewel smiled. "That would be a queer arrangement for God to make,
don't you think?" she asked softly. "Just as if He expected us to walk
on our hands."
Mrs. Forbes's eyes widened, and an irrepressible "Well!" escaped from
her lips. "Has that young one reverence for anything in heaven above
or earth beneath?" she queried mentally.
Mr. Evringham managed to recover himself sufficiently to say, "You
shouldn't speak so, Jewel."
"But you know how it was about the tree of knowledge, grandpa,"
replied the child earnestly. "God told Adam not to eat of it, because
then he'd believe in good /and/ evil, and that always makes such lots
and /lots/ of trouble. The Indians don't have to wear rubbers."
"Drink your milk, Jewel," returned Mr. Evringham uncomfortably, not
having the temerity to lift his eyes as high as his housekeeper's
countenance. "No matter about the Indians. You are a civilized little
girl, and you must wear rubbers while you live with me. Mrs. Forbes
will very kindly buy them for you."
"Oh, I have money," returned Jewel brightly. "I have three dollars,"
she added, trying not to say it boastfully. "Fifty cents for every
week father and mother are going to be away."
Mr. Evringham wiped his mustache. "You need not spend any of it for
the rubbers," he returned. "You are buying those to please me."
"I shall love to wear them to please you, grandpa," she returned
affectionately. "I'll put them on every time I can think of it."
"Only when it is wet, of course," he said. "When it is rainy."
"Oh yes," she returned, "when it's rainy."
"Harry looked like my father, and she does, by Jove," mused Mr.
Evringham. "She's like me. Knows what she wants to eat, and cares for
a horse, if she is a strange little being."
"You say you like horses?" he remarked suddenly.
"I just love them," answered Jewel, "and I came real close to them
once. Father took me to the horse show."
"He did, eh?"
"Yes, he told mother he was going to blow me to it." The child
laughed. "Father's the greatest joker; he says the funniest things. He
didn't blow me to it at all. He took me in the cable car, and we had
more /fun/! It was the most be--eautiful place you ever saw."
"It was, eh?"
"Yes. The music was playing, and there were coaches and four-in-hands
and horns and men in red coats and beautiful little shiny carriages--
and the horses! Oh, they all looked so proud and glad, and they
trotted and ran and jumped over high fences, and the harness jingled
and the people cheered!" The child's cheeks were glowing.
Mr. Evringham gave an exclamation that was almost a laugh. "You didn't
sleep much that night, I'll wager!"
"No, I didn't want to. I stayed awake a long time to realize that God
doesn't love one of His children any better than another, so of course
some time I'll wear a tall shiny hat and ride over fences just like
flying. I'll have a horse," Jewel added slowly, looking off with a
rapt expression as at a long-cherished vision, "with a white star in
his forehead!"
"H'm! Very good taste," returned Mr. Evringham, scarcely knowing what
he was saying, so dazed was he by the extraordinary mixture of ideas.
After breakfast he had his usual interview with Mrs. Forbes concerning
the important event of dinner. Jewel had run upstairs to dress Anna
Belle.
The menu decided upon, Mr. Evringham still lingered.
"Mrs. Forbes, I have never had any experience with little girls. You
have, no doubt," he said. "Am I right in thinking that my
granddaughter is--is a rather unusual specimen?"
"She's older than Dick's hatband, sir," rejoined the housekeeper
promptly.
"Are they, perhaps, teaching differently in the schools from what they
used to?"
"Not that I know of, Mr. Evringham."
"She uses very unusual expressions. I can't make it out. You are an
intelligent woman, Mrs. Forbes. Did you ever happen to hear of such a
thing as the--a--a--Scientific Statement of Being!"
"Never in my life, sir," returned the housekeeper virtuously.
"Extraordinary language that, from a--a child of her years. She seems
to have been peculiarly brought up. You heard her reference to--in
fact to--the Creator."
"I did, sir. At the breakfast table, too! I was as shocked as you
were, sir. Her mother put a Bible into her trunk, but it's plain she
never taught her any reverence. The Almighty give her a jumping horse
indeed! If you'll excuse me, Mr. Evringham, I think you should have
said something right there."
The broker pulled his mustache. "I've listened to more unreasonable
views of heaven," he returned.
"Do you think it was heaven she was talking about!"
Mr. Evringham shrugged his shoulders. "You can't prove anything by me.
She's the most extraordinary child I ever listened to."
Mrs. Forbes pursed her lips. "You'd not believe, sir, how differently
she behaves when she is alone with me. As mild-mannered and quiet as
you'd wish to see anywhere. She scarcely speaks a word."
Mr. Evringham bit his lip and nodded. It gave him some amusement in
the midst of his perplexity to remember the manner in which he had
been advised to exorcise this tower of strength altogether.
"It's my opinion, sir, that children should be made to eat what is set
before them," went on Mrs. Forbes, reverting to her principal
grievance.
"It would save you a lot of trouble if I had been trained that way--
eh, Mrs. Forbes?" returned the other, with extraordinary lightness.
"You are a very different thing, I should hope!" exclaimed Mrs. Forbes
solemnly.
"Yes, about fifty years different. Hard to teach an old dog new
tricks, eh? You might have some chops for her luncheon, perhaps, and
an extra one for her breakfast. She hasn't eaten anything this
morning."
For the first time an order from Mr. Evringham evoked no reply from
his housekeeper. He felt the weight of her disapproval. "But get the
overshoes by all means, as soon as convenient," he made haste to add.
"Ring for Zeke, if you please, Mrs. Forbes. I must be off."
CHAPTER IX
A SHOPPING EXPEDITION
The housekeeper warned Jewel not to run out of doors that morning as
she wished to accompany her to the shoe store.
"I'm not going to take you, Anna Belle," Jewel said to her doll. "I
don't like to ask the giantess if I may, and of course, it won't be a
very good time anyway, so you be patient and we'll go out together
this afternoon."
Mrs. Forbes's long widow's veil, a decoration she never had discarded
hung low over her black gown as she stepped deliberately down the
stairs from her barn chamber.
"I am going with the little girl, Zeke, to buy her a pair of rubbers,"
she announced to her son.
"Going foot-back? Why don't you have out the 'broom'? One
granddaughter's got as good a right to it as the other, hasn't she?"
"I should say so, but that child, Zeke, in addition to her wonderful
boldness this morning with Mr. Evringham, that I told you about, is
perfectly crazy over horses."
"H'm. That don't surprise me. A young one that can stand up to the
governor wouldn't be afraid of anything in the way of horseflesh."
"So I decided," continued Mrs. Forbes, pulling on her roomy black
gloves, "that it would be better for her to go this morning in the
trolley."
"You /did/? Well if that ain't a regular step-mother act!" returned
Zeke in protest. "The kid had a bully time coming home from the depot
yesterday. Dick felt good, and he just lit out. I tell you her eyes
shone."
"I like to do what's best for folks in the end," declared Mrs. Forbes
virtuously. "Julia's parents are poor, and likely to be. She's only
going to be here six weeks, and what is the sense of encouraging a
taste she can't ever indulge? No, I'll take her in the trolley. It's a
nice morning, and I shan't mind the walk down to the gate." The
speaker marched with the dignity which was always inseparable from the
veil toward the back door of the house to give some last orders, and
Zeke lounged out with his rake toward the grounds at the front. There
he caught sight of a small figure in hat and jacket waiting on the
piazza. He turned toward it, and Jewel advanced with a smile of
recognition. She had had to look twice to identify her fine plum-
colored companion of yesterday's drive with this youth in shirt
sleeves and a soft old hat.
"Well, little girl, how are you getting on?" he asked.
"Pretty well, thank you." Her beaming expression left no doubt that
she was very glad to see him.
"Not particularly flattering if she is," he mused. "Fine ladies not
out of their rooms yet, and ma doin' her duty by her to beat the
band."
"Where's your doll?" he asked.
"I didn't bring her. I thought perhaps the--Mrs. Forbes would--would
just as lief she didn't come."
"Ma /hasn't/ played with dolls for quite a spell," agreed Zeke, with a
smile that was sunshine to the child.
"You live out in the barn with the horses, don't you?" she asked
eagerly. "Will you give me permission to go out there some time?"
"Sure. Come any time."
"Mrs. Forbes said I must ask permission," responded the child with an
apprehensive glance behind her to see if her escort were arriving.
"What--what is your name?"
"Forgotten this soon? I told you Zeke."
"I thought you did, but your mother said it was something very
different."
"Ezekiel, perhaps."
"Yes, that's it. I won't forget again. How many horses has grandpa?"
"Two here, but I guess he's got more in the country. You come out to
the barn any time you feel like it. You've heard of a bell cow,
haven't you? Well, we've got the belle horse out there. She beats all
creation."
"The one I saw yesterday," eagerly, "the one that runs away all the
time?"
"No. This is Mr. Evringham's riding horse."
Jewel hopped and clapped her hands. "I'll see grandpa ride. Goody!
I'll watch him."
"Go to your paths, Zeke," said a voice, and the veil appeared around
the corner of the house.
Jewel quietly joined her stately companion, and walked away sedately
beside her.
They did not exchange many words on their way to the park gates, for
Mrs. Forbes needed her breath for the rather long promenade, and Jewel
was busy looking at the trees and trim swards and crocus beds beside
the winding road.
Outside the gate they had to wait but a minute before the car came,
and after they had boarded it, the little girl was entertained by
looking out of the window, and often wished for Anna Belle's sympathy
in some novel sight or sound.
A ride of fifteen minutes brought them to the shoe store. Mrs. Forbes
seemed to know the clerk, and Jewel was finally fitted to her
guardian's satisfaction, but scarcely to her own, the housekeeper
having selected the species known as storm rubbers, and chose them as
large as would stay on.
"They're quite warm, aren't they?" said Jewel, looking down at her
shiny feet and trying to speak cheerfully.
"When you wear them you want to be warm," was Mrs. Forbes's rejoinder.
"I brought my money," said the child, in a low voice.
"No. Your grandfather wishes to make you a present of these." The
housekeeper's tone was final, and she paid for the overshoes, which
were wrapped up, and then she led Jewel out of the store.
Next door was a candy shop with alluring windows.
"I'd like to go in here," said the little girl. "Would you mind?"
"Do you spend your money for candy, Julia?"
"Yes'm. Don't you like it?" Jewel lingered, looking at the pretty
display. Easter had recently passed, and there were bright-eyed little
yellow chickens that especially took her fancy.
"It isn't a question of liking it when people are poor," returned Mrs.
Forbes. "I'm astonished that your mother encourages you to spend money
for candy."
Jewel looked up quickly. "Did you think we were poor?" she asked, with
disconcerting suddenness.
Mrs. Forbes hesitated. "Your mother is a dressmaker, isn't she?"
"Yes, she's just a splendid one. Everybody says so. We couldn't be
poor, you know. She found out about God before I was old enough to
talk, so you see all her poor time came before I can remember."
The housekeeper glanced about her furtively. "Julia, don't you know
you shouldn't use your Creator's name on the street!" she exclaimed,
when she had made certain that no one was listening.
"Why not?" asked the child.
"Why--why--it isn't a proper place. Some one might hear you."
"Well, won't you let me get some candy now? If I knew what kind you
liked, Mrs. Forbes, I'd get it."
"I don't eat candy as a rule. It's not only extravagant, it's very
unhealthy."
The little girl smiled. "How do you suppose your stomach knows what
you put into it?" she asked. "I guess you're just a little--bit--
afraid, aren't you?"
"Odder than Dick's hatband!" quoth Mrs. Forbes again, mentally. "I
take horehound drops sometimes," she said aloud, "for a cold."
"Can't you sneeze a little now?" asked Jewel, amusement twinkling in
her blue eyes. "I do want so much to go in here."
"Don't tempt Providence by making fun of sickness, Julia, or you'll
live to regret it," returned Mrs. Forbes. "I don't mind getting some
horehound drops, but be careful now and don't spend too much. A little
girl's money always burns in her pocket."
"Yes'm," returned the child dutifully, skipping up to the door of the
shop and opening it.
Mrs. Forbes followed slowly, and once inside, fell into conversation
with the girl of whom she bought the cough candy. This gave Jewel
opportunity to buy beside her caramels one of the lovely yellow
chickens, which she designed for a special purpose.
"Now don't you eat that candy before lunch. It will take away your
appetite. It is nearly lunch time now," said Mrs. Forbes as they left
the store.
"And won't you either?" asked the child, offering the open caramel bag
with a spontaneous politeness which somehow made the housekeeper feel
at a disadvantage.
"No, thank you. Stop that car, Julia, and make them wait for me," she
said, making haste slowly.
Once within, it took Mrs. Forbes a minute or two to get her breath,
but she soon noticed that her companion's eyes were fixed upon a man
seated a little way from them across the car. A smile kept coming to
the child's lips, and at last the gentleman himself recognized that he
was an object of interest. He looked at the strange little girl
kindly. Her hand went unconsciously to the small gold pin she wore.
The man smiled and touched one of similar pattern which was fastening
his tie. In a minute more his street was reached, and as he passed
Jewel on his way out of the car, he stooped and gave her ready hand a
little pressure.
She colored with pleasure, and Mrs. Forbes swelled with curiosity and
disapproval. She knew the man by sight as a highly respectable
citizen. What was this wild Western child doing now? The car made too
much noise to permit of investigation, so she waited until they had
left it and entered the park gates.
"Julia," she said then, "where did you ever see that gentleman
before?"
"I never did," replied the child.
"What do you mean by such bold actions, then? What will he think of
you?"
"He'll think it's all right," returned Jewel. "We have the same--the
same friends."
The housekeeper looked at her. It was beneath her dignity to ask
further questions at present, but some time she meant to renew the
subject.
"It's very wrong for a little girl to take any notice of strangers,"
she said.
"Yes'm," replied Jewel, "but he was--different."
Mrs. Forbes maintained silence henceforth until they reached home.
"You may hang your hat and jacket in the closet under the stairs
whenever you don't wish to go to your room," she said when she parted
with her companion at the piazza, "but don't wander away anywhere
before lunch."
"No'm. Thank you for taking me, Mrs. Forbes."
"You're welcome," returned that lady, and the long black veil swept
majestically toward the barn.
Sweet and rippling music was proceeding from the house. Jewel tiptoed
across the piazza to a long window, from whence she could see the
interior of the drawing-room.
"It is the enchanted maiden," she said to herself, and sank down
softly by the window, listening eagerly to the melodious strains and
smooth runs which flowed from beneath the slender fingers. One piece
followed another in quick succession, now gay, now grave, and the
listener scarcely stirred in her enjoyment.
At last, suddenly, in the midst of a Grieg melody, the player ceased,
and crossing her arms upon the empty music rack, bowed her head upon
them in such an attitude of abandon that Jewel's heart leaped in
sympathy.
"Oh cousin Eloise! What makes her so sorry?" she thought. The child's
intuition had been strong to perceive the nature of her aunt Madge.
"It must be such an awful thing to have your own mother an error
fairy. That must be the reason. I wish I could tell her"--Jewel jumped
to her feet, but just as she was determining to go to her cousin, the
soft-toned gong pealed its mellow summons, and she saw Eloise rise
from the piano in time to meet her mother, who at that moment entered
the room.
Jewel went into the house, hung up her hat and jacket, and deposited
her packages. By the time she reached the dining-room her aunt and
cousin were already seated. Mrs. Evringham put up her lorgnette as she
greeted the child. Eloise nodded a grave good-morning, and Mrs. Forbes
began to serve the luncheon.
Jewel looked in vain for any trace of excitement or tears on her
cousin's lovely face. Eloise did not address her or any one. Mrs.
Evringham did the talking. After a question as to how Jewel had spent
the morning, and without listening to the child's reply, she began to
talk to her daughter of a drive she wished to take that afternoon.
Jewel discerned that Mrs. Forbes was not kindly disposed toward the
mother and daughter, and that they ignored the housekeeper; that
Eloise was languid and out of sympathy with her mother, and that Mrs.
Evringham was impatient with her, often to the verge of sharpness. The
child was glad when luncheon was over; but before going upstairs she
brought her small bag of caramels and offered them to the ladies.
Mrs. Evringham gave a little laugh of surprise and looked at Eloise,
who took one with a sober "Thank you."
"I don't believe I could, child," said aunt Madge, glancing with
amusement at the striped bag. "Keep them for yourself."
"You'll have some, won't you, Mrs. Forbes?" asked Jewel, and the
housekeeper so strongly disapproved of Mrs. Evringham's manner that
she accepted.
"Perhaps you would like to try some of our candy, Julia," said Mrs.
Evringham, as the child followed her aunt and cousin upstairs.
Jewel paused while aunt Madge brought from her room into the hall a
large box, beribboned and laced, full of a variety of confections.
"How pretty!" exclaimed the child.
"This is from your friend, Dr. Ballard," said her aunt. "He sent it to
the charming little girl, Eloise."
Jewel, running on up to her room eating the creamy chocolate, wondered
still more why her cousin should seem so sorry, with so much to make
her happy.
"Now, Anna Belle, the time has really come," she said happily to her
doll, as she took her in her arms and began putting on her jacket and
hat. "We're going away from Castle Discord to seek our fortunes. We're
going to leave the giantess, and leave the impolite error fairy, and
leave the poor enchanted maiden, and go to find the ravine and the
brook. Wait till I put on my oldest shoes, for we shall have to climb
deep, deep down to get near to father."
At last she was ready, and when she had closed the heavy house door
behind her, and had run down the driveway to the park road, a
delicious sense of freedom possessed her.
"There goes the little Westerner," observed Mrs. Evringham, looking
from her window. "It's a good thing she knows how to amuse herself."
"A good thing, indeed," returned Eloise. "There is no one here to do
anything for her."
"She has wonderful assurance for such a plain little monkey," went on
Mrs. Evringham.
"She has extremely good breeding," returned her daughter, coming to
the window and following Jewel's retreating figure with her eyes, "and
a charming face when she smiles."
"Very well. Look out for yourself, then. I thought last night, once or
twice, at dinner, that she was rather entertaining to her
grandfather."
"She has her doll," said Eloise wistfully. "Where can she be going? I
wish I were going with her."
Mrs. Evringham laughed. "Well, you /are/ bored. Pshaw, my dear! Lie
down and get a little beauty sleep. Then we will go driving and see
that charming spot Dr. Ballard told us about. I'm sure he will call
to-night."
CHAPTER X
THE RAVINE
Outside the well-kept roads of Bel-Air Park, Nature had been
encouraged to work her sweet will. The drive wound along the edge of a
picturesque gorge, and it was not long before Jewel found the scene of
her father's favorite stories.
The sides of the ravine were studded with tall trees, and in its
depths flowed a brook, unusually full now from the spring rains.
The child lost no time in creeping beneath the slender wire fence at
the roadside, and scrambling down the incline. The brook whispered and
gurgled, wild flowers sprang amid the ferns in the shelter and
moisture. The child was enraptured.
"Oh, Anna Belle!" She exclaimed, hugging the doll for pure joy.
"Castle Discord is far away. There's nobody down here but God!"
For hours she played happily in the enchanting spot, all unconscious
of time. Anna Belle lay on a bed of moss, while Jewel became
acquainted with her wonderful new playmate, the brook. The only body
of water with which she had been familiar hitherto was Lake Michigan.
Now she drew stones out of the bank and made dams and waterfalls. She
sailed boats of chips and watched them shoot the tiny rapids. She lay
down on the bank beside Anna Belle and gazed up through the leafy
treetops. Many times this programme had been varied, when at last
equipages began to pass on the road above. She could see twinkling
wheels and smart liveries.
With a start of recollection, she considered that she might have been
a long time in the ravine.
"I wish somebody would let me bring a watch the next time," she said
to her doll, as she took her up. "Haven't we had a beautiful
afternoon, Anna Belle? Let's call it the Ravine of Happiness, and
we'll come here every day--just every day; but perhaps it's time for
grandpa to be home, dearie, so we must go back to the castle." She
sighed unconsciously as she began climbing up the steep bank and crept
under the wire. "I hope we haven't stayed very long, because the
giantess might not like it," she continued uneasily; but as she set
her feet in the homeward road, every sensation of anxiety fled before
an approaching vision. She saw a handsome man in riding dress mounted
on a shining horse with arched neck, that lifted its feet daintily as
it pranced along the tree-lined avenue.
"Grandpa!" ejaculated Jewel, stepping to the roadside and pausing, her
hands clasped beneath her chin and her eyes shining with admiration.
Mr. Evringham drew rein, not displeased by the encounter. The child
apparently could not speak. She eyed the horse rather than its rider,
a fact which the latter observed and enjoyed.
"Remind you of the horse show?" he inquired.
"It /is/ the horse show," rejoined the child.
"This is Essex Maid, Jewel," said Mr. Evringham. He patted the mare's
shining neck. "You shall go out to the barn with me some time and
visit her." His eyes wandered over the ruffled hair, the hat on the
back of the child's head, and the wet spots on her dress. "Run home
now," he added. "I heard Mrs. Forbes asking for you as I came out."
He rode on, and Jewel, her face radiant, followed him with her eyes.
In a minute he turned, and she threw rapid kisses after him. He raised
his hat, and then a curve in the road hid him from view.
Jewel sighed rapturously and hurried along the road. The giantess had
asked for her. Ah, what a happy world it would be if there were
nothing at Bel-Air Park but grandpa, his horses, and the ravine!
Mrs. Forbes espied the child in the distance, and was at the door when
she came in.
"After this, Julia, you must never go away without telling me where"--
she began, when her eyes recognized the condition of the gingham
frock, and the child's feet. "Look at how you've drabbled your dress!"
she ejaculated.
"It's clean water," returned Julia.
"But your feet! Why, Julia Evringham, they are as wet as sop! Where
have you been?"
"Playing by the brook in the ravine."
Mrs. Forbes groaned. "Nothing will satisfy a child but finding the
place where they can get the dirtiest and make the most trouble. Why
didn't you wear your rubbers, you naughty girl?"
"Why--why--it wasn't raining."
"Raining! Those rubbers are to keep your feet dry. Haven't you got any
sense?"
Jewel looked a little pale. "I didn't know I should get wet in the
brook," she answered.
"Well, go right upstairs now, up the backstairs, and take off every
one of those wet things. Let me feel your petticoat. Yes, that's wet,
too. You undress and get into a hot bath, and then you put on your
nightgown and go right to bed."
"Go to bed!" echoed the child, bewildered.
"Yes, to bed. You won't come down to dinner. Perhaps that will teach
you to wear your rubbers next time and be more careful."
Jewel found the backstairs and ascended them, her little heart hot
within her.
"She's the impolitest woman in the whole world, Anna Belle!" she
whispered. "I'm going to not cry. Mother didn't know what impoliteness
there was at grandpa's or she wouldn't have let us come."
The child's eyes were bright as she found her room and began
undressing. "But you mustn't be angry, dearie," she continued
excitedly to her doll. "It's the worst error to be angry, because it
means hating. You treat me, Anna Belle, and I'll treat you," she went
on, unfastening her clothes with unsteady hands.
With many a pause to work at a refractory elastic or button, and many
interruptions from catches in her breath, she murmured aloud during
the process of her undressing: "Dear Father in Heaven, I seem to feel
sorry all over, and full of error. Help me to know that I'm not a
mortal mind little girl, hating and angry, but I am Thy child, and the
only things I know are good, happy things. Error has no power and Love
has all power. I love Mrs. Forbes, and she loves me. Thou art here
even in this house, and please help me to know that one of Thy
children cannot hurt another." Here Jewel slipped into the new wrapper
her mother had made, and hurried into the white tiled bathroom near
by. While she let the water run into the tub she put her hand into her
pocket mechanically, in search of a handkerchief, and when she felt
the crisp touch of paper she drew it out eagerly. It was covered, and
she read the words written in her mother's distinct hand.
"Love to my Jewel. Is she making a stepping-stone of every trial,
and learning to think less and less about herself, and more and
more about other people? And does she remember that little girls
cannot always understand the error that grown-up people have to
meet, especially those who have not Science to help them? They
must be treated very gently, and I hope my little Jewel will be
always kind and patient, and make her new friends glad she is
there."
The child folded the paper and put it carefully back in her pocket.
Then she took her bath, and returning to her room undressed her doll
in silence. Finally, changing her wrapper for her nightdress, she
climbed into bed, where she lay thinking and looking at the sunlight
on the wall.
At dinner time the maid Sarah appeared with a tray. "Here's your
dinner, Miss Julia," she said, looking at the heavy-eyed little girl.
"It's too bad you're not well."
"I am well, thank you," replied Jewel. "I'm sorry you had to carry
that heavy tray up so many stairs."
"Oh, I don't mind that," returned the girl good-naturedly. "I'll set
it right here by the bed."
"Is grandpa down there?" asked Jewel wistfully.
"Yes, Miss Julia. They're all eating their dinner. I hope you'll enjoy
yours."
Sarah went away, and the little girl spread some bread and butter and
ate it slowly.
Meanwhile, when the family had gathered at the dinner table, Mr.
Evringham looked up at his housekeeper.
"Where is Jewel?" he asked shortly. "I object to her being
unpunctual."
"Yes, sir. She is having dinner in her room. She was very naughty and
got wet in the brook."
"Ah, indeed!" Mr. Evringham frowned and looked down. He had been a
little disappointed that the bright face was not watching to see him
come home from his ride, but of course discipline must be maintained.
"I'm sorry to hear this," he added.
Mrs. Evringham and Eloise found him a shade less taciturn than usual
to-night. He felt vaguely that he now had an ally of his own flesh and
blood in the house, a spirit sufficiently kindred to prefer his
society to theirs, and this made him unusually lenient.
He meant to go upstairs after dinner, and warn Jewel to be more
careful in future to conform to all Mrs. Forbes's rules; but the meal
was scarcely over when a friend called to get him to attend some
business meeting held that evening in the interests of the town, and
he became interested in his statements and went away with him.
"Wasn't father quite agreeable this evening?" asked Mrs. Evringham of
Eloise. "What did I tell you? I could see that he felt relief because
that plain little creature was not in evidence. Father always was so
fastidious. Of course it is selfish in a way, but it is no use to
blame men for caring for beauty. They will do it."
"It was a shame to make that little girl stay upstairs," returned
Eloise. "I judge she managed to amuse herself this afternoon, and so
she gets punished for it. I should like to go up and sit with her."
"It would not be worth while," returned Mrs. Evringham quickly. "I'm
sure Dr. Ballard will be here soon. You would have to come right down
again."
"That is not the reason I don't go," returned the girl. "It is because
I am not an Evringham, and I have determined not to arrive at friendly
relations with any one of the name. When I once escape from here, they
will have seen the last of me."
"The way of escape lies open," returned her mother soothingly. "I'm
glad you have on that gown. If a man cares for a woman, he always
loves to see her in white."
As soon as dinner was over, Mrs. Forbes ascended the stairs to see her
prisoner. Jewel was lying quietly in bed, the tray, apparently
untouched, beside her. The latter circumstance Mrs. Forbes observed at
once.
"Why haven't you eaten your dinner, Julia?" she asked. "I hope you are
not sulking."
"No'm. I don't believe I am. I don't know what that means."
"You don't know what sulky means?" suspiciously. "It is very naughty
for a little girl to refuse to eat her dinner because she is angry at
being punished for her own good."
"Did you send me to bed because you loved me?" asked Jewel. Her cheeks
were very red, but even the disconcerted housekeeper could see that
she was not excited or angry.
"Everybody loves good little girls," returned Mrs. Forbes. "Now eat
your dinner, Julia, so I can carry down the tray."
"I did eat the bread. It was all I wanted. It was very nice."
The polite addition made the housekeeper uncertain. While she paused
Jewel added, "I wish I could see grandpa."
"He's gone out on business. He won't be back until after you are
asleep. And if you were thinking of complaining to him, Julia, I tell
you it won't do any good. He will trust everything to me."
"Do you think I would trouble grandpa?" returned the child.
The housekeeper looked at her in silent perplexity. The blue eyes were
direct and innocent, but there was a heaviness about them that stirred
Mrs. Forbes uncomfortably.
"You must have got too tired playing this afternoon, Julia," she said
decisively, "or you would be hungry for your dinner. You took that hot
bath I told you to?"
"Yes'm."
"Where have you put your wet things? Oh, I see, you've spread them out
very nicely; but those shoes--I shall have to have them cleaned and
polished for you. Now go to sleep as quick as you can and have a long
night's rest. I'm sure the next time you go out you won't be so
careless."
Jewel's eyes followed the speaker as she bustled about and at last
took up the tray.
"Will you kiss me good-night, Mrs. Forbes?" asked the child.
The surprised housekeeper set down her burden, stooped over the bed
and kissed her.
"There now, I see you're sorry," she said, somewhat touched.
Jewel gave her a little smile. "No'm, I've stopped being sorry," she
replied.
"She'd puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer," soliloquized the housekeeper as
Back to Full Books
|