[Frontispiece: There she stood] THE GOVERNESS BY JULIE M. LIPPMANN _Author of_ "MAMMA-BY-THE-DAY, " etc. _Illustrated by_ CHARLES R. CHICKERING McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart Publishers ------ Toronto 1916 Copyright 1897 by THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY Copyright 1916 by THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY The Governess Contents CHAP. I NAN II NAN'S VISITOR III MR. TURNER'S PLAN IV THE GOVERNESS V GETTING ACQUAINTED VI WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS VII OPEN CONFESSION VIII NAN'S HEROINE IX HAVING HER OWN WAY X EXPERIENCES XI CHRISTMAS XII SMALL CLOUDS XIII ON THE ICE XIV CHANGES XV A TUG OF WAR XVI THE SLEIGH-RIDE XVII CONSEQUENCES XVIII "CHESTER NEWCOMB" XIX IN MISS BLAKE'S ROOM XX THROUGH DEEP WATERS XXI ANOTHER CHRISTMAS Illustrations There she stood . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ "I'll run away first!" The little governess was beside her "I have a little errand to do" "Provoking things!" The Governess CHAPTER I NAN "Hello, Nan!" "Heyo, Ruthie!" "Where are you going?" "Over to Reid's lot. " "Take me?" "No, Ruthie, can't. " The little child's lip began to tremble. "I think you're real mean, Nan Cutler, " she complained. Nan shook her head. "Can't help it if you do, " she returned, stoutly, and took a step on. "Nannie, " cried the child eagerly, starting after her and clutching herby the skirt, "I didn't mean that! Truly, I didn't. I think you'rejust as nice as you can be. Do please let me go with you. Won't you?" Nan compressed her lips. "Now, Ruth, look here, " she said after amoment, in which she stood considering, "I'd take you in a minute if Icould but the truth is--oh, you're too little. " "I ain't too little!" "Well, then, your mother doesn't like you to be with me, so there!"cried Nan, in a burst of reckless frankness. Ruth hung her head. She could not deny it but at sight of hercompanion turning to leave her she again started forward, pipingshrilly, "Nannie! Nannie! She won't care this time. Honest, shewon't. " Nan stalked on without turning her head. The hurrying little feet followed on close behind. "Nannie! Nannie!" "See here, Ruth, " exclaimed the girl, veering suddenly about andspeaking with decision. "You can't come, and that's all there is aboutit. Your mother doesn't like me, and you ought not to disobey her. Now run back home like a good little girl. " The delicate, small face upturned to hers grew hardened and set, butthe child did not move. Nan gave her a friendly shove on the shoulder and turned on her wayagain. Immediately she heard the tap of hurrying little feet behind, like the echoing sound of her own hasty footsteps. She stopped andswung about abruptly. "Are you going to be a good little girl and go back this minute?" shedemanded sternly, calling to her assistance all the dignity of herfourteen years, and turning on the poor infant a severe, unrelentingeye. The child gazed up at her reproachfully, but did not reply. Nan felt herself fast losing patience. "Of all the provoking littlewitches!" she exclaimed, in an underbreath of irritation. Ruth's rebuking eyes surveyed her calmly, but she made no response. "Now be good and trot along back, " cajoled Nan, changing her tacticsand stroking the child's soft hair caressingly. There was a visible pursing of the obstinate little lips, but nofurther sign of acknowledgment. Nan dropped her voice to a tone of honey-sweetness. "See here, Ruthie, if you'll go home this minute I'll give you five cents. You can buyanything you like with it at Sam's, on the way back. " She plunged herhand into her pocket and drew forth a bright new nickel, and held italluringly aloft. The azure eyes gazed at it appreciatively, but the hand was notoutstretched to receive it. For a second Nan reviewed the situation insilence. Then she flung about with a movement of exasperation, andmarched on stolidly, and the smaller feet hastened after her, keepingpace with difficulty, and often breaking into a little run that theymight not be outstripped. A chill autumn wind was sweeping up heavily from the northeast, and theair was cold and raw. Nan shuddered as she walked, and wished Ruthwere safe and sound in her own warm home, which she never should havebeen permitted to leave this blustering day. A score of plans forridding herself of her troublesome little follower crowded Nan's brain. She might run and leave the youngster behind. But then Ruth would cry, and Nan could not bear to inflict pain on a little child. She mighttake her up in her arms and carry her bodily back to her own door. Well, and what then? Why, simply, she would get the credit of abusingthe little girl. There seemed no way out of it. She stalked ongrimly, and when she came to Reid's lot she promptly and dexterouslyclimbed its fence and continued her way in silence. But the fenceproved an insurmountable obstacle to Ruth. She stood outside andwailed dismally. The sound smote Nan, and made her turn around. "Ruth Newton, you deserve to be spanked!" she announced, severely. The child uttered another wail of entreaty. Nan sprang up to thecross-bar of the palings, gathered her skirts about her knees, andleaped down. "Here, let me boost you, since you will get over, " she said sharply. After they were both safely on the other side Ruth's spirit rose, andshe capered about in the freedom of the open space as wildly as a youngcolt. Nan had come for chestnuts. She announced the same presently toRuth. Ruth shouted gleefully. "I'm going to climb the tree. You can stand underneath and pick upwhat I shake, only mind you don't get the burr-prickles in yourfingers, for they hurt like sixty, " warned Nan. The child nodded her head and pranced over the brown, stubbly groundwith dancing feet, her cheeks aglow and her eyes flashing withsatisfaction. She watched Nan with the liveliest interest, and when the older girlwas once comfortably ensconced in the lofty branches, she executed asort of war-dance underneath, and spread her tiny skirt to catch therain of nuts that Nan shook down upon her from above. But presentlythis began to pall. "I want to come up where you are, Nannie, " she called, coaxingly. "You'll have to want then, " retorted Nan, carelessly munching nuts likea squirrel. "I could climb's good as anything if only I had a boost, " drawled thechild ruefully. Nan sprinkled a handful of shucks on her head. "I'm going to try, " ventured Ruth. Nan laughed. Ruth looked around, trying to discover some means by which she mightaccomplish her purpose. Nan felt so sure that the child could not dowhat she threatened that she made no effort to dissuade her. She, herself, passed from bough to bough as nimbly as a boy, in spite of herskirts, and in a very short time was almost out of sight among theupper spreading branches. She sat astride one of these, swinging toand fro and luxuriating in her sense of freedom and adventure. Peeringdown occasionally she saw Ruth standing beneath her and sent repeatedshowers of nuts spinning through the boughs to keep the child busy. But presently Ruth disappeared. She had spied an old piece of boardand she immediately flew to get it, her silly little head filled withthe idea of making it serve her as a ladder. She tugged it laboriouslyacross the stubbly field, and her short, panting breaths did not reachNan's ear, full of the near rustle of leaves and the hum of thescudding wind. "Ahoy! below there!" she shouted nautically from above. Ruth was too busy to respond. The board was heavy, and it took all thestrength of her slight arms to get it in position. "Shipmate ahoy!" repeated Nan. By this time the board had been tilted against the tree and Ruth wasscrambling up the unsteady inclined plane, too absorbed and scared inher adventure to reply. She actually managed to reach the top and tostand there tiptoeing the edge uncertainly, her small fingers claspingthe tree-trunk convulsively and her arms trying to grapple with it fora surer hold. But suddenly she gave a piercing scream, and Nan, peering down through the branches in instant alarm, saw Ruth lying atthe foot of the tree in a pitiful little motionless heap, and knew in amoment that she had tried to do what she had threatened and had failed. It did not take Nan a minute to reach the ground. Her heart seemed tostand still with fear. She flung herself from bough to bough withreckless haste and dropped to the ground all in one breathless instant. "Ruth, " she cried, bending over the little prostrate figure in anagony. "Ruth, open your eyes! Get up! Oh, please get up!" There was no answer. Nan wrung her hands in despair. The cold windblew over the field in chilling gusts. It made her shudder, andinstinctively she took a step toward her warm coat, which she hadstripped off and cast aside before climbing the tree. At sight of it anew thought struck her. Ruth lying there on the frosty ground wouldsurely take cold--perhaps die from it! In a twinkling the soft, woollygarment was wrapped securely about the child and Nan had her two stoutarms around her and was half dragging, half carrying her in thedirection of the distant fence. But they had not covered a dozen yardsbefore she felt her strength begin to fail. She was lifting a deadweight, and it seemed to drag more heavily upon her every moment. Herarms pulled in their sockets and her breath came in painful gasps, andshe knew that if she tried to keep on as she was it would be at thecost of increasing misery. Still she did not give up, and at last, after what seemed to her hours of agony and suspense, she actuallyreached the limit of the field. She laid Ruth gently upon the groundand straightened herself up to ease her aching back and regain her lostbreath before taking up her burden again. But as she lifted her headher eyes fell on the high pickets before her, which seemed to confronther with as grim defiance as if they had been bayonets. How could sheget Ruth over? The gate, which was at another end of the lot, wasalways kept padlocked, and even if she had remembered this at first andhad carried the child there, she could not have undone the bolt. Thiswas the last straw! She felt frustrated and defeated, and a low sob ofcomplete discouragement broke from her. It was useless to dream ofgetting Ruth over alone. The only way that remained was to securehelp, that was plain. She looked about wildly, but not a soul was insight, and she knew in her heart that the chances were against her. The street at this point was near the city limits, and it had not beenbuilt up as yet. There would be nothing to call any one here unless itmight be some boy who, like herself, had come out for chestnuts, andwhat use would a mere boy be? If only John Gardiner were here! Johnwas tall and strong, and would lend a hand in a jiffy. But John alsowas miles away. Ruth's eyes opened for a second and then closedsleepily again. Nan's heart leaped up with new hope. "Ruth! Ruth!" she called eagerly bending over her and stroking hercheek tenderly. But her hope was short-lived. The eyelids remainedshut, and the child only breathed deeper than before. Nan's own heartseemed to stop in her anxiety for Ruth. Suddenly she sprang to herfeet. Surely she had heard the rattle of wheels! Ever so far andindistinct to be sure, but still unmistakably wheels, clattering oversome distant cobbles. She raised her voice and shouted; then held herbreath to listen. The clatter grew more distinct; it drew nearer andnearer. She clambered up the fence and stood there waving her arms andshouting as madly as if she had been a shipwrecked mariner sighting asail. She paused a moment to listen. The rattling wheels came nearer. She shouted again and then waited, listening intently. The rattlingstopped. She set up a wild howl of dismay and kept it up till her earsseemed on the point of splitting. But now the clatter of wheels hadbegun again and she could see a milk cart rounding the corner of thestreet. She gave a long, shrill whistle and leaped down and ranfrantically out into the road, straight for the horse's head. It was a second or two before the astonished driver could be made tounderstand, but when he did, he bounded out of his cart willinglyenough, vaulted over the fence and then bade Nan "stand hard" while helifted Ruth into her arms. Her weight was nothing to the brawnyfellow, and he had her safely stowed away on the seat of his cart, withNan crouching on the floor beside her and himself clinging to the stepoutside, in less time than it takes to tell it. Nan gave him the street and number in a trembling gasp of gratitude. He eyed her narrowly, and then seemed to sum up his conclusion in alow, keen whistle. Her hat was hanging by its elastic on hershoulders; her hair was blown out of all order by the wind; her dresswas torn and her hands were bruised and none too clean. She had nocoat on, and her cheeks were flaming with cold and excitement. She wasan astonishing spectacle. "Guess you're a sort of high-flyer, ain't you?" said he at last withouta sign of ill-nature. Nan set her jaws and did not reply. "Oh, well, I don't want to hurt your feelings. Only you look sorterwild-like, you know, and as if your mother didn't know you was out. " Nan's teeth snapped. "I haven't got any mother, " she returned curtly. "She's dead. " The milkman looked uncomfortable. He shifted awkwardly from one footto the other and muttered something about being sorry. Then for sometime there was silence. "That's the house, " announced Nan at length, jumping to the step andhanging to the rail above the dashboard. "That third one from thecorner, on this side. Please let me out first. I want to run aheadand tell. " Almost before he could rein in his horse she was out on the pavement. She flew to the area gate and pressed the bell with all her might. Shekept her finger on it, and the cook came flying to the door, lookingflushed and angry at the continuous ringing. "Well, I might o' known, " she said, eying Nan with unconcealeddisfavor. "Do you think a body's deaf that you ring like that?" Nan flung back her head resentfully. "Never mind what I think, " she returned sharply. "Open the gate! Ruthis sick! She got hurt! Some one's bringing her in. Quick!" The gate was flung open with a bang, and the woman rushed out, clutching Ruth from the milkman's arms and carrying her into the house, muttering mingled caresses and abuse all the while; the caresses forRuth and the abuse for Nan. The milkman turned on his heel and went his way unthanked, but by thetime he got to the outer gate Nan had recollected herself, and hadrushed after him, calling: "Oh, please! I want to tell you--thank you ever so much!" She was glad she had done it when she saw the gratified look on hisface. When she got back to the area gate it was shut. Mary thechambermaid stood just inside it. She made no attempt to admit Nan. She simply stood there and looked her over from head to toe. "Well, you're a pretty piece!" she remarked. "None of your business if I am, " retorted Nan. "Let me in. I want tosee Mrs. Newton. " The maid took her hand from the knob and put it on her hip. "Mrs. Newton don't want to see you, though, I guess, " she returned. "By this time Bridget's told her all she wants to know. " "But I must see her! I must tell her!" Nan insisted, stamping herfoot. "Bridget don't know anything about it. No one does but me. Letme in, I say!" The girl laughed. "Well, I'll go upstairs and tell Mrs. Newton. Then, if she wants tosee you, she can, " and she went inside and closed the door, leaving Nanto stand shuddering in the cold outside. Presently she came back, carrying the coat in her hands. "Mrs. Newton says she hasn't time to see you now. She says she'llattend to you later. She says she can guess how it happened, and thatif Ruth dies it'll be your fault. There, now, you know what's thoughtof you, and you can put it in your pipe and smoke it, you great, roughtomboy!" The gate was thrust open a little way, the coat was flung out, and thedoor slammed to again, and once more Nan found herself in the area wayalone. Burning tears of fury sprung to her eyes. She caught up herdespised coat and dashed wildly out of the gate in a perfect tempest ofanger and resentment. CHAPTER II NAN'S VISITOR She knew what was coming when the bell rang. She had been expecting itall the afternoon. But in spite of that her heart beat fast and herbreath came hard as she heard the familiar sound. Not that she wasafraid. She had nothing to be afraid of, she assured herselfdefiantly, and besides, fear was one of the things she despised. Whatever else she was, she was certainly not a coward. Still she satin her room and waited in a state of mind that was not precisely whatone would call tranquil. She heard Delia mount the basement stairs and then she heard her askthe new-comer into the parlor. A moment later there was a tap uponNan's bedroom door. "Come in, " she said carelessly, and pretended to be searching for somearticle lost in the confusion of her upper drawer. "You're wanted in the parlor, Nan, " began Delia at once. "It's a ladywho says she lives on the block and she wouldn't give her name, but Ithink she's the one moved into Leffingwell's old house last spring--hasthat little girl with the long curls, you know the one I mean. Shall Ihelp you put on another dress and braid your hair over? It's fearfulmussy-lookin'. Or will I just go and say you'll be down in a minutewhile you do it yourself?" Nan cast a glance at her torn dress and towzled head in the mirror. "No, Delia, I'll go as I am, and if the lady doesn't like it shecan--oh, well, I'll go down as I am. " Delia pressed her lips together, as though trying to hold back thewords of advice on the tip of her tongue. She knew it was worse thanuseless to try to argue with the girl. She had not lived in the housesince Nan was born without learning better than to try to reason withher when she had once declared her mind. She stood beside the door, and allowed Nan to pass through it before her, without saying a word. Then she followed her quietly down stairs. At the parlor door Nanpaused a moment, and Delia, who thought she was about to speak, pausedtoo, but the girl only turned sharply into the room, pulling the doorshut behind her. Once across the threshold she halted and stoodirresolute. Whatever the result of this meeting might prove, dependednot so much on Nan as on her visitor. Nan, though standing in awkward silence, as stiff and as straight as asoldier on parade, was ready to be influenced by whatever course hercaller chose to pursue; a kind word spoken at the start would melt herat once, where a harsh one would raise in her every sort of sullenhostility and obstinate resistance. She was, as Delia often said toherself, "as hard to manage as a kicking colt. " Sometimes she waswonderfully docile, but her moods were variable, and oftenest she washeadstrong and wilful, with a fierce repugnance to curb, or what sheconsidered unwarrantable interference. But it would have been difficult to convince the stranger at thatmoment that Nan could ever be won, or, in fact, that she had anytenderness to be appealed to. There she stood, looking as erect andimpassive as a young Indian. Her brown hair was in a state of thoroughdisorder, and gave a sort of savage look to her sun-browned face. Hergray eyes were anything but soft at this moment; her mouth was set, andher whole attitude seemed to be one of imperturbable indifference. Inreality, the girl was apprehensive and embarrassed. She set her lipsto keep them from trembling. Her first impulse would have been to makea clean breast of everything, frankly and truthfully, but--something inher nature held her back. Was it obstinacy, or was it reticence? Her visitor did not wait to discover. She decided the result of theinterview in the first words she spoke. "Is your name Nan Cutler?" she asked in a voice of stern authority. "Yes, it is!" acknowledged the girl, instantly on the defensive. "Then it is you who are accountable for the accident to Ruth Newton?You urged her to go with you, and when she fell--oh, you are a coward!It was detestable!" Nan made no reply, but stood the picture of inflexibility, facing heraccuser squarely. "I have come to see you, not because you can undo the mischief you havedone to my child, and not because I think I can affect you in theleast, or make you sorry or ashamed, but simply to tell you that Iintend to see that you are punished, as you deserve. I have put upwith annoyance you caused me long enough. Your influence is bad. Allthe neighbors complain of you. You are noisy and careless, and roughand rude. When any one reprimands you, you give a pert retort, or elsepretend not to hear--which is impudent. Unless we wish our children tobe utterly ruined we must see that they are put beyond your influenceat once. You do things that are absolutely vulgar and unbefitting agirl of your age; you must be fourteen, at least, you look older, youare certainly old enough to know better. You are not a proper playmatefor our children. You are boisterous and unladylike. You--you--are aperfect hoyden!" The stranger paused for breath, while Nan surveyed her with a look ofcalm indifference; an air of unconcern in anything she might say orthink that seemed as insolent as it was exasperating. "You are a perfect hoyden!" repeated the stern voice in rising anger. "Whatever you do is done in such a loud, violent fashion that itbecomes perfectly unbearable. You play ball with boys. You climbfences and trees. You are continually flying up and down the street onyour detestable roller-skates and shouting until the neighborhood seemslike Bedlam, and you don't appear to have the vaguest idea thatpeople's rights need not be infringed on in such a manner; that theyhave the right to peace and quiet in their own homes. Even if youwould content yourself with your own disorderliness! But you are notsatisfied with doing what you know must annoy others; you seem to takea malicious delight in bringing the little children under yourinfluence and making them long to follow your example. You cannot havethe first shadow of generosity or bravery in your nature, or you wouldnot urge them to do what you know their parents would disapprove of. You teach them to disobey. My daughter never told an untruth in herlife until the other day. I have no reason to doubt that you taughther to tell that untruth!" Nan's cheeks suddenly became white, but she did not open her lips. "If you cannot be restrained by your own people at home you shall be bysome other means. They say your own people are respectable; how canyou disgrace them so?" Nan deigned no reply, but her lip curled contemptuously. "They say your mother is dead. " Again no answer. "Where is your father?" "My father is in India. He is in Bombay, " announced Nan, deliberately. "Who has control of you in his absence?" "No one!" declared the girl with decision. Mrs. Newton surveyed the lank, overgrown, girlish figure withunconcealed scorn. "Do you know, " she said with bitter distinctness, "that you are themost shameless, unfeeling girl I have ever beheld? Any one else wouldshow some remorse for what she had done, but you--young as you are, youare the hardest creature I have ever known. Hard, cruel, and cold. How can you stand there and look me in the face when you know how youhave injured me? Tell me, does it not touch you at all that Ruth ishurt? Do you know or care that such a fall as she has had is enough tocripple a child for life? Many children have been hopelessly crippledthrough far less. " The mother's voice broke, and she set her lips to keep down a sob. "How much is she hurt?" whispered Nan after a moment. She wastrembling all over and cold and hot by turns, and she could not commandher voice. It was almost more than she could do to keep from burstinginto a violent fit of sobbing from her sense of injury and shame andindignation. But she simply would not permit herself to break down. No one should be allowed to think they intimidated her. But she couldnot hide her anxiety about Ruth. "Is she much hurt?" she repeated. There was a shade of softening in her visitor's face. "We can't tellyet. She has had a severe fall, and the chill coming after it may havevery serious consequences, but we can tell nothing yet. However, I didnot come here to inform you of her condition, " the voice growing sternand the face severe again. "I came to tell you that if Ruth is injuredI will hold you responsible. And not only that, but I warn you that Imean to take matters into my own hands now and see that you arepermitted to do no further mischief. You shall be controlled. Who hascharge of your father's affairs? Who has any sort of authority overyou in his absence? He must have left you in somebody's care. Hecan't have gone away leaving you with no one to look after you. Who isyour guardian? Tell me? If you don't I shall find out for myself, youmay depend. " "I'm perfectly willing to tell you, " declared Nan, with what seemed tobe complete coolness. "It's Mr. Turner. He gives Delia the money toget me things and to keep the house. He comes here every once in awhile to see me. My father has him for his lawyer. He's a friend ofhis. When Delia writes to him for money for me she sends the letter to101 Blank Street. That's his office. I don't remember where his houseis. Delia never writes to his house. He doesn't attend to me--thatis, he isn't my guardian, but I guess he would do if you want to seesome one. " Nan delivered herself of this information as casually as though it hadbeen a report of the weather. As a matter of fact she was inwardlyquivering, and every moment found it more and more difficult to controlherself. Never in all her life before had she been so relentlessly, harshly accused. In trying to conceal her emotion she only gaveherself the appearance of rigid inflexibility. Her visitor regarded her stonily for a moment and then abruptly brushedpast her toward the door. Nan made no attempt to intercept her, butsuddenly the hard lines about her mouth relaxed, her eyes softened, andshe held out her hands with an imploring gesture. "Won't you please tell me where Ruth is hurt?" she cried. "Won't youlet me do something for her? Let me--please let me! If you'll onlylisten a minute I'll tell you--" But it was too late now. She was given no reply; permitted no chanceto vindicate herself. Her visitor's hard lips quivered, but sheuttered no syllable. In a moment she was gone. After the door had closed upon her and it was quite certain that shewould not come back, Nan turned and rushed headlong, like a youngsavage, upstairs and into her own room. What took place there it wouldhave been impossible to discover, for the shades were jerked fiercelydown, the door sharply shut and locked, and Delia, coming up some timelater, could not make out a sound within nor get a reply to herrequests to be admitted, though she stood outside and pleaded for anhour. At twilight the door was opened and Nan came out quite composed, butbearing on her face the unmistakable traces of tears which, however, Delia was wise enough to let pass unremarked. "Time for dinner?" asked the girl, curtly. "No, not yet. It ain't but just six, " replied the woman. "Are youhungry? I'll get you something if you are. " "No, I'm not hungry. But I feel kind of queer, somehow. There's anempty feeling I have that makes me uncomfortable. But I'm not hungry. O Delia!" she burst out, vehemently, "I wish--I wish--I had my mother. A girl needs--her mother--sometimes--" "Always, " declared Delia, with conviction. For a little time there was silence between them. Then Nan said, "Lookhere, Delia--I want to tell you something. I feel just horribly. Inever felt so unhappy in all my life. That lady who was here thisafternoon is Ruth Newton's mother. She came to see me because thismorning Ruth fell from the tree in Reid's lot and hurt herself, andMrs. Newton thinks I made her do it. I didn't. Honestly, I didn't. Ihad climbed the tree myself, and it was fun and I liked it. Ruth wouldcome. I tried to make her stay away, but she wouldn't, and when sheteased to climb the tree too, I told her not to. She's so little andyoung, and her mother doesn't think it's ladylike, and I said if shewouldn't come with me in the first place I'd give her five cents. Butshe would tag on, and later she tried to climb the tree in spite ofeverything. She put a board up against the trunk and got on it andthen scrambled up a little way, but she didn't get far, for the boardslipped, or something, and down she went--smash! I guess she must havehit herself on the edge or somewhere, for when I dropped down she waslying on the ground, and she had her eyes closed and wouldn't speak. Then I didn't know what to do. I wanted to lift her, but it was awfulwork. There was no one in sight. At last I managed to tug her to thefence, but, of course, I hadn't the strength to get her over thatalone. I couldn't leave her and run for help, and for a long time Idid nothing but scream, in the hope that some one would come along andhear. And by and by I heard wheels. It was a milk cart, and I got theman to help me get her home. I went right to the Newton's as fast as Icould, but when Bridget opened the door and saw who it was she wassimply furious. They wouldn't let me in, and Mrs. Newton sent downword she wouldn't see me, but she'd attend to me later, and thisafternoon when she called she just called me names and things, and Icouldn't explain to her, I felt so choked. She talked to me so, Icouldn't say a word. You don't know. When people say such things tome something gets in my throat, and I feel like strangling and doingall sorts of things. I seem to shut right up when they go at me likethat. I can't speak. I just feel like--well, you don't know what Ifeel like. Mrs. Newton asked me where father is, and I told her, andthen she asked about Mr. Turner, for she wants to have things done tome, and I told her about him. I wouldn't have her think I wanted toget out of it. She called me names and she thinks I taught Ruth totell untruths; she said so. She says if Ruth doesn't get well it willbe my fault. O Delia! I didn't do it. Honestly I wasn't to blame. But if Ruth is going to be sick and they think I did it--I want mymother! How can I bear it without my mother?" Delia gently patted the dark head that had flung itself into her lap. Her heart ached for the girl, but her simple mind was not equal to thetask of consolation in a case like this. She could not cope with itsdifficulties. She knew Nan was to blame for much, but she thought inher heart that Mrs. Newton had no right to vent her wrath upon the girlwithout first having heard her side of the story. She could notconsole Nan, she thought, without seeming to convict Mrs. Newton, andif she "stood up for" Mrs. Newton, Nan would think her lacking insympathy for herself. But in the midst of her wondering, up bobbed thehead from under her hand. "Mrs. Newton says I teach the children to do wrong. She says I'm ahoyden. She says I left Ruth in the cold and that I was a coward. Shedidn't give me time to tell her about how I tried to get Ruth homemyself, and that when I couldn't, how I just howled for help. At leastshe didn't want to listen when I got so I could speak. She sayseverybody thinks I'm bad, and they want to have me attended to. Shethinks I taught Ruth to tell lies. Think, Delia, lies! When she saidthat it was like knives! O Delia? I know you've been awfully good tome always, and taken care of me since mamma died and all, but if it isso dreadful to play ball and skate and do things like that, why did youlet me in the first place? I hate to sew and do worsted work and beprim, but perhaps, if you had brought me up that way I might have gotso I could stand it. Don't you think if you had begun when I was ababy I might have? I don't want to have people hate me--honestly, Idon't. When they talk to me, and say I'm rowdyish because I walkfences and play ball with the boys and climb trees, I try not to showit, but it hurts me way deep down. I try to say something back sothey'll think I don't care, and sometimes, if it hurts too much, Ipretend not to hear, and that makes them madder than ever. They don'tknow how, when it's like that, I can't speak. Perhaps if you'd broughtme up so, I might have liked dolls and thought it was fun to sit stilland sew on baby clothes. But I don't like to, and I can't help it. Mrs. Newton thinks because I whistle and make a noise that I'm justmean and hateful and everything else. She thinks I don't care. Why, Delia! if anything happened to Ruth I'd feel exactly as if I didn'twant to live another day. I--I--O Delia!" For the first time she gave way, and, hiding her head in her arms, sobbed heavily. By this time Delia had risen to a point of burning anger against herchild's detractor. Her heart beat loyally for Nan, and she couldscarcely restrain the words of resentment that rose to her lips, andthat it would have been such unwisdom to have uttered. "Never mind, Nannie lamb!" she said. "It'll be all right in themorning. The child will be all well in the morning. You'll see sheain't so bad as they think. And to-morrow I'll go and tell them allabout it. And perhaps they'll see then it's better to be slow accusin'where the guilt ain't proved. Come, come! Don't cry so! Why, Nannie, child, you haven't cried like this since you were--I can't tell howlittle. You never cry, Nan. You're always so brave, and never giveway. You'll have a headache if you don't stop. Dry your tears, andto-morrow it'll be all right. " So, little by little, she soothed the girl, and by and by Nan ate herdinner, and then, when it was later, she went to bed. But wheneverything was hushed and still a dark figure crept noiselessly downstairs and on into the outer darkness. Down the street it stole untilit had reached a house, which, alone in all the row of darkenedbarrack-like dwellings, showed a dimly lit window to the night. Thereit halted. And there it stood, like a faithful sentinel, onlydeserting its post when the gray light of early morning rose slowlyover the world and the city was astir once more. CHAPTER III MR. TURNER'S PLAN "I am deeply sorry, " said Mr. Turner, "and can only apologize in myfriend's name for any annoyance his daughter may have caused you. Ofcourse I cannot agree with you that she annoys you purposely. A childof William Cutler could not well be other than large-hearted andgenerous. She may be a little undisciplined perhaps, but it shall beattended to, Madam! I assure you the matter shall be attended to. " Mrs. Newton rose. She had called upon Mr. Turner to state hercomplaint against Nan Cutler. Now that was accomplished she would go;only she made a mental vow that if the lawyer were not as good as hisword, if he did not take immediate steps toward rectifying the matter, she would follow it up herself and see that she was relieved of what, in her anger, she called "that common nuisance. " Meantime Nan herself was going about with a dead load of misery on herheart. Delia had gone to the Newton's house early in the morning toinquire after the sick child's condition and to repeat Nan's story toher mother, but that lady was "not at home, " and Delia understood thatto mean that Mrs. Newton declined to receive either her or herexplanation. She went home angry and disappointed. "I guess the little girl ain't much hurt, " she announced to Nan. "She's in bed to be sure, but I guess that's more on account of hercold than anything else. She isn't going to be crippled, Nan, nowdon't you fret. She'll be all right. Now you see if she ain't. " Nan's own flushed cheeks and brilliant eyes, the result of heryesterday's chilly adventures, worried the good woman not a little. Ifshe had dared she would have liked to "coddle her child, " but Nan wasnot one of the coddling kind, and would have scorned being made a babyof. She went about the house in one of her unhappy moods, restless andwretched and unable to amuse herself, and finding the hoursnever-endingly long. When the bell rang she welcomed the sound as a grateful diversion andran to the balusters and hung over the railing to see who might be thenew-comer. She was glad of any break in the monotony of such amiserable day. When Delia opened the door and admitted Mr. Turner, Nan's heart gave abig leap. Visions of what might be in store for her, the result ofMrs. Newton's action against her, thronged her brain and made hershudder with apprehension. What if Mr. Turner had come to say that shewas to be sent to the House of Correction, or some horridboarding-school where one don't get enough to eat and where onecouldn't poke one's nose outside the door. A set expression settled onthe girl's face that did not augur well for her reception of whateverplan the lawyer might have to propose. When Delia came to call her, she sighed. She saw plainly enough thatNan's "contrary fit" was on, and she wondered how much the lawyer wouldaccomplish by his visit under the circumstances. Nan went down to him sullenly determined to stand by her guns andabsolutely refuse to be committed to either a reformatory or any otherestablishment of a similar character. "How do you do, my dear?" was Mr. Turner's kindly greeting as the girlentered the room. Nan replied, "Very well, sir, " thinking, at the same time, that shewould not be disarmed by kindness nor permit herself to be cajoled intodoing anything she did not wish to do. No one really had the right toorder her about, and she would resolutely oppose any one who assumedsuch a right. But presently she found herself telling her father's friend the storyof yesterday's disaster, quite simply and with entire willingness. "So, " Mr. Turner said at the conclusion, "I thought that the good ladymust have made a mistake. I felt pretty sure your father's daughterwould never be guilty of cowardice nor of deliberately planning todestroy the peace of any one. I knew you could not be the girl Mrs. Newton described. She seemed to think you were--why, my dear, she gaveme to understand that you were quite wild and lawless; that you were abad influence in the neighborhood, and that you were so with fullconsciousness of what you were doing. We must explain to Mrs. Newton!We must explain!" "I don't lie!" declared Nan. "And I'm not a coward, and I don't try tomake her mad or hurt her children, but I do climb trees and I do raceand do figures on roller-skates, and I do do the rest of the things shesays I do and that she doesn't like. " "And your school?" ventured the lawyer. "I don't go any more, " announced Nan. "I had a fight with one of theteachers, and so I left. " Mr. Turner gazed suddenly upon the floor. "And this 'fight' with the teacher? Do you remember the cause of thedisturbance?" he asked, looking up after a moment. "She struck me with her ruler. I had a rubber baby doll, it was theweeniest thing you ever saw, and she wore false puffs, Miss Fowler did, and one day, when I was at the blackboard and she was looking the otherway, I just dropped the baby doll into one of the puffs that thehair-pin had come out of, and that was standing up on end, and itlooked so funny on her head, the puff with the baby doll standing init, that all the girls laughed, and then she asked me what I had done, and I told her, and she struck me. I wouldn't have said anything ifshe had just punished me. I knew it was wrong to pop that doll on herhead, but I just couldn't help it--it looked too funny. But when shestruck me! Well, I won't be struck by any one--and so I left. " The lawyer meditated in silence for a moment. Then he said: "Well, my dear, I think I understand the condition of things here. Without doubt it is high time something were done. Your father, whenhe went away, gave me full authority to make such arrangements for youas I might feel were necessary, but until now I have rather avoidedtaking upon myself any responsibility. Possibly I have neglected myduty toward you. But now all that shall be changed. Don't you thinkif I were to send you--" Nan's eyes blazed. So it was as she had felt sure it would be! Shewas to be sent away! She did not wait for the sentence to be finished. "Send me to the House of Correction? I won't go, sir! I'll run awayfirst! Or a horrid boarding-school, neither. I guess my father didn'tmean me to be made unhappy, Mr. Turner; I guess he didn't mean any oneto have authority to send me to awful places just because Mrs. Newtonsays so, away from Delia and things. You needn't send me anywhere, forI'll run away as sure as you do. " [Illustration: "I'll run away first!"] "Slowly--slowly!" cautioned Mr. Turner. "You go too fast! If you hadwaited for me to finish my sentence you would have discovered that Imeant to send you neither to the House of Correction, " here his eyestwinkled with amusement, "nor to a 'horrid boarding-school. ' What Iwas about to say was that I propose to send you a lady who will teachyou here at home, who will be a friend and companion to you and whomyou will be sure to love. It is rather a curious coincidence that justthe other day I was talking to a lady who is anxious to procure justsuch a position as this with you, and I am rather inclined to thinkthat she would be willing to come here and undertake it. At allevents, I have written to her asking her to consider the plan and in aday or so I shall know her decision. If she concludes to come--if Ican induce her to come--I shall feel that you are very fortunate. Youwill forgive me if I say that while I disagree with Mrs. Newton in mostrespects regarding you, I feel with her that you are somewhat--well, somewhat ungoverned and in need of just the sort of discipline that Iam sure Miss--the lady I speak of can maintain. " He paused a moment, but when he saw that Nan made no comment orobjection he continued placidly: "You will hear from me in the course of a day or so, as soon as Ireceive word from the lady herself. As I said, you will be veryfortunate if I can secure her services for you--more fortunate than shewill be, I fear, " he said to himself, catching a glimpse of Nan's setmouth and flashing eyes as he made his way to the door. Later, when herecalled her expression, he was almost inclined to hope that the ladywould decide to refuse the office. He thought her acceptance of itmight involve her in rather more serious difficulties than he hadforeseen when he wrote to her in the first place. As a matter of fact, Nan was in a rage at the thought of a strangercoming into the house to interfere with her and Delia, to teach herwhat she did not want to learn, and to govern her when her sole idea ofhappiness was to be free and untrammeled. Even Delia resented thenew-comer's intrusion. Had she managed the house for fourteen yearsnow, ever since Mrs. Cutler's death, only to be set aside and ruledover by the first stranger who chose to imagine her position ofgoverness to Nan gave her the right to interfere in household affairs?For of course she would interfere. Nan had drawn a vivid mentalpicture of the governess, which through her persistence in repetition, had begun to seem an actual description to herself and Delia. "She's tall and thin and lanky and old!" declared the girl whenever thegoverness, who had accepted the appointment, was mentioned. "She hashorrid sharp eyes that spy out everything, and she wears glasses. She'll never laugh because she'll say 'giggling is frivolous, ' that'swhat Miss Fowler used to say, and she'll talk arithmetic and grammarand geography the whole blessed time. She'll snoop in your closets, Delia, and into my bureau drawers, and she'll find out everything wedon't want her to know. Her hair is black and shiny, and I guess sheparts it in the middle and makes it come to the back of her head in alittle hard knot. Oh! I know just how she looks! I can see her everytime I shut my eyes--the horrid thing! Just like Miss Fowler atschool! And how I'll hate her! I'll hate her just as much as I didMiss Fowler. I'll hate her more, because I can never get rid of her:she'll always be here. Don't you fix up her room a single bit, Delia. Make it look as awful as you can. Then perhaps she won't like itand'll leave. I guess after a little while she won't think it agreeswith her to live here. Then we two'll be alone again, and I tell you, won't we be glad, Delia?" In her heart Delia thought they would. She did not follow Nan's adviceto make the governess' room look "as awful as she could. " She sweptand dusted it thoroughly, and set all the furniture in place, as shehad been accustomed to do for the last fourteen years, and when she hadfinished the place was as uninviting as even Nan could have desired. In fact, there was nothing attractive in the whole house. Thefurniture was all good and substantial, but Delia had a way of rangingit against the walls in a manner that made it seem stiff anduncompromising. When a piece needed repairing, and with Nan about, many a piece needed repairing often, it was stowed out of sight in thetrunk-room, or the cellar, and the carpets, which had been rich andfashionable in their day, were allowed to lie now long after they hadbecome threadbare and faded. Delia kept the handsome paintings veiledin tarlatan winter and summer, and she never removed the slip-coversfrom the parlor sofas and chairs, whatever the season might be. Nandid not care, because she knew nothing different, and there was noloving, artful hand to make the best of the things and turn the houseinto a home. Mrs. Newton had shivered as she entered the place; it seemed dark andcold and forbidding to her, and she felt the mother-want at every turn, but this had not made her any more lenient with Nan. Perhaps thegoverness would make no allowances either. Delia made up her mind thatif things really came to the pass where Nan was being abused, she inperson would "just step in and say her say, if it lost her her place. "She often talked of things losing her her place when the fact was thatshe herself was the place: if it had not been for her the house musthave been closed, and Nan sent to boarding-school. Mr. Cutler wouldnever have trusted the care of his girl to a strange servant. "Yes, Ma'am, " Delia said to herself, as she pushed the governess' bedflat up against the wall. "Yes, Ma'am! if I see her going for to abuseNan, I'll set to and give her a piece of my mind such as she ain'tlikely to have got in one while, I tell you that, " and she gave thebureau a vicious tweak and pulled down the shade with a resentful jerk. When Nan saw the room she was disgusted. "Why, Delia Connor! you haven't done a single thing I told you to, " shecried out angrily. "I've swept and dusted it and that's all there was to do, " retortedDelia. "It looks perfectly lovely, " resumed Nan, stamping her foot. "Do yous'pose I want her to think we're glad to have her, and that we'veprepared for her? Well, I guess not! If she once gets into as good aroom as this she'll never go--she'll just hang on and on, and nothingin the world will make her budge. " "What do you want me to do?" asked Delia with irritation. Nan looked at her scornfully for a moment. "Do? Why, what I told youto do! Make the room look awful--perfectly hideous. Make it so shecan't help but see we don't want her here. Make it a hint--and astrong one too. " Delia folded her arms deliberately. "Well, whatever you want to actlike, Nan, " she said, "I can tell you I ain't going to do anythingunladylike, so there!" and she stalked out of the room with dignity. Nan surveyed the place in silence. What was to be done? If sheremoved all the furniture but the bed and the bureau and left thegoverness nothing to sit down on, it would only reflect discreditablyupon the family's supply of household goods. If she carefully siftedback the dust Delia had just removed, it would merely prove that thepeople in this house were of a slovenly and careless habit, and thatthey were sadly in need of some one to oversee their work. Moreover, would a person as dull of feeling as this governess must be, appreciatethe hint conveyed in so delicate and indirect a manner? No. She wouldbe sure to lose the point. Nan felt it would never do to take any riskof her misunderstanding. Whatever she did must be unmistakable andabsolutely direct. She racked her brain to discover just the right thing, but she wasrewarded by no brilliant idea, and she felt crosser than ever by thetime noon had arrived. But suddenly, at the luncheon table, she gave awild leap from her chair and clapped her hands frantically, while Deliaalmost let a dish fall in her surprise at this sudden and unexpecteddemonstration. "For the land's sake, what is it now?" she demanded, while Nan caughther around the waist and whirled her about the room, vegetable dish andall. "I've got it! I've got it!" screamed the girl, convulsed with inwardlaughter. "I've got the best scheme in the world. Delia, you oldduck! Oh, won't it settle her though! Won't it settle her?" But shewould not reveal who was to be settled, nor how, though Delia pleadedearnestly to be enlightened and even offered to help her make caramelsas a bribe. "No, thank you, Ma'am! I wouldn't have time to boil 'em. I'm going tobe as busy as a beaver all the afternoon, so no matter what happensdon't you disturb me, " continued Nan, importantly. Delia shrewdly suspected that the scheme afoot had something to do withthe governess, but she did not dare suggest it. "Oh, well, what I don't know I can't cry over, " she said to herself, "and when Nan's like this, all the king's horses and all the king's mencouldn't stop her, so I might as well hold my tongue. But I'll saythis much, I don't envy that governess her job, whoever she may be. " Meanwhile Nan had gone to her own room and shut and locked the door. Her next move was to take her night-dress from its hook and slip itover her head. "Now I'm going to rehearse, " she announced to her reflection in theglass. "First I must get my eyes to seem kind of wide and starey. No!not this way. They must look like licorice-drops in milk. There!that's better! All expressionless, and that kind of thing. I s'pose Imight shut 'em, some somnabulists do; but then I'd be sure to trip overthe furniture and stub my toes, and give the whole business away. No, I must keep my eyes open; that's certain. Then I must glide when Iwalk. My step must be light and ghostly and noiseless. I must be sureto have it ghostly and noiseless. Now--eyes staring--one, two, three--step ghostly and noiseless--Oh, bother! What business had thatfootstool in my way? If I knock things over like that I'll wake thehouse, and Delia would know in a minute what I was up to. There! getinto the corner, you old thing! Now again! Eyes staring--stepghostly--and noiseless--voice low and mournful, but I must manage tomake her understand every word. Now once more--voice low and mournful-- "Alas! alas! why did she come?--why did she come? (No, I can't saythat! It sounds too much like 'Why did he die! Why did he die?' Butthe alas is good! That sounds real creepy and weird. ) Now then--Alas!alas! This is the worst thing that ever happened to me in all my life!My dear, old home! To think that anybody who isn't wanted should comeand push herself like this into my dear, old home! O father! father!come home from Bombay, and save me from this awful woman. Turn her outof the house! Make her go back where she came from! Her hated formhaunts me in my sleep, and I dream all night of her as I see her in thedaytime--tall--and thin--and lanky--with her hair all dragged into thatugly little knob behind at the back of her head! O father! father! hereyes are like needles! They prick me when she looks. Save me!--saveme! My heart will break if some one doesn't come and rescue me fromthis terrible person. Take her away--take her away! Ah--I see her! Isee her! Get away--get away! You awful creature! Don't you know youare causing an innocent girl to perish in her youth? Alas, she won'tgo! Then listen, reckless woman! and remember this warning--'the wayof intruders is hard!' "There! that ends it off with a sort of threatening dreadfulness thatought to scare her stiff. After I've said that in a whisper to freezeher blood, I'll turn silently from her bedside and glide noiselesslyfrom the room, wringing my hair and tearing my hands; no, I mean justthe other way, and if that doesn't fix her, why--I'll have to go overit all again, of course, so I won't forget. Perhaps it would be a goodidea to write it down and learn it off by heart. " The idea in fact recommended itself so thoroughly to her that shefollowed her own suggestion without further delay and wrote off theentire harangue at once, making it, if possible, even more eloquent andharrowing than it had been in the original. It seemed a very long, wearisome task, to commit it all to memory, but she did not grudge thetrouble. She had never attempted anything that looked like study withso much willingness. The afternoon slipped away like a dream, and assoon as dinner was over she set to work again, and by bed-time had thething pretty well under control. Whenever she halted or stumbled shewent over it all again with the most patient perseverance. "I suppose if I had stuck to things at school like this I'd have beenat the head of the class, " she said to herself with a whimsical senseof her own perversity. Delia was completely nonplused. She could not imagine what "that childwas up to. " There were no evidences anywhere of the means she wasgoing to employ in the governess' initiation. Her room was in perfectorder, and in Nan's own chamber nothing was unusually amiss. She gotno satisfaction from the girl herself, who kept her lips tightlyclosed, except when she was mumbling over her harangue. It wasterribly perplexing--and ominous. "Good land!" thought Delia in real anxiety, "I only hope she ain'tgoing to do anything too dreadful. I declare, if it weren't that I'mso soft where Nannie is concerned I'd say I'd be glad that some one'scoming who may be up to managin' her. I'm free to confess I ain't. Ifonly her mother had lived! Or, if only my dear Miss Belle hadn't goneoff to the ends of the earth--! Miss Belle could have managed her! Noone could resist Miss Belle, bless her! Ah, dear me, dear me! It'sfifteen years, and to think, I'll never see her face again!" CHAPTER IV THE GOVERNESS The morning of the expected governess' arrival dawned cold and dreary. Rain fell in torrents, and the streets were drenched and slippery withslush. All day Nan moped in unhappy expectation of her anticipatedthralldom. At every sound of rumbling wheels before the door she wouldfly to the window, torturing herself with the belief that this was thehack which was conveying the tyrant-governess to the victim-pupil, andshe felt a curious sort of disappointment when no such vehicle appearedand no such personage arrived, for always the rumbling wheels belongedto some grocer's cart or butcher's wagon, and by evening the invaderhad still not appeared. Then Nan plucked up courage. "I shouldn't wonder if she had been switched off the road, " she said toDelia, inclining to be quite jolly at the mere thought of such agrateful possibility. And she pictured to herself an accommodatingengine whizzing the unwelcome guest off into some remote region fromwhich she would never see the desirability of returning. Nan wishedher no ill, but she did not wish herself ill either. She ate herdinner quite contentedly, and was just going to settle down comfortablyto some thrilling tale of adventure when Br--r--r! went the bell, andshe knew her fate had descended upon her. She flew to the parlor and hid behind the folding-door. She heardDelia ascend the basement stairs. She heard her come along the hall, and then--it was very strange, but Nan really thought she heard hergive a smothered exclamation that was instantly followed by the word ofwarning, "Hush!"--but she must have been mistaken, for it was only Mr. Turner who was speaking. He was asking for Nan herself. She slippedfrom behind the door with the hope at her heart that even now, at thelast minute, the governess had "backed out. " Certainly it looked as ifshe had, since she saw only the lawyer standing by the hat-stand. Sheheld out her hand to him with a real smile of greeting when--he steppedaside and there stood the governess. At first Nan thought it must be some little girl, so small and slenderlooked the figure beside that of the tall man. The eyes beneath therain-soaked brim of the governess' hat were soft and dark; her hair wasbrown, and the damp wind had blown it into innumerable little curls andtendrils about her temples, where it took on a ruddy sheen in the gaslight. Her nose was delicate and short; her mouth, which was notsmall, was fascinating from the fact that the parting lips disclosedtwo rows of perfect teeth. She had two dimples that came and went asshe smiled, and in her chin was a small cleft that was quivering alittle, Nan noticed. She thought the governess looked as if she weregoing to cry. Her eyes seemed somewhat "teary round the lashes, " andthere was no doubt about it--her chin was quivering. "Pooh!" thought Nan. "I might have saved myself all that worry. She'sas afraid as she can be. I guess I'll be able to manage her as easy aspie. " But now Mr. Turner was addressing her. "Nan, " he was saying, "this is Miss Blake. Can't you welcome her toher new home, my dear?" Nan hung back in awkward silence, but the new governess did not giveher the opportunity to make the moment an embarrassing one. Shestepped forward, and, taking the girl's hand in her own, said softly: "Mr. Turner has told me all about you. I hope we shall be very happytogether. " She did not attempt to kiss her. Nan murmured an indistinct "Yes'm, " and shrank back against the wall. Delia stood beside the new governess with a very curious expression onher face. For a moment there was silence, and then Mr. Turner broke inupon it with: "I think it would be well if Miss Blake were to be shown to her room atonce. She is drenched with the rain and must be cold and hungry. Willyou be good enough, Delia, to get her something to eat while Nan takesher upstairs?" Nan started forward quickly at the note of rebuke in the lawyer's voice. "Oh, won't you come to your room?" she asked. She vaguely wondered what made Delia look so strange and act in such adazed, uncertain fashion. She thought she must be a sad "'fraid-cat"to be overawed by such a little personage as the new governess. "Now I will say good-night, " said Mr. Turner to Miss Blake, as shestarted to follow Nan above. "I hope, " he added in an undertone, taking her hand, "that you will be happy. Don't become discouraged. Send for me whenever you need me. I am always at your service. " She silently bowed her thanks. Somehow she found it difficult to speakjust then. She had been tired and cold before she entered the house, but it seemed to her she had not known weariness or chill until now. She felt herself shiver as she turned away from the lawyer and heardthe door close behind him. He seemed to be leaving her alone with anenemy. Nan certainly looked anything but amicable. "Here's your room, " she announced, as they reached the upper landing. She flung open a door, and the new governess found herself steppingforth into utter darkness, where Nan herself was groping about formatches. The air of the place was cold and damp. It had the feel of aroom that was unused. It was barren and cheerless. But in the secondpreceding Nan's discovery of the matches Miss Blake hoped that when thegas was lit it would seem more inviting. But it did not. It was bareand undecorated, and presented anything but an attractive appearance. The stranger drew two long pins from her hat without saying a word. Nan turned on her heel and made to leave the room. "Will you please tell me where I can find some warm water?" inquiredMiss Blake. "Washstand in that little dressing-room. Left-hand faucet, " announcedNan, curtly, and marched away. The governess gently closed the door. Perhaps if Nan had remained there to see she would have wondered ifMiss Blake were quite in her right mind. Her behavior was certainlyextraordinary. The tears rained down her cheeks, and she did not tryto stop them. She just stood in the middle of the floor and gazedabout at the awkwardly-placed furniture, the faded carpet, the barewalls, and the ugly mantel-piece as if she could not take her eyes fromthem. She turned slowly from one thing to another, and presently, in asort of timid, hungry way, she stretched out her hand and touched eachseparate object with her caressing fingers, crying very hard the whileand murmuring to herself in so low a voice that no one could haveoverheard. Even Nan must have softened to her as she stood there crying softly andsmiling through her tears at this bare and unfamiliar room. Even Nanmust have been moved to wonder what Miss Blake had suffered that shewas so glad to get into such an uninviting shelter as this. But Nan was down stairs in the basement watching Delia prepare a daintysupper for the governess, and scowling at her as she saw to whattrouble she went to make it appetizing and delicate. "There, Delia Connor!" she burst out resentfully, "you're the worstturn-coat I ever saw in my life! This very afternoon you looked blackas thunder when you thought she had come, and now you are just dancingattendance on her, as if she was the best friend you ever had!" "Perhaps she is, " responded Delia, placing sprigs of parsley neatlyabout the sliced chicken and setting the coffee-pot on the range. Nan tossed her head scornfully. "Well, I like that! I should thinkyou'd be ashamed! A perfect stranger like her!" Delia did not answer. She was crushing ice for the olives, and as Nanspoke she bent her face over the table and pounded away in silence. But when she had finished, she lifted her head and said, amiably: "Oh, you can't tell. By the looks of her I should think she is agood-natured little body. She has the true eyes. When you see eyeslike that you can mostly be sure they've an honest soul behind 'em. Ishouldn't wonder if she'd be a good friend to any one who'd let her. " "Huh!" sneered Nan, wrathfully, "that means, I s'pose, that you intendto let her. Never talk to me of turn-coats any more, Delia Connor!" Delia caught up a coal-hod and strode deliberately off toward thecellar stairs. When she came back she was laden down with kindlingsand coal. "What you going to do with those?" demanded Nan, imperatively. "Build a fire in the library. I guess a spark'll look good to the poorlittle soul--coming in out of the cold and wet. " This was the last straw. Nan's eyes flashed, and she tore after Deliaupstairs, scolding as fast as the words would come. "The idea! The idea! A fire! 'Poor little soul!' And many's thetime I've come in out of the cold and you haven't even as much as litthe gas! Oh, no; never mind me! I can come in out of the cold tillevery tooth in my head chatters, and you wouldn't care a straw. Why, Delia Connor, we never have that fire lit. You just know we don't!There hasn't been a fire in that grate since daddy went away! You knowvery well there hasn't, and now the first thing you do is to light itfor that horrid governess-woman that's going to boss you 'round likeanything, and make me do all sorts of hateful things. I tell you whatit is, Delia Connor, you don't care a single thing about me. I knowjust how 'twill be. You'll help her to do anything she wants to, andyou'll never stand up for me a bit. It's mean of you, Delia! It'sdownright mean of you. And it's just because she's got those dimplesand things, and smiles at you as if you were her best friend. But sheneedn't think she can manage me. I'm not going to be ordered about byher, if she has got a soft voice and shiny eyes!" Nan and the fire sputtered and blazed as though they were trying to seewhich could outdo the other, and Delia stood by looking first at thisone and then at that with a good deal less fear of the sparks from thegrate than of those from Nan's eyes. She knew better than to try to pacify the girl when her temper was atsuch a white-heat, and she inwardly wondered what would happen if thegoverness should come down while it was yet at its worst. As if inanswer to her question they heard the sound of an opening door above, and immediately after Miss Blake's light steps upon the stairs. Nanbit a word off square in the middle and set her lips tightly together. Delia removed the "blower" from the grate and the dancing flames leapedhigh up the chimney and sent a ruddy glow about the room. The onlysounds to be heard were the comfortable ticking of the tall clock inthe corner and the low purring of the fire behind its bars. Miss Blakecame down the hall and paused on the library threshold. "Oh, how jolly!" she cried, clapping her hands like a delighted childand running forward eagerly to the hearth. "How perfectly jolly!Don't you think an open fire is the most comfortable thing in theworld? And I always loved this one particularly--I mean this kind, "she corrected herself quickly. Nan made no response. She sat in her father's study-chair as stiff andstolid as a lay-figure in a shop window, with her lips drawn primlyover her teeth. Miss Blake was, or pretended to be, unconscious of her attitude, however, and went on talking as easily as though she had the mostappreciative of listeners. "When I was a little girl I used to love to cuddle down here on thehearth-rug--I mean I used to love to cuddle down on the hearth-rug andlook into the burning coals. I used to see all sorts of wonderfulthings in the flames. They used to tell me I'd 'singe my curly powa-biggin' castles in the air, ' but I didn't mind, did I--I mean Ididn't mind, " she caught herself up quickly. Delia coughed behind her hand and hurriedly left the room in order toget Miss Blake's supper, which she meant to serve upstairs for theoccasion. As soon as she was gone the new governess turned toward Nan in astrange apologetic sort of way and said: "I think, if you'll excuse me, I'll just cuddle down on the rug as Iused to do when--when I was a little girl. It seems so good to getback--to an open fire that it makes me quite homesick. You won't mind, will you?" Nan gave a grunt that was meant for "No, " and the new governess plumpeddown upon the floor with her chin in her palms and her elbows on herknees, looking so much like a little girl that for a second Nan had awild impulse to plump down beside her and inquire, by way of openingthe acquaintance-- "Say, does your hair curl like that naturally--or does your mother putit up at night?" or something equally introductory and to the point. But of course she did no such thing, and when Delia reappeared shefound them regarding the fire in perfect silence. At the sound of her step Miss Blake lifted her head and gave Nan abewildering smile. "How stupid I have been! Do forgive me!" she said. "We have beenhaving what the Germans call 'an English conversation, ' haven't we? Iwas thinking so hard I quite forgot you--and myself. Ah, what a prettysupper! But I put you to so much trouble, " and she turned on Delia twovery grateful eyes, while she jumped to her feet with the lightestpossible ease. Delia beamed down upon her beatifically and gave an extra touch to thedainty tray. Nan from her chair scowled darkly upon the wholeperformance. Delia had deserted her cause; had gone over bodily to theenemy--that was plain. But she needn't flaunt her defection in Nan'svery face. Why, it was positively disgraceful the way Delia fetchedand carried for this person already, and looked, all the while, as ifshe could hardly keep from dancing for very joy at the privilege. Well, this governess needn't think that Nan was the kind to be won overby a few smiles and some flickering dimples. When Nan said a thing shemeant it and she stuck to it, too. She wasn't a turn-coat like somefolks she knew. "'Alas, alas! my dear old home--! To think that anybody who isn'twanted should come and push herself like this into my dear old home!Oh, father, her eyes are like--' Good gracious! all that descriptionpart would have to be changed!" Nan pulled herself together with avisible jerk. How could she speak of "needly eyes" when those of thegoverness were so deep and soft and gray that they made you feellike--no, they didn't either; but they weren't needly all the same. No! That whole description part would have to be changed. Bother!Well, if it came to that she guessed she could do it! "Her hated formhaunts me in my sleep, and I dream of her all night as I see her in thedaytime--little and dear, with her hair all shimmery and soft and hereyes kind of kissing you softly all the time, and--" Goodness! thatwould never do! Why it would be crazy to call on one's father torescue one from a person like that. Well, she'd leave out thedescription altogether, that's what she'd do. She-- "Did you speak?" asked the governess, in her musical voice, turningtoward Nan inquiringly, and then the girl suddenly realized that shehad been mumbling her thoughts aloud. "No, I didn't, " she responded, with irritation. "It was too bad, " shedeclared to herself it was, "that after all the trouble she had takento learn the thing by heart, she should be pestered to death by havingto make changes in it this way--at the last minute, too. Why wasn'tMiss Blake tall and lanky and needly-eyed and a fright, she'd like toknow? It was just like her, though! So contrary! To change about andupset all Nan's plans. Well, as long as there was so much fuss aboutthe thing, she s'posed she'd give it up. " "She's so little, it'll be easy enough to manage her. I guess it isn'tworth while. I can just say, to-morrow or next day, 'Miss Blake, I'vecome to the conclusion you don't suit, ' and she'll go right off. Shemay cry a little, but I won't mind that; and if she begs to stay, I'llsay, 'Now there's no use teasing! When I once say a thing I mean it!'and that will settle her once for all. " Delia was pressing the governess to take more supper when Nan againwaked to what was going on about her. "Why, you don't eat any more than you used--I mean than a bird. Dotake a little more chicken, do! And a cup of coffee, nice and hot, that's a good--lady!" It was really too humiliating! It was more than Nan could bear. Shesprang to her feet and without a word--with nothing but a glance ofwithering scorn at Delia--swept out of the room and upstairs to bed. Miss Blake looked after her with strange, wondering eyes, but made noattempt to follow her. She just turned to Delia and stretched out herhands. "O Delia! Delia!" she faltered, brokenly. The woman came to her and took both the little hands in hers. "Blessyou, dearie!" she cried. "That I ever lived to see the day! There, there, lamb, don't cry so, Allanah! See, I'm not crying, am I now?"sobbed she, kneeling beside the stranger and hugging her knees wildly. "Oh, but it's glad I am to see your dear face again! Now tell me allabout it--how you came to know we need you so bad?" CHAPTER V GETTING ACQUAINTED Nan, in spite of the fact that she assured herself her heart wasbroken, fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. She sleptheavily customarily but to-night her rest was fitful and troubled. Shekept dreaming strange dreams that caused her to twitch in her sleep andgive queer little cries of distress and moans of fretfulness. Sometimes she seemed to be trying to overtake something that wasconstantly eluding her. First it was a long, lank creature withpiercing eyes and a knob at the back of its head which it seemed to beNan's duty, not to say pleasure, to shoot off with a paper of needles. Then it was something she must recollect or be put to death forforgetting; some awful harangue that she had been doomed to deliverbefore Delia and a vast crowd of other people, all of whom were staringat her regretfully and murmuring to one another that it was a shamesuch a hoyden should be allowed to live; and again it was some daintylittle creature with tender eyes and shining hair that Nan longed tofollow but could not because of something inside her breast that heldher back and would not let her call. Miss Blake did not go to her room until very late. She and Delia keptup a steady stream of conversation until long after midnight, and eventhen the governess would not have paused if Delia had not been struckwith sudden compunction. "Dear heart alive!" she cried, scrambling to her feet hastily as theclock chimed twelve. "Here you've been wore out with tiredness andexcitement and I keep you up till all hours pressin' you with questionsthat you ain't fit to answer, just as if we wouldn't have time an' tospare together for the rest of our lives, please Heaven! Now go tobed, dearie, so you'll be all rested and fresh in the morning. " Miss Blake shook her head. "No, not all the rest of our livestogether, Delia, " she cried, hurriedly; "it can only be for a year atmost. You said it would be a year, didn't you? Well, then, you know Icould not stay after that. " "Go to bed, dearie, " was Delia's sole response. "And may you sleepeasy and have no dreams. " She took her upstairs herself, just as if the governess had been alittle girl; and was not satisfied until she had brushed out the massesof shining hair and woven them into a long, ruddy braid behind. Thenshe smoothed the pillow lovingly and with another hearty "sleep well"went down stairs to "do up" her dishes and get the house closed for thenight. When she finally stole up to her own room through the pitchy halls shewas glad to see that there was no light in the governess' room and thatall was darkness and silence within. "Good! She's asleep by this time, the dear!" murmured the faithfulsoul, and was soon snoring peacefully herself, quite worn out with theexcitement of the evening. But Miss Blake was not asleep. Her eyes stared widely into thedarkness and her brain was spinning with all sorts of teasing thoughts. She listened to the ticking of her watch beneath her pillow--to themuffled chime of the tall clock in the room below--to the gentle rattleof plaster inside the walls where some hidden mouse was scuttling insearch of a stolen supper, and tried to soothe herself into a doze butfailed and tried and failed again. Suddenly she sat bolt upright in bed. The sound she heard now was anew one, and one that caused her flesh to tingle. It was the sound ofa stealthy hand upon her door. The knob turned noiselessly, the hingesgave a faint whine, and there on the threshold stood a white-robedfigure, ghastly and spectral in the pallid light that fell upon it fromthe cloud-freed moon outside. Miss Blake did not utter a sound and theapparition glided forward with slow, measured steps until it stoodbeside her bed. Its eyes were staring and wide and fixed. "It's Nan!" thought Miss Blake, not daring to speak aloud. The apparition did not remove its gaze. Presently it sighed. Then itraised its head and spoke and its voice was weirdly low and mournful. "Alas, alas!" it wailed. "This is the worst thing that ever happenedto me in all my life. My dear old home! To think that anybody whoisn't wanted should come and push herself like this into my dear oldhome! What does she know of the way I feel? I can never tell her howI hate to have her here, for that would be unladylike. But oh, how Ihate it! No, I must keep my lips closed and bear her persecution insilence. " Two white hands were raised and wrung in a way that was truly tragic. "O father, father!" groaned the ghost, making wild grabs at its hair, "come home from Bombay and save me from this awful woman. Turn her outof the house. Make her go back where she came from. Her hated formhaunts me in my sleep and I dream all night of her as I see her in thedaytime. " Miss Blake caught her breath in a struggling gasp of dread as to whatwould come next. "Tall and thin and lanky, with hair all dragged into that ugly littlehard knob at the back of her head!" The ghost paused, and its uneasy hands clasped each other convulsivelywhile it showed plainly that it was confused in its mind and strugglingto grasp a thought it could not express. Miss Blake breathed a deep sigh of relief. She had really begun tosuspect that it was a vision of herself that was haunting Nan in hernightmare. Of course now she knew better. For surely she was not"tall and lanky, " and her hair was certainly not "dragged into an uglylittle knob at the back of her head. " How grateful she was it had notproved to be herself. "O father! her eyes are like needles. " Miss Blake could have shouted for joy. But who could this awfulbugbear be? "They prick me when she looks! Save me! Save me! my heart will breakif some one doesn't come and rescue me from this terrible person. Takeher away! She's coming at me with her needly eyes! Daddy! Daddy!" The uneasy spirit rocked backward and forward in the intensity of itsemotion. It stretched out its arms and wagged a threateningforefinger, while it mumbled some unintelligible warning in a voicethat faltered and wavered, and then frayed off to a mere wheeze thatsounded suspiciously like a snore. Miss Blake would have risen if she had dared, but she dreaded theeffect even the slightest shock might have upon Nan, in what she neverdoubted was a somnambulistic trance. But when the white-robed figureturned slowly about and retraced its steps to the threshold, shestarted up and noiselessly followed after to make sure that the girlarrived safely in her own bed and showed no sign of further wanderingthat night. Never was a passage from room to room made more deliberately, and whenthe bed was reached the phantom scrambled into it, dragged the blanketsclosely about her shoulders and with a sigh of satisfaction settledherself to slumber. The governess crept back to her own room, thoroughly chilled andshivering with nervousness. It was an hour or more before she feltherself growing drowsy, but at last she dropped asleep and sleptheavily until long past the usual rising hour. Nan waked at her accustomed time, feeling tired and irritable. Shefound Delia in the kitchen, preparing a tempting breakfast with morethan her habitual care. "Huh!" grunted the girl. "We have hot muffins every morning, don't we?And griddle-cakes! and eggs, and scallops, and fried potatoes, too!Oh, no! we're not making any fuss for the governess. Oh, no! none atall! If I were you I'd be ashamed of myself, Delia Connor!" Delia pursed her lips together and made no retort. It did not improve Nan's temper to have to wait for her breakfast untilMiss Blake should appear. But Delia made no attempt to serve her, andshe was too proud to ask. Happily the delay was not too serious, andthe governess appeared at the dining-room door just in time to preventthe muffins from falling and Nan's temper from rising. "Good morning!" said the cheery voice. "--morning!" snapped Nan. "I overslept, " continued the governess apologetically; "and I amthoroughly ashamed of myself. I beg your pardon. But I was verytired. I did not sleep over-well the first part of the night. " "You're not late--or--or anything, " said Nan. "I never get up till Ifeel like it. " Miss Blake made no comment. "And how did you sleep?" she asked after a moment, her eyes laughingmischievously as though in spite of her, while her face remained quitesober. "All right, " responded Nan, uncommunicatively. "No dreams?" The girl shook her head non-committally. "Now, I wonder whether I could tell you your dream, " ventured thegoverness, the light fading a little in her eyes. Nan did not encourage her to try. "You were being pursued by some awful creature--oh, quite a gorgon, Ishould say!" The girl lifted her head. "This relentless creature was deaf to all your appeals, though youappealed to her touchingly, something after this style: Alas, Alas!this is the worst thing that ever happened to me in all my--" "Stop!" cried Nan, suddenly, with blazing eyes, "I didn't! I didn't!Delia listened. She told on me. You're making fun of me, and you'reboth of you just as mean as you can be, so there!" She started up from her chair, which she thrust behind her so roughlythat it fell to the ground with a bang, and rushed toward the door in afury of anger and mortification. Miss Blake sprang from her place and tried to detain her, crying: "Nan, Nan! What do you mean? I was only in sport! Come back, dear, and let me tell you all about it. " But the girl fled past her, flinging her hand passionately away and spurning her attempt atexplanation. A moment later the street door flung to with a loud slam. The quick tears sprang to the governess' eyes, but she crushed themback. "Don't mind her, dearie, " said Delia, consolingly, but with an effortand a sigh. "She ain't always like this. She's sorter upset just now. She don't mean any harm, and she'll be sorry enough for what she's donecome lunchtime. Now, you see. " "But I don't understand, " Miss Blake cried. "She said you listened andthat you told me, and that we were both making fun of her. She thinkswe are in league against her. What can she mean? Why, I was onlyrepeating some nonsense she said in her sleep last night, and I thoughtshe would be amused to hear an account of it. She came into my roomand orated in the most tragic fashion. What does she mean by sayingyou listened and told me?" Delia shook her head. What she privately thought on the subject shewould not have told Miss Blake for worlds. "If you take my advice, " she ventured, "you won't mind what Nan says. She's quick as a flash, but she's got a good, big heart of her own, andit's in the right place, too. Just let her be. " "Let her be?" interrupted Miss Blake, hastily, "not if this is the wayshe is going to be. That is not what I am here for. I am here toeducate her, Delia, and I intend to do it. " Delia could see that she meant what she said. There was a determinedexpression about her mouth that would have surprised Nan if she hadseen it. But at noon, when she returned, the governess' face was asplacid as ever. She and Delia were discussing the price of butter inthe most intimate fashion possible, and Nan snorted audibly as sheheard them agree that it was ruinously high. Delia had played a poor enough part before, "kow-towing" to the enemythe first thing, but now she had deliberately betrayed her--Nan. Had"gone back on her" in the most flagrant fashion. It was the meanestthing she had ever heard of and she'd pay Delia back, you see if shewouldn't! To listen at key-holes and then go and tell-tale! "Have you had a pleasant morning?" Miss Blake asked, affably, as Nanentered the room. She got a grudging affirmative, but nothing daunted she continued: "Itis so cold now there ought to be good skating. Perhaps you and I cantake a spin some day. Do you skate?" Again Nan answered "Yes, " but this time there was a gleam of interestin her tone. "When my trunk comes I must show you my skates. I think themparticularly fine: altogether too fine for one who skates asindifferently well as I do. I am sure you will prove a much betterskater than I am. Somehow I fancy you are very proficient. " "I like to skate, and I guess I can do it pretty well. My fathertaught me--to do figures and things. I don't know any one who canskate as well as my father!" said Nan, with pardonable pride. "I used to skate a great deal when I lived in Holland, " Miss Blakeobserved. "There every one is so expert that I used to feel like agreat bungler. Seeing others do so beautifully made me feel as thoughI were particularly awkward, and I really did keep in the backgroundbecause I was so ashamed of my clumsy performances. Perhaps though, that was only an excuse for my not being able to do better, and oneought not to offer excuses, ought one? Is there any pond near here onwhich we might skate?" Nan's eyes gleamed. "Why, yes, " she said. "We could go to the Park, or if you didn't wantto go there, there's a sort of a pond they call the 'Steamer, ' quitenear here. Lots of people skate on it, and it's lovely fun. Andthere's a place the other side of the Boulevard, where you can coastbeautifully. It's a jolly hill. We take our bobs there, and--the boysand me--and--" "I, " suggested Miss Blake, casually--"the boys and I. " Nan blinked her eyes. The correction, however, passed by unresented. "The folks here think it isn't nice for me to bob, and--and things. They think it's rough!" "Perhaps, " ventured Miss Blake, "that may be because they have seen itdone in a rough way, or by rough persons. You know a great dealdepends upon how you do a thing. " Again Nan blinked her eyes. She was thinking as she had the nightbefore: "Pooh! I can manage her, " while Miss Blake, quite unconscious of whatwas going on in her pupil's mind, continued: "I think if the weatherholds, we may have some very good sport, you and I. Don't you thinkso? And now run upstairs and smooth your hair and wash your hands, forDelia will have luncheon ready very shortly, and one must make one'sself tidy for meals, you know. " And then a very singular thing occurred. Nan found herself on thestairs in obedience to the governess' command almost before she wasaware, and she proceeded to make herself tidy, with no thought ofrefusal at all. But at luncheon came the first tug-of-war. Nan was about to repeat her performance of the morning, namely, to pushher chair aside when she had finished eating and unceremoniously leavethe table. "Oh, pardon me!" interposed Miss Blake, quickly. "Please remain at thetable! You were excused at breakfast, but I am sure there is nonecessity for your running away again. We must pay each other therespect to remain seated until we have both finished eating. You see, I am still drinking my tea, and you must allow me another of Delia'sdelicious cookies. " It was all said very gently, but Nan recognized beneath all the kindsuggestion an unmistakable tone of command. She thrust her chair back still further. "I don't want to wait!" she answered, dryly. "I hate sitting at thetable after I'm through. You can eat all the cookies you like, only Idon't want to wait. " "Ah, but, my dear, I want you to wait, " Miss Blake said. "I demand ofyou no more than I myself am willing to do. We must be courteous toeach other, and if you had not finished eating I should most certainlyremain until you had. I expect you to do no less for me. " "Well, I can't help it! I don't want to stay and I--I won't!" declaredNan, with a sudden burst of defiance. "Very well, " returned Miss Blake, calmly. "Of course, you are too oldto be forced to act in a ladylike manner if you do not desire to do so. But, equally, I am too old to be treated with discourtesy anddisrespect. If you are willing to behave in a rude manner and bear thereproach that you will deserve, why, well and good--or, rather, ill andbad! But I cannot sit at table with any but gentle mannered people. Unless you wish to behave as becomes a lady, we must take our mealsapart. " There was no smile now on the governess' face. Nan suddenly got theimpression that perhaps it would not be quite "as easy as pie" to"manage" Miss Blake. It seemed to the girl that for the first time inher life she had encountered determination outside of her own. Itchallenged her from every line in the governess' little figure. For amoment she hesitated before it. Then, gathering herself together andsummoning her dumb demon, she gave her shoulders a sullen shrug andleft the room without a word. Miss Blake finished her luncheon as though nothing had happened. Thenshe rose, and, going into the kitchen, said a few words to Delia--wordsthat caused the good woman to blink hard for a second and thenexclaimed: "Yes'm. I will. It hurts me to cross the child, but I s'pose it isbest. You have a brave spirit to set yourself against Nan. I wouldn'thave the stren'th, let alone the will. But I s'pose you know what youcan do. " "Oh, yes, Delia, " replied the governess, with conviction. "I know verywell what I can do, but I shouldn't know if I did not have you to helpme. We're both conspiring for Nan's good, and we have to worktogether. " The rest of the afternoon Miss Blake spent in unpacking her trunk andin disposing of its contents. Beside the trunk there was a cumbersomecase, a hamper, and a large crate such as is used for the shipment ofbicycles. Delia gazed at it in wonderment. Did the governess use awheel? If so, what would Mrs. Newton say? Delia trembled at thethought, and eyed the box with especial interest as it was beingcarried down stairs and deposited in the basement hall closet. Nan wandered in about twilight and found the house cheerfully lightedand warm and comfortable. There was a fire in the library grate, andshe threw herself into a chair before it and lounged there luxuriously, while above her head the new governess was tripping to and fro, "putting her room to rights, " Nan suspected. She wondered about thatroom. She would have liked to go up there and see if those skates hadarrived, but of course she could not do that. The governess must notthink she cared to see her when she wasn't forced to. No, indeed! Later Miss Blake came down stairs, and drawing her chair nearer thelamp, commenced to sew. Presently up came Delia. "Miss Blake, " she said, with an emphasis Nan noticed and did not like, "your dinner is served. " Nan jumped up with an exaggerated yawn. Her hair was rough anddisordered, her frock was rumpled and untidy, her hands were obviouslysoiled. Miss Blake remarked on none of these things. She laid her bitof needle-work upon the table and quietly passed down stairs before Nan. The table was set for one, and the governess seated herself before thesolitary place. Nan stood at the side of the table in stiff and silent amazement. "Where's my place, Delia?" she called, ignoring Miss Blake, except foran angry flash of her eyes. But Miss Blake was not to be ignored. "I thought you had decided to dine alone, " she said. "At least, thatwas the impression you conveyed to me at luncheon. If you have changedyour mind, Delia can easily set your place. Shall she do so?" The question was simple, but Nan knew what it involved. She wasspeechless with rage. Her face alternately flushed and paled, whileher lips twitched spasmodically. "I--I--hate you!" she cried at last, with breathless vehemence. "You've no right here. When my father comes he'll send you right away. You see if he don't!" She flung herself in a paroxysm of anger out of the room. Miss Blake ate her dinner, it is true, but perhaps it was scarcelystrange that her relish of it was not great. Every mouthful seemed tochoke her. Delia saw her hand tremble as she raised her tumbler ofwater to her lips. "This'll make you sick, dearie, this striving with Nan. She'll nevergive in! Her will is that strong. " But the governess shook her head. Nan ate no dinner that night, and the next day she slept late; that is, she remained in bed late. Lying there cross and unhappy, she heardsounds of voices in Miss Blake's room. Occasionally there were othersounds as well; sounds of hammering and the moving of furniture acrossthe floor. When Nan was "good and ready" she rose and strolled down stairs with anair of nonchalance that was for Miss Blake's benefit, should she chanceto see. She found the dining-room in perfect order and the kitchen deserted. No breakfast, hot and tempting, awaited her as of old. Delia wasevidently upstairs, and Nan was too stubborn to call her down. Sheprowled about the closets and cupboards until she discovered some coldoatmeal, a bit of meat also cold, and a slice of bread. These, with acup of chilling milk, she gulped down hastily and with a thoroughdisrelish. "Ugh!" she exclaimed, "how I hate it--and her!" It was a cheerless morning. The temperature had risen and a thick rainwas falling. There was nothing to do out-of-doors so Nan remainedwithin. It was Friday, and one of Delia's sweeping days. She was shutup in the draughty parlor with a mob-cap on her head "cleaning for dearlife, " as she expressed it. After a brief experience of the cold anddiscomfort of open windows and clouds of dust, Nan gave up trying totalk to Delia and wandered out of the parlor as disconsolately as shehad wandered into it. By and by she heard Miss Blake's door open andclose and saw the governess come forth, leave the house, and walkrapidly down the street. She turned in at the Newton's gate anddisappeared behind the vestibule door. Nan had flown to the window togaze after her. "Whatever can she want there, " wondered the girl. The question bothered her. She had not been able to get direct news ofRuth's condition because she had not dared inquire again after the wayshe had been treated, but in a round-about manner she had heard thatthe child had a fever. "What fever?" she wondered. "Do people die of fever? If she dies willthat be because I left her on the ground while I ran to get thatmilkman to help carry her home?" Miss Blake was not gone long, but it was luncheon-time when shereturned. "Ah, good morning!" she said, pleasantly, to Nan, who happened to be inthe hall. "I have pleasant news for you. Your little friend RuthNewton is better, and her mamma says she would be grateful to you andme if we would come in once in a while and help her to amuse the poorchild. Will you go with me to-morrow? Mrs. Newton said particularlythat she hoped you would. " A curious expression flitted across Nan's face. "Mrs. Newton hates me, " she announced. "She doesn't want me to seeRuth. " Miss Blake drew off her gloves carefully. "I have explained certain matters to Mrs. Newton, Nan, " she said, "andshe is quite satisfied that she was partly mistaken in her judgment ofyou the other day. She says that she is willing to apologize for someof her accusations, and she has written you a little note. Now, come, and we will both go down to luncheon. I see Delia is here to tell usit is served. " "She takes it for granted I'll go, " thought Nan, and indeed she wentquite willingly, and what was more, remained respectfully seated in herplace until Miss Blake gave her permission to depart by rising herself. CHAPTER VI WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS "I think, Delia, " said the governess, as Nan was about to go upstairs, "if you have an ax, or something of the sort, I'll try to unbox mybicycle. " Nan came to an abrupt halt. Bicycle! The word went through her withan electric thrill, and sent her blood tingling. Then she draggedherself unwillingly away. What had she to do with the bicycle of awoman she hated. "O Nan!" Miss Blake exclaimed, before the girl's lagging footsteps hadcarried her halfway up the staircase, "I'm sure your strong young armscan help us with this big elephant. Will you lend a hand?" Now could the governess have suspected that that was precisely what Nanhad been longing to do? But she could not have lingered unless she hadbeen given the excuse by Miss Blake herself. Had the request been madeto serve as that excuse? Nan did not stop to question. She came flinging down stairs, two stepsat a time, and Miss Blake and Delia smiled above her head as she bentdown, wrenching and tugging with her main strength at the boards andstubborn nails, too excited to know that half the force she used wouldhave served her better. "There! that's my bicycle!" announced Miss Blake, displaying thebeautiful machine with the pride of a possessor, when the last stay hadbeen unscrewed, and the slender wheel stood revealed in all the gloryof its spotless nickel-plate and rubber tires. Nan gazed at it in speechless admiration. It had been the dream of herlife to own such a machine, but she had pleaded for one in vain. Mr. Turner had explained to her that what money he held in trust for herwas no more than served to pay for her running expenses. "You know your father is not a rich man, " he had said, "and lately hehas met with losses. He wishes you to be brought up under homeinfluences rather than at a boarding-school among strangers. Hedesires you to be well educated, and naturally all this costs. Yourfather is willing to make many sacrifices that you may be well providedfor, but he is not able to indulge you in a matter like this of thebicycle. I wish I did not have to refuse you, but I think with him, that your most important need should be supplied first, and if afterthat little remains for mere indulgence, you must be satisfied. By andby you will see that his course is best, if you do not see it already. " But Nan had never been able to feel that it was best that she shouldnot have a bicycle. Now that the new governess had come and had provedso "horrid, " she felt it still less. "Half the money she gets wouldbuy me a first-rate safety, " she had thought often and often and often, as she groaned over her father's perversity. But here was one of the wonderful affairs actually in the house, and ifit did not belong to her, what of that? What was it the governess wasjust saying? "I am quite sure you could use this wheel if we should shift the saddleup a bit, that is, if you care to ride. As soon as the ground is clearI will teach you if you like. " Nan's face was radiant. "Oh, I know how, " she said. "I've practicedlots on--on--a person's I know. Only it wasn't a--a--girl's wheel. But I can ride. " Miss Blake was rubbing down the slender spokes with a piece of chamoisskin. "You are welcome to use mine, then, " she said simply. Nan choked out a meagre "Thank you. " It was not a graciousacknowledgment, but the governess accepted it, and really felt a glowof satisfaction in having called out even so much as an acceptance ofher favor from her arbitrary young charge. "Small favors thankfully received, " she thought with a smile at her ownhumility. Nan stood leaning against the wall with her hands behind her, watchingthe manoeuvres of the leathern rag as it flashed up and down the nickelspokes and around and about the hubs, guided by the dexterous hand ofthe little governess. "Yes, I think we can pass many a jolly hour on this machine, " resumedMiss Blake, "after the ground is clear of snow, and after we are clearof our lessons. We'll begin our studies on Monday, Nan. That will becommencing with the new week, and we must be very conscientious aboutour work before we indulge in any play. " "There!" thought Nan, with a rush of antagonism, "I might have knownshe'd make some kind of a fuss before she'd let me use it. I guessshe's sorry she promised in the first place, and wants to kind of backout of it. Oh, well, I might have known. Now she'll pile on lessonsand things till there's no time for anything else. That's her way ofgetting out of it. " But she made no comment. She stood kicking her heel against thesurbase, silently watching the sparkling machine. Presently she turnedand stalked upstairs without a word. Delia gave Miss Blake an apologetic glance, but the governesscomposedly rose, and, stowing her property safely away against thecloset wall, closed the door upon it and with a kind word to the womanbeside her went upstairs as though nothing had happened. She knew what was in Nan's mind. She could read it as distinctly as ifthe sudden wrinkles on her forehead and the quick set of her obstinatejaw had been printed text. "Poor child!" thought the governess, "how she hates study and--me. Howshe rebels against restraint. So she thinks I am trying to take backmy word. No wonder that makes her furious. " She went into her room and closed the door, but after a moment she cameback and opened it again. "Nan might feel shut out, " she said to herself, and so she left itstanding invitingly ajar that in case the girl cared to come in shewould not have to knock. She smiled to herself as she did it. Sheknew well enough Nan would not care to come in. "Still there might bea chance!"--she left the door open on the chance. The more Nan thought of Delia's baseness the more she inwardly ragedagainst it. She sat in her own room with her feet over the registerand munched caramels and nursed her grievance all the afternoon. Deliawas miserable. She had tried by every means in her power to win atleast a look from the girl, but all her attempts were repelled and shewas treated with an overbearance that cut her to the quick. At lastshe could stand it no longer. She left her work and went upstairs "tohave it out with Nan" and be done with it. She knocked repeatedly at her bedroom door, but the girl obstinatelyrefused to utter the word of admittance. Delia was not to be daunted, however, by this, and at last, turning the knob, she walked boldly inand confronted Nan squarely. "See here, Nan, " she began without waiting, "I want to know what's thematter with you that you treat me so? Me that has waited on you handand foot and tended you night and day since you was a little baby?" The girl did not deign to raise her eyes from her book--or else theywere so rapidly filling with tears that she did not dare to do so. Delia gulped. "Can't you answer a civil question?" she faltered, trying to be firm and failing utterly. Nan cast her book to the floor and sprang up to face the woman withblazing cheeks and eyes that flashed angry fire. "You'd better ask me what's the matter, Delia Connor!" she burst out ina trembling voice. "As if you didn't know! Do you s'pose I'll beareverything? It's bad enough--your being such an awful turn-coat! Youwent over to her side the first thing, and every time she bosses me youjust stand there and let her do it and never say a word. You let herorder me about like everything and never stand up for me a bit. Her--aperfect stranger! Somebody you never saw in all your life before! Butthat isn't the worst of it! Do you s'pose I'm going to stand yourcoming to my door and listening at the key-hole when I was rehearsingand then going and telling on me--telling her all I was going to do toher, I'd like to know? You just wanted to get on the right side ofher, and it was the meanest thing I ever heard of in all my life. Youcame and peeked at me when I was rehearsing and then went and told her, and I s'pose you both laughed and had a fine time over it. You thoughtyou were very smart, didn't you? But you got there too soon, DeliaConnor, for I had made up my mind I wouldn't do it, so there! But nowyou've both been so mean, I don't care who knows what I was going todo. I hope you told her that I don't want her here. I hope you toldher every bit of that thing I learned by heart on purpose to recite toher. I hope you repeated every word of it. It's true and I hope sheknows it. I hope--" "For the land's sake, Nan, do be still, " broke out Delia at last aftera dozen futile attempts to stem the tide of the girl's anger. "Ididn't listen nor peek nor anything, and you scream so loud she'll hearevery word you say. You--now be quiet and let me speak--you walked inyour sleep last night. You went into her room and said off a whole lotof balderdash to her--enough to set her against you for the rest of herlife--if she ever finds out you really meant it. " Nan gave Delia an imploring, frightened look. "Delia, " she gasped, breathlessly, "do you--do you think she heard?" Delia shook her head. "Couldn't say for the life of me, " she replied. "Her door may havebeen open when I came up; I didn't notice. " Nan looked the picture of dismay. "Wait a minute!--I'll go see!" shewhispered earnestly, and tip-toed noiselessly into the hall. A secondlater she returned, radiant with reassurance. "Her door is tight shut, and she's making so much noise inside her roomshe couldn't possibly have heard. Sounds as if she was dragging trunksaround or something. " "Perhaps she's packing to go 'way, " suggested Delia, with a grain ofmalice. Nan fairly jumped with--well, if it wasn't joy it was something equallyas moving in its way. "Oh, no, no!" she cried, in a sudden fever ofexcitement. "I don't want her to leave--like that. Just think howawful it would be to have her leave--like that! Can't you go to herand say I'm--you're good friends with her. Delia, won't you please goand tell her I didn't really mean to say off that speech at her. Ilearned it before she came, and I meant to recite it, but when I foundthat she was different--so little and kind of--different, I thought itwould be mean to do it, and I gave it up. Do go and tell her, Delia, please, and oh, won't you hurry?" "Now see here, Nan, " interposed the woman. "Our best plan is to waitand see what she is going to do. If she hasn't heard, it's all right, and telling her would only put the fat in the fire. On the other hand, if she has heard and is packing up to go 'way, why, it wouldn't do muchgood, I'm afraid, to try to stop her. With all being such a lady andso gentle in her ways, she's got a mind of her own--I can see that--andyou won't be like to get her to change it. But she'll tell yougood-bye before she leaves, she's too much of a lady not to, no matterhow she feels, and then you can say your say, and I promise youfaithful I'll back you up. " Nan saw the wisdom of Delia's counsel, and tried to content herself towait. But the suspense of every minute was awful, and she felt herselfgrowing frenzied under the strain. After a time the commotion in thenext room ceased, and all was quiet as the grave. "She's getting onher hat now, " gasped Nan. "She'll go away and think I'm a heathen andall sorts of horrid things. And she hasn't got any friends or folks ofher own, and no house to go to but this. And I s'pose she's awfullypoor, because she wouldn't be a governess if she wasn't, and oh, dear!I don't want to have any one be a beggar, and turned out of the onlyroof they've got over their heads on my account. That's what makes mefeel so bad, Delia. That's the only thing. If she will go on her ownaccount I'll--I'll be glad, but--oh, she mustn't go this way!" Delia turned away her face to hide a smile. "There's nothing to do but wait, " she insisted. "If I go in there andtell her, and she hasn't heard, why it would only give you away; don'tyou see?" Nan let herself down in her rocking-chair with a dismal drop. "Odear!" she cried, "I never saw anything like it! The way things gowrong in this house! It's just perfectly horrid! I wish I was with myfather, I do so! I guess it's nicer in India than it is here, anyway;and I'm sick and tired of living cooped up in this old stuffy place. So there!" Delia dusted some imaginary dust off the table with the corner of herapron, and went down stairs to finish up her work. In the street below the huckster was yelling "Chestnuts! Fresh-roastedchestnuts!" The little charcoal oven in his push-cart sent out ashrill, continuous whistle, and Nan had an impulse to throw somethingat him. What business had he to come here and make such a racket thatshe couldn't hear what was going on in the next room. He passed slowlydown the street, his call and the whistle of his oven growing fainterand fainter, and finally fading quite away as he disappeared in thedistance. Nan pricked up her ears. Surely the sounds she heard werethose of moving feet in the next room. Back and forth they went, nownearer, that was to the closet, now further away again, that must be tothe bureau. What could the governess be doing? The lid of her trunkwas dropped, and Nan could distinctly hear the click of the catches asthey fell in place. There was no further doubt about it! Miss Blakewas going. A moment later, and before Nan could collect her wits, thedoor of the next room was briskly opened and closed, and the governess, hatted and cloaked, sped quickly from the house. Nan flew to the balusters with a hasty cry upon her lips, but was justin time to see the door swing heavily to; and that was all. She flungherself down stairs two steps at a time. "There now, Delia Connor, " she cried, bursting into the kitchen withsuch vehemence that the very tins rattled on their shelves. "There, now! What did I tell you? She's gone--Miss Blake's gone. Trunkspacked--! Everything's packed! She'll send men to get them. She'sgone clean off. I told you what it would be, and you wouldn't go andspeak to her. And now my father will be disgraced, and Mr. Turner willblame me, and--it's all your fault, and I'll tell my father; so there!" Delia's face paled suddenly. She set her lips together tight. "It's well you have some one to lay the blame on, child!" she saidshortly, and went upstairs without another word. Nan did not care tofollow her into the governess' room, but stood outside and waited tohear her verdict when she should have examined the premises. "Well?" asked the girl, eagerly, as soon as she came out. "Her trunk's shut and locked, that's certain!" "Then she's gone for good!" "She's gone. There ain't a doubt about that!" "You said she would surely say good-bye, Delia Connor, you know youdid. You said no matter how she felt, she was such a lady she'd becertain to say good-bye!" "Well, and I really thought so. I believe now she'd have saidgood-bye, if--" "If I hadn't been such a--brat? Say it right out, Delia! You mean itand you might as well say what you think, " broke in the girl bitterly. Delia turned on her heel and stalked grimly down stairs. A secondlater she heard a rush of flying feet behind her, and the next momenttwo arms were locked about her neck. "Poor old Delia, " cried Nan, in one of her sudden bursts of remorse. "I'm the horridest girl that ever lived! I know it as well as you do, and if you weren't the patientest thing in the world you wouldn't standit for a minute. But don't you go away from me too, Delia! Pleasedon't! Honest Injun, I'll try to behave! Cross my heart I will. AndI tell you this much, I feel just awfully about Miss Blake. Ishouldn't wonder a bit but it would snow tonight, and she hasn't aplace to go and no money, and--O dear! I feel like a person that oughtto be in jail!" Delia extricated herself gently from the clinging arms. "What makesyou think Miss Blake's as poverty-stricken as that?" she asked. "Oh, I don't know, " responded the girl. "But I just feel she is. Andshe is so little too. She looked so glad to get into this house that Iguess she never had much of a place to stay before. " "She don't dress like a person that's next-door to a beggar, " musedDelia. "No, she doesn't. She has really pretty things, hasn't she? But Iguess they're made over and cast-off, or something. Maybe the lady shelived with last gave them to her?" speculated Nan. "Maybe she did, " said Delia. The two made their way slowly down to the kitchen. It was beginning togrow dark and the dinner must be prepared. "I never in all my life saw such little hands and feet, " the girlpursued. "And she's dreadfully particular about them. There's never aspeck on her fingers that she doesn't run right up and scrub them, andshe wears the cunningest slippers I ever saw. " "I guess she comes of nice folks, " said Delia, as she began to peel thepotatoes. "Wonder why she doesn't stay with them then?" put in Nan. "Perhaps they're dead. " Nan pondered. Her own motherless life had given her a very tendersympathy for those whose "folks" were dead. For the first time shefelt sorry for Miss Blake. She was uneasy and distressed. It made hershift about uncomfortably in her chair. "Goodness me!" she ejaculated impatiently at last, and then one of herwild impulses took possession of her and she ran frantically up intoher own room and flung on her coat and hat. "The whole thing's as plain as preaching. Why didn't I think of itbefore?" she said to herself, with a shake of impatience. "Mr. Turnertold Miss Blake if she was worried or anything to go to him. Shehasn't any money, and she's left here, so of course that's where sheis. I'll go and bring her back. " The front door opened and shut with a bang, and Nan was out in thestreet alone. As she scudded down the pavement the electric lightssuddenly gleamed out pale and vivid from their lofty globes, and sentwavering shadows flashing across her path. "It's pretty late and it'll be dark as a pocket in a little while, "thought she; but that did not detain her, and she raced on, puttingblock after block between her and home in her ardor to make reparationand to lighten her heart of its weight of compunction. CHAPTER VII OPEN CONFESSION Nan knew the way to Mr. Turner's house perfectly, though she had notbeen able to give Mrs. Newton the street and number. She was observingand clear-headed, and could have been trusted to find her way about theentire city alone, but her father had often cautioned Delia and thegirl herself against putting her power to the test, and so it happenedthat until now she had never been any considerable distance away fromhome after twilight without a companion. The way was perfectlyfamiliar to her--but it had never seemed so interminably long. Shecould have taken a car, but in her haste to get off she had forgottenher pocketbook. She saw the "trolleys" fly past her in quicksuccession, and it seemed to her they whizzed jeeringly at her as theysped. She was by nature so fearless that even if the street had notbeen thronged she would not have been afraid. As it was she was onlyalarmed lest she would get to Mr. Turner's and find Miss Blake gone. She hurried on breathlessly, fairly skipping with impatience andwondering what explanation she could give the lawyer in case thegoverness had not told him the real reason of her departure. Somehowit flashed into Nan's mind that Miss Blake would not expose her. Shewas busied with this reflection as she turned off the broad, well-lighted thoroughfare into the dimmer side-street upon which Mr. Turner lived, and she ran up the steps of his house with the questionstill unsettled. It was not a moment before the door was opened to herand she was admitted to the warm, luxuriously furnished drawing-room. It was Nan's ideal of a house: "all full of curtains and soft carpetsand beautiful things. " She seated herself before the burning log-firewith a sensation of deep well-being--only it was a little over-shadowedby her worry about the governess. "Well, my little lady, and what brings you here at this time of day?"was Mr. Turner's greeting, as he strode across the room to meet her. "O Mr. Turner!" began Nan, bluntly, "I came to see you about MissBlake. I want to know--I wonder if you--" "Indeed! And how is that charming lady? You must tell her I had hopedto see her before this, but I have been unusually busy, and everymoment has been taken up. Now tell me, isn't it as I said? Hasn't shecompletely won your heart? Aha! I see she has! I see she has!" Nan flushed and stammered, and did not reply. Inwardly, she was in aturmoil. Either Miss Blake had not come here at all or the lawyer wastrying to baffle her. And if Miss Blake had not come here, then wherewas she? A sort of dumb terror took hold of the girl and shook herfrom head to foot. "You see I was right, " pursued the lawyer, cheerfully. "I knew youwould surrender to her the first thing. Every one does. I think Inever knew any one who was more universally loved. Now, how can I helpyou, my dear? Give you some extra pin-money to buy Miss Blake aChristmas present, eh? Is that it?" Nan caught at the suggestion eagerly as being a way out of herdifficulty, and nodded a gulping assent. "Well, you needn't have traveled all this distance for such a simplematter, my dear, " he assured her genially. "And after dark, too! Anote would have served, you know; a note would have served. But I'mglad you like her so well, and you shall have the money at once. Yourfather would be delighted I am sure. " It was only after Nan had been gone some time that Mr. Turnerremembered with a start that she was alone and that it was night. Itwas too late then to overtake her, so he had to resign himself with thethought that the girl was admirably self-reliant, and that her way layalmost entirely along well-lit and busy avenues. The thought of danger did not occupy Nan for a moment. Her only fearnow was for the governess. If she wasn't at Mr. Turner's, then wherewas she? She asked herself this question over and over again. Thegirl blushed as she thought of the untruth she had been guilty of inimplying that the lawyer's suggestion had been her motive in coming tohim. She sharpened her pace, as if to outstrip the memory of hermisdeed, but it, with her other worry, seemed to pursue her, andpresently her imagination so quickened at the thought that she actuallyfancied she heard some one behind keeping step with her. She brokeinto a brisk run. Clap! clap! came the sound of hastening feet behindher. With a sort of tortured courage she slackened her pace. Whateverwas following her also took a slower gait. She cast a furtive lookover her shoulder and gave a horrified gasp as her eyes squarelyencountered two other eyes, which were fixed upon her own in aninsulting leer from beneath the rim of a rakish felt hat which was worntilted on the side of a very unprepossessing head. The eyes, bad asthey were, proved the best feature in a thoroughly vicious face, andfor the first time in her life Nan felt frightened--chokinglyfrightened. She would have rushed on, but a stealthy hand held herback. "Don't try to run away from me, little lady!" said an unsteady voice inher ear in a tone that was intended to seem engaging. "Don't try torun away from me, if you please. I wouldn't hurt you for the world, no, indeed. " Nan shook herself free from the disgusting touch and hurried on withouta word. Her hateful shadow kept abreast with her. "You ain't afraid of me, are you?" he asked reproachfully. Nan made no response. Her feet seemed to cling to the pavement. Everytime she lifted one it was with an effort. "Oh, come now, " whined the voice in her ear, "don't go on like this. Iain't going to hurt you. I'm only a poor man who would be grateful fora penny or two. By the way, where's your pocket-book?" Nan leaped suddenly aside, and as she did so she missed her footing, and a cry of pain burst from her lips. A sharp pang shot from herankle to her knee, and when she tried to take another step she foundthe darting agony returned. But stop she could not. Her face grewgray and lined with misery as she dragged forward, saving her injuredankle as much as she could, but always having to torture it intolerablywith every onward limp. Her persecutor caught up with her promptly, and she cast beseeching looks for deliverance on every side, which thehurrying, preoccupied crowd was too intent on its own affairs to see. If only she could see a policeman! She knew what she would do. Shewould make believe she was going past him and then suddenly veer aboutand say, "Officer, this man is annoying me!" and before he had time torealize what she had done the rowdy would be arrested. But nopoliceman was in sight, and her fine scheme could not be carried out. Suddenly in the midst of her agony of mind and body her heart gave awild bound of unspeakable relief. "Miss Blake! Miss Blake!" she almost shrieked. "Nan!" The little governess was beside her in a flash, her own face almost aswhite and seamed as the girl's. [Illustration: The little governess was beside her. ] "O Miss Blake! this man--make him go away; make some one send him away. He's annoying me--and my foot!" The governess grew if possible a shade paler. "What man?" she demandedsharply, "Where?" Nan could not speak. She indicated with a mute gesture. Miss Blakelooked behind her, but if there had actually been such a man as thegirl described he must certainly have taken to his heels. They werestanding alone in the midst of the hurrying crowd. "O Nan!" cried the governess, not stopping to argue the question, "where have you been? Delia and I have been frantic with worry. Sheis out now hunting for you. She went one way and I another. " Nan could not reply. The torture in her ankle grew fiercer with everymovement. She shook her head silently and limped on. "You are hurt! You are in pain!" cried Miss Blake, now for the firsttime really realizing her condition. Nan nodded dumbly. "Take my arm; no, lean on my shoulder! There, that's better! Beardown as hard as you can and use me as your crutch! I'm strong. Iwon't give out. " And a right good support she proved. Happily they were but a stone'sthrow from home, and it was not long before Nan was comfortably settledon the library lounge, luxuriously surrounded by all sorts of downycushions and having her injured ankle bound in soothing cloths by thetenderest of hands. Delia, full of sympathy and the desire to help, was bustling about nervously, tripping over bandages and upsettingbottles of liniment, but meaning so well all the while that one couldnot discourage her. "It is only a strain. You have turned your ankle badly and the muscleshave been wrenched, but I don't think it is an actual sprain, " saidMiss Blake, consolingly. "However, if the pain is still bad to-morrow, we'll have a doctor in to look at it. Do you still have Dr. Milbank, Delia?" Nan sat bolt upright with surprise. "How funny!" she cried. "However in the world did you know Dr. Milbankwas our doctor? Why, we've had him for years and years. Ever since Iwas born and before, too. But how could you know?" Delia hurried out of the room muttering something about the dinner, andMiss Blake bent her head over the bandage she was rolling. "He lives so near, " she replied haltingly. "I've seen his sign often as I passed and--and--perhaps that is why Ithought he might be your physician. He's so convenient--within call. It is hard to tell what makes one jump at conclusions sometimes. " Nan sank back among her cushions not half satisfied. "Dr. Pardee livesnear, too. Just as near as Dr. Milbank does, " she persisted. The governess made no response, and just then Delia came staggering inunder the weight of a huge brass tray which she bore in her arms. Miss Blake jumped to her feet. "We're going to have a dinner-party uphere to-night, Nan, " she said. "Won't it be fun?" and she set to workunfolding a strange foreign-looking stand that Nan had never seenbefore and upon which Delia carefully placed the tray. "Why, what a dandy little table it makes!" exclaimed Nan, admiringly. "Where did it come from?" "I brought it from London, but it was made in India, " explained MissBlake. Nan's eyes softened. "Where papa is!" she murmured softly to herself. "You have lots of nice things, " she added, after a moment. "Thesepillows are downright daisies. I s'pose they belong to you. " The governess served her with soup. "They are yours whenever you careto use them, " she returned in her quiet way. "It's jolly having dinner up here, " said Nan, not quite knowing how torespond to such a generous offer. "Yes, isn't it?" assented the governess. "Mrs. Newton don't use her basement for a dining-room, and neither doesMr. Turner. I wish we didn't. I think it would be perfectly fine ifwe could have ours up here, too. " "Why couldn't you?" The girl leaned forward with a look of real interest in her face. "Do you think we might?" she asked eagerly. "I don't see why not. The books might be shifted to the other room. This might be re--well, re-arranged, and I'm sure it would make acharming dining-room. " "But that ugly old glass extension back there!" protested Nan indisgust. "Who wants to look at a lot of old trunks and broken-upthings when one is eating? If we could only pull it down. " Miss Blake considered a moment. "Why not take all the old trunks and broken-up things out entirely andmake a conservatory of it. It faces the south. Plants would growbeautifully there. " Nan clapped her hands. "Why, that's perfectly splendiferous, " shecried. "I never should have thought of it. I say, Miss Blake, let'sdo it right away, will you? I love flowers. " "Would you take care of them?" demanded the governess with a thoughtfullook. "Uh-huh!" nodded Nan, heartily. "I guess I would!" "Very well, then, " returned Miss Blake encouragingly, "I'll think aboutit. Perhaps Delia wouldn't consent. You know there is no dumb-waiterin the house, and if she had to carry up all the dishes at every meal, it would more than double her work. " Nan's face fell. "O dear!" she complained. "What a horrid old house!Can't do a single thing with it! It would have been such fun to changeeverything about!" Miss Blake laughed. "Oh, if that was all your reason for wanting theimprovements, " she retorted. "I thought you wanted to gratify yoursense of the beautiful. " "Well, I do, " declared Nan. "Then we'll see what can be done, " and the governess set down her glassof water with a very knowing smile. After dinner was eaten and Delia had carried away the tray and MissBlake removed the wonderful folding stand, the governess looked upsuddenly and said with unusual gravity: "Nan, while I am here I hope you will never run out after dark aloneagain. It is dangerous. Do you understand me, my dear?" The girl's eyes dropped. Yes, she understood perfectly. When thegoverness spoke in that low, decided voice it would have been hard tomistake her meaning. "I had to go to-night, " Nan answered, in a suddenly sullen voice. "If you had waited a few moments I could have, and most willingly wouldhave, gone with you. Never hesitate to ask me. I am always at yourservice. That is what I am here for. " Nan hesitated. "I--I thought you had gone away--for good, " shestammered, lamely. Miss Blake flushed. "What made you think I had gone away for good?"she asked, slowly repeating the girl's words. Nan shook her head and gulped. "I was in my room, " continued the governess, after a pause, "and Iheard--" Nan put out both hands. "I know it! I know it!" she gasped. "But Ididn't mean what I said--I didn't, honestly and truly. Before you cameI learned it off, and I meant to say it, but that was before I saw you. I feel different now, and I hope--I hope--" Miss Blake's hand was laid quietly on hers. "Wait a moment, Nan. Don't go on till you know what I was going to say. You seem to betrying to explain something that perhaps you might regret later. Youthink I overheard something you would rather I did not know? What Iwas going to say is this: I was in my room this afternoon and I heard aman crying 'Chestnuts!' It carried me back to the time when I was alittle girl and used to roast them in this very--" she hesitated, thenadded slowly, "town. So I went out to buy some, that we might have alittle jollification together with nuts and apples and perhaps a cookieor two, if Delia would give them to us. That is why I went out. " Nan twisted her fingers and looked down. "And I went out because youdid, " she faltered. "I thought you had gone away, and I went to Mr. Turner's to bring you back--if you would come. Say, now, didn't youhear what I said to Delia? I was awfully mad, and I guess I spoke outloud enough so folks on the next block could have heard. Honest now, didn't you?" Miss Blake did not answer at once, and Nan could see that a struggle ofsome sort was going on in her mind. When she raised her face her eyeswere very grave. "Yes, Nan, I did hear!" she confessed, honestly. The girl's cheeks blazed with sudden shame. "And yet you weren't going to leave?" she said. "You were only goingto do a kindness to me?" Miss Blake shook her head. "Dear Nan, " she answered, smiling wistfully, "a good soldier never runsaway for a mere wound. He stays on the field until he has won hisbattle or--until--he is mortally hurt. I do not think you will everwish to cut me as deeply as that, and so--and so--I will stayuntil--the general orders me off the field. The day I hear that yourfather is to come back, that day I will resign my position in thishouse. Until then, however, you must reconcile yourself to my presencehere, and I think we should both be much happier if you would try to doso at once, my dear. " CHAPTER VIII NAN'S HEROINE The strain Nan had given her ankle proved more serious than either sheor Miss Blake had expected. It threatened to keep her chained to thesofa for days to come, and the girl's only comfort lay in the thoughtthat now, of course, the governess would not force the question ofstudy, and after she was up and about again she might be able todispose of it altogether, and save herself any more worry on that score. But Monday came, and, true to her word, Miss Blake appeared in thelibrary after breakfast with an armful of school-books, to which shekept Nan fastened until luncheon time. It was perfectly clear thatthere was no escape. Miss Blake was armed with authority, and the girlknew herself to be under control. She fretted against it sopersistently that if the governess had not had an enduring patience shemust have despaired over and over again under the strain of Nan'ssullen tempers, fierce outbreaks, and lazy moods. There were momentswhen the girl seemed to be fairly tractable, but there was no knowingwhen the whim would seize her to fall back into her old ways, so that, at the best of times, Miss Blake did not dare relax her control. ThenNan would kick her heels sulkily, and comfort herself with the thoughtthat when her father came home all this would be put an end to. MissBlake would go. Hadn't she said so herself? And that would finish upthis studying business quick enough. She could cajole her fathereasily into letting her stay away from school, and then--here she wouldbe, as happy as you please, with only those two, Delia and her deardaddy, to look after her, and no one at all would say no to anythingshe might choose to do. It was a blissful prospect. In the meantimethere were lessons, and--Miss Blake. But after a few days Nan found that, somehow, the lessons were not sohard after all, and she never would have believed that they could be sointeresting. While as for Miss Blake--Well, a woman who sits reading"Treasure Island" and such books to one for hours together can't beregarded entirely in the light of a nuisance. "I never knew geography was so nice before, " Nan admitted one day afterlessons were over. "I used to hate it, but now, why it's downrightjolly! I never saw such beautiful pictures! Where in the world didyou ever get so many?" "I took them myself!" Nan's eyes widened. "Why, have you been to all these places?" sheasked, not a little awe-struck. Miss Blake confessed she had. "And you took all these photographs your own self?" persisted the girl. The governess laughed. "I'm like George Washington, Nan, " she said. "I cannot tell a lie! I did them with my little--Kodak!" Nan fairly gulped. She would have said "Jiminy!" but she knew MissBlake disapproved of "Jiminy!" and somehow, she was willing to humorher just now. "Only, " went on the governess, "it isn't a little Kodak at all. It isa very fine camera indeed. Some day, if you like, I will show it toyou, and then, perhaps you will be interested enough to care to learnhow to take some photographs yourself. " Nan bounced up and down on the sofa with delight. "Oh, won't I, though!" she exclaimed feverishly. "Just won't I!" "But mind you, my dear, " warned Miss Blake. "If you once undertake it, I want you to persist. It is not to be any'You-press-the-button-and-we-do-the-rest' affair. I want you to learnto finish up your work yourself. Do you think you will care to take somuch trouble?" Nan nodded energetically. "Very well, then. So it stands. If you are willing to learn I'llgladly teach. " "Who taught you?" asked the girl curiously. Miss Blake shook her head. "Just a man whom I paid for his trouble, "she returned simply. "I wanted to learn, and so I went into a galleryand got some experience, and then came away and experimented on my ownaccount. It has taken me years, and I am still working hard at it, forI believe in never being satisfied with anything less than the best onecan do. " Nan blinked. She herself believed in being satisfied with whatevercame easiest, unless it was in the way of some sport, where she likedto excel. "How jolly it must be to travel about--all over the world, " said she, musingly. "When I'm grown up I guess I'll be a governess, or acompanion, or something, just as you are, and get a place with someawfully nice people who will take me everywhere. Was it nice where youwere before you came here? Were there any girls? Why did you leave?" Miss Blake looked troubled, but Nan was not used to noticing otherpeople's moods, and did not even stop to hear the replies to her ownquestions. "If you've been all over the world, you'll know where myfather is, and can tell me about it. Oh, do, do! Show me somepictures of India, won't you please? Just think, I haven't seen myfather for two years, and he won't be home until next autumn--almost ayear from now. You ought to see him! He is the best man in theworld--only I guess he is lonely, because my mother died when I was ababy, and he hasn't any one to keep house for him but Delia and me. Mr. Turner says he has lost a lot of money lately, too. I guess that'swhy he went to India. If I had been older he would have taken me. Buthe had to leave me here with Delia. Delia has been in our family, for, oh, ever so many years. She first came to live here when my mother wasa young girl. She says it was the jolliest house you ever saw. Mygrandfather and grandmother were alive then, and mamma had a youngfriend, who was an orphan, who lived with them. They loved her just asif she had been their own child, and she and my mother were so fond ofeach other that--well, Delia says it was beautiful to see themtogether. And such times! There were parties and all sorts of thingsall the time till, Delia says, it was a caution. My grandfather wasn'tvery well off, and lots and lots of times my mother wouldn't have beenable to go to the parties she was invited to, if it hadn't been forthat friend of hers, who used to give her the most beautifulthings--dresses, and gloves, and all she needed. She had loads ofmoney, and every time she got anything for herself she got its mate formy mother. Don't you think that was pretty generous?" Miss Blake bit her lip. "One can't judge, Nan, " she said. "If yourmother shared her home with this girl and she had money and your motherhad not, I think it was only right that they should share the moneytoo. No, I do not think it was generous. " Nan tossed her head. "Well, I think it was and so does Delia, " sheretorted hotly. "It is easy enough to give when one has plenty, " pursued the governess, almost sternly. "But when one has little and one gives that--well, then it is hard and then perhaps one may be what the world callsgenerous, though I should call it merely grateful. " Nan did not understand very clearly. She thought Miss Blake meant todisparage her mother's friend, the woman she had been brought up tothink was one of the noblest beings on earth. She felt angry and hurtand almost regretted that she had confided the story to her since shemade so little of her heroine's conduct. "I don't care; I think she was perfectly fine and so does Delia. Mymother just loved her and I guess she knew whether she was generous ornot. When she went away my mother was wild. She cried her eyes out. But she married my father soon after that, and then--well, mygrandmother died and then my grandfather, and I was born and my motherdied and--O dear me! it was dreadful. Delia says many and many a timeshe has gone down on her knees and just prayed that that girl wouldcome back, but she has never come and she won't now, because it isyears and years ago and maybe she's dead herself by this time. Do youthink Delia would have prayed for Miss Severance to come back if shehadn't been the best and most generous girl in the world?" Miss Blake smiled faintly. "That settles it, Nan!" she declared. "IfDelia wanted her back she must at least have tried to be good. Andeven trying is something, isn't it? And now, how do you think luncheonwould taste?" Nan was more than ever inclined to be sulky. Her loyalty was touched. Not alone did Miss Blake fail to appreciate her heroine, but she showedquite plainly that she did not want to hear about her. "All the time Iwas talking she fidgeted around and looked too unhappy for anything. Iguess she needn't think she's the only one in the world that can makepeople love her. I don't think it's very nice to be jealous of aperson you never saw. Pooh! I like what she said about trying to begood. I guess Delia knows, " said Nan. They ate their luncheon together in the library, and after they hadfinished Miss Blake excused herself and went upstairs to prepare to goout. "After being in the house all the morning one needs a change, " shesaid, "and it would be a sin to spend all of this glorious day indoors. " Nan sighed. How she longed to get away herself. But of course thatwas impossible, with this old troublesome ankle bothering her. If shecould not step across the room, how could she hope to get into thestreet? O dear! When would it be well? Miss Blake was tripping about upstairs and Nan could hear her singingas she went. Delia was up there, too. When Delia walked thechandelier shook. "She follows Miss Blake about so, it's perfectly disgusting, " thoughtthe girl resentfully. "Now, I wonder what she wants in my room. Idon't thank either of them for going poking about my things when I'mnot there, so now! Well, I'm glad she's coming down, at any rate. " The governess appeared in the library a moment later, but Nan couldscarcely see her face, she was so overladen with wraps and rugs. Sheturned the whole assortment into a chair, and before the girl could aska question, she found herself being bundled up and made ready for thestreet. "What are you doing?" she gasped out at length. "You know I can'twalk. " "Nobody asked you, sir!" quoted the governess, gayly. "Then what are you putting on my things for?" "Ready, Delia?" sang out Miss Blake, cheerfully. Nan heard the front door open. Then heavy steps came clumping alongthe hall, and in another moment she was being borne down the outersteps and set comfortably in a carriage by the good old Irish coachman, Mike, from the livery stable round the corner. "Are you comfortable?" asked Miss Blake, with her foot on the step. "Have you everything you need?" Nan nodded, and the governess, taking her place beside her, motioned toMichael, who climbed to his seat on the box, and off they drove. "There is Delia at the window! Let's wave to her!" cried Miss Blake, with one of her happy girl-hearted laughs. It seemed to Nan that she had never seen the Park look as beautiful asit did to-day. To be sure, most of the trees were bare, but the nakedbranches stood out delicate and clear against the blue of theviolet-clouded sky and by the lake-shore the pollard willows were grayand misty, and a few russet maple trees still held their leaves againstthe sweeping wind. They saw numberless wheels spinning along thesmooth paths, and though the governess said nothing, Nan knew she hadgiven up this chance of a ride for her sake. Impulsively she put out her hand and laid it on Miss Blake's. "If it weren't for me you'd be on your wheel now, wouldn't you?" sheasked. "Yes, " came the answer, prompt as an echo. "But as it is I'm not on mywheel, and it so happens that I'm doing something that gives me muchmore pleasure. " "If I had a bike it would make me simply furious to have to give up aride such a day as this, " said Nan. "Then isn't it rather fortunate you haven't one?" asked Miss Blake, saucily. "But seriously, Nan, why haven't you one?" Nan set her jaw. "My father can't afford it, " she said proudly. The governess turned her head to look at a faraway hill, and there wasan embarrassing little pause. When she faced about again Nan could seethat her chin was quivering, and in a spirit of tender thoughtfulnessquite new to her, she hastened to change the subject since Miss Blakefelt so badly about having asked the question. "This is the lake where we skate in winter, " she said. "That is, mostof the girls come here. I go to the Steamer. I like it better. " The governess looked at it and asked, absently, "Why?" "Oh, because its jollier there. Most of the girls I know--I don'tknow--that is, they don't know me; they don't like me much, and I'drather not go where they are. John Gardiner and some other boys and Igo to the Steamer and have regular contests, and it's the best sport inthe world. " But Miss Blake was not listening. She was thinking of other things, and only came back to a sense of what was going on about her when Nangave a great sigh to indicate that she was tired of waiting to beentertained. The governess roused herself with a smile and an apologyand began at once to chat briskly again. "Whenever you want Michael to turn you have only to say so, " she said. "What do you think of going down-town and buying some jelly orsomething for little Ruth Newton. We could stop there on our way home, and you could send it up with your love. " Nan nodded heartily. It always pleased her to give. She enjoyed, too, the thought of getting a glimpse of the shop-windows, which werealready beginning to take on a look of holiday gorgeousness. Sodown-town they went, and Miss Blake not alone bought the jelly, but somany other things as well, that presently Nan began to have a feelingthat for such a poor woman the governess was inclined to be extravagant. She told Delia so when they were alone together that evening, MissBlake having gone upstairs to write some letters. "Oh, I guess you needn't worry, " the woman said. "But you don't know how many things she bought, " persisted Nan. "I'msure she can't afford it. Just think, a woman that works for herliving the way she has to! But do you know, Delia, I believe there'ssomething mysterious about her, anyway. She seems to see right intoyour mind--what you're thinking about; and every once in a while shelets out a hint that the next minute she looks as if she wished shehadn't said. I've noticed it lots and lots of times, and I'm sureshe's trying to hide something. What do you s'pose it is? What fun itwould be if she were a princess in disguise. " "Well, she ain't, " Delia almost snapped. "She's just a good littlewoman that's trying to do her duty as far as I can make out, and if shespends money you must remember she has only herself to support. " CHAPTER IX HAVING HER OWN WAY "I know just the kind I want, and I won't wear any other, " said Nan, irritably. Miss Blake made no reply, and the girl sauntered off to another part ofthe store, and pretended to be examining a case of trimmed bonnets, which she could not see because her eyes were half-blind withrebellious tears. What right had any one to tell her what sort of ahat she ought to get! If her father was paying for it, she guessed itwas nobody else's business to say anything. Miss Blake held in her hand a handsome, wide-brimmed felt hat, trimmedsimply with fine ribbon and a generous bunch of quills. "It's very girlish and suitable, ma'am!" the saleswoman said, as sheturned away to get another model. After a moment Nan came hurrying back to the governess' side. "Horrid old thing!" she said in a low voice, flinging her hand out witha gesture of disgust toward the despised hat. "It's stiff as a poker. Do you suppose I want to have just bunched-up bows with some spikesstuck in the middle to trim my hat! And all one color, too! I guessnot!" The governess bit her lip. "Perhaps we may be able to find somethingmore to your fancy, " she said. "But plumes are expensive andperishable, and if you have too many colors your hat will look vulgar. " "I hate this place anyhow, " went on Nan, disdainfully. "Bigelow's!Who ever thought of going to Bigelow's?" "Your mother did, " said Miss Blake, quickly. "That is, Delia says shedid. And I myself know it to be one of the oldest and best firms inthe city. One can always be sure that one is getting good quality forone's money here. " "I never was in the place before, " blurted out Nan, "and I despisetheir hats--every one of them. If you won't let me go to Sternberg's, where they have things I like, I won't get anything at all, so there!" She suddenly let her voice fall, for the sales-woman was back againwith a fresh assortment of shapes to select from. Miss Blake placed the hat she held gently upon a table and began toexamine the others carefully, Nan standing by in sullen silence. "This is a pretty one--this with the tips, don't you think so?" thegoverness asked, setting it on her hand and letting it revolve slowlywhile she regarded it critically with her head on one side. Nan gave a grunt of dissatisfaction. What she wanted was a flaring, turned-up brim, with a dash of red velvet underneath and abird-of-paradise on top, caught in a mesh of red and yellow ribbons. She had seen something on this order in Sternberg's window, and it hadstruck her fancy at once. The governess hesitated, and then put down the hat she held. "Very well. We will go to Sternberg's, " she said, quietly, to Nan, inan undertone which the saleswoman could not distinguish. The girlstarted briskly for the door. Miss Blake remained behind a moment, andthen followed after. Now that she was to have her own way Nan was restored to good humor, and kept up a stream of chatter until they reached Sternberg's. "There! Isn't that a beauty?" she demanded at last, indicating the hatin the window. Miss Blake, with difficulty, concealed a shudder. "It seems to me rather showy. But tastes differ, you know. I can'tsay it suits me exactly. Still, if you are pleased--you are the one towear it, not I. " The hat was bought and Nan was radiant. She insisted on donning it atonce, and Miss Blake tried not to let her discover how ashamed she wasto be seen in the street with such a monstrous piece of millinery. Underneath her tower of gorgeousness Nan strutted like a turkey-cock. "I told Delia before we came away that we might not be home beforedusk, so suppose we take luncheon down-town, and then, if you like, wewill go to see Callmann. I haven't been to a sleight-of-handperformance since I was a little girl, and I always had a liking forthat sort of thing. " "Oh, do! Let's! Can we?" cried Nan, in a burst of grateful excitement. It was nippingly cold outside, and the warm restaurant proved adelightful contrast. It was jolly to sit in the midst of all thispleasant bustle and be served with delicate, unfamiliar dishes bywaiters who stood behind the chair and deferentially called one "Miss. " Miss Blake left Nan to order whatever she pleased, and they dawdledover their meal luxuriously, the color in the girl's cheeks deepeningwith the warmth and excitement until it almost matched the velvet inher imposing hat. Every now and then she glanced furtively at herreflection in the mirror, and the vision of that bird-of-paradisehovering over those huge butterfly bows thrilled her with a great senseof importance and self-satisfaction. More than once she saw that herhat was being noticed and commented on by the other guests, and shetried her best to seem not aware--to look modestly unconscious. ButMiss Blake, when she caught some eye fixed quizzically upon theirtable, blushed to the roots of her hair, and felt as though it would beimpossible to bear the ordeal for a moment longer. Still, she did nothurry Nan, and no one knew, the girl least of all, what agonies ofmortification she was enduring. A deep-toned clock struck one full peal. "That's half-past one, " said Miss Blake, looking up and comparing herwatch. "When does the entertainment begin?" asked Nan. "At two, I think, or quarter after. If we ride up we have still a fewminutes to spare, but if we walk it would be wise to start at once. " "O let's walk, " begged Nan. "It's such fun; there's so much going on. And now my foot is well, I just want to trot all the time. " Though Miss Blake was a good walker and took a great deal of exercise, she always preferred to ride when she was with Nan, for the girl forgedahead at such a rate and darted in among the maze of trucks and carsand carriages so recklessly that there was actual danger as well asdiscomfort in trying to keep abreast with her. Still she made noobjection to "trotting, " and they started off at a brisk pace. "Don't you just love to be in the stores around Christmas-time?" askedNan, watching the crowds press and surge about the doorways of some ofthe most popular shops. "It's so exciting and the things seem so gayand alluring. " "Yes, it is very attractive--all the motion and color, " replied MissBlake, "but I don't like crowds, and when I am hemmed in at a counterand can't get away I feel stifled and smothered, and long to scream. " "Why don't you scream then? I would!" exclaimed Nan, with a laugh. "I'd shriek, 'Air! Air!' and then you'd see how quick the people wouldlet you out. " Miss Blake smiled with what Nan saw was amusement at somejust-remembered incident. "I was watching a huge celebration in London one spring, " she said. "It was in honor of some royal birthday or something, and the streetswere packed with people all eager to get a glimpse of the militaryparade and the notabilities who were to take part in it. From thewindow where I sat I could not see an inch of pavement, the crowd wasso dense. At last there was a sound of martial music and the FirstRegiment appeared in full gala array. Oh, I assure you it was veryimposing and well worth taking some trouble to see. The crowds pushedand jostled, and beyond the first line or two at the curb no one amongthem could get more than an occasional glimpse of a stray cockade or afloating banner. Still the people were massed solidly from the gutterto the house-steps. We were wondering where the enjoyment in this camein, and congratulating ourselves that we were not doomed to struggleand fight for space in such a huddle, when suddenly we heard a shrillscream. It was a woman's voice crying, 'Air! Air! Give me air!' Inanother instant the crowd pushed back a step, and quite arespectably-dressed young person staggered weakly through the line tothe curb, as if to get more breathing-space. Of course she could havegot this in a much easier way by going in the other direction, but yousee her plan was to get a better view of the procession, and shethought that was a good method of accomplishing it. It seemed a clevertrick, and she was just settling herself to enjoy her improvedposition, when quick as a flash an order was given: Two men unrolledone of their army stretchers; the woman was whipped up and placed uponit; the poles were seized and off they went, carrying that misguidedcreature with them through all the gaping, jeering crowd. The last Isaw of her she was hiding her face in the coarse army blanket, probably'crying her eyes out, ' as you would say, with mortification and shame. " "What a joke!" exclaimed Nan. "Poor thing! She didn't see the paradeafter all, and I declare she deserved to. That was the time she was init though, with a vengeance. " "Look out for this cab, Nan! Be careful. We cross here. Please don'trush so--I can't keep up with you, " pleaded Miss Blake. The girl gave her shoulders an impatient shrug and drew her eyebrowstogether in a scowl of irritation. But her face cleared as she sawMiss Blake buying their tickets at the box-office. "Get them good and up front, " she begged. "If we're way back we can'tsee a thing. " The governess hesitated an instant; then a curious expression came overher face and she said, deliberately, "Very well, dear! Up front theyshall be. " The house was quite full and Nan thought it a singular piece of goodfortune that there were places left just where she would have chosen tosit. "Just think of having come so late and yet being able to get the bestseats in the house, " she said, exultantly. Miss Blake smiled. She understood better than Nan did why the majorityof the audience preferred places that were not so near the stage. Both she and the girl herself soon forgot everything else in theirinterest in the mysterious tricks that were being performed beforetheir eyes. Of course they knew that all this magic could beexplained, but just at the moment it appeared difficult to imagine how. A man seems really no less than a magician who can take a red billiardball from, no one knows where, out of mid-air, apparently, and suddenlynipping off the end, transform it into two, each equally as large asthe first. Presently he thinks you would like to have a third, and, presto! he draws one out from his elbow. Now a white one for a change!But it is easy enough to get a white one. He opens his mouth and thereit is, held between his teeth. Then he thinks he will swallow a redone. Pop! it is gone! A moment later he takes it out of the top ofhis head. Nan noticed that as the performance progressed the tricks grew"curiouser and curiouser, " as Alice would say, and the wizard seemed totake his audience more and more into his confidence. He no longerconfined himself to the stage, but came tripping down the steps thatled from the platform to the middle aisle and addressed, first this oneand then that from among his spectators--only Nan again noticed thatthese always happened to be sitting as they were themselves, in theforemost seats. He induced a man just in front of her to come upon thestage to "assist" him in one of his "experiments, " and the girltrembled lest at any moment he might demand a similar favor of her, forthough she was reckless enough as a general thing, she had sufficientdelicacy to dread being made conspicuous in such a place as this. "O Miss Blake, " she whispered in the governess' ear, "can't we moveback a little? If he should make me go up there I'd sink through thefloor!" "Probably you would. No doubt he would let you down himself--through atrap-door. No, we must stay where we are and we must bear it as bestwe may. Perhaps he will overlook us. " Nan thought of her hat and the many glances it had drawn to her in therestaurant, and for the first time she had a feeling of mistrustregarding it. Suppose it should fix his eye, with its towering bowsand flaming bird-of-paradise! If it did, she would hate it foreverafter. But she soon forgot her anxiety in her interest in the wizard himself. Silver pieces were flung in the air and then mysteriously reappeared inthe pocket of some unsuspecting member of the audience who was muchsurprised at seeing them straightway converted into so many gold onesunder his very nose. Innocent-looking hoops turned out to possess themost remarkable faculty for resisting all attempts to link them on thepart of any one of the spectators, and yet immediately assuming allmanner of shapes and positions in the hands of the dexterous magicianhimself. At last a shallow cabinet was set upon two chairs in the centre of thestage, and after a word or two of explanation, the wizard drew firstone chair and then the other from beneath it, and lo! the magiccupboard remained poised in midair, without any visible means ofsupport whatever. "You see, ladies and gentlemen, " announced the suave magician, "thiscabinet is bare; precisely like Mother Hubbard's immortal cupboard. Can you see anything there? No! I thought not. Now I will placewithin it these bells, so; and this tambourine, so; also this emptyslate. You see it is empty. It is quite a simple slate, such as anyschool-child would use, and its sides are entirely bare. Now I closethe doors of the cabinet, so; wave my wand, so; and--" Immediately there followed the sounds of ringing bells and rattlingtambourine, while in a moment all of these instruments came flying outof the top of the cabinet as if they had been vigorously flung aloft byhidden hands. The smiling magician stepped forward, opened the doorsof the cabinet with a flourish, and lo! it was empty save for theslate, which proved to be covered over with scribbled characters, andwhich he politely handed down to persons in the audience forexamination. Nan was completely bewildered and so lost to all that was going onabout her that she did not realize that the wizard was tripping downthe stage steps and making his way affably up the middle aisle again. It was only when he spoke once more that she woke with a great start, and then to her horror she found he was addressing her. "I am sure this young lady will not refuse me the loan of her hat formy next experiment, " he began with a persuasive smile. "I assure you, Miss, I will not injure it in the least. You won't object, will you?"and he held out his hand engagingly. The girl stiffened against the back of her chair, so disconcerted thatshe felt actually dizzy. "Give him your hat, " bade Miss Blake, quickly, as if to put an end totheir really painful conspicuousness. Nan obeyed blindly. The smiling magician took it with a profound bowand held it up for all the audience to see. "Now you perceive, ladies and gentlemen, " he remarked, "that there isnothing mysterious about this hat. At least I am sure the ladies do. To the gentlemen it doubtless seems very mysterious, but that isbecause they do not understand the art of millinery. " As he spoke hemade his way up the aisle and to the steps that led to the stage. "Itis a beautiful hat. Very elaborate and of a most stylish shape, as yousee, but not at all mysterious. Yet I mean to make it serve me in avery interesting experiment, which I think you will admit isexceedingly won--" But just here he stumbled upon one of the steps, and in trying torecover himself let Nan's cherished head-gear fall and brought hiswhole weight upon it, crushing it out of all recognition. "Oh, dear, dear! What have I done?" he deplored in sincerest dismay. Miss Blake's eyes fell and Nan's lips whitened. Every one was lookingat them now, and the magician was making them even more conspicuous byapologizing to them over and over again in the most abject fashion. "How could I be so awkward! Such a beautiful hat and ruined through mycarelessness. I have no words to describe my regret. Do forgive me!But I promised to return your property to you uninjured, did I not, Miss? So, of course, I must keep my word. " He held the battered massof ribbons and bird-of-paradise high above his head as he spoke, andthen went forward and placed a pistol in the hand of his assistant onthe stage. The man retired to a distance and the wizard held the hatat arm's length as if for a target. "Now, ready? Then--shoot!" A second for aim: a report; and the smiling Callmann stepped forwardwith the hat in his hand, quite whole again and unimpaired. A shudder ran through Nan as she heard the applause and saw herproperty held up to public view. She dared not turn her head to lookat Miss Blake, and she hardly heard the wizard's voice as he asked tobe permitted to use the hat for still another experiment, and shescarcely saw how he placed it on a table, a perfectly innocent lookingtable, and then proceeded to take from it a multitude of things--from agold watch to a clucking hen. When the hen came to light the audience fairly shouted, and Nan thoughtshe could never in the world get up courage to set that hat on her headagain and walk out before the eyes of these quizzical people. "They'll laugh at me all the way, " she thought moodily. "And if theyever see me in the street they'll say, 'There goes that trick hat! Theone the hen came out of!' I wish it was in Jericho!" Miss Blake comforted her as best she could with little hidden pressuresof the hand and whispered words of sympathy, but the rest of theperformance was torture to them both, and when, at last, it was overand they were well on their way home, Nan heaved a great sigh of reliefand tried to summon back her courage by declaring that "I don't care ifthey did laugh when that hen clucked inside it and he said he wasafraid this was what might be called 'a loud hat!' It's heaps betterthan lots I saw on other girls, so there!" "I am glad you are satisfied with it, " said Miss Blake, simply. CHAPTER X EXPERIENCES For the first time since Nan could remember, the house was full of theair of Christmas preparation. Of course she had always had presents, and she never failed to give Delia a gift, but there was no scent ofmystery about the holiday celebration; no delicious odor of a hiddenChristmas tree; no sense of unseen tokens; nothing to distinguish thetime from an ordinary birthday anniversary. But this year everythingwas changed, and Nan was as much occupied with her own secrets andsurprises as either Miss Blake or Delia, who whispered and dodged andsmiled cunningly all day long in the most perplexing manner. But sheconfined her preparations to her own room, while the governessapparently needed the library and all the rest of the house, too, andNan found herself barred out of Miss Blake's room by her own stubbornpride which still forbade her to go in without a formal invitation. She was also locked out of the library which was now being made festivefor the coming holiday, so that at times she wandered about quitehelplessly in a sort of forlorn state of having nowhere to turn. She had fallen into the habit of running over to the Newton's whileRuth was sick, and she proved such a tender nurse and entertainingcompanion that the child's mother looked forward with relief to hervisits, and only wished she would come oftener. "She keeps Ruth so happy and contented. It gives me a free minute toturn 'round in, and is a real comfort. " "I thought you would find her helpful, " responded Miss Blake. "Sheloves children, and they know it and love her back again. She is verygentle with them, and I know you may trust her, for she is as true assteel. " "She's a changed girl, that's the whole truth of the matter. You'vesimply tamed her, the young savage!" "Oh, Nan has a fine nature. All she needs is judicious training. If Iwere not sure of that I should despair many and many a time. She needsjudicious training and a world of patience and love. " Mrs. Newton dropped her work into her lap and looked up earnestly intothe governess' face. "Yes, I can believe it. What a rash, head-long sort of creature youmust think me! Why, I was as bad as Nan herself, to go over there andsimply browbeat her as I did! Do you suppose she will ever reallyforgive me?" "I'm sure she has done so already. Nan is generous. She does not bearmalice. She has a vast amount of pride but as yet she does not knowhow to use it. " "I should think it would be enough to break down your health--suchconstant care and responsibility. It is Nan's salvation to have youwith her, but do you think you can hold out?" Miss Blake pondered a moment and then nodded her head decidedly. "Iwill hold out, " she said staunchly. "You don't know how boisterous she was, and how it shocked me! At lastI grew frenzied, and when Ruth was brought in to me injured in thatway, through her fault, I supposed, I lost control of myself entirely, and felt that, come what might, the girl must be attended to. There'sno doubt of it, your Nan is improved, and if this neighborhood is notmade miserable by her piercing war-cries, her hairbreadth adventures, and her eccentric behavior generally, it is all owing to you. But hereshe comes herself! Put away your work! Quick!" Nan knocked politely at the open door. "Oh, come in, dear!" said Mrs. Newton cordially, and the governesslooked at her encouragingly and smiled. "Bridget told me to come right up, " explained Nan. "Is Ruth out?" "No, taking a nap in the nursery. She'll be awake soon now, I'm sure. Take off your things and sit down. " "Won't I be in the way?" Mrs. Newton patted her on the shoulder. "No, my dear, you won't. Onthe contrary, it will be very pleasant to have you here to take a cupof tea with Miss Blake and me; will you excuse me a moment while I goand call Katy to bring it up?" "I thought you were in your room, " said Nan to Miss Blake as theirhostess left the room. "Did you need me? Why didn't you knock? What was it you wanted me todo?" "Oh, nothing. I didn't need you--that is, there wasn't anything Iwanted you to do, only--it seemed kind of lonely, and so I came overhere. " "And I thought you would be locked in your own room for the rest of theafternoon. How dreadfully mysterious we all are nowadays. " Nan laughed. She got out of her coat with a tug and a squirm and flungit on the lounge. Then she wrenched off her hat (the Sternberg affair)and tossed it carelessly after the coat. Miss Blake bent over and straightened the untidy heap without a word. "Delia is making mince pie-lets for dinner, " announced Nan. "How jolly of her!" said Miss Blake. "Huh!" exclaimed Nan. "She said you told her to. " The governess smiled. Mrs. Newton came in a moment later and after her Katy with the tea-tray. Nan sprawled down on the rug in complete comfort while Miss Blake andMrs. Newton sipped their tea and talked of all sorts of things, towhich she hardly listened. She was full of her own thoughts, and somehow they were all connectedwith the governess. In fact, her influence seemed to pervadeeverything, and Nan often wondered how the house would seem withouther, now that they had "sort of got used to having her around. "Without a doubt she made herself useful. And somehow she managed tomake people depend on her in spite of themselves. And yet she nevermade a fuss or exaggerated the things she did. She was always doing"little things "--little things that didn't make any show, and yet theywere so kind they "sort of made you like her whether you wanted to ornot. " This thought came upon Nan with a start, that roused her fromher musing and made her sit bolt upright with surprise. Had Miss Blakemade her like her, then? After all the reproaches she had cast uponDelia was she no better than a turn-coat herself? "We had ours built in before we came into the house, " Mrs. Newton wassaying. "It is a vast improvement. I wouldn't be without it for theworld. " Nan pricked up her ears. She wondered what this desirable thing mightbe. "Who did the work?" Miss Blake asked. "Buchanan. And I'll say this for him, he did it well. I haven't afault to find. I think you'd be satisfied with him. " "A person doesn't like to put a piece of work like that into the handsof a man one knows nothing about, " resumed Miss Blake. "I'm glad toprofit by your experience. It may save me, too, a great deal of worryand no little expense. " "Oh, yes, " returned Mrs. Newton. "If one can economize on experienceit's a great satisfaction. It's the best school I know of. But it'sso expensive that it ruins some of us before we're done. " "What's the best school you know of?" asked Nan, curiously. "Experience, " replied Miss Blake. "Oh!" "Yes; and it's a school we all have to go to at one time or another, "put in Mrs. Newton. "But we might make it a good deal easier forourselves sometimes if we'd take hints from our friends who havegraduated. " "Have you graduated?" Nan asked, half in fun, turning to Miss Blake. But Mrs. Newton broke in before the governess could reply for herself. "Graduated! Well, I should think so! Why, she has carried off honors!She has taken a diploma--with a ribbon 'round it!" Miss Blake laughed. "Nothing of the sort, Nan. I've had a fewlessons, that is all. " "Oh, tell about some of them, won't you?" cried Nan, eagerly. "Itwould be lots of fun. " The governess considered. "Well, yes. I will tell you of the very first lesson I can remember, if you care to hear, " she answered, with a wistful smile. "I won'tpromise it will be 'lots of fun, ' though. " "Never mind! Tell it!" And Nan settled herself more comfortablyagainst the governess' knee quite as if that person were, in reality, her prop and stay, instead of being only some one she "sort of liked inspite of herself. " "I think it must have been the first real experience I ever had, " beganMiss Blake, musingly. "At least it is the first one I recollect. Iwas the littlest bit of a girl when my mother died; too young torealize it, and my father scarcely outlived her a week. He died verysuddenly. They used to tell me that he died from grief. Anyway, hewas sitting at his desk looking over some important papers connectedwith my mother's affairs, when suddenly he put his hand to his heart, gave a faint gasp--and was gone. " "What an elegant way to die!" broke in Nan impulsively. Mrs. Newton gave an exclamation of real horror at her flippancy. "Oh, you know what I mean!" the girl hastened to protest. "I think itmust be worlds better than being sick, or hurt in an accident, or anyof those dreadful, lingering deaths. " "After that I was given over into the charge of some distantconnections of my father, " continued the governess. "They were good, conscientious people, but they had no children of their own, and didnot like other people's. I presume I was not a very captivating baby. " Nan straightened up suddenly. "I bet you were, though, " sheinterrupted. "You must have been a dot of a thing, with crinkly hairand dimples, and mites of hands and feet. I should think they wouldhave loved you--I mean, a poor little lonely baby like you. " Miss Blake smiled. "Well, however that was, Nan, I was brought up verystrictly, and I assure you, I was made to mind my P's and Q's. Onecould not trifle with Aunt Rebecca! Well, one morning I was sitting atthe foot of the staircase playing house. I can see myself now, squatting on the lowest step, my fat little legs scarcely long enoughto reach the floor. I had on a checked gingham pinafore, and my hairwas drawn tight behind my ears and braided into two tiny tails with redribbons on the ends. I knew it was against the rule to play house inthe hall, anywhere, in fact, but in my own little room--with the doorsshut, but somehow I felt reckless that day, and when I heard AuntRebecca walking to and fro, just above my head, I didn't scamper off asI ordinarily would have done; I just sat still and said to myself, 'Idon't care! I don't care!' It seemed to give me a lot of courage, andI wasn't a bit afraid, even when Aunt Rebecca's footsteps came nearer, and I knew she could see me from the top of the stairs. Indeed, I grewmightily brave; so brave, that after a couple of minutes I raised myvoice and piped out: 'Aunt Becca! Aunt Becca!' "'Well, ' answered she, 'what is it? what do you want?' "Even the severity of her voice didn't dismay me that rash morning. "'I want Lilly, ' said I, airily. Lilly was my precious doll. 'She'sin her little chair in my room; won't you please to pitch me Lilly?' "For a moment Aunt Rebecca hesitated. I think she must have beenpetrified by my audacity. But she recovered herself and turned, andwithout a word went to my room and got Lilly from her 'little chair. 'I was as complacent as if it had been quite the usual thing for AuntRebecca to fetch and carry for me. Indeed, perhaps I imagined I wasinstituting a new order of things, and that in future she would do myerrands, instead of I hers. "She came back to the head of the stairway and I looked up pleasantly, half-expecting, I suppose, that she would come down and deliver mydarling dolly safely into my hands. But she didn't. If I were givingorders she would obey me to the letter. She 'pitched me Lilly. ' Igave a dismal wail of dismay as I saw my dear baby come hurtlingthrough the air, but when she landed on her blessed head, and I heardthe crack of breaking china, I just abandoned myself to grief andhowled desperately. Aunt Rebecca went about her business as if nothinghad happened, and by and by I stole off with my ruined dolly and criedto myself in the back yard--because I had no one else to cry to. " "You poor little thing!" burst out Nan, indignantly. "What adetestable woman! As if she could have expected such a baby to know!" "You're wrong, Nan!" the governess said. "It was a wholesome lesson, and I am grateful to Aunt Rebecca for having given it to me. " "Well, I shouldn't think you would be, " insisted the girl rebelliously. "The idea of her expecting such a mite to understand!" "Ah, but you see I did understand. And I have never forgotten it. Ihave never asked any one to 'pitch me Lilly' since that day--I meannever when I could go and get her myself. " Nan pondered over it moodily for a moment. "And did you have to stayin that house until you were grown up?" she demanded. "Oh, no! When I was about your age I went to boarding-school, andeverything was changed and different after that. " "How?" "Well, I made dear, faithful friends who took me to their hearts andwho made my life rich with their love. All that other hungry, emptytime was over, and for many years I never knew what it was to feel sador lonely, or to have a wish that would not have been gladly gratifiedif it could be. " "Now they were something like!" ejaculated Nan. "Dear me! I shouldthink you would have been sorry when you got through school. " Miss Blake made no reply. She put up her hand to shield her eyes fromthe glare of the fire, and for a second or two there was a deep hush inthe room. Nan was the first to break the silence. "Goodness!" she cried, springing to her feet with a bound. "It's asdark as a pocket outside, and Delia'll think we're lost or something ifwe don't go home. " Miss Blake surreptitiously gathered her work together and slipped itinto her bag. "Yes, we must scamper, " she exclaimed, as she turned tohelp Nan on with her coat. "Dear, dear, what a gorgeous hat!" exclaimed Mrs. Newton, as the girlset it carelessly upon her head. Nan looked sheepish. "I'm glad you like it!" she ventured clumsily. Mrs. Newton did not respond that she had not said she liked it. Shebusied herself with Miss Blake and her wraps, and replied merely, "It'sa remarkable gay affair. " Then she kissed the governess "Good-night, " and saw both her and Nansafely to the door. The two hastened across the street to see which could get out of thewind first. "I beat!" panted the girl, as she stood in the vestibule and saw MissBlake breathlessly climb the last step. "Yes, you beat! Fair and square!" admitted the governess as Delia letthem in, chattering and shivering, from the chilly air. "Who'll beat now, going upstairs?" screamed Nan. Miss Blake made a dash for the first step and the two went flying up ina perfect whirl of laughter and fun. Delia had forgotten to light the gas in Nan's room and the girlstumbled about blindly, crashing into the furniture and casting off hercoat and hat in her old headlong fashion, not stopping to think of allMiss Blake's warnings on the subject, but just hurrying to get downstairs and "beat" the governess in another race. "Clean hands! Smooth hair, and a neat dress for dinner!" sang out thegoverness gayly. Nan shrugged her shoulders in the dark and made a lunge at themantelpiece for a match. She struck it and lit the gas, swinging offto the washstand as soon as it was done. Suddenly Miss Blake heard a shriek, a rush of feet across the floor, and then Nan's voice exclaiming "Great Scott!" in a tone that was across between a laugh and a cry. She did not wait a moment but hurried instantly to the girl's door. Nan was standing beside the gas fixture, and in her hand was hercherished hat--a ruined mass of smoldering felt and charred plumage. "Nan!" exclaimed Miss Blake, horrified at the sight. "I know it! Isn't it awful! I just slung it on the globe as I alwaysdo, and--and--when I lit the gas I forgot all about it, and it wasablaze in a minute. Don't say a word! I know you've told me hundredsof times not to put it there. But I forgot, and--O dear! what'll Iwear on my head the rest of the winter? But it is too funny!" Miss Blake tried to look stern. "I'm heartily sorry you've lost your hat, Nan, " she said, kindly, without a hint of reproach in her voice. "You were so fond of it. I'mreally very sorry, dear!" Nan checked her laughter. She let the hat fall to the floor. A suddenimpulse seized her, and she strode up the governess and took her by theshoulders. "You're a real dear not to say 'I told you so!'" she cried. "And youhaven't jeered at me, though I know you hated the hat from the start. And now I'm going to tell you something--two things! First: I'm nevergoing to hang up my clothes on the gas again, honestly! And second: Ihated the old thing, too. The minute I bought it I hated it, and I'vehated it ever since. " Miss Blake looked up, and their eyes met. "Good for you, Nan, " she said, standing on her tip-toes to pat the girlapprovingly on the head. "Good for you! And now it's my turn toconfess. Wait a minute!" She flew out of the room, and before Nan fairly knew she had gone shewas back again, and in her hand was a huge milliner's box. "I couldn't help it!" she cried, half apologetically. "I got it thatday, just to please myself--and now you'll wear it, won't you, dear?It's very simple, but it is of the best, and it will match your coat, you see. " She untied the string, lifted the sheets of tissue-paper, and displayedwhat even Nan had to admit was a beautiful hat. The girl looked at it in silence for a moment; then she ducked downimpulsively, and gave the governess a quick, shy kiss upon the cheek. "Thank you, " she said, huskily, with a sort of gulp, and then she ranout of the room as fast as her feet would carry her. CHAPTER XI CHRISTMAS "This is to be a German Christmas, " Miss Blake said, "and we're goingto celebrate it on Christmas eve. Of all the different customs I'veseen I like the German the best. It is so jolly and freundlich, asthey say over there. " So on Christmas eve the library doors were thrown open for the firsttime in days and days, and there stood the most glorious tree that Nanhad ever seen. It was decked out with a hundred glistening things andladen down with red apples, yellow oranges, and pounds and pounds ofpeppermint candy, and barley-sugar figures, pretty to see and deliciousto eat, to say nothing of Marzipan, to which the girl was introducedfor the first time, and which she found altogether fascinating. Innumerable candles burned gayly among the spreading boughs, and at thevery top hovered an angel with outspread, shimmering wings, her handsbearing a garland of glistening tinsel, and her garments ablaze withgold and silver decoration. Grown girl as she was, Nan was delighted. It was all so new and strange; so different from anything she had everexperienced before. Beside the tree were tables spread with white cloths, and upon theselay the presents, and wonderful presents they proved. Miss Blake andDelia had outdone themselves, and Nan's table was a sight to behold. It seemed to her it held everything she had ever expressed a wishfor--except a bicycle, of course. A pocket-kodak from Miss Blake, a banjo from her father, skates fromDelia, she had longed for just such a new pair, and innumerable otherarticles bearing no giver's name, but coming, every one, from the samegenerous source Nan knew well enough. She absolutely lost her head inthe delight of possessing such an array of treasures. Her own little offerings seemed to her poor and mean in comparison withthis display; but Miss Blake's eyes actually filled with grateful tearsat the sight of the half-dozen linen handkerchiefs the girl had markedfor her with so much trouble and at the cost of so many hours ofrecreation, and Delia hugged her rapturously at the sight of thegorgeous dress-pattern that Nan had selected for her "all alone byherself, " and that had come out of the saving of more than ahalf-year's allowance of precious pocket-money. "Now, Nan!" said Miss Blake, when the first excitement had somewhatsubsided, "there is one more surprise that Delia and Mr. Turner and Ihave planned for you, and as I expect it to arrive at any moment now, and as it is pretty big I want you to help clear away these tables togive it lots of room to move about in. We want to get everything outof the way and all the presents safely stowed aside upstairs so nothingwill be broken. While we are going back and forth you may guess whatit is, if you like. " "A bicycle?" ventured Nan, striding upstairs with her kodak in one armand a bundle of books in the other. "No, it's not a bicycle. Guess again. I'll give you two more, "answered the governess, following after her with her load. "I know what I want next to a bicycle. " "What?" "I don't like to say. " "Why?" "Well, you know, " hesitated the girl, "if I said what it was, and ifwhat you've got turned out something different, you might feeldisappointed because you might think I did. " Miss Blake smiled. "That's a generous thought, Nan, " she said; "but Igive you free leave to speak out. " Even now the girl hesitated, and stood awkwardly balancing herselfagainst the baluster-rail. "Even if you wanted to you couldn't give itto me, " she blurted out, at length. "Why?" repeated Miss Blake. "Because--oh, because--it wouldn't come, " she cried, with a ruefullaugh. "Now that sounds ominous, " exclaimed the governess, as she and Nanstarted on their last trip. "It sounds as if you wanted a horse, orsomething of that sort, that might prove balky. " "No, it isn't a horse. But it's balky enough, if that's all. " "Then tell me why it wouldn't come?" Nan let her armful of gifts fall on her counterpane in a heap. "Oh, because--because--its mothers don't approve of me. What I want is aparty, so there! and I couldn't have one because, even if my fathercould afford it, no one would come. Grace Ellis wouldn't, nor MaryBrewster, nor any of those girls I'd want. They turn up their noses atme because they think I don't know how to behave. Once Louie Hawesspoke to me and I liked her, but the next time I saw her she looked theother way, and I suppose some one had told her something she didn'tapprove of. So she wouldn't come either--no matter how much I askedher, and of course I wouldn't ask her at all. Mrs. Andrews up thestreet asked me to Ruth's party last winter, but I heard their girltell Delia that she did it because she had known my mother and feltobliged to, so I wouldn't go. I couldn't after that, you know. I didgo to the Buckstone twins' party, but all the other girls got off incorners and laughed and talked, and I was left out and had to shift formyself. So I went and talked to John Gardiner and Harley Morris andthose, and of course we got on first-rate--we always do, for if I can'tdance I can skate, and the boys got me to promise I'd go with them thenext good ice, and we got talking about other things, and I neverthought anything about the girls any more until Mrs. Buckstone came upand said, 'I'm sorry, my dear, to break up this pleasant group, but wecan't permit you to monopolize our young gentlemen. The rest of theyoung ladies are waiting for partners. ' Then I knew I had got myselfinto a scrape, for Mrs. Buckstone was dreadfully icy and the girls werefurious. So you see no one would come. " Miss Blake caught up a stray lock of hair at the girl's temple andtucked it back into place, smoothed the ribbon upon her "best dress"collar, and said tenderly: "Well, that will all be made right to-night, I guess. Come, take myhand, and let's fly down stairs, and be ready to receive, for you'vegot your wish--there's the bell!--and your party is coming in. " They met the first comers on the stairs, and had to hurry past them toavoid getting caught by a second installment. After that the guestscame quick and fast, and Nan had all she could do to welcome them andwonder dimly in between how things were to be started, so thateverybody should have a good time. But, bless you! She might have saved herself the trouble, for MissBlake simply set things going without any bother at all, and before Nanrealized what was happening, she saw the governess and big JohnGardiner leading in a lively game, while the music of a piano and someviolins, which were hidden away out of sight, fell upon her delightedear. She followed the sound, and it took her to the glass extension, which, to her astonishment, was all alight, and fragrant with floweringplants and towering palms. The "old trunks and things" that hadlittered the place were gone, and in their stead was all this softgreenness and bloom, while from above hung graceful lanterns, sendingout a tender light that made the leaves look shadowy and waxen, andgave the spot a peculiar air of mystery and grace. She found Louie Hawes and Ruth Andrews hidden away in a snug cornerbehind a screening rubber-tree. They were apparently deep inconversation when she came up, but at sight of her they fell suddenlysilent and looked embarrassed and ill at ease. For a moment Nan was ata loss what to do. Then, all at once, Miss Blake's rule for etiquetteflashed across her mind: "When you don't know how to act, Nan, do something honest and kind, andthat will be sure to be right. " She told herself that perhaps after all, the girls had not been talkingabout her, and said to them pleasantly: "Do you like it away back here? It's rather out of the way of thegames; but don't you want to play?" "Oh, yes; by and by, " stammered Ruth, awkwardly. "It's awfully prettyin this conservatory, and Lu and I got in here and couldn't get away. One wants to sit still and just enjoy it. I think I never saw suchdainty lanterns. " The conversation seemed on the point of coming to a standstill, but Nanplunged in again, her sense of being hostess spurring her on. "I guess they're some Miss Blake brought with her from China, orsomewhere. She has been around the world, and has collected any numberof beautiful things. Some of them are perfectly fine. " "Oh, I think she herself is one of the loveliest things!" cried Ruth, enthusiastically. "She has a darling face. One wants to kiss her, she's so dear!" "Mamma says she used to know her years ago at school, " said Louie. "She says she is one of the finest characters she knows. She wasdelighted to have me come when Miss Blake asked me to your party. " "Yes, it was awfully nice of you to think of us, " put in Ruth, laboriously. Again the conversation threatened to flag. But here was Nan'sopportunity to do something honest, and she did it. "Oh, don't thank me. I didn't think of you, " she returned bluntly;"that is, I didn't know anything at all about the party myself until alittle while ago. Miss Blake did it all. I don't know how in theworld she ever happened to ask just the ones I wanted, though. " Ruth and Louie exchanged glances. Then they laughed. "Well, if you didn't think of us, " they said, "you wanted us, so it'snice of you all the same. " That broke the ice, and it wasn't five minutes before all three weresitting together and chatting as comfortably as if they had been on themost intimate terms of friendship for years, and it was only Nan'ssense of her responsibility as hostess that dragged her away at last. "Miss Blake will wonder where we are. Won't you come into the otherroom? Besides you can't enjoy being cooped up in this little cornerwhen the fun is going on outside. " "Oh, but we do enjoy it!" protested Ruth. "It's giving us a chance toget acquainted with you. And we want you to promise us that you'll goskating with us day after to-morrow. Please do!" "Of course we know how you skate, " declared Louie, "and we'll be soproud to have such a champion in our club. Say you'll come! And don'thold it against us that we haven't asked you before. " Nan's heart leaped. "Why, I'll love to, " she said with a franknessequal to Louie's own, adding in a tone quite new to her, "if Miss Blakewill let me. " Grace Ellis and Mary Brewster lifted their eyebrows in surprise as thethree girls appeared in the doorway, chatting so intimately and beingso plainly on the best of terms. "Dear me!" whispered Grace, "what's come over Lu and Ruth? Theyactually look as if they liked her. " "Don't you believe it, " declared Mary sourly. "They're here at herparty and they can't exactly shove her off in her own house, but itwill be 'for one night only. ' Now you see! They won't want her aroundnow any more than they have before--a rowdyish thing like that. " She had scarcely replaced her bitter expression by one more suited tothe time and place when Louie came over to where they were, her facewreathed in smiles, and her arm flung impulsively around Nan's waist. "O girls!" she cried. "Isn't it nice? Ruth and I have made Nanpromise that she'll come skating with us day after to-morrow, and she'sgoing to join the club. Won't it put a feather in our cap to have sucha member?" Mary knit her brows and Grace smiled icily. "Very nice, " they responded coldly. Nan's eyes flashed, and then suddenly lowered. "Oh! I didn't give adefinite promise, " she returned quietly, and with unexpected dignity. "I said if Miss Blake would let me. I'm afraid she won't. I hurt myankle not long ago, and I haven't dared exercise it much since. Probably Miss Blake will think I ought to save it for a while yet. " "But you were out on Saturday, " protested Ruth. "I saw you. Yourankle is only an excuse. You skate so easily, it couldn't be a strain. " Grace looked at Mary with a curious expression in her eyes, but neitherof them added her voice to the other girls' solicitations, and thelittle group stood there in what threatened to become a painful silencewhen Nan felt a light touch on her shoulder, and, turning around, discovered Miss Blake standing at her elbow. "O Nan!" she said, smiling brightly at the other girls, as if to excuseherself for not including them in her familiarity, "won't you please goand see if you can't entertain that poor young Joe Tracy? I've done mybest, but he won't come out of his shell for all I can do, and I thinkyour hearty, breezy way is just what he needs. He looks so forlorn, tucked away 'all alone by himself, ' as you would say. " She patted the girl affectionately on the shoulder as she sent her onher way, saying heartily, as she passed out of ear-shot: "I always feelperfectly secure when I can fall back on Nan to help me out with shy, sensitive people. She has such a great, warm heart that it seems tothaw their stiffness right out of them. " Louie threw her arm impulsively about the governess' waist: "You're such a dear!" she cried, demonstratively; "and I'm over andover obliged to you for letting me come here and get acquainted withNan. I think she is ever so nice, and it's a shame that we haven'tknown each other before. " Miss Blake gave the girl a hearty smile. "Better late than never, " she returned gayly. Grace Ellis reddened and Mary Brewster tilted her chin superciliously, but they both turned their eyes suddenly in the direction of the otherend of the room as Ruth Andrews grasped Miss Blake's arm, and whisperedexcitedly: "For goodness' sake, do look over there! Nan has got Joe Tracylaughing already. " Sure enough, the lad's pale, sensitive face was all aglow, and, as helistened to what the girl was saying, his eyes brightened and his mouthdanced up at the corners in a laugh of genuine appreciation. Nan wasgesticulating in her own graphic fashion, and the girls could easilyfollow her by watching her expression and her vivid pantomime. Plainly she was describing the sleight-of-hand performance to herbashful friend, and Miss Blake could readily see that she was notsparing herself in the recital. She raised her hands to her head and pretended to take off her hat, which she made a show of reluctantly surrendering to some one whoreceived it with a profound bow. Then she suddenly leaned forward, asif stumbling on something, and the next moment she held up her hand andseemed to be regarding some article upon it with an exaggeratedlydoleful expression that was such an exact imitation of the renownedwizard's that Miss Blake recognized it at once, and laughed as heartilyas Joe Tracy himself. By this time the girls were thoroughlyinterested, and kept their eyes fixed on Nan so that they might notlose one gesture nor the slightest change of expression. "O dear! Those Buckstone girls! Why do they get in my way, " lamentedLouie Hawes, "I wish they wouldn't crowd round her so. First thingthey know she'll notice them, and stop short off and won't tell anymore. " "Hush, Lu! There go John Gardiner and Harley Morris!" But Nan was in full swing now, and too absorbed in her story to beaware of the little court that had gathered around her. Joe Tracy'seyes followed her every movement with greedy interest, and when she atlength imitated the flapping wings of the clucking hen he simplyshouted with laughter and clapped his hands vigorously, quite lost toall but his appreciation and sense of the fun of the thing. It seemed to remind him of something similar in his own experience, forhe immediately started in on a description of his own, and Nan satlistening in her turn with rapt attention. Every now and then a shoutof laughter would come from the group in the distant corner, and thegirls longed to go over and join in the fun. "Listen to John Gardiner 'haw-haw!'" cried Mary Brewster. "Don't the Buckstone twins give funny little giggles?" interposed Louie. "Why can't we go over and listen too?" suggested Ruth. So they all, even Grace Ellis and Mary Brewster, went softly toward thealluring corner, and were just in time to catch the end of Joe Tracy'sstory, which was so witty that John Gardiner swayed back and forwardwith delight and shook the room with his hearty laugh, and theBuckstone girls' giggle joined in like a shrill accompaniment. It had all come about so naturally that Joe Tracy did not realize thathe had been orating to a roomful, and he did not seem to mind it at allwhen he discovered that he and Nan had had an audience. His shynesswas quite gone and his face was radiant with enjoyment. The piano and violins started in again, and Miss Blake was heardinviting bulky Tom Porter to escort her down to supper. Of course, Nan had known all along that there would be something toeat, but she had not dreamed of such a spread as this. It made her eyes shine and her cheeks glow to hear such whispered wordsas these: "Yes, indeed! Aren't you?" "Far and away the jolliest one yet!" "Do get me some more salad, won't you, please? It's the best I everate!" "Up-and-down jolly time. A fellow likes to be made feel at home likethis. " Miss Blake, who without seeming to be watching any one, saw that everyone was well supplied, kept a constant eye on Nan, and at last, on thestrength of what she discovered, thought it was time to interfere. "Now sit down, my dear, " she commanded softly, coming up behind thegirl and touching her gently on the arm. "You are getting all tiredout and having nothing to eat yourself. Every one is served and thewaiters will look out for the rest. I have saved a place for you inthe corner beside Louie and Ruth. So go now and rest and eat and enjoyyourself. You must not be the only one at your party who is neglected. " Nan gave her a grateful look and dashed off toward Louie and Ruth whowere beckoning wildly to her to come. They had so much to tell thatthey almost forgot their plates in their eagerness to talk. "Grace Ellis is just wild to come over here, " confided Louie. "But Mary Brewster won't let her. Mary just bosses Grace about till Ithink it's positively disgraceful, " whispered Ruth. John Gardiner sauntered up. "Got everything you want?" he asked in a manful effort to be attentive. "No!" replied Nan, promptly, with a twinkle in her eye. "I want abicycle, please. Won't you get me one?" and she held out her plate asif to have it supplied with the desired article. The tall fellow laughed. "With pleasure, " he said, and took the plateand marched off with it. "O dear! I hadn't finished my salad!" lamented Nan, lookingregretfully after him. Louie managed to telegraph their dilemma to Harley Morris, who promptlyresponded to it by appearing with another plate of salad and a dish ofsandwiches. He did not go away after Nan was served, but stayed on andled in the laugh when John Gardiner reappeared with a tiny ice creambicycle daintily poised against a mound of jelly, which he presented toNan with a low bow full of mock dignity, saying: "You have only to command and you are obeyed. Here is your wheel, andmay it go as fast as if it were geared to a hundred. " "Thank you, " replied Nan, accepting the joke and the plate at the sametime. "It'll go fast enough, no fear of that. Eating is never up-hillwork with me, and this has nothing to do but coast, you see, " and sheswallowed the first mouthful down with a jolly laugh. "Look over at Mary Brewster! She's trying her best to pretend sheignores us, " whispered Ruth, but not so low but that the young fellowscould hear. "Is one who ignores an ignor--amus?" asked Harley Morris, grinningbroadly at his own witticism. "Yes, " promptly answered Louie. "And in this case especially so, forshe doesn't know what she's losing. " There were more games after supper, and last of all came the jolliestpart of the whole evening, an old-fashioned Virginia reel, Miss Blakeand John Gardiner leading and the rest following with the heartiest ofzest. In and out they tripped and up and down they ran till all werefairly out of breath. Then suddenly Miss Blake seized John's hand, andaway they sped toward the library, the rest following helter-skelter, where the Christmas tree stood all lighted and ablaze. "All hands round!" shouted John, as they formed a ring and prancedgayly about the fragrant tree. Then up rose the governess' cheery voice, singing the dear oldChristmas carol that is always new: "Hark! the herald angels sing Glory to the new-born King; Peace on earth and mercy mild; God and sinners reconciled. " And the rest joined in and made the house re-echo with their heartychorus: "Joyful all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies; With th' angelic host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem!" It seemed to melt the hearts of every one there, for the voices thatpresently said "Good-night, " were full of peace and good-will, and evenMary Brewster's had a ring of sincerity in it as she murmured: "Good-night, Miss Blake! Good-night, Nan. I've had a charmingevening, and I hope we'll know each other better after this. " CHAPTER XII SMALL CLOUDS It proved an ideal Christmas day. Clear and cold and spotlessly white, for the snow fell heavily all through the night, and covered everythingwith a mantle of glistening frost. Nan looked out of her window, and gave a gasp of delight as she saw theshimmering, rime-covered trees, with the sunshine striking full uponthem and bringing out sparks of light from every branch and twig. Whatever sounds there were in the streets came to her softened andmellowed over the snow-laden ground, and as she listened she felt agreat wave of inward happiness surge into her heart and make thepossibilities of life seem very different to her from anything she hadever dreamed of before. The snow, the sound of chiming Christmasbells, worked upon her, and made her feel that it would be easy to begood, and that her days ought all to be like this; that she would makethem so, serene and melodious, every one a festival. She heard Miss Blake stirring in the next room, and tore herself awayfrom her dreams to begin the day well with a prompt appearance at thebreakfast table. "It seems to me that if father were only here I wouldn't have a thingleft in the world to wish for, " she said happily, spearing a gold-brownscallop with her fork and eating it with relish. Miss Blake put down her coffee-cup just as she was carrying it to herlips, and her face wore the curious expression that Nan had so oftennoticed there and could never account for. But the girl was too busywith her own thoughts to regard it to-day, and the governess hastenedto respond: "Then next year, please God, you will be quite entirely happy. And ayear is not long to wait. " "No, indeed!" broke in Nan. "Why, I never knew the time to go asquickly as it does lately. It doesn't seem any while at all since youcame, and you've been here over two months. Just let's think whatwe'll do next Christmas, when father is home. To begin with, I'm goingdown to the dock with Mr. Turner, so that when the ship comes in he'llsee me the first thing. Then we'll come up here, and you and Deliawill be waiting to welcome him at the door, and there'll be decorationsand things and--" "You forget, dear Nan, " Miss Blake said, gently interrupting her, "thatI shall not be here then. " The girl's face fell and the light died out of her eyes. Then shebrightened again suddenly. "Oh, you must, you must! Why, my father will want to see you. Ofcourse you'll be here. You'll have to stay and meet him. You cansurely do as much as that. You don't know how dear my father is! Andso handsome and good! Why, if you once saw him you couldn't possiblybe afraid. He's simply the kindest man in the world, and when hesmiles at you, you just love him--you can't help it. " Miss Blake herself smiled faintly. "I am sure he is all you say, Nan, "she replied. "But listen! There go the first bells. We must hurry orwe shall be late for church. " The girl rose and made her way rather slowly to the stairs. Somehowshe felt less light-hearted than she had done a few minutes before. What was it? She could not understand. The world had seemed all joyand sunshine to her a quarter of an hour since, and now there was acloud over her heart that dimmed for her even the radiant prospect ofher father's return. "I feel just like sitting down and having a good cry--if I ever didsuch a thing, " she said to herself as she fastened on her new hat andtried to be glad that it was so becoming. But as she and Miss Blake walked along the streets in the midst of acrowd of happy, chatting church-goers her spirits rose, and she noddedgayly to the Buckstone girls and Harley Morris, and broke into quite aripple of laughter as John Gardiner overtook them and asked if thewheel he had brought her the night before had proved a good one. "Oh, it was immense!" answered Nan, merrily. The services were beautiful, and Nan entered into them heart and soul, listening to the sermon with rapt attention and letting her fresh youngvoice swell out jubilantly in the dear, familiar carols as she hadnever done before. As they went out of church Miss Blake said to her softly: "You won't mind going on without me, will you, Nan? I have a littleerrand to do before I go home. Tell Delia I'll be back in time fordinner. " [Illustration: "I have a little errand to do"] "But why can't I go with you?" demanded the girl. "Because it--it wouldn't be best. I will explain it to you later. NowI must go. Tell Delia what I said. But if I should happen to bedelayed don't wait, and don't--that is, tell Delia not to worry. Good-bye!" and she was around the corner before Nan could say anotherword. Ruth Andrews joined her and they walked along together, falling at onceinto the easy terms of familiarity that had sprung up between them thenight before. "O Nan!" began Ruth abruptly, "you aren't going to be such a goose asto back out of joining the skating club just because--well, becauseMary Brewster's such a prig? She isn't the whole membership, not by agood deal, and the rest of us count on your coming. Why, you'll be atremendous acquisition. And the first meet is to-morrow. Won't youcome?" Nan hesitated. "It isn't because I'm a goose, " she said at length. "That is, I mean--oh, I can't explain it, but really, Ruth, I'd rathernot join. I wouldn't have a good time myself, and I'd only be spoilingMary Brewster's pleasure. It's no use. I know she's not the wholeclub, and I really think the rest of you would like to have me, butsomehow, knowing she didn't want me, would spoil the whole thing andI'd just be miserable the entire time. " Ruth shook her head as if at the hopeless state of Nan's obstinacy, butshe broke in again immediately with a new suggestion: "Besides, I don't think you can be at all sure she feels that way now. Why, I myself heard her telling you and Miss Blake that she hoped youand she would know each other better after this. " "Well, so we do, " said Nan, whimsically. "I know now for a certaintythat she doesn't want me, and she knows that I won't go where I'm notwanted, and if that isn't getting acquainted with a vengeance I'd liketo know what is. " Ruth laughed ruefully, but broke in, with sudden inspiration: "O dear!You're as proud as a peacock, Nan Cutler. Louie will be dreadfullydisappointed, for she told me to tell you she counted on you to takeher out. She's never skated much, you know, and she's wobbly on herankles. She's afraid of the teachers, and she doesn't like to ask theboys, because they hate to have a girl hanging on to them, and the restof us have as much as we can do to attend to our own affairs. " Nan's face lit up with quick pleasure. "Oh, if Louie needs me I'llcome in a jiffy. If you see her, won't you tell her I'll be only toohappy to teach her everything I know?" "Then we'll call for you at ten sharp to-morrow morning, " announced thewily Ruth, and before Nan could change her mind she had slipped off andleft her standing with her word given at her steps. "Where's Miss Blake?" asked Delia, opening the door in answer to Nan'sring and seeing her alone. "Gone off somewhere on an errand or something. I don't know. She saidshe'd be home for dinner, but if she wasn't, not to worry and not towait. " Delia wrung her hands. "O Nan, child, why did you let her away fromyou? She's gone to the Duffys; I know she has. And they've scarletfever in the house. The milkman told me so this morning at mass. She's been going there for weeks, doing for them and carrying themmoney and things. The youngest of the children had been sick all theweek, and now she's down with the fever. If I'd only thought to tellher this morning! But my head was so full of the breakfast andclearing up a bit after last night that I forgot. Oh, why did you lether away from you?" "How could I know?" cried Nan, almost savagely. "I never knew she wentto such places! What has she got to do with the Duffys, anyhow? Whyhasn't somebody stopped her from going, I should like to know? She'sno business to run such risks. The first thing you know she'll catchthe fever, and then--and then--" She turned her back on Delia, and the next moment was flying upstairstwo steps at a time. "What are you going to do, Nan?" cried the woman. "Go after her and bring her home!" shouted the girl. But Delia barred the way when she tried to come down again. "You can'tdo that, Nan, " she protested. "It would only make things worse. Justwait, and see if she comes home to dinner. " "No; I want to go now!" persisted the girl. "But don't you see it would only worry her?" insisted Delia. Nan considered. "Well, I'll wait till dinner, " she admitted; "but ifshe isn't here by then I'll start. " She sat down by the parlor window and commenced to watch. It seemed toher that every one in town came into sight but the one she was lookingfor with such curious anxiety. Suddenly her heart gave a great leap. She flew to the front door and flung it wide. "She's come! She's come!" she shouted to Delia, exultantly. "Nan, Nan!" cried Miss Blake, hearing the joyous ring in her voice andseeing the glad light in her eyes. "What is the matter? Has anythinghappened? Has--has any one come?" As she spoke her lips grew white. "Yes! You're the matter! You've happened! You've come! I tell youI'm glad! And don't you ever go to those Duffys again, where there'sscarlet fever, and you can die of it!" Miss Blake sank upon the hall-chair and held her hand to her heart. "Why, what's the matter?" gasped Nan, frightened at the sight of herwhite face. "Nothing, dear, nothing! I was startled--that was all. " "But who startled you?" persisted the girl. "Not you. It is all over now. " "You see, " Nan hastened to explain, "the milkman told Delia there wasscarlet fever at the Duffys, and we thought you had gone there, and itscared us to death. " "But I told you to tell Delia not to worry. " "Much good telling would do! Besides, you didn't tell me not to worry. Of course, she'd worry anyhow and so would I. But is it true? Havethe Duffys got scarlet fever?" Miss Blake hesitated. Then she said, truthfully, "Yes, they have, Nan. Little Mary Ellen has it. But you need not be afraid. I would notcome back into this house without taking every precaution. " Nan cast on her an indignant look. "And you think that's what made usworry?" she asked, and turned on her heel and tramped upstairs in highdispleasure. But she had scarcely got as far as the landing when shefelt a hand upon her arm. "Nan, forgive me. I didn't think so--really. I know you had my safetyin mind. But I have been very careful all along. And now I have agood nurse for the child, and I think she will pull through. " "But promise me you won't go there any more, " demanded Nan, sternly, only half mollified. "I promise gladly. They don't need me now, and it would be wicked totake an unnecessary risk. " "Well, I should think so. Now, remember, you've promised. O Delia!Is dinner ready?" All through the meal Miss Blake was aware of Nan's eyes fixed upon herin a peculiarly scrutinizing gaze. She was puzzled, but asked noquestions, sure that, sooner or later, the girl would disclose thereason herself. At length it came. "Does your head ache, Miss Blake?" "No, dear; why?" "Because your cheeks are pretty red, and I thought you might not befeeling very well. " "Probably the brisk wind has made them so, for I feel very well indeed. " "Oh!" But at twilight Miss Blake came upon her bending double over a volumeof the Encyclopaedia, and a glance showed her what article the girl wasstudying. It was that headed "Scarlet fever. " The book was shut with a clap, and Nan stalked off to replace it in thebook-case without a word. She came back in a moment, however, andstood before Miss Blake like a grim young Fate, her dark eyes full ofcare and worry. "See here! You've got to take something. There's no use fooling witha sickness like that. Your cheeks are red, and I shouldn't wonder butyour throat is sore. When you came home you kind of went to pieces onthe hall chair, and I guess your head is aching this minute. I don'tsay you've got scarlet fever, but--it looks mighty like it, that's all. Now don't be scared. I'll take care of you. I can, you know, if I putmy mind to it. " Miss Blake dared not hug her, though it was precisely what she longedto do. She dared not laugh at her, either, for that would give lastingoffense when Nan was so deadly in earnest. What she did was to saybrightly, but in quite as off-hand and matter-of-fact way as the girlherself had spoken: "I'm sure you could. But you see I am perfectly well. Honestly, Ihaven't a pain nor an ache, and if my cheeks are still red it's becausethe skin has been frost-nipped. I give you my word of honor I will goto a doctor if I feel the slightest symptom. " Her tone was so heartily sincere that Nan could not doubt her. Shedrew a long breath of relief, as if a heavy load had been lifted fromher heart, and threw herself upon the lounge with a contented sigh. "Just think, " she said. "Last night this time I didn't even know I wasgoing to have a party, and now it's all over and done with, and Ruthand Louie want me to go skating with them to-morrow. It's been thehappiest Christmas I ever spent, with the exception of the Duffy part, and I wish it could last forever. " "I think some of it will, " replied Miss Blake in her gentle voice, asDelia came to light the lamps. CHAPTER XIII ON THE ICE There was a great crowd on the lake. It was perfect skating weather, and every one who had skates and could use them, had come to enjoy theadvantage of the first real ice of the season. The banks were throngedwith onlookers, and it was a great inspiration to the expert ones toknow that their performances would be watched and commended by such anaudience as this. "Goodness, girls! Did you ever see such a crush?" asked Louiefeverishly, hurrying her pace, as she, Nan, and Ruth neared the spot. "There won't be room to move, " announced Nan, adding with a laugh, "much less to fall down in. " "All the better for me! I'll put on my skates and let the crowd pushme round. I'm never too sure of myself, but in a crush like this, onecan't go over, so I'm saved a heap of worry!" cried Ruth with a jollylaugh. Nan's skates were on in a twinkling, and she longed with all her heartto be off and away. But the sight of poor Louie, struggling vainlywith her refractory straps, kept her back. "Oh, do hurry, " urged Ruth excitedly. "Did you ever see such contrary things?" gasped Louie, her cheekscrimson with cold, and the exertion of bending double in her fur jacket. "Give them to me; I'll get them on in a jiffy, " and Nan was down on herknees and the skates secured before Louie had even time to thank herwith a look. "Now, do come on!" cried Ruth, fairly dancing with eagerness. "Oh, wait! wait! Please wait!" pleaded Louie. "This is the first timeI've been on the ice this year, and I feel so nervous I could scream. " John Gardiner spun past with a nod and a flourish, but a moment laterwheeled about and came skimming up to where they were standing, sayingbriskly: "Jolly day, isn't it? Ice in first-rate shape, too. Too many people, but after a few of them get tired out it will be all right. Don'tsuppose they'd care to stand aside and let us show them what skatingis, eh, Nan?" Nan laughed. "Perhaps they wouldn't like the figures we'd cut. I'mnot sure I would myself. Pride goes before a fall, and I'd rather be abit humble and keep on my feet. " "As though you'd ever take a tumble, " cried the young fellow with greatscorn. "Oh, I say, come along and let's do a turn or two, as we did onthe Steamer last year. Don't you remember what a rousing cheer we got?Let's try it again. " For an instant Nan's blood leaped. She liked to do daring things, andshe loved applause. John Gardiner was as much at home on his skates asshe was on hers, and they were singularly at ease together. Moreover, way down in her heart was a sort of lurking pride at being especiallychosen by this favorite among the "fellows" and being seen with him inhis attractive suit and his graceful "Norwegians" that were the envyand admiration of all the other fellows in town. It certainly was atemptation, and for a moment Nan yielded to it. Then she looked atLouie's anxious face and shook her head. "I'm heaps obliged, " she said. "But I guess I'd better not to-day. Itwasn't much harm at the Steamer, for there was no crowd there to speakof; but here it's so public, I'm afraid it wouldn't look well. " John threw back his head and laughed. "As if you cared how things look!" he cried, frankly. Nan's cheeks reddened furiously. She looked down and drew a figure onthe ice with the tip of her skate. Her confusion could not escape him, and he caught himself up instantly. "I mean, you've always been sosensible, you know. You haven't cared for tattle or nonsense. That'swhat's made us like you so. A fellow hasn't had to be on the continualjump for fear your hat wasn't on straight or your hair was coming down. You're as plucky as a boy, and it's like having another jolly, goodfellow about when you're around. You're not going back on all that?You aren't going to turn girly-girly? You aren't going to be a Nancy, are you?" She lifted her head with a jerk. "No; I'm going to stay plain Nan, "she retorted. "But I can't go out with you this morning, John--atleast not now. Later I may take a turn if you're willing. " He saw that there was no shaking her resolution, and turned away with afrown and a sigh. "Very well. If you won't, you won't. I'll look you up by and by, though, and maybe you'll have changed your mind by then, " and he wasoff like a flash, his flying feet seeming scarcely to touch the ice, and his long, curved, glistening skates flashing back the sunlight fromtheir dazzling nickel blades. Louie clutched Nan's arm. "Oh, I'm so glad you didn't go!" she said, agitatedly. "I'm all of a tremble, and I'm sure I'll slip if you don'thold on to me. " So Nan held on to her, and slowly piloted her this way and that, urgingher gently to strike out alone, and patiently waiting until she had thecourage to try. Ruth darted hither and thither, minding it as littlewhen she went down herself as when she was the cause of others doingso, and always skating with an awkward energy that was refreshing tobehold. "O Nan!" panted Louie, "how did you learn?" "By getting up whenever I fell down, " declared Nan, succinctly. Ruth came toward them with arms flying like windmills. "O girls!" she gasped; but just here her feet went from under her, andshe sat squarely upon the ice with a great plump. "O girls!" sherepeated, not a bit abashed and without trying to get up, "MaryBrewster and Grace are over there, and they just asked John to takethem out--at least Mary did--and he said he was ever so sorry, but his'card was full, ' and they are simply furious. " "Get up!" commanded Nan, with lips that would twitch in spite of herefforts to control them. "You'll catch your death of cold!" Ruth grasped her outstretched hand and struggled to her feet. "How areyou getting on, Lu?" she asked, shaking the snow from her skirts. "I think I'm doing a little better. Don't you, Nan?" appealed Louie, tremulously. "Why, yes. You'll skate as well as any one after you've once gainedcourage, " Nan returned cheerfully, and took up the slow, tedious taskagain of steering her laboriously this way and that, Louie meanwhileclinging to her arm and uttering little panic-stricken shrieks thatirritated Nan beyond measure. No one could conceive how hard it wasfor the girl not to desert her clinging companion. She knew in herheart that Louie would never master the knack unless she were made torely upon herself. As long as she could depend on Nan's support shewould not make any effort to use her own energy, nor would she exerther will-power to force herself to strike out alone. The ice was inperfect condition to-day, but it would not long remain so with such acrowd cutting it to pieces, and the sun already thawing the powderedsnow and threatening to do more damage to-morrow. If Nan lost herchance now she might not have another so good in weeks to come, for theweather was always uncertain and the holidays were short. Everythingseemed to urge her to break loose from her self-imposed martyrdom andgo her way rejoicing; the crisp air that sang in her ears and filledher with a sense of glorious exhilaration; the shimmering sunlight onthe ice that seemed to scud before her and invite her to join in therace; the knowledge that she was in reality doing Louie a doubtfulservice by staying beside her, and, last of all, the look ofdisappointment in John's eyes as he shot past them at intervals, andsaw that Nan was not yet ready to capitulate. A sort of war withherself was waging in her mind; her sense of duty against herpreferences; her long established habits against her newly foundresolutions. She had resolved to be like other girls in the future. It was like headlong, impulsive Nan to make a resolve like this, andnever stop to realize that it was only the exaggeration of herself thatproved objectionable; that it would be as impossible for her to besedate and silent and serious as for a dashing dandelion to become adainty buttercup. To her it seemed as if Miss Blake and the rest--were demanding of herjust such a metamorphosis and she had been trying--she really had--torecast herself in the mold she thought they exacted. And now here cameJohn Gardiner, surely the nicest and most mannerly young fellow sheknew, and the one whom even Miss Blake was pleased to call "a perfectgentleman"--here came John Gardiner, and told her that her despisedcharacteristics were precisely the ones that made her valuable. Sheshook her head. It was no use; she could not understand. "O Nan!" cried Louie, shunting along clumsily by her side and clutchingher arm in desperation. "Won't you please get me over to the shore?I'm all tired out. I guess I'll go in for a bit and warm up and getrested, and then I'll come out again, may be, and take another try. " Nan assented with alacrity. "You've made a pretty good beginning, " she said with new encouragementin her voice. "Oh, it's always the same!" wailed Louie. "Year before last I got so Icould do it quite respectably, and then last year I had to learn allover again. I really thought I'd pick it up where I left off thisyear, but you see how it is! The very sight of the ice when I'm onskates makes me quake. " "Just force yourself to do it and you'll be surprised to see how soonyou'll be skimming all over creation, " advised Nan, as she unfastenedher friend's skates and saw her start stiffly up the path to the Lodge. Her heart gave a bound as she realized that she was at last alone anduntrammeled. She pulled her Russian cap well into place, thrust herhands deep into her pockets, and set out for the middle of the lake, her lithe young body swaying gently forward as she was carried this wayand that by her gliding feet. She looked about for John, but he wasnowhere to be seen, and she concluded that he had given up expectingher and had either gone home or joined other friends. Ruth was forgingabout after her own peculiar fashion, getting in every one's way andunder every one's feet, and enjoying it all immensely. She wasperfectly self-reliant, and Nan did not feel that there was anynecessity of offering assistance or even companionship to such aself-sufficient, resolute maiden, and so she set about enjoying herindependence with a clear conscience. A moment later she had forgotteneverything but the keen delight of the delicious exercise; the freshcurrent of air upon her cheeks; the sense of flashing through space"without any appreciable effort; the knowledge of her mastery of theart. She had not a shadow of fear. Instead, she felt a sort of wildexultation in her own daring, and set about doing difficult feats withan added delight in the very risk of the thing. Suddenly a shadow shottoward her from the back, caught her by the arm and went flyingforward, suiting his rhythm to hers in an instant. "Oh! heyo, John! I thought you'd gone home!" said Nan. "Not a bit of it. Think I'd leave the ice when it's as prime as this?Not much. What under the canopy have you been about all this time?Toting Lou Hawes around when you ought to be making the best of therarest chance you'll get this season, maybe?" "Oh, that's all right, " rejoined Nan in a matter-of-fact way. "I likedto do it--for a change. And she's a little timid. " "Well now, you're free, let's have a couple of extra good turns just tomake up for lost time, " and he took her hand and started off on a fine, free swing, Nan gliding beside him in such perfect accord that itseemed as if one impulse moved them both. They swung apart rejoined, and swung apart again. Then, dropping her hand John gave a curvingglide to the right which took him a pace ahead of her, and she, repeating his movement, but toward the left, passed easily before himon the other side, so on and on in a sort of progressive chain, untilat a sign they sped backward, reversing the order in which they hadcome, and reached the starting point and circled round it, claspingcrossed hands and chatting gayly the while. John saw that they had already attracted some attention, and it onlymade his pulses quicken. He also saw that Nan was oblivious toeverything, but the mere delight of what she was doing, and he did notthink it worth while to remind her that this was not the Steamer, andthat if she wished to be inconspicuous, as she had suggested, she wouldbetter limit herself strictly to a commonplace gait. Instead he benttoward her, and said in a quick, low undertone, "I'll bet a quarteryou've forgotten how to cut your name. " "Oh, have I?" cried Nan, the spur pricking sharply at her pride. "Wantto see me do it?" and off she went accordingly, accomplishing thedifficult figure without a thought of hesitation, and returning to hisside laughing and triumphant. "Now the spiral! Forward! Left foot first! Now right! Combination!" John gave the directions in a sort of tense whisper. He was mortallyafraid Nan would become conscious, and see what was going on about her. But he might have spared himself the trouble. She was absolutely blindto the crowd that had gathered about them, and all the commendation shewas aware of was that which he gave her in a murmured "Good!" or "Fine!" A wide circle had been cleared for them, and in it they and one or twoother hardy souls were exhibiting their prowess, while the throngoutside whispered and applauded and made comments on the differentskaters and their respective skill and grace. "There! That's the serpentine he's doing now! Isn't it pretty?" "It must be frightfully hard to go backward like that!" "I should think he'd fall on his head!" "Look! See! She's starting off again! Doesn't she do it well?" "Who is she, anyway?" Nan had completed her figure, and was waiting at the edge of the circlefor John to finish his and to come and join her. She stood well back, so that she might not interfere with the others, and thus it was thatshe was waked from her trance with an abrupt shock by the sound of twowhispering voices, seeming almost at her ear, their murmur carried soin the chill, crystal air. "Didn't I tell you she was a bold thing?" "Sh! She'll hear you! She's right in front of us--only those menbetween. " "No she won't, either. We're too far away. Didn't I tell you Lu's andRuth's friendship was for one night only? I knew well enough why Luasked her to come. Any one could see through that. She wants to learnhow to skate, and this was as ready a way as any to be taught, and shejumps at the chance. " "Oh, do hush! She'll hear!" "Don't care if she does. I don't know what your opinion is, but mineis that it's positively brazen of her to do such things before a crowdlike this. Dragging John Gardiner into it, too! It's a disgrace!" "Sh, please! There he comes!" Nan pulled herself wearily forward a step or two to meet him. "I say, what's up? What's the matter?" he demanded anxiously, lookinginto her face and seeing the change it had undergone. "Nothing! Nothing!" she reassured him quickly. "I'm tired, that'sall. And I didn't realize these people were watching us. Let's getout of this. I hate the way they stare. I want to go home. " John took her by the elbow and steered for the bank. "Won't you find Grace and Louie first? You came with them, didn't you?They won't know what's become of you. " "I don't care! I want to go home!" she repeated irritably. They sped forward silently, and in a moment had reached the shore. Nantrembled so as she tried to unfasten her skates that John pushed herhands aside and made her submit to having him assist her. "You've caught cold!" he said remorsefully, "I was a brute to keepurging you on. But I didn't dream you were tired. You looked sobright and well. " "I'm not tired. I haven't caught cold!" said Nan. "Don't bother aboutme, please. Go back and finish up your skate!" "Thank you kindly, ma'am, " rejoined he, removing his own skates. "ButI've finished it up already, " and he grasped her arm and tramped heroff in the direction of the Park entrance with vigorous steps. "Won't Lou and Ruth wonder?" he ventured again after a moment ofsilence. "No! They don't care!" cried Nan, dismally. "The mischief they don't!" and John gave vent to an exclamation ofdisbelief. "Why, Ruth was only telling me half an hour ago how good andgenerous you were, and Louie caught me in the Lodge and went into regularspasms over you. You're the patientest, the generousest--everythingelse-estgirl she knows. I had actually to tear myself away from her raptures when Isaw that you were free of her and could take a turn with me. " Nan shook her head. "No, you're wrong, John!" she said hopelessly. "They don't like me. None of them do. It's no use. I thought Christmas eve I might makethem, perhaps--but I give it up. I'm too--different!" "Now, see here, Nan!" cried John, stopping suddenly in the middle ofthe path and confronting her squarely, "this change of base has come onyou all of a sudden. You weren't in such a state before. You've seensomething or heard something that's given you a turn. Say now, haven'tyou, honestly?" Nan gulped and nodded grimly. "I thought so. Well, now, you say you're different from the othergirls, and so you are in most ways, but just at present you're doingthe silliest trick I know. Going off by yourself and making peoplemiserable all around. Do you know what a fellow would do in yourplace? Why, he'd go straight to the man he'd heard or seen back-bitinghim and he'd make him come out fair and square and own up--or shut up. 'You pays your money and you takes your choice. ' That's what a fellowwould do. But girls prefer to be martyrs and go about 'lettingconcealment prey upon their damask cheeks' and all that namby-pambynonsense. Pshaw! I wouldn't give a rush for a girl's courage. It'sall humbug. " "It isn't any such thing!" cried Nan, hastening to defend her sex. "Itisn't because I'm afraid that I don't go straight up to the--theperson. It's because I have too much pride. I wouldn't demean myselfby letting her know I care. " "Oh, fudge! Pride! I like that! Care? Why, whoever she is, she cansee that, anyhow, with half an eye. It's as plain as preaching. Youcame with Lu and Ruth, and were as gay and jolly as could be. Then, all of a sudden, you turn grumpy and want to go home, and say Lu andRuth don't like you. The explanation of that is simple enough. You'veheard some one saying something about you, or pretending to repeatsomething Lu and Ruth have said about you. There! Now haven't I hitthe nail on the head?" Nan made no reply. "I wager I have, though, " continued the young fellow, watching herclosely, and drawing many of his conclusions from the evidence of hertell-tale face. "And I'd be ashamed, even if I were a girl, to letmyself be worried by a thing like that. Besides, it isn't fair to Luand Ruth. You ought to give them a chance to set themselves straight. You've no right to believe things of them till you've their own wordfor it that it's true. Give them a chance, and if they act queer youcan throw them over. " "But I can't ask them, " burst out Nan. "It wasn't anything they said. It was about the way they feel, and if I give them a chance they maythrow me over. " John laughed. "True for you. They may. But anyway, you'd have donethe just thing. Whatever they did to you, you'd have played fair. " Nan thought a moment. Suddenly she turned on her heel and began toretrace her steps. "I'm going back, " she said, stoutly, "to find Luand Ruth! and--and--give them that chance. " "There! Now you're behaving like an honest man, " announced John, withgusto. "One can't afford to be too perpendicular. " But before they had taken a dozen steps they came upon the two girlsthemselves, running breathlessly toward them. "O Nan!" panted Louie. "What is the matter? Are you sick? Are youhurt? We couldn't find you anywhere!" "We looked all over and got terribly nervous, and at last Mary Brewstertold us you had gone home, " Ruth broke in, gaspingly. "She said John had taken you, and that you kind of walked as if youwere dizzy or something. We've run all the way! Do say, are yousick?" pleaded Louie. "Or hurt?" articulated Ruth. John and Nan regarded each other solemnly for a moment. Then they bothbroke into a peal of laughter. Nan was the first to speak. "No, I'm not sick and I wasn't hurt--the way you mean. I was agoose--that's all. I want you to forgive me. " "What for?" demanded the girls, in a breath. "Why, for--for--making you run after me, " replied Nan. CHAPTER XIV CHANGES "Let's go back after luncheon, " suggested Ruth as they tramped homeward. The others assented heartily enough, and Nan was so eager to return toher sport that she did not wait for Delia to let her in at the upperdoor, but burst through the basement way, and ran against Miss Blake inthe lower hall. "Oh, excuse me!" she panted. "We've had a glorious time. We're goingout again. Please may I have a bite of something quick, so I can run?We want to make the most of the daylight, and Lu can almost go alone. " "Certainly. Delia has everything on the table. But won't you want torun upstairs and give your face and hands a little scrub?" Nan's forehead wrinkled, and she was on the point of uttering anexclamation of disgust. But she caught herself up, and pressing herlips together hard, flew upstairs without a word of protest. Shefinished her luncheon in marvelously quick time. "If you wish to go you may be excused, " her companion announced, as thelast crumb was swallowed. A gleam of surprise lit upon Nan's face. "Thank you, " she said, and went her way feeling more contented withherself than she had done in many a long day. It was late when she returned, and not finding Miss Blake in any otherpart of the house, she went to the governess' room and tapped on thedoor for admittance, a thing she had never done before, from pureperversity and a determination not to "let any person suppose she caredto see them when she didn't have to. " Miss Blake herself opened the door to her and invited her to "step intoher parlor, " most cordially, adding: "I'm just having my afternoon tea. Won't you take a cup with me?" At first Nan could scarcely find voice to reply, so strange did shefeel in this altered room. When she had last seen it it was bare andcold and comfortless, and now-- The windows were draped with inner curtains of dainty Swiss. Hangingsof some soft, pale green stuff hung before them and in all thedoorways. The bed was shoved into a far corner of the room, and whereit had once been, against the wall, a low bookcase now stood, displaying rows of tempting books upon its well-laden shelves, andabove them delicate bits of bric-à-brac. A rug covered the centre ofthe floor. The ugly mantel-shelf was hidden from sight by an Orientalscarf, and upon it stood all manner of odd and curious trifles. Theshabby lounge was covered by a fine old rug and piled with cushions, while beside it stood the quaint stand and brass tray that Nan hadfeasted from when her foot was lame; only now it held a brightlyburnished alcohol kettle, out of which steam was issuing in the mosthospitable fashion possible. Here also were dainty cups and saucers, and here it was that Miss Blake brewed her tea after she had led herguest to a chair and helped her remove her cap and coat with all thesolicitude of a veritable hostess. "Well, how has the day gone?" asked she, trying not to betray heramusement at Nan's obvious amazement. "Oh, finely! We had a jolly good time. Lu can go alone now. John andI took her out and simply made her skate. Ruth goes floundering aboutlike a seal, and every one laughs at her, but she's so good-natured shedoesn't mind, and one can't help liking her. Such a funny thinghappened. "We were standing still for a minute waiting for Lu to catch herbreath, and all at once we saw Ruth coming galloping toward us in herridiculous way. A big, fat man was skating in the other direction, butnowhere near her, and we didn't notice him particularly till she veeredsuddenly off and crashed straight into him, without any excuse at all, just hurled into him plump, and bowled him square over. It was themost deliberate thing I ever saw. She had gone out of her way to doit, but, of course, she didn't mean to. They both went crashing downwith such a thump I thought it would break the ice, and as he went overhe said: 'Good gracious!' in the mildest, funniest voice you everheard. John hurried off and helped him up, and I got Ruth on her feetagain, all covered with snow, and as mortified as could be, but chokingwith laughter. The man looked worried, and we asked him if he washurt. He said, 'No! Oh, no indeed!' and then he turned to Ruth withthe most embarrassed sort of apologetic smile--just as if he had beento blame. "'I'm so sorry!' he stammered. 'It is the strangest thing how it couldhave occurred. I thought you were over there. I really thought I wasin no one's way. Oh, would you mind telling me--a--what I said whenI--a--fell?' "Lu was swallowing her pocket-handkerchief to keep from laughing out, and I know I was grinning. "Why, I think you said, 'Good gracious!'" said Ruth, shakily. "'Oh, thank, you!' the man cried, looking ever so much relieved. 'Ithought I said 'Good gracious, ' but I--I wasn't sure. I'm very glad!'and he shambled off as if he were lamed for life, poor thing, whileRuth and Lu and John and I simply rocked with laughter. And now whenanything happens John says 'Good gracious!' in the mildest tone, andthen goes on, 'What did I say? Oh, thank you. I thought I said "Goodgracious, " but I wasn't sure!'" and Nan broke into a chuckle at themere recollection of the thing. Miss Blake laughed in sympathy, andshe and Nan drank their tea and nibbled their wafers in the mostamicable fashion possible, talking over, not alone the pleasantexperiences, but also that which had threatened to spoil Nan's day, theremembrance of which made her shudder even now. She repeated the incident to Miss Blake, concluding with: "I don't care what they think!" "John was right, " declared Miss Blake, "and you did what was brave andjust. But don't give up trying to win Mary's and Grace's good opinion, Nan. I want you to be respected and loved, and you can be, if you willonly be as true to yourself as you are to your friends. You were notsatisfied to let Lu and Ruth rest under a false accusation thismorning. Neither should you be satisfied to let yourself. Prove toMary and Grace that you are neither bold nor brazen. Force them to seethat you are kind and lovable and courageous. " "Oh, dear! How can I?" despaired Nan. "Why, simply by being so, " declared Miss Blake. Nan fell silent, and then, when Miss Blake was just beginning to wonderwhat new caprice her guest had fallen victim to, she broke outimpetuously: "Oh, I say Miss Blake! it is just festive in here. I never sawanything that began to be so pretty. " It was genuine praise, and Miss Blake really flushed with gratificationas she replied: "Thank you, Nan. I think myself it is cozy, and I am very happy if mylittle nest pleases you. It is a very simple one. I am my ownupholsterer and my own decorator, so I have a special reason to valueany praise of my small domain. You must come often if you like ithere, for I love to play hostess to so appreciative a guest!" Nan settled back among the cushions with a contented sigh. "I wish, " she said presently, "I wish the rest of the house looked thisway. " "If you really would like to make some changes, Nan, I will do my best. What there is in the house is good and substantial, and with a littlealteration could be made to serve very well. " Nan looked up eagerly. "Oh, let's try and fix up the house, for father's coming home. Mr. Turner will give us some money to pay for repairs, I guess--he alwaysdoes when pipes burst and things. Won't it be jolly to watch father'sface when he comes in and sees it all so pretty here? Poor old papa!Mr. Turner says he may come in the fall, and so we'll have all thesummer to work and plan in, and then when he's here, won't we have ajubilation, Miss Blake?" The governess stooped to pick up a pin, and she did not reply. Thenshe rose and carried the tea-cups and plates to the washstand, whereshe began rinsing them carefully. "When your father comes home I shall not be here, you know, " she saidsimply; "but you will be very happy together, and I am sure he wouldenjoy a pretty home!" The radiance in Nan's face faded suddenly. The same dull pain was ather heart that she had felt and shrunk from yesterday. Only now it didnot pass away, and all the evening she seemed to be haunted by apeculiar sense of impending misfortune. It was as though she had beenreminded of some unhappy occasion that she had tried to forget. Everyonce in a while after that, when she saw Miss Blake laboriously toilingto renovate some dilapidated piece of furniture, or heard herdiscussing with Delia the remaining possibilities of this carpet orthat pair of curtains, she felt an almost uncontrollable desire to cryout--so sharp was the sudden sting of regret that bit at herconscience--and so keen the pain that pierced her heart. Miss Blake left her to enjoy her holidays in perfect freedom, but assoon as they were spent the books were brought out again and lessonsresumed as strictly as if the discipline of an entire school dependedon it. But study had grown to have no terrors for Nan, and she was not at allaware of the thorough course she was being put through, because it wasall accomplished in such an unobtrusive fashion. Miss Blake had asystem of her own which she put into practice, and the girl followedher unconsciously with an interest that showed how wise an one it was. Latin and mathematics proved the most troublesome of the tasks, andwould perhaps have led to some serious differences of opinion if MissBlake had not confessed herself at the start "rusty" in theseparticular branches and suggested that they "go over them together. " "I really never was very strong in either of them, and it will do megood to review, " she explained. So, spurred on by the thought of competition, Nan did her best; wentthrough the declensions with a rush, and quite outstripped herfellow-student in the matter of algebraic problems. History was always simple enough with Miss Blake to make it seem likethe most dramatic of romances, and the girl discovered a fresh interestin the Roman heroes when the scenes of their exploits was sographically described to her, and when she could build up the ancientcity for herself by the aid of Miss Blake's admirable photographs ofthe present. "It seems to me you have done more traveling than any one I ever knew!"exclaimed the girl for the hundredth time one day. "It has been all I had to do, " rejoined the governess wistfully. "Formany, many years I have had nothing else. But now all that is changed, and--as it is half-past one, and I hear Delia coming up to announceluncheon, I'll dismiss my class, and declare school over for to-day. " "That is always the way, " mused Nan, "whenever I refer to her and tryto start her telling about herself she veers off and talks of somethingelse. Queer about her traveling so much, though. I wonder how shecame to do it--when she's so poor. She never said straight out she wassome one's companion, and I don't think a governess would be taken allover the globe like that. " While the ice lasted Nan had many a good hour upon her skates. MissBlake too donned hers, and at these times the tables were turned andNan became the patient teacher, the governess the obedient pupil. "My ankles are weak, " pleaded the pupil in apology for persistentfailure. "Exercise 'em and they'll grow strong!" declared the intrepidinstructor in peremptory tones. "It's no use, I can't reverse, Nan!" "Pooh! 'Never say can't till you've proved that the task isimpossible, '" quoted Nan, with a gleam of mischief in her eyes. "You're real mean, so there!" responded Miss Blake in return with sucha good imitation of her own querulous tone that the girl burst into ashout of laughter, and the two started off again to make another, perhaps futile attempt, at the difficult feat, until, by the latterpart of the winter, Miss Blake acquitted herself so creditably that herteacher regarded her with pardonable pride, and declared, "There, now! You ought to be 'all primmed up with majestick pride. 'You skate as well as anybody now, and you've got rid of every particleof nervousness. " There were many things beside skating that the governess set herself toaccomplish during these months, and Mrs. Newton often took her to taskfor working so hard. "You are beginning to look completely fagged. Do let the house go. What do you fret over it for? If Nan wants alterations, why not letMr. Turner engage competent people to do the work? You haveresponsibility enough without planning and overseeing all theseimprovements. " But Miss Blake only shook her obstinate little head and continued todiscuss ways and means with Mr. Turner and Delia and to direct theworkmen, who presently took possession of the house, and made it seemlike a Bedlam into which order could never be restored. "Oh, that's fine!" cried Nan, clapping her hands when she heard of thegoverness' plans. "That hall closet was no good anyhow. Delia onlykept her brooms and dust-cloths there, and it's just the place for adumb-waiter. But if we turn the library into a dining-room, what areyou going to do with the books?" "The best of them can be put on low shelves along the parlor walls, andwe'll take the rest upstairs and make a sort of cozy study of the frontroom for your father. " "Splendid!" cried Nan. For weeks the place was in a turmoil. Carpets were taken up, some ofthem never to go down again, curtains were unhung, cleaned and foldedcarefully away, and when the coast was clear the work of remodellingbegan in earnest. It seemed to Nan as if it would never come to an end, but little bylittle things began to assume a more promising aspect, and at lengththe last lingering workman dragged himself reluctantly away, and thenDelia descended upon the place, armed with scrubbing-brush and pail, and waged a mighty war upon every spot of dust or paint anywhere to befound. The parlor had been freshly papered, and its walls no longer frownedgloomily down upon the inoffensive guest, but seemed to cast a faint, rosy smile at the redecorated hall and the new dining-room beyond. Miss Blake stripped away every vestige of tarletan, and let the fineoil paintings display themselves unveiled to the public eye. "We can have the windows screened if we are afraid of flies, " she saidas she folded away the unsightly shrouds, and Delia echoed, "Why, so wecan!" in the promptest assent, and as though it had been her own ideaall along. The draperies were of the simplest sort, but Nan thought themperfection. She fairly danced with delight as she fancied her father'sface when he should see his altered home. He would never recognize inthis attractive, tasteful room the old, gloomy parlor of former days. The furniture was drawn out of its martial line and placed here andthere in inviting positions by loving, artful hands. Various pieceswere banished altogether, and where this chair or that had grown shabbyMiss Blake renewed its usefulness by covering it over with some oddmaterial that harmonized nicely with the old-fashioned shape of theframe and the tone of the rest of the room. A simple fireplace had been set in the blind chimney-piece, in whichwere placed grandma's graceful andirons, buried so long in the atticthat Nan had never seen them, while the old mantel-shelf in the librarywas torn out altogether and a stately new one put in its stead, and inthis too was a place for wood and fire-dogs. The two French windowsleading into the glass extension were transformed into doorways, andgave pleasant vistas of a blooming conservatory, into which the southsun shone genially the best part of the day. Louie and Ruth came in on a special visit of inspection when the workwas all completed, and it did not detract from Nan's enjoyment to hearthem say that they thought the house one of the prettiest they had everseen. "It has such a fresh, comfortable look, " exclaimed Louie. "As if you lived in every part of it and enjoyed it yourself, andwanted other people to enjoy it with you, " added Ruth. "So we do, " declared Nan; "that's just what we do. Isn't it, MissBlake?" And Miss Blake nodded a smiling assent, though she knew quite well thatuntil very lately Nan had never thought about the matter at all. Shehad taken her home for granted, and it never had occurred to her to tryto improve it in any wise. But the governess had had more in mind thanthe mere indulging of the girl's fancy when she set about rearrangingthe place. As in most of her characteristic schemes there was "amethod in her madness. " Nan soon discovered that a dainty home broughtits obligations with it. "Do you notice, " said Miss Blake one day, "that since the householdarrangements have been altered there has been a good deal more work tobe done?" "Why, I don't know, " rejoined Nan; "why should there be?" "Because all these bits of bric-à-brac we have set about must be dustedevery day, and because throwing the parlor open, as we do, makesanother room to look after. Then the plants in the conservatory shouldbe carefully tended if we want them to live, and Delia has to takedouble the steps she used to take when we ate in the basement. Really, Nan, as things stand, I feel the work is going to be too hard for her. " "Dear me! Whatever are we going to do?" demanded the girl anxiously. "Simply, she must have help. " "You mean another servant?" "No, not that. I cannot increase the household expenses in such a waywithout your father's knowledge and approval. What we have done now isalmost more than I dare think of. My only comfort is that it has comeout of your money. " Nan gave a start. "My money!" she exclaimed. "Why, I never knew I hadany. Goodness! tell me about it. " "There is nothing to tell. Simply, some one who owed your mother adebt and was unable to discharge it during her lifetime, has paid in acertain part of it to Mr. Turner for your benefit--or so he tells me. Both he and I thought it wise to use it in this way. The house isvirtually yours, and unless you improve it from time to time it willdecrease in value. We both felt that since you wished it, and since itmight be looked upon in the light of protecting your property, we mightsafely lay out the money as we have done without first consulting yourfather. " "Oh, I'm glad, " cried Nan. "I didn't want him to know. It'll be allthe bigger surprise to him when he comes home. But what are we goingto do about Delia?" "That is what I want you to tell me, " rejoined Miss Blake. "I?" queried the girl. "Why, I'm sure I don't know what we can do, unless we hire another girl--and you say father can't afford that. " "Now, Nan, listen to me, " said Miss Blake, seriously, drawing her chairto the girl's, and emphasizing her words by laying her hand upon hersand tapping it gently whenever a point was made. "Let us put thematter quite plainly, and see if we can't come to a conclusion thatwill both help Delia and save us the trouble of engaging another maid. One pair of hands can't do the work in this house! You admit that?" "Yes; I s'pose so, " conceded Nan. "Well then, obviously, we must secure the aid of another pair--perhapseven two. " "Uh-huh!" assented the girl cheerfully enough. "Not only that, we must secure the aid of another pair, if not two, atno additional expense to your father. " Here Nan's head began to drop. "That's what floors me, " she respondedperplexedly. "The rest is easy enough to settle; but how in the worldwe are going to get people to work for us for nothing--" "What are those things in your lap, Nan?" asked the governess suddenlywith a quick smile and an extra tap of the finger on the girl's palm. "My hands, of course. " "Why shouldn't they be the pair we need? I cordially offer the use ofmine. " "Oh!" Nan's face was rather blank. "I hate housework, " she added, and hermouth drew down at the corners in a pout of petulance. "I doubt if any one really cares for it. But it must be done, and inthis case you and I must consent to do it, at least in part. Now thatyou have looked the facts in the face, let us say no more about it, after we have settled just what we prefer to do. I have always takencare of my own room. Will you see to yours after this?" "I s'pose so. "Then there is the dusting and the plants. " "I'll take the plants, " Nan hastened to declare. "And the dishes on Mondays and Tuesdays?" continued Miss Blake. There was a pause. "If there's one thing I despise it's washing dishes, " cried the girl, her voice trembling with irritation. The governess looked down at her own two delicate little hands andseemed to be considering. Then she raised her head quickly, and said, without a shade of resentment in her voice: "Very well then, dear, I'll take the dishes. So here is the way itstands: You care for the plants and your own room and I'll look aftermy room and do the dusting and the dishes. " "You'll have more to do than I, " hesitated Nan. "No matter; if you do your share well, and don't neglect it, I amwilling to stand by my part. Is it a bargain?" Nan nodded grimly, and they shook hands upon it. CHAPTER XV A TUG OF WAR "Is Nan in?" asked Ruth, coming to the house one day in the very teethof a blinding snowstorm, and putting the question to Delia with a verydecided note of excitement in her voice. "Yes, she's in; but she's pretty busy, " replied Delia, showing theguest into the dining-room, where the bright logs were blazingcheerfully in the fireplace, and where Miss Blake, enveloped in a hugeapron, was kneeling before the hearth and polishing its tiles till theyshone like gems. She stopped to welcome the guest in her own hearty, informal fashion. "O Ruth! come in and sit down. I wondered who could be brave enough toface a storm like this. Why, it is almost a blizzard. Take off yourthings, dear, and get warmed. You won't mind my going on with my work?" "Oh, no! not at all. Please don't stop. Thank you. This is ascomfortable as can be. But then, one always is comfortable here. Icame to see Nan about something important. She's busy?" "Yes, in her room. But if you don't mind waiting a little I think shewill soon be able to come down, " responded the governess genially. "Then I'll sit here, if you don't mind, " and the girl settled herselfin an engulfing armchair with a sigh of satisfaction, her eyesfollowing Miss Blake from place to place as she tripped briskly about, energetically wielding her dust cloth and whisk broom and hummingcontentedly as she worked. "Perhaps you won't approve of the plan that I've got in my mind, andwon't let Nan go into it, " ventured Ruth, presently. "I can't fancy you suggesting anything that I would so seriouslydisapprove of as that, " returned Miss Blake, smiling kindly, but askingfor no further enlightenment on the subject than her guest was inclinedto give of her own accord. "Well, then, it's this: If the cold weather lasts we'll have elegantsleighing, with all this snow, and I want to hire a sleigh, just anycommon old thing will do, and fill it with straw, and all of us girlsand boys go off on a screamingly fine sleigh-ride. If it clears we'llhave a full moon, and I think it would just be the jolliest thing inthe world. Now please say Nan can go. She'll love to I know, and shealways makes things snap so, " pleaded the girl, fixing her eyes on MissBlake's face with a peculiar intensity of expression. The governess hesitated. "Oh, please say she can, " reiterated Ruth. "My dear Ruth, I can't say anything until I know more of the matter. You say you girls and boys are to go. What girls and boys do you mean?" "Why, Lu and Grace and Mary and the Buckstone girls, of course; andJohn Gardiner and Harley Morris and Everett Webster, and oh! all thosefellows--the ones in our set; you've met them all. " "And is there to be no grown woman in the party--no chaperone?"suggested Miss Blake. Ruth looked down and began picking a thread from the thumb of her glove. "Oh, of course; mamma wouldn't let me go unless there was a chaperone, "she replied after a moment, but tamely, with the ring all faded out ofher voice. "No, I am sure she would not, " the governess remarked dryly. "I thought of you at once, " Ruth began again with an upward glance thathowever did not meet Miss Blake's eye. "But then we all thought thatit would be too much to ask of you--to ride all those miles with anoisy crowd in the cold and night, and--so on, and so--so--just beforeI came here I ran into Mrs. Cole and asked her to chaperone us, and shesaid she would. " The governess laid her duster on a chair, and unbuttoned her apron verydeliberately. "Mrs. Cole, " she repeated half-aloud, as if speaking to herself, andher tone had something in it that seemed to call for some sort ofjustification from Ruth. "You know she's just been married, and she's as full of fun as she canbe. And she likes a good time immensely, and loves to be with usgirls, and it won't bore her a bit to go, and it's ever so much betterto have her than--than--some one who wouldn't enjoy it, you know. " "Is Mr. Cole to be of the party?" Miss Blake inquired, still with thatodd inflection. "Why, no, " responded Ruth, twisting her handkerchief into a hard knot. "There won't be room for him. But Mrs. Cole said it didn't matter inthe least. She says she often goes off and leaves him, and he has justas nice a time sitting home with his cigar and a book or something. " "They have been married, I think, three months, " Miss Blake commentedhalf to herself. "Yes, about, " replied Ruth. "And Mrs. Cole is just as gay and jolly asshe ever was. You may think that it isn't very dignified for a marriedwoman to--" "Oh! my dear Ruth, " interrupted the governess hastily, "I am notdisparaging Mrs. Cole, and I have no right to express an opinionconcerning her conduct, but I think--yes, I am quite sure that I preferNan not to join your party. " Ruth jumped from her chair with a cry of protest: "O Miss Blake! Don'tsay that! Think of it, we're going to drive down as far as Howe's andhave a supper and it will be such fun. We want Nan awfully. She'sjust the best company in the world, and if she doesn't go it willbe--well, it will be too bad. Do please say she may. " Miss Blake shook her head somewhat sadly. "I can't say so, Ruth. There are special reasons why Nan ought not to go--reasons that I canonly explain to her, but which I am sure she will understand. Youother girls have your mothers, but Nan has none, and that means thatshe has no protector, now that her father is absent, unless I can standin such a relation to her. Believe me, I do not voluntarily deny Nanany pleasure, but there are some instances in which I must. " "But it's going to be perfectly proper, " Ruth insisted, almost intears. "You don't think my mother would let me go if it wasn't goingto be perfectly proper, do you, Miss Blake?" The governess stood before the fire and rested her arm on the highmantel-shelf, tapping the fender lightly with the toe of her slipper. At Ruth's question she turned her head quickly from the flames towardthe girl with a compassionate smile. "No, " she hastened to declare, "I am sure your mother would not let yougo to anything that she knew to be in any respect not altogether as itshould be. " There was just the shade of an emphasis on the word knew--just themerest breath of a pause before it. Miss Blake gazed frankly andfearlessly into the girl's eyes as she spoke, and Ruth's lids droppedsuddenly as if she had been trying to look at the sun and it hadblinded her. There was a pause and in it they could distinctly hear Nan's feet goingto and fro on the floor above their heads, and her sharp young voiceshouting the chorus of some tuneless popular air, in her own perfectlycheerful, earless fashion. "Oh, Miss Blake, please!" quavered Ruth. If she had known the governess as well as Nan did she would have knownthat it was worse than useless to "tease. " As it was, she was aware ofsome force here that did not appear in her own easy-going mother, andunconsciously she bowed to it--but even as she did so she gave a lastwail of entreaty from pure force of habit. "Please, Miss Blake!" "No, Ruth. I can't consent to Nan's joining you. If she goes, it willbe in direct defiance of my authority and against my wish and approval. But when she hears what I have to say I do not think she will go. " "Don't think who will go?" demanded an eager voice, as Nan came peltingin at the door, having flung down stairs in such a whirl that they hadscarcely realized she had started before she was here. "Heyo, Ruth! When did you come? You're a dear girl to venture out aday like this! Who'll go where, 'you don't think, ' Miss Blake?" Ruth rose and began dragging on her gloves. "Hello, " she said, blankly, in return for the other's greeting. "Who'll go? Who'll go?" insisted Nan, tapping the floor with her footto emphasize her impatience. Ruth looked at Miss Blake a little sullenly, and said nothing. MissBlake looked at Nan. "You, " she returned simply. "I was just saying to Ruth that I am sureyou would not go anywhere against my plainly expressed wish. " The girl threw back her head with an unrestrained laugh. "Oh, now, you're bragging!" she cried breezily. "Don't count too muchon me. I'm a queer creature. I don't know what I'd do if I were hardput!" Ruth glanced at Miss Blake again as she buttoned her coat. Thegoverness' face was quite placid, but there was an expression in hereyes that was quite new to the girl and that she did not care to face. "The fact of the matter is, Nan, " Miss Blake explained, "Ruth has comehere to invite you to join a sleighing party to be given--what nightdid you say, Ruth?" "The first clear one, " responded the girl still sullenly. "The first clear night, " resumed Miss Blake. "All your friends aregoing, and it would give me as much pleasure to have you join them asit would you to do so, but--under the circumstances it is impossible todo anything save--" she paused an instant, and Nan broke in impatiently: "Under what circumstances? There aren't any circumstances! Asleighing party! Why, it'll be just magnificent and gorgeous! Ofcourse I'll go. Hurrah! Ruth, you're a dear to ask me! Go? Well, Ishould think so!" Ruth fastened her fur boa about her neck, and murmured something almostinaudible about having to hurry home. "Well, you can count on me, " cried Nan, flinging her arm about herfriend's waist and escorting her to the door. "Good-bye! Thanks heapsfor asking me! Las' tag!" The front door slammed, and the girl came back to the library with hercheeks aglow and her eyes flashing. "What fun!" she exclaimed. "Iknow what we'll do! We'll go down to Howe's and have a supper and ajolly good time generally. Mary Brewster and Grace and Ruth had it allplanned out for the next good snow, and I'd forgotten. O goody!" Miss Blake was standing as they had left her, by the fire, with herfoot upon the fender and her hand upon the high mantel-shelf. Now shetook them both down and turned to Nan, saying in a low, controlledvoice: "Nan, I want to talk to you about this party. And you must hear meout, even if some of the things I am about to say do not please you. "She kept her eyes on the girl's face as she spoke, and saw itsexpression change quickly from one of eager anticipation to one ofgrowing apprehension and then again to one of dogged opposition. Sovivid were these changes that she almost lost the necessary courage togo on, for she read in them that her task promised to be no easy one. "Well?" said Nan, tapping her foot impatiently, as Miss Blake did notat once continue. "Please sit down here, and I will try to say what I have to say asquickly as possible, " resumed the governess, drawing a long breath. Nan obeyed, but with a decidedly impatient fling of herself upon thelow ottoman Miss Blake had indicated. "As I said to Ruth, " the low voice commenced, "under almost any othercircumstances it would give me the greatest pleasure to know that youwere to enjoy this sleighing party with the others. If Mrs. Andrews orMrs. Hawes were going it would settle the question at once. " "Or if you were, " suggested Nan, with a curl other lip. Miss Blake's face paled, and for an instant she regarded Nan in a sortof surprised, hurt silence. Then she replied, steadily: "Yes, or if Iwere. But as it is Mrs. Cole, the case is entirely altered. Mrs. Coleis scarcely more than a girl herself, and--I say this to you, Nan, simply because I must--she has never been, to my idea, a lady-likeyoung woman. She has always been flippant and frivolous andboisterous; anything but a good companion for a number of impulsive, impressionable girls like yourself. " "Oh, pshaw!" interrupted Nan, impatiently. "There's nothing againsther at all. She's lots of fun, and a body'd be a great goose thattried to suit all the old frumps in town. She said so herself, andshe's married and she knows. " A ghost of a smile flitted across Miss Blake's face. Nan's emphasisreflected so directly on her own condition of unauthoritativespinsterhood. "If you and the other girls have no more careful a chaperone, one whowill be no more of a restraint than Mrs. Cole, I am afraid the partywill prove a rather uproarious one. And I cannot help thinking thatthis is precisely the reason Mrs. Cole has been asked to attend you;that you might not be under any restraint. I don't for a moment thinkany of you girls would deliberately take advantage of your liberty, butyou are full of animal spirits, and when you get in full swing it is alittle hard, perhaps harder than you know, to rein yourselves in. I amafraid Ruth has not been quite candid with her mother. At all events, I am sure that if Mrs. Andrews realized the circumstances she wouldthink twice before letting Ruth go. It is not only that I think Mrs. Cole will not prove a restraint; I am afraid she will intentionallylead you on. And if she does, I am afraid your sleigh-ride will bedecidedly unconventional. " "I hope we'll have a splendid time, " announced Nan, setting her jawswith a snap of her teeth. But the governess went on as if she had neither seen nor heard. "It is very important, Nan, that you especially should not beidentified with anything of the sort. It might injure you in such away that the harm could never be repaired. " She paused and Nanstraightened herself with a jerk. "I'd like to know why it's more important for me than for the othergirls? If their mothers think it's good enough for them I guess it'sgood enough for me, and if they can be trusted I guess I can. " Miss Blake hesitated, but only for a moment. Then she went on steadilyand firmly, but without the least suggestion of sternness in her voiceor manner. "The reason is simply this: You have not had the advantages the othergirls have had. You have had no mother; no careful, loving trainingfrom the first, and--excuse me, dear--your behavior has shown it. Howcould it be expected not to do so? People have criticized you, andtheir criticisms have been severe, unjust even. Lately you have setyourself right with most of your neighbors, but it has been hard work, and it has been only begun. It will still be hard work to keep theirgood opinion. If you want to hold a place in their esteem you mustearn it and keep on earning it. The other girls might do with perfectsafety what you could not dream of doing, because in them it would belooked on merely as a single slip; with you it would be backsliding. Do you understand me, Nan?" There was no reply, but the girl's bent head was answer enough. MissBlake passed her hand tenderly over the roughened hair, and for a longtime there was silence between them. Nan was thinking, and Miss Blakewas content to let her think. The tall clock in the corner tapped out the minutes with slow, eventicks. The fire burned steadily on the hearth, and the logs settled asthey burned. Outside the high wind raced madly around bleak streetcorners, carrying the snow before it in white, blinding clouds. Theair was so full of the swirling, eddying flakes that it dimmed thelight and made evening seem to have settled down long before its usualtime. Every now and then there came to them from the conservatory afaint, faint breath from a blossoming daphne, as though the delicatething were breathing out sweet gratitude for its shelter from the storm. Nan could not help responding to the quieting influence of it all. Itwas very, very different from the place as it used to be, and she feltthe difference and the suggestiveness of it more now than she had everdone before. Suppose the change in herself was as marked as this? Every one seemedto like her nowadays. They said she was altered and improved, and ifthey said so, she supposed it must be true. What, then, if she were toturn about and be her old self again? What if Miss Blake were to give the house its old aspect again? Ugh!It was disheartening even to think of such a thing. But granting thatshe were to let things go back, she couldn't undo some of theimprovements she had made? So it seemed reasonable to Nan that even ifshe let herself be as she had been for awhile, just to rest from theconstant trying to be good, for a day or so, the really importantchanges must still remain; like the dumbwaiter and the wall paper andthe frescoes and the woodwork. And, pshaw! Just going to thissleigh-ride wasn't going to prove that she was backsliding, anyway!Miss Blake was too particular--making an awful fuss over nothing. Mrs. Cole was all right enough. Lots of nice people knew her, and the girlsalways liked to have her around, she was so gay and jolly. And nowthat she was married, it was fun to have her chaperone them, for shenever interfered, nor was wet-blankety, like mothers and people, nomatter what was going on. In fact, she often urged them on andsuggested things the girls themselves would never have thought of, sothat wherever she was the fun promised to run high. It was too bad ofMiss Blake to have put the case as she had. It simply meant that ifNan went she deliberately disobeyed her wish and defied her authority. For the first time the girl seemed to get a glimpse of the tactful, tender way in which she had been guided. She saw that this was thefirst instance in which she had been put under definite restraint. Always before Miss Blake had left her seemingly to decide for herself, and she had never been aware of the influence that led her in the rightdirection. But this was different. This was discipline, and she rose against itinstantly. If she did not go on the sleigh-ride she would only be obeying MissBlake's injunction. There was no credit or virtue in that. Theremight be some satisfaction in denying one's self a pleasure if one feltone were independent, and that what one did was self-abnegating andlaudable. But if one acted under compulsion--! Pooh! Nan guessedMiss Blake thought she was a mere child to be ordered about like that. And yet, with all this, there was a strange unfamiliar tugging at herheart to confess herself willing to obey. She actually had to make aneffort to keep from doing so. She scarcely knew how it happened, butall at once she became conscious that she had shaken herself togetherand that she was saying, in no very gracious voice to be sure, butstill that she was saying, "Well, if you will have it your own way, youwill I suppose. There! I promise you I won't go on the sleigh-ride. Now, does that satisfy you?" Miss Blake took her hand from Nan's hair so hastily that the girllifted her head in astonishment. But the governess had neither the airof being angry nor of being wounded as she feared. She simply rose andsaid in quite a matter-of-fact tone as she turned toward the door: "I demanded no promise of you, Nan, and I give you back your word. Moreover, I entirely recall my injunction. Do as you please. If youdecide to go you will neither be disobeying my order nor breaking yourown promise. You are quite free and untrammeled, my dear. " Nan sprang to her feet. "Huh!" she cried in an exasperated manner, "I know what you mean! Youmean I am quite free to go and--take the consequences. That's what youmean. " Miss Blake paused but made no reply. "But suppose there aren't any consequences?" pursued Nan, biting herlip and scowling darkly from between her knitted brows. Miss Blake turned her head. "There are always consequences, " she said over her shoulder in a voicethat was very low and serious. CHAPTER XVI THE SLEIGH-RIDE The storm lasted for three days and then came a term of perfectweather. Under foot the snow was packed hard and tight into a compactmass over a bed of ice, and overhead the sun shone out from a cloudlesssky, while the air was so keen that it kept the mercury very close tothe zero mark even at midday. "How is this for high?" demanded Ruth exultantly, as she and Nan mettoward the end of the week, the first time they had seen each othersince that stormy day when the subject of the sleigh-ride had firstbeen broached to Miss Blake. "The weather, you mean? Oh, perfectly fine!" responded Nan. Ruth drew a step nearer to her. "It's all arranged for to-night. Not a soul has refused; every onewe've asked is going, and the sleigh is a regular old ark. We've goteverything our own way. Mike, from the stables, is as solid as a brickwall. The horses are perfectly safe and we're going to have footstovesto keep our toes warm. Mrs. Cole has telephoned down to Howe's to haveour supper ready, and we're going to have a simply stunning time. " Nan tried to smile, but failed, and Ruth was too full of her ownaffairs to notice. "We're going to start at eight sharp. First we thought we'd pick upthe party as we went along, but Mrs. Cole said it would waste too muchtime, so we're all going to meet at her house. I've so much on my mindmy head's spinning. Be sure you're on hand at eight. We're not goingto wait for any one. " "O Ruth!" faltered Nan, flinging out a detaining hand as the girl wasabout to go. "I'm not going. Didn't I tell you?" Ruth stopped short and gazed at her in bewilderment. "Not going! What on earth do you mean?" "I can't go; that's all, " stammered Nan, flushing hotly at the seemingweakness of the confession. Ruth stared at her blankly. "Well, I like that!" she enunciated at length. "Why, I told you, didn't I?" asked Nan. "Told me what? That you weren't going? Well, I should say not. MissBlake said you couldn't but you said flat down you would, and, ofcourse, I believed you. Don't you remember the last words you said asI went away that day were that I could count on you? And so, ofcourse, I counted. " Nan stood and regarded the snow at her feet in silence. "It's right-down mean to back out at the last minute when the party'sall made up and the couples all arranged and you've given your word. We've been awfully careful whom we've asked, because we only wanted acertain kind--not alone a certain number. Of course, we could get lotsof girls to take your place and jump at the chance; but we prefer you, and you'd given your promise. " Nan ground the snow under her foot until it squeaked. "I thought you were sick, or something, when you didn't come around, "went on Ruth, sternly. "I never imagined for a minute it was becauseyou meant to flunk and leave us in the lurch like this. If I'd thoughtthat I wouldn't have gone to all the trouble I did to save you a placenext to John Gardiner when Mary Brewster was fighting tooth and nail toget it. " The pinched snow squeaked again under Nan's grinding heel, this timelouder than before. "It's all nonsense, Miss Blake's not wanting you to go, " pursued Ruth. "Everything is as proper as pie, and if the boys get to carrying on alittle too much Mrs. Cole will settle them in no time. She's realdetermined when she makes up her mind. What under the sun does MissBlake think we are going to do? But that's no matter now. You gave meyour word, and you've no right to go back on it. Besides, it'll set usall topsy-turvey with our accounts, for if you don't go of course youwon't turn in your share of the tax, and we couldn't ask any one at thelast minute just to come as a make-shift and expect her to pay for theprivilege. The end of it will be the rest of us will have to make itup, and if you think that's fair I don't!" "I'll gladly pay my dues, " returned Nan, more meekly than Ruth had everheard her speak. "You can ask any one you choose as my substitute, andsay anything you please to explain my not going, and I'll stand by you. " This began to sound serious, and Ruth felt it was time to clinch herargument. "If you go out Louie Hawes will, too. Her mother said she'd let Lu goif Miss Blake would let you, but that if Miss Blake objected shethought it would be best not to have Lu join. She said she made Lu'sgoing entirely conditional on yours. So, you see, if you back outyou'll not alone be breaking your promise, but you'll be breaking upthe party and making a mess of it all round. I told Mrs. Hawes youwere going, and Lu's heart is set on it. If she has to stay back now, at the last minute like this, it will disappoint her dreadfully, and Iwouldn't blame her if she never spoke to you again. " Nan felt that she had been driven into a corner, and that there was butone way out of it. In spite of her strong desire to go with the girls, she had determined to stick to her resolve to stay behind. She hadhardly known why she had tried to avoid them all these days. But nowshe knew. It was because she was afraid they would shake herresolution. Once she would have called herself cowardly for trying tospare herself such temptation, but now she knew better; she saw she hadbeen simply wise. It would not have been brave, but merely reckless, to have done otherwise. She had known ever since Miss Blake spoke thatshe was free to do as she pleased. That she was held by no promise;that she was compelled by no stronger claim than Miss Blake'sdisapproval, which might be, after all, only a groundless personalprejudice, she thought. She hardly realized why she felt bound toobey. And now along came Ruth to prove that there were other claimsoutside Miss Blake's. She remembered perfectly having said that Ruthcould count on her. Here was a very definite promise, although it hadbeen made in half-ignorance, and she understood clearly that Ruth meantto make her keep it. Then, again, she was directly responsible forLouie's disappointment, and this seemed to her, as Ruth had intended itshould seem, a compelling conclusion. If she had been older herreasoning would not have stopped here, but, as it was, she perceivedonly two sides to the question, and this that Ruth had just presentedseemed infinitely more convincing than the one Miss Blake had tried tomake clear to her. Ruth's logic she could understand; the governess'seemed vague and incomprehensible. In one case she had been coercedinto making a promise from which she had later been absolved; in theother she had given her word of her own free will, and she was beingstoutly held to it. There were other influences at work, but Nan didnot know it. She honestly believed she was waiving all considerationsbut those with which her duty was concerned, and she thought she haddone so when she broke out with a sort of impatient groan: "Oh, dear! I never saw such a tangle!" "Well, " returned Ruth grimly, "I don't know anything about that, butwhatever it may be, I've got the strong end of the line and I mean tohold it. You've just got to go and that's all there is to it. " Nan gave a rueful laugh. She more than half-liked to have Ruth leaveher no alternative. It somehow made her seem less responsible toherself. If the decision were taken out of her hands she could not beheld accountable and--the enjoyment would be there all the same. "I wish you'd let me off, Ruth, " she protested weakly, as a sort oflast sop to her conscience. Ruth saw that she had prevailed and gave her head a triumphant toss. "Well, I won't, so there! And what's more I can't stand here wastingtime like this another minute. I have a hundred things to do beforeeight o'clock, so good-bye! Be sure you're on time for we won't wait asecond, and if you don't arrive none of us will ever speak to youagain, so there!" Nan stood dumbly stubbing her toe into a little mound of snow quite aminute after Ruth had left her. She had not even glanced up when, inresponse to her friend's last declaration, she had said, "Very well;I'll be on hand, " and her voice had sounded so flat and lifeless thatRuth thought it better to hasten off before the words could berecalled. When Nan spoke in that half-hearted tone Ruth had no faithin her strength of purpose. She walked home in a doubtful frame ofmind, wondering if, after all, the promise would be kept. But Nan had no such misgivings. She knew perfectly well that she was"in for it" now, but, strange to say, she felt no exultation in theprospect. "Oh, dear!" she snapped out peevishly, with a last vicious dig of herheel into the snow, "every bit of enjoyment is taken out of it, I neversaw anything so provoking, in the whole of my life. If Miss Blake onlyhadn't been so mean, I might have been spared all this fret and botherand been just as jolly as any of them. But how can a person have agood time when they know there's some one at home pulling a long faceand making one feel as if one were breaking all the laws. It's justtoo bad, that's what it is. " But Miss Blake neither "pulled a long face" nor by any other meanstried to impress Nan with a sense of her disapproval. She took herdecision quietly, and made no comment upon it one way or the other. But when it neared dressing time, and the girl had gone to her room toprepare, she tapped gently for admittance and came in, bearing in herhand a coquettish sealskin hood which she generously offered to Nan, saying: "It's bitterly cold, and I know you won't want to tie a comforter aboutyour ears. If you will wear this I shall be only too happy to lend itto you. See, the cape is so full and deep your chest and back can'tget chilled, and it is not at all clumsy, as so many of them are. Tryit on. I think it will be becoming and I know it will keep you warm. " Nan was at a loss for words. Miss Blake had none of the air of heapingcoals of fire on her head, but just for a second the girl suspected herof it and hung back reluctantly. Then she looked into the frank, honest eyes and all her suspicion vanished. "You're--you're awfully kind, " she stammered, hastily. "Try it on, " repeated Miss Blake, cordially. Nan took the soft, warm thing by its rich brown ribbons and, setting itsnugly on her head, tied the strings into a big broad bow beneath herchin. "It's not so unbecoming!" commented the governess, observing Nancritically with her head on one side. Nan looked in the mirror. What she saw there was the reflection of aflushed, excited face with keen, young eyes that were just nowunusually large and bright. Sundry riotous tendrils of hair hadescaped from their restraining combs and were flying loose at thetemples, and, framing all, was a circle of dusky, flattering fur whichlent a look of softness and roundness to the firm, square chin and roseabove the brow in a quaint, coquettish peak which was vastly gracefuland becoming. "O Miss Blake!" cried Nan, her eyes flashing with pleasure, "isn't itthe darlingest thing? And as warm as toast! I'll be ever and ever socareful of it. You're awfully good to lend it to me. But I reallythink I oughtn't to take it. Something might happen; it might getlost. " "Don't give it another thought, " Miss Blake said, kindly. "Just wearit and keep warm and comfortable. You must take the gloves, too. Theywill keep your fingers cozy. " So Nan set out looking like a young Russian in her borrowed furs andfeeling what satisfaction she might in the consciousness that she wasappearing, if not behaving, at her best. She found most of the party already assembled at Mrs. Cole's and as thedoor was opened to her, a loud chorus of shouting laughter met her earsand she was laid hold of by a dozen hands and dragged forward under thegaslight. "Pooh!" shrieked the chorus again. "This one's easy enough! NanCutler! first guess, " and she was released as hurriedly as she had beenset upon, while the entire company fell upon a later comer and tried todiscover the identity of the muffled, veiled individual before she hadeither spoken or recovered from the unexpected onslaught. "Well, Nan, " cried Harley Morris, jovially, "you're the only girl whoisn't muffled out of all recognition. We've had a dandy time trying toidentify some of them. " "I never saw you look so well, " declared Louie Hawes, generously, withher eyes glued to the fascinating peak. "Nor I, " broke in Mary Brewster. "Really, I didn't know you at first. That hood is as disguising to you as our veils are to us. " Nan flushed, but made no response. Harley Morris gave a low whistleand strolled off to join John Gardiner, who was standing before thefire talking with grave-faced Mr. Cole, and as he went she heard himmurmur under his breath: "Sweet remark! Oh, these dear girl friends!" It instantly changed her feeling from momentary resentment toward Maryto pity for her. All at once Mrs. Cole's shrill treble was heard high above the hum andmurmur of the other voices, crying: "Now, girls and boys, time's almost up! It any of the party's missing, he or she will be left behind! Prompt's the word. " Then, stepping over to her husband, she tapped him lightly on theshoulder and said: "There now, Tom, I'm glad we're going, for you're looking as solemn asan owl. Cheer up and have a lovely time with your book and that jollyfire, and don't forget to go to bed at nine o'clock like a good littleboy. " Mary Brewster laughed, and most of the others joined in her merriment. But Mr. Cole looked so troubled and stern that Nan, who was gazing athim from the corners of her eyes, saw no reason to laugh at his wife'ssally, but felt a much greater inclination to cry for pity of him andhis anxious face. Suddenly she was roused from her musing by John Gardiner's voice closeat her ear. "Nan!" he said. "Oh, heyo, John!" "I want to tell you something, " he went on, nervously, in a hesitatingwhisper. "From the looks of her, Mrs. Cole means to carry things witha high hand to-night. Hope we won't come to grief. Sometimes themotto is 'everything goes, ' and then it isn't so easy to hold back andstand for the things you ought to. I depend on you, Nan, to keep alevel head, for some of us'll have to act as ballast or we'll all gounder. " Nan's face glowed with gratification. "All right, John, " she respondedstaunchly, and then, Mrs. Cole giving the signal, in an instant theroomful seemed to fling itself helter-skelter to the hall-door, fastening boas and mufflers as it went, all eager and breathless to beoff. There was a deal of laughing and exclaiming, shrieking andprotesting as the girls were bundled, one after another, into thesleigh. "Is this you, Lu?" "Yes. O dear! I have lost my veil. No, here it is, dragged under mychin. " "I thought I was to sit next to you, Nan!" "Oh, that's all right, Mary's there, and it's too late to change now. No matter. " John Gardiner leaped up. "I say there, Mike, hold your horses for a second. Would you mindmoving down a place, Mary? Thanks! Mrs. Cole said I was to sit nextto Nan, and as we are all under her orders to-night I'm bound to obey. There! this is what I call festive! 'A thorn between two roses, ' eh?"and he settled himself comfortably between the two girls with a great, hearty laugh and a final "Ready!" at which word the horses started intoa brisk trot. Their bells broke into a silver chime; the sleigh sweptsmoothly over the glaze of snow, and the evening's fun began. Some one had brought a tin horn, and this was blown with such a vimthat conversation was impossible. But remarks and retorts were shoutedfrom one side to the other, and the tamest of them brought forth pealsof laughter. The heaven above them was densely black, and out of it flashedinnumerable stars like sparks white-hot and quivering with inward fire. But the wind that swept across the sky was so cold that it made it seemto contract and retreat and leave the shivering world an inconceivabledepth below. Swathed and bundled as they were, the girls very soon began to feel thedeadly chill in the icy air. "Nan's shivering like an ash-pan!" John cried out suddenly. "Hasanybody got an extra shawl or something they can lend her?" "Hush!" returned the girl, trying to control her trembling, "it'snothing; I'm all right. " "Pity she can't keep warm with John Gardiner beside her!" Mrs. Colesuggested. In the shadow Nan's teeth came together with a snap of disgust. Shesaw now what it was in Mrs. Cole that offended Miss Blake. She hadnever noticed it before, but it had been there, and she knew it. Johnmade no retort, while the others laughed and applauded. "Here, Nan!" spoke up some one at the other end of the sleigh, "here'sa cigarette. Take it and warm yourself before its genial blaze, " andit was passed along from hand to hand, its ruddy point glinting out inthe shadow as it went along. When it came to Mary, instead of handingit on at once, she held it a moment, then suddenly raised it to herlips. "Hey, there! Turn off the draught!" cried its owner merrily at sightof the newly-glowing tip. "Shut down the damper!" shouted some one else. "I dare you to smoke it!" laughed Mrs. Cole. Mary deliberately took a long puff. Nan leaned back behind John and laid her gloved hand impulsively onMary's shoulder. "O Mary!" she protested in a whisper. "Don't. Please! It'll make you sick. " But the girl was not to be thwarted. She shook off Nan's handimpatiently. "Mind your own business!" she replied, and took another puff. On they swept through the icy air, across the snow-covered country, amid the white night. The horn blew; the voices sang and shouted, andfinally the sleigh swung up before the hospitable road-house, whereevery window was alight and their steaming supper awaited them. It was harder to get out of the sleigh than it had been to get in it, for joints that at first had been limber and strong were now stiff andcramped from cold and disuse, and the girls made a sorry show, limpingand halting from the sleigh to the house. When Nan first gained theground she could hardly stand, but a little vigorous exercise soon sentthe blood tingling through her veins again and unknotted her muscles, and she was about to run gayly up the path when she felt a hand uponher shoulder, and looking round saw Mary Brewster beside her, her faceghastly and drawn in the pallid moonlight and her chin quivering weaklyin a manner that Nan saw at once was not the effect of the cold. "Lean on my shoulder and I'll get you up to the house in a jiff, " shesaid, in a low whisper. Mary clung to her, wavering and faint, without a word, and in theconfusion no one noticed her plight. Nan had fairly to drag her up thesteps, and then again up the staircase to the room the woman of theplace had showed them when Nan had drawn her aside and told her oftheir dilemma. "It's the cold!" gasped Mary, crying abjectly between her spasms ofmisery. "No such thing!" returned Nan stoutly. "It's that villainouscigarette. But never mind now. There! Don't think of anything butgetting better. I'll stroke your head for you. It must be achingterribly. " So she soothed and comforted the girl as best she could, and the kindmistress of the house came up every now and then with offers of helpand reports of how the supper was progressing below, and after a whileMary grew quieter and could do something beside moan and cry and wringher hands over her own wretchedness. "Nan, " she whispered presently in a conscious-smitten voice, "I wantyou to leave me and go down stairs. You've given up the best part ofthe fun for me, but you shan't lose it all. Please go down!" Nan shook her head. "No, you don't, ma'am!" she declared cheerfully, and Mary was too exhausted to argue the question. She felt deliciouslydrowsy and the freedom from pain made her tearfully happy. Vague, dreamy thoughts were wandering through her brain, and one of them wasthat Nan had been very kind to her. She had not deserved it. She hadbeen mean to Nan. She admitted it. She ought to beg her forgiveness. It was so good to be out of pain that she was willing to do anything toprove her gratitude. She opened her eyes and saw Nan bending over herwith a face full of sympathy. She put up her hands and drew the facedown to hers, her lip trembling like a little child's. "Kiss me, Nan!" Nan kissed her. "I want you to forgive me. I've been hateful to you and you've beengenerous and kind and--I love you for it. I'd like to be yourfriend--if you'd let me, after the way I've treated you. " Nan kissed her again. "Never mind that now. We'll begin all over, andI guess I can behave a little better myself. Now go to sleep and get agood nap before it's time to go home. " CHAPTER XVII CONSEQUENCES As soon as she saw that Mary had fallen soundly asleep Nan rose andslipped noiselessly down stairs. She had no trouble in finding thesupper-room, for she had only to follow the echoing sounds to be leddirectly to the door. She stood a moment on the threshold before shelaid her hand upon the knob. It seemed to her she had never heard sucha hub-bub, but as she listened she seemed to hear, over and above itall, Miss Blake's soft voice saying quietly: "If you and the other girls have no more careful a chaperone than Mrs. Cole, I am afraid your party will prove a rather uproarious one. " "Rather uproarious!" Nan smiled, as she repeated the words to herself. Then she turned the knob and pushed open the door. The clamor surged louder than ever, and for a second seemed almost tostun her. Dishes were clattering, and every one seemed doing his orher best to add to the tumult and confusion. No one noticed Nanstanding dumbly in the doorway, and it was only when some one's eyefell upon her as she took a step or two forward that there was a cry of"Hullo! Here's Nan!" and she was pulled to the table, forced into achair, and plied with all sorts of dishes and questions, until she puther hands to her ears and begged for mercy. "Here's some salad! Take this!" "The jelly's most gone and what's left of it is melted. But you'rewelcome to it such as it is and what there is of it. " "Where have you been all this time?" "We've been calling you every sort of a name for being so rude as tostay away from the supper. " "Oh, Nan had her good reason, " shouted Mrs. Cole, pushing back herchair and springing to her feet. "Come, girls and boys!" she cried shrilly, "it's getting late. If wewant to dance we'd better be about it. " Of course that led to a general uprising, and in a moment the wholetableful was swarming toward the parlor. "How do you like it, Nan?" asked John Gardiner, quizzically, coming andleaning toward her to whisper the question in her ear, as they stood atone side waiting for the music to begin. "Like it!" repeated Nan, "I think Mrs. Cole's simply--well, I'm sorryshe was ever asked to come. It would all have been so different if wehad had Mrs. Andrews or Mrs. Hawes or--just imagine Miss Blake actingas she has to-night!" "I can't imagine it!" returned John, emphatically, "and worse yet, Mikeis in no condition to drive us home. He's been drinking. I went outto see if the horses were all right and being fed, you know, and thereI heard about it. Mike simply mustn't drive. " Nan pressed her hands together and gave a stifled groan. "That's what I wanted to tell you, " continued John, hurriedly. "Itisn't safe to let him try and I'm going to take his place myself. Idon't know how long I can stand it, for it's colder than ever and Ihaven't any driving gloves, but I'll do the best I can and perhaps someof the other fellows will lend a hand. " Nan thought a minute. "I tell you what, " she declared at last, "I'mgoing to do part of the driving myself. I'll sit up front and when yougive out I'll lend a hand and we'll get through somehow. I've MissBlake's gloves and they are as warm as toast. " The anxious look faded a little from John's face, and in spite ofhimself he showed he was relieved. "I may not have to give up at all, "he said at length; "but if I do there's not a fellow in the whole lotI'd rather trust the reins to than you. Come! They're making a move. Get your things on as quick as you can and be where I can see you so wecan take our places without making too much talk. " In a twinkling Nan had flown upstairs, roused Mary and helped her toget ready and was hooded and cloaked and standing in the hall-way. Theothers came up one by one and presently the big door was opened andthey trooped through it out into the waiting sleigh. John gave Nan ahand and she sprang quickly to the place beside him on the driver'sseat. They started. It proved a very different matter sitting on that unsheltered boxfacing the wind to cuddling, as they had done before, among the warmstraw with their faces shielded from the current by the high protectingsides of the sleigh, and after a very little while Nan had to set herteeth to keep from crying out for the pain in her stinging cheeks. Back of them the rest of the party shouted and tootled and yodeled ascheerfully as ever. Every one wanted to know what had become of Mike, and as nobody could tell but John and Nan, and they wouldn't, thequestions went unanswered, and by and by the subject was dropped andonly occasional spiteful jokes made by Mrs. Cole at the expense ofJohn's driving and Nan's sitting beside him while he did it. Happily the horses knew the way home and were eager to get there, sothey did not have to be urged or guided. But it was necessary to holda tight rein, and John's hands soon began to feel tortured and twistedwith the strain upon them biting through their numbness like screws ofpain. He shook his head determinedly when Nan offered to relieve him, and at last she had to wrench the reins from him in order to take hershare of duty and give him a chance to recover a little. So, taking turns faithfully like good comrades, and exchanging never aword, they got the sleigh and its load safely into town at last, andnot one of the gay, irresponsible party knew how difficult anachievement it had been. Miss Blake herself opened the door to Nan and let her in. One glanceat her, as she stood huddled and quivering with cold in the vestibule, was enough. Not a question was asked. She was led gently into thewarm dining-room, her hood and cloak taken from her and her frozenhands briskly chafed, while on Miss Blake's tea-stand stood her littlebrass kettle, bubbling and purring merrily above its alcohol flame, andhinting broadly at soothing cups of something "grateful and comforting. " Nan let herself be waited upon in a sort of half dream. The agony inher hands had been so great that it had taken all her strength to bearit, and now it was going she felt weak and babyish. "O dear!" she broke down at last, with a gulp of relief. "It's been anawful evening! Mrs. Cole was detestable. Do you know what she did?"and then came out the whole story pell-mell: all told in Nan's blunt, uncompromising way, and giving Miss Blake a better idea than anythingelse could have done of just how right she had been in opposing thegirl's going under such chaperon age. She was too wise to say "I told you so, " and she was too sincere to tryto gloss over the probable result of the episode. She looked grave andthoughtful when Nan had finished her account, and her voice was veryserious as she said: "What the consequences to the others may be I don't know; I dread tothink. But I feel that at least you and John and Mary have seen thingsas they are, and will profit by your experience. You remember the talkwe had at Mrs. Newton's before the holidays? She said 'Experience isan expensive school, and only fools can afford to go to it, ' orsomething like that; you are no fool, Nan. I think you will see moreand more plainly, as time goes on, that there are some things that wecannot afford to do. We cannot afford to buy a momentary pleasure atthe price of a lifetime of regret, and we cannot afford to spend evenone day of our life in unscrupulous company. It costs too much. Wethink we have a very keen business sense, we men and women, but weallow ourselves to be cheated every day we live in a way that woulddisgust us if we were dealing in dollars and cents. Self-respect ismore valuable than momentary enjoyment, yet those boys and girls soldone for the other to-night. "As for you, I think you made a good exchange, Nan, when you gave upyour supper for Mary's sake. Love is a reliable bank, dear, and youcan't make too many deposits in it. It always pays compound interest, and the best of it is, it never fails. " Nan's lips opened as if she were about to speak, but she closed themagain, and sat looking into the fire very seriously and silently forsome time. Then the lips parted again, and this time the words came, though even now with an effort: "I guess you'll think it's no credit to me that I'm sorry I went. ButI am sorry, and I would be if it had been the best time in the world. I didn't want to go, really, after you said you'd--rather I wouldn't. I didn't, honestly. It won't do either of us any good for me to saynow that I wish I had done as you wanted me to. But I do wish it. I've hated myself all along for acting as I did. Now don't let's sayanything more about it--but--but--I wanted you to know how I feel. " There was an ominous catch in her voice that warned Miss Blake not topursue the subject. Nan could humble herself to apologize, but tofollow the abasement up by shedding tears on it was too much for herdignity, and she fought against it stolidly. But the governess knew her well enough by this time to feel assuredthat what she said was true, and she accepted the clumsy, halting"amende" as gratefully as if it had been the most graceful ofacknowledgments. "Dear me, " she broke in, in quite a matter-of-fact way. "Do you knowthat the small hours are getting to be large hours, and we are sittinghere as unconcernedly as if it were just after dinner. Come, let usboth get upstairs and to bed as fast as our feet can carry us, " and shepromptly set the example by extinguishing the lamp and helping Nan toshoulder her armful of wraps. "Oh, by the way, " she said, as they readied the upper hall, and thegirl was about to make return of the hood, "you may keep it if youwill. Accept it and the gloves, with my love, as a sort of recompensefor what other things you have missed this evening. " Nan was too overcome by the richness of the gift to make any responseat all for a moment. Then she blurted out awkwardly, though in a verygrateful voice: "You're so good to me it makes me--ashamed. You're always giving methings. It isn't right. You give away everything you have. " Miss Blake lifted her chin and laughed gayly over the cleft in it. "No, I don't, " she returned, tip-toeing to drop the gloves, like ablessing, on the girl's head. "I have one or two things which I keepall for myself. But if I like to give presents, do you know what it'sa sign of? It's a sign I'm poor. Poor people are always possessed bya passion for giving presents. It's true! I've always noticed it!Good-night!" And that was the last Nan heard about the affair from Miss Blake. Unfortunately--or fortunately--it was not the last she heard of it fromothers, by any means. It was a long, long time before it was allowedto drop. In the first place, Michael was discharged from the stables, and thisled to a vast amount of discussion, for the poor fellow, who wastemperate by nature, was thrown out of employment in midwinter, and hispredicament seemed a pitiable one to those who really understood thefacts in the case. Miss Blake, when she heard of the affair, had bidden John Gardinerbring the man to her. She heard his story, and then sent him off witha few kindly, encouraging words, and the poor fellow felt comforted inspite of the facts that she had given him neither money nor anydefinite promise of help. When he had gone she sat for some timethinking busily, her chin in her palms and her elbows propped on thedesk in front of her. She was still for so long that John and Nanstole off after a while and tried experiments with the kodak on someback-yard views, and when they came back to Miss Blake's room to askher opinion on some point of focus they found the place deserted andthe governess gone. The next day Mike was discovered sitting smilingly enthroned in hisaccustomed place on the lofty box of the livery "broom-carriage, " andhe vouchsafed the information to congratulating friends that: "Ut'sanother chanct Oi hav, though how Oi come boy ut ye'll niver know annymoar than Oi do mesilf, for Misther Allen was that set agin me hewuddn't hear a wurrud Oi'd sa'. But Oi have another chanct and ut'smesilf 'll see till ut, ut lasts me me loife-toime. " "O dear!" complained Ruth to Nan, "I never want to hear the name ofsleigh-ride again so long as I live. Everywhere I go, they say sosignificantly: 'We hear you had a very gay time the other night! Well, well! such things wouldn't have been tolerated when I was young!' andthen they make some cutting remark about Mrs. Cole, and I'm afraid it'snot going to be very pleasant for her after this, for none of ourfathers and mothers want to have anything more to do with her. Theysay her example has been so bad. And one can't have a bit of funnowadays, for we're all being kept on short rations to pay up for theother night. " But as the weeks passed the gossip died away and then every onebreathed freer again. Latterly Nan was filling her part of the household contract withconsiderably less ill-will than she had shown at the beginning, buteven now there were occasional lamentations when the day was especiallyenticing, and her spirits rose and soared above the pettiness ofbed-making and the degradation of dusting. It took her about twice aslong to get through with her share of the work as it took Miss Blake, and she could never console herself with the thought that it wasbecause the governess shirked. Occasionally she let her own tasks go"with a lick and a promise, " as Delia described it, bat when she sawthe thoroughness with which Miss Blake did even the least importantthing she had the grace to be ashamed and to determine on a bettercourse in the future. But before she really settled down to a stricterhabit of conscientiousness something happened that gave her more of animpulse than a course of lectures would have done. The winter had been a long and unusually severe one, but by March itseemed reasonable to suppose that its backbone was broken. Nan hadpreferred the care of the conservatory to the duller and lessinteresting work of dish-washing, and Miss Blake, in letting her takeher choice, had only exacted the promise that her charge was not to beneglected. Nan had, as we know, given her hand upon it, and so thematter stood. The governess never "nagged" her about her duties; shetook it for granted that the girl would honorably keep her word. And indeed for some time she was tolerably thorough, watering theplants and loosening the soil about their roots; sponging the leaves ofthe rubber trees and palms and picking off all the shriveled leaves andfaded petals from the flowering shrubs and keeping the temperature atas nearly the right degree as was possible with such varying weatherand their simple device for heating the place. But she found it was much more of a tax than she had first supposed. At the start plants had seemed so much more inviting than dishes thatshe had appropriated the care of them at once, and now that shediscovered what her selection really involved she felt almostaggrieved, and was inclined to be cross when she saw Miss Blake's tasksfinished for the day while her own was scarcely more than begun. "Provoking things!" she would declare as she dashed a double spray ofwater on the rubber trees that did not need it, and gave but a meresprinkle to the blossoming azalias that did: "if I'd known what anuisance you were I can tell you I never would have taken you! Here!will you come off, or won't you?" and she would give some wiltedblossom a vicious jerk that would set the entire plant shaking in itspot as though it were trembling with distress at the rough treatment itwas receiving. If Miss Blake heard her she gave no sign. Sometimeswhen they passed a florist's window she would stop and look wistfullyin at the bewildering display, and Nan would know that she was longingto go in and buy some especially fascinating orchid or unusually rarecrysanthemum. But she would not yield to her impulse, for on oneoccasion the girl had said with a shrug of impatience: "For goodness' sake don't get any more. It's all I can do to attend tothe bothersome things now. I wish they were all in Hong Kong--everyone of them. " [Illustration: "Provoking things!"] So since then there had been no further additions to the conservatory, and Miss Blake had to check her horticultural ardor or confine it toher window-sill upstairs. But the plants throve in spite of their ungracious nursing, and whenshe was not irritated by them Nan was very proud of the fine showingthey made. "I think that double, white azalia is one of most beautiful things Iever saw: so pure and delicate!" said Mary Brewster to Miss Blake, hanging over it in honest admiration one leaden-skied day when she cometo carry Nan off to her house to dinner and was waiting while the girlwent upstairs to get ready. "Yes, " replied the governess, "I love it! But then, I love all thedear things--even those poor woolly-leaved little primroses that havealmost less charm for me than any flowers I know. I'm so glad they areall doing so well. I can't bear to bring a plant into the house andthen have it die. It seems almost like murder. But now I must runaway. I have an appointment with my dentist at three. It is very goodof you to ask Nan to dinner to-night, and I'm doubly glad it happens asit does, for she would have to dine alone if she stayed at home, for Ihave to go out of town on business and cannot get back tonight. Deliawill call for Nan at nine o'clock. Good-bye, and have a pleasantevening!" and she caught up her satchel and was off in a twinkling. But after she had let herself out of the front door she came back andcalled Nan to the head of the stairs. "It's bitterly cold, " she said. "I had no idea it was so severe! Besure you wrap up warmly, Nan, and don't forget your gloves and leggingswhen you come home. Oh, and the plants! You'll not fail to look afterthem when you get in--the last thing before you go to bed? I think itwill freeze to-night, and they will need extra heat. Now, good-byeagain, and God bless you!" Nan waved her a vigorous adieu with the towel she held in her hand, andthis time the governess was off in earnest. The two girls followed her out not long after, and went laughing andchatting down the street. "I've asked Grace and Lu and Ruth to come in after dinner, and we'regoing to have a candy-pull. I didn't ask John, but I told him what wasup, and he said he and Harley and Everett had been wanting to call forsome time, and as I'd be sure to be in, he thought they might as welldo it to-night. I told him he'd have to 'call' loud, for we'd be inthe kitchen, and probably wouldn't hear him, and he said he'd see to itthat we did; so I suppose we'll have them too. " Among them all it proved a gay evening, and seemed unusually so, for oflate jollifications had been rare. As Ruth said, "they were all kepton short rations to pay up for the other night. " It appeared to Nan when Delia arrived that she had made a mistake inthe hour, and had appeared at eight instead of nine; but as it happenedDelia purposely delayed in order that her girl might have an extrasixty minutes, and when she pointed to the clock, whose short handpointed to ten, Nan could only shake her head, and say: "Well, Isuppose so--but it doesn't seem as if it could be. " It was so cold that Delia had brought an additional wrap for her, andthe girl was glad to avail herself of it when she felt the nip of thefreezing air. "Why, it's much worse than it was this afternoon, " she said. "If thisis spring, I'd just as lief have winter. I tell you what it is, Delia, it won't take me long to tumble into bed. I'm frozen stiff already. Ihope you locked up before you came out, so all we'll have to do will beto go upstairs. I hate to putter about in the cold. " It seemed strange to go to bed without Miss Blake's cheery"Good-night!" ringing in her ears. It was the first time the governesshad spent a night away from home since she first came to the house, almost six months ago, and Nan devoutly hoped there wouldn't be arepetition of the performance in another half-year. Her empty roomgave one "les homeseeks. " In order to forget it and to escape the cold, Nan cut short herpreparations for the night and got into bed with as little delay aspossible. She cuddled comfortably between her smooth sheets and softblankets and in a moment was soundly asleep. When she waked the next morning it was with a vague feeling ofresponsibility, as though she had gone to sleep with a weight of somecalamity on her heart. As she dressed she tried to recall it but therewas nothing in yesterday's experience to depress her and she ran downto breakfast determined to shake off the haunting impression. But allthrough the meal it clung to her and she could not get rid of it. Tobe especially virtuous in Miss Blake's absence and show her that shewas "dependable, " she took the dish-washing upon herself and gotthrough with it speedily. Then up to her room to set that in order, and then down to the conservatory to attend to the plants. It was just as this juncture that Delia heard a wild cry of distressring through the house. She ran upstairs in a fright and found Nanstanding at the threshold of the conservatory door gazing in andwringing her hands. The sight that met her eyes was a pitiful one. There was not one plant among them all that had outlived the night. The leaves of all were frozen black. CHAPTER XVIII "CHESTER NEWCOMB" "Oh, do you think I could?" demanded Nan, eagerly. Miss Blake considered a moment. "I don't see any reason why it mightnot be arranged. " "It's right by the sea and Ruth says they never fuss about clothes downthere. Just anything will do. " The governess smiled. "Nevertheless I think you will need a couple ofchanges. I have sometimes been asked to visit country houses where'anything would do, ' and I've generally found that it all depends onwhat one understands by 'anything. '" "I can wear a shirt-waist in the morning and in the afternoon I canwear a--a--another one, " announced Nan. Miss Blake laughed. "You poor child, " she said, "I do believe youhaven't much beside for the summer. " "You see, " broke in Nan, shamefacedly, "Delia didn't know anythingabout styles and I didn't--care, and so we sort of let clothes go. Itisn't because father wouldn't want me to have nice things. " Miss Blake took her up quickly. "I know it is not. And now we mustset to work at once to get you properly provided, for you are oldenough now to 'care, ' not necessarily about styles, but certainly aboutmaking a creditable appearance, and I want you to have a suitablewardrobe so that you may always keep yourself tidy. " It seemed to Nan that the wardrobe Miss Blake proceeded to provide forher was something more than merely "tidy. " The frocks were simple, itis true, but very dainty and tasteful, and in her new interest in themand the way they were made she quite forgot to complain at the extrainch or two which the governess caused to be added to the length of theskirts. There had been some stormy scenes when the winter dresses were beingmade, Nan insisting that she would not wear "such horrid danglingthings that were forever getting in her way. " She wanted her skirtsmade short, and if she couldn't have her skirts made short, etc. The skirts had not been made short, and these were even longer. Cladin them Nan looked very tall and womanly, and Delia realized for thefirst time that her "baby" had ceased to be a little girl. So at last the preparations were completed and the girl started off tospend a fortnight with Ruth at the Andrews' beautiful summer home bythe sea. Then came gay times. Early morning dips in the surf;clam-bakes on the beach; long, lazy hours spent on the veranda, whenthe day was too warm for exercise, and when it was cooler, fine spinsalong the hard, white sand, for miles beside the shimmering sea. Nan grew as brown as an Indian, for she scorned shade-hats, andoftenest had nothing on her head at all but her own thick thatch ofriotous brown hair. Ruth's brother taught Nan to swim, and she entered into it with so muchzest that to his surprise he found his only difficulty lay in trying torestrain her. Nothing seemed to daunt her, and whatever any one elsedid she immediately wanted to try. "The fact of the matter is, " young Mr. Andrews declared one day, "youought to have been a boy. You'd make a capital fellow. " "I know it, " admitted Nan, frankly. "I love boys' sports and pranks, and to think that all my life I've just got to 'sit on a cushion andsew up a seam. ' It's perfectly awful. " "Fancy!" exclaimed Miss Webster, a fellow-guest, and a young lady whom, by the way, Nan regarded with a good deal of disdain, because sheseemed what John Gardiner called "girly-girly, " and was flirtatious. "Fancy! Why, I wouldn't be a man for anything in the world! Justthink what hideous clothes they wear. " "Thank you, Miss Webster, " retorted Mr. Andrews with mock solemnity. "Oh, I didn't mean you, " she returned with an emphasis and a softglance of the eyes. "You really dress extremely well. I adore yourneck-ties and your boots are dreams. " Helen Andrews tried to hide a scowl of irritation. Alice Webster washer friend, and she disliked having her display herself in her worstlight. She knew her to be a warm-hearted, honorable girl whose gravestfault, which, after all, might be only a foible, was her tendency toturn coquettish when she was in the society of gentlemen. Ruth rose and beckoned Nan to follow her. "Isn't she a lunatic?" she demanded, as soon as they were out ofear-shot. "Perfect idiot!" responded Nan. "I should think your brother wouldjust duck her in the water some fine day when she's making thosesheep's eyes at him. I would if I were in his place. " "Oh, he doesn't care. He thinks she's lots of fun. Besides, he'sgoing away to-morrow, and won't see her again unless Helen makes herstay longer. " "What'll she do for some one to make eyes at?" "Don't know. Helen generally has a lot of company, but just now thereseems to be a famine in the land!" Suddenly Nan stood stock still. "What's the matter?" demanded Ruth. Nan waited a moment, and then bent over and whispered something in herear. "Magnificent! We'll do it!" cried Ruth, clapping her hands, andbreaking into a peal of laughter. "Not to-night--while your brother is here!" protested Nan. "Of course not. To-morrow though, sure. Carl will be gone and thecoast clear, and meanwhile we'll drill. " For the remainder of the day the girls were absorbed in something whichtook them to their room and kept them there, and they only appearedwhen dinner was announced, and the family already seated at the table. "Well, Miss Nan, " Carl Andrews exclaimed, "I wish you were a boy, andI'd take you up into the mountains with me and teach you how to handlea gun. " "What fun!" cried Nan. "Yes, it would be great sport, and I warrant you'd like camp-life, too. It's just the sort of thing that you'd enjoy. Only I'm afraid it wouldagree with you so well that you would grow an inch a week, andconsidering you are a girl you'd better not get any taller. " "O dear! Don't say that, " groaned Nan, "for I probably shall grow lotsmore as it is. You see I'm not quite sixteen yet. Do people ever gettheir growth before they are sixteen, Mrs. Andrews?" "Oh, sometimes, " replied the lady kindly. "I scarcely think you willgrow any more, my dear. But I wouldn't worry about it in any case if Iwere you. " "But I don't want to tower over everybody, " wailed the girl. "Justthink, I'm head and shoulders above Miss Blake now!" "But Miss Blake is a 'pocket Venus!' Just as high as one's heart, "said Carl Andrews. "I took her home the other night and she barelyreached to my shoulder. " "Then you and Nan must be about the same height!" said Helen. Nan made a grimace. "Good rye grows high!" quoted Miss Webster, good-naturedly. And thenthe elder Mr. Andrews, who was a little deaf, began to talk about thecrops, probably thinking they had been discussing grain, since he heardthe word "rye. " Early the next morning Carl Andrews started off, and the family wavedhim a vigorous good-bye from the veranda steps, and after he had gonethe different members of the household went about their own particularbusiness, and did not meet again until luncheon-time. It proved an unusually warm day, and when evening came the young peoplewere glad to sit quietly on the veranda in the dark and enjoy theheartening breeze that swept up from the sea. Mr. And Mrs. Andrews hadgone, as was their custom, out driving immediately after dinner, and sothe four girls were left to themselves. They were just laughing overRuth's description of one of Nan's exploits when the maid appearedbearing a letter on a salver. "For Miss Cutler, " she said, and handed it to Nan. The girl excused herself and hastened indoors to read it. A momentlater she called to Ruth. "It may be news from home, " surmised Helen. "I hope it's nothingserious. Her father is away; has been for two years or more. Ibelieve they expect him home this fall, " and then she and Alice fell totalking of other things and Helen was just wishing Carl could see herfriend in this mood, and know how womanly and sensible she could bewhen suddenly they both stopped talking at the sight of a man's figurecoming up the long pathway from the outer road. "Who can it be?" whispered Helen. "A tramp?" suggested Miss Webster. "No. A tramp wouldn't come straight up to the house. It must be acaller; possibly a friend of Carl's, " murmured Helen. The stranger came directly toward the veranda, but at the steps hepaused a moment as though embarrassed at sight of the two girlsunexpectedly rising to meet him from out of the shadow. "Is Mr. Andrews in?" he asked, in a low, shy voice, and Helen said shewas sorry, but neither her father nor brother were at home. To whichdid he refer? "To Mr. Carl Andrews, " and then it was explained that he and Mr. CarlAndrews were great chums. They-- "Won't you take a seat, " asked Helen, hospitably, and he accepted atonce while she introduced Miss Webster and herself and he gave his nameas Chester Newcomb. "Oh, yes; I've often heard Carl speak of you, " declared Helen, and thenshe had to excuse herself to answer Ruth who was calling to hervociferously from upstairs. "I'm afraid Nan has had bad news, " she said, anxiously. "Excuse me, please. I'll go and see what she wants and be back directly. " Mr. Newcomb and Miss Webster fell at once into an easy chat. That is, Miss Webster did. She rattled on in her least attractive manner, andbecame so absorbed that she only noticed how long Helen had been absentwhen Mr. Newcomb rose to go and she had not yet returned. "Pray don't call her, " he entreated. "She probably is very muchengaged. I--I am spending a couple of weeks here and shall be charmedto come again if I may. " Miss Webster could only in turn assure him that she--that Helen and shewould also be charmed, and then he bowed himself off, striding down thepath with a free, somewhat boyish swing, and disappearing at length inthe shadow of the shrubbery. He came frequently after that and the girls began to chaff Miss Websterabout her "conquest" for he never seemed to care to come when the restwere about, but chose such times for his calls when he and Alice couldstroll in the garden after dusk or sit and watch the sea and the starsfrom the shadow of the broad veranda. It was very romantic and Miss Webster wore a dreamy, rapt expressionnowadays that sent Nan and Ruth off into fits of laughter when theywere out of the range of her eyes and ears. "What a pity it is he can't be here to see?" gasped Ruth. "Oh, he sees enough, never you fear, " Nan assured her. "When one castssheep's eyes like that they hit even in the dark! Poor thing! She issuch a goose. Last night when he told her he was going to-morrow shegrew quite tragic and--" "O Nan! How could you listen?" cried Ruth in a shocked voice butimmediately after going into another spasm of laughter. "She quotes Shakespeare at him, " gasped Nan, convulsed with mirth, andnot a bit abashed. "You ought to hear. It's rich!" "Well, we must see that the coast is clear to-night for I s'pose shewill be particularly touching, and Helen is getting awfully hard tomanage. It wouldn't do to interrupt them at the last minute just whenhe was getting pathetic maybe. I wonder what he'll do?" "He'll be real dignified, " declared Nan, solemnly. "You wait. He'llbe eloquent even if he is 'only a boy' as she says. " So the two girls disappeared utterly after dinner, and when Mr. Newcombarrived he found Miss Webster quite alone, for Helen also was nowhereto be seen. "She hasn't been very well lately, " Miss Webster explained. "She looksterribly pale and anxious and I'm afraid she has something on her mind. Her headaches worry me!" and then she fell back into her poor, littleartificial manner again and sighed and looked sentimental and wasaltogether "idiotic" as Nan would have said, and their two low-pitchedvoices could be heard murmuring away in the stillness until poor Helen, who was really half sick with a nervous headache upstairs, could havecried with irritation and pain. She sat up on the bed when Ruth came into the room, and attacked her atonce. "I can't stand it another minute. It's driving me wild!" "Hush! It's only to-night. This is the last time. Don't make ascene!" pleaded Ruth. "I'll never get over it, " wailed Helen. "It simply is the mostdetestable thing I ever knew. In our own house too! If this weren'tthe last time I--" What she would do was never discovered for just at that moment a shrillscream ran through the night, followed by the exclamation in a familiarvoice: "Great Scott! My wig!" And Ruth and Helen rushed below to find Miss Webster in a state ofcollapse on one of the veranda settees and Nan standing over her, cladin complete male attire, and fanning her frantically with a curly, blonde wig which she wrenched by force from the trellis where it hadinadvertently caught. "I was just leaning back and being beautiful, and it got hooked on awire or something, and when I went to get up it stayed there and gaveme away!" she promptly explained. Then there was a scene. Miss Webster wept! Nan lamented! Ruth laughed, and Helen scolded, andno one heard a word any one else was saying. But after a time every one grew calmer. "O Helen! I've made such a fool of myself, " cried Alice abjectly. "How can you ever respect me again?" "Respect you? Think of me!" sobbed Helen. "Can you ever forgive mefor knowing it all this time and letting it go on? Nan, you wretchedgirl, come here this minute and beg Miss Webster's pardon. RuthAndrews, this is your work, Miss! See what you have done, and in yourown house, too!" But at this time Alice surprised them all. She put a gentle hand onHelen's arm and said quite simply, and with a touching dignity: "Please don't ask anybody to beg my pardon. I deserved the lesson!The girls needn't say a word. I--I--I am a goose, but I'll really tryto be better, and the kindest thing they can do is never to refer to itagain. " The rare tears sprang to Nan's eyes, and she grasped Miss Webster'shand in a grip that hurt. "You're downright fine!" she said, "and I'll never forget you as longas I live. " And then she had to beat a hasty retreat to escape Mr. Andrews and hiswife, who were just driving up to the door. But the secret leaked out, and she and Ruth were reprimanded sharply byMrs. Andrews who, for once in her life, turned severe and called themsternly to account, and it was Alice Webster herself who interceded forthem, and begged that everything be forgiven and forgotten. They were her devoted slaves after that, and Nan, whose fortnight hadbeen extended, at the Andrews' request, to a month, took especialdelight in fetching and carrying for her to the close of her stay, andin every possible manner making her feel how sincerely she regarded andrespected her. As for Miss Webster, she seemed like another girl. In fact, CarlAndrews declared that he had never known what a "good sort" she was andsaid he was mighty glad they had prevailed upon her to stay. He never knew why the mere mention of his friend, Chester Newcomb'sname should cause such a convulsion in the household, and when thatgentleman finally arrived, and the family met him for the first time, it certainly seemed strange that they should all redden and stammer asif they had been "awkward nursery children appearing at dinner. " Nan especially could not be induced to have anything to say when he wasnear, and when Carl discovered this he took a mischievous delight inforcing her into his company and watching her try to "squirm" out of itagain. Miss Webster took pity on her and in the simplest, most naturalway came to her rescue whenever she was being victimized, and by and byit became apparent even to Carl himself that "Ches and Miss Webster hitit off first-rate. " But at last Nan's visit really drew to a close, and, in spite of herreluctance at leaving these good friends, she felt satisfied to gohome--she did not stop to ask herself why. Town seemed very stuffy and tame after the freedom of the country andthe sea, but when Miss Blake asked her if she would like to go awayagain she replied: "Not alone, " and then blushed shamefacedly and triedto change the subject. While she was gone the governess had committed an extravagance. Shehad bought a new bicycle. "What under the sun did you do that for?" demanded Nan. "Your otherwas a beauty and as good as new. " "But it wasn't new, " suggested Miss Blake, lamely. "Pooh!" sniffed Nan. "I wanted this year's model. " "Oh, very well! If you can be as particular as all that! How much didthey allow you on the other machine? I hope you made a good bargain, "said Nan. "I didn't let them have the other machine, " hesitated Miss Blake. "Itdidn't seem worth while. Besides I may want to use it myselfsometimes. Won't you come down and see the new one?" Of course Nan did not delay, and she went into raptures over thebeautiful wheel, praising it generously as she examined every pointwith the eye of a connoisseur. "But it seems to me a pretty high frame!" she speculated, standing offand taking it in from a distance. "I wanted a high frame, " responded Miss Blake. "Seems to me pretty well up in the air for you, even with the saddledown, " insisted Nan, doubtfully. "You try it, " suggested the governess. "If it suits you it willcertainly be too high for me. " "It does suit me, " announced Nan, balancing herself by a hand againstthe wall. "You'd better send it back and get a lower frame. " But Miss Blake shook her head. "No, I like this and I'm going to keep it. But of course if it is toohigh I can't use it, and so--so--I'm afraid you'll have to, Nan. Youwon't mind, will you? I mean getting your birthday present this wayahead of time? I thought if we waited you'd lose the whole summer. " Nan flung herself from the wheel in a rapture of surprise. It seemedtoo good to be true. She could not believe it. Miss Blake had herthanks more in the girl's radiant delight than in the mere words shespoke, though these were genuine enough and full enough of gratitude. All through the long season after that, whenever the heat was not toointense, Nan and her wheel could have been seen flashing through thePark or taking a well-earned rest in the cool shadow of the Dairyporch, where a sip of water seemed sweeter than ambrosia and a fugitivebreeze more aromatic than any zephyr from Araby the blest. Sometimes she and Miss Blake took longer trips into the country, andthen the governess had to be constant in her warnings to her againsther reckless fashion of riding. Again and again she spoke, and Nanalways meant to take heed and then always forgot, and fell back intoher old way once more. "I can't resist such a coast as that was, " she would plead. "And if Igot off for every old man who thinks he has the right to the road I'dbe dismounting all the while. " "I beg you not to take such risks, " Miss Blake would rejoin. "Itsimply spoils my ride for me, Nan, to see you so reckless. Suchhead-long wheeling has nothing to recommend it. It is neither expertnor admirable. When you fling along so blindly you are merely doing afoolish, heedless thing and running serious risks. I am sure you willcome to grief some day. " "Don't you worry! I am as much at home in my saddle as I would be in arocking-chair. See me ride without touching the handle-bars!" And presently she would lose all recollection of her good resolve, andgo hurling on at a break-neck speed in the van of some skittish horse, or slowly zig-zag ahead in the path of some stolid coachman, causinghim to anathematize all wheelmen in general and this especiallyprovoking specimen in particular, while her watching companion held herbreath in trembling alarm. At last Miss Blake told Nan decidedly that unless she were willing toride properly she must give it up altogether. "I cannot stand this strain any longer, " she said, in real distress. She and Mrs. Newton and the girl herself were taking their first ridein company since the early summer. Now it was autumn, and the leaveswere turning. Mrs. Newton had just come back from the country, and Nanwas eager to display her skill, which she felt had improved not alittle since their neighbor's departure. The fresh wind, keen and bracing as it came from the sea, filled herwith a sense of new strength and energy, and she felt the effect of theinvigorating atmosphere in her blood. A scent of burning leaves was inthe air, and the indescribable suggestion of coming winter gayety. To-day the road was crowded with carriages. They thronged thefashionable drive, and lent it a peculiarly animated aspect. Equestrians and wheelmen were also out in full force, and the presenceof so many people set Nan's blood tingling with excitement. She tossedher head back, as the governess uttered her decision, with theimpatience of a mettlesome horse. "Now remember!" warned Miss Blake. Perhaps it was just this extra little warning that proved too much forNan's overcharged, headstrong spirit--or perhaps she did not hear inthe midst of the noise of hoofs and wheels about them. They were spinning noiselessly along the outer edge of the drivewayleading from the Park entrance to the cycle path, when suddenly Nangave a quick run forward and then made a swift dart for the other side, weaving perilously in and out among the horses and moving vehicles, dexterously dodging, veering, and turning until Miss Blake's heartthrobbed thickly from dread and her pulses beat heavily in her temples. "I must overtake her, " she cried to her companion. "She will bekilled! I must save her!" Even as she spoke her breath caught in a short gasp, and she turnedsuddenly rigid and ashen white. Coming up the road at full speed was a horse, whose driver, sittingclose over its haunches in his narrow sulky, was racing his animalagainst one similarly driven and urging it on to its utmost pace forwinning honor. At his approach a clear path was made for him by the turning right andleft of the throng--by all save Nan. She heard a man's voice shout hoarsely to her. The oncoming horse hadthe speed of a racer. A spirit of mad defiance possessed her. She steered straight as anarrow before her. Then, like a flash, she veered, dodging from underthe horse's very nose. She had accomplished her feat very cleverly. But alas, for Nan! Even as she sped on, full of the exquisite thrill of exultation in herown prowess she heard behind her the sound of a dull, fear-thickenedcry. Then a sudden confusion of voices and the cessation of rollingwheels. She stopped and turned. The onward sweep of the mass of vehicles had been instantaneouslychecked. The road was clear for some rods before her and in the centreof this open space lay--a broken bicycle. A little group of men crowded close about some central object on theground. Women were wringing their hands and weeping hysterically, andone woman--it was Mrs. Newton--was crying wildly, "Let me go to her! Let me go!" The circle of men upon the ground made way, and then Nan saw what itwas around which they knelt. She gave a quick, fierce cry of pain. The little governess lay quitestill and motionless. Her eyes were closed; her face was white asmarble. All her bright hair was lying loose about her temples--and itwas streaked with blood. CHAPTER XIX IN MISS BLAKE'S ROOM Nan never forgot that scene. It seemed to her afterward, that even inthe midst of the horror that almost stupefied her and made her blind, it had been indelibly photographed upon her brain to the merest detailwith torturing distinctness. She could see Mrs. Newton's drawn, livid face, and the stern, setexpression of the men who gathered about in knots here and therediscussing the accident in whispers, or arranging the best means ofgetting back to town. A doctor, who happened to be near at hand, hadsprung forward at the first moment of alarm, and he and a strange, kind-faced woman were together bending over the prostrate form betweenthem, while over all arched the high dome of the blue October sky, beyond them stretched the level road, narrowing in the distance to apoint that seemed to pierce the sea, and on either side spread thebranches of bordering maple trees, each shining brilliant and gorgeousIn the autumn sunlight. Presently, in response to a demand from the doctor, a low-hung carriagedrew out from the ranks of waiting vehicles, and into it was lifted, oh, so carefully! the inert form of the governess, and her head laidupon Mrs. Newton's lap. Nan pressed close to the wheels. "Can't I go with her?" she whispered. Her companion gazed at her blankly for a moment. Then she seemed torealize the question, and answered it. "No, " she replied. "Get my machine, and--and hers, and see that someone carries them back for us--some man will do it. " Then without another word she turned her head away, and slowly, slowlythe carriage moved and began its snail's-pace journey townward. Nan looked helplessly about her. "Won't some one take the bicycles home?" she pleaded. She never knew who performed the office. She never cared. She gavesome stranger her address without the slightest interest as to whetherhe was trustworthy or no, and then, mounting her own machine, she spedhome as fast as the wheels would turn. Thus it was that when the dreary little cavalcade reached home at lasteverything was in readiness for its reception. There was no difficulty nor delay in getting upstairs, and in anincredibly short time the place had assumed the air of hushed solemnitythat always seems to overhang the spot where illness is. Nan crouched outside the threshold of the sick-room and listened to thelow sounds within with a feeling of overwhelming guilt at her heart. She dared not go in. At last the door was opened, and the physician stepped forward. He sawNan cowering in the gloom. "What is this?" he asked kindly. Nan dragged herself up painfully, as though her limbs had been made oflead. "Have I--have I--killed her?" she managed to gasp. The doctor bent on her a pitying look. "Killed her?" he repeated. "I do not know what you mean. Do you meanwill she die? No, my child, not if we can help it--and God grant wemay. But it may be long, very long, before she is well. She has beenbadly hurt, poor little soul!" Then followed a term of harrowing suspense. Nights when Nan thoughtthe sun had forgotten how to rise--so long they seemed and never ending. The fever that followed the first season of lethargy raged fierce andhot for many a day, and the delirium that accompanied it was difficultto quell. It seemed at times as though it must burn the patient's verylife away. It was during these days that Nan learned how much she hadcaused her friend to suffer. What, in her moments of consciousness, she had never permitted to pass her lips, now in these hours ofdelirium she dwelt on and repeated over and over. It was of Nan, always of Nan that she spoke. Nan must have this; Nan must not do that. It was her duty to protectNan and guard her. She followed the girl in perilous journeys; shetried to guide her from dangerous courses. She betrayed her anxiouscare for her in every word she uttered. And then sometimes she wouldsay something that Nan could not comprehend. "Florence's child!" she would murmur. "Florence's child!" and then shewould catch herself back with a sudden look of fear as though she hadbetrayed a secret. "My mother's name was Florence, " Nan would say brokenly. "But I don'tknow what she means. She never knew my mother. " At last came a change, and then Nan was excluded from the room. "You might excite her, and she must be carefully guarded against anychance of that, " the doctor said in explanation. But Nan was almost too happy to care. The first sound of the low, sweet voice speaking intelligently sent a thrill of passionategratitude to her heart. How she and Delia plotted and planned for the invalid. How Nan madethe room to fairly blossom with the flowers that daily came pouring infrom all manner of strange and unexpected sources. "I never knew she had such lots of friends, " the girl said one day toDelia. The woman looked down at her with a flash of superior understanding inher eyes. "She's a wise one, " she said. "She goes her own way, and it's littleshe asks of any one and it's less she says. But what she does ain'tlittle, I can tell you, Nan. I know of many a thing she's done forthose who, if they haven't got money, have the grateful hearts in themto remember kindness and to love the one that shows it to them. Someday you'll know her for what she is, and then you'll never striveagainst her any more and you'll love her as many another has donebefore you. " The girl gazed straight into the woman's eyes. "I love her now, Delia, " she said. "I've loved her from the first minute--only I didn'tknow it some of the time and the rest I was a horrid--little--beast, sothere!" Oh, the happy days that Nan spent in that quiet room above stairs. Howshe grew to love it! The sunshine coming through the curtains andmaking great patches of mellow light upon the floor seemed more brighthere than anywhere else. If it rained, this place was less dreary thanany other, and in sun or storm it was the only spot that Nan felt hadthe power to quell her wayward mood when it rose against her will andurged her back to her hoydenish exploits once more. Miss Blake, lying back against her snowy pillows, had a look of suchinexpressible sweetness to Nan that often and often the girl wouldfling herself beside the bed with her arms about the fragile figure, crying: "Oh, you dear, you dear! how I love you!" and then the other, with avery happy smile would invariably answer, "And I you, Nan. " It was all understood between them now. Pardon had been humbly askedand freely granted, and there was now only the remaining regret ofimpending separation; the dread of the parting that was to come. At one time they had thought that it would occur within a few weeks'time, and the joy that Nan felt in her father's return was overshadowedby the grief she experienced in the coming loss of her friend. But now the date of Mr. Cutler's home-coming had been postponed. Hewould leave Bombay as he had at first intended, but business woulddetain him in London, and he could not expect to reach home until thatwas completed--so Mr. Turner said. Thus Nan had to reconcile herself to her disappointment and theindefiniteness of her father's return, in the thought that if hermeeting with him was deferred, why, so was her parting from Miss Blake. The weeks that passed before the governess was fairly convalescent hadbrought them well into November. They had been busy, helpful weeks forNan. In her thought for her friend's comfort she had unconsciouslylearned a lesson in gentleness and patience that nothing else couldhave taught her. Her voice grew lower, her step lighter, and the touchof her fingers more delicate. All this could never have beenaccomplished in such a short space by ordinary means, but Love is amagical teacher and he instructed her in his art. As the dear invalid grew stronger Nan tried to beguile the long hoursby reading aloud to her from her favorite authors, sage philosophers, wise poets, and tender tale-tellers. Sometimes she did not at allcomprehend the meaning of the pages she read, but Miss Blake was alwaysready to give her "a lift" over the hardest places, and to her surpriseshe grew really to love these serious books, and to get an insight intothe beauty of their character. Once in awhile she would take up the daily paper to give her friend anidea of "what was going on in the world, " seriously reading discussionsabout this "bill" or that "question" with absolutely no conception ofwhat the whole thing was about. One day, it was during the last of November, she sat before the fire inthe governess' room feeling especially contented and placidly happy. Miss Blake, safely ensconced among her cushions, was cozily sipping acup of bouillon. The room was very still. Suddenly Nan jumped to her feet, and, clasping her hands high over herhead, said, with a luxurious sort of yawn: "Oh--my! How I'm liking it nowadays. Things are so sort of sweet andcozy. Do you s'pose it's too good to last? Do you s'pose it hasanything to do with my trying to be good and not letting my 'angrypassions rise'?" The governess nodded her head, but made no other reply and after aninstant Nan slipped to the floor again, and, sitting Turk-fashionbeside her companion's knee, considered how possible it would have beenfor Miss Blake to have taken that occasion to lecture her on the pasterror of her ways. But she had learned that it was not the governess'way to preach. That nod was as eloquent as a sermon to Nan, and sheunderstood it perfectly. "Shall I read you something from 'The Tribune'?" she asked, after amoment's musing. And she took up the paper and began searching for theeditorial page. When she had found it she set about reading the firstleader that came to hand, quite regardless of whether it would proveinteresting to her auditor or not. The fact that it was unintelligibleto her seemed a sort of guarantee, in her mind, that it would beinteresting to Miss Blake. She read on and on until both her breathand the column itself came to a stop. "You poor child, " said the governess affectionately. "Don't readanother word of that. How stupid it must be for you. Here, take thisbook of dear Mary Wilkins. We can both of us understand her, and shewill do us both good. You need not victimize yourself a moment longer, dear Nannie. " But Nan, radiant with good humor, felt a sort of glory in just suchself-victimizing. She searched through the page for furtherunintelligible text. All at once she paused and read a few lines to herself. Then she burstinto a laugh. "Here's something about a man who has such a funny name. It's JamesMurty, alias Dan Divver, alias Shaughnessy. What a lastname--Shaughnessy! And why was he called alias twice over, Miss Blake?I didn't know one could have the same name more than once. It seemsawfully expensive--I mean extravagant. " Miss Blake laughed. "You are thinking of Elias, Nan. This man's name is not Elias. Aliasis pronounced differently, and is not a name at all, but a wordsignifying otherwise, or otherwise called. It means that the man hasgone under those different titles. And I don't think I care to hearwhat it has to say about the gentleman, dear. He probably isn't justthe sort of person whose exploits would make fair reading. " "Is he bad?" asked Nan. "I should gather, from his names, that his existence had been somewhatcheckered, " replied the governess with a twinkle in her eye. "Is it wicked to go under other names than your own?" Miss Blake flushed as she bent forward to place her empty cup upon thetable by her side. She was far from strong yet; the slightest exertionbrought the blood to her cheeks. "Not necessarily, " she said. "But as a general rule people whose liveshave been simple and upright do not need to live under an assumed name. Of course there might be exceptional cases--and there is a differencebetween an alias and an incognito. " "What's an incognito?" questioned Nan. "Why, if a person of rank or importance travels through a country andwishes to escape publicity, he often does so incognito--that is, unknown. He will drop his official title and take his family name orpart of his family name with a simple prefix. For instance, a kingmight care to be known as the Duke of So-and-so; a Duke as Mr. ----, whatever his surname chanced to be. That would not be wicked and itwould not be an alias. And sometimes people who are not nobles find itdesirable to remain unrecognized for a time. Take it for granted thatI was not, in reality, a governess at all; I mean that I was not forcedby circumstances to take such a position, but that I for some reasonchose to assume it. That I cared to come here and be with you becauseI had known and loved your parents long ago and wished to do my bestfor their child. Then suppose I did not care to disclose my identityto--to--people because of--well, no matter--I simply came here givingyou but part of my name--not the whole, why it might not be a wisecourse, but it certainly could not be called a wicked. " "Oh, how I wish you had, " cried Nan. "It would be splendid fun. Justlike a princess in disguise and things. Say you aren't a governess andthat your name isn't Blake. Oh, please do. It'll be just likefairy-stories if you will. " "How can I, dear, when I am and it is?" replied the governess, slowly. "I am no princess in disguise, I assure you. I am simply a veryprosaic little woman and your devoted friend. I don't think I couldpossibly discover anything at all resembling a fairy-tale in my life. But some time, perhaps, when you are older, and when--I mean, if wemeet again, I will tell you all there is to tell about myself--that is, if you care to listen. It will not be exciting--but you might care toknow it. " "Oh, I would, I would!" the girl exclaimed heartily. "But I hate tohave you talk of 'if we meet again. ' Why, we must, Miss Blake. Don'tyou know I couldn't live and know I wasn't to see you any more? It'slike the most awful thing that could happen to have you go way at all, and the only way I can bear it is thinking of how we'll see each otheroften and often. Why, my father will be so thankful to you for takingsuch care of me! I guess he won't know what to do. And when you seehim and find how good he is, you won't be afraid a bit. You'll just aslief stay here as not. He's the best, the dearest--oh, you couldn'thelp but like my father. " A soft hand patted her head in loving appreciation, but not one wordsaid the governess, and the two sat together in silence for some timethinking rather sober thoughts, until the sound of the door-bell brokein upon the stillness and brought Nan to her feet and sent her flyingto the balusters to peep over and discover who the late caller might be. "It's Mr. Turner, and he asked for you, " she said, coming back into theroom and bending to gather up the scattered news sheets that strewedthe floor. "He looked as solemn as an owl, and he asked for you in avoice that made me feel ever so queer--it was so trembly. " "He may be cold, " suggested Miss Blake. She rose and settled the pillows upon the divan. She would have toreceive her guest up here. She was not yet permitted to venture below. She and Nan stood ready to receive him as he entered the room, andafter the first greetings the girl was about to sit down beside herfriend when the lawyer said abruptly: "My dear, I must ask you to permit me to talk to Miss Blake aloneto-day. I have some private business to transact with her. You willpardon me for asking you to leave us. " Nan rose immediately with a smile of good-natured understanding, but asshe turned to leave the room she saw that the face of the governess wasdeathly white, and she ran back to her, crying: "What is it; oh, what is it? Are you faint? Let me get you something. " She was in a sudden bewilderment of alarm. Miss Blake gently put heraside, saying calmly, "Why, nothing is the matter, Nan. Nothing at all, my dear. I amstrong and well now, you know. Quite strong and well. You must notmake Mr. Turner think I am ill, else he will go away again, and I shallnot know what he has to say to me. I am quite able to hear--whateverit is. So go away, dear. " The girl obeyed, and the next moment the door had closed behind her, and only the sound of her voice from without, singing in happyreassurance, broke the stillness of the room where the lawyer and thegoverness stood facing each other silently. CHAPTER XX THROUGH DEEP WATERS Mr. Turner was the first to speak. "Sit down, " he said kindly. "Youmust not stand. " Miss Blake sank into her place upon the divan, but she did not leanback. She sat stiffly upright, nervously locking and unlocking herfingers in her lap and compressing her lips tightly, but asking noquestions--saying no word. The lawyer drew a chair beside her and slowly, deliberately seatedhimself in it. "You remember, " he began at length, in a hesitating sort of way, "thatI told you some time ago that I had some reason to fear that affairswere not prospering at Bombay. I wish to come to the point at once; tospare you all suspense. I am afraid Mr. Cutler is in some seriousdifficulty, and--" He paused. The governess leaned forward, and her breath came quickly. "Go on, " she whispered. "For some time past his letters have been most unsatisfactory. He hasseemed depressed and discouraged. What word I have received from himduring the past few months has been of such a character as to lead oneto form the gravest suspicions. His letters have been short andhurried--written, evidently, under great mental strain. And latterlythey have ceased altogether. For the last two months, ever since youhave been ill, I have heard literally nothing from him. His plan wasto leave Bombay in September. That he kept to his original purpose Ihave no reason to doubt. He was on the steamer, or, at least, his namewas on its passenger list. Of course while you were so ill I could saynothing to you of this--besides I had only my suspicions then. But astime passed, and no communication from him reached me I grewapprehensive. Within the last two weeks I have sent numberlessdispatches to him to his London address, but not one of them hasreceived a reply--in fact, no one of them has been delivered to him. The people there do not know where he is. I have cabled to Bombay, thinking he might have been detained there unexpectedly, but that, too, has proved of no avail. The Bombay house know nothing of hiswhereabouts. He left them as he intended to do in September, and sincethen they have heard from him as little as I. " Miss Blake's eager eyes seemed to search the lawyer through andthrough. He shifted uneasily in his place. "It is very difficult to go on, " he said, with a nervous, constrainedcough. "Quick! Quick!" whispered the governess. "Tell me everythingnow--this minute. Tell me! Tell me!" "There is little more to tell, " said Mr. Turner sadly. "This afternoonI received a wire from his London banker, and it seems--that--he, William Cutler, is--is--dead. " There was a low cry. Miss Blake had leaped to her feet at his words, and now she was swaying forward as though too faint to stand. Thelawyer sprang forward to save her from falling, but she pushed him awaywith both hands almost savagely. "No, no!" she gasped. "I am strong. I am strong. But--God pity us!My poor little Nan--and--oh, my poor little Nan!" She sank back upon the divan and buried her face in her outstretchedarms. The lawyer rose and went to the window. Outside the wind blew drearily. The bare trees showed but dimlythrough the gathering dusk. It was a bleak, cold outlook. Presentlydown the street came a man with a lighted torch and set the gas-flamesto flickering in every lamp along his way. Mr. Turner watched him until he had passed out of sight--then he turnedabout and came back to the sofa once more. Miss Blake had raised her head and sat staring blankly before her, dry-eyed, but with an expression far sadder than tears; the dull, lifeless look of helpless misery that has not yet been touched withsubmission. "Shall I leave you now?" asked the lawyer softly. "Perhaps you wouldrather be alone. I can come again--whenever you wish. Perhaps itwould be better for me to come again when you are stronger--better ableto bear it. " She turned her large eyes upon him in a sort of mute supplication. Allthe light had gone out of them now. Mr. Turner reseated himself andcontinued: "He died in a hospital in London of a malignant fever. No one saw him. He was buried within twenty-four hours, I presume according to the lawin such cases. Of course, I have no particulars, only the barestoutline of facts. Undoubtedly I shall receive a letter by the nextsteamer, giving details. It is all desperately sad--heart-breakinglysad. Poor fellow! So young and to die alone among strangers. " Miss Blake stretched out her hands supplicatingly. "Don't, " she pleaded. "Shall I tell Nan?" Mr. Turner asked after a moment. "Perhaps it wouldbe better if I should. You have undergone enough. " "No, no!" she cried. "No one must tell her but myself. But first Imust talk to you about--about--you know when I came here I had reasonsfor wishing her not to know who I was. Now I will tell her. There isno more need to withhold anything. Delia always knew--from thefirst--but she never told Nan and she never would have told. But thatis all over now. There is no need for secrecy any more. And I willstay with her. I will keep her with me always. She has no one elsenow, and I--I--I am free to do as I please. If--if he has left herunprovided for, why, that shall make no difference to her. I haveplenty and she shall share it with me. She shall never feel the careor want of anything that I can supply. Ah, Mr. Turner, I am glad Icame. It has been hard, but I am glad I came. " She broke down completely. Her frail figure shook with shuddering sobs. But she was not a woman to give way long, and in a moment she regainedher self-control. "I must have time to think, " she said. "Everything seems so changedand strange. I scarcely know where I stand. The suddenness of it hasbeen so horrible. I suppose he must have been ill for a long time--tooill to write. And by and by when they took him to the hospital he musthave been unconscious, and so they could not communicate with hisfriends. That would account for it all, his not writing nor receivingthe dispatches--and his friends not knowing where he was. " Mr. Turner nodded. Then he rose. "I will leave you now, " he said. "You are completely worn out. If youwill take my advice you will defer telling Nan until tomorrow. I fearthe strain will prove too great for you. " She smiled faintly. "Oh, no, " she replied. "I am stronger than you think. But the childshall not be told tonight. I will leave her in peace for one nightlonger. I will let her get one more good night's rest. Thento-morrow, when she is refreshed and strengthened by her sleep she canlearn it all. " The lawyer held out his hand. "This has been one of the hardest trialsof my life, " he said. "But you have helped me by your bravery andfortitude. I thank you from my heart. Good night!" and in a moment hewas gone. That evening Miss Blake bade Delia take Nan to the Andrews'. She wrotea short note to Ruth's mother in which she begged her to keep the girlthrough the evening and make her as happy as she could. She brieflystated the reason for her request. Nan knew that something was being kept from her but she never suspectedwhat. She fancied it must be connected with Miss Blake's privateaffairs, and she asked no questions. When she reached the Andrews' herexuberant spirits reasserted themselves and she spent a gay eveningwith Ruth, Mrs. Andrews leading in the fun and seeing that no onepassed a dull moment. They played all sorts of games, and then finallyBridget appeared with the crowning delight, a tray upon which atempting array of good things was set forth. How Nan enjoyed it! Sheoften thought afterward what a happy evening it was. At ten o'clockDelia called for her and she went home through the still night, thinking all sorts of merry thoughts. Miss Blake listened withapparent interest to her description of her evening's jollification, and when she had finished gave her an especially tender good-nightkiss, saying: "God bless you, my Nan. Sleep well, dear, and let us both pray forstrength to bear God's will. " The next morning after breakfast Nan discovered why Miss Blake had badeher especially to pray for strength. Poor child! She felt so utterly weak and helpless in her misery. Atfirst she could scarcely realize what had befallen her and she keptinsisting, "It isn't my father that has died. It is some one else. How can I feel that he isn't alive? He can't be dead! He isn't! Heisn't! Why, only yesterday I was expecting he would soon be home. It's some other man who hasn't got a daughter that loves him so. " But by and by she grew desperate in her wretchedness and then it tookall Miss Blake's influence to restrain her from really wearing herselfout in the abandon of her grief. But by evening the house was quiet. Nan's loud sobbing had ceased andshe lay quite still and exhausted, stretched upon the divan in MissBlake's room, with her throbbing head in the governess' lap. A tenderhand stroked her disheveled hair, a tender voice spoke words of comfortto her, and she was soothed and solaced by both. "Shall I tell you a story, Nan?" asked Miss Blake at length. The girl gave a silent nod of assent. "Well, once upon a time, " began the governess in a gentle monotone, "there lived two girls and they were friends. They loved each otherdearly. One was tall and fair and beautiful, and the other was smalland dark, and if people ever thought her even pretty it was becauselove lighted their kind eyes and made it seem that what they lookedupon was sweet. "The first girl had father and mother and a happy home. The second wasan orphan, having nothing to remind her of the parents she had lostwhen she was a baby but the fortune they had left her. She never knewwhat love meant until she met her beautiful friend. Then she learned. Oh, how those two girls loved each other! When Florence, the beautifulone, found that Isabel had no home she pleaded with her parents to takeher into theirs, and they not only took her to their home but to theirhearts as well. And so she and her dear friend grew up together likesisters, and the little lonely girl was not lonely any more, but very, very happy among those she loved. Well, time went on, and by and bywhen the two girls had become quite young women, the first morebeautiful than ever, the other a little less plain, maybe, somethinghappened that, in the end, caused them to be separated forever. "God sent into their lives the self-same experience and into theirhearts the self-same thought. It was a beautiful experience and abeautiful thought, but if it was to mean happiness for one, it must beat the cost of grief to the other. Perhaps it was because they bothknew this that neither of them told her secret. But presently it wasdecided which was to have the happiness. It came to the one whoexpected it least--who had the least right to expect it. It came toIsabel, and for a moment she thought she might accept it. But it wasonly for a moment. Then she knew that she must relinquish it. Itwould have been base, would it not, my Nan, to have defrauded thefriend who had done so much for her? And so she, Isabel, left thehouse that had been her home for so many years, and quite solitary andalone sailed across the sea to the other side of the world, and thereshe stayed for--well, over a dozen years, my dear. "It was soon after she went away that your mother--I mean Florence--wasmarried. Isabel heard of it and was glad. And later, when she learnedthat a dear little daughter had been born to Florence, she was happierstill. But then came sad news. Oh, such sad news! The beautifulyoung mother died, died and left her little baby girl behind her withonly the poor father to take care of it. "Then, after that, Isabel heard nothing more for a long, long time, forFlorence's good parents were dead and her husband and Isabelwere--well, not at enmity, Nan, but not at peace together. It was allowing to a misunderstanding, but that did not alter it. They were notfriends and Isabel was too proud to write and ask him whether all wentwell with him and the little daughter or whether she might perhaps helpto care for the child. And so years passed and then one day Isabelfelt that she could remain away from America no longer. All the timethere had been a great longing in her heart to return, but she hadtried to smother it and tell herself that she had no Fatherland; thatAmerica was no more to her than any of the strange countries she hadlived in; that her acquaintances abroad were as much to her as herfriends at home. But, as I say, by and by she could resist her desireno longer, and so one day she set sail for America--I think it musthave been after she had been absent for quite fourteen years--and oh!how her heart beat when she saw the dear land once more. Well, I mustmake my story short, Nan, so I will not tell you how it came about thatshe first heard that Florence's little daughter had grown into a tallgirl; that she was living in the old house where Isabel had spent somany happy years; that her father had gone to some far Eastern countryand left her in the charge of a faithful servant of her mother's whohad loved them all in days gone by. But she learned all this and morebeside and then something told her that it was her duty to go toFlorence's child and care for her and show her as well as she might howto be a noble, true, and lovely woman, as her mother had been beforeher. So she went to the little girl as governess and at first thechild was opposed to her, but by and by she--I really think she grew tolove her almost as much as the governess loved the child. And all thistime the father never knew who was caring for his girl because in theletters that went to him the governess was spoken of by but part of hername. She chose to live incognito, you know what that is, Nan, becauseshe feared if he knew who was serving his child as governess he wouldwrite to her in his proud fashion and say: "No; I need no one to care for my daughter for love. Whomever I employI will pay. You are a wealthy woman. You need not work for money. Myfew poor dollars are nothing to you. Besides--" "And then I think, Nan, he would have referred to the old disagreementand it would all have been very painful, and she would have had to goaway and been lonely ever after and have left undone her duty toFlorence's child. So she lived quietly in the old house with thelittle girl and the servant and all went well for a year andthen--well, then, dear Nan, I think I need not tell what happened then. But, oh, my dear, you are my own little girl--Florence's child and Iloved her, ah! I loved her so. For her sake you are mine now. Neversay that you are 'all alone' again. I have taken you as a sacredtrust. Come to me, Nan, for I am lonely too, I am lonely too. " CHAPTER XXI ANOTHER CHRISTMAS It was Christmas eve. Nan was sitting before the dining-room firecurled up in a huge arm chair thinking. Her pale face had grownwonderfully sweet during the last few weeks; the curves about her mouthhad softened; her eyes had lost their keen sparkle and gained a softerlight instead. She seemed to have undergone a complete transformation, and any one seeing the headstrong hoyden of the year before would havefound it difficult to recognize her in this gentle-mannered girl withher serene brow and patient eyes, to whom suffering had taught so harda lesson. Her black dress and her parted hair gave her a wonderfullymeek look. But Nan was not meek. She was merely controlled. The samehot passions still rose in her breast, but she tried to restrain themnow. This evening she was thinking over all that had happened during thepast year; especially she was trying to project her thoughts into thefuture, and to imagine what would occur in the years to come. She hadnot yet become accustomed to the idea of life without her father. Itseemed to her that he must be alive, and she often waked up in thenight from such a vivid dream of him that it seemed as though he reallystood beside her, and that she might feel his hand if she stretchedforth her own in the dark. It was difficult to reconcile herself toliving without the hope of his return; it was hard to convince herselfthat she must never look forward to receiving a letter from him again. But she knew it must be accomplished, and the effort would help to makea noble woman of her. As she sat there in the dim room, with only the fire to light it, shewondered whether anything could make of her as noble a woman as was her"Aunt Isabel. " In her heart she felt not. Aunt Isabel was simplyperfect in the girl's sight, and if she could ever have been brought todoubt her perfection, why, there was Delia to prove it with heremphatic: "No, ma'am! There ain't no one in this world like her. She is thebest, the generousest, the most self-sacrificin' soul on earth--thatshe is, and I've known her ever since she was a child. If any one wasto ask me the name of the woman I've most call to honor an' love, I'dsay 'twas Isabel Blake Severance an' never stop a minute to think itover. " And both Nan and Delia had long ago decided that while other womenmight be more beautiful, no one could have softer, sunnier hair thanAunt Isabel, nor truer, tenderer eyes, nor a prettier nose nor asweeter mouth. And Nan was quite confident that if one hunted thewhole globe over one could not find dimples more entirely winning norhands whose touch was so absolutely soothing and soft. But Miss Severance could never be brought to admit these importantfacts, though Nan often sought to convince her of their truth. She wastoo busy a woman to have time to think whether she were beautiful ornot. "Good is the thing, " she would say, in her brisk fashion. "If I canlook in the glass and see the reflection of a good woman there, I haveno right to regret that she is not a beautiful one. " Just now she was upstairs, busied with some matter of mysteriousimportance from which Nan was excluded. She and Delia had been shutinto her room all the afternoon. Nan had ample time and opportunityfor the manufacture of her own Christmas gifts, Aunt Isabel being somuch occupied, behind closed door, with hers. For quite a time now Nan had been forced to station herself in theregions below stairs, where she would hear the bell if it rang, so thatDelia might be free to give all her attention to Miss Severance. Evidently great things were in operation above. Nan wondered what itcould all be about. Christmas had lost much of its joyousness this year, but still therewas a little flavor of merriment left. Aunt Isabel had no sympathywith the hark-from-the-tombs-a-doleful-sound attitude. She thought itwas one's duty to be as cheery and hopeful as possible, and not to addto the misery of the world at large by forcing it to witness one'sprivate grief. She and Nan had their hours of tender mourning andsincere regret, but it was always Miss Severance's desire that nounwholesome brooding should be indulged in by either of them. So the girl tried to restrain the tears that would rise at the thoughtof these saddened holidays, and endeavored to bring her mind to bear onmore happy subjects. She thought of her plans for the next day; shemade a mental recount of the gifts she had prepared, and then, somehowagainst her will, her memory took her back to that morning when she hadheard of her father's death and listened to Miss Severance's story, andshe lived over again those intense moments when it almost seemed to herher mother had been restored to her in this rare friend. The simplehistory had a peculiar fascination for the girl, and she liked to thinkthat it was here, in these very rooms, that it all had been enacted. She liked to look into those books of Miss Severance's that had hermother's name upon the fly-leaf, and she liked to think that they weregiven to "Bell with Florence's fond love. " Miss Severance had several photographs of her mother as a girl that Nanhad never seen, and she was fond of looking them over and exclaiming atthe "old-fashioned" frocks and quaintly arranged hair, and wonderingwhether this happy-looking girl ever discovered the sacrifice herfriend had made for her. One day Nan asked Miss Severance as much, but Aunt Isabel had shakenher head gravely and said: "No, Nan, she never did. And don't think of that part of the story, mydear. It was no more than I ought to have done. You must not make apiece of heroism of it. I only told it to you because unless I had, itwould have been difficult to explain why I left her and went so faraway. " "Aunt Isabel, " Nan said, "won't you tell me just what it was you gaveup?" But Miss Severance shook her head. What the girl could not at all comprehend was the fact of any one'sbeing "not at peace" with Aunt Isabel. Aunt Isabel, who never wasunjust nor unkind, nor anything but generous and good to every one. She thought if she could have spoken to her father she could haveconvinced him that he was mistaken about Aunt Isabel. But that wasimpossible now. Her father--again the hot tears came surging up, andher breast began to heave. Suddenly she started. What was that? She jumped to her feet. Somebody was turning the knob of the street door and fitting a key inthe lock. At first it was her impulse to cry out, but she masteredherself and ran quickly through the parlor and stood bravely on thethreshold waiting for the door to open and admit the intruder. Herheart beat like a trip-hammer in her side, and the pulses in her wristsand temples throbbed painfully. She saw the door move inward, she feltthe rush of cold outer air upon her face, and then-- In a moment she was locked in two strong arms, her head was pressedagainst a dear, broad chest, and she was crying "Father! Father!" in aperfect ecstasy of rapture and a tempest of tears. For a few moments neither of them said a single word. They just clungto each other and wept--the strong man as well as the slender girl. They seemed to lose all other thought in the joy of the meeting. Thensomehow they found themselves in the library, and Nan, still sobbingfor very happiness, was listening to her father as he told her how, formany months, he had been ill, but had tried to fight it off andovercome it, because he was so anxious to get home, and he could notbear to think he might be prevented. Then, just before his shipsailed, and after he had enrolled himself among the list of passengers, and bidden good-bye to those he knew, he was stricken down and forweeks lay unconscious, between life and death, as utterly unbefriendedas though he had been in the midst of a wilderness. How he came torecover he never knew, but it seemed as though his great longing forhome gave him strength to battle through the dreadful fever. Then, almost too feeble to stand, he was taken to the ship and borne toEngland, his body weak from suffering, but his heart strong with hope. The voyage was a severe one, and before he reached London he had arelapse, so that when they entered port he had to be carried ashore, and, too ill to know or care what happened to him, was taken to alodging-house and nursed back to health once more by the keeperherself, whose son was the steward of the ship on which he had crossed. "You can fancy, Nannie, that I had only one thought all that time--toget back to you. The first move I was able to make was to the ship, and I sailed without having seen or spoken to a soul I knew in London. Then on board I met a friend, who told me of the report of my death, and I knew that you must have heard it. The people at the bank wouldcommunicate with Turner, I felt sure. Ah, what days those were! Itseemed as though we should never reach land. But we got in to-day, andyou can imagine that I have not lost one moment in coming to you, sweetheart. But how my girl has changed. Grown so tall and womanly. I'm afraid I've lost my little Wildfire. But the girl I've found inher stead is a hundred times dearer. " Then Nan clung to him again and they were very happy, feeling how goodGod was, and how very blessed it felt to be together. For a while they both stopped talking and sat quite still, holdinghands, while each heart offered up a prayer of gratitude. They did not hear an upper door open, nor did they notice a lightfootstep in the hall above. But at the sound of a gentle voice calling"Nan!" they both started up, and the girl's grasp of her father's handtightened, for she felt him suddenly start and tremble. She tried toanswer but could not for the joy she felt and the quick fear of thisother loss she would have to suffer now. "Nan!" Still the girl could not reply, though she tried, and her father's facehad grown rigid and white, as though it were carved in marble. Then down the stairs and through the hall came Aunt Isabel, stopping atthe threshold of the dining-room door for a moment to accustom her eyesto the dimness within. There she stood--the bright light from the hall lamp falling full uponher head and the ruddy glow of the fire illuminating her face. Nan caught up her father's hand, for she felt him suddenly shrink andfalter. The little figure in the doorway neither stirred or moved. For an instant there was perfect silence in the room, and then Nan sawher father stride forward with a look of the most wonderful happinessupon his face, and heard him utter one word in a tone that set herheart to beating. "Bell!" And somehow then she knew it all. In one brief flash she read thewhole story, and she saw that it was to be completed at last, and thatthe loss she had feared she would not know at all, but somethinginfinitely happier and more sweet. THE END