Chapter VII: How Eldorado Ann Was Scared

THE beginning of summer found "the flock" making other plans than their usual ones; for Mrs. Lewis begged to retain the house in Roseville another year. And since Archie could not be with them, it was decided that they should all remain in or near New York till the very warm weather, and then take two months at the sea-shore. This arrangement pleased Mr. Smith mightily, and Archie, also; for Lyndehurst was easily reached, and thither they all repaired very often until July came in and drove them to a cooler place.

"We shall have to do something about Eldorado Ann," announced Miss Nelson, one morning. "Mrs. Lewis writes that the child is so disappointed at our failure to return that she is miserable, and cannot be made to take an interest in her work, so that she is utterly useless. What can we do?"

"She is your special 'protégée,' Theo," said Val; "lend auntie your wits."

"I should not like to bring her here," replied Theo; "it is no place for her; and we do not need her, living as we do. Help me out, Val."

Val looked thoughtfully out of the window; then she exclaimed, "I'll ask the Colonel; perhaps Mrs. Barton can find her of use!"

"The Colonel" was always Val's refuge when all else failed, and the old man repaid the confidence placed in him by always being equal to the emergency, and by professing an interest in matters heretofore entirely foreign to his taste. So, as often before, he now rose to the occasion and promised to place Eldorado Ann under Mrs. Barton's wing. Tommy Reed, Eldorado Ann's brother, was still in Mr. Smith's employ, and, from being an utterly wild, uncontrolled urchin, was developing energy and ability under the training of old David, the gardener.

"We will keep Eldorado Ann here for a few days and show her the city," said Theo. "We can take her up to Lyndehurst next Saturday when we go."

"Almost all the winter people have left the house," observed Val, one morning. "There are some new people in the rooms below. I saw the trunks going in as I came up-stairs yesterday."

"Doesn't it seem funny not to know your next-door neighbor?" said Theo. "In Roseville we know every one,—from the oldest inhabitant down to the newest baby. I think I like home best, auntie."

"Can't you see Eldorado Ann's round-eyed astonishment?" remarked Val. "When will she come?"

"To-day, probably," replied Miss Nelson. "Mrs. Lewis wrote that an opportunity would occur this week for sending her in old Mr. Collins's care, in that case she may come at any time. Mr. Collins will deliver her safely here. So we need not meet her; in fact, we could not very well, unless they sent a despatch, for it is a little uncertain when they will leave."

"And we are all going out to-day," said Theo.

"Never mind," returned Miss Nelson. "Mrs. Joy can let her into our rooms, and she will be quite safe till we return."

That afternoon Eldorado Ann did arrive, and was ushered into the studio to await the return of some of the family. The little girl, who was about fourteen and quite small for her age, had never before been out of her native village. The bustle and excitement of a big city had already filled her with awe and amazement, so she was ready for all sorts of surprises.

As the door of the studio closed behind her, she looked around, and, seeing a figure seated at a little distance, she went timidly towards it. Dropping a courtesy, she said "Howdy, ma'am?" but the figure did not stir.

Eldorado Ann approached nearer. "Maybe she's deef," she said to herself, and, raising her voice, she again said, "Howdy, ma'am?"

No response. Eldorado Ann stepped a little to one side to meet the bland smile and fixed eyes of a lay figure which Nannie had borrowed from an artist friend.

The little girl stood still for a moment, and then went off a step or two. "Ef she ain't deef, she's blind with them starey eyes," she said. "Lady, ma'am, where is Miss Theo?"

No answer reaching her, the little girl went up closer and laid a finger on the cheek turned towards her. Then with a leap, she sprang away and retreated to the farthest corner of the room, her astonished eyes gazing at the serenely smiling face still turned immovably in her direction.

"That beats me. I believe it's only a figgur," said Eldorado Ann, and she sat down as far away as possible from the object of her astonishment, not yet being quite sure whether it was alive or not.

At that moment, from the room below, came terrifying sounds, short gasps of "Oh! Oh! Oh!" then long-drawn groans, next a voice rapidly speaking, rising higher and higher till it reached a wail of agony. A moment's pause,—then a shriek.

Eldorado Ann, with dilated eyes, faced the lay figure with its unalterable regard fixed upon her.

Again from below came the agonized voice, and then Eldorado Ann could stand it no longer. Opening the door, she rushed precipitately out into the hall and down the stairs, crying, "Help! Help! Somebody's being murdered!"

Fortunately, Theo, just coming up, met the excited child.

"Why, Eldorado Ann!" she exclaimed. "What is the matter?"

With her dear Miss Theo at hand, Eldorado Ann felt safe; but she burst into tears.

"Oh, Miss Theo," she cried, "take me away. This is an awful place. There's crazy people here, or people getting murdered. And that lady up-stairs. I don't know whether she's dead or not. I've looked at her so steady, and oncet she looked like she winked."

For a moment, Theo was puzzled. But as she entered the room, she caught sight of the lay figure, and partly understood the cause of the little maid's excitement. Then, as she recognized the sounds coming from the room below, she burst out laughing.

"I don't wonder you were scared, you poor child," she said. "I was mystified myself at first. That is only some one practising elocution."

"What's that?" asked Eldorado Ann, now recovering from her fright.

"Why, some one learning to 'speak a piece,'" explained Theo. "It is all right. You thought you had come to a dreadful place, didn't you, Eldorado Ann? Never mind: it is nothing at all. Come here and see this lady who has been staring at you." And Theo led the little girl up to the lay figure, explaining its use, and showing Nannie's study of the drapery worn by the "staring lady." "We call her ''Liza Jane,'" said Theo. "She is very amiable; so don't be afraid any more."

Eldorado Ann was much amused. And when, one day, Theo pointed out to her the gentle, meek-looking girl who had given such terrifying shrieks, she was no longer alarmed at anything that went on in that house, and enjoyed her stay hugely, while her remarks gave the girls much amusement, they were so naïve and spontaneous.

"This is a great experience for Eldorado Ann," said Archie. "I wonder what she will think of Tommy; he has grown so in the past four years."

Tommy proved himself to be an object of great admiration to Eldorado Ann, who viewed him with intense pride.

"He's mos' a gentleman, ain't he, Miss Theo?" she said. "An' he says some day me an' him'll keep house together."

That a member of her own family showed any real signs of respectability gave the little maid more self-respect than she had ever known; and that Tommy, the scapegrace, should give promise of amounting to something delighted her beyond measure.

"Ma wouldn't know him, an' pop 'ud be ashamed of hisself, settin' there doin' nothin'," she declared to Theo.

Theo had her own private views on the subject, and doubted if anything could make "pop" ashamed of himself; since almost everything that could have appealed to his lazy nature had come his way. As for poor Mrs. Reed, though her intentions were good, her fulfilment of them failed miserably, as the down-at-heel appearance of their dwelling indicated.

"I think we have the pick of the brood," said Archie, looking at Tommy and Eldorado Ann happily talking together. "There comes a carriage, Theo. Callers, do you suppose?"

"It is some of the Parkhursts," said Val, looking over his shoulder. "Fanny and Jamie, and—no, that is all. I thought I saw Felix."

"The flock" had arrived at Lyndehurst on Friday evening, and this was Saturday. The Parkhurst residence was not far away; it having been the scene of Theo's first independent effort was more or less interesting to them all, though the family was not a specially attractive one to "the flock."

Since Felix had discovered that neither Val nor Theo were disposed to regard him with distinct favor, he had turned his attention in other directions, and the girls had seen little of him in the past few months.

"I shall be very glad to see Jamie," said Theo, as she watched the carriage come up the drive; "and Fan, too, for that matter: naughty, elfish little creature though she was. I think no one quite understood her, and I believe she will yet develop into a fine woman.

"Why, bless you, Jamie, how you have grown," was her greeting to the curly-headed little fellow who ran up the steps to meet her; "and Fan, too," and she held out her hand to the tall, awkward girl. "I am so glad to see you both."

"We came near not coming," announced Fan, in her old gruff way. "Felix wanted the horses; he's a nasty, selfish wretch."

"Why, Fan!" and Theo felt herself blushing, just why she could not have told. "Come, suppose we sit here," she suggested; "it is so lovely out-of-doors these June days," and she drew the children to her side.

Jamie looked up fondly, and Fan allowed herself a caress.

"I told Felix I'd pay him back," Fan went on. "I told him, if he didn't let us come with the horses, that I'd walk over here and tell you all about him."

"Don't talk so," remonstrated Theo. "Since you did come with the horses, it isn't fair; and besides, when he is not here to defend himself, it is not nice of you."

"Oh, Miss Nelson," said Fan, "I believe I could be a good girl if I had you with me. Won't you come back?"

Theo shook her head. "I'm afraid you mustn't expect it," she replied. "Now, tell me all about everybody."

And the children launched forth into an account of their usual proceedings. Fan's pranks were evidently as pronounced as ever, and her wilfulness as decided a trait.

"I'm Miss Parkhurst, now that Leonore is married. You haven't seen Leonore, have you, Miss Nelson, since she became Mrs. Tucker? I don't see how she could marry such a sap-head. I don't like men, anyhow," Fan declared. "Albert Tucker is a fool, and Felix is a conceited, selfish pig. Eugene is going to be a dunderheaded yard-stick; he doesn't care for anything but dollars and cents. Jamie is the only one I care for. Pinkey is a stuck-up little minx, and—"

"Fan! Fan!" Theo kept interrupting, trying in vain to stop the tirade, and finally she placed her hand gently over Fan's lips. "I cannot allow myself to listen to you," she said.

"Oh, do let me," begged Fan, possessing herself of the hand. "I am kept so bottled up. I have to let out my feelings sometimes, and 'you' never thought I was wicked to want to run and romp, and 'you' never called fairy tales silly stuff."

Theo laid her hand softly on Fan's thick hair, for Fan had thrown aside her hat and was sitting on a lower step, leaning her head against Theo's knee.

"Shall I tell you a story?" asked Theo.

"Oh, please, just as you used to do: just a real, little old-fashioned fairy tale, the kind I used to love."

And Theo began,—

"Once there was a little princess who lived in a big castle. She was half blind and half dumb and half deaf, and had a hump on her back that made it very hard for her to get along; so she was very unhappy, and there seemed to be no way for her to be relieved from all this trouble. But one day there came a poor little fairy to her, not a very wise nor a powerful fairy, but just a plain little creature whom we will call Apple-Blossom."

Why did there come a little catch in Theo's voice as she remembered a Sabbath-day, years before, when she had stood looking up into the apple-trees, drifting their blossoms down upon her?

"Go on," came Jamie's voice, as Theo paused.

"Well," continued Theo, "the little apple-tree fairy said to the princess, 'You need not be always half blind and half deaf and half dumb, and you may one day be rid of that hump you wear, for there will come a little prince to help you; he is very near you now, only you do not see him nor hear him.'

"Then the fairy flew away and whispered to the little prince, who was not far off, 'Go and stand at the right side of the Princess Fancy, and show her how beautiful the world is. Teach her to look up instead of down, show her the sky and the trees and the flowers instead of the worms and the mud and the thorns, then her right eye will open, and she will be able to see so much that has been invisible to her. Then take this little book, and sing these songs into her right ear, and, after a while, instead of the discords she now imagines she hears, she will hear sweet sounds. Then kiss her softly on the right side of her mouth, and she will speak as she ought, not in stammering, broken words, but clearly, as a free creature. Then, when you have done all this, walk before her, so courageously, in such a straight, upright way, that she will gain strength from seeing you. Then put your shoulder under the hump she wears, and, after a while, it will fall off.'"

Theo stopped. Jamie was regarding her wistfully, and Fan was knitting her brows in an earnest endeavor to puzzle out the story.

"Do you understand, little prince?" whispered Theo, leaning down to the child at her side.

Jamie's arms clasped her neck, and he whispered back, "Am I the little prince? Am I, Miss Theo?"

"You can be," she returned, very softly; "and I will give you the little book to read to the princess."

"Fairy Apple-Blossom? I am beginning to understand," said Fan; "but he is a very little prince," she continued, whimsically, regarding her small brother.

"He has a big heart," answered Theo, "and he has found out many, many beautiful secrets. I discovered that long ago. I am sure he can help you to see what a fair world it is, and you can love each other and live for each other, so you will always be able to find sympathy and affection. Don't pity yourself too much Fan; you have so much to live for, and if you will try to do everything you can for Jamie, and if Jamie will try to do everything he can for you, I am sure you can be very happy in each other."

"There is one thing, Miss Fairy Apple-Blossom," said Fan; "one thing that I wish you would do. I wish you would see mamma, and tell her that it doesn't hurt me to play boys' plays, and to run and romp. I shall go raving crazy if I have to sit still the rest of my life. I will try very hard to be a lady in company; but, Miss Theo, it won't hurt me to play ball, and to skate, and to go about like the boys, will it?"

"I think it is just the thing for you. I will try to help you in that way, if you will try to help your mother by not being rude and boisterous in the house. I think I can, perhaps, make her understand."

"I'll promise, I will, indeed, Miss Theo; and if she will only let Jamie and me be 'pards,' instead of insisting upon Jamie and Eugene always playing together, I know I could be better. I don't care if Jamie is so little and I am so big; we can go off by ourselves, and I don't care who makes fun of it."

"And Jamie?" said Theo, smiling down at him.

"When Fan doesn't tease me, I love to be with her," he answered. "Eugene would rather play with Bobby Cole anyhow, and they never want me."

So Theo agreed to drive over and see Mrs. Parkhurst, and the result was that Fan and Jamie became "pards," and from that time Fan's improvement dated.