"oh, tom, how wonderful—wonderful that you should have found her, and that moses lee should have come along just at the very minute he was wanted; and, oh, do go on and tell me what happened next!"
it was the afternoon of the first day of the fair, and the scene was the garden at halcyon villa, where, in the shadow of an arbutus tree, tom burford and peter perry sat on a seat talking, and regaling themselves with fairing in the shape of sweets and ginger-bread nuts which the former had brought with him. this was the first time they had met since tom's experiences on saturday, to an account of which peter had been listening with the liveliest interest. tom had come to a dramatic pause after having told how he had stopped moses lee.
"well," he continued, in answer to his companion's eager request for further information, "of course moses lee was tremendously surprised when he pulled up, and i made him understand what a fix i was in; but he didn't say much—only, 'we'd best take the little maid to my missus.' then he got off his horse and let me ride it, and he picked grace up and carried her on to hatwell green, and gave her to his wife to look after. of course i explained everything as well as i could, and as soon as i'd done that i went home. fortunately i got there before mother and father returned, after all, and weren't they amazed when they heard all that had happened! oh, peter, wasn't it shockingly wicked of those sordellos to make grace go into the cage with hero! it must have been frightfully dangerous, you know!"
"frightfully! but she'll never have to do it again now, will she?" peter inquired anxiously.
"never! that's settled. moses lee has been to see the sordellos, and has told them they shall never have charge of grace again. they were awfully abusive to him, and at first declared that she wasn't his brother's child. but she is. there are some people travelling with the menagerie (a mr. and mrs. rumbelow, a dwarf and his wife—a fat lady) who can prove it. they knew grace's father and her mother, too. well, when the sordellos found that that lie did them no good, they offered moses money to get grace back, but he told them 'no,' and when they found he meant it there was a most dreadful row. it's not wonderful that the sordellos are furiously angry, because if grace doesn't appear as 'una,' it will be a great loss to them. mr. dumbell will cut max's pay, it seems. but grace will never be 'una' again."
"oh, what a good thing! what will become of her, tom?"
"the lees mean to keep her. they say they'll treat her as though she was their own child. father and i went to hatwell green after church yesterday morning to inquire for grace, and she was ever so much better. it was being so hungry and tired that had made her ill the day before. father said he could see a distinct likeness between her and zingra. they're cousins, you know."
"yes, of course. how strange that moses should not have known he had a niece until you told him!"
"he didn't know his brother was dead either—he was dreadfully cut up, poor chap, when he heard that. the fact is that neither he nor his brother ever learnt to write, so they couldn't either of them know anything about the other. it's very seldom gipsies can write or read. mrs. lee can do both though, and she told father that during the winter, which the lees mean to spend at birmingham, she would send grace to school regularly. 'i'll do my best for her in every way, sir,' she said, and i'm sure she meant it."
"have you been to see the lions yet, tom?" peter inquired.
"no," tom answered, "but father's going to take me to-night if all's well; i particularly want to see hero, and, if you like, i'll come again to-morrow afternoon, and tell you about him."
"oh, please do! and, please, take this half-crown and buy me some fairing. you don't mind?"
"not in the least. what sort of fairing do you want, and how much?"
"a pound of mixed sweets, please, with plenty of almond comfits in them."
the following afternoon found the boys in the same position, munching almond comfits whilst they talked. tom had enumerated all the animals he had seen in the menagerie, and was now speaking of the lions.
"they were wonderfully trained," he said, "and did everything max sordello ordered them, but i wasn't sorry when the performance was over. hero had a cage to himself, and max sordello didn't go in with him at all. i heard some one ask him why he didn't and where 'una' was, and a lot of people grumbled. after we'd finished with the wild beasts we saw tiny jim and his wife. tiny jim was in evening dress with diamond studs—i suppose they couldn't have been real diamonds though—in his shirt, and a red rose in his buttonhole; and he had a packet of photographs, of himself and his wife taken together, in his hand, and sold copies of them at threepence each—father bought one for me, and i'm going to keep it to show nellie. the fat lady was immense! she wore a bright blue silk gown, and rows of pearls round her neck, and a bright blue bow in her hair—such frizzy, yellow hair it is! i wish you'd been there to see her and tiny jim—oh, i'd forgotten, that you couldn't have seen them!"
"never mind," said peter, "i like hearing all about them from you. they must be very nice people to have been so kind to poor little grace lee: they will be sorry not to see her again."
"yes, but glad her uncle has got her, i expect. oh, by the way, peter, father's holidays begin to-morrow; he's going to take me for some outings, and he hopes miss perry will let you come too."
"oh, how jolly! i'm going to be here till about the twentieth of the month, i think. your school reopens about then, doesn't it?"
"on the nineteenth. so we've a clear fortnight together to look forward to. we'll have a splendid time with father."
"i should have thought your father would have gone away for his holidays, tom."
"well, as a rule, he takes us all to the seaside in august, but this year he hasn't been able to spare the money. i was dreadfully disappointed when i heard we couldn't go as usual, but since i've known you i haven't minded."
peter coloured with pleasure on hearing this. he had formed a very high opinion of tom, and it was a keen pleasure to him to know that their friendship meant a great deal to tom as well as to himself.
"i had a letter from nellie this morning," tom proceeded presently; "i've brought it to read to you if you'd care to hear it?"
"oh, indeed i should!"
"some one must have helped her to write it, because it's quite properly spelt; it was enclosed with one to mother from the matron of the home—she says nellie's very good and obedient. now, listen!"
tom had taken nellie's letter from his breast-pocket, and proceeded to read aloud:—
"my dear tom,—i hope you are very well, and mother, and father,
and tim. this is a very nice place, and every one is very kind
to me. i hope you will enjoy the fair. the sea is lovely, and i
wish you were here with me, but i expect you and tim are enjoying
yourselves with peter perry and bounce. please give my love
to mother and father, and with a lot to yourself,"
"i am your affectionate sister,"
"nellie burford."
"p.s.—it seems ages since i left home."
"thank you," said peter politely, "it's a very nice letter."
"yes," agreed tom. "mother's afraid nellie's homesick," he added gravely; "it must be a horrid feeling i should think."
"oh, horrid!" said peter; "i was homesick the first week i was here— i'd have given the world to have been home with father. oh, tom, i do hope you'll like father! you'll be sure to tell me exactly what you think of him, won't you?"
tom laughed, but would make no promise. however, when, ten days later, he was introduced to mr. perry, he found there was no difficulty in the way of his voicing his opinion of him.
"i should think he's a very good sort, peter," he said. "i like him."
"i'm so glad," peter answered earnestly. "and he likes you, tom. oh, what do you think he said when he heard about little grace lee and all you did for her—"
"why, i didn't do anything for her worth mentioning," broke in tom.
"oh, yes, you did. she's to thank you that she's found her uncle, and father says very few boys would have interested themselves in a poor little show-girl, and that you're a real knight-errant!"
"oh, peter, you've been telling him—"
"i've told him all about you," peter interposed, "and all about your people, too. i knew you wouldn't mind. he knows the home at broadstairs where nellie is, and he says it does wonders for lots of children."
"nellie's beginning to get stronger already," tom said cheerfully. "we heard this morning. and she's heaps happier—that's good, isn't it?"
peter nodded. "i expect little grace lee is heaps happier, too," he remarked. "i wonder how she's getting on?"
the gipsies had left hatwell green before the termination of the fair, having been anxious not to clash with the menagerie on the road.
"oh, all right," tom answered. "i haven't a doubt about that. moses lee told max sordello he might be trusted to look after his brother's child, and i'm certain he will. oh, yes, grace is all right."
nellie's sojourn at broadstairs did all it had been hoped it would. she returned home shortly before christmas as well as she had been before her illness, and, oh, so glad to be with her own folks once more.
"every one's been as kind as kind could be to me," she told her parents and brother, on the evening of her return, as she knelt on the hearthrug before the sitting-room fire, fondling tim, whose eyes, brimful of affection, were raised to her face. "and i loved the sea, but i counted every day as it passed, and thought the time would never come for mother to fetch me home. you all missed me dreadfully, you say, even tim?"
"i believe tim missed you as much as any of us," tom told her. "at first after you'd gone he was always expecting you to come back— watching for you and listening for your footsteps. and now you've come—why, he can't take his eyes off you!"
"dear little fellow!" murmured nellie, kissing tim on the top of his head.
"i met miss perry this afternoon," mr. burford remarked presently. "she told me a piece of news you'll be glad to hear, tom. her nephew's coming with his father to spend christmas with her."
"oh, splendid!" cried tom. "you'll like mr. perry, nellie. he spent a few days with miss perry in september, you know, and called to see mother and father then."
"to thank us, he said, for our kindness to his son," explained mrs. burford. "you see, nellie dear, after you'd gone, peter and tom became almost inseparable, and your father took them for several outings to various places. mr. perry realised, i expect, that peter, being blind, is rather a charge."
tom's school had broken up for the christmas holidays that afternoon, so he was able to devote the whole of his time during the next few days to his sister. they had many confidences to exchange and matters of interest only to themselves to discuss, and their christmas presents to purchase, so they were very busy and happy. one afternoon, on coming home, after having spent a couple of hours in looking into shop windows, they found their parents in earnest conversation in the sitting-room, and heard mrs. burford say as they entered the room: "oh, do let me tell them!"
"yes, certainly," mr. burford answered; adding, "your mother has good news for you, children."
"mr. perry has been here: he and peter arrived last night," mrs. burford said eagerly, "and he has offered your father a responsible post in his london office, with a larger salary than he would get in the bank for years, and your father has accepted it. you know mr. perry is at the head of an important firm of shipowners, and—"
"oh, yes," interposed tom excitedly. "oh, mother, how happy you look! i see it's a very good post father's to have, isn't it?"
"it is, my boy," mr. burford answered. "i really can't think what made mr. perry think of offering it to me."
"i can," said tom quickly. "peter knew you'd been rather shabbily treated at the bank, father. i'd told him, and of course he told his father, and—"
"oh, tom!" mrs. burford broke in reprovingly; then her eyes and her husband's met, and she laughed light-heartedly.
"hurrah for peter perry!" cried tom, and nellie, clapping her hands and dancing around the room for joy, echoed: "hurrah for peter perry! hurrah! hurrah hurrah!"
