"yes, lady moulton, i will undertake the gypsy tent business at your fête; that is to say, i will see to the getting up of the tent, provide a gypsy for you, and someone to stand at the door and let in one visitor at a time and receive the money. do you mean to make it a fixed charge, or leave it to each to pay the gypsy?"
"which do you think will be best, hilda? of course the great thing is to get as much money for the decayed ladies as possible."
"i should say that it would be best to let them give what they like to the gypsy, lady moulton."
"but she might keep some of it herself."
"i think i can guarantee that she won't do that; i will get a dependable gypsy. you see, you could not charge above a shilling entrance, and very likely she would get a good deal more than that given to her."
"well, my dear, i leave it all to you. spare no expense about the tent and its fitting up. i have set my heart upon the affair being a success, and i think everything else has been most satisfactorily arranged. it is a very happy thought of yours about the gypsy; i hope that you will find a clever one. but you must mind and impress upon her that we don't want any evil predictions. nothing could be in worse taste. it is all very well when a girl is promised a rich husband and everything to match, but if she were told that she would never get married, or would die young, or something of that sort, it would be a most unpleasant business."
"i quite agree with you, and will see that everything[pg 28] shall be 'couleur de rose' as to the future, and that she shall confine herself as much as possible to the past and present."
"i leave it in your hands, and i am sure that it will be done nicely."
lady moulton was a leading member of society, a charming woman with a rich and indulgent husband. her home was a pleasant one, and her balls were among the most popular of the season. she had, as her friends said, but one failing, namely, her ardor for "the society for affording aid to decayed ladies." it was on behalf of this institution that she was now organizing a fête in the grounds of her residence at richmond. hilda covington was an orphan and an heiress, and was the ward of her uncle, an old indian officer, who had been a great friend of lady moulton's father. she had been ushered into society under her ladyship's auspices. she had, however, rather forfeited that lady's favorable opinion by refusing two or three unexceptionable offers.
"my dear," she remonstrated, "no girl can afford to throw away such chances, even if she is, as you are, well endowed, pretty, and clever."
the girl laughed.
"i am not aware that i am clever at all, lady moulton. i speak german and french perfectly, because i have been four or five years in hanover; but beyond that i am not aware of possessing any special accomplishments."
"but you are clever, my dear," the other said decidedly. "the way you seem to understand people's characters astonishes me. sometimes it seems to me that you are almost a witch."
"you are arguing against yourself," the girl laughed. "if i am such a good judge of character i am not likely to make a mistake in such an important matter as choosing a husband for myself."
lady moulton was silenced, but not convinced; however, she had good sense enough to drop the subject. general mathieson had already told her that although he should not interfere in any way with any choice hilda[pg 29] might make, he should make it an absolute condition that she should not marry until she came of age; and as she was at present but eighteen, many things might occur in the three years' interval.
on her return home, after arranging to provide a gypsy for lady moulton's fête, hilda related what had occurred to a girl friend who was staying with her.
"of course, netta, i mean to be the gypsy myself; but you must help me. it would never do for me to be suspected of being the sorceress, and so you must be my double, so that i can, from time to time, go out and mix with the crowd. a few minutes at a time will do."
the other laughed. "but what should i say to them, hilda?"
"oh, it is as easy as a b c. all that you will have to do is to speak ambiguously, hint at coming changes, foresee a few troubles in the way, and prophesy a happy solution of the difficulties. i will take upon myself the business of surprising them, and i fancy that i shall be able to astonish a few of them so much that even if some do get only commonplaces we shall make a general sensation. of course, we must get two disguises. i shall have a small tent behind the other where i can change. it won't take a moment—a skirt, and a shawl to go over my head and partly hide my face, can be slipped on and off in an instant. of course i shall have a black wig and some sort of yellow wash that can be taken off with a damp towel. i shall place the tent so that i can leave from behind without being noticed. as we shall have the tent a good deal darkened there will be no fear of the differences between the two gypsies being discovered, and, indeed, people are not likely to compare notes very closely."
"well, i suppose you will have your way as usual, hilda."
"i like that!" the other said, with a laugh. "you were my guide and counselor for five years, and now you pretend that i always have my own way. why, i cannot even get my own way in persuading you to come and settle over here. i am quite sure that you would get lots of[pg 30] pupils, when people understand the system and its advantages."
"that is all very well, hilda, but, you see, in the first place i have no friends here except yourself, and in the second it requires a good deal of money to get up an establishment and to wait until one gets pupils. my aunt would, i know, put in the money she saved when you were with us if i were to ask her, but i wouldn't do so. to begin with, she regards that as my fortune at her death. she has said over and over again how happy the knowledge makes her that i shall not be left absolutely penniless, except, of course, what i can get for the house and furniture, and i would do anything rather than sell that. she admits that i might keep myself by teaching deaf children, but, as she says, no one can answer for their health. i might have a long illness that would throw me out. i might suddenly lose a situation, say, from the death of a pupil, and might be a long time before i could hear of another. she said to me once, 'i do hope, netta, you will never embark one penny of the little money that will come to you in any sort of enterprise or speculation, however promising it may look.' we had been talking of exactly the plan that you are now speaking of. 'the mere furnishing of a house in england large enough to take a dozen children would swallow up a considerable sum. at first you might have to wait some time till you could obtain more than two or three children, and there would be the rent and expenses going on, and you might find yourself without money and in debt before it began to pay its way; therefore i do hope that you will keep the money untouched except to meet your expenses in times of illness or of necessity of some kind. if you can save up money sufficient to start an establishment, it will, i think, be a good thing, especially if you could secure the promise of four or five pupils to come to you at once. if in a few years you should see your way to insure starting with enough pupils to pay your way, and i am alive at the time, i would draw out enough to furnish the house and will look after it for you.' that was a great[pg 31] concession on her part, but i certainly would not let her do it, for she is so happy in her home now, and i know that she would worry herself to death."
"well, netta, you know i am still ready to become the capitalist."
both girls laughed merrily.
"why not, netta?" the speaker went on. "i know you said that you would not accept money as a loan even from me, which, as i told you, was very stupid and very disagreeable, but there is no reason why we should not do it in a business way. other women go into business, why shouldn't i? as you know, i can't absolutely touch my money until i come of age, and it is nearly three years before that; still, i feel sure that the general would let me have some money, and we could start the institute. it would be great fun. of course, in the first place, you would be principal, or lady superintendent, or whatever you like to call yourself, and you would draw, say, five hundred pounds a year. after that we could divide the profits."
again both girls laughed.
"and that is what you call a business transaction?" the other said. "i know that your guardian is very kind, and indeed spoils you altogether, but i don't think that you would get him to advance you money for such a scheme."
"i am really in earnest, netta."
"oh, i don't say that you would not do it, if you could. however, i think, anyhow, we had better wait until you come of age. there is plenty of time. i am only twenty yet, and even in three years' time i doubt whether i should quite look the character of professor or lady superintendent."
"well, directly i get of age i shall carry out my part of the plan," hilda said positively, "and if you are disagreeable and won't do as i want you, i shall write to the professor and ask him to recommend a superintendent."
the other laughed again.
"you would have a difficulty, hilda. you and i are,[pg 32] so far, the only two english girls who have learned the system, and either your superintendent would have to learn english or all her pupils would have to learn german."
"we will not discuss it further at present, miss purcell," hilda said with dignity. "oh, dear, those were happy days we had in that dear old house, with its pretty garden, when you were thirteen and i was eleven. i have got a great deal of fun from it since. one gets such curious little scraps of conversation."
"then the people do not know what you learned over with us?"
"no, indeed; as you know, it was not for a year after i came back that i became altogether the general's ward, and my dear mother said to me just before she died, 'it would be better for you, dear, not to say anything about that curious accomplishment of yours. i know that you would never use it to any harm, but if people knew it they would be rather afraid of you.' uncle said the same thing directly i got here. so of course i have kept it to myself, and indeed if they had not said so i should never have mentioned it, for it gives me a great deal of amusement."
when hilda covington was ten years old, she had, after a severe attack of scarlet fever, lost her hearing, and though her parents consulted the best specialists of the time, their remedies proved of no avail, and at last they could only express a hope, rather than an opinion, that in time, with added health and strength, nature might repair the damage. a year after her illness mr. covington heard of an aurist in germany who had a european reputation, and he and mrs. covington took hilda over to him. after examining her he said, "the mischief is serious, but not, i think, irreparable. it is a case requiring great care both as to dieting, exercise, and clothing. if it could be managed i should like to examine her ears once a fortnight, or once a month at the least. i have a house here where my patients live when under treatment, but i should not for a moment advise her being placed[pg 33] there. a child, to keep in good health, requires cheerful companions. if you will call again to-morrow i will think the matter over and let you know what i recommend."
mr. and mrs. covington retired much depressed. his opinion was, perhaps, a little more favorable than any that they had received, but the thought that their only child must either make this considerable journey once a month or live there altogether was very painful to them. however, on talking it over, they agreed that it was far better that she should reside in hanover for a time, with the hope of coming back cured, than that she should grow up hopelessly deaf.
"it will only be as if she were at school here," mr. covington said. "she will no doubt be taught to talk german and french, and even if she is never able to converse in these languages, it will add to her pleasures if she can read them."
the next day when they called upon the doctor he said, "if you can bring yourself to part with the child, i have, i think, found the very thing to suit her. in the first place you must know that there is in the town an establishment, conducted by a professor menzel, for the instruction of deaf mutes. it is quite a new system, and consists in teaching them to read from the lips of persons speaking to them the words that they are saying. the system is by no means difficult for those who have still, like your daughter, the power of speech, and who have lost only their hearing. but even those born deaf and dumb have learned to be able to converse to a certain degree, though their voices are never quite natural, for in nine cases out of ten deaf mutes are mutes only because they have never learned to use their tongue. however, happily that is beside the question in your daughter's case. i hope that she will regain her hearing; but should this unfortunately not be the case, it will at least be a great mitigation to her position to be able to read from the lips of those who address her what is said, and therefore to converse like an ordinary person. i can assure you that[pg 34] many of herr menzel's pupils can converse so easily and rapidly that no one would have the least idea of the misfortune from which they suffer, as in fact they feel no inconvenience beyond the fact that they are not aware of being addressed by anyone standing behind them, or whose face they do not happen to be watching."
"that would indeed be a blessing!" mrs. covington exclaimed. "i never heard of such a system."
"no, it is quite new, but as to its success there can be no question. i called upon professor menzel last evening. he said that as your daughter did not understand german the difficulties of her tuition would be very great. he has, however, among his pupils a young english girl two years older than your daughter. she lives with a maiden aunt, who has established herself here in order that her niece might have the benefit of learning the new system. here is her name and address. the professor has reason to believe that her income is a small one, and imagines that she would gladly receive your daughter as a boarder. her niece, who is a bright girl, would be a pleasant companion, and, moreover, having in the two years that she has been here made very great progress, she would be able to commence your daughter's education by conversing with her in english, and could act as her teacher in german also; and so soon as the language was fairly mastered your daughter could then become a pupil of the professor himself."
"that would be an excellent plan indeed," mrs. covington said, and her husband fully agreed with her. the doctor handed her a slip of paper with the name, "miss purcell, 2nd etage, 5 koenigstrasse."
hilda had already been informed by the finger alphabet, which had been her means of communication since her illness, of the result of the conversation with the doctor on the previous day, and although she had cried at the thought of being separated from her father and mother, she had said that she would willingly bear anything if there was a hope of her regaining her hearing. she had watched earnestly the conversation between the doctor[pg 35] and her parents, and when the former had left and they explained what was proposed, her face brightened up.
"that will be very nice," she exclaimed, "and if i could but learn to understand in that way what people say, instead of watching their fingers (and some of them don't know the alphabet, and some who do are so slow that one loses all patience), it would be delightful."
before going to see miss purcell, mr. and mrs. covington talked the matter over together, and they agreed that, if miss purcell were the sort of person with whom hilda could be happy, no plan could be better than that proposed.
"it certainly would not be nice for her," mrs. covington said, "to be living on a second floor in a street; she has always been accustomed to be so much in the open air, and as the doctors all agree that much depends upon her general health, i am sure it will be quite essential that she should be so now. i think that we should arrange to take some pretty little house with a good garden, just outside the town, and furnish it, and that miss purcell and her niece should move in there. of course we should pay a liberal sum for board, and if she would agree, i should say that it would be best that we should treat the house as ours and should pay the expenses of keeping it up altogether. i don't suppose she keeps a servant at present, and there are many little luxuries that hilda has been accustomed to. then, of course, we would pay so much to the niece for teaching hilda german and beginning to teach her this system. i don't suppose the whole thing would cost more than three hundred pounds a year."
"the expense is nothing," mr. covington said. "we could afford it if it were five times the amount. i think your idea is a very good one, and we could arrange for her to have the use of a pony-carriage for two or three hours a day whenever she was disposed. the great thing is for her to be healthy and happy."
ten minutes after they started with hilda to see miss purcell, after having explained to her the plan they proposed. at this she was greatly pleased. the thought of[pg 36] a little house all to themselves and a girl friend was a great relief to her, and she looked brighter and happier than she had done since she had lost her hearing. when they knocked at the door of the apartment on the second floor, it was opened by a bright-faced girl of thirteen.
"this is miss purcell's, is it not?" mrs. covington asked.
"yes, ma'am," the girl replied, with a slight expression of surprise which showed that visitors were very rare.
"will you give my card to her and say that we shall be glad if she will allow us a few minutes' conversation with her?"
the girl went into the room and returned in a minute or two. "will you come in?" she said. "my aunt will be glad to see you."
miss purcell was a woman of some fifty years old, with a pleasant, kindly face. the room was somewhat poorly furnished, but everything was scrupulously neat and tidy, and there was an air of comfort pervading it.
"we have called, miss purcell," mrs. covington began, "in consequence of what we have learned from dr. hartwig, whom we have come over to consult, and who has been good enough to see professor menzel. he has learned from him that your niece here is acquiring the system of learning to understand what is said by watching the lips of speakers. the doctor is of opinion that our daughter may in time outgrow the deafness that came on a year ago, after scarlet fever, but he wishes her to remain under his eye, and he suggested that it would be well that she should learn the new system, so that in case she does not recover her hearing she would still be able to mingle with other people. hilda is delicate, and it is necessary that she should have a cheerful home; besides which she could not begin to learn the system until she had become familiar with german. the doctor suggested that if we could persuade you to do us the great kindness of taking her under your charge it would be the best possible arrangement."[pg 37]
"i should be glad to do so, madam, but i fear that i could not accommodate her, for it is a mere closet that my niece sleeps in, and the other apartments on this floor are all occupied. were it not for that i should certainly be glad to consider the matter. it would be pleasant to netta to have a companion, for it is but dull work for her alone with me. we have few acquaintances. i do not mind saying frankly that my means are straitened, and that i cannot indulge her with many pleasures. she is a grandniece of mine; her father died some years ago, her mother three years since, and naturally she came to me. shortly after, she lost her hearing through measles. just at that time i happened to hear from a german workman of the institution which had been started in this town, of which he was a native. i had no ties in england, and as i heard that living was cheap there, and that the fees were not large, i decided to come over and have her taught this new system, which would not only add greatly to her own happiness, but would give her the means of earning her livelihood when she grew up; for although i have a small pension, as my father was an excise officer, this, of course, will expire at my death."
"happily, miss purcell, we are in a position to say that money is no object to us. hilda is our only child. we have talked it over, of course, and will tell you exactly what we propose, and i hope that you will fall in with the arrangement."
she then stated the plan that she and her husband had discussed.
"you see," she went on, "you would, in fact, be mistress of the house, and would have the entire management of everything as if it was your own. we are entirely ignorant of the cost of living here, or we might have proposed a fixed monthly payment for the expenses of servants and outgoings, and would still do that if you would prefer it, though we thought that it would be better that you should, at the end of each month, send us a line saying what the disbursements had been. we would wish everything done on a liberal scale. hilda has little appetite,[pg 38] and it will, for a time, want tempting. however, that matter we could leave to you. we propose to pay a hundred a year to you for your personal services as mistress of the house, and fifty pounds to your niece as hilda's companion and instructor in german and in the system, until she understands the language well enough to attend professor menzel's classes. if the house we take has a stable we should keep a pony and a light carriage, and a big lad or young man to look after it and drive, and to keep the garden in order in his spare time. i do hope, miss purcell, that you will oblige us by falling in with our plans. if you like we can give you a day to consider them."
"i do not require a minute," she replied; "my only hesitation is because the terms that you offer are altogether too liberal."
"that is our affair," mrs. covington said. "we want a comfortable, happy home for our child, and shall always feel under a deep obligation to you if you will consent."
"i do consent most willingly and gratefully. the arrangement will be a delightful one for me, and i am sure for netta."
netta, who had been standing where she could watch the lips of both speakers, clapped her hands joyously. "oh, auntie, it will be splendid! fancy having a house, and a garden, and a pony-chaise!"
"you understand all we have been saying then, netta?"
"i understand it all," the girl replied. "i did not catch every word, but quite enough to know all that you were saying."
"that certainly is a proof of the goodness of the system," mr. covington said, speaking for the first time. "how long have you been learning?"
"eighteen months, sir. we have been here two years, but i was six months learning german before i knew enough to begin, and for the next six months i could not get on very fast, as there were so many words that i did not know, so that really i have only been a year at it.[pg 39] the professor says that in another year i shall be nearly perfect and fit to begin to teach; and he has no doubt that he will be able to find me a situation where i can teach in the daytime and still live with my aunt."
in a week the necessary arrangements were all made. a pretty, furnished house, a quarter of a mile out of town, with a large garden and stables, had been taken, and netta and hilda had already become friends, for as the former had learned to talk with her fingers before she came out she was able to keep up her share of the conversation by that means while hilda talked in reply.
"the fingers are useful as a help at first," netta said, "but professor menzel will not allow any of his pupils to use their fingers, because they come to rely upon them instead of watching the lips."
