the consciousness of her responsibilities made nan awaken with a start quite early in the morning. after her festivities, mitty could not be expected to appear before nine o'clock, consequently, the matter of breakfast depended entirely upon nan. she was sufficiently rested after her night's sleep to look upon the day's prospects with more calmness than had seemed possible the night before. the storm had passed; all the fears and dreams vanished in the sunshine. the whole world appeared fairer. the heavy rain had washed the dust from the leaves; the grass sprang up in livelier green; the morning-glories over the porch were fresh and beautiful; the very earth looked refreshed. birds were singing in the bushes; a rooster was lustily crowing from a fence rail.
"it has cleared off beautifully," said nan as she opened the kitchen door to look out. "good morning, lady gray," she greeted the big cat which came purring to rub against her. "i hope my stormy time is over, too," she went on. "it [pg 108]certainly was a gray day yesterday, but to-day aunt sarah will surely come and mitty will be back, so there is only breakfast to trouble me. i haven't the least idea what i ought to have, or, i should say, what i can have. i thought aunt sarah would be here to decide all such things. i can't have bacon and eggs again! unc' landy! ah, unc' landy!" she called to the old man who was just issuing from his cabin.
he came toward her. "mawnin,' miss," he said, taking off his battered hat with a bow. "fine day arter de rain."
"it is indeed. unc' landy, i want you to cut some slices of ham for me."
"yass, miss. whar dat mitty?"
"now you know mitty won't get back till nine o'clock. she never does after a festival or a picnic or a parlor social, as she calls it. she is too sleepy after staying up half the night."
"po' miserble sinnah," grumbled unc' landy. "bad man git her suah ef her foots keep on a-twitchen' when de banjo play."
"oh, mitty is all right," returned nan smiling. "you are too hard on her, unc' landy."
"'tain' no use talkin' to dese yer light-haided young uns," he replied. "yuh jest bleedged to beat erligion inter 'em. dey foots is on de broad [pg 109]road to destruction, and yuh bleedged to drive 'em back wid er stick, jest lak a sheep er a heifer er a pig when dey gits outer de parf. how much ham yuh reckon yuh wants, honey?"
"oh, a couple of slices. i suppose you can tell how long to cook it. i had an awful time with my supper last night, and it wasn't very good after all. i forgot to put salt in the biscuits and the bacon was chunky."
"whafo' yuh mek any fuss jest fo' yuh-alls?" said unc' landy. "why yuh don' jest picnic till yo' aunt sarah come? 'tain' no diffunce ef yuh chilluns ain' got a comp'ny brekfus."
"but it is a difference when we have two strangers."
"strangers? who dey?" unc' landy looked greatly surprised.
"the gordon boys, randolph and ashby. they were to have come to-day, you know, but they got here yesterday instead."
"law, honey, is dat so? an' de ole man ain' on han' to he'p yuh-alls out when dat fool chile mitty away. now, ain' dat scan'lous fo' unc' landy git ketched in de rain an' not git home in time fo' suppah? i clar it righ down owdacious. nemmine, don' yuh werry, chile, i fix yo' brekfus. what yuh reckon yuh have?"
[pg 110]
"ham; you know i asked you to cut it."
"brile ham. yes'm, and a pone, aig pone. how dat do?"
"i used all the eggs last night."
"dey mo' in de hen-house, i reckon. i git 'em. coffee, yuh bleedged ter have a good cup of coffee."
"well, yes, i suppose randolph drinks it and maybe ashby does. we'll have it, anyhow."
"might fry some taters, er tomats," suggested unc' landy.
"yes, they would be good."
"den go 'long an' set de table, honey, whilst i git de aigs, an' den' yuh come tell ole landy whar things is an' he git yo' brekfus. he cook, yass 'm, dat he kin. he domeskit, landy are." and chuckling at this self praise the old man jogged down to the hen-house while nan flew to set the table, greatly relieved at having so capable an assistant.
the breakfast turned out to be all it should. the ham was cooked to a turn; the egg pone, light and puffy, came to the table hot and delicious; the coffee was perfect; the tomatoes fried brown and surrounded by a tempting gravy. nan tried to make conversation and her sisters ably assisted her, but the boys were not very responsive, though nan concluded it was shyness and not pride which [pg 111]prevented them from being more talkative. they escaped as soon as the meal was over and nan drew a sigh of relief. "they certainly aren't very good company," she remarked. "jean seems the only one they will have anything to say to."
"you forget she dressed up in her best and entertained them yesterday," said mary lee, laughing. "what did you talk about, kitten?"
"oh, fings to eat, and—and horses and—dogs."
"no wonder then they found something to say," laughed nan. "now run along and get ready for school. mary lee will start later and i may not get there at all."
"there isn't going to be any school to-day," returned jean.
"why not? who said so?"
"jack said so."
"how did she find out?"
"i don't know. she said this morning when we were getting dressed that there wasn't going to be any school to-day."
"it isn't a holiday. i'd like to know why," said nan reflectively. "are you sure, jean?"
"yes, i'm sure. i asked jack twice and both times she said: 'there isn't going to be any school.'"
"to be sure we weren't there yesterday," said [pg 112]nan, "and she probably heard from some one over at cousin mag's. where is jack?"
"i don't know."
"go find her, there's a good girl."
jean went out. she saw nothing of her twin, so she sought the dog who would be a willing and able help in finding jack.
as she stood at the gate, looking up and down the street, the two boys came out. "what are you looking for?" asked randolph.
"i'm looking for trouble," she replied.
the boy gave a short laugh. "you'll find it soon enough if you look for it," he said, passing on and leaving jean much puzzled by his remark. finding neither jack nor trouble in this direction, she sought unc' landy and trouble was discovered gnawing a ham bone by the old man's cabin door. "come, trouble, find jack," called jean.
the dog dropped his bone, cocked his head to one side, flopped an ear over one eye and looked at her brightly.
"find jack. come, where's jack?" repeated jean. then trouble understood, and set off down the street, jean following.
just before the schoolhouse was reached, jack was discovered sitting on the steps of a vacant house. she had settled herself there before any of [pg 113]the school children came that way. there were too many interesting things occurring for jack to wish to waste her time at school, and she had argued out a plan of proceeding which ought to satisfy everybody, she reflected. there could be no school without scholars and she would see to it that there were no scholars. as each child came along she promptly called out: "there isn't going to be any school to-day." she felt that this was strict truth. the first arrivals turned back all too readily and repeated jack's words to the others they met, so that within the schoolroom the teacher wondered and waited till ten o'clock. by that time jack, feeling that the day was saved, left the steps where she had been sitting and went to the station to wait the first train in from washington.
before this, however, trouble had discovered her to jean in his most polite manner. "nan wants you, jack," announced jean, running up.
"i don't care. she's not my mother," returned jack.
"you'd better come."
"i will when i'm ready."
"i'm going straight home to tell her."
"i don't care."
"i don't see what you want to sit here for all by yourself."
[pg 114]
"because i choose."
in this mood jack was not companionable, as jean knew to her sorrow, and so, after a look of virtuous reproach at her sister, and a lifting of her head in scorn, she walked off with switching skirts, pounding down her heels very hard and calling back: "i'll tell aunt sarah too."
"she hasn't come yet," called jack in return.
"you don't know whether she has or not," came the reply in fainter tones.
"i do so. the train doesn't get in till eleven. ba-ah!" then jean indignantly pursued her way to pour forth her grievance in nan's ear.
"she was sitting on the steps of the old southall house," she reported, "and she wouldn't come when i said you wanted her. she said 'ba-ah!' too, and she told me she'd come when she was ready."
nan knew jack's eccentricities of old, and that she should choose to be sitting on the steps of the southall house was not a matter of surprise, though she wondered why jack preferred to be there to enjoying her own home garden on a holiday. but she did not think it wise to try to force an obedience which very likely would not be given, so she said: "well, never mind, let her stay there if she likes it. perhaps she is waiting for some one. isn't that mitty coming? it looks like her yellow hat."
[pg 115]
"it is mitty," jean assured her, "but her hat looks funny and she's got on an old calico wrapper."
mitty entered rather shamefacedly. she had a tale of woe to tell. she had been caught in the rain and her clothes had suffered. she had gone to the "fessible," however, but it rained so hard that she, with most of the others, had to stay all night. there was a fight which scared her nearly to death, and there was no place to sleep, for the older persons took up all the floor space. she had walked home when daylight came, and had gone to bed at her mother's, but she was "clean tuckered out." and, indeed, at intervals during the rest of the day, one or another of the girls came upon her sound asleep over her work.
at eleven o'clock came aunt sarah, accompanied by jack, who had met her at the train. ordinarily nan would not have been so overjoyed to see aunt sarah. there were too frequent passages of arms between them for the girl to look forward to her great aunt's visit with unalloyed pleasure, but this time miss dent was given an exuberant welcome, not only by nan, but by the others. "we thought you would never get here," said nan.
"i thought so myself," returned aunt sarah. "henry dent made me miss the train by five minutes yesterday morning, so i had to take the afternoon [pg 116]train. that was an hour late owing to a washout, so i couldn't make connection in washington, but had to stay all night there with cousin lou, though i did get the earliest train this morning. your mother got off safely, jack tells me. why aren't you children at school?"
"there wasn't any school to-day," promptly replied jean.
"how's that?" miss dent turned sharply.
"i don't know," said jean.
"did you hear the reason?" asked nan, turning to jack. she had been so occupied that the question of school had given her very little thought that day.
"there wasn't one of the scholars there," replied jack truthfully and with a guileless look.
"how do you know?"
"i was down there and saw."
"down where? did you go to the schoolhouse?"
"i didn't go in."
"didn't miss lawrence come?"
jack hesitated, but she was equal to the emergency. "i didn't see her," she made answer.
"i wonder if she is ill," said mary lee. "we didn't hear that she was yesterday, and yet jack knew this morning before breakfast that there wasn't to be any school. she told us so."
"how did you find out?" aunt sarah fixed a keen [pg 117]look upon jack. "look here, jacqueline corner, it strikes me that there is a screw loose somewhere. did you tell your sister that there wouldn't be any school so you could have a holiday?"
jack faced her questioner unflinchingly. "it's just as i said, aunt sarah. there wasn't truly any school to-day."
"i'll find out the why and wherefore," replied aunt sarah, shaking her head warningly. "how did you get along, nan? i suppose with mitty and unc' landy you have had no trouble."
"we had an awful time," nan answered. "mitty took an afternoon and evening off. mother promised her long ago that she should go to the festival of the sons and daughters of moses and aaron and we had a terrible thunder-storm that scared us nearly to death and that kept unc' landy from getting back from the mill where he had gone for some feed. then the boys came and it was pitch dark before i could get supper ready."
"yes, and jack fell down and mashed the cake so some of it was crite flat," put in jean.
"i don't care; it was dreadfully slippery coming up the hill and, anyhow, it tasted good. randolph ate two pieces," protested jack.
"so did you," retorted jean.
"hush, hush your squabbling, children," said [pg 118]aunt sarah. "well, nan, you did have your hands full. i'd have been more put out than i was if i had known those boys were here. i suppose, though, you didn't make any difference for them, just two youngsters like them."
"indeed we did make a difference," jack told her proudly. "we had out all the best china and silver, and nan made biscuits, and we borrowed cake from cousin mag, and all that."
"for pity's sake, what did you make all that fuss for over two young cubs of boys?"
"we wanted to give them a good impression," said nan, with dignity. "mother says so much depends upon the first impression."
aunt sarah laughed. "well, you might have saved yourselves in my opinion. what are the lads like? nice fellows?"
"i suppose so," returned nan doubtfully. "they haven't given us much of a chance to find out. randolph says very little and ashby nothing at all except: 'please pass the bread' or 'please pass the butter.'"
"those remarks don't furnish much of a clue to character," remarked aunt sarah with a little smile. "probably they are bashful and are not used to girls. here in a houseful of them with no older person they feel mighty queer, i have no doubt. [pg 119]their tongues will loosen up after a few days. you put them in your room? your mother wrote that you wanted to."
"yes, and we made it look pretty well. there is a broken chair that unc' landy is going to mend, and some of our clothes are still in the press."
"well, i'll get myself settled and we'll soon have things in running order," returned aunt sarah, rising to go to her room.
nan gave a sigh of relief. it lifted a great weight from her shoulders to have capable aunt sarah on hand, to know that in a few minutes the black cashmere would be substituted by a neat calico and that, in her working garb, aunt sarah would take control.
"come, mary lee," said nan, "aunt sarah will see to everything. there is really nothing for us to do, so let's go work in our gardens. it's a splendid day for weeding."
the girls' gardens were side by side. in nan's grew currant bushes, a dwarf apple-tree, tiny tomatoes, yellow and red, sweet corn, and in one corner, pleasant smelling herbs, thyme, tansy, sage, lavender and bergamot. flowering beans ran over her share of the fence, and a rollicking pumpkin vine sprawled its length along the line between this and mary lee's garden. all in nan's garden appealed to the senses. she gloated over the delicate pink blooms [pg 120]which covered her small tree in the spring. she reveled in the shining red currants hanging in clusters among the green leaves. she delighted in the scarlet and yellow tomatoes, in the delicate bloom of the lavender, the graceful green of the tansy, the perfume of the bergamot. these gardens were theirs provided they raised something useful, and nan had kept within the limits, but her mother smiled to see how she had chosen.
mary lee, on the contrary, showed a practical utilitarianism. potatoes, onions, large lusty tomatoes, solid cabbages, mighty turnips, radishes and lettuce were what she aspired to cultivate, and right well did the crops show.
"i think i'll have an asparagus bed next year," said nan bending down to gather a leaf of bergamot. "it looks so pretty and feathery, and after it is once started it is no trouble at all."
"it will take up a lot of room," returned mary lee. "i do wish you'd pull up that old pumpkin vine; it's getting all in among my turnips."
"it's too late in the season for it to hurt them," returned nan nonchalantly, "and i really can't keep it on my side, mary lee, unless i sit here all day and all night watching it, for it grows so fast i'm continually having to unwind it from something. i believe it is a fairy vine, an ogre—no, it's too jolly [pg 121]to be an ogre. it may be a playful giant that grabs at everybody just to be funny."
"i don't think it's a bit funny," replied mary lee, not possessing nan's humor. "i just wish you'd come and get it away from my side."
nan stepped across the twig fence which separated the two gardens. "come here, old giant pumpkin-head," she said. "you must stop curling your fingers around everything you see. stay on your own side." she dragged the obtrusive length of vine across to her own garden. "he does spread mighty near over the whole place," she continued. "i'm afraid i shall have to put a spell on him another year. oh, i know where i'll have him next season."
"where?" asked mary lee industriously pulling up weeds which yielded easily after the rain.
"oh, never mind where. i can't tell just yet," nan hastened to say, for her thought was to allow a pumpkin vine to have its own way upon the edge of the field where she had her retreat. she, too, fell to pulling weeds, but presently she cried: "mary lee, mary lee, miss lawrence is coming up the street and i believe she is coming to our house."
"then she isn't ill," returned mary lee, brushing the earth from her hands.
"no, and here comes jack running for dear life. i must go see what she wants. heigho, jack!"
[pg 122]
the child came tumultuously toward them. "oh, nan, don't let her see me," she cried.
"let who see you?"
"miss lawrence. she's coming after me."
"coming after you? and why? you know she's not bothering about you unless you have been up to some trick. have you, jack?"
jack clung to nan's hand. "i didn't tell a story. there couldn't be any school when there were no scholars, could there?"
"no, i suppose not."
"i did so want to help," said jack. "i knew you would have to stay home and get dinner if aunt sarah didn't come, and i wanted to go and meet her if she did."
"but what did you do?" nan drew the child to one side. "now tell sister the whole truth, jack, and unless it is something perfectly dreadful, i'll try to get you let off. what did you do?"
"i just told carrie duke and laura fitchett there wouldn't be any school, and they went and told a whole lot of the others, and when any one else came along i told them, too. there wasn't any school, so i didn't tell a story."
nan giggled outright. she couldn't help it. of course, it was not right, but the plan was so ingenious and the logic so like jack's that she couldn't [pg 123]be angry. moreover, she was but a child herself who liked a holiday. "i'll tell you what to do," she advised. "you go over to cousin mag's and tell her i'll send back some cake to-morrow, that i am very much obliged to her for helping us out, that aunt sarah has come and that we shall have no more trouble. then i'll go up to the house and say i have sent you on an errand. you may stay over there for a little while, if you like. of course," she added, feeling that perhaps she was too lenient, "you did very wrong, and if miss lawrence asks me i shall have to tell her what you did, but if she is very mad you'd better not be on hand, especially as aunt sarah is there, too. now, run along."
"oh, nan, you are so dear," cried jack, giving her a hug. "i haven't been comfortable all day, and when i saw miss lawrence coming, and i felt so afraid, like adam and eve in the garden, i knew i hadn't done right. it didn't seem very wrong when i first thought about it this morning."
"i can't say it was right," said nan with decision, "but go now." and jack took the benefit of her advice.
"i'm going up to the house to see miss lawrence," nan called to mary lee. "will you come, too?"
"not unless she particularly wants me. my [pg 124]hands are a sight, and i do want to finish this weeding while the ground is so nice and soft."
nan went slowly toward the house. she did not mean to excuse jack but she meant to shield her. it was always nan's way and jack realized that her eldest sister was her most tolerant friend. there were occasions when even nan's patience gave out, but her mother feeling for her little sister was too strong for her not to love this wayward one, perhaps, best of all.
she found miss lawrence and miss dent in animated conversation. miss lawrence was hardly through her greeting before she began to question. "why weren't you at school to-day, nan?" she asked.
"i couldn't come, miss lawrence. mother went yesterday, and our girl was away, too, so i just had so much to do i couldn't come."
"oh, i see. miss dent has been telling me of your mother's absence. i am sorry."
"nan, where is jack?" asked miss sarah.
"i sent her on an errand, aunt sarah. she'll be back after a while."
"do you know anything of her having reported that there would be no school to-day?" asked miss lawrence severely. "not a scholar came though i waited till after ten. i could not imagine why it [pg 125]was and have tried to trace the cause. from what i learned jack was the first one who started the report. why did she think there would be no school?"
nan glanced at her aunt sarah and was relieved to see that she did not wear her severest look though miss lawrence looked sternly unsmiling. "i don't think the way jack looked at it," began nan, addressing miss lawrence, "that she meant to tell a story. she said there couldn't be any school if there were no scholars, and so she saw to it that there were no scholars. she always wants to help and she knew how busy i would be, but she knew, too, that i would insist upon her going to school and so she thought out this plan for having a holiday."
there was actually a smile on aunt sarah's face.
"that's jack all over," she said. "and i know full well that from her point of view she believed she wasn't telling a story."
"that's what she said to me," nan again asserted.
"it's most astonishing," said miss lawrence, but even in her eyes there was a flicker of amusement as she glanced at miss dent. "of course, she must be punished," she went on, "for she must realize how wrong it was and such things cannot be overlooked."
[pg 126]
"she didn't really think about its being wrong till she saw you coming," said nan, "and then she was scared to death, poor little jack."
this was most tactful of nan, for miss lawrence had a great horror of being dreaded and disliked. she believed in firmness but in gentle and loving control, so she said, "she should not have been scared of me, nan. i am never unjust, i hope."
"what are you going to do to her?" asked nan, feeling that she must learn the worst. "if it's very bad, miss lawrence, please let me take the punishment; i'm bigger, you know."
the tears sprang to miss lawrence's eyes. nan had scored a second time, all unconsciously. "why, my dear, do you believe i could be harsh enough to inflict anything dreadful upon a little girl? i assure you i shall do nothing worse than keep her in after school and give her a lecture, not an unkind one, but i hope to be able to make her understand the nature of an untruth better than she does now. i am glad to know the exact facts, nan; it will make it easier for me to deal with her."
"shall you tell the whole school?" asked nan anxiously.
miss lawrence considered the question. "no, i think not. i will simply tell them that a false report arose and that another time they must come to see [pg 127]for themselves, and that any announcement of a holiday will be made from the desk by me personally." she then bade miss dent good-bye, and stooped to kiss nan whose championship had won the day for naughty little jack.
jack took her punishment stoically and the only remark about it was in answer to her sister's question: "was it very dreadful, jack? was she awfully solemn and terrible?"
jack's reply was philosophical: "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me," she said gravely. and that was all any one was ever able to get out of jack.
