Ruth Ogden

“ She has a host of grandchildren.”
“But she wore no crown, Harold.”
“Oh, you goosey, of course not! She does not put her crown on once in an age. Who told you she was the Queen's mother?”
“Only Albert, Harold;” and then realizing at a bound Albert's positive genius for jumping to wrong conclusions, Marie-Celeste leaned against the door from very weakness.
“Marie-Celeste,” said Harold, who, like other boys, was rather inclined to rub a thing in, “it's the very best joke I have heard in all my life.”
“You are very unkind, Harold,” answered Marie-Celeste accusingly. ”

“ He has sufficient knowledge of human nature to realize that nothing but years and years of noblest thinking and doing will bring that look into a face, and he finds his soul fairly bowing down before her. On one of these busy flittings of Mrs. Hartley's, Ted has detained her for a moment, to ask some trifling question, and just as she is about to make a reply, Chris, returning from his daily ride into Nuneham for the mail, swings into the room with his breezy, postman-like air, and empties the contents of the little Hartley mail-bag upon the table. ”

“ Selden sat thoughtfully a moment looking into the air before him, and then arriving at a decision, he turned in his chair toward Harold: “It may not be kind,” he said quietly, “to tell you of it just now, when your heart is already heavy enough; but, Harold, I shall never be any stronger. The doctors told me what I had already suspected a month ago up in London.”
“Never be any stronger!” exclaimed Harold, almost defiantly and almost overcome with intensity of feeling. “Well, I don't believe it, Uncle Everett, and they had no right to tell you that; it takes away half a man's chances.” ”

“ How thoughtless it was to walk a pony, who had just come in from a long drive, up and down a lane for half an hour, just for the sake of giving a groom a little exercise! They did protest with their heels now and then, but that only meant a closer, more uncomfortable grip on the halter, and made matters rather worse than better. And so what wonder, with all this fuss and senseless bother, that Mr. Harris had written and mailed a letter to Mr. Christopher Hartley before the ponies had gotten so much as their noses within their own box stalls! ”

“ Ted, amused, and grateful as well at the manner in which the old keeper has gradually softened toward him, always listens attentively, and courteously feigns interest, when he finds he cannot command the real article. Mrs. Hartley, still busy about her morning household duties, occasionally flits in and out of the room, and Ted's eyes follow her devotedly every moment that she is there. He has grown to love the dear old grandmother with the whole of his wayward heart, and she seems to him the embodiment of all that is calm and loving and benignant. ”

“ Harris had said to her more than once, “that there's nothing but sin itself has so many heavy hearts to answer for as thoughtlessness; and thoughtfulness, next to love, has lightened and brightened more hearts than anything else in the world and Marie-Celeste knew how thoughtless she had been to press home upon Harold in any way a keener sense of his own great loss. ”

“ Chris was on his feet in an instant, and turning in the direction of the voice, discovered Mr. Harris and Captain Revell. It is astonishing how much can be couched in the ring of a word when one looks carefully to it; and the tone in which Mr. Harris called “Hartley” was enough to put Chris at his ease in an instant, and to make him hurry to the little gate with all fears as to his reception skurrying to the winds. Mr. Harris at once introduced him to Captain Revell, and Captain Revell as speedily informed him of the call with which Marie-Celeste had favored him and of her errand. ”

“ Ainslee proved to be a motherly-looking, middle-aged woman with a bunch of keys hanging from her ample girdle. After she had received a word or two of direction from Miss Belmore, the children set off under her guidance, with unconcealed delight on their faces at the prospect of seeing with their own eyes these mysterious apartments, and with a deep-seated hope in each quick-beating heart that in all the full regalia of crown and sceptre and ermine they might somewhere encounter the marvellous Queen. ”

“ From beneath the curve of a wide-brimmed hat looked forth the familiar face of his own little cousin, Marie-Celeste, and the color rushed up into his forehead.
“I guess I'm tiring you with talking so much,” said Chris; “I'll tell you all about her some other time;” and Ted, replying, “Well, somehow or other, I do seem to get exhausted precious easily,” turned over and closed his eyes.
“A nap'll do wonders for you, Mr. Morris;” and lowering the shades at the two ivy-grown windows, and adjusting the screen that stood near the bed, Chris left the room. ”

“ Within the little cottage all is as prim and dainty and neat as without, for the sweet-faced old housewife gives as close heed to the household as the “gudeman” of the house to the flock and the cow and the hedgerows. And this was the home to which Chris had come—to the grandparents who had cared for his orphaned boyhood, and whom he never would have left but for the more certain prospect of well-paid work across the water. ”

“ And more than this, there is a rare kindliness of spirit and an open-handed hospitality prevalent among the people. They are friends and neighbors in the best sense of the word; too high-minded and preoccupied to be gossipy or prying, they are interested in each other's affairs with the interest that means a sharing of each other's joys and sorrows.
So much for the corner—let who will gainsay it—and more for a little maid who lives there, and who is none other, as you may have imagined, than Marie-Celeste, the little Queen-Pin of this story. And Marie-Celeste she is always. ”

“ It was by no means a cheery announcement to the household in the little thatched cottage when Ted told them that evening, that two days later he must gather his belongings together and turn his back on the home and the friends that had formed his little world during all the long weeks of convalescence; and then when he asked if Donald might perhaps be permitted to go up to London with him, Mrs. Hartley felt that all the brightness of the summer was fast slipping away. ”

“ In the first place, Ted, we've had a very narrow escape, and we've no one to blame but ourselves. And the truth is, Ted, we've been a pair of incomparable fools, you and I, and if we don't take this lesson to heart, there's no hope for either of us. In the second place, we can't be too thankful we've fallen into the hands of these good people here. You couldn't be better cared for anywhere, and the best of it is, no one need know where you are, and they need never hear of this disgraceful adventure up at Windsor. ”

“ But lacking the fairies, some of us have to learn a good many things from experience; and though hard enough in the learning, the lessons are worth their weight in gold. Even queens have to goto the same school, and it is a blessed thing for everybody when its lessons are learned by heart and in a way to be always remembered.
But at sunset on the fourth day Marie-Celeste relented, and coming into the house with a white flag of truce at her eyes, threw herself at the feet of her dearest subject, and burying her head, as I have already hinted, in the lap of the same, capitulated body and soul. ”

“ The old belfry clock was striking eight as Harold and Marie-Celeste put in an appearance at the lodgings where the little party were staying in Oxford, and of course there was a great deal to be told; but alas! too, for Marie-Celeste so much that must not be told, under any circumstances. If you think it easy to be sole possessor of a piece of news that would rejoice the hearts of your nearest and dearest, and yet for extreme precaution's sake have given your promise on no account to divulge it, why then all that can be said is that you were never in Marie-Celeste's shoes. ”

“ But there was time for no more questions; the flower garden was almost all in shadow now, and besides it had occurred even to Albert that the “old lady” might be growing a little tired.
“We have had a beautiful time,” said Marie-Celeste, with a sigh, as though unable to give full expression to her appreciation; “but I hope we haven't stayed too long;” and then, as though reluctant to take final leave of the little Isabel, she added: “Don't you think it is more comfortable just to be one of the people, and be a regular little girl, and grow up always near your mother, like other children?” ”

“ The lane that ran past the meadow and up to the Hartley cottage branched out from the road that led directly to Nuneham from Oxford, and in fine weather there was much driving out that way, so that toward evening Chris would sometimes take a seat on a low gate-post that marked the entrance to the lane and watch the people as they passed. There were always more or less college men among them, driving in stylish drags behind spirited horses or in shabby livery turn-outs, according to their station in life, or rather the condition of their pocket-books. ”

“ The maid, however, standing stiff and straight, with a towel thrown over her arm and a whisk-broom in hand ready to attack them, looked so very formidable that Marie-Celeste begged Ainslee not to leave them; and Ainslee, herself appreciating the overbearing self-importance of the maid Babette, was good enough to accede to her request. And then followed such a freshening of toilette as was fairly humiliating in its thoroughness. ”

“ A grand place, too, to work, you think; and then you recall with a sigh that the light of that glorious mind has well-nigh gone out, 'neath the weight of physical weariness and infirmity, and then the solitary home begins to look a little like a prison in your eyes, as you realize how glad its inmate would be to exchange it for the Palace of that King whose divine intent for the world he has so marvellously interpreted for us all in the days when soul was still master of hand and brain. ”

“ Harold and Marie-Celeste were at first very much disgusted at his utter disregard of the object of their visit, but disgust gradually gave way to amusement, and the tale of the chivalrous old knights was even suspended for awhile, that they might watch the little fellow's peculiar methods of letting nothing escape him. Gazing in rapt wonder, he moved from one point to another, wholly absorbed in his surroundings, and oblivious to the presence of any one beside himself. ”

“ It is such a fine thing when people show themselves fair-minded and reasonable under circumstances that put their fair-mindedness to so much of a test.
“Well, well, well, it's a queer world,” said old Mr. Hartley, resting his elbows on his knees, and drawing circles and squares with his cane on the gravel beneath the old settle—“it's so remarkable that Mr. Morris (for he could not drop the name at once) should have fallen right into our hands here. ”

“ I never was ill a day that I know of till that fever got hold of me.”
“Then why did you stay in an hospital?”
“It was more what we call an asylum in America,” explained Chris, who, as a permitted eavesdropper, felt at liberty to join in the conversation on occasion.
“It's a place,” explained Donald, “where children are cared for who haven't any particular fathers or mothers.”
“Oh!” said Marie-Celeste, but in a bewildered way, as though she could not quite take in the idea.
“It isn't very pleasant not knowing who you belong to, but it isn't such a bad place to stay. ”

“ So much for our little protest against a tendency of college life. The bother of it is, it is not likely in the least to help matters. As for Ted, you can imagine the life he led those servants of his, with four college-men his guests for the summer, and no one to gainsay him. Early and late they were kept slaving away, with never a spark of consideration shown them, and nothing but the love they had borne their mistress and an occasional kind word from Harold, proving how he felt in the matter, had carried them through it. ”

“ But with Marie-Celeste it was very different, She stood in worshipful admiration before all the royal belongings, and when permitted to gaze into one or two of the bedrooms where royalty actually put itself to bed, behind beautiful embroidered draperies, her sense of the privilege accorded her fairly made her hold her breath. At last, when Ainslee announced that they had made the tour of all the private apartments, they were ushered into a little boudoir where a maid waited in readiness to assist them in making their toilettes for luncheon. ”

“ At last the little toilettes were completed, even to the reformation of Albert's curls around an ivory curling stick; and with embroidered dress and well-starched kilt none the worse for the decorous experiences of the morning, they emerged from the little boudoir as “spick and span” as from the depths of the traditional bandbox. Luncheon being served, they found a most imposing butler awaiting them in the hallway, and therefore were obliged, but with evident reluctance, to turn their backs on Ainslee. ”

“ All the contents of the house in London, which after her husband's death had seemed too sad a place to live in, had been brought into the ivy-covered little castle, and under her transforming touch it had soon become as cheery and cosey as possible. But it was not enough for Harold that he was able to invite his friends into such an attractive home. A room in the top story, with a fine north light, was fitted up as a studio for Uncle Fritz, who, though a business man by circumstance, was an artist through and through. For Aunt Lou an up-stairs sitting-room was converted into a little study ”