Dorothy Gale

“ For about an hour they drifted, the broad-beamed motor boat wallowing in the chop which crossed the ground swell. Twice Bill started the motor and worked back to their original position. He did not like the look of things, but said nothing to Dorothy about it. The wind grew stronger and seemed to promise a gale. The low tide with the line of breakers across the mouth of the inlet would effectually bar their entrance to Great South Bay for the next ten hours. And he doubted if they would have enough fuel for the run of nearly fifty miles to the shelter of Gravesend Bay. ”

“ She wished with all her heart that their shopping was over, and then she could insist upon taking the train immediately out of New York, even if she had to sink to the abhorred subterfuge of playing ill, and so frightening Tavia.
She wished they might move to some other hotel; but if they did that an explanation must be made to Aunt Winnie as well as to Tavia. It seemed to Dorothy that she blushed all over—fairly burned—whenever she thought of discussing her feelings regarding Garry Knapp.
Never before in her experience had Dorothy Dale been so quickly and so favorably impressed by a man. ”

“ Sarah Lamb, daughter of Anthony, the maker of mathematical instruments, was to bear Dorothy company on her sight-seeing, for her mother and Mistress Dean were to visit the common together, each acting as protector to the other, since their husbands were to parade in the ranks of the Sons of Liberty. ”

“ There was no moon, but the white snow below and the clear stars above made it easy for her to distinguish the scene before her. But for once, Dorothy’s eyes were heedless of the long lines of hill and valley, as she bent forward to peer down on the lawn below. It was a most romantic-looking figure who stood there, banjo in hand; and though the voice was quite unfamiliar, Dorothy was sure she could recognize the dark, oval face and flashing eyes raised towards her window as, after a short interlude, the singer went on,—
“‘Wind of the summer night.’” “Boo-o!” ”

“ As we crossed the hall, Dorothy come down the stairs in her riding-coat and hat, ready prepared to ride abroad with me, and both the gentlemen bowed and saluted her.
“Sure, Sir Ambrose,” says she, “you an’t minded to depart so soon? And you also, Mr Waterdale; it an’t so often we see you that we can suffer you to leave us after so short a visit. Pray stay and take dinner with us, or at least eat some little lunch before you ride home.” ”

“ Walker, and Joyce Hickson, and Annie Gray are asked, I know."
"Are you going, Dorothy?" enquired Hope, with a taunt in her tone.
"Dorothy never goes anywhere!" laughed Blanche Hall.
Dorothy buried her head in her desk and took no notice; but her silence was pain and grief to her.
"Hope's too mean for anything!" whispered Ruth Harmon to Noëlle Kennedy. "I'm sorry for Dorothy."
"And Pittie's too bad. It's not worth while preparing one's work if Hope gets all the praise for nothing. Why is Pittie always so hard on Dorothy?"
"Oh, because Dorothy doesn't flatter her up; besides, she loves presents. ”

“ It might have been different if Tavia, and the girls who had met Mr. Armstrong on the train, had chosen to go toward the depot instead of seeking Dorothy in the opposite direction; but when Jean Faval met her, there were with Jean three of the new girls, and of course, they neither knew Dorothy nor her companion.
Small things grow quickly when they have plenty of room, and Dorothy’s escapade, being the one thing worth talking of at Glenwood, soon amounted to a sensational story, fanned by the gossips and nurtured by her rival in the school. ”

“ There were other news items of more or less importance—all about Dorothy’s brothers, Joe and Roger, how well they got along at school, and how grieved they were to find that Dorothy had left for Glenwood before they had had a chance to see her again. Mrs. White went on to say in the letter that Major Dale was much improved in106 health, and that his trip during the summer had made “a new man of him.” ”

“ The series of eleven previous stories about Dorothy, Tavia, and their friends began with “Dorothy Dale: A Girl of To-day,” some years before the date of this present narrative. At that time Dorothy was living with her father, Major Frank Dale, a Civil War veteran, who owned and edited the Bugle, a newspaper published in Dalton, a small town in New York State.
Then Major Dale’s livelihood and that of the family, consisting of Dorothy and her small brothers, Joe and Roger, depended upon the success of the Bugle. ”

“ Dorothy’s own cousins, Ned and Nat White, though collegians, and of what Tavia called “the harum-scarum type” like herself, were clean, upright fellows and possessed no low ideas or tastes. It seemed to Dorothy for a man to make the acquaintance of a strange girl on the street and talk with her as Garry Knapp seemed to have done, savored of a very coarse mind, indeed. ”

“ More prosperous times have come to the Dale family, and Major Dale resolves to send Dorothy to a boarding school to complete her education. At Glenwood School the girl makes a host of friends and has many good times. But some girls are jealous of Dorothy's popularity, and they seek to get her into trouble in more ways than one. ”

“ White at once that the writer was exactly the girl Dorothy had described her to be—her very best friend at Glenwood—excepting only Tavia.
“Well, I don’t see why you can’t go with the boys,” spoke her aunt finally. “They are always careful, and if you leave here, as they intend to do, at sunrise (that will be an experience for you) you should get into Buffalo in time for the evening dinner. I’ll just sound the major,” giving Dorothy a loving embrace. “Not that a mere man, even be he Major Dale, can hold out against two such Sampson-like wills as ours.” ”

“ Seems to me school days get harder every twenty-four hours,” and she turned away, without any apparent worry, in spite of her declaration of “too much to do.”
But Dorothy did not turn over to rest. Instead, she lay wide awake, the “Hunter’s Moon” shining full in her window, and making queer pictures on the light-tinted walls.
To take Miette—and to take Urania (for my readers must have guessed that the “queer boy” was none other than the gypsy girl) , now seemed to Dorothy something more than a mere matter of going from Glenwood to North Birchland. ”

“ I hope she will get along.”
“So do I,” spoke up Dorothy, with a promptness that signified anxiety as to the question. “Urania is a queer girl, and has had her own way always. It will be very different now, especially as Deerfield School makes a specialty of taking in—odd girls.”
82 “She’s odd all right,” chimed in Ned, “and not so bad looking either. I quite took to her in those new togs.”
“Yes,” answered Mrs. White smiling, “she did look well in that little blue dress of Dorothy’s. Let us hope she will become the clothes as they become her.” ”

“ I admit the fact,” Dorothy said, trying to laugh off their questioning.
“Out with them,” advised her father. “Here are two old folks who have been solving problems all their lives. Maybe we can help.”
Dorothy laughed again. “Try this one,” she said, with her eyes upon the quartette “harmonizing” at the piano in dulcet tones, singing “Seeing Nellie Ho-o-ome.” “Which of our big boys does Tavia like best?”
“Goodness!” exclaimed her aunt, while the major chuckled mellowly. “Don’t you know, really, Dorothy? I was going to ask you. I thought, of course, Tavia confided everything to you.” ”

“ Lucetta and her children, and described the family so graphically that Dorothy clapped her hands, exclaiming:
“I’m going right away to know them! I am! What darlings they must be, those little ‘Saints’ and sinners, and what a charming woman the mother must be. Melvin has told us how she [Pg 208] served them with that poor pudding and sour buttermilk, just as if they were the greatest luxuries.”
Mrs. Calvert nodded, smiling:
“Yes, dear, I shall be glad to have you know her. She is a born gentlewoman and a good one—which is better. But now, has everybody had all the breakfast wanted? ”

“ Dorothy became soaked to the skin. Water from her leather helmet ran down her forehead, forcing her to keep her eyes closed most of the time.
The cliff, wet and slippery from the preceding storm, was soon slick as a greased slide. Twice she lost her foothold and would have fallen had not her sharp cry warned Bill in time. How he managed to stick to his precarious perch and bear her weight on the rope until she found a grip on the rock again was more than she could fathom. Each time she slipped her heart almost stopped beating. ”

“ Dorothy hurried to say. “You have no idea how kind Tavia can be and has been to me. Why, when I was sick home in Dalton, she stayed with me night and day.”
“Well, I can’t see why you shouldn’t go in bathing when you get a chance. Precious seldom the chance comes at Glenwood.”
“I suppose Mrs. Pangborn has hired the beach,” ventured Dorothy.
“Yes, worse luck. Afraid any one would see our orphan asylum bathing suits.” ”

“ We all know perfectly well that Dorothy Dale is no ‘snoop.’ She’s been here long enough to have her reputation for squareness firmly established.”
“Three cheers for Dorothy!” called Cologne, and this was taken up by most of the other girls.
But with Nita Brandt, Lena Berg took sides, as well as Amy Brooks. This trio always “went together,” and could be depended upon to “stick to each other” in all school “rows.”
The present agitation, however, really mattered little to Dorothy, but the antagonism it was creating against Miette was what worried her. ”

“ You see, we tie the chunks of suet up in the trees—and you ought to see the bluejays come after it!”
“Do come with us,” begged Roger again, who always found a double pleasure in having Dorothy attend them on any venture.
“I don’t know. You boys have grown so you can keep ahead of me,” laughed Dorothy. “Where are you going—how far?”
“Up to Snake Hill—there by the gully. Mr. Garry Knapp showed us last week,” Joe said. “He says he always feeds the birds in the winter time out where he lives.”
Dorothy smiled and nodded. “I should presume he did,” she said. “He is that kind—isn’t he, boys?” ”

“ Uncle William's traveling cap answered perfectly for the French skullcap.
"Then I'm going to be Pocahontas," insisted Dorothy, as the boys' costumes brought her mind back to Colonial days.
"Oh, no," objected Hal, "you girls better take another period of history. We can't all be Indians."
"Well, I'll never, be a Puritan, not even for fun," declared Dorothy, whose spirit of frolic was certainly quite opposite that of a Priscilla.
"Who was some famous girl or woman in American history?" asked Harry, glad to get a chance to "stick" Dorothy. ”

“ As the sound of their footsteps over the bare floor died away, Dorothy opened her eyes. Summoning all her strength, she wrenched at the bonds that held her, but she accomplished no more than lacerating her wrists.
She was to be shifted to some safer place, presumably in Connecticut, where she was to be taken by car. Meanwhile, there was no escape from where she was, even if her limbs were free. Should she show signs of consciousness, the best she had to hope for was another dose of chloroform or a gag when that enterprising thug, Mr. Peters, returned. ”

“ She touched Dorothy lightly on the head with the golden wand and the little girl became her own dear self again. She felt so happy she wanted to jump for very joy. She ran off with some beautiful dolls, her brown curls brushing her smiling face and her eyes sparkling with merriment. Down the beautiful hall she tripped and just as she reached the door that led into a golden room, she looked back. The queen was just in the act of touching the last one of the poor broken dolls. ”

“ Oh, Dorothy! I didn’t want to tell you, for I hoped Lance might quickly find your Garry Knapp.”
“My Garry Knapp,” said Dorothy, blushing.
“Yes, my dear. Don’t dodge the fact. We all seem to be suddenly grown up. We are shucking our shells of maidenhood like crabs——”
“Tavia! Horrors! Don’t!” begged Dorothy.
“Don’t like my metaphor, dear?” chuckled [Pg 158] Tavia. But she was grim again in a moment, continuing: “No use dodging the fact, I repeat. You were interested in that man from the beginning. ”

“ We all leave them that way, I guess. It’s the natural thing to do.”
“But what have slippers got to do with it?” Laura was becoming impatient.
“Everything, so far as I’m concerned, Mrs. Lawson. When I’ve been walking at night, I always find them in the morning beside the bed, but pointing toward it. I evidently slip them off before I get back into bed, and—”
“I’m beginning to think you are quite a clever girl, Janet.”
“Oh, thank you,” said Dorothy with a guilelessness that was sheer camouflage. “Has anybody been saying I’m stupid? I’ve always stood high in my classes at school.” ”

“ Dorothy had none of these trials; but then she had none of the pleasures which go with them; for the pleasure of giving up your own way is in the long run greater than always getting it; and it is better to have a little quarrel, and then "make it up" with a kiss and confession of fault on both sides, than never to have any one to care about what you care for, and no one to contradict you!
As little Dorothy watched the swallows, and listened to their conversation above her head, she became aware that some one was in the drawing-room, and was talking to her mother. ”