Jean-Pierre Blanchard

“ For, when a somewhat bald head wears a crown it is apt to sit more uneasily than upon one better covered.
"You must have this serape for a robe," insisted Jack, flinging an Indian blanket around him. "We shall have Miss Dolores for Pharaoh's daughter. The shells are too little. I am to be Miriam and we are going to take the little Chinese image for Moses; Mrs. Bobs said we might."
"We don't have to have the ark of bulrushes now," said Jean.
"Put Moses in Pharaoh's daughter's lap," said Jack. "I wish I knew what her name was."
"I can tell you," said Nan; "it was Thermeutis." ”

“ The electric lights from the street made a delicate design of the leafy vines; the mingled scent of roses, orange-blossoms and heliotrope was wafted to them. Jack, tired out, fell asleep with her head on Nan's shoulder. Jean sat in her mother's lap drowsily listening to the soft twanging of the guitar. It suited well the balmy, semi-tropical night. As Miss Dolores finished her song Carter turned to Miss Helen.
"I'm not going to stay, so there. Whether or not you want me to go along, I'm going. I reckon if Mrs. Corner can stand a change I can." ”

“ Pierre had not been under her roof a week when she began to reproach him for his melancholy. “Thy grave and sombre face needs a different medicine to alter its expression from that I have to offer,” she said one day. “M. Hervet, there, for all he has a missing daughter somewhere in the world, does not look so melancholy. Who is it you have left behind?” She gave a coquettish glance at the unresponsive Pierre, who shook his head.
“No kin of mine waits for me anywhere, for all perished under the hand of persecution in France.”
Madame Felice Valleau tapped her foot reflectively. ”

“ Gerard [144] loves Mathilde, but Pierre, poor Pierre, so good, so true, he has none but me. He has suffered much, and to him I have promised my hand if he can find a way to restore my father to me, and if my father desires me to marry him.”
Lendert softly stroked her hair back from her forehead while he listened, but he made no comment.
“And therefore, you see, Lendert, I should not love you,” she continued.
He lifted her arms to clasp his neck and looked down with that compelling glance. “I love thee, Alaine, and thou lovest me; there is nothing else in the world to remember. ”

“ I thought maybe Clarence would come over, but now Jack isn't here he doesn't seem to care to." She stood in the garden trying to decide what to do when she espied Li Hung hanging out his dish towels. She would confide in him. "Jean's down in the woods and can't get home," she said. "She's walked so far that her ankle won't stand any more."
Li Hung didn't understand sufficiently well and Nan began again. "Little galee, Jean. Ankle hurt in woods. Can't get home. How carry her, Li Hung?" ”

“ The ship will be ready.—Pierre.”
Alaine held the paper in her shaking hand. To leave now with Lendert’s love warming her heart; with this new hope beautifying her life! She gazed with staring eyes at the words. “Oh, my father, my father!” she moaned. “But you said, Pierre, it would do no good, that they would not accept me in his stead.” She stood very still with the paper clinched in her hand. “Perhaps,” she thought, after reflection, “he means that he goes himself to see what can be done. The good, noble Pierre. I will meet him; I will give him every sou I have saved. ”

“ Paul. “You all seem to be buying out the establishment. Mr. Davis will think we are going to start a rival concern.”
Al laughed, and “cal’lated” he wasn’t “scairt”; he “ruther guessed he’d be there some time yet.”
At last all came out, each clutching a parcel, and the start back was made, though Mr. Wells gave up his place to Jean who complained of the sun, and so to Nan fell Ran’s companionship on the way back. She forced herself to be gay although it was bitter to see Mr. Wells walk off with Jo when she had counted on his society. ”

“ And there is also Étienne.”
“Myself, Pierre, M. Dupont, and Étienne.” Gerard counted on his fingers. “How many more, Alaine? Shall we add M. Verplanck?”
She blushed and looked down, but laughed. “You tease me, Gerard. I will tell you how it is. Of them all it is Pierre alone who loves me. Étienne, maybe, has a pride in uniting the estates, for I believe if I were to return it would be that they need not be confiscated, so Michelle says. He also hates the Protestants, and thinks if he could win me back it would be a great achievement. He loves me in a way, but only to the advantage of himself. ”

“ Mr. and Mrs. Roberts and Carter stood on the platform to see the last of them. Jack and Jean waved handkerchiefs from the window. "Good-bye, Mrs. Bobs! Good-bye, Mr. Bobs! Good-bye, Carter!" they shouted; "we're coming back some day." Miss Dolores, very pale, bent forward, her eyes fixed on the vanishing city. Mary Lee leaned over the back of the seat and reached down a sympathizing hand to clasp the señorita's. From her place in front, Nan smiled over her shoulder. "The sun rises where we are going," she said. ”

“ And, laughing, Papa Louis gayly stepped ahead, and Pierre fell into a pace to match Alaine’s.
“You undertake a long walk,” Pierre said, after a moment’s silence.
“Yes, but you know our cow was hurt, and ’twas not safe to leave her last night, so I stayed behind to keep Papa Louis company, although Gerard begged to do so. But papa would not hear of Mère Michelle’s going alone, and thus it settled itself. I have long wanted to take this journey. I am young and strong, and why not? Mère Michelle, active as she is, could not well stand it, but I am sure I can.” ”

“ Come on, Jo.” Voices urged her on every side, and she gave in.
“Pity we couldn’t have the phonograph again for some music,” said Hartley, “but there isn’t time. You might give us a banjo solo, Ash.”
[327] “And Ran can sing some coon songs; he’s great at that.” Mary Lee suggested this.
“What’s the matter with a sort of minstrel show? We needn’t black up,” proposed Ran.
“Why not?” inquired Hartley. “Here’s the lake handy to remove the burnt cork.”
“Well, we’ll see. Put it down, Ash. Now, let’s see, I suppose we ought to begin with a feed. What shall it be, Jean? ”

“ MADELINE.
His reply was longer. At its end he wrote:
Of course I forgive you. In the first place there is nothing to forgive. The unforgivable thing would have been the sacrifice of your happiness and your future to a dream and a memory. I hope you will be very happy. I am sure you will be, for Blanchard is, I know, a fine fellow. The best of fortune to you both.
The next forenoon he sat once more in the car of the morning train for Cape Cod, looking out of the window. He had made the journey from New York by the night boat and had boarded the Cape train at Middleboro. ”

“ What a pretty frock it will make. You have that lovely lace, you were showing us the other day, to wear with it, and that pretty topaz necklace of your mother's. So shall you go to the tea, and I am very glad. Now, don't worry any more about the giver. Whoever it was, I can assure you it was none of us nor the Robertses. Now, be happy about it like any other girl." She stooped and kissed the señorita's bright hair.
"I will be happy," said the girl springing up. "You do not know how I have desired to be, how I have wished to have life like other girls, and so I shall, once, once be like them. ”

“ Painters springs at ye, Injuns sneaks on ye, bullets comes a whizzin’, but a female woman jest backs away an’ ye don’t know how far she’s goin’ ter git. You feels fer yer weepon an’ it ain’t thar. You kin reach down an’ pull a bunch [118] o’ grass fer a mare, er put yer hand in yer pocket an’ git out a lump o’ sugar fer her, but how ye goin’ ter tole a female woman?”
“Ye ain’t never done it, I suppose,” said Bud, sarcastically.
“Not this variety,” replied Ira. ”

“ Ah-h, I see why that other sits there outside; that he may the better converse alone with mademoiselle. I will be [136] watch-dog, Papa Mercier. You do not guard your daughter any too well.”
“She needs no overlooking,” spoke up Michelle, sharply, “and it is not M. Verplanck from whom she must be guarded.”
François laughed mockingly. “We will prove the truth of that later on.” He dropped trembling into his chair and gazed out upon the autumn landscape showing that haziness peculiar to the season. Under a large tree were two figures: Lendert Verplanck and Alaine. ”

“ I never knawed how ’t was that a sportsman, same as you be, could keep rakin’ awver a job an’ drive a plain chap o’ the soil like me into hell for what I done ten year agone.”
“Let the past go. Forget it; banish it for all time as far as you have the power. Blame must be buried both sides. Here’s the letter upon my desk. I’ll burn it, and I’ll try to burn the memory often years with it. Your road’s clear for me.”
“Thank you,” said Blanchard, very slowly. “I lay I’ll never hear no better news than that on this airth. Now I’m free—free to do how I please, free to do it undriven.” ”

“ Pablo stared. “It is mi amigo Roberto,” he exclaimed.
“We are getting surprises all around,” said Bob. “I certainly am glad to see you again. I have often wondered where you were, Pablo. You never told us when you were writing to mother,” he said in an aside to Joanne.
“Oh, dear, no; I always had so much else to tell her, about the Girl Scouts and school and all that.”
“The señorita must return on Chico,” said Pablo. “Unc’ Aaron have a horse to ride the roads, the cousin of you, Mr. Pattison, another. Who is find you make a signal of fire from the hilltop.” ”

“ I thought maybe you didn't know it."
"Almira's quite fond of Ora." Miss Phosie pursed up her mouth primly. "And I'm sure she's welcome there."
"Oh, very well, if you take it that way." Miss Zerviah rose to go. "I certainly would be glad if anybody was interested enough to keep an eye on a niece of mine. Your father's hay looks pretty good, Phosie. He has quite a crop this year. Hill Evans hain't begun to cut his yet. He's always behind, and like as not just as he gets it cut there'll come up a thunder-storm. Just his luck, he'll say, too. Well I must be going. I see you keep well. ”

“ Every eye followed her.
At the counter she turned her head to see Blanchard Cayley still standing by his place. She came hurriedly back as if drawn by some magic spell, blushing hotly, with a strange look in her eyes. She looked up at him as a little girl might look up at her father. The room was hushed. It was too much for that audience to comprehend. The act had almost lost its effrontery; the audacity had become, somehow, pathos.
Fancy walked like a somnambulist, her eyes wide open, staring at Blanchard. ”

“ A good many people don’t know how to spell ‘conscientious,’” said her father with a little laugh. “Any demerits?”
“One,” said Jessie a little shamefacedly and quickly changing the subject. “I held the flag for 589,” she said. “Ezra let me.”
“The train was late, I know,” said Mr. Loomis. “I heard the whistle and hoped you were safe across.”
“I wasn’t. Ezra wouldn’t let me go, though there was plenty of time. He said suppose I should fall.”
Her father nodded. “He’s right. Nice old chap, Ezra is. Well, here we are. Run in and tell Minerva that Sam has a basket of peaches in the wagon. ”

“ Violets and strawberry blossoms sprinkled the pasture, daisies were beginning to open, tufts of green were springing up in the crevices of the lichen-covered rocks, the song-sparrows had arrived, and the barn-swallows were wheeling in joyous flights morning and evening.
Cap'n Ben, in his second-best suit, was standing in the kitchen, adjusting his necktie before the old mahogany-framed mirror. "There's plenty of time, father," said Miss Phosie; "she hasn't blowed at the Neck yet."
"Maybe she has and maybe she hain't," returned Cap'n Ben. "Folks don't always hear her. ”

“ You are assuming my grandfather’s name for the purpose of holding this property. I say you are not Humphrey Muirhead.”
“It ain’t worth while to get so worked up,” said the man, slowly, “and it ain’t worth while to call names. I’m no impostor. People around here know that. Ask Dod Hunter; he knew your grandfather; he knew, too, when he came out here, and that he married my mother straight and honest. I am the first-born, not your mother.”
Agnes paled before this statement. “No, no,” she still protested.
“Yes,” emphatically declared the man. “I won’t go into particulars; they’re not pleasant. ”

“ You needn’t be scared; I have carried heavier bodies than yours across worse floods. Here we go.” And he landed Alaine on the muddy bank at the other side. Shaking himself like a huge dog, he stood up to watch the progress of the remaining members of the party. “Keep it up, general,” he shouted, “you’ll soon make it. Help him, boys; he hasn’t the muscle of the rest of us.” And, indeed, the old man’s strength was nearly spent, and [203] after being dragged up the bank he dropped trembling to the ground. Petit Marc pulled out a flask. ”

“ She could see the robins getting their share of the cherries before any one else should gather them, and then her eyes fell upon a wonderful sight just under her [Pg 151] window. Those were morning-glories surely, blue and pink and purple and pearly white, opening now as the light touched them.
“Oh!” whispered the child in ecstasy. “You darlings!” She reached out her hand and drew a bit of the vine towards her, gazing into the frail cups and touching with gentle finger the curling tendrils. ”