Minx

“ The mysterious preoccupation of a mere Minx should have been a trifle light as air to me, in the face of such an amazing prospect; but those troubled brown eyes kept floating between me and the most newly evacuated towns of France.
If the way from Paris to Compiègne had been exciting, the road from Compiègne to Noyon blazed with interest. Here the road was warm still from the flying feet of routed Germans. The ruins they had left behind them had scarcely ceased to smoke; the graves of the dead soldiers were not yet green. ”

“ Hereward's blood-thirsty remarks were ignored by Minx, who, finding herself dropped from Ingred's lap, took a flying run up his back, and settled herself on his shoulder, rubbing her head into his neck. ”

“ The Minx gave me a look. It seemed to adopt me as a human ally. Also it had a strange, dreamy wistfulness, a yearning which made me wonder.
"I wish I could go to the front!" she sighed.
Kate laughed shortly. Even mother smiled. But it was not a smile in which you could bask.
"Fronts are not for frivolous folk," she said, with effective alliteration.
"I'm not frivolous!" exclaimed Miss Mix, opening her eyes wide.
"Aren't you?" asked mother. She then rose. "Kate and Harry, we are all tired. Shall we go to bed?" ”

“ Why should she want to cart us about from front to front——"
"Of course, she wants to," said Mother. "Because we are Who we Are, foolish boy. With us, she shines in reflected glory."
"I see," said I. "It's fair exchange. Her car for our glory!"
"The favor is on the right side. Car or no car, how could she travel all over France unchaperoned? I suppose there are some things which even a Minx cannot do." ”

“ Mother had forgotten the Minx, who had made friends in the hotel, especially among British officers on leave, and had soared to a pinnacle of popularity with a newly arrived lot of American aviators. The appalling young person had, it seemed, been suppressed as a family nuisance ”

“ Presently, when the inhabitants judged from experience that there would be peace for the remainder of the night, they prepared to depart for their cellarless homes in the neighborhood. We followed their example, and as we were the last to go. Monsieur Dufael, General Rayières and his aide-de-camp walked with us, in clear moonlight, to our hotel.
"Look," said the Minx to me on the way upstairs (we had dropped behind Mother and Kate for a moment) —"look at the reward of a naughty girl." ”

“ Wayne know that of course she meant us when she telegraphed about Noyon. She forgot to speak. The bombardment and Verdun made her head feel like a 'prize package,' in her refined expression. She hopes that to-morrow is all right for us. What shall I answer?"
Mother swallowed heavily. Pride and many other emotions passed down with that gulp. "Answer that we can make it convenient," she said. And then to me, as Kate obeyed: "What did I tell you? She depends upon us."
Dear, generous Minx! She was not born to be understood by women like Mother. She was born to be loved—by men like me. ”

“ Henry Wayne occupies a position among women which the Matterhorn occupies among mountains. She waved the Minx back to her officers, and held her own ground at her table. Not until a decent interval had elapsed did she arise and stalk to the ascenseur. Kate followed, I followed, though if I'd had a trained astral body I'd gladly have sent it instead.
I draw a veil over the scene upstairs; out half an hour later I crawled down again and ordered a go of brandy. I needed it after what I'd been through. But I had made Mother see that to go to the Front with a Minx was nobler than not to go at all. ”

“ We must go. It is certain that Lord John, a British officer, cannot accompany us to a French Front. He will lend us his car, if Miss Mix chooses to stop behind and flirt with him. She will lose her time if she does, I think. His father wishes him to marry Lady Lydia Lamb."
As if any man who had a chance of winning a Minx would let a Lamb be thrown at his head! ”

“ The Minx was dashed. Doubtless she had expected praise—even thanks! No soldier going "over the top" in icy dawn, in the face of asphyxiating gas, machine guns, liquid fire, and under an enemy barrage, not to speak of aeroplanes, can have felt what I felt. I stammered explanations.
"You see, I couldn't get a taxi, so she took me in her car. It was the car that made the difference. They couldn't have sent us without. We owe everything to Miss Mix——"
"I refuse to owe anything to Miss Mix," said Mother. "This is monstrous." ”

“ As for Minchen, she held out heroically against Miss Jones’s blandishments; but at the end of a week she too succumbed. Miss Jones had complimented her in imperfect German, but with the sweetest of accents, on her wax flowers, and had drawn new designs for her, full of animation and dash. Presently they said “thou” to each other, and Miss Jones, who had been Lulu at home, was metamorphosed into Luischen. Even the Frau Professorin, who at first had put her down as an artful little minx, began to forget her grudge against her. ”

“ On the journey they meet Miss Nancy Mix, an American girl who is going to France to engage in war service work. Mrs. Wayne disapproves of the girl and dubs her the Minx, but it is only through the good offices of the latter that a permit is secured to visit the front and they leave as a party in an automobile which the Minx has secured from an officer friend. The engaging personality of Miss Mix wins the attention of French generals and officials. ”

“ Tom finding the coast clear slipped his furry body over the wall, and dropped gently as a lady's glove into the garden, and slily smelling the flower-borders, as if he were merely amusing himself in the elegant study of botany, stealthily approached the house, and uttering a low plaintive 'miau,' to attract the attention of his dear Minx, patiently awaited the appearance of his true-love.
Minx heard the voice she loved so well, and hurried to meet her ancient beau. A slight noise, however, alarmed his timidity, and he scaled the wall in a twinkling. ”

“ Mother and Kate sat tight, with a broad backed effect, ignoring the irruption. Laughing and chaffing, the party had seated itself, when the concierge advanced with an official-looking envelope. So official was it that Mother held out a hand. "It will be our permit," she said. But the concierge went on to the next table: and a moment later there was a silvery squeak from the Minx. She jumped up. The officers jumped up too, and retrieved one bead bag, one fan, one handkerchief, one parasol, and a few other things that fell. ”

“ Miss Mix had placed her (borrowed) car at our disposal, and for that Mother thanked her. In return she would gladly, were it possible, make Miss Mix's stay in Nancy pleasant as wed as profitable. But she could not use her letter of introduction to so highly-placed a public man as Monsieur Dufael, for anyone save those expressly mentioned. Unfortunately, therefore. Miss Mix must look after herself for the days and nights during which Nancy would be our centre.
My ears burned as if they'd been boxed, but the Minx seemed undismayed. ”

“ Can you guess what they hide. Thousands of bodies that neither we nor our enemies have ever been able to bury. When the poppies are gone we shall see them again as we have seen them before, the flat, crumpled bodies huddled in the shell-holes and maybe there will be many more. We have seen worse sights, but—the view is more cheerful for us while the poppies bloom."
OF that dream of Verdun, our lunch in the subterranean dining-hall belonged most of all to the Minx. ”

“ The Minx may be made domestick, and were it not for his paying a Visit now and then to the Poultry, they are the greatest Destroyers of Rats and Mice, that are in the World. Their Skins, if good of that kind, are valuable, provided they are kill'd in Season. ”

“ Kate's eyes questioned me. The thought that such a man could not command a motor for a private trip if he wished struck her as peculiar. But I gave mother the last word, and she went to rest with restored serenity.
AT nine o'clock a.m. we set forth in a grey car with Monsieur Dufael and a military chauffeur, Miss Mix's motor being reserved for the long excursion next day. The Minx was a guest, however, and in a pale blue summer frock delighted the eyes of our dignitary. She presented a striking contrast to mother and Kate, hot and rod in their thick tweeds ”

“ I think, in unselfish fear of bereaving her million admirers, Mother might have considered it her duty to accept Monsieur Dufael's suggestion: but the British Public, with the American on top of it—like Osso piled on Pelion—formed too great a contrast with Nancy Mix's nose to be mentioned in the same breath. Mother announced therefore that our facing the bombardment went without saying. In these days, what men risked, women risked also. She looked very heroic when she said this, and beside her the Minx was a mere kitten at the feet of the Statue of Liberty. ”

“ She drew from under her evening cloak a bundle of beautiful lace, like that I had seen the women refugees from towns of Lorraine making in the barracks. "Isn't it lovely? There are yards and yards of it. That's what I get for being awkward and silly, and tearing my petticoat. Monsieur Dufael gave it to me to-night."
"To-night!" I echoed. "When did he find the chance to give ycu a bundle of lace without all the world witnessing the presentation?"
"To a brave man all is possible," answered the Minx. And I was not sure whether this were a covert cut at me, or a compliment for our host. ”

“ The Chief of his other Food is all sorts of wild Fruits, green Corn, and such as the Bear delights in. This and the Possum are much of a Bigness. The Fur makes good Hats and Linings. The Skin dress'd makes fine Womens Shooes.
Minx.
The Minx is an Animal much like the English Fillimart or Polcat. He is long, slender, and every way shap'd like him. His Haunts are chiefly in the Marshes, by the Sea-side and Salt-Waters, where he lives on Fish, Fowl, Mice, and Insects. They are bold Thieves, and will steal any thing from you in the Night, when asleep, as I can tell by Experience ”

“ That last rather discouraged them, for nobody wanted to get awfully sick if there was any other way to find Scrubby's tree; so they concluded not to go to France.
"Well, let's go somewhere, for I'm getting cold," peeped the chicken; and then there was a great discussion. At last, Spot said:
"We are a stupid lot! There's that sparrow comes about the door every day—he could tell us all about trees in a minute if we could find him."
Minx knew where the sparrow kept himself, for she always watched him with an eye to business. ”

“ ‘I don’t care whether I am a Minx, or a Sphinx,’ returned Lavinia, coolly, tossing her head; ”

“ In Minnie he saw every quality he most admired in a woman. He was happy to sit and look at her, always with an apron on, going about her business in her terribly serious way. He thought her kind, gentle and sympathetic, he thought her thrifty and capable, he admired her fine dark eyes and her matronly figure. He even fancied that she was peculiarly intelligent, because she always listened attentively to him, and was so silent, so mysterious herself. He noticed, too, how her grandmother doted on her, and how Frances looked up to her. ”

“ Frances found it a curious experience. She wrote home to Minnie, after the first week:
“I’m a sort of grandmother here in the business school. All the rest are little girls with pigtails and hair ribbons,{114} and little boys in short trousers. You can imagine how I feel, so old and sedate. And even in size! They’re all so stunted. I tower above my tiny desk. I’m taller even than any of the teachers, and quite a different colour, at least five degrees redder.
“I thought I knew something about typing, but I’ve had to start all over again, and learn the ‘touch system.’ And shorthand! Oh, Minnie! ”

“ Nevertheless he was of the greatest use to Minnie, because he knew how to do everything and she being so very “handy” was able to learn from his explanations. From the bedroom window Frances used to see her talking to him over his gate, or watching him as he illustrated some point of carpentry with grave gestures, and come tramping home again, in her shapeless old hat and a big apron, to work with noble cheerfulness.
Not for anything on earth would she have admitted that this cheerfulness was genuine, that it sprang from her satisfaction at finding work within her power, for the first time. ”

“ Minnie had just locked the door when Frances sprang at her, caught her in a tight embrace, and whispered:
“Minnie!”
“What?” asked Minnie sharply.
“Minnie!... I’m engaged!”
Minnie gasped.
“Why, Frankie!” she cried. “How on earth!...”
“Oh, darling, I’ve been longing to tell you!... I’m so happy! If you only knew him, Minnie! You couldn’t help liking him. There’s something about him.... He’s so dear and boyish——”
“Who is he?” Minnie asked.
“He’s an Englishman. Very nice family, and all that. The nicest manners. And I consider him really handsome. Just the type we’ve always liked, Minnie.” ”

“ He brought forward a chair.
“Miss Defoe!” he exclaimed. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you!”
“Five years, nearly,” she answered with a sigh and a smile. “But you haven’t changed a bit!”
She had, he thought; she had improved. She looked older; no longer a girl, but straighter, more vigorous, more nobly honest than ever. Her face was a little cold in its severe, composed beauty, but not at all hard. A woman who expected a great deal, but who also forgave a great deal. She was dressed very plainly but with distinction, with pride. He could see no sort of resemblance to Minnie. ”