The Man with the Pan-Pipes, and Other Stories Page 7

  A QUEER HIDING-PLACE

  A QUEER HIDING-PLACE BY MRS MOLESWORTH]

  "Don't forget to give Theresa the pound from mamma," said Mabel, asshe kissed her cousin Eleanor one afternoon when saying good-bye. "Imust be quick; it's getting quite dark, and I was to be home early.Come along, Fred."

  "You're sure you've got the pound, are you, Nelly?" asked Fredmischievously. "Mamma told Mabel about it ever so many times. She's sofamous at remembering things herself, I like hearing her tell _you_not to forget."

  Eleanor put her hand into her pocket.

  "I _think_ I've got it," she said; "I remember it was wrapped in apiece of blue paper, wasn't it? You gave it me just before we sat downto play our duet, and I was to say it was for aunt's subscriptionto--to--oh dear, I've forgotten," and she stood there in the hall,where she had come down to see the last of her visitors, looking thepicture of perplexity.

  "Oh, you silly girl!" said Mabel, impatiently. "It is mamma'ssubscription to Theresa's Christmas dinners' card. There now, don'tyou remember? You are so dreadfully absent, Eleanor!"

  "I remember now--oh yes, of course. I won't forget again," said thegirl; "little" girl one could scarcely call her, for though she wasonly thirteen she was as tall as her elder sister of eighteen."Good-night again, Mabel. I must be quick, for I have to write toCharley before dinner. You know I dine late just now during theholidays," she added proudly.

  "But the pound--the pound itself--have you got it?" repeated Fred.

  Again went Eleanor's hand to her pocket.

  "Oh dear, I forgot I was feeling for the pound," she exclaimed. "Yes,here it is! I'll give it to Theresa quite rightly, you'll see."

  Eleanor hurried away to write her letter to Charley, for to-morrowwould be Indian mail-day, and she had put it off too late the weekbefore.

  for a course or two the pound was safe]

  "Now I _must_ give the pound to Theresa at once," she said, againdepositing it in her pocket when she changed her dress for dinner.Something or other put it out of her head in the drawing-room--poorEleanor's head was not a very secure place to keep anything in forlong! It was not till she and her mother and Theresa and herseventeen-years' old brother Mark were at table, and half way throughdinner, that the unlucky coin again returned into her memory. Nothanks to her memory that it did so! It was only when she pulled outher handkerchief that the little paper packet came out with it andfell onto the floor.

  "Oh," said Eleanor, as she stooped to pick it up, "what a good thingI've remembered it! Here, Theresa, here's a pound for you from aunty,for your--for the--oh, what is it? Your subscription for Christmascards--no, I mean your subscription-card for Christmas dinners--yes,that's what it's for."

  "All right," said Theresa, quietly, "I understand. But I wish you hadgiven it me up-stairs, Nelly, I haven't got a pocket in this thinskirt. Never mind," and she unwrapped it as she spoke, and placed iton the table beside her.

  "There now," she said, "I can't forget it. It is too conspicuous onthe white cloth."

  The sisters were sitting next each other; that is to say, Theresa wasat one end with Mark opposite, and their mother and Eleanor were atthe sides. The table was small, though large enough for a party offour.

  Not long was the gold coin allowed to rest peacefully where Theresahad placed it. Eleanor's fingers soon picked it up. First she examinedit curiously by the light of the candle beside her, then when she hadsatisfied herself as to its date and some other particulars, she tookto "spinning" it on the table. This was not very successful; to spin acoin well requires a hard surface for it to twirl on. Eleanor triedonce or twice, then ended by "spinning" the sovereign on to the floor.Down she ducked to pick it up again, thereby attracting her mother'snotice.

  "Nelly, my dear, what are you stooping down so awkwardly for?" shesaid.

  "Oh," said Theresa, "it is all that pound. Do leave it alone, child,or it will be getting lost altogether," and she took it out of hersister's hand and put it under her wine-glass. "There," she said,"don't touch it again."

  And for a course or two the pound was safe. But Theresa forgot thatwine-glasses are not a fixture; after a while the table was cleared ofthem and the crumbs brushed away for dessert. The shining sovereignwas again exposed to full view. Mother, Theresa, and Mark were talkingbusily about something interesting, Eleanor's ears werehalf-listening, but her restless fingers were unoccupied. They seizedon the coin again, and a new series of experiments with it was theresult, even though she herself was but vaguely conscious what she wasabout. At last just as she had found a new trick which amused thebabyish side of her brain greatly, came a remark which thoroughlycaught her attention.

  A diving process into the said pocket ensued]

  "The day after to-morrow, Nelly, don't forget," said Theresa, "I'mgoing to have the Leonards at afternoon tea."

  And the talk ran upon the Leonards, till they rose to go upstairs tothe drawing-room. Then came the exclamation from Theresa. "My pound,Nelly, have you touched it? I put it under my wine-glass, but ofcourse I forgot--the wine-glasses were changed. Henry," to thefootman, "didn't you see it when you moved the glasses? It _was_there."

  Henry grew red and stared.

  "Yes, ma'am, it was there. I saw it. I left it on the cloth."

  Eleanor stared too, though she did not grow red.

  "Yes," she said, "it was there. I took it up again, but I'm sure I didnothing with it."

  Nevertheless a diving process into her pocket ensued--in vain; thenshe got up and shook herself; then everybody began creeping andcrawling about on the floor--in vain; then Mark got down a candleunder the table, thereby, as it was in a high silver candle-stick,nearly setting everything on fire; then--then--I need not describe thewell-known and most disagreeable experience of hunting for a lostobject, which of course

  "ere it comes to light, We seek in every corner but the right."

  On the whole poor Henry had the worst of it. He was told to examine"my tray," and to overhaul "my pantry," from top to bottom, which hedid with no result. I think he would gladly have gone down thedrain-pipe leading from "my sink," if he could have got into it.

  "It is an uncomfortable affair," said Nelly's mother gravely. "You seethe young man has so newly come."

  "But, mother, I am _sure_ I saw it after the dessert was on the table,and the servants out of the room," said Eleanor eagerly.

  "Then, my dear, where is it?"

  You can fancy what an unsettled, spoilt evening it was. The ladieswent upstairs at last, but Mark would not give in. He stayed in thedining-room by himself, searching like a detective. Suddenly therecame a shout of triumph.

  "I have found it," he called upstairs; "it is all right, Nelly."

  So it was--and where do you think it was?

  I will help you to guess by telling you one circumstance. There hadbeen _nuts_ at dessert.

  Well, what of that?

  The salt-cellars had been left on the table. And buried in one ofthem, shining yellow and bright in the white powder, lay the coin! Wasit not clever of Mark to have thought of it?

  "Oh yes," said Eleanor, looking uncommonly ashamed of herself, "Iremember--I pressed it down on to the salt, and then I covered it up.It looked so comfortable. Oh I _am_ so sorry!"

  See what comes of letting your fingers get into the way of "tricks,"and letting your wits go wool-gathering.

  But poor Henry's character was saved.

  BLUE FROCKS AND PINK FROCKS

  BLUE FROCKS AND PINK FROCKS BY MRS MOLESWORTH]

  Rosalind and Pauline Wyvill were not twins, though at first sightnearly every one thought they were. Rosy was eleven and Paula onlynine-and-a-half, but Paula was very tall for her age, and Rosy, ifanything, small for eleven, so they were almost exactly the sameheight. And though Paula was much fairer than her sister, who hadbrown hair and rather dark grey eyes, still there was a good deal oflikeness between them, and they were generally dressed exactly thesame, which made them seem still more like twins.

&nbs
p; Their mother was particular about their dressing the same, but now andthen it was a little difficult to manage, for somehow Paula's frocksand hats and jackets generally got shabby long before Rosy's, and ifan accident--such as tearing or burning or staining--was to happen,it was perfectly sure to come to Paula's clothes, and not to hersister's. In such cases, however, the misfortune had often to beendured, for their mother could not of course afford to get new thingsevery time Paula's came to grief, though now and then she had to getan extra frock or jacket of some stronger or stouter material for thelittle girl to wear, if those the same as her sister's had been spoiltpast repair.

  It came to pass, one Christmas holiday, that the two children wereinvited to spend a week with an aunt by themselves. It was the firstvisit they had ever paid on their own account, and they were bothpleased and excited about it.

  This aunt was their father's elder sister. She was very kind, but not_very_ much accustomed to young people, and in some of her ideas shewas perhaps extra particular and what people now-a-days call rather"old-fashioned."

  "You must show your aunt that I have taught you to be very neat andtidy," said their mother, a few days before the little girls were togo, "for she is rather strict about such things; it may be a littledifficult for you, as you will have no maid of your own with you.Whatever you do, be sure always to be dressed exactly alike, that isone of the things that your aunt will notice the most."

  "Which of us must fix what we are to wear?" said Paula; "mayn't wetake it in turns?"

  "I don't think there should be any difficulty about it," said theirmother. "I should think it would be the nicest to consult together,without any fixed rule."

  _The Aunt_ She was very kind but rather old-fashioned]

  "Oh, I daresay it will be all right," said Rosy, thinking to herselfthat, as she was older than her sister, it would be only fair for hergenerally to have the first choice. "Do you think we shall have thesame room, mamma?"

  "No," their mother replied. "I was forgetting to tell you that you areto have two small separate rooms, as there will be other peoplestaying in the house, and the larger rooms will be needed for them, soI have told Ann to pack up your things in two small boxes instead oftogether, but remember you have everything exactly alike, so thatthere will be no excuse for your not always being dressed the same.And, Paula, I do hope you will manage not to spoil anything duringthese few days."

  "No, mamma, I'll try not," Paula replied, but she spoke ratherabsently, for she was not really attending to her mother's last words.

  "What a lot of settling it will take, every time we dress," she wasthinking to herself. "I hope we shan't quarrel about it." For it mustbe owned that though Rosy was a very kind elder sister, she wassometimes rather masterful, and that, though Paula would give inreadily enough when spoken to gently, _she_ could sometimes be veryobstinate, if not taken exactly in the right way.

  "she burst into tears"]

  This is not a story, as you might expect, of Paula's misfortunes inthe way of accidents to her clothes during their week's visit. More byluck than good management, probably, no very important disaster of thekind occured, and the first two or three days at their aunt's passedprosperously. Paula gave in to Rosy's wishes as to what frocks theywere to wear, and indeed during the daytime there was not much chanceof difference of opinion, as, being winter, they had only two each,Sunday and every-day ones. But their kind mother had given them somenew and pretty evening dresses, prettier than they had ever hadbefore, and the little girls were very much pleased with them.Unluckily, however, they had a disagreement of taste about them, Rosypreferring the pink ones and Paula the blue.

  On the third evening of their visit, an hour or so before it was timeto dress, they began talking about what they should put on, for cominginto the drawing-room before dinner.

  "It is the turn for our pink frocks to-night," said Rosy, in the verydecided way that always rather roused Paula's spirit of contradiction."And I'm very glad of it, for I like them ever so much the best."

  "I don't," replied Paula, rather crossly, "I think the blues twentytimes prettier, and we never fixed that we were to wear them inturns."

  "Perhaps the blue suits you best," said Rosy, "but the pink suits me;I heard somebody say so the night we came, and to-night is ratherparticular, for you know it's uncle's birthday, and we are to go in todessert and sit up an hour later. It is only fair that I should havewhat I like best, as I'm the eldest, besides it's the turn of thepinks."

  "Nonsense about turns," said Paula, more crossly than before, "whyshouldn't I look nice too, on uncle's birthday? _I'll_ wear the blue."

  "And I'll wear the pink," said Rosy, with the most determined air.

  "You'll be punished for it if you do," said Paula, "just think howvexed aunt will be if we're different, particularly to-night, when itis going to be a regular dinner-party."

  "I shan't be punished worse than you," was Rosy's reply, "and I shan'tdeserve it, and you will."

  It was not often the little sisters' quarrels went so far as this.Paula felt herself getting so angry that she was afraid what shemightn't be tempted to say next.

  She ran out of the room, banging the door behind her I am afraid, andrushed upstairs, where she burst into tears; for anger makes childrencry quite as often as sorrow. But before she had been many minutes inher own room, her tears grew gentler, for she was a kind-hearted andloving little girl, and when she had bathed her face, to take away theredness from her eyes, she ran downstairs again to look for Rosy andmake friends. But Rosy was not to be found anywhere--her aunt hadcalled her into the conservatory to help her with some flowers she wasarranging there, and after searching for her sister everywhere shecould think of, Paula had to go upstairs to dress, as the first gongsounded.

  "MY DEAR CHILDREN, WHY ARE YOU NOT DRESSED ALIKE?"]

  "As soon as I have done my hair, I'll run to Rosy's room," she thoughtto herself, but then another idea struck her, she would give Rosy apleasant surprise. "I'll put on the pink frock without telling her,"she thought, "she _will_ be pleased when she sees me with it on." Andshe made haste with her dressing so that Rosy might find her alreadyin the drawing-room when she came down.

  Thus it was that when Rosy, who was a little late of being ready,looked into Paula's room on her way downstairs, she found her sistergone. And what do you think happened? there was Paula smiling andpleased in the _pink_ frock, as Rosy, also smiling and pleased withherself, walked in in the _blue_!

  But Aunt Margaret, when she caught sight of them, looked neithersmiling nor pleased.

  "My dear children," she said, in a tone of vexation, "why are you notdressed alike? On your uncle's birthday too."

  The little girls' faces fell.

  "Oh, auntie," said Rosy, "it's all my fault, but I meant to pleasePaula, by putting on the blue."

  "And I meant to please Rosy," said Paula, "by wearing the pink."

  And then the whole story was explained to their aunt, who could nothelp smiling at the odd result of their wish to make up their quarrel.

  "Change your frocks," she said, "while we're at dinner, so that youmay be the same at dessert, that will put it all right."

  She made rather a mistake, for of course only one frock needed to bechanged; which it was I cannot tell you. I only know that they cameinto dessert and took their place one on each side of their uncle,dressed alike--in blue _or_ pink!

  Transcriber's Notes:

  Inconsistent and archaic spelling and punctuation retained.

  P. 60: "tiniest trots by name" changed to "tiniest tots by name".