CHAPTER X
A Frosty January
School broke up on December 18th, and the little community at Birkwoodwas soon scattered far and wide. Aldred thought that this Christmas wasthe most enjoyable one she had ever spent; she felt as if she hadreturned to Dingfield on an entirely different footing, and that now shehad quite a new position at home. Her father, who had taken slightnotice of her before, had missed her while she was away, and begansuddenly to appreciate how much his daughter was to him, and to give hera larger share of his attention than had hitherto fallen to her lot.Aunt Bertha, whose former attitude had been one of continual criticism,stopped nagging and fault-finding, and treated her niece almost like avisitor, allowing many small indulgences which she had never beenaccustomed to sanction, and relaxing some of her stricter rules. It wasplain that she thought Aldred much improved, and, as some of the chiefcauses of friction had now vanished, she was ready to forget oldgrievances, declare a truce, and try to make the holidays pass assmoothly as possible. She no longer ordered Aldred about as if she werea child in the nursery, and would even consult her wishes, or allow herto express an opinion of her own, realizing that the girl was rapidlygrowing up, and could not be expected to remain for ever in thebackground. This altered state of affairs was very much to Aldred'smind. She had always felt that her aunt had not treated her fairly, andit was partly the continual sense of injustice that had caused herrebellious attitude.
"I'll do anything for Aunt Bertha now she asks me nicely," she thoughtto herself. "It was when she used to speak so absolutely autocraticallythat she made me feel so angry. I'll fetch her what she likes, if she'llsay 'Please', and 'Thank you'; but I can't bear to be sent trotting asif I were a baby of three."
If only Aunt Bertha had known this, and had taken poor Aldred by the"right handle" sooner, a very great deal of trouble could have beensaved; but she was one of those complacently tactless people who try toimpress the stamp of their own dominant personalities upon everyonealike, and who rule with an utter absence of sympathy. She had notunderstood Aldred's character, and had concluded, therefore, that therewas nothing to understand. She was agreeably surprised now to discoverthe various pleasant qualities that had begun to develop under MissDrummond's genial influence, and admitted, almost in spite of herself,that her troublesome niece was turning into quite a nice companion, andthat her society could actually be an enjoyment as well as a care.
Keith also appeared to consider his sister a far more reasonable andsensible person since her return from the Grange. He was never veryexpansive, but he gave her more of his confidence than before, talked toher of his own school life, and seemed ready to spend the greater partof his time with her. It had always been Aldred's ambition to haveKeith as her special property, but he had not been altogether willing todevote himself to her, and had often hurt her by his coolness. Now thatthey were both in a sense visitors at home, Aunt Bertha arranged plansthat would include the pair, sending them together to visit picturegalleries and museums, and other interesting places, for Keith was oldenough to escort his sister, and could be trusted to take good care ofher. In this way, with the addition of various parties and festivities,the four weeks passed very quickly, and the fifteenth of January broughtAldred's school trunk once more out of the box-room, and saw her startedon her journey to Birkwood.
Though the holidays had been so pleasant, she was glad to return toschool; she liked the life at the Grange, and the thought of seeingMabel again was absolute rapture. The two had corresponded freely, butwriting was not so good as talking, and she was longing for a delightfulprivate chat, to hear all her friend's news and tell all her own. Mabelseemed equally delighted at their re-union.
"You darling! How I've missed you!" she exclaimed. "There are simply ahundred things I want to tell you. If there were not that tiresomesilence rule, I should stop awake till twelve to-night. Leave yourunpacking, and come and sit down on my bed for a minute or two; I'llhelp you to get straight afterwards."
"And Miss Bardsley won't be up just yet," said Aldred, accepting theinvitation, regardless of the fact that the greater part of her wardrobewas still in her box.
"I told Mother all about you," continued Mabel. "You can't think howmuch she wants to see you. She's coming to town at the end of the month,and says she'll run down to Birkwood for an afternoon. I know she'lllike you, and you can't help liking her--everybody adores Mother! I wishwe were sisters, and that you lived at Grassingford, and that she wasyour mother too--how lovely that would be! But then, your own people athome would not spare you. It must be so dreadfully hard for them to partwith you, even to go to school. When I know how I miss you for fourweeks, I can sympathize with them losing you for thirteen. I don't knowhow they manage without you!"
Aldred did not say that she considered her family would not be quite soutterly inconsolable at her absence. She only kissed the sweet, pinkcheek that was pressed against hers, and thought how blissful it was tooccupy so large a place in Mabel's heart, and to find such a warmwelcome awaiting her at Birkwood.
"There's nobody like you!" went on her adorer. "I stayed for a few daysat Archdeacon Vernon's, at the New Year. His daughter is just my age,and Mother wanted me so much to meet her, for she said she was such anextremely nice girl. But she was absolutely nothing to you, dearest! Ididn't feel I could ever be very fond of her; she's not so original, norso jolly. No! I told Mother at once you were the only girl I had everreally cared for, and I couldn't do with another bosom friend."
Though Mabel was the chief attraction for her at Birkwood, Aldred wasnevertheless glad to meet the rest of the Form, and to be in the midstof the lively school life again.
When the unpacking had been successfully accomplished, and supper wasover, all the girls collected in a close group round the classroom fire,to compare notes about the holidays.
"I've been to Switzerland," said Ursula. "We went to Les Avants for thewinter sports. It was simply glorious! I learnt to skate and to ski. Ifelt most fearfully wobbly at first, but it was lovely when one got intoit; so was the tobogganing--one went skimming down slopes at atremendous pace. The ice was all illuminated at night, and we had fancydress carnivals; it was such fun!"
"Lucky you," said Phoebe, "to be in a place where there was real frostand snow! We've been grumbling at the wet weather continually. I wonderhow long it is since we had an old-fashioned Christmas--the kind ofthing one reads about in Dickens, I mean, when Mr. Pickwick wentskating."
"People say 'a green Christmas makes a fat churchyard'."
"Well, I'm sure one gets more bad colds with pottering about in the rainthan one would with skating."
"I believe it's freezing now. I shouldn't be at all astonished if we hadquite a spell of hard weather."
"'As the days lengthen, the cold strengthens'," quoted Myfanwy, who wasfond of proverbs.
"I wish it would! We've never had any deep snow, or really severe frost,since I came to the Grange."
Phoebe's prophecy concerning hard weather was literally fulfilled thatvery night. The thermometer descended with a run, and by next morninggreat, feathery flakes were falling silently, and turning the landscapeinto a white world. The girls were very excited, and watched anxiously,hoping that the snow would continue; and they rejoiced as each bush andshrub in the garden became more and more smothered.
"The outlines of the walks are quite lost," said Mabel exultingly, "andthe tennis lawn looks like a huge iced plum cake."
"It's not much use for Brown to try to sweep a path, because it getscovered up directly."
"Yes, but he has to go and feed the hens, you see. I wonder if MissDrummond will venture out to look at her Partridge Wyandottes? She'snever missed going to them at four o'clock yet."
"I wish she'd let us go with her; I should love to tramp over the snow!"
"So should I; but she says we must none of us go farther than the shed.Brown has swept the courtyard at the back. If it's fine to-morrow, we'llhave some fun."
After falling steadily for twe
nty-four hours, the snow stopped, and gaveplace to bright sunshine. Miss Drummond ordered dinner to be earlierthan usual, and by half-past one the whole school was out upon thedowns.
It was an ideal winter's day. The sky was clear, with the cold, paleblue of January, so different from the deep, warm azure of July. Thesun, low down on the horizon, though it was still near its meridian,sent long, slanting rays over the white waste, catching the tops of thehills and making them shine and sparkle like diamonds. Each bush andtree was coated with rime, and edged with a tracery of delicatelacework. The snow, crisp and hard, crunched under the girls' feet asthey walked, and here and there they could mark the track of a rabbit ora bird that had hurried through the cold, to shelter under theprotection of some gorse-bush.
"It's just like fairyland! It might be part of the Frost King's Palace!"said Aldred. "I'm sure the Snow Queen has been here. I feel as if weought to find Gerda hunting for little Kay--I expect she's just behindthat bush, riding the Robber Maiden's reindeer, with her hands in thebig muff. The Lapland woman and the Finland woman can't be far off."
"What do you mean?" asked Lorna Hallam.
"You benighted girl! have you never read Hans Andersen?"
"I believe I did, ages ago, but I've forgotten it all."
"So much the worse for you, then!"
"Why, one can't bother to remember silly fairy tales!"
"Hans Andersen is not silly; he's a classic."
"Quite right!" said Miss Drummond, who happened to overhear. "I considerthe dear old Dane was one of the truest poets that ever lived. Hiswriting has a purity of style that sets it on a very high pinnacle inliterature, and his thoughts are most exquisite. No one who has reallyappreciated his lovely, tender stories can ever be quite vulgar andcommonplace. He seems to take all the simple, everyday things, and wavehis magic wand over them and turn them into enchantment."
"But the tales aren't true, Miss Drummond!" objected Lorna. "One can'tsee fairies."
"There is a meaning under it all, and the gist of the whole is, that ifwe persistently look at the beautiful side of everything, we are makingour own fairyland, and seeing what is denied to those who dwell only onthe prosaic and ordinary. It's a great quality to have, and one thatbrings a supreme enjoyment in life. If you're wise you'll cultivate itwhile you are young, and then you need never really grow old, because,although your hair may turn grey, you'll still keep the very principleof youth in your heart. Very few people can realize their ideals, so itis something to be able to idealize our real."
The place that Miss Drummond had chosen as the destination of their walkwas a steep slope about a mile from the school. Here it was quitepossible to make a good toboggan track, for there was a flat space infront and an easy way to climb up at the back. Half a dozen tea-trayshad been requisitioned from the kitchen, to act as sleds.
"I wish we had a bob-sleigh!" said Ursula Bramley, who, after herexperience in Switzerland, felt herself an authority on winter sports."It's the hugest fun you can imagine, only you need two very good peopleto steer and act brake. Ours at Les Avants held a crew of six. My eldestbrother used to take us down, and he only upset us once."
"I think little sleighs are better; they're not nearly so dangerous,"said Agnes Maxwell. "A cousin of mine was fearfully hurt last winter atSamaden, in a bob-sleigh race; he fell on his head, and had concussionof the brain."
"Well, of course, you have to chance that. It needs pluck and skill ifyou're going in for racing; you mustn't be afraid for yourself--youcould fall off a tea-tray, as far as that goes," said Phoebe.
"You couldn't do yourself much damage if you did," laughed Ursula; "thesnow's not hard enough. Now, we shall have to go down the slope a goodmany times before we make a decent track of it."
"I wish we had more tea-trays! We shan't get very many turns each, I'mafraid," said Myfanwy.
Six girls from the Sixth Form had been chosen to start, and made a trialtrip amid much cheering and excitement.
"It's perfectly lovely--just like flying!" they declared, as theimprovised sleds drew up on the level ground at the bottom.
"Miss Drummond, won't you try?"
"Perhaps I may, when the thing is well started, but for the present Iwould rather stand and watch. It certainly looks very tempting, andworth an effort. Mademoiselle, shall you venture?"
"Nevaire!" shuddered poor Mademoiselle, who considered a walk in thesnow quite a sufficient adventure. "I should have fear to place myselfon a thing so insecure, and to let myself glide thus! Oh, no, it wouldbe an act of folly! We have no snows in Provence, and I have beenbrought up to love other pleasures."
"You shall have the next turn if you like, Mademoiselle," said EstherVaudrey, one of the pioneers. "It's really not difficult at all, ifyou know how to tuck up your feet."
"It makes one warm, at any rate," said Freda. "Who's going next? We'dbetter take it in Forms."
The sport proved extremely popular, and for the next hour relays ofgirls were constantly going down the slope; the track was soon as smoothas a slide, and really made a very good course, quite enough to satisfyeveryone except Ursula.
"It's nothing to Les Avants! You should have seen that!" she keptassuring the others.
"Then I wish you would go back to Les Avants!" exclaimed Phoebe."What's the good of belittling this all the time, and trying to make outit's so tame? I call it bad taste! If you can't enjoy it, we can, at anyrate."
"I'd enjoy it if I had my own little sled, instead of a tea-tray."
"Nobody wants you to go on a tea-tray," said Agnes. "You can miss yourturn if you like--I'll take it instead."
That, however, Ursula was not ready to allow. She appreciated thetobogganing as much as anyone, though she liked the triumph of referringto her Swiss achievements.
The fun waxed fast and furious. The girls were keen on racing, and wouldstart six together from the top, at a given signal; then there would bea lightning descent down the slippery slide, generally ending in a rollin the snow at the bottom, from which they would spring up, powderedfrom head to foot, but laughing and quite unhurt.
Miss Drummond and most of the teachers took an occasional turn, butMademoiselle remained firm in her refusal to venture into what sheconsidered such imminent danger to life and limb.
"It is the sport of men!" she declared. "In my country, such things arenot for _les jeunes filles_. They do not go out to slide in the snow."
"But don't you think our girls look much brighter and healthier, withthis brisk exercise, than if we had kept them cooped up in theschoolrooms all this beautiful afternoon?" asked Miss Drummond.
"Perhaps--yes, that I will allow. But custom is strong upon us, and tome, I find it still strange to see what is permitted to your English_Mees_."
"I'm glad we are English," whispered Aldred to Mabel. "French girls musthave a stupid time, if they're never allowed to toboggan, or to go inthe snow. If I were sent to a French school I'd run away, and come backto Birkwood!"
"There's no place like the Grange," agreed Mabel, brushing the snowvigorously from her dress. "If there's any jolly thing that it'spossible to do Miss Drummond thinks of it."
Miss Drummond certainly justified the character that Mabel gave her, forwhen the girls, very warm and rosy after their exertions, returned tothe school at four o'clock, they found a surprise waiting for them.Brown, the gardener, with the aid of two or three labourers who had beencalled in to help him, had shovelled away the whole of the snow on theasphalt tennis court, and piled it as a wall all round. He had thenbrought the hose, and was now busy flooding the court to a depth ofthree or four inches.
"It ought to freeze hard to-night," said Miss Drummond, "and byto-morrow morning there should be a splendid surface. Those girls whohave brought skates to school will be in luck, and I shall be able toarrange for those who have not. I have written to Wilson's, theironmonger at Chetbourne, to send us out a parcel of several dozen tochoose from."
The prospect of a skating rink in the garden was hailed with joy, andthe an
xiety of the school was great lest the frost should give way, andfrustrate their very delightful plans. The amusements of the cold spellso outweighed the discomforts that nobody (except poor Mademoiselle)grumbled at nipped fingers or chilly toes. Even Agnes Maxwell, who was amartyr to chilblains, suffered heroically, and did not wish for a thaw.
"It's quite the most severe winter I can remember," said Mabel, breakingthe ice in her bedroom jug next morning. "I believe even my bottle ofhair wash is frozen, and the glycerine cream is perfectly stiff; I shallhave to melt it on the radiator before I can put any on my hands. Lookat the window! It's covered with beautiful frost patterns."
"All the better for skating," said Aldred, who was trying to thaw hertoothbrush. "I'm glad there has been no more snow to spoil our ice. Iwish Miss Drummond would let us go out at once, after breakfast, insteadof doing lessons."
Miss Drummond's good nature, however, did not extend to such a pitch ofleniency as that, and the morning classes went on just as usual. Aboutdinner-time, a young man arrived from Chetbourne with a large parcel ofskates, and Aldred, who did not possess any of her own, was able toexpend some of her pocket-money on a neat little pair.
"You've made a lovely choice!" said Mabel. "Mine are an old pair of mybrother's that just fit me now; they're rather shabby, but they happento be particularly good steel, and always 'bite' very well. There's thegreatest difference in skates, in that respect."
"You'll have to help me," said Aldred, "for I've never even triedbefore, and I'm sure I shall be extremely stupid and clumsy."
"It will be the lame supporting the halt, then," laughed Mabel, "for I'mcertainly not a crack skater myself."
By two o'clock the whole school was disporting itself on the ice. Somegirls (Ursula Bramley, in especial) seemed quite at home there, and cutfigures of eight with aggravating ease while their less fortunatecomrades strove to balance themselves with outstretched arms, or satdown suddenly on the slippery surface.
"I'd no idea one could feel so absolutely weak in the knees!" declaredAldred, subsiding on to the snowy bank after a first struggle round therink. "I'm like a baby learning to walk. I wonder if I shall ever manageto strike out properly? Look at Ursula--she's doing the 'Dutch roll'.I'm green with envy!"
"There's nothing like practice," said Mabel, getting up and making agallant effort to accomplish the "outside edge", but speedily coming togrief over it. "Give me a winter in Norway, and I'd undertake to waltzon the ice; but what can one expect on the first day?"