CHAPTER XV
A FAIRY STORY
When Gilbert took the pan of candy-molds from the open window of Mrs.Pennell's kitchen, and, reaching in captured the heart-shaped box fromthe table, his only intention was to keep them just long enough topuzzle Ruth and Winifred and then return them. When the girls came backto the kitchen he had run into the shed, and set box and pan in the opendrawer of the work-bench and closed it quickly, and had then gone hometo attend to some garden work, meaning to come back in an hour at thelongest; but his mother had sent him on an errand, and it was noonbefore Gilbert remembered the candy; and then Winifred was telling thestory of its disappearance:
"You wouldn't think any one would be so mean as to take our candy," sheconcluded, and Gilbert felt his face flush uncomfortably, and realizedthat it was going to be very difficult to explain what he had intendedfor a joke to Ruth and Winifred. In some way he must get that candy andbox back to the place from which he had taken it, or else tell the girlswhat he had done; and this last alternative would be unpleasant. Allthat afternoon he was on the alert for a chance to slip into thePennells' garden, enter the shed and rescue the hidden sweets; but theday was warm and pleasant, and Ruth and Winifred with their dolls andHero were out-of-doors playing about in the shade of the maple treeuntil it was too late for Gilbert to carry out his plan; so that he wasas uneasy and troubled as Ruth or Winifred over the missing candy, andnot until evening could he think of any way to recover it.
He was just closing the stable for the night when he noticed the shallowbasket of woven grass and twigs which Winifred had made on the eventfulafternoon's journey along the river road. The violets and wildhoneysuckle were now only dried up stems; but the basket lookedserviceable and attractive. Gilbert smiled as he picked it up. He knewnow exactly what he would do: he would get up very early the nextmorning, gather daffodils and iris and then take the basket to Mrs.Pennell's shed,--take the candy from the molds, fill the box, andsetting the box in Winifred's grass basket cover it with flowers; thenhe would hang it to the knocker of the Pennells' front door.
"The girls will think the fairies did it for a May-day surprise," hechuckled to himself, remembering that Winifred could never quite decideabout fairies: if there really were such wonderful little people or not.
So Gilbert was up before sunrise the next morning, and with a friendlyword to Hero, found it an easy matter to enter the shed quietly and takethe candy and box from the bench drawer. In a few moments he had filledthe box skilfully without breaking one of the tiny hearts, set it in thebasket and covered it with the spring blossoms. He was just about toleave the shed when he heard a voice, and peering out saw Ruth bowing tothe lilac tree and saying in a low voice:
"Fairies, fairies, here I bow. Will you kindly pardon now That I did not hear or see When you came to visit me?"
"Jiminy! It's that old fairy story Mother tells; and Ruth believes it,"thought Gilbert, as he watched Ruth bowing low to a startled robin,which flew up to a higher branch in the hawthorn tree. She was so muchabsorbed in what she was doing that she did not hear the stealthy stepbehind her on the soft grass as Gilbert swiftly set down the mold panand the basket, and flew back to the shop. He had just reached itsshelter when Ruth turned to go back to the house and saw the basket.
She looked at it for a moment as if she could hardly believe her eyes;and as she stooped to pick it up Ruth fully expected that basket, panand tin molds would all vanish from sight. But no! They were real; and,quite as Ruth expected, the box, filled with candy hearts, was under theflowers.
"Oh! what will Winifred say?" she whispered to herself. And then shebowed to the lilac tree and to the robin, and said, "Thank you, kindfairies. I will always know now that you are true and kind," and thenRuth ran into the house to wake up her mother and tell her thiswonderful story, and show her the basket in proof of the fairies' visit.
Gilbert hurried home. He was delighted with the success of his plan, buta little troubled that Ruth should believe so implicitly that fairieshad first taken and then returned the candy.
Mrs. Pennell listened to Ruth's story and looked at the basket with asmuch wonder and surprise as even Ruth could expect. Although she did notdeny that fairies had a hand in the return of the candy, she endeavoredto explain to herself just how it could have occurred. But sheremembered how much happiness she herself had had as a small girl inbelieving in good fairies, and was quite willing that her own littledaughter should have the same pleasure.
The Merrills were just sitting down to an early breakfast when Ruth cameover to tell Winifred that the candy had been found, but she did nottell all the story, for she knew Gilbert laughed at fairies.
"I'll tell you all about it on the way to Betty's," she said, for it hadbeen arranged that Betty's guests should all meet at her house, wherethe wagons would be in readiness to take them to a favorite picnicground, a green sloping field on the banks of the Schuylkill River,where there were groups of wide-spreading elms and where many springflowers grew.
Winifred was so eager to hear about the return of the candy that shecould hardly wait to finish her breakfast. Ruth had not lingered aftertelling the great news, but had run home to make ready for the picnic.
Gilbert continued to feel uneasy about his part in the fairy story, andafter Ruth and Winifred had started for the May party he followed hismother into the garden and offered to help her transplant the youngseedlings.
"Mother, do you think there is any harm in believing in fairies?" heasked, and before his mother could reply Gilbert was telling her thestory.
"Ruth seemed more pleased about the fairies than she did to get thecandy back," he concluded, "and I don't think there is any harm infairies, do you?"
"Why, no, Gilbert! I am always hoping that they really are true,"replied his mother smilingly.
"Oh, Mother! You are as bad as Ruth," laughed Gilbert; "but do you thinkI ought to tell Ruth that I hid the candy, and then brought it back?"
"No, not at present. Some time in the future you can tell Ruth aboutit, if you wish, but I think it would be too bad to spoil her pleasureto-day. But perhaps you had better ask Mrs. Pennell, and then dowhatever she thinks best," replied his mother.
The thought of telling Mrs. Pennell of his mischievous act made Gilbertrather uncomfortable, but he responded promptly:
"All right, Mother. I'll go now," and ran toward the house to wash hishands before presenting himself at Mrs. Pennell's door.
"So that was it. I could not imagine how it happened," said Mrs. Pennellwhen Gilbert had told of hiding the candy, and of meaning to return itas a May basket. She agreed with Mrs. Merrill that Ruth could be toldthe facts later on, and did not seem to feel that Gilbert's joke hadbeen anything but natural and harmless, so Gilbert returned home with anuntroubled mind.
Betty had asked her little guests to be at her house at half-past teno'clock, and when Ruth and Winifred came down the street they saw a bigwagon with two big brown horses standing in front of Betty's house; justbehind the big wagon was a smaller one which Dinah was helping to loadwith baskets and packages.
"That's the lunch wagon," said Winifred. "Oh, Ruth! I'm sure we aregoing to have a beautiful time. What do you suppose Betty will say whenyou tell her about the fairies?"
"I don't know. But probably she will think she is lucky to have a basketmade by fairies," responded Ruth, who did not know the story of thebasket that she carried so carefully.
"I made that basket. Truly I did, Ruth," Winifred declared eagerly.
Ruth's smile vanished. She stood still and looked at Winifredaccusingly.
"Then I suppose there weren't any fairies at all? If you made the basketyou probably put the candy in it and set it in my garden for me to find.And you let me tell you all about bowing to the lilac tree, and neversaid a word," exclaimed Ruth; "and I suppose you have been laughing atme all the time," she concluded, a little choke coming in her throat atthe thought that her best friend, as well as the fairies, had failedher.
; Before Winifred could say a word Ruth ran ahead as fast as she could go.Betty was on the steps, and a number of the girls who were going on thepicnic were with her. She greeted Ruth warmly, and when Ruth explainedthat the basket was from Winifred and herself Betty was greatly pleased.She was looking at the basket and box admiringly when Winnie appeared.
"Did Ruth tell you that is a fairy present?" she asked eagerly, and atthe little chorus of laughter and questions, Winifred went on and toldthe story just as Ruth had told it to her, while Ruth stood by lookingrather sulky and unhappy. The moment Winifred finished Ruth steppedforward and said:
"That's a good story, but it isn't true. About the fairies, I mean. Notone word of it. And Winifred knows it isn't."