CHAPTER V
CONCERNING LILIAN
'Her life had many a hope and aim, Duties enough, and little cares.'
This story is so much about Peggy and her satellite Bobby that we haverather neglected Lilian, and she deserves a chapter all to herself; forshe was one of the sweetest, gentlest, most unselfish of girls, whofilled a quiet niche in the little world of her home which would havebeen sadly empty without her.
If anyone had asked Lilian what was her favourite study she wouldpromptly have replied: 'Music.' She practised away patiently at the oldpiano, much to the delight of her German teacher, who was wont to holdher up as his pattern pupil.
'Mees Vaughan, she take pains, ver' great,' he would say to Miss Martin.'As for ze ozer yong ladies, zey have no more musique in zem zan an oldhurdy-gurdy. All zat vill please zem is a tune to make dance, but for zevorks of ze best composers zey have no heart at all.'
Lilian's secret ambition was to go to Germany to study at the LeipzigConservatoire, which Herr Frankenburg always described as the very homeand abode of the spirit of music, and made her sadly envious withaccounts of the wonderful concerts and operas which might be enjoyed inthat favoured city, where the very street vendors would not be toleratedif they cried their wares out of tune.
Lilian's experience of concerts was confined to an occasional afternoonperformance in the Warford Assembly Rooms, or the military band in theSpa gardens; but she bravely hid her longings for better things, for sheknew that a musical education would be an utter impossibility in thefamily circumstances, and that Father had strained a point already toallow her to learn from Herr Frankenburg, who was the most expensiveteacher in the school.
She had a sweet, true voice, though not of any great volume, and wouldsing away with much delight when she got the Rose Parlour all toherself, often composing little things of her own, which were reallyquite pretty, though she was generally too modest to own to them.
One Saturday towards the end of May six of Lilian's most particularschool-friends had been invited to spend the afternoon, and there weregreat preparations at the Abbey. Rollo had been newly washed and combed,the rabbits' hutch had been scrubbed, the arbour swept out, the museumtidied, and Nancy had baked a supply of cakes and tarts calculated toprovide for the healthiest appetites.
'Here they are!' cried Bobby, who, perched on the archway thatsurmounted the gate, could command a view of the distant prospect, andreport progress, like Sister Anne in the story of Bluebeard.
'All of them?' asked Lilian, hurriedly tying a pink ribbon round theneck of the pet lamb, whose toilet had been forgotten among the manyarrangements.
'Yes; I can see six bicycles coming along the road. One girl's got redhair, so I'm sure it's Evelyn Proctor, and the two in the blue hats willbe Susie and Mary. Oh, it is really, for they're turning up from thevillage over the bridge, and waving their hands.'
And Bobby climbed down quickly from his point of vantage, so as not tomiss the interesting arrival.
They were a very jolly set of schoolgirls whom Aunt Helen came out on tothe front steps to welcome. Kathleen O'Riley was a bright Irish girl,with the prettiest suspicion of a brogue imaginable, and that winningmanner which seems specially to belong to the children of the EmeraldIsle. Susie and Mary Hirst were the daughters of a rising Warfordphysician, and were pleasant and amusing, though they had not the racyhumour of Dorothy Gower. Evelyn Proctor was full of high spirits, whileshy Lucy Thorburn was perhaps Lilian's favourite among them all.
'It must be stunning to have a bicycle,' said Bobby, regarding withenvious eye the row of bright machines neatly stacked against the wall,and spinning the pedals with a not too gentle hand.
'Yes, it is pretty good fun,' said Susie Hirst, good-naturedly givinghim a ride round the carriage sweep. 'But, you see, you have Pixieinstead, and I think a pony's really nicer.'
'She can't go so fast,' complained Bobby, determined not to be consoled.
'Perhaps not, but you couldn't bike to school in the pouring rain orsnow. It's no joke to get a side-slip, I can tell you.'
'Come along, girls,' cried Lilian; 'I have such heaps to show you.'
It was the first visit that some of the guests had paid to Gorswen, sothey were delighted to make a tour of inspection round the garden,farmyard, and ruins. They duly admired the pet lamb, laughed at Jack,stroked the rabbits, declared Rollo to be a black-and-tan angel, andscreamed with horror at Toby, a harmless grass snake, which was the verylatest addition to the menagerie.
Tea was a lively meal, for Father was full of jokes and funny stories,and Aunt Helen enjoyed schoolgirls' society almost as much as thechildren themselves, while Nancy's delicacies melted away like snow insummer.
'Let us come to the Rose Parlour,' said Lilian, when cups were emptiedfor the last time, and 'No, thank you's' began to be responded toinvitations to more cake and pastry.
Peggy followed, feeling very grand and grown-up among so many eldergirls, and shut the door sternly in Bobby's face.
'We don't want little boys in here,' she said crushingly.
'I don't care,' shouted the indignant youth through the keyhole. 'Idon't want to play with a lot of stupid girls--so there! I shall go andtalk to Joe.'
The museum proved a great fund of interest, for nearly every article hada history, and the guests wandered round the room examining the maps andvarious specimens of art which adorned the walls. Dorothy was trying thepiano, for she played well, though her touch had not half the firmnessof Lilian's.
'What's this?' asked Mary, hunting through a pile of old music insidethe ottoman, and fishing out a manuscript page in Lilian's neat hand.
'Oh, don't!' cried Lilian, blushing hotly. 'Let me have that, Mary,please. I didn't know I had left it there.'
'What is it?' exclaimed all the girls, whose curiosity was naturallyaroused. 'Peggy, you tell!'
'If you dare, Peg!' said Lilian.
But for once Peggy turned tell-tale, and disclosed the secret.
'It's a coon song she's made up herself,' she declared stoutly.
'Oh, do sing it!' cried Susie. 'I couldn't write a note of music if Itried for a year.'
'Yes, yes, you must!' echoed the others.
Thus urged, the unwilling composer was hauled to the piano and pressedon to the music-stool, where, with many protestations and muchbashfulness, she sang the following song:
SHOO! PICCANINNIES.
[Music: Shoo! Piccaninnies.]
1. 'Way down in Georgia where de sugar am grow, All de piccaninnies want to suck de canes, you know! An' dey're hidin' round an' peepin', like de 'possum all de day, Till Uncle Sambo bring his stick an' chase 'em all away!
Chorus.
Shoo, shoo! piccaninnies mustn't come near! Don't want no little piccaninnies 'way down here! Ole mammy callin' you, de melon-beds among-- Shoo! little piccaninnies, 'way! go 'long!
2. When de kitchen-fire am blazin', an' Aunt Dinah stews an' bakes, All de piccaninnies gather just to smell her pies an' cakes; An' dey cluster round de window like de bees upon a comb, Till Auntie Dinah she get mad, an' turn an' drive 'em home! Shoo, shoo! piccaninnies, etc.
3. When massa go a-drivin' in de carry-all and pair, Little piccaninnies run behind to shout Hurrah! and stare; Den de overseer he come up, and use his big, long lash, And say de road was neber meant to harbour nigger trash! Shoo, shoo! piccaninnies, etc.
'It's lovely!' cried the admiring girls. 'Did you make up the wordstoo?'
'Of course she did,' said Peggy, who was proud of her sister's talents.'She has made lots of others, too. Lil, do let me find "Dinah's Baby"and "Stealin' Melons 'neath de Moon"!'
'No, no,' said Lilian; 'I've shown off quite enough for one day. It'ssomebody else's turn now. Come along, Dorothy!'
But Dorothy declared she had played everything she knew, with theexception of scales or five-finger exercises, and none of the otherscould remember a
nything without their notes, so the piano was closedand the music put away.
'There's your little brother outside, tapping on the glass,' said Susie.'What a cherub he looks, with his pink cheeks and little tight browncurls!'
'Sure, I'll let him in, the darlint!' said Kathleen O'Riley, running toopen the French window and admit the smiling Bobby, who entered with anexpression of such angelic innocence that Peggy's suspicions wereinstantly aroused.
'I thought you might like some chocolates,' he said winningly, handing anoble box to Mary Hirst with an air of much generosity.
'Dear little fellow! How sweet of him!' murmured the girls as theycollected round with pleased anticipation.
Mary opened the box, but dropped it with a howl of dismay, for in placeof the tempting sweetmeats she had expected lay a writhing mass of fatgreen caterpillars, newly picked from the gooseberry-bushes, a subtlerevenge on Bobby's part for his expulsion from the sanctum.
'You wretch!' cried Lilian, endeavouring to catch and chastise therejoicing offender, who was off through the window and over the walllong before the girls had finished screaming and shaking their skirts.
'He's a broth of a boy!' laughed Kathleen, who rather enjoyed the joke.'Get out the fire-shovel, Peggy mavourneen, and we'll be after sweepingthem up from the carpet. They're too soft and juicy to be treading underfoot.'
'What shall we do now?' asked Susie, sinking back luxuriously into thebasket-chair, when the contents of the chocolate-box had beensuccessfully removed.
'Suppose we play at nonsense verses,' said Lilian, tearing a few pagesfrom an exercise-book, and hunting out a supply of pencils. 'You allknow the famous one about the lady of Riga:
"There was a young lady of Riga, Who smiled as she rode on the tiger; They came home from their ride With the lady inside, And the smile on the face of the tiger."
Well, the game is this. We each write down the name of a person we allknow on a slip of paper; they are folded up and shuffled, and everybodydraws one, and you must write a nonsense rhyme about the person whosename you find upon your particular slip. Then we elect a president andread them out.'
'It sounds dreadfully difficult,' sighed Lucy. 'I'm not at all clever atpoetry.'
'Oh, never mind, _do_ try;' said Peggy, dealing out the pencils. 'It'sever such fun when once you begin.'
The names were written out, the papers shuffled and drawn, and for tenminutes or more the girls sat knitting their brows and biting theirpencils in all the agonies of composition. When everyone had finishedthe slips were folded up and placed in a basket, and Lilian, who hadbeen chosen to read the effusions, shut her eyes and drew one out at aventure. The name was 'Mademoiselle,' and the lines ran as follows:
'There once was a French mademoiselle Who thought she knew English quite well. When she meant "I am happy," She said "I am snappy," Which made us all laugh, I can tell.'
The girls tittered, for Mademoiselle's mistakes in English were aby-word all over the school.
'I wonder who wrote that!' said Susie, with an innocent air.
'Don't give yourself away, my dear,' answered Evelyn. 'We can all guessnow.'
The next paper was headed 'Mary Hirst.'
'There was a wild schoolgirl named Hirst, Who of all the bad pupils was worst, Till she started to cram For the Cambridge exam., And, to everyone's surprise, came out first.'
'I hope that's a true prophecy,' laughed Mary, who was studying hard forthe Senior Local.
'This writing is not very clear,' said Lilian, unfolding another slipand reading: 'Peggy.'
'There was a young lady named Peg, Who was terribly strong in the leg: With the boys in a race She could set her own pace; But pray do not name it, I beg.'
'That's your own, Lilian,' said the astute Kathleen, 'for you said thewriting was hard to make out, and yet you read it straight off, quiteglibly.'
'You may guess as you like, but I shan't tell,' replied the presidentsternly.
The fourth paper was described 'Herr Fruehl.'
'There was an old German named Fruehl, Who a respirator wore as a rule. When the weather was bad, Oh, his temper was sad, Till we wished he were muzzled in school.'
This proved a favourite, for poor Herr Fruehl, the German master, wasfamous for his bronchitis and his bad temper, and the general opinionascribed the authorship to Dorothy, though she would not acknowledge herlaurels.
'The next,' said Lilian, 'is on Kathleen.'
'There once lived a maid named Kath_leen_, Who never a boat-race had seen; When they brought her a bow Of bright red, she said "No, My national colour is green!"'
The lines referred to a joke which was never forgotten against Kathleen.When she first came to Warford High School, fresh from her native Erin,she had been taken with the rest of her class to witness a grandboat-race between the Grammar School and a rival college from Oswestry.Many of the girls had brothers in the contest, and the Warford favourswere freely distributed on the bank. A little boy had come up toKathleen and politely begged her to accept the scarlet bow of theGrammar School, and sport it as a token of goodwill towards the heroesof the town.
'Is it a red riband, then, ye'll be after askin' me to wear?' inquiredthe indignant young Irishwoman. 'It's the shade of the tyrant, bad cessto it! and don't suit me complexion neither. Sure it's nothing but greenfavours ye'll see on Kathleen O'Riley.'
'Miss James' was the subject of the sixth poem.
'A teacher there was called Miss James, The most domineering of dames: When she passed by their places, All the girls made bad faces; But she never found out, all the same!'
'Same doesn't quite rhyme with James,' remarked Evelyn.
'Well, I told you I was no good at poetry,' began poor Lucy, thenstopped in much embarrassment at having betrayed herself.
'I think it's very nice,' said Lilian hurriedly; 'I like it one of thebest. Don't you want to hear this one about "Dorothy Gower"?
'A maiden named Dorothy Gower Could never eat anything sour; To plain biscuits or bread A "No, thank you," she said, But candy or cakes she'd devour.'
'It's a slander!' cried Dorothy. 'A vile slander! And if I discover theauthorship, I'll bring an action for libel. Go on, Lilian dear, and giveus the last.'
The final effort was on the theme of 'Joe.'
'There was a young fellow named Joe: Who gave him that name I don't know, But I do know that he Gave a puppy to me, And that's why I take to him so!'
'That's Peggy's!' cried the girls in chorus. 'It couldn't belong toanyone else. Well done, Peggy! You will have to show that to Joe; he'llbe quite flattered.'
They sat laughing over the rhymes and chattering as only schoolgirlsknow how until Aunt Helen came in to announce that a light repast ofcake and lemonade awaited them in the dining-room, and to gently hintthat, if Warford were to be reached before darkness had fallen, it wasgetting time for the six bicycles to be set in motion. So there was agrand collecting of hats and gloves, and pumping of tyres, and many'good-byes' and 'thank you's,' and the merry party at last started offon their homeward way, ringing their bells as a parting salute, anddeclaring they would not soon forget their afternoon at the Abbey.