CHAPTER V
THE VIVIANS' ATTIC
Mrs. Haddo was genuinely interested in Dickie. She never once spoke ofhim as a horror. She immediately named the genus to which he belonged inthe spider tribe, and told the girls that they could look up fullparticulars with regard to him and his ways in a large book she haddownstairs called "Chambers's Encyclopedia." She suggested, however,that they should have a little room in one of the attics where theycould keep Dickie and his morsels of meat, and the different boxes whichcontained the caterpillars. She volunteered to show this minute room tothe young Vivians at once.
They looked at her, as she spoke, with more and more interest and lessand less dislike. Even Sylvia's little heart was melted, and Hetty atonce put out her hand and touched Mrs. Haddo's. In a moment the littlebrown hand was held in the firm clasp of the white one, which wasornamented with sparkling rings.
As the children and Mrs. Haddo were leaving the blue room, Mrs. Haddo'seyes fell upon the deal trunks. "What very sensible trunks!" she said."And so you brought your clothes in these?"
"Yes," replied Betty. "Donald Macfarlane made them for us. He can doall sorts of carpentering. He meant to paint them green; but we thoughtwe'd like them best just as they are unpainted."
"They are strong, useful boxes," replied Mrs. Haddo. "And now come withme and I will show you the room which shall be your private property andwhere you can keep your pets. By the way," she added, "I am exceedinglyparticular with regard to the neatness of the various rooms where mypupils sleep; and these bits of heather and these curious stones--oh, Ican tell you plenty about their history by and by--might also be putinto what we will call 'the Vivians' attic.'"
"Thank you so much!" said Betty. She had forgotten all abouthowling--she had even forgotten for the minute that she was really atschool; for great Mrs. Haddo, the wonderful head mistress, about whomFanny had told so many stories, was really a most agreeableperson--nearly, very nearly, as nice as dear Aunt Frances.
The little attic was presently reached; the pets were deposited there;and then--wonderful to relate!--Mrs. Haddo went out herself with thegirls and chose the very best position in the grounds for them to plantthe pieces of heather, with their roots and surrounding earth. She gaveto each girl a small plot which was to be her very own, and which noother girl was to have anything whatever to do with. When presently sheintroduced them into the private sitting-room of the upper school,Betty's eyes were shining quite happily; and Sylvia and Hetty, whoalways followed her example, were looking as merry as possible.
Fanny Crawford, being requested to do so by Susie Rushworth, nowintroduced the Vivians to the Specialities. Mary and Julia Bertram shookhands with them quite warmly. Margaret Grant smiled for a minute as herdark, handsome eyes met those of Betty; while Olive Repton said in hermost genial tone, "Oh, do sit down, and tell us all about your life!"
"Yes, please--_please_, tell us all about your life!" exclaimed anothervoice; and Sibyl Ray came boldly forward and seated herself in the midstof the group, which was known in the school as the Specialities.
But here Margaret interfered. "You shall hear everything presently,Sibyl," she said; "but just now we are having a little confab with dearFanny's friends, so do you mind leaving us alone together?"
Sibyl colored angrily. "I am sure I don't care," she said; "and if youare going to be stuck-up and snappish and disagreeable just because youhappen to call yourselves the Specialities, you needn't expect _me_ totake an interest in you. I am just off for a game of tennis, and shallhave a far better time than you all, hobnobbing in this close room."
"Yes, the room is very close," exclaimed Betty. Then she added, "I donot think I shall like the South of England at all; it seems to bewithout air."
"Oh, you'll soon get over that!" laughed Susie. "Besides," shecontinued, "winter is coming; and I can tell you we find winter verycold, even here."
"I am glad of that," said Betty. "I hate hot weather; unless, indeed,"she added, "when you can lie flat on your back, in the center of one ofthe moors, and watch the sky with the sun blazing down on you."
"But you must never lie anywhere near a flat stone," exclaimed Sylvia,"or an adder may come out, and that isn't a bit jolly!"
Sibyl had not yet moved off, but was standing with her mouth slightlygaping and her round eyes full of horror.
"Do go! do go, Sibyl!" said Mary Bertram; and Sibyl went, to tellwonderful stories to her own special friends all about these oddest ofgirls who kept monstrous spiders--spiders that had to be fed on rawmeat--and who themselves lay on the moors where adders were to be found.
"Now tell us about Dickie," said Susie, who was always the first to makefriends.
But Betty Vivian, for some unaccountable reason, no longer felt eitheramiable or sociable. "There's nothing to tell," she replied, "and youcan't see him."
"Oh, please, Betty, don't be disagreeable!" exclaimed Fanny. "We can seehim any minute if we go to your bedroom."
"No, you can't," said Betty, "for he isn't there."
Fanny burst out laughing. "Ah," she said, "I thought as much! I thoughtMrs. Haddo would soon put an end to poor Dickie's life!"
"Then you thought wrong!" exclaimed Sylvia with flashing eyes, "for Mrs.Haddo loves him. She was down on her knees looking----Oh, what is thematter, Betty?"
"If you keep repeating our secrets with Mrs. Haddo I shall pinch youblack and blue to-night," was Betty's response.
Sylvia instantly became silent.
"Well, tell us about the moor, anyhow," said Margaret.
"And let's go out!" cried Olive. "The day is perfectly glorious; and, ofcourse," she continued, "we are all bound to make ourselves agreeable toyou three, for we owe our delightful half-holiday to you. But for youVivians we'd be toiling away at our lessons now instead of allowing ourminds to cool down."
"Do minds get as hot as all that?" asked Hester.
"Very often, indeed, at this school," said Olive with a chuckle.
"Well, I, for one, shall be delighted to go out," said Betty.
"Then you must run upstairs and get your hats and your gloves," saidFanny, who seemed, for some extraordinary reason, to wish to make hercousins uncomfortable.
Betty looked at her very fiercely for a minute; then she beckoned to hersisters, and the three left the room in their usual fashion--each girlholding the hand of another.
"Fan," said Olive the moment the door had closed behind them, "you don'tlike the Vivians! I see it in your face."
"I never said so," replied Fanny.
"Oh, Fan, dear--not with the lips, of course; but the eyes have spokenvolumes. Now, I think they are great fun; they're so uncommon."
"I have never said I didn't like them," repeated Fanny, "and you willnever get me to say it. They are my cousins, and of course I'll have tolook after them a bit; but I think before they are a month at the schoolyou will agree with me in my opinion with regard to them."
"How can we agree in an opinion we know nothing about?" said MargaretGrant.
Fanny looked at her, and Fanny's eyes could flash in a very significantmanner at times.
"Let's come out!" exclaimed Susie Rushworth. "The girls will follow us."
This, however, turned out not to be the case. Susie, the Bertrams,Margaret Grant, Olive Repton, waited for the Vivians in every imaginablespot where they it likely the newcomers would be.
As a matter of fact, the very instant the young Vivians had left thesitting-room, Betty whispered in an eager tone, first to one sister andthen to the other, "We surely needn't stay any longer with Fanny andthose other horrid girls. Never mind your hats and gloves. Did we everwear hats and gloves when we were out on the moors at Craigie Muir?There's an open door. Let's get away quite by ourselves."
The Vivians managed this quite easily. They raced down a side-walk untilthey came to an overhanging oak tree of enormous dimensions. Into thistree they climbed, getting up higher and higher until they were lost toview in the topmost branches. Here they contrived to make a cozy n
estfor themselves, where they sat very close together, not talking much,although Betty now and then said calmly, "I like Mrs. Haddo; she is theonly one in the whole school I can tolerate."
"Fan's worse than ever!" exclaimed Sylvia.
"Oh, don't let's talk of her!" said Betty.
"It will be rather fun going to London to-morrow," said Hester.
"Fun!" exclaimed Betty. "I suppose we shall be put into odiousfashionable dresses, like those stuck-up dolls the other girls. But Idon't think, try as they will, they'll ever turn _me_ into a fashionablelady. How I do hate that sort!"
"Yes, and so do I," said Sylvia; while Hetty, who always echoed hersisters' sentiments, said ditto.
"Mrs. Haddo was kind about Dickie," said Betty after a thoughtful pause.
"And it is nice," added Sylvia, "to have the Vivian attic."
"Oh, dear!" said Hester; "I wish all those girls would keep out ofsight, for then I'd dash back to the house and bring out the pieces ofheather and plant them right away. They ought not to be long out of theground."
"You had best go at once," said Betty, giving Hester a somewhat vigorouspush, which very nearly upset the little girl's balance. "Go boldly backto the house; don't be afraid of any one; don't speak to any one unlessit happens to be Mrs. Haddo. Be sure you are polite to her, for she is alady. Go up to the Vivian attic and bring down the clumps of heather,and the little spade we brought with us in the very bottom of the fifthtrunk."
"Oh, and there's the watering-can; don't forget that!" cried Sylvia.
"Yes, bring the watering-can, too. You had best find a pump, or a well,or something, so that you can fill it up to the brim. Bring them allalong; and then just whistle 'Robin Adair' at the foot of this tree, andwe two will come swarming down. Now, off with you; there's no time tolose!"
Hester descended without a word. She was certainly born without a scrapof fear of any kind, and adventure appealed to her plucky little spirit.Betty settled herself back comfortably against one of the forkedbranches of the tree where she had made her nest.
"If we are careful, Sylvia, we can come up here to hide as often as welike. I rather fancy from the shape of those other girls that they'renot specially good at climbing trees."
"What do you mean by their shape?" asked Sylvia.
"Oh, they're so squeezed in and pushed out; I don't know how to explainit. Now, _we_ have the use of all our limbs; and I say, you silly littleSylvia, won't we use them just!"
"I always love you, Betty, when you call me 'silly little Sylvia,' for Iknow you are in a good humor and not inclined to howl. But, before Hettycomes back, I want to say something."
"How mysterious you look, Sylvia! What can you have to say that poorHetty's not to hear? I am not going to have secrets that are not sharedamong us three, I can tell you. We share and share alike--we three. Weare just desolate orphans, alone in the world; but at least we share andshare alike."
"Of course, of course," said Sylvia; "but I saw--and I don't think Hettydid----"
"And what did you see?"
"I saw Fan looking at us; and then she came rather close. It was thattime when we were all stifling in that odious sitting-room; Fan came andsat very close to you, and I saw her put her hand down to feel yourdress. I know she felt that flat pocket where the little sealed packetis."
Betty's face grew red and then white.
"And don't you remember," continued Sylvia, "that Fan was with us on thevery, very day when darling auntie told us about the packet--the daywhen you came out of her room with your eyes as red as a ferret's; anddon't you remember how you couldn't help howling that day, and how faroff we had to go for fear darlingest auntie would hear you? And can'tyou recall that Fan crept after us, just like the horrid sneak that sheis? And I know she heard you say, 'That packet is mine; it belongs toall of us, and I--I _will_ keep it, whatever happens.'"
"She may do sneaky things of that sort every hour of every day that shelikes," was Betty's cool rejoinder. "Now, don't get into a fright, sillylittle Sylvia. Oh, I say, hark! that's Hester's note. She is whistling'Robin Adair'!"
Quick as thought, the girls climbed down from the great tree and stoodunder it. Hester was panting a little, for she had run fast and her armswere very full.
"I saw a lot of _them_ scattered everywhere!" she exclaimed; "but Idon't _think_ they saw me, but of course I couldn't be sure. Here's theheather; its darling little bells are beginning to droop, poor sweetpets! And here's the spade; and here's the watering-can, brimful ofwater, too, for I saw a gardener as I was coming along, and I asked himto fill it for me, and he did so at once. Now let's go to our gardensand let's plant. We've just got a nice sod of heather each--one for eachgarden. Oh, do let's be quick, or those dreadful girls will see us!"
"There's no need to hurry," said Betty. "I rather think I can take careof myself. Give me the watering-can. Sylvia, take the heather; and,Hetty--your face is perfectly scarlet, you have run so fast--you followafter with the spade."
The little plots of ground which had been given over to the Vivian girlshad been chosen by Mrs. Haddo on the edge of a wild, uncultivated pieceof ground. The girls of Haddo Court were proud of this piece of land,which some of them--Margaret Grant, in particular--were fond of callingthe "forest primeval." But the Vivians, fresh from the wild Scotchmoors, thought but poorly of the few acres of sparse grass and tangledweed and low under-growth. It was, however, on the very edge of thispiece of land that the three little gardens were situated. Mrs. Haddodid nothing by halves; and already--wonderful to relate--the gardens hadbeen marked out with stakes and pieces of stout string, and there was asmall post planted at the edge of the center garden containing the wordsin white paint: THE VIVIANS' PRIVATE GARDENS.
Even Betty laughed. "This is good!" she said. "Girls, that is quite anice woman."
The twins naturally acknowledged as very nice indeed any one whom Bettyadmired.
Betty here gave a profound sigh. "Come along; let's be quick," she said."We'll plant our heather in the very center of each plot. I'll have themiddle plot, of course, being the eldest. You, silly Sylvia, shall havethe one on the left-hand side; and you, Het, the one on the right-handside. I will plant my heather first."
The others watched while Betty dug vigorously, and had soon made a holelarge enough and soft enough to inclose the roots of the wild Scotchheather. She then gave her spade to Sylvia, who did likewise; thenHetty, in her turn, also planted a clump of heather. The contents of thewatering-can was presently dispersed among the three clumps, and thegirls turned back in the direction of the house.
"She _is_ nice!" said Betty. "I will bring her here the first day shehas a minute to spare and show her the heather. She said she knew allabout Scotch heather, and loved it very much. I shouldn't greatly mind,for my part, letting her know about the packet."
"Oh, better not!" said Hester in a frightened tone. "Remember, she isnot the only one in that huge prison of a house." Here she pointed tothe great mansion which constituted the vast edifice, Haddo Court. "Sheis by no means the only one," continued Hester. "If she were, I could behappy here."
"You are right, Het; you are quite a wise, small girl," said Betty. "Oh,dear," she added, "how I hate those monstrous houses! What would not Igive to be back in the little, white stone house at Craigie Muir!"
"And with darling Jean and dearest old Donald!" exclaimed Sylvia.
"Yes, and the dogs," said Hester. "Oh, Andrew! oh, Fritz! are youmissing us as much as we miss you? And, David, you darling! are youpricking up your ears, expecting us to come round to you with somecarrots?"
"We'd best not begin too much of this sort of talk," said Betty. "We'vegot to make up our minds to be cheerful--that is, if we wish to pleaseMrs. Haddo."
The thought of Mrs. Haddo was certainly having a remarkable effect onBetty; and there is no saying how soon she might, in consequence, havebeen reconciled to her school-life but for an incident which took placethat very evening. For Fanny Crawford, who would not tell a tale againstanother for the w
orld, had been much troubled since she heard of hercousins' arrival. Her conscientious little mind had told her that theywere the last sort of girls suitable to be in such a school as HaddoCourt. She had found out something about them. She had not meant to spyon them during her brief visit to Craigie Muir, but she had certainlyoverheard some of Betty's passionate words about the little packet; andthat very evening, curled up on the sofa in the tiny sitting-room atCraigie Muir Cottage, she had seen Betty--although Betty had not seenher--creep into the room in the semi-darkness and remove a little sealedpacket from one of Miss Vivian's drawers. As Fanny expressed itafterwards, she felt at the moment as though her tongue would cleave tothe roof of her mouth. She had tried to utter some sound, but nonewould come. She had never mentioned the incident to any one; and as shescarcely expected to see anything more of her cousins in the future, shetried to dismiss it from her thoughts. But as soon as ever she was toldin confidence by Miss Symes that the Vivian girls were coming to HaddoCourt, she recalled the incident of what she was pleased to regard asthe stolen packet. It had haunted her while she was at Craigie Muir; ithad even horrified her. Her whole nature recoiled against what sheconsidered clandestine and underhand dealings. Nevertheless she couldnot, she would not, tell. But she had very nearly made up her mind tosay something to the girls themselves--to ask Betty why she had takenthe packet, and what she had done with it. But even on this course shewas not fully decided.
On the morning of that very day, however, just before Fanny bade herfather good-bye, he had said to her, "Fan, my dear, there's a trifleworrying me, although I don't suppose for a single moment you can helpme in the matter."
"What is it, father?" asked the girl.
"Well, the fact is this. I am going, as you know, to India for the nextfew years, and it is quite possible that as the cottage at Craigie Muirwill belong to the Vivian girls--for poor Frances bought it and allowedthose Scotch folk the Macfarlanes to live there--it is, I say, quitepossible that you may go to Craigie Muir for a summer holiday with yourcousins. The air is superb, and would do you much good, and of coursethe girls would be wild with delight. Well, my dear, if you go, I wantyou to look round everywhere--you have good, sharp eyes in your head,Fan, my girl--and try if you can find a little sealed packet which poorFrances left to be taken care of by me for your three cousins."
"A sealed packet?" said Fanny. She felt herself turning very pale.
"Yes. Do you know anything about it?"
"Oh, father!" said poor Fanny; and her eyes filled with tears.
"What is the matter, my child?"
"I--I'd so much rather not talk about it, please."
"Then you do know something?"
"Please, please, father, don't question me!"
"I won't if you don't wish it; but your manner puzzles me a good deal.Well, dear, if you can get it by any chance, you had better put it intoMrs. Haddo's charge until I return. I asked those poor children if theyhad seen it, and they denied having done so."
Fanny felt herself shiver, and had to clasp her hands very tightlytogether.
"I also asked that good shepherd Donald Macfarlane and his wife, andthey certainly knew nothing about it. I can't stay with you any longernow, my little girl; but if you do happen to go to Craigie Muir youmight remember that I am a little anxious on the subject, for it is mywish to carry out the directions of my dear cousin Frances in allparticulars. Now, try to be very, very good to your cousins, Fan; andremember how lonely they are, and how differently they have been broughtup from you."
Fanny could not speak, for she was crying too hard. Sir John presentlywent away, and forgot all about the little packet. But Fanny rememberedit; in fact, she could not get it out of her head during the entire day;and in the course of the afternoon, when she found that the Vivian girlsjoined the group of the Specialities, she forced a chair between Bettyand Olive Repton, and seated herself on it, and purposely, hatingherself all the time for doing so, felt Betty's pocket. Beyond doubtthere was something hard in it. It was not a pocket-handkerchief, nordid it feel like a pencil or a knife or anything of that sort.
"I shall know no peace," thought Fanny to herself, "until I get thatunhappy girl to tell the truth and return the packet to me. I shall bevery firm and very kind, and I will never let out a single thing aboutit in the school. But the packet must be given up; and then I willmanage to convey it to Mrs. Haddo, who will keep it until dear fatherreturns."
But although Fan intended to act the part of the very virtuous andproper girl, she did not like her cousins the more because of thisunpleasant incident. Fanny Crawford had a certain strength of character;but it is sad to relate that she was somewhat overladen withself-righteousness, and was very proud of the fact that nothing wouldinduce _her_ to do a dishonorable thing. She sadly lacked Mrs. Haddo'srare and large sympathy and deep knowledge of life, and Fanny certainlyhad not the slightest power of reading character.
That very evening, therefore, when the Vivian girls had gone to theirroom, feeling very tired and sleepy, and by no means so unhappy as theyexpected, Fanny first knocked at their door and then boldly entered.Each girl had removed her frock and was wearing a little, rough, graydressing-gown, and each girl was in the act of brushing out her own verythick hair.
"Brushing-hair time!" exclaimed Fanny in a cheerful tone. "I trust I amnot in the way."
"We were going to bed," remarked Betty.
"Oh, Betty, what a reproachful tone!" Fanny tried to carry matters offwith a light hand. "Surely I, your own cousin, am welcome? Do say I amwelcome, dear Betty! and let me bring my brush and comb, and brush myhair in your room."
"No," said Betty; "you are not welcome, and we'd all much rather thatyou brushed your hair in your own room."
"You certainly are sweetly polite," said Fanny, with a smile on her facewhich was not remarkable for sweetness. She looked quite calmly at thegirls for a moment. Then she said, "This day, on account of yourarrival, rules are off, so to speak, but they begin again to-morrowmorning. To-morrow evening, therefore, I cannot come to your bedroom,for it would be breaking rules."
"Oh, how just awfully jolly!" exclaimed Sylvia.
"Thanks," said Fanny. She paused again for a minute. Then she added,"But as rules are off, I may as well say that I have come here to-nighton purpose. Just before father left, he told me that there was a littlesealed packet"--Betty sat plump down on the side of her bed; Sylvia andHetty caught each others hands--"a little sealed packet," continuedFanny, "which belonged to poor Miss Vivian--your aunt Frances--and whichfather was to take charge of for you."
"No, he wasn't," said Betty; "you make a mistake."
"Nonsense, Betty! Father never makes a mistake. Anyhow, he has MissVivian's letter, which proves the whole thing. Now, the packet cannot befound. Father is quite troubled about it. He says he has not an ideawhat it contains, but it was left to be placed under his care. He askedyou three about it, and you said you knew nothing. He also asked theservants in that ugly little house----"
"How dare you call it ugly?" said Betty.
"Well, well, pray don't get into a passion! Anyhow, you all denied anyknowledge of the packet. Now, I may as well confess that, although Ihave not breathed the subject to any one, I saw you, Betty, with my owneyes, take it out of Miss Vivian's drawer. I was lying on the sofa inthe dark, or almost in the dark, and you never noticed me; but I saw youopen the drawer and take the packet out. That being the case, you _do_know all about it, and you have told a lie. Please, Betty, give me thepacket, and I will take it to-morrow to Mrs. Haddo, and she will lookafter it for you until father returns; and I promise you faithfully thatI will never tell a soul what you did, nor the lie you told father aboutit. Now, Betty, do be sensible. Give it to me, without any delay. Ifelt it in the pocket under your dress to-day, so you can't deny thatyou have it."
Fanny's face was very red when she had finished speaking, and there weretwo other faces in that room which were even redder; but another facewas very pale, with shining eyes and a defiant, strange ex
pression aboutthe lips.
The three Vivians now came up to Fanny, who, although older than the twoyounger girls, was built much more slightly, and, compared with them,had no muscle at all. Betty was a very strong girl for her age.
"Come," said Betty, "we are not going to waste words on you. Just marchout of this!"
"I--what do you mean?"
"March! This is our room, our private room, and therefore our castle. Ifyou like to play the spy, you can; but you don't come in here. Goalong--be quick--out you go!"
A strong hand took Fanny forcibly by her right arm, and a strong handtook her with equal force by her left, then two very powerful handspushed from behind; so that Fanny Crawford, who considered herself oneof the most dignified and lady-like girls in the school, was summarilyejected. She went into her room, looked at the cruel marks on her armscaused by the angry girls, and burst into tears.
Miss Symes came in and found Fanny crying, and did her best to comfortthe girl. "What is wrong, dear?" she said.
"Oh, don't--don't ask me!" said poor Fanny.
"You are fretting about your father, darling."
"It's not that," said Fanny; "and I can't ever tell you, dear St.Cecilia. Oh, please, leave me! Oh, oh, I am unhappy!"
Miss Symes, finding she could do no good, and believing that Fanny mustbe a little hysterical on account of her father, went away. When shehad gone Fanny dried her eyes, and stayed for a long time lost inthought. She had meant to be good, after her fashion, to the Viviangirls; but, after their treatment of her, she felt that she understoodfor the first time what hate really meant. If she could not force thegirls to deliver up the packet, she might even consider it her duty totell the whole story to Mrs. Haddo. Never before in the annals of thatgreat school had a Speciality been known to tell a story of anothergirl. But Fanny reflected that there were great moments in life whichrequired that a rule should be broken.