CHAPTER XII
OBEYING ORDERS
“Children,” said Aunt Rachel, one afternoon, as dressed in their bestcalling costumes, she and Aunt Abbie were about to enter the carriage,“we are going to make some calls, and about five o’clock I want you tomeet us at Mrs. Hampton’s, and we will all come home together.”
“Oh, Auntie Rachel,” said Dolly, “I don’t want to go calling to-day. Iwant to play.”
“I know it, dearie, and so I’ve let you off from most of the calls we’remaking. But I especially want you to be with me at Mrs. Hampton’s, soyou can play till half-past four, and then get dressed and meet us thereat five.”
“All right, Auntie,” said Dolly, who was a sunny-tempered little girl,after all. “What shall I wear?”
“Put on your new white piqué, and Dick, wear your light-grey suit. Now,be sure, children,—be there promptly by five.”
“Yes’m; and if you’re not there shall we wait for you?”
“Yes,” said Aunt Abbie, “wait until we come, no matter what time it is.But we’ll be there about five.”
The aunts drove away and the twins played out in the garden until it wastime to dress.
They started off, looking very demure with their clean clothes andfreshly-brushed hair.
“I don’t want to go a bit,” said Dolly, with a little sigh, as shewalked along.
“Neither do I,” replied Dick, “but we have to go, so there’s no usemaking a fuss about it. Where does she live, anyway?”
“Why, I don’t know; I thought Auntie told you.”
“No, she didn’t, but I know it can’t be far, because she said we couldget there in ten minutes. Here’s old Abe, let’s ask him.”
The twins stopped an old man who was going by in his cart, and who was awell-known character in the town.
“Hello, Abe,” said Dick. “Do you know where Mrs. Hampton lives?”
“Sure, my boy. I just came from there, havin’ been doin’ some cartin’for her. You see that red-brick house, over beyond those trees?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it’s the next one beyond,—a white one. You go over that way, andanybody’ll direct you.”
“All right; thank you, Abe,” and the old man drove on, while the twinsfollowed the direction he had given them.
“I’d like to skip,” said Dolly, “but it makes our shoes all dusty.”
“No, we mustn’t do that,” agreed Dick. “Aunt Rachel would have a cat-fitif we weren’t spick and span when we get there.”
So they walked on sedately, only pausing now and then to pick a flower,or look at a bird on a branch.
They inquired once more, in order to be sure, and then turned in at Mrs.Hampton’s gate. A fine fountain was playing in the front yard, and thetwins crossed the lawn to see if there were any fish in it. Thereweren’t, but the plash of the cool water was very attractive.
“I’ll dare you to stick your foot in,” said Dick, suddenly.
They stood on the very brink of the fountain basin, and so impossiblewas it for either twin to refuse a “dare,” that Dolly’s immaculate whiteshoe and stocking went flash into the water and out again before sherealised what she had done.
“Oh, Dick!” she exclaimed; “you made me do that! What will Aunt Rachelsay?”
“Too bad, Dollums,” said Dick, greatly disturbed at his own part in themischief. “I didn’t think what I was saying.”
“And I didn’t think what I was doing! I dare you to stick _your_ footin!”
Partly because of the dare, and partly because he was quite willing toshare his sister’s fate, Dick hastily thrust his own neat black shoe andstocking in the water.
“There!” he said, as half proudly he drew it out again. “Now we’reeven!”
“Yes; but how can we go into Mrs. Hampton’s this way?”
“Perhaps they won’t notice. Mine doesn’t feel very wet, does yours?”
“Sopping! and they’ll drip all over her carpet.”
“Let’s wipe them on the grass.”
But the green grass did not improve the appearance of Dolly’s whiteshoe, though Dick’s black one didn’t show the effects of the bath soplainly.
“Come on, Dolly, we may as well face the music.”
They went on toward the house, and the dust of the footpath settled onDick’s wet shoe and stocking until he was quite as untidy looking as hissister.
“Wow! isn’t it soppy!” he exclaimed as the water in his shoe oozed andspattered out.
“Horrid! I don’t see why we did it!”
“Well, keep up a brave face, maybe the parlour will be sort of dark andthey won’t notice.”
They rang the bell, and a maid opened the door.
“Is Mrs. Hampton in?” said Dolly, in her, sweetest tones.
“Yes; walk in the drawing-room. What names?”
“Miss Dana and Mr. Dana,” said Dolly, and was about to explain that theyhad come to meet their aunts, when the maid disappeared.
She returned to say that Mrs. Hampton would appear presently, and forthem to wait.
“’Course we’ll wait,” said Dick to Dolly, as the maid again left them.“The aunties aren’t here on time, after all. P’raps our feet’ll drybefore they come.”
“I wish there was a fire. I’m dripping on this pretty light carpet.Dick, let’s go out in the kitchen or some place, and find a fire.”
“All right, come on.”
They left the drawing-room, and as they crossed the hall they saw abright wood fire in a room across the hall, evidently the library. Sothey went in, and drawing up two big chairs, they sat down and heldtheir two wet feet to the crackling blaze.
“This is gay,” said Dick, leaning back in his chair with a sigh ofsatisfaction. “We’ll be all dry in a few minutes, Doll.”
“Yes; but I wish Aunt Rachel would come before Mrs. Hampton comes down.I don’t know her. Do you?”
“Nope; never saw her. But the aunties are bound to be here soon. It’squarter-past five, now.”
“What _are_ you children doing?” said a voice behind them, and Dick andDolly jumped from their chairs, and saw a lady coming toward them. Shewas a very pretty lady, in a trailing silk house gown, and lots offrizzy light hair.
Dolly thought she looked a little like Lady Eliza, and not at all likeany of Aunt Rachel’s other friends.
“How do you do?” said Dolly, making her curtsey prettily, while Dickbobbed his head.
“How do you do?” returned Mrs. Hampton, “but who are you?”
“We’re Dolly and Dick Dana,” said Dick, “and our aunties said for us tomeet them here at five o’clock. But they don’t seem to be here yet.”
“No; they’re not. Are your aunties Miss Rachel and Miss Abbie Dana?”
“Yes’m; and they said they would call here this afternoon.”
“And they told us if they weren’t here to wait till they came,” saidDolly.
“Yes?” said Mrs. Hampton, looking at her quizzically. “And why are yousitting almost into the fire? It’s a warm day.”
“Yes,” said Dolly, “but you see, we stepped into the fountain as we camealong, and so we’re just drying our feet.”
“That’s a very good idea,” and Mrs. Hampton’s smiling eyes were aspleasant as if stepping into fountains was quite usual for her guests.“And so your aunts are coming to call on me?”
“Yes, at five o’clock. But they seem to be late, so, if you please,we’ll wait for them.”
They waited until half-past five, and then until quarter of six, andstill the Dana ladies didn’t come. The twins grew very impatient, for itwas most irksome to have to sit and talk polite conversation with agrown-up lady.
Mrs. Hampton asked so many questions too. Very impertinent questionsthey seemed to Dick, though he answered to the best of his ability.
Mrs. Hampton was smiling and pleasant, and seemed interested in hearingabout the Dana establishment, but stil
l Dick and Dolly feltuncomfortable, and wished their aunts would come.
At six o’clock Mrs. Hampton said she felt sure the aunts had changedtheir plans, and were not coming, and she delicately hinted that shewould send the twins home.
“No,” said Dick, positively; “we must stay here till they come. AuntAbbie said to wait, no matter what time it was. And, besides, if theyhave changed their plans, and are not coming here, they’d send Michaelfor us, anyway.”
Dolly agreed to this, and the two little martyrs sat for anotherhalf-hour.
“Well, if you stay any longer, you must stay to dinner,” said Mrs.Hampton at last. “Do you sit up to dinner at home?”
“We have supper at night,” said Dolly, and her lip quivered a little,for she was beginning to feel anxious about her aunts.
“Well, I have dinner at night,—at eight o’clock.”
“At eight o’clock!” exclaimed Dolly. “Don’t you get awfully hungrybefore that time?”
“No, I don’t,” said Mrs. Hampton, smiling; “but I’m sure youchickabiddies will. So suppose I give you a nice little supper up in mysitting-room, and excuse you from dinner? I have guests coming, and itisn’t exactly a children’s party, you see.”
“But we’re not going to stay here all night!” exclaimed Dolly in dismay.
“It looks that way to me,” said Mrs. Hampton. “I offered to send youhome, and you said no. Now I feel sure your aunts won’t come,—it’s toolate for them, and if you’re bound to wait for them, I can offer yousupper and pleasant sleeping rooms,—but I can’t invite you to dinner.”
The twins were uncertain what to do. But after all, they had no choice.Aunt Rachel had told them to wait until she came, and Aunt Rachel’sorders were always to be obeyed. To be sure something might havehappened to prevent the aunties from carrying out their plan of callingon Mrs. Hampton, but even so, they would have sent for the children. Andif they had gone home, they would surely send Michael over for them atonce. It wasn’t as if the aunties didn’t know where they were. They hadsent them to Mrs. Hampton’s, and told them to wait there. So theywaited.
They thought Mrs. Hampton seemed a little annoyed because they waited.But as Dick said to Dolly, “I’m not going to disobey Aunt Rachel foranother lady. But all the same, Dollums, I do want to go home.”
“So do I,” said Dolly, “I think it’s horrid here.”
It wasn’t really horrid at all, but to be unwelcome guests in a strangehouse is not especially pleasant, no matter how pretty the house may be.
The twins had been taken up to Mrs. Hampton’s sitting-room, and incharge of a maid, had been served with a delightful little supper. Breadand milk, jam, fresh strawberries, and dear little cakes, followed byice cream, made a goodly feast indeed. After it, their spirits rose alittle, and they ate their ice cream with smiling faces.
“I think the aunties decided to come this evening instead of afternoon,”said Dick, unable to think of any other explanation.
“They never do make calls in the evening but perhaps that’s it,” saidDolly, doubtfully. “I hear people coming in, Dick, let’s go and lookover the banisters.”
Carrying their ice cream plates with them the twins stepped out into thehall and looked over the banisters on the scene below.
It was a fascinating glow of lights and flowers and ladies and gentlemenin evening dress, for the dinner guests had come, and were standingabout, engaged in conversation.
Dolly was enchanted with the grand ladies, with jewels in their hair,and with low-necked gowns, and Dick, too, leaned over the banister tosee the gay scene. So absorbed were they that they did not heed theirmelting ice cream, and, almost at the same moment, the soft, cold massslid from each tipped-up plate, on the heads and shoulders of the ladiesand gentlemen below.
Such a shriek of dismay as arose brought Dick and Dolly to a realisationof what they had done, and in an agony of mortification they fled backto the sitting-room.
Here Mrs. Hampton found them, their heads buried in sofa pillows, andcrying in muffled paroxysms.
“You must go home,” she said, and her cold, hard tones were more of areproof than any words could have been. “My coachman will take you, andI wish you to go at once.”
“We wish to go, Mrs. Hampton,” said Dolly, striving to choke back hertears while she made some sort of apology. “We’re very sorry we came,and we’re ’ceeding sorry we spilled the ice cream. It was very good.”
This sounded as if Dolly merely regretted the loss of the dainty, but itwas not so. She meant to compliment the supper that had been given them,but, what with their worry over Aunt Rachel’s absence, their ownhomesickness, and the awful accident of the ice cream, both childrenwere completely upset.
“Please forgive us,” said Dick, holding out his little hand. “We’ve hada lovely time,—and,—and we hope you’ll come to see us.”
“I can’t make you out!” said Mrs. Hampton, looking at the children inperplexity. “I thought you threw down that ice cream purposely.”
“Oh, no!” cried both twins at once, and Dolly went on eagerly: “you see,we never saw low-necked ladies and gentlemen at a party before; and wewere so awfully interested, we leaned over to see better, and I s’posethe gas-lights heated up our ice cream and melted it, and it justslipped off the plates.”
“We ought to have held the plates more level,” said Dick, thoughtfully;“I’m sorry we didn’t.”
“I’m sorry, too, for you mortified me terribly and annoyed my guests,which was worse.”
“It’s terrible!” said Dolly, with a sigh. “I don’t see how you _can_forgive us.”
“I couldn’t if you weren’t such a sweet little culprit,” said Mrs.Hampton, smiling, and catching Dolly in her arms and kissing her. Thenshe kissed Dick too, and, still smiling, she hurried away.
The maid found the children’s hats, and hurried them down the backstairs, where the coachman was waiting for them. Evidently the servantswere not as forgiving as Mrs. Hampton, for Dick and Dolly were fairlyhustled into the carriage, the door was banged shut, and they wererapidly driven homeward.
At Dana Dene, they were met on the threshold by two veryfrightened-looking ladies, and while Aunt Rachel and Aunt Abbie eachclasped a twin in her arms, the Hampton carriage drove away.
“You _dear_ babies! where have you been?” cried Aunt Abbie, while AuntRachel squeezed Dick with an affection too deep for words.
“Where have we been?” cried Dick, in amazement. “Why, we’ve been at Mrs.Hampton’s, where you told us to go, and wait for you. We’ve been waitingthere ever since five o’clock!”
“Why, Dickie, dear,” expostulated Miss Rachel, “we went to Mrs.Hampton’s at five o’clock, and waited there for you until nearly six!Then we came home, and ever since we’ve been nearly frantic because wedidn’t know where you were. Michael and Pat have been out hunting withlanterns.”
“But, Auntie, dear,” said Dolly, “we _did_ go to Mrs. Hampton’s, andafter we waited and waited, and you didn’t come, she gave us supper inher sitting-room, ’cause she had a dinner party in the dining-room, andthe ladies had on beautiful frocks, all lacy and low-necked, and wespilled ice cream on ’em!”
“What!”
“Yes’m; we didn’t mean to, you know, but it melted.”
“Dolly, what _are_ you talking about? Mrs. Hampton is not having adinner party this evening. I just left there at six o’clock, so I know.”
“Well, _our_ Mrs. Hampton is,” said Dick. “Are there two Mrs. Hamptonsin Heatherton, auntie?”
“No, of course there aren’t! I wonder where you _have_ been!”
“Well, she _is_ Mrs. Hampton, we called her that, and so did the maid.It’s a beautiful house,—with a great big open round in the hall, whereyou can look down,—and a fountain outside.”
Miss Rachel sent for Michael.
“Michael,” said she, “where do you suppose these children have been?Whose carriage brought them home?”
“I don’t know, Miss Rache
l. It’s a new turnout in Heatherton. All swell,jingly harness and livery, an’ the like o’ that.”
“Dolly says they live in a big white house with a fountain in front.”
“Arrah, thin, it’s the new people as is afther takin’ the Van Zandtplace. A widdy lady of great forchin, I’m towld; an’ be the same token,I do belave they said her name was Hampden, or somethin’ like that.”