CHAPTER TWENTY-NINTH.
"Oh, gentle Romeo, If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully. Or if thou think'st I'm too quickly won, I'll frown and be perverse, and say thee nay, So thou wilt woo; but else not for the world." --SHAKESPEARE.
One lovely morning in the ensuing spring, the younger Elsie wandered outalone into the grounds, and sauntering aimlessly along with a book in herhand, at length found herself standing on the shore of the lakelet.
It was a lovely spot, for the limpid waters reflected grassy bankssprinkled here and there with the wild violet, and shaded by beautifultrees.
A gentle breeze just ruffled the glassy surface of the pond, and rusticseats invited to rest. It seemed just the place and time for a reverie,and Elsie, with scarce a glance about her, sat down to that enjoyment. Itwas only of late that she had formed the habit, but it was growing uponher.
She sat for some time buried in thought, her cheek upon her hand, her eyesupon the ground, and smiles and blushes chasing each other over the fairsweet face.
The dip of an oar, followed instantly by a discordant laugh and a shrillvoice asking, "What are you sittin' there for so still and quiet? Wouldn'tyou like to get in here with me!" caused her to start and spring to herfeet with a cry of dismay.
About an hour before a little, oddly dressed woman, with grey hair hangingover her shoulders, a large doll in one arm and a sun umbrella in theother hand, might have been seen stealing along the road that led fromRoselands to Ion, keeping close to the hedge that separated it from thefields, and now and then glancing over her shoulder as if fearing orexpecting pursuit.
She kept up a constant gabble, now talking to herself, now to the doll,hugging and kissing it with a great show of affection.
"Got away safe this time, didn't we, Grizzy? And we're not going back in ahurry, are we, dear? We've had enough of being penned up in that old housethis ever so long; and now we'll have a day in the woods, a picnic all toourselves. Hark! what was that? did I hear wheels?" pausing a moment tolisten. "No, they haven't found us out yet, Grizzy, so we'll walk on."
Reaching the gate leading into the avenue at Ion, she stood a momentpeering in between the bars.
"Seems to me I've been here before; must have been a good while ago. GuessI won't go up to the house; they might catch me and send me back. But letus go in, Griselda, and look about. Yonder's a garden full of flowers.We'll pick what we want and nobody'll know it."
Putting down her umbrella and pushing the gate open just far enough toenable her to slip through, she stole cautiously in, crossed the avenueand the lawn, and entered the garden unobserved.
She wandered here and there about it, plucking remorselessly whateverseized her fancy, till she had an immense bouquet of the choicestblossoms.
At length leaving the garden she made a circuit through the shrubbery, andfinally came out upon the shore of the little lake.
"Oh, this is nice!" she said. "Did I ever see this before? It's cool andshady here; we'll sit down and rest ourselves under one of these trees,Grizzy." Then catching sight of a pretty row-boat, moored to the shore,"No, we'll jump into this boat and take a ride!" and springing nimbly in,she laid the doll down on one of the seats, the bouquet beside it, saying,"I'm tired carrying you, Griselda, so you just lie there and rest," thenquickly loosing the little craft from its moorings, and taking up theoars, pushed off into the deep water.
She laid down the oars presently, and amused herself with the flowers,picking them to pieces and scattering the petals in the water, leaningover the side of the boat, talking to the fishes, and bidding them eatwhat she gave them, "for it was good, much better and daintier than breadcrumbs."
The breeze came from the direction to take her farther from the shore, andsoon wafted her out to the middle of the lake, but she went on with hernew diversion, taking no note of her whereabouts.
It was just about this time that Elsie reached the spot and sat down toher day dreams.
Enna, for she it was who occupied the boat, did not see her niece atfirst, but after a little, growing weary of her sport with the flowers,she threw them from her, took up an oar again, and glancing toward theland, as she dipped it in the water, her eye fell upon the gracefulwhite-robed figure seated there underneath the trees, and she instantlycalled out to her as we have related.
Elsie was much alarmed; concerned for the safety of the poor lunatic.There was no knowing what mad freak might seize her at any moment; no onewas within call, and that being the only boat there, there was no way ofreaching her until she should return to the shore of her own accord; ifindeed, she was capable of managing the boat so as to reach the land ifshe desired to do so.
Elsie did not lose her presence of mind, and she thought very rapidly. Thebreeze was wafting the boat farther from her, but nearer to the oppositeshore; if let alone it would arrive there in the course of time, and Ennashe perceived did not know how to propel it with the oars.
"Will you come?" she was asking again, "will you take a ride in thispretty boat with me?"
"I'll run round to the other side," Elsie called in reply. "I wouldn'tbother with those great heavy oars, if I were you; just let them lie inthe bottom of the boat, while you sit still and rest, and the wind willcarry it to the land."
"All right!" Enna answered, laying them down. "Now you hurry up."
"I will," Elsie said, starting upon a run for the spot where she thoughtthat the boat would be most likely to reach the shore.
She reached it first, and the boat being still several yards away floatingupon very deep water, she watched it a moment anxiously.
Enna was sitting still in the bottom, hugging the doll to her bosom andsinging a lullaby to it; but suddenly as Elsie stood waiting and watchingin trembling suspense, she sprang up, tossed the doll from her, leapedover the side of the boat, and disappeared beneath the water.
Elsie tore off her sash, tied a pebble to one end, and as Enna rose to thesurface, spluttering and struggling, threw it to her crying, "Catch holdand I will try to pull you out."
"Oh, don't! you will but sacrifice your own life!" cried a manly voice, intones of almost agonized entreaty, and Lester Leland came dashing down thebank.
It was too late; Enna seized the ribbon with a jerk that threw Elsie alsointo the water, and they were struggling there together, both in imminentdanger of drowning.
It was but an instant before Lester was there also; death with Elsie wouldbe far preferable to life without her, and he would save or perish withher.
It was near being the last; would have been had not Bruno come to his aid,but with the good help of the faithful dog, he at length succeeded inrescuing both ladies, dragging them up the bank and laying them on thegrass, both in a state of insensibility.
"Go to the house, Bruno, go and bring help," he said pantingly, for he waswell-nigh overcome by his exertions, and the dog bounded away in thedirection of the house.
"Lord, grant it may come speedily," ejaculated the young man, kneelingbeside the apparently lifeless form of her he loved so well. "Oh, mydarling, have those sweet eyes closed forever?" he cried in anguish,wiping the water from her face, and chafing her cold hands in his. "Elsiemy love, my life, my all! oh! I would have died to save you!"
Enna had been missed almost immediately, and Calhoun, Arthur and severalservants at once set out in different directions in search of her.
Arthur and Pomp got upon the right scent, followed her to Ion, and joinedby Mr. Travilla, soon traced her through the garden and shrubbery down tothe lake, coming upon the scene of the catastrophe, or rather of therescue, but a moment after Bruno left.
"Why, what is this?" exclaimed Mr. Travilla in alarm, "is it Elsie? canshe have been in the water? Oh, my child, my darling!"
Instantly he was down upon the grass by her side, assisting Lester'sefforts to restore her to consciousness.
For a moment she engrossed the attention of all, to the utter exclusionfrom thei
r thoughts of poor Enna, for whom none of them entertained anygreat amount of affection.
"She lives! her heart beats! she will soon recover!" Arthur saidpresently, "see, a faint color is coming into her cheek. Run, Pomp, bringblankets and more help; they must be carried at once to the house."
He turned to his aunt, leaving Mr. Travilla and Lester to attend to Elsie.
Enna seemed gone; he could not be sure that life was not extinct. Perhapsit were better so, but he would not give up till every possible effort hadbeen made to restore her.
Both ladies were speedily conveyed to the house, Elsie, already conscious,committed to the care of her mother and Aunt Chloe, while Arthur, Dr.Barton and others, used every exertion for Enna's resuscitation. They wereat length successful in fanning to a flame the feeble spark of life thatyet remained, but fever supervened, and for weeks afterward she was veryill.
Elsie kept her bed for a day, then took her place in the family again,looking quite herself except a slight paleness. No; a close observer mighthave detected another change; a sweet glad light in the beautiful browneyes that was not there before; full of peaceful content and quiethappiness as her young life had been.
Lester's words of passionate love had reached the ear that seemed closedto all earthly sounds; they were heard as in a dream, but afterwardrecalled with a full apprehension of their reality and of all they meantto her and to him.
Months ago she had read the same sweet story in his eyes, but how sweeterfar it was to have heard it from his lips.
She had sometimes wondered that he held his peace so long, and again haddoubted the language of his looks, but now those doubts were set at rest,and their next interview was anticipated with a strange flutter of theheart, a longing for, yet half shrinking from the words he might have tospeak.
But the day passed and he did not come; another and another, and no wordfrom him. How strange! he was still her preceptor in her art studies; didhe not know that she was well enough to resume them? If not, was it nothis place to inquire?
Perhaps he was ill. Oh, had he risked his health, perhaps his life insaving hers? She did not ask; her lips refused to speak his name, andwould nobody tell her?
At last she overheard her father saying to Eddie, "What has become ofLester Leland? It strikes me as a little ungallant that he has not been into inquire after the health of your aunt and sister."
"He has gone away," Eddie answered, "he left the morning after theaccident."
"Gone away," echoed Elsie's sinking heart. "Gone away, and so suddenly!what could it mean?" She stole away to her own room to indulge, for abrief space, in the luxury of tears, then, with a woman's instinctivepride, carefully removed their traces, and rejoined the family with a faceall wreathed in smiles.