CHAPTER XVII.
CAMP MEETING.
When the train drew up at the station, Jack was relieved at seeing histormentors take their places in a car far ahead of the one he and AuntNancy occupied.
He anticipated no slight amount of enjoyment from this ride behind theiron horse, and it would be sadly marred if he was forced to listen tosuch remarks as Bill Dean and his friends would probably make.
Aunt Nancy sat by the window with Louis in her arms, and Jack took theseat beside her, watching everything around with the most intenseinterest, for it was the first time he had ever journeyed so far on thecars.
The little woman would have spent considerable of the money receivedfrom the sale of the wheat in buying for her crippled escort sucharticles as the newsboy brought, in the hope of tempting customers; butfor the fact that Jack prevented her by whispering more than once,--
"You've paid enough for me already in buyin' the railroad ticket, an'you must save some to get things for the summer boarders."
"Bless you, child, I ought to be able to take a little pleasure now andthen without thinking constantly of how many pennies there are in adollar."
"But this time, Aunt Nancy, you are not using it for yourself. If youwant any of the stuff, why, it's only right you should have it, butdon't buy anything for me."
Then the little woman whispered as she laid her hand affectionately onhis shoulder,--
"It's a comfort to have you around, Jack dear, for you are alwaysthinking of others and never of yourself."
"A crooked feller like me don't need as much as other folks, an' I'msure I get more'n I deserve."
"That could never be, my child," Aunt Nancy replied; and Jack fanciedshe wiped a tear from her eye, but it might have been nothing more thana cinder.
Judging from Louis's expressions of delight, he would have been pleasedhad the journey continued all day, and even Jack was a trifledisappointed because the tenting grounds were reached so soon.
The place at which they disembarked was not a village, but only a groveof pine-trees bordering the ocean, with a broad strip of shimmeringwhite sand between the foliage and the water.
It was a little settlement of canvas houses among the pines, thegleaming white showing vividly amid the sober green, and the dusty pathshere and there resembling yellow ribbons laid on to complete the harmonyof color.
Jack would have remained a long while silent and motionless gazing indelight at the scene before him, now and then raising his eyes to viewthe heaving emerald bosom of the sea beyond, but that Aunt Nancy wasimpatient to "settle down" before the morning services should begin.
"It looks pretty, I know, Jack dear, but we mustn't stand dawdling here,because there is considerable work for us to do. I'll carry the baby,and you see what can be done with the bundles."
The two were literally laden to the utmost of their strength, as theystepped from the railway platform.
Such generous supplies had the little woman brought for their bodilycomfort that quite an amount of the belongings would have been leftbehind but for Deacon Downs, who kindly offered to take charge of theremainder of the goods.
In order to find Mr. Chick's tent it was only necessary to follow theparty with whom they had travelled, and in a few moments the littlewoman was arranging her provisions in one corner of the huge tent whichhad been reserved for her use.
Jack hovered around helplessly.
He wanted to do something toward aiding Aunt Nancy, but camp life was sonew to him he could do nothing more than watch her bird-like movements.
After pinning a towel around Louis's neck to avoid the possibility ofsoiling his white frock, the little woman gave him a small slice ofbread and butter, offering some to Jack, but the latter was not hungry.
"If you don't care, I'd rather go down to the beach a little while."
"You shall do that later, Jack dear, but the morning services willcommence very soon, and I want you with me then."
"Will it be a reg'lar meetin' where people preach an' pray like they doin a church?"
"Certainly, my child; and this is a church, for don't you remember it issaid 'the groves were God's first temples'?"
Jack didn't remember anything of the kind, for his education had been sosadly neglected he could not read any but the smallest words, thereforemade no answer, and as soon as Louis had satisfied his hunger the threewent to the cleared space where the services were to be held.
Jack watched everything around him with intense interest, and, it mustalso be said, to such a degree that he failed to hear a single wordspoken by the preacher.
Aunt Nancy sat with a look of devotion on her face, which to Jack wasvery beautiful.
After a time the boy saw the tears rolling down her cheeks, and listenedto the words from the pulpit in order to learn what had caused suchapparent sorrow.
The clergyman was speaking of those who keep the word, but not thespirit of God's laws, and he failed to find in the teaching anythingwhich could distress the little woman.
When the sermon was concluded and the three were walking slowly throughthe grove, he understood better.
"It seemed as if the minister was talking directly to me, Jack dear,"she said with quivering lips.
"I didn't hear him say anything that sounded like it, Aunt Nancy, an' Ilistened a good deal of the time."
"It was the passage about obeying the word but not the spirit whichapplied to my case. You see I didn't _speak_ a lie to Mr. Pratt, andmight try to comfort myself with the idea I had not disobeyed thecommandment; but the meaning of it is, I shouldn't deceive in theslightest manner."
"I wish we hadn't come here if you're goin' to think of that thingagain."
"Again, Jack dear? Do you fancy it has ever been out of my mind?"
"I thought you'd kinder got over it."
"But I hadn't, and perhaps I was led to come here that I might realizeeven more fully what I have done."
"There isn't any need of that, Aunt Nancy"; and Jack began to lookdistressed. "Please put it out of your thoughts for a while, an' we'llgo down on the beach."
"I can't, my child. You shall stroll around an hour, after which youmust come back to the tent for dinner."
Jack hardly thought he ought to leave the little woman while she wasfeeling badly, but she insisted on his doing so, and he walked slowlyaway saying to himself,--
"I never knew religion hurt anybody; but I think Aunt Nancy has too muchof it if she's goin' to fuss so over Farmer Pratt. It won't do to lether feel as she does, an' the whole amount of the story is I'll have toleave Louis here while I take the chances of gettin' into the poorhouseby explainin' things to him."
So deeply engrossed was he in his thoughts that no attention was paid toanything around until he was brought to a standstill by hearing adisagreeably familiar voice cry,--
"Hold on, Hunchie, we want to know where you left the old maid!"
Jack had halted involuntarily, and now would have moved on again in thehope of escaping from Master Dean and his friends, but they barred hisway by closing in upon him.
There was a large crowd on the grounds surging to and fro, therefore thethree boys had little difficulty in forcing Jack to move in thisdirection or that as they chose, by pretending the press was so greatthey could not prevent themselves from being pushed against him.
"We're goin' down for a swim," Bill Dean said as he linked his arm inthe hunchback's, "an' it'll just about break our hearts if you can'tcome with us."
"We're goin' down for a swim," Bill Dean said, as helinked his arm in the hunchback's.--Page 210.]
"I don't want to do anything of the kind. You know very well a crookedfeller like me couldn't swim, no matter how hard he tried."
"We'll show you how, so don't be frightened"; and Bill motioned for Samand Jip to force the intended victim along in the desired direction.
Jack knew perfectly well he could not struggle successfully against histormentors, but at the same time he did not intend allowing them to takehim aw
ay from the throng where he might find assistance if necessary.
"I don't want to go with you, and shall ask some of these people to helpme if you don't go away."
"Then you'd only be makin' it all the hotter for yourself, 'cause wecount on stayin' here the whole week, an' you can't be tied to the oldmaid's apron strings every minute of the time."
"I'll take my chances of that, so keep off or I'll make a disturbance."
Bill had good reason to believe the cripple would carry this threat intoexecution, and, not wishing to come in direct contact with the guardiansof the peace, concluded to bring their sport to a close.
"Of course if you don't feel like comin' nobody's goin' to make you, sowe'll say good by."
As he spoke he gave a quick twist of his foot in front of Jack, at thesame instant Jip pushed from behind, and the result was the cripple fellforward on his face, in the gravel and sand.
The three boys were off like a flash, and as Jack rose to his feet aftersome effort, with dusty clothes and a bleeding face, his heart wasfilled with anger.
"If I was only strong enough I'd soon show them fellers what it is topick on a fellow they thought couldn't help himself!"
He had hardly said these words when a man brushed past him with the airof one who feels he has a right to considerably more than half the road,and looking up quickly Jack saw Farmer Pratt.
For an instant he thought the man was pursuing him, and would have takenrefuge in flight, had not the idea occurred to his mind that Mr. Pratthad come to camp meeting for the same purpose as Aunt Nancy.
"I'm foolish to think he's still chasin' after me," he said to himself,"though I s'pose he would take Louis an' me with him if he saw us."
Without knowing why he did it, Jack followed a short distance behind thefarmer, as if it was necessary to retain him constantly in sight, andwhile doing so thought of Aunt Nancy's distress concerning the allegedlie.
Now surely would be a good time to sacrifice his own comfort in order toease her mind by taking upon his shoulders the blame, and he ran forwardintending, for an instant, to speak with the gentleman.
Then it occurred to him that it would be proper to consult the littlewoman first, and he turned back only to doubt again.
It might distress Aunt Nancy yet more to know the farmer was on thegrounds, and Jack wished he knew of some one who could give him theproper advice.
Deacon Downs was the only person he could think of, and yet he ought notto tell him of what Aunt Nancy had done.
"I've got to settle this thing myself," he said as he turned resolutelyin the direction of the tent, "and the next thing to do is to talk withAunt Nancy herself. She knows more goodness than all these people puttogether."
His mind once made up, he was eager to reach the tent, and ran at fullspeed, arriving just as Deacon Downs summoned the occupants of thisparticular dwelling to dinner.
The little woman was acting as cook, a post of duty to which she hadbeen elected each year because the remainder of the party knew she wouldperform the arduous labors without complaint.
To speak with her now would be to attract the attention of all, and Jackbelieved he should wait until a more convenient season.
Therefore he seated himself at the rough table around which all theothers, save Aunt Nancy, were gathered, and tried unsuccessfully toappear as if nothing unusual had occurred.
Jack's face told of some trouble, however, and when the deacon hadrefreshed himself with a large cup of Aunt Nancy's Mocha, he asked in asevere tone,--
"Master Dudley, is it possible that after living with as good a woman asSister Curtis, you allow your passions to tempt you into fighting? Don'tyou remember what Dr. Watts says about letting 'dogs delight to bark andbite, for 'tis their nature,' et cetera?"
Perhaps Jack might have understood the deacon's question, had it notbeen for the last word.
What an "et cetera" was he hadn't the slightest idea, and instead ofreplying sat staring stupidly at his plate until Aunt Nancy came forwardand asked,--
"What is it about Jack? Has he been doing anything out of the way?"
"By the appearance of his face I should say he had. It is strange boyswill fight in such a place as this!"
"Why, what _has_ happened to you, Jack dear?" the little woman askedanxiously as she lifted the boy's head by placing her hand under hischin.
Jack said nothing, and Aunt Nancy asked, as the crimson spots appearedon her cheeks,--
"Has William Dean been troubling you again?"
"I had rather tell you some other time," Jack replied in a whisper, ashe slipped down from his seat at the table and went toward the scene ofthe little woman's culinary operations.
She followed him at once, and the good but rather inquisitive deaconcraned his neck in vain to hear what passed between the two.
"It was Bill Dean; but don't say anything about it now, for I've justseen Farmer Pratt," Jack said in a low tone; and as Aunt Nancy startedin surprise, a cry of distress came from Deacon Downs's lips.
At the moment Jack spoke, the little woman was in the act of removingthe coffee pot from the stove, for fear its contents should boil over,when it fell to the ground.
Neither Aunt Nancy nor the hunchback paid any attention to thiscatastrophe; but the deacon was so angry he even threatened that Jackshould not be allowed near the tent again.
It is doubtful if his words were heard by the two who were in suchdistress of mind.
Aunt Nancy led Jack to the rear of the tent, and there, where no onecould overhear, he told the whole story, concluding by saying,--
"You have felt so bad I had a great mind to go right up an' tell him howit happened you acted a lie."
"But, Jack dear, then he might drag you off to the poor farm."
"I had rather do that than have you feel as you do about it. Louis couldstay here, an' I wouldn't tell him where you were, no matter how hard hemight try to make me."
"I should go to him myself and confess all," the little woman said aftera pause.
"Then the chances are he'd get hold of both Louis an' me. If it is to bedone, I oughter do it."
"I declare I don't know what is best"; and Aunt Nancy stood with claspedhands as if expecting Jack would advise. "It is only right I shouldatone in some way for that which I did; but the flesh is indeed weakwhen it comes to parting with either of you."
"Perhaps there might be some way for me to get clear, an' you'd feel somuch better that I'd be contented to stay almost anywhere."
The little woman made no reply; she remained silent so long Jack beganto be afraid she was ill, and as he stood watching her, the notes of asong of praise to the Maker rose high above the deacon's queruloustones, while mingling with it was the murmur of the surf as it rolled upon the beach, the whole forming a sort of melody which was soothing tothe little hunchback.