CHAPTER XVII
PEACOCKS
Early the next day Pola appeared with Mr. Dugald in Sunset Lane in asimple garb that must have satisfied even her exacting cousin. Her moodwas in accord with her attire as though she had left her sophisticationbehind with her silks and her rouge. She declared she felt as "peppy asthey make them" and ready to do anything anyone suggested. And Mr.Dugald, resigned to wasting two weeks to entertaining his young cousin,of whom he was really very fond, promptly offered an astonishingassortment of suggestions from which he commanded the girls to choose.
"Why, you wouldn't believe there were so many things to do!" cried Polawith real enthusiasm. "Sidney, you'll have to decide." And Sidney atonce decided upon a tramp to Peaked Hill on the ocean side with anearly picnic supper.
In the days that followed, Sidney's first admiration for Pola returned.Though Pola would never again be the idol she was much more enjoyableas a chum. Her spirits, though an affectation, were infectious and gay;in her pretty clothes and with her pretty face she made Sidney think ofa butterfly, a fragile, golden-winged, dainty flitting butterfly. Sheprofessed to enjoy everything they did--even to the picnics. Shetramped endlessly in her unsuitable shoes without a murmur of fatigueand Sidney suspected that she really _did_ care a great deal for hercousin Dugald's approval.
With Mr. Dugald they motored to Highland Light and to Chatham. Theytoured the shops at Hyannis. They sailed with Captain Hawkes on the_Mabel T_. They rose very early one morning and went to the Coast GuardStation to watch the drill and then ate ham and eggs with CommanderNelson. More than once Sidney donned the cherry crepe de chine anddined with Mrs. Allan and Pola and Dugald at the hotel, feeling verygrand and traveled.
But to Sidney's deep regret Pola professed an abhorrence of swimming.
"Just please don't _ask_ me," she had begged, shuddering. "I loathe it!It's one of my complexes. Of course I've gone swimming in almost everybody of water on the globe, but I hate it. You'll spoil my fun_utterly_ if you even try to make me!" After that Sidney could noturge. She did not know what complexes were, but Pola had made themsound real and convincing and a little delicate. Though Sidney missedthe jolly swims with Lavender and Mart she refrained from even a hintof her feelings.
Often when they were together Pola waxed confidential over her cousin."He's a thorn in Aunt Lucy's side," she explained one day as the girlslounged in Pola's room at the hotel, a huge box of candy on a stoolbetween them. "She always wants him to go in for society and to goabroad with her and do all the fashionable resorts on the Continent,but couldn't you _see_ him? Not for Duggie boy, ever! When she startsplanning something like that he bolts off somewhere and the next thingyou hear is that he's painted a wonderful picture and sold it or hadfirst mention or a gold medal. Of course that makes him terriblyinteresting and there are dozens of single ladies from forty tofourteen itching to catch him. And Dug's such a simple old dear that hedoesn't know it. But his mother does and she has them all sorted overand the eligible ones ticketed. You see Dug will be dreadfully richsome day and goodness knows what he'll do with the money for he hasn'tthe brains of a child where business is concerned. His father's evenricher than Dad."
Sidney literally blinked before the picture Pola drew--blinked andblushed that she had dared angle for Mr. Dugald herself like theforty-to-fourteen single ladies. Mr. Dugald belonged to a world thatwas foreign to the Romley girls, Pola's dazzling, peacock-world.
Sidney felt immensely flattered that Pola had taken her in among herpeacocks. (Secretly, too, she considered that she carried herself wellamong them. She was most careful of her dress, now!) She did not knowthat Pola's sort instinctively seeks out someone to dazzle, that Pola'sgenerosity was a part of the dazzling process. She thought Polawonderful to accept so casually her gilded privileges. Why, if Poladidn't like a dress or a hat or a pair of shoes she simply didn't wearit; she could buy anything she wanted from any one of the pricelessbits of jewelry in the shops at Hyannis to the delectable sweets in thetea-rooms on Commercial Street. She could do just as she pleased--evenmore than Mart, for _she_ never had to darn or mend or wipe dishes ordust or hang up her clothes or brush them. Realizing all this Sidneycame to forgive that first condescension that had stung; she thoughtPola little short of an angel to be so prettily friendly with them all.
So engrossed was Sidney in basking in Pola's favor that for a time shefelt no compunctions at deserting Mart and Lavender; in fact she didnot even think of them. Both Mart and Lavender had become suddenly verybusy with affairs that kept them out of sight. If, once in awhile,Sidney wondered what they were doing something of Pola's or somethingPola said quickly crowded the thought from her head. But one afternoonthey encountered Mart as they strolled toward the Green Lantern to situnder its gay awnings and drink tea. Sidney introduced Mart to Pola andto cover Pola's rude stare she added quickly: "We're going down to theGreen Lantern, Mart. Won't you come with us?" conscious as she said itthat her voice sounded stilted.
"No, thanks. I'm going to do something lots more exciting than sitting_there_! And I'm in a hurry, too." And with that Mart swung on pastthem, her head high.
Sidney had a moment's longing to run after her and coax her to come,but Pola's light giggle checked her. "Isn't she a riot? I'd have _died_if she'd come with us!"
"Oh, Pola--she'll hear you!" pleaded Sidney.
She hated herself because she did not tell Pola at once how bravelyMart shouldered her responsibilities, about gran'ma, who looked to Martfor everything. Instead she simply walked along with Pola and let Polagiggle. Pola, sensing Sidney's feelings, slipped her arm through hersand gave it an affectionate little squeeze.
"You're such a funny child," she said softly. "You'd be nice toanything. I can't, of course, for I go around to so many places andmother's warned me often about strangers. Anyway, it's lots nicer forjust us two to be together, isn't it?"
But in spite of Pola's soft flattery and countless lumps of sugar thetea tasted bitter to Sidney and the Green Lantern, with its futuristawnings, its bizarre hangings and cushions, had no allure. The thoughtcame suddenly to Sidney that it had been a whole week since she hadeven seen Mart; in that time she had scarcely exchanged more than ahalf dozen words with Lavender.
To the tune of Pola's ceaseless chatter Sidney's thoughts kept dartingback to that uncomfortable fact. Pola always talked of things she haddone at home, abroad, at school, of her boy friends whom she called"men." She liked to hint of countless "affairs" which simply must notcome to her mother's attention, assuring Sidney that she was absolutelythe only one to whom she confided these deep intrigues. She had wornGuy Townsend's fraternity pin the whole winter before and not a soulhad known whose pin it was for Guy was tabooed by mothers in generaland Mrs. Allan in particular. Now Pola was simply crazy over a JackSicard who was playing the lead in "Hearts Aquiver." But not evenJack's manly beauty, as described by Pola, failed to draw from Sidneymore than a mild: "He must be cute." Pola gave way to vexation.
"You're scarcely listening to me, Sidney Romley, when I'm telling youthings I haven't told a _soul_! I believe you're still thinking of thatridiculous girl we met."
"She isn't ridiculous!" Sidney was prompt enough now in Mart's defense."She looks funny, but you see I've gotten well acquainted with her andshe's awfully nice."
"Oh, _nice_, of course! But _anyone_ can be nice! You know perfectlywell, Sidney, that there's as much class in this country as there is inEurope and being _nice_ does not break down social barriers."
Sidney had no answer ready for this. Curiously into her mind flashedwhat Mr. Dugald had said about the solid aristocracy. But somehow sheknew Pola would not understand this. Pola went on:
"I'm a dreadful little snob, anyway. But I suppose that is the resultof my education. It would be funny to go to the most expensive schoolsand have all the culture that Europe can offer and _not_ be a snob."
Still Sidney stared into her teacup. She thought Pola was all wrong,b
ut she did not know how to say it. Pola herself had told her that shehad gone to Grace Hall because it had no examinations and graduated agirl anyway--so much for Pola's education. And culture--what benefitedall the culture of Europe if Pola found enjoyment only in the companyof youths her mother would not permit in the house?
Pola mistook Sidney's silence for hurt. "You goose, I'm not saying Ithink I'm any better than _you_ are! But you must see that neither ofus are a bit like that native girl!" Which admission Pola consideredmost generous.
"I wasn't thinking about whether you are any better than I am or not.I've been brought up, you see," with a rueful laugh, "to believe thatmy father being a poet set _me_ a little apart from everyone else. AndI've hated it. What I was thinking was that there really isn't anyclass difference in people--except what we make ourselves, like theLeague building a barrier around me and you thinking you're in anotherclass from Mart because you're rich. Maybe it isn't really the outsidethings that count, maybe it's the big things we have got or haven't gotinside us--"
"Like what?" demanded Pola.
Sidney was thinking of Lav's self-effacing ambition to serve the worldfrom the seclusion of a laboratory, of Mart's cheerfulness in the faceof her lot and her loyal affection for her exacting and rheumaticgrandmother; of the courage of Mart's grandfather, Ambrose Calkins, whohad lost his own life in going back to his sinking schooner for thecook who could not swim; of her own ancestor, Priscilla Ellis. _Those_were the things which set people apart from their fellows, Sidneythought, but the understanding was too new in her own heart for her tofind words in which she could tell Pola of it. "Like what?" Polademanded again and this time her voice was a little haughty.
"Oh, I don't know," Sidney laughed. "I'm all mixed up. I guess I wastrying to say something Mr. Dugald said once to me."
"Oh, _Dug_!" laughed Pola. "He's nutty about all that! Look at the wayhe lives here on the Cape. But mother says he'll get over it when hemarries. Now I have no intention of getting serious this grand day solet's have another piece of that chocolate fudge cake--it's on me, too,remember!" Which was Pola's pretty way of pretending she did not knowthat Sidney did not have any money with her. The dollar Sidney hadearned for posing had long since been spent.
Sidney was relieved that Pola had rescued her from the "deep water." Atthe same time she suffered from the sense that she had not made Polasee Mart in another light. She had failed in loyalty. The sparklingblue of the bay that stretched before them only reminded her that thiswas the hour she usually went swimming. Due to Pola's "complex" she hadnot gone swimming for a whole week.
Even with her mouth full of the fudge cake, she vowed to herself thatthe very next day she would hunt out her chums and her old pastimes.Pola and Mr. Dugald must plan without her!
She had promised to dine again at the hotel with Pola and her motherbut as soon as she could after dinner she returned to Sunset Lane.Because of her determination her heart was lighter. And her way wasmade easier, too, for Mrs. Allan had told Pola at dinner that the"Truxtons were at Chatham Bars." Pola had been as excited over theTruxtons as her mother.
"Can we go and see them right away?"
"Not tonight. But I have arranged for a car and Shields will drive usover tomorrow. We can stay there for a few days. I shall welcome thechange for this place has been very stupid for me, my dear."
"Poor mamma! I've been selfish. It'll be a lark seeing Cora Truxtonagain!" Pola had explained to Sidney: "We met the Truxtons at Nice.Cora and Millicent are both older, but they're the _cutest_ girls. Willwe go in the morning, mamma?"
Pola's manner had indicated that the coming of the Truxtons into theirplans raised a barrier that now excluded Sidney. Throughout the dinnershe had talked exclusively of the trip on the morrow and the renewingof that acquaintance that had begun in Nice. But Sidney felt nothingbut a sense of escape.
She found Aunt Achsa alone in the cottage on Sunset Lane. She wassitting on the doorstep, "coolin' off." Sidney sat down beside her.
"Where's Lavender?" she asked, wishing Lavender was at home that shemight begin her "making up" at once.
"Don't know. And I wish I did. Don't know what's gotten into that boy.I'm as worried as can be."
"About Lav? Oh, what's the matter?" For Aunt Achsa was close to tears.Something must have happened to break her habitual optimism.
"He's acted so queer like lately. Cal'late you'd of noticed it if youhadn't been off so much with Mr. Dugald's folks. I thought it might a'been his stomach and I put a powder into his coffee, but he ain't beena mite different--"
"But what does he do, Aunt Achsa? He looks all right--"
Now Aunt Achsa hesitated. One tear separated itself from its fellowsand rolled down her withered cheek and dropped upon her withered hand.She looked at it, startled, then lifted her hand and dashed it acrossher eyes.
"I swum, I'm cryin'. Don't know as I know when I've cried before. Andcryin' before I have anything as I can see to cry for. But Sidney, Iset such a lot on that boy--it's like I was his mother and his fatherand his brothers and his sisters all mixed up in one--gran'ma, too. Hewas such a little mite when I took him, y'see and then he's not likeother boys and I've had to do a heap of lovin' to make up to him. I'veprayed every day of my life for the Lord to keep him happy in spite ofthings and that was a pretty big prayer for I don't suppose the Lordwants us all to be happy all the time, that ain't His way of bringingus up. But I thought He might make an exception for Lav. Land sakes,how I go on--and you nigh to cryin' yourself." For she had caughtSidney blinking back something glistening from her own eyes.
"Aunt Achsa, Lavender is wonderful. He's talked to me a lot and he'sgoing to be a great man some day, I know. He has the grandest plansshut away in his heart and he _is_ happy--"
Aunt Achsa looked at her, startled. "Plans--how _can_ he when he's--"She bit off the words. Her lips trembled.
"Aunt Achsa, it doesn't matter what one's like on the outside!" NowSidney floundered for the second time in one day under the pressure ofher own thoughts. "I mean--Lav can do anything he wants to do, anyway.And he's working hard reading and studying and some day, after awhile,he'll go away somewhere and study more--"
"Sidney Romley, you're _crazy_!" cried Aunt Achsa, in a quaveringvoice. "Go away! How _can_ he go away when we ain't even the money togo 'sfar as Orleans. And he ain't plannin' to go on anyone's _charity_!"
"Oh, I don't mean he's going away _soon_! I shouldn't have told anywayfor Lav told me as a secret. But I thought maybe it would make youhappier knowing he had great ambitions. And he'll tell you sometimehimself."
When Aunt Achsa spoke it was in a thin, grieved voice.
"It's what I didn't want him to ever take into his head. Goin' offsomewhere--alone. For I'm too old to go with him and he'll need me!"
"Oh I wouldn't have told you if I'd thought it would make you unhappy.He won't go for a long time, Aunt Achsa. And when he does he'll comeback real often."
Now Aunt Achsa sat so still that Sidney thought she had consoled her.But Aunt Achsa was facing in her own way this at which Sidney hadhinted, drawing for it from that courage of hers that had not yet beenexhausted. Well, if it was best for Lavender some day to go away she'dsend him away with a smile even though the heart that had taken him, awee baby, from the dying mother did burst with loneliness. Besides,even if Lavender went away she could go on praying to the Lord to keephim "happy"--no distance could keep her from doing that!
"It's like as not his plans in his head that's makin' him act so quietlike and short-spoken. And last night he didn't sleep in his bed atall!"
"Why, Aunt Achsa, where _was_ he?" gasped Sidney, really startled.
"I don't know, dearie. He used to take to spells like that when he waslittle. But lately he's got over them. I followed him once and I foundhim out in the sand dunes lying flat on his face cryin' awful--out loudand beatin' his arms. I let him be. I stole home and I never let on Iknew. When he came back all white lookin' I had a nice cake ready--rolljell, his favorite."
"Do--do you think he was out in the sand dunes--last night?"
"I don't know. He come in about nine o'clock, awful quiet and I didn'task him anything, but I just set his breakfast before him as though themorning wa'n't half over. And then he went off again and I ain't seenhim sense. I thought mebbe it was these folks of Mr. Dugald's--"
"What do you mean, Aunt Achsa?" But Sidney knew what she meant.
"Like as not Lav's plain jealous. Mr. Dugald hasn't had any time foranything but toting this Pola round everywhere and Lav notices it. Hehasn't any right to be jealous as I can see for Miss Pola is Mr.Dugald's own cousin, but Lav thinks the sun rises and sets in Mr.Dugald. And like as not he misses you--"
"I've missed Lav dreadfully. I didn't know how much I missed him andMart until today when it came over me suddenly that the things I wasdoing with Pola weren't really much fun--just at first they werebecause they were different. I'm afraid, Aunt Achsa, that I lovedifferent things! But tomorrow I am going to play all day long with Lavand Mart, see if I don't. I can't wait for tomorrow to come!"