CHAPTER III
THE AERIAL TRAMWAY
He might have gone right under the wheels of the backing freighttrain--that queer looking old gentleman--umbrella and all! Ruth Kenwaydragged him back, and the train rumbled past them so near that theumbrella scraped along the sides of the box-cars.
"What under the sun's the matter with you, girl?" snapped the old man.
He turned on her so angrily, and furled the huge umbrella with suchemphasis, that Ruth was quite startled, although she had thought thatthis time she would be prepared for any outbreak of irritation ordispleasure on his part. She backed away from him, and as other peoplewho had seen the incident came crowding about, the girl slipped away andcrossed the tracks hurriedly when the freight train had gone by.
But the one-armed flagman and other railroad employees let the oldgentleman understand beyond peradventure that he had barely escaped adreadful accident. He had been about to step directly in the path of thebacking freight train.
"My, my, my!" he exclaimed at last, "'tisn't possible!"
"It just is possible!" retorted the one-armed flagman. "One minute moreand you'd've been ground to powder like as not if it hadn't been forthat there girl. Some spunk, she's got."
"Some quick thinkin' she done!" exclaimed another of the employees. "Manalive, you wouldn't have no head on your shoulders right now if shehadn't knowed what to do at once and done it instanter. No siree!"
"My! my! my!" said the old gentleman again. "That girl then saved mylife! Possibly saved me from a worse fate--to live on through the yearsmaimed and mutilated."
Just then the train for which the old gentleman was waiting came insight and soon drew up at the Milton station.
"Then I really owe that girl an apology," he went on. "Who is she? Doesshe live here!" he asked one of the bystanders.
"Sure she lives here."
"Well, I can't stop to-day. I've got to hurry. But I shall look her upthe next time I come this way. Oh, yes indeed, I shall look her up! Fora girl she certainly showed good sense."
"I don't know whether she did or not," scoffed the man to whom he spoke,but under his breath. "You don't look as though you were such a lot ofuse in the world, if you ask me. I bet you're a Tartar!"
Ruth Kenway, however, did not expect to be thanked. The old gentlemanwith the green umbrella passed out of her mind for the time beingbefore she reached home. And there she found the assembled young folksin the throes of a discussion regarding Tess and Sammy's proposed aerialtramway.
"_Do_ call it 'tramway,'" begged Agnes. "It sounds so awfully English,don't you know!"
"It sounds so awfully foolish, don't you know," said Neale O'Neil, whohad come over the fence from Mr. Con Murphy's yard and sat on the stoopregaling himself upon a summer apple he had picked on his way. "Have asummer sweetnin', Ag?"
"I do wish you would call her by her right name, Neale," said Ruth,sharply, for she did not approve of Neale's slang.
"Dear me! 'What's in a name?' to quote the Immortal Bard," drawled theyouth.
"A good deal sometimes," chuckled Agnes, who did not much mind havingher name shortened. "Wait till I look up in my scrap book the name ofthat special cheese which is made by the Swiss for use in Passion Playweek. It's got all the letters of the alphabet in it _twice_."
"Never mind looking it up," advised Ruth, quickly.
"No," said Neale. "We'll take your word for there being something in it.An odoriferous odor, I bet, if it's like most of those fancy cheeses."
"Why," said Tess, reprovingly, "I thought we were talking about myairship line."
"'Back to the mines, men! there'll be no strike to-day!'" quoted Agnes."It's up to you, Neale. Sammy and Tess have originated the idea. All youhave to do is to find the materials and do the work."
"If Ruth says we may," added Tess, without at all appreciating hersister's sarcasm.
"Why, there's no harm, I suppose. A basket to pull across the street?Does your mother say you may, Sammy?"
"Oh, yes, Ruth," declared the boy. "I just ran and asked her."
"What did she say?"
"We-ell," Sammy admitted slowly, "she was busy cutting out something onthe dining-room table and her mouth was full of pins. I had to ask hertwo or three times before she seemed to hear me."
"And then what did she say?" insisted Ruth, with suspicion, knowing bothSammy and his mother pretty well.
"Why, she said: 'If you will only go out and stop bothering me for anhour I don't care _what_ you do.' So, ain't that saying I can?" demandedSammy.
"I should say she had given you _carte blanche_," chuckled Neale, whilethe older Corner House girls laughed.
"I think you may go as far as to get the wire, pulleys, and other thingsneeded," Ruth said. "I will ask Sammy's mother myself when she is notso strenuously engaged."
Dot listened to this and gazed after the departing older sister insomething like awe.
"What is it, Dottums?" asked Agnes, chucking the little fairy-like childunder her soft chin.
"Oh, our Ruth does talk so beautifully," sighed the smallest CornerHouse girl. "What does 'strain--strain-u-ous-ly' mean, Aggie?"
"Exactly that," laughed her sister. "Mrs. Pinkney certainly was workingunder a 'strain.' You have hit the meaning of 'strenuously' better eventhan Mr. Dick."
"Who is Mr. Dick?" demanded Dot, the unappeasable.
"The man who knows everything," said Neale, throwing away the core ofhis apple and strolling to the gate on his way to the hardware store topurchase the materials for the Aeriel tramway.
"The dictionary, goosey," said Tess in explanation to Dot. "Don't youknow yet what they mean when they are joking us?"
"I only wanted to _know_," said Dot rather grieved.
"Never mind," said Sammy, being left alone with the two smaller girls."Let 'em laugh. We won't get mad at 'em till that wire's up and the caris running all right."
Oh, Sammy Pinkney was a practical lad.
Dot, unable long to keep any exciting happening or interest to herself,was disseminating the news of the proposed "airship line" throughout theCorner House household. Uncle Rufus, the brown black-man, who wasworking just then in the garden, was vastly astonished.
"Ma 'Lantic Ocean!" he gasped. "What will dese yere chillun be doin'next, I want to know! Puttin' up a trolley line, is they, fo' airships?Who ever heard de like?"
"Oh, air-re-ro-planes!" said Dot, having heard a new word and ratherliking the rolling syllables of it. "Air-re-ro-planes are getting verycommon, so Aggie says. There is going to be one at the County Fair. Why,people will be riding in them just like trolley cars, pretty soon!"
"Ma goodness! No!" ejaculated the old man. "I don't want to wake up ondat day when dat dere comes to pass. Lookut, chile! If de airships was asteamin' around over our haids, we'd nebber be sure of our lives. Why,dey'd be throwin' over ashes, and de cooks would be emptyin' garbagepails over de rails like dey does aboard steamships. Wouldn't be nosharks dere to gobble down de leavin's--no, ma'am! On'y birds. And folksaboard would be droppin' t'ings out'n de airship. An' w'en a man felloverboard--ma mercy, chile! he'd come down plump on you' haid, mebbe!No, ma'am, dey won't never 'low it," and the old negro shook his headseriously.
These perfectly good objections to the practicability of airship flyingimpressed the smallest Corner House girl deeply. She intended to returnto talk to Sammy and Tess about it; but on her way, as she came alongthe path next to the Willow Street fence, she suddenly saw Sammy'sbandy-legged bulldog charging across the street, probably in search ofhis young master. The dog had slipped his chain in some way and being aferocious-looking beast at best, it was no wonder that pedestrians gavehim a wide berth.
Suddenly Dot, inside the fence, heard a stifled cry of fear outside thefence. Looking up from her Alice-doll she saw a woman clinging to thefence pickets as though she contemplated climbing the barrier to escapethe dog; and the dog was standing before her wagging his stump of a tailslightly and showing two formidable rows of teeth while he "laughed"
ather perturbation.
"Oh, don't be afraid of Sammy's dog," advised Dot. "He won't bite you."
"He won't bite?" demanded the woman, who was evidently of a nervousdisposition. "What's he got all those teeth for? He doesn't bite?"
"Oh--oh, no, ma'am. He only nibbles."
Then she called the dog and the woman went on, relieved. But when herfright was past she probably confessed to herself that the smallestCorner House girl certainly had originality of ideas.
Dot would not let the bulldog into the yard, for he would have at oncesought out Billy Bumps, the goat, to tease him. He and Billy were swornand deadly enemies.
Sammy and Tess had disappeared. So, still feeling the necessity fordiscussing the airship matter with somebody, Dot went upstairs to AuntSarah's room.
Aunt Sarah Maltby was forever engaged in sewing or in fancy work; and,to tell the truth, Dot was not much interested in needlework. She wasoften seized upon by Aunt Sarah, however, and made to sit down to sewpatchwork.
"Every little girl, when I was a little girl, had to learn to use herneedle," declared the spinster. "When I was your age, Dorothy Kenway, Ihad pieced half a block bedquilt and was learning to dofeather-stitching."
"Yes ma'am," said Dot, politely. "It must have been very int'resting."But she did not care for such amusement herself. On this occasion,before she could even broach the airship matter, Aunt Sarah seized upona fault that Dot had not even noticed before.
"Look here!" exclaimed Aunt Sarah. "What have you done to yourstocking?"
"I--I--I'm wearing it," confessed Dot, startled, but looking down at herneat little shins in their white hose.
"Wearing them! You're wearing them _out_!" ejaculated Aunt Sarah,pointing to a hole that Dot could not possibly see, for it was behindher. "And those stockings were put on fresh this afternoon."
"Yes, ma'am," admitted Dot, for it was of no use to argue with AuntSarah.
"When I was your age," (a favorite expression of Aunt Sarah's) "I darnedmy own stockings. And you don't even know what needles are for!"
"Oh, yes I do, please, Auntie. They're to make the talking machineplay!" declared Dot, frightened by Aunt Sarah's manner into most unusualperversity. She was usually a gentle, obedient child.
Aunt Sarah was in no mood to listen to anything about airships afterthat; and Dot took her first lesson in darning, there and then. The oldlady and the little girl came down to dinner that evening in a rathersober frame of mind, for the occasion had been wearing upon both ofthem.
The evening meal at the old Corner House was usually, however, acheering event. Mrs. MacCall held sway at one end of the long table inthe huge dining-room, while Aunt Sarah sat at the foot. The girls heldplaces on either side, and if they had guests the latter were scatteredbetween the Corner House girls and made to feel at home.
The table here was, in the truest sense, an "extension table." UncleRufus who, in a bobtail coat, white vest and spats, acted as butler,lengthened the table or shortened it, according to the number to beserved.
Damask and bright silver and glass made the board attractive. Theold-fashioned furniture as well as the table service were the specialcare of the old negro. His pride and his delight were in the years hehad served at the old Stower table.
When the family was alone it is a fact that Uncle Rufus consideredhimself privileged to join in the children's conversation. And this madethe meal no less enjoyable, for Uncle Rufus added nothing, if he did notadd joy, to the occasion.
"I never lets ma feelin's flow, as some folks does," he chanced toobserve. "Tears don't wash a body's face nowhar's near as good as soapan' watah--no, ma'am!
"Now, dere's ma daughter, Pechunia: She'd ruther cry dan eat and at_dat_ you kin see by her size she don't starb herself. She suttenly doeslove to attend fun'rals an' sech social gadderin's whar dey kin sit downan' tell 'bout haw good de remains was 'fore de Grim Reaper come an'reaped 'em."
Uncle Rufus sniffed. "Dat foolish brack woman! She b'longs right now toso many buryin' sassieties dat if she done gits buried by all of 'emwhen she dies, 'twill take more'n _one_ day to hol' her fun'ral, an'dat's a fac'!
"Ya-as! Pechunia does love to mo'n. She'd a made a moughty good wife fo'Jeremiah. 'Twas so when her mammy died. I done suffered as much as anywidder-man ought to t'rough her mammy dyin'. Ya-as, ma'am. But I tellyou what 'tis, honey; 'tain't no use to keep worritin' and worritin'about anyt'ing dat's done an' gone--not fo'ever.
"Her mammy was dead, an' if I'd been let, ma mind would ha' kindachirked up a bit after a w'ile. But dat brack gal would jes' as soonbreak down right in de middle of dinner--ef she'd et 'nuff herse'f--an'bust out sobbin' 'bout her mammy. It got so I was prospectin' 'round fo'sumpin to t'row at her haid! I sure was.
"An' de fussin', and de mo'nin' dresses and bunnits, an' de circus-showsshe had to hab to show she was properly sorry 'cause her mammy had gone.Ma soul!"
Suddenly Uncle Rufus began to chuckle his mellow chuckle and they knewthe point of his story was at hand.
"She done want to write to all de rel'tives an' friends scattered aboutde fo'ty p'ints of the compass 'bout her mammy's bein' tuk away. Dis wasa mighty fur time back, chillen; but Pechunia was jes as foolish den asshe is now."
But Uncle Rufus by no means monopolized the conversation at dinner thatevening. Tess was so full of the aerial tramway that she would havebuilt it and rebuilt it forty times, so Agnes said, if they had notbegged her to stop. Dot was too depressed to think of much but darning.Ruth, however, had an amusing tale to tell.
She described the queer looking old gentleman with the green umbrellaand told quite energetically of the adventure at the railroad crossing.
"My dear!" exclaimed Mrs. MacCall, "you might have been hurt yourself.What a start I'd have had had I seen you. And no man would be worth yourgetting hurt, ma lassie."
"Quite right," croaked Aunt Sarah from the other end of the table. Heropinion of men in general coincided with Mrs. MacCall's remark. The oldCorner House was a good deal of an Adamless Eden. But now Agnessuggested something that was quite sure to break up the usual order ofthe household arrangements.
"If you and Aunt Sarah dislike men so," she asked Mrs. MacCall,laughing, "what are you going to do when Cecile Shepard and her brothercome? When will they arrive, Ruth!"
"On Monday, I expect," said the older sister. "But I am sure Aunt Sarahwon't mind Luke Shepard any more than she does Neale--or Sammy."
"Who says I don't mind that Neale O'Neil?" snapped the old woman. "Allboys are a nuisance. And this Shepard is nothing more than a boy, ishe?"
"Oh, he's quite grown up," said Agnes. "He's entering his junior year atcollege."
"And he owns a tin-peddler's wagon," added Dot, as though that factsurely added to Luke Shepard's dignity and importance.
"Hoh!" sniffed Aunt Sarah, "you girls do mix up with the strangestpeople! I never see your beat! A tin peddler and his sister."
"But Mrs. Heard, who went with us on our motor trip, liked and approvedof the Shepards," Ruth said quietly. "I think they are very plucky,too--orphans, with a very small income, and helping to pay for theireducation by traveling with a peddler's outfit in summer and letting theteam and route out to another peddler during the winter. And Cecile islovely."
"How about Luke?" asked Agnes slyly, and had the satisfaction of seeingher older sister blush.
Just then there was a crash on the side porch and in a moment Neale'sglowing face was thrust through the pantry door.
"Eating, folks? I'll have to hustle or Mr. Con Murphy will eat my shareand his own, too. There! I've brought all the hardware for that aerialtramway. It's on the porch. Let Tom Jonah watch it to-night, and we'llrig it in the morning."