CHAPTER XIII
"THE MOUNTAINS WITH SNOWY FOREHEADS"
It was something of a surprise the next morning to Danny's companions,to see a little maid, clothed and in her right mind, as Janet expressedit, come shyly into the dining-room,--a little maid who bore a verystrong resemblance to the brown-eyed, curly-haired, whimpering littlelad of the day before. The black eyes of the Italian boy, Tony, widened,and then, with a shy gleam of humor in their liquid depths, he nodded atthe little girl, crying under his breath, "Oh, Boy!" But the little maidproved herself competent to manage the situation to her satisfaction, asshe quickly made a face at him, for which she was properly rebuked byNathalie, who, however, was on the verge of a laugh, while a ripple ofamusement gleamed in her mother's eyes.
Jean, the Belgian refugee, stared with some perplexity at the smallgirl, and did not comprehend the curious situation until the childrenhad left the breakfast-table, when Nathalie made it plain to him.
The girl found that the morning hours were well-occupied, as she startedright in to put her boys through their paces, as she called herdrilling, so as to prepare them not only for a very happy, but a useful,summer's stay. She had noticed, during the morning meal, that thechildren, with ready sympathy for the maimed boy, had been ratherofficious in trying to help him, and that his thin, sickly face hadflushed with embarrassment and over-sensitiveness at the fact that tothem he was an object of pity.
Instantly divining how she would have felt under like circumstances,Nathalie managed to get Danny and Tony together, when Mrs. Page, whosemother-heart had gone out to the boy, had taken him down to the barn toshow him where he could keep his dog, and Janet had taken possession ofthe little maid.
In a few words she told them the tragic story of the Belgian, and, aftergaining their interest, made it clear to them how they themselves wouldhave felt if they had been different from their mates, and warned themabout being too open in their method of helping him. She suggested thatlittle acts of subtle kindness would be more appreciated, as they wouldnot offend his sensitiveness.
Danny was now installed, with a big apron tied around his waist, infront of the kitchen sink, taking his first lesson in Nathalie's methodof washing dishes, with Tony, the second helper, as the dish-dryer.Divining that it would not only be better for Jean, the refugee, to haveemployment so as to fill his mind with something besides his sadexperiences, and realizing that he would naturally want to do as theother children, Nathalie made him her right-hand man, as she called it,and showed him how he could assist her in a number of ways. In a fewmoments he was laboriously carrying out, with one hand, the food toNathalie, who quickly placed it in the ice-box, or closet, while littleSheila removed the soiled dishes to the kitchen, happy at being on thejob, as Danny said.
From dish-washing, preparing the vegetables for dinner, sweeping thekitchen and shed, and dusting the dining-room, it was bed-making. Jeanwas made captain of the Working Squad, eager to help by doing what hecould with his one hand, while seeing that the boys did their work asNathalie had instructed them.
Fortunately for Nathalie, she was a fair French scholar, and as theBelgian lad had lived in one of the Walloon provinces, where French isgenerally spoken, she had no difficulty in conversing with him. He couldspeak a little English, but in a queer, hesitating way that made him shyover it.
When the morning duties were finished, and they were not done with amagician's wand by any means, but with the exercise of great patience onthe part of their young instructor, and a good deal of drilling on thechildren's part, they all hurried out into the sunshine. Here they racedabout, enjoying the fresh air, the green trees and the flowers, and thebeautiful mountain views, and then they made the acquaintance of Sam,who not only introduced them to the fascinations of the barn,--as thecows, pigs, and chickens, the soft cooing doves who flittered over thebarn-roof,--but to the one dray-horse. This animal proved a source ofunfeigned joy to the boys, as Sam taught them how to harness it, andthen allowed each one to ride it bareback, even Jean, whose pale faceglowed with a strange joy, as he held the reins with his one hand, androde up and down on the road in front of the house.
From the barn there was an inspection of the farm, going down a greenslope to watch the sheep as they quietly browsed, and then on to theorchard, where they had their fill of fruit, while in the vegetablegarden many hands proffered willing assistance to Nathalie, as shegathered what was needed to replenish the vegetable larder. From herethey all trooped down to pay a visit to the farmerette, whereupon Janetset them all to weeding. Strange to say, Jean pulled up the greatestnumber, to Nathalie's surprise, who, by this time, began to understandthat real industry, even if one-handed, can accomplish a good deal.
Finally Nathalie lined her charges up under the trees on the lawn atattention, and undertook to teach them the military salute, but beforeshe was through she was somewhat puzzled as to whether she or the boyswas the instructor. After they had saluted the flag, which Sam had runup on the top of the barn for that very purpose, and which was to be theboys' duty in the future, they had a little soldier's drill.
A few words were then read, very softly, by Nathalie from the Bible. Shehad concluded that this would be a good way to give them a bit ofreligious instruction, especially for a beginning. She had begun thereading by getting them interested in the book, on whose fly-leaf waswritten the name, Philip Renwick, by telling them how she had found itin a little room on the upper floor of the house. She then told themabout this boy who had left his mother to travel abroad, how he hadmarried, and had then come home, only to leave his mother and return toEurope, never to be seen by her again. They were much interested in thestory, especially when she showed them the picture of the young man inthe library, and from that time onward the little Bible seemed topossess a peculiar interest to them, and thus led them to become moreinterested in the every-day Scripture lesson.
After the "Star-Spangled Banner" and several patriotic songs had beensung, and the "Marseillaise" had been given with much spirit by theboys, Janet, who had just come up from her farm, appeared, andpatriotically kept time with her rake. She became so interested in thelittle singers that she volunteered, to Nathalie's delight, to drillthem in the national anthems of the Allies.
Whereupon Jean, with a new eagerness in his bewildered eyes, up with hishand, and made Nathalie understand that he could sing, too. Nathaliesmilingly encouraged him, and in a few moments the lad's thin, quaveringvoice, that grew deeper as he caught the spirit of the words, gave themBelgium's song of cheer. This inspired Tony, and he became the soloist,and sang Italy's national anthem.
There was a "do-as-you-please time" after dinner down on the lawn for anhour or so, and then the boys were mustered in the bathroom andinitiated as to how to manipulate a tooth-brush, in a tooth-cleaningdrill, Nathalie having supplied herself with three new brushes inanticipation of this procedure. Sheila, who was not one of thedrillers,--only three brushes having been provided,--looked with enviouseyes upon this performance, and, when Danny had finished, in aplaintively aggrieved voice complained to their young teacher that hewould not let her have his brush so that she could clean her teeth, too.
Explanations were now in order. Nathalie smiling amusedly at the idea ofloaning a tooth-brush, and then they were all made as presentable aspossible, considering their ragged clothes, which had begun to prey uponMrs. Page's mind, as well as Nathalie's. But the clothes part wassomething that had not presented itself to the girl when she had plannedthe boys' coming, and she was at a loss to remedy the trouble.
Certainly something must be done to do away with Tony's old velveteenembroidered vest, his greatest treasure, and Jean's soiled white shirt,which seemed to be the only one he possessed. Danny's clothes, althoughthey had been queerly darned and glaringly patched, and were miles toosmall for him, _were clean_, and he did have a change of underclothing,to Nathalie's relief.
However, the general shabbiness of the boys' apparel had not affectedt
heir merry spirits, the girl decided, as she sat knitting on theveranda, and heard the happy, joyous voices that floated up from thelawn, as they played leap-frog, ran races, and turned handsprings. EvenJean, caught by the contagion of the moment, turned a somersault, to herbreathless amazement.
She was beginning to realize what Mrs. Van Vorst meant when she spoke ofwhat the glorious wonders of these mountains would mean to the half-fed,sickly little waifs of humanity from the East Side of New York. Yes, itmeant a new world, with no more squalid, stifling two-by-two rooms, ordamp, moldy cellars. No more nauseating smells, odors from the backyardgarbage-can, the rattlety-bang of heavy trucks and milk-wagons, or thejarring creak of the Elevated. For, as Sheila expressed it, they were ina "big green world, with high blue walls, with flower stars a-peepin' at'em from the grass, and little teeny birds a-singin' and rockin' theirbabies to sleep in tall trees, that nodded to 'em with a swishywhisper."
Suddenly the serenity of Nathalie's cogitations received a shock, as ahorrible swear-word came, no, not floating, but yelling, its way acrossthe green. The girl jumped up and rushed down under the trees, to seeTony, with his soft, appealing ways, and Danny, with the blue eyes thatshe had already begun to trust for the frankness of their gaze, rollingon the lawn, locked in a vice-like grip, as they pommeled and poundedeach other in a way that made Nathalie gasp.
Sheila, with squeals of delighted glee, was circling about thecombatants, piping shrilly. "Give 'im a plug in the snoot, Danny! Pound'im in the mug!" to the accompaniment of big, forceful oaths that rolledfrom the mouths of the fighting boys. As the little maid sightedNathalie, she ejaculated, with a broad grin, "Ain't them kids fierce!"which caused poor Nathalie to gasp again.
"Oh, boys, you mustn't fight!" the agonized girl cried, as she reacheddown and tried to separate the young pugilists, with her limbs all of atremble. But her efforts were useless, and, regardless of her screamsand expostulations, the punching and scratching continued, punctuated bydefiant yells, and such horrifying language that the girl shivered.
As she stared as if fascinated by this new and revolting experience, shesaw a little trickle of blood oozing down Danny's face, for Tony, whowas the underdog, was an expert at nail-digging. It was a _fearsome_sight, and Nathalie, appalled by the thought that he might dig out aneye or so in his blinded wrath, in frenzied horror screamed, "Oh, Tony,you're killing Danny!" But the only result of her cry was, "Yer bet yerlife he ain't!" and the hair continued to fly, as Danny yelledtriumphantly, "Gee! I knew I could lick yer wid one hand!" and the gorybattle continued.
Then, in sheer desperation, hopelessly wringing her hands, she startedin the direction of the house to call her mother. Suddenly she stopped.Oh, no; her mother would send them away, and then--O dear! Ah, she knewwhat she would do. Terror speeded her feet, and two minutes later shereappeared on the lawn, and with one swing of her arm there came aterrific "Clang! Clang!" as the girl, with big excited eyes, thrust thestill clanging bell between the faces of the boys.
The effect was magical, for the lads, with screams of terror, unlockedtheir arms, hands, and legs, and rolled apart, while gazing with dilatedeyes, as if they had heard the crack of doom, at the bell that Nathaliehad thrust into their faces.
A few moments later, almost unclothed, dust-begrimed, blood-besmeared,and both sniffling from nerve-shock, but still breathing out direvengeance one upon the other, Nathalie led her two charges up-stairs andthrust one into the bathroom and the other into a dark closet. Jan, atthis moment, appeared in the hall, and the girl excitedly dragged herinto her bedroom, and, in a hushed, nervous whisper, made known theproceedings of the last few moments.
But Jan, who at home was a district nurse, and had witnessed many slumfights, burst into a peal of laughter. And then, with her face still redwith mirth and laughter, demanded, "Well, young lady, what else did youexpect if you will take ragamuffins and street Arabs to your bosom?"Nevertheless Janet's sympathies were aroused, for Nathalie, if not forthe boys, and in a few moments the two girls were industriously makingthe boys presentable once more.
And then Nathalie led the culprits into a chamber apart, and began toupbraid them, trying to impress their young minds with the enormity ofthe wrong-doing of which they had been guilty.
But the spirit of the cave-dweller was not yet subdued, and,notwithstanding the girl's persuasiveness, and her pleading attitude inher endeavor to make them see the error of their way, they kept up awrangling duet of recriminations, each one accusing the other ofpunching him first, while stubbornly crying, "Now, ye didn't lick me."
Presently Nathalie, under the strain of overwrought nerves, and thesudden realization of the unforeseen responsibility of her position,burst into tears. Lo, to her amazement, her tears acted like oil ontroubled waters, for the next instant a grimy hand tugged at her sleeve,as Danny, with troubled eyes, in a sudden wave of contrition, cried:"Oh, Miss Natty, don't take on like that. Sure and I'm never goin' tofight no more."
Meanwhile Tony's black eyes, in dumb entreaty, grew bigger and bigger,until he, too, in sudden repentance, began to stroke her handcaressingly as his soft, musical voice pleaded, "Please Mees Natta,Tonee, he lova you--he fighta no more."
Peace was making its way into each heart, when the purr of an automobilewas heard, and as Nathalie hurried to the window, she saw Mr. Bankerwhirling under the porte-cochere. As the boys, paroled on their honor, alittle later hung around the car, discussing its many merits, they wereduly presented to the newcomer. That gentleman evidently liked smallboys, for he immediately made arrangements to call for them some day,and take them to Littleton for an all-day good time.
The following afternoon Nathalie, holding Sheila by the hand, with Jeanby her side, and the two boys in front of her, started to show them themountains. At the post-office at Sugar Hill village Jean, who had beendelegated to act as postman the coming week, was duly initiated into thebusiness of opening the mail-box, an office he accepted with a suddenlighting of his dazed eyes, which Nathalie began to fancy were alreadylosing some of their fear-haunted expression.
A short visit was paid to the Sweet-Pea ladies, where they were treatedto some maple sugar, Mona very earnest in her endeavors to show sympathyfor the little refugee, and her admiration for Sheila. As they hurriedaway, a bunch of sweet peas was seen on each little breast, pinned thereby that gentle lady.
A walk on the long, curving board-walk up the hill, with a rest on oneof the benches under the maples, to Hotel Look-off, now followed. Thethree boys were anxious to start that very minute to climb IronMountain, but were soon persuaded that it was too warm a day for amountain hike. From the long veranda of the hotel they were lured toadmiration of the hilly, wide-spreading green sward, and the magnificentviews of the mountains, as they rose and fell, receded and advanced,with their jutting pinnacles of rock, gloomed with the green of mountainforest.
After slacking their thirst at the little spring-house in the grove,they sauntered down the board-walk to the Sunset Hill House, and as theyinterestedly watched the golfers in their bright-colored coats on thevelvety green links, Danny proudly informed them that he knew how tocaddy. But their enthusiasm grew tense when they stood on the littleobservation tower in front of the hotel, and Nathalie pointed out thePresidential Range, with Mount Washington towering six thousand feet upamong the clouds.
She then showed them the Franconia Range, explaining that the greatmountains were divided into clefts, or notches, from which flowed fourlong rivers and many smaller ones, several of them being named after theIndians, who, in the early times, lived on the mountain passes.
With the help of the chart they soon learned that Lafayette was thehighest peak of this smaller range, and that Pemigewasset, seemingly thenearest peak to the hotel, had been named after a great Indianchieftain. The adjoining peaks, as the Kinsman and the Three Graces,proved of interest; also Cannon, or Profile Mountain, when the younggirl explained that it not only had a stone, shaped like a cannon, onits top, but that from one of its sides a great stone fac
e was to beseen.
Nathalie now told her young listeners how the mountains were first seen,over four hundred and fifty years ago, a cluster of snowy peaks, by JohnCabot, from the deck of his ship when sailing along the New Englandcoast. They were called Waumbekket-meyna, the White Hills, and sometimes"The mountains with the snowy foreheads," by the Indians.
The first white man to ascend these heights, she related, was anIrishman named Field, who, two hundred years after they had been seen byCabot, with a few white companions, climbed to the topmost crag of thehighest peak. "Field found a number of shiny crystals which he thoughtwere costly gems," laughed the girl merrily, "but, alas, they proved tobe only beautiful white stones, but, on account of this occurrence, themountains came to be called Crystal Hills.
"The Indian guides who had accompanied Field part way up the mountains,"continued Nathalie, "refused to go any farther, for fear that the GreatSpirit, who they believed lived in a magnificent palace on the highestpeak, would destroy them if they ventured too near him. They were sosurprised to see Field return in safety a few hours later that theydecided he was a god, for during his absence a great storm had arisen,which they believed had been sent by the Indian Manitou to kill him. Theredmen not only believed that the Great Spirit sent forth the frost andsnow, as well as the rain and fire,--the lightning--but declared thatthe thunder was his voice."
The Indian legend of Pawan was eagerly listened to, as Nathalie told howthe Indians asserted that when the earth was covered with water andevery one was drowned, he and his wife, carrying a hare, had ascended tothe highest peak. When the waters began to abate, Pawan sent forth thehare, and when it did not return he and his wife descended to the earthand dwelt there in safety, for the waters had dried up from off theland. From this man, the Indians declared, every one on the earth haddescended.
During the recital of these stories, Sheila's red-brown eyes darkened toblack, and every mountain peak assumed a weird and wonderful personalityto her imaginative mind, fed, as it had been, by stories of fairies,pixies, and gnomes, as told to her by Danny, when playing the littlemother.
But the tourists now found that their appetites had been whetted by thekeen mountain air, and gladly started on their homeward way to enjoy thesupper that awaited them. After tea they gathered on the veranda, andTony entertained them by playing on his violin. Nathalie soon discoveredthat he not only played with considerable skill, but that Danny couldwhistle like a bird, while Jean and Sheila could pipe forth snatches ofsong in clear, childish trebles.
The boys were rendered exuberantly happy a few days later at theunexpected arrival of Mr. Banker, who had come to give them a day'souting at Littleton. Morning chores, military tactics, and otheroccupations were quickly forgotten, as Nathalie and her mother made themtidy for the trip, Danny, by the way, having kindly washed Jean's oneshirt the day before,--a housewifely occupation that he had becomeproficient in, from sheer necessity,--and Nathalie had ironed it.
It was long past tea-time when the boys returned from their pleasurejaunt, and told in high good spirits of the "bully" time they had had,what they had seen at the movies, and many other sights. Nathalie's joyalmost equaled the boys' when they descended from the car, and she sawthree smartly equipped lads, each one in a khaki suit, with brown shoes,a brimmed hat, a knapsack, and, the most prized possession of all, agun! The girl's eyes filled with tears, and she had rather a tremuloustime of it as she thanked Mr. Banker for his kindness, and especiallyfor those _much-needed clothes_.
Nathalie, with her brown-suited boys,--Tony with his violin and hisembroidered vest, as he had soon discarded his khaki suit, Jean with hisempty sleeve, and yellow-brown terrier,--and Sheila, in a pinksunbonnet, soon became familiar objects on the mountain roads. They werealways greeted with pleasant smiles and nods from the passing tourists,Jean being regarded with more than the usual curiosity, as his story hadbeen rumored about.
Many of them would stop and give him money, until he had so many silvercoins that Nathalie had to make him a bag to keep them in, as he haddeclared that he was going to save them to take him back to France, sohe could find his father. It was not long before they had not onlybecome hardy mountaineers, but familiar with all the near-by walks inand around Franconia and Sugar Hill. Jean, too, had begun to show adecided improvement, not only having gained flesh and color, but havinga brighter and more cheerful expression in his eyes.
And so the sunny days passed, cementing the bond between Nathalie andher charges, and each one learning something that would be of help inthe days to come. And then, one day, Nathalie had an inspiration!