CHAPTER XIV.
MOONLIGHT AGAIN
THE evening was showery, and indoor games were the order of it. Thefirst half-hour after the dishes were washed (a task performed to music,all hands joining in the choruses of "John Peel," "Blow, ye winds ofmorning," etc.) was spent quietly enough, four of the party atparcheesi, the others busy over crokinole and jackstraws; but by and bythere was a cry of "Boston!" and instantly boards and counters were putaway on their shelf, and the decks cleared for action. The whole partydrew their chairs into a circle, and the fun began. A pleasant sight itwas to see Mr. Merryweather blindfold in the middle of the circle,calling out the numbers two by two, and trying to catch the flittingfigures as they changed places. A pleasant sight it was to see theyoung people leaping, crouching, and gliding across the circle, avoidinghis outstretched arms with surprising agility.
"Two and Fourteen!" he would cry; and Gerald and Bell would slip fromtheir places, like shadows. Gerald was across in two long, noiselesslopes, while Bell whisked under her father's very hand, which almostclosed on her flying skirt; and a shout of "All over!" greeted theaccomplishment of the exchange.
"This will never do!" said Mr. Merryweather. "You all have quicksilverin your heels, I believe. Seven and Twelve! Come Seven, come Twelve!"
Seven and Twelve were Jack Ferrers and Peggy, and they came. Jack,gathering his long legs under him, crept on all fours half-way round thecircle, and then made a plunge for the chair which Peggy had justvacated. He landed on the edge, and over went chair and Jack into thefireplace with a resounding crash. This startled Peggy so that she randirectly into Mr. Merryweather's arms, and was caught and firmly held.
"Let me see!" said Mr. Merryweather. "One pigtail! But I believe all youwretched girls dress your hair precisely alike for 'Boston.' Ha!peculiar sleeve-buttons! Now who has buttons like these? Peggy!"
Then it was Peggy's turn to be blindfolded, and a vigorous "_ColinMaillard_" she made, flying hither and thither, and coming within an aceof catching Gerald himself, who was rarely caught. Finally she seized aflying pigtail belonging to Kitty; and so the merry game went on tillall were out of breath with running and laughing.
Phil went to the door to breathe the cool air, and came back with theannouncement, "All clear overhead, perfectly corking moonlight. Why dowe stay indoors?"
"Canoes!" cried the younger Merryweathers; and there was a rush for thedoor; but the Chief stopped them with a gesture. "Too late!" he said."It is nine o'clock now; time you were in bed, Kitty."
"We might sit on the float and sing a little," suggested Mrs.Merryweather.
"The float! The float!" shouted the boys and girls. There was asnatching up of pillows and wraps, and the whole family trooped down tothe float, where they established themselves in a variety of picturesqueattitudes. Again it was a wonderful night; the late moon was just risingabove the dark trees, no longer the full round, but still brilliantenough to fill the world with light.
"This has been a wonderful moon!" said some one.
"Yes," said Gerald; "it is quite the last thing in moons, not theordinary article at all. We don't have ordinary moons on this pond. Whomade that highly intellectual remark?"
"It was I," said Bell, laughing; "and I maintain, Jerry, that this moon_has_ been a very long, and a very--well, a very splendid one. Justthink! not a single cloudy evening till this one; and now it clears offin time to give us our moonlight hour before bed-time."
"The harvest moon is always long," said Mr. Merryweather. "Bell isperfectly right, Jerry."
"Strike home!" said Gerald, baring his breast with a dramatic gesture."Strike home!
"'There's no more moonlight for poor Uncle J., For he's gone whar de snubbed niggers go.'"
"I was just going to propose singing," said his mother; "but before webegin, suppose we do honor to this good moon, that has treated us sowell. Let every one give a quotation in her honor. I will begin:
"'That orbed maiden with white fire laden, Whom mortals call the moon, Glides glimmering o'er my fleece-like floor, By the midnight breezes strewn.'
Shelley. I am a cloud, be it understood!"
"I should hardly have guessed it," said Mr. Merryweather. "My turn? I'llgo back to Milton:
"'Now glowed the firmament With living sapphires; Hesperus, that led The starry host, rode brightest, till the moon, Rising in clouded majesty, at length Apparent queen, unveiled her peerless light, And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw.'"
"Oh, I say!" murmured Gerald; "that is a peach!"
"Jerry," said his mother, plaintively, "have you _no_ adjectives, mypoor destitute child? I can imagine few things less peach-like than thatglorious passage. But never mind! Jack, it is your turn."
"'The gray sea and the long black land, And the yellow half-moon large and low--'"
said Jack, half under his breath.
"It isn't yellow, and it isn't half," said Gerald. "But never mind, asthe Mater says. Margaret, you come next."
Margaret looked up, her face full of tranquil happiness.
"I was thinking," she said, "of some lines from 'Evangeline,' that Ihave always loved. I say them over to myself every night in thiswonderful moon-time:
"'Beautiful was the night. Behind the black wall of the forest, Tipping its summit with silver, arose the moon. On the river Fell here and there through the branches a tremulous gleam of the moonlight, Like the sweet thoughts of love on a darkened and devious spirit.'"
"Peggy, what have you for us?" asked Mrs. Merryweather.
"Oh!" cried poor Peggy, "you know I never can remember poetry, Mrs.Merryweather. I shall have to take to 'Mother Goose.' I know I amterribly prosy--well, prosaic, then, Margaret; what's the difference?But I can't think of anything except:
"'The Man in the Moon Came down too soon,'--
and that doesn't go with all these lovely things you have all beensaying."
"It gives me mine, though!" said Phil. And he sang, merrily:
"'The Man in the Moon was looking down, With winking and with blinking frown, And stars beamed out bright To look on the night; The Man in the Moon was looking!'"
"Phil!" cried Gertrude. "How can you? Comic opera is an insult to a moonlike this."
"Oh, indeed!" said her brother. "Sorry I spoke. Next time I'll sing itto some other moon,--one of Jupiter's; or the brick one in Doctor Hale'sstory. Go on, Toots, since you are so superior. It's your turn."
"'Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear, That tips with silver all the fruit-tree tops,'"
said Gertrude. "I can't remember the next line."
"What I miss in this game," said Gerald, in a critical tone, "isaccuracy. There isn't a fruit-tree on the Point."
"And the moon, of course, limits herself strictly to the point!" saidGertrude, laughing.
"It's more than you do!" retorted her brother. "But a truce to badinage!I go back to prose and 'Happy Thoughts.' 'I say "O moon!" rapturously,but nothing comes of it.'"
"But something shall come of it this time, Jerry," said his mother."Perhaps we have had enough quotations now. Give us the 'Gipsy Song.'"
Nothing loth, Gerald sang the wild, beautiful song, his sisters hummingthe accompaniment. Then one song and another was called for, and thenight rang with ballad and barcarole, glee and round. There neverseemed to be any limit to the Merryweather repertoire.
Presently Bell whispered to Gertrude; the latter passed the whisper onto Margaret and Peggy. Silently all four girls rose and slipped away,with a word breathed into Mrs. Merryweather's ear, begging her to keepup the singing.
"Where are the girls going?" asked their father.
"They will be back in a moment," said Mrs. Merryweather. "Give us 'PrinzEugen,' boys; all of you together!"
And out rolled, in booming bass and silvery tenor, the glorious old campsong of t
he German wars:
"Prinz Eugen, der edle Ritter, Woll't dem Kaiser wied'rum kriegen Stadt und Festung Belgerad."
This was a favorite song of the Merryweather boys, and they never knewwhich verse to leave out, so they generally sang all nine of them. Theydid so this time, and finally ended with a prolonged roar of:
"Liess ihm bringen recht zu Peterwardein."
A moment of silence followed. Indeed, none of the singers had any breathleft.
"'And silence like a poultice falls, To heal the blows of sound!'"
quoted Mr. Merryweather. "Hark! what is that?"
Again the sound of singing was heard. This time it came from thedirection of the tents. Girl's voices, thrilling clear and sweet on thestillness. The air was even more familiar than that of "Prinz Eugen,"one of the sweetest airs that ever echoed to moonlight and the night:
"Ich weiss nicht was soll es bedeuten, Dass ich so traurig bin;"--
The girls came singing out into the moonlight, hand in hand. They werein bathing-dress; their long hair floated over their shoulders; theirwhite arms shone in the white light. Instead of coming back to thefloat, they plunged into the water, and swam, still singing, to a rockthat reared a great rounded back from the water. Up on this rock theyclimbed, and sat them down, shaking off the water in diamond spray; andstill their voices rang out, clear and thrilling on the quiet air:
"Die schoenste Jungfrau sitzet Dort oben wunderbar; Ihr goldnes Geschmeide blitzet, Sie kaemmt ihr goldenes Haar."
"Gee!" muttered Gerald to himself.
"Pretty!" said Mr. Merryweather, taking his pipe from between his teeth."Miranda, I don't know that I ever saw anything much prettier thanthat."
His wife made no reply, but her eyes spoke for her. None of the ladscould look more eagerly or more joyfully at that lovely picture. Werenot two of the maidens her very own?
Gertrude was facing them as she sang. Her red-gold hair fell like amantle of glory about her, far below her waist; her arms, clasped behindher head, were like carved ivory; her face was lifted, and the moonshone full on its pure outlines and candid brow. Bell's rosy face waspartly in shadow, but her noble voice floated out rich and strong,filling the air with melody. There was no possibility of doubt, to Mrs.Merryweather's mind, which two of the quartette were most attractive.Yet when she said softly to the son who happened to be next her: "Aren'tthey lovely, Jerry?" he answered, abstractedly, "Isn't she!" and hiseyes were fixed, not on stately Gertrude, or stalwart Bell, but on aslender figure between them, that clung timidly to the rock, one handclasped in Peggy's. Also, it is to be noted that, when the song wasover, and Peggy made an exceptionally clean and graceful dive off therock, Phil exclaimed, "Jove! that was a corker!" to which John Ferrersreplied, "Yes; the sweetest contralto I ever heard."
* * * * *
"I never heard you sing better than you did last night," said Jack toBell. It was next morning, and he was stirring the porridgeindustriously, while she mixed the johnny-cake.
"HE WAS STIRRING THE PORRIDGE INDUSTRIOUSLY, WHILE SHEMIXED THE JOHNNY-CAKE."]
"So glad!" said Bell, simply. "I aim to please. I'd put in a little morewater, Jack, if I were you; it's getting too stiff."
Jack poured in the water, and stirred for some minutes in silence.Presently he said: "I heard from those people last night."
"From the Conservatory? Oh, Jack! do tell me! I have been thinking somuch about it. Is it all right?"
"I think so," said Jack, slowly. "They offer me two thousand, and thereis an excellent chance for private pupils besides; I have decided toaccept it."
"Oh, Jack, how splendid! Oh, I am so glad! I knew it would come--thechance--if you only had patience, and you surely have had it. How happyHilda will be!"
"Yes," said Jack, soberly. "I owe it to Hilda, every bit of it, as I oweseveral other things. This, for example."
"This?" repeated Bell. "Meaning the porridge?"
She spoke lightly, yet there was an undertone of feeling in her voice.
"The porridge, and all the rest of it," said Jack. "The place, the life,the friends, the happiness, and--you--all!"
It might have been noted that the "all" was added after a moment'spause, as if it were an afterthought.
"Dear Hilda!" said Bell, softly. "We all owe her a very great deal."
"If it had not been for Hildegarde Grahame," said Jack, "I should havegrown up a savage."
"Oh! no, you would not, Jack."
"Yes, I should, Bell. When I first came to Roseholme, I was just at thecritical time. I adored my father, who was an angel,--too much of one tounderstand a mere human boy. I came to please him, and at first I didn'tget hold of Uncle Tom at all, nor he of me. He thought me an ass,--well,he was right enough there,--and I thought him a bear and a brute. I wason the point of running away and starting out on my own account, myfiddle and I against the world, when I met Hilda, and she changed lifefrom an enemy into a friend."
Bell was silent for a moment; then, "I have often wondered--" she said,and broke off short.
"So have I!" said Jack. "I don't know now why I didn't. Yes, I do, too."
"Why?" asked Bell, her eyes on her mixing-bowl.
"It's hard to put it into words," said Jack, with a queer little laugh."I suppose I felt that I never should have had a chance; but--but yet, Iam not sure that I should not have tried my luck, even then, if--ifsomething else had not happened to me."
Bell asked no more questions: the johnny-cake seemed to be at a criticalpoint; she stirred assiduously, and Jack, turning to look at her, couldsee only the tip of a very rosy little ear under the brown, clusteringhair.
There was another silence, broken only by the singing of the teakettleand the soft, thick "hub-bubble" of the boiling porridge.
"Bell!" said Jack, presently.
"Yes, Jack."
"I had another letter last night, that I haven't told you about yet."
"From Hilda?"
"No. From the manager of the Arion Quartette. They want me to go on atour with them in the autumn, before the Conservatory opens. It's agreat chance, and they offer me twice what I am worth."
"Oh, Jack!" cried Bell, turning her face, shining with pleasure, full onhim. "How glorious! how perfectly glorious! Oh! this is great newsindeed."
"There is only one difficulty," said Jack. "I have to provide my ownaccompanist."
"But you can easily do that!" said Bell.
"Can I?" cried Jack Ferrers, dropping the porridge spoon and comingforward, his two hands held out, his brown face in a glow. "Can I, Bell?There is only one accompanist in the world for me, and I want her forlife. Can I have her, my dear?"
"Oh, Jack!" cried Bell, and another spoon was dropped.
* * * * *
"Children, you are letting that porridge burn!" cried Mrs. Merryweather,as she hurried into the kitchen a few minutes later.
"Oh, Mammy, I am so sorry!" said Bell, looking up,
"All kind o' smily round the lips, And teary round the lashes."
"Oh, Mammy, I am so glad!" cried Jack Ferrers; and without more ado hekissed Mrs. Merryweather. "I like burnt porridge!" said this younggentleman.