CHAPTER IV. INTERESTING NEWS
The midwinter blizzard continued, and so intense was the cold and sounceasing the cutting, icy blast that Miss Demorest, at the request ofseveral parents, sent forth a messenger to inform the day pupils thatclasses would not be resumed until the storm had subsided. But wind, iceand snow had no terrors for the members of the "S. S. C.," and, sinceimportant matters were afoot in the reorganization of their club, it wasdecided, by those whose 'phones had not been put out of use by thetempest, to beg or borrow a sleigh and hold the meeting at the home ofBertha Angel on Monday instead of the following Saturday. Mr. Angel,being a grocer, possessed several delivery sleighs, and since Berthacould drive as well as her brother Bob, Merry, whose 'phone was out oforder, was amazed to see such an equipage draw up in front of her door atabout two on that blizzardy afternoon. Her first thought was that Bob wasdelivering groceries, but why at the front of the house, since he alwayswent in at the side drive? Then, as the snow curtain lifted a little, shediscerned the forms of several persons warmly wrapped and actuallyhuddled on the straw-covered box part of the delivery sleigh. The driverwas tooting on a horn and looking hopefully toward the house. Then itdawned on Merry that it was Bertha who was driving, and not Bob, as shehad supposed. In a twinkling she leaped to the door of the stormvestibule and called that she would be right with them. And she was, cladin her warmest; an Esquimaux girl could not have been more hidden in fur.How her brown eyes sparkled as she climbed up on the front seat by thedriver, which place had been reserved for her since she was president.
"Of all the grand and glorious surprises!" she exclaimed, glancing backat the laughing huddle, as Bertha drove out of the gate. "Why, I declareto it, you've even got our rose-bud. How did you manage that? I didn'tthink her mother would let her out of the house again until next summer."
"It took lots of loving 'suasion', I can assure you." Rose replied. "AndI don't even know if _that_ would have worked had it not been that an oldfriend whom Mother hadn't seen in years arrived in a station sleigh tospend the afternoon, and in order to be freed from my teasing, the lovelylady said, 'Wrap up well and take a foot-warmer.'"
"Three cheers for the friend!" Merry said; then added, drawing her furcoat closer: "My, how dense the snow is! Give me that horn, Bursie; I'lltoot so that other vehicles will know that we are coming."
The comfortable old white house set among tall evergreen trees that wasthe Angel's home was in the center of town on the long main street andnot far from the Angel grocery, the best of its kind in the village.Bertha drove close to the front steps, bade the girls go right in andwait for her in the sitting-room while she took the delivery sleigh backto the store, but hardly had they swarmed out when a merry whistle washeard through the curtain of snow and the form of a heavy-set boyappeared. "Oh, good, here comes Bob!" his sister called. "I'd know thatwhistle in darkest Africa. It outrobins a robin for cheeriness."
"Hello, S. S. C.'s," a jolly voice called, and then a walking snowmanstopped at the foot of the steps and waved a white arm to the girls whowere standing under the shelter of the porch roof. "Going to spread somemore sunshine today? Well, it sure is needed."
Bertha, having climbed down, Bob leaped up on the high seat and took thereins, then with a good-natured grin on his ruddy, freckled face, the boycalled: "It was shabby of us to guess what your S. S. C. meant, wasn'tit? Boys _are_ clever that way, but girls aren't supposed to be veryclever, you know. If they're good looking and good cooks, that's all weof the superior sex expect of them."
"Indeed, _is that so_, Mr. Bob?" Peggy just could not keep quiet. "Isuppose you think _we_ never could guess the meaning of your 'C. D. C.'"
"I know you couldn't," Bob replied with such conviction that Merry,fearing it would tantalize Peg into betraying their knowledge, changedthe subject with: "S'pose you'll take us all home, Bob, before dark setsin."
"Righto!" was the cheery response as the boy started the big dapple horseroadward.
Fifteen minutes later the girls were seated about the wide fireplace inthe large, comfortably furnished living-room. This home lacked theelegance that was to be found in the palatial residence of Rose, nor didit have the many signs of culture that Merry's father and mother hadcollected in their travels, but there was a homey atmosphere about itthat was very pleasant.
Mrs. Angel, short, plump, cheerful, whom Bob closely resembled, appearedfor a moment to greet the girls and then returned to a task in anotherpart of the house.
Bertha, who had disappeared, soon returned with a huge wicker basket. "Ithought we might just as well keep on with our 'Spread Sunshine'activities," she explained, "even though we have added a new meaning toour 'S. S. C.'" She was taking out small all-over aprons of blue ginghamas she spoke. The name of a girl was pinned to each one.
"Sure thing." Merry reached for her garment. "Our fingers can sew for theorphans while our tongues can unravel mysteries if--" her eyes weretwinkling as they turned inquiringly toward Peggy Pierce, "our committeeof two has unearthed one as yet."
"Of course we haven't!" was the maiden's indignant response. "How couldwe find a mystery in a snow-storm like this?"
"True enough!" Merry said in a more conciliatory tone. "I really had notexpected you to."
"In truth," Rose, curled in the big easy chair near the fire, put inteasingly, "for _that_ matter, we don't expect a real mystery to beunearthed in this little sound-asleep town of Sunnyside. Goodness, don'twe know _everybody_ in it, and don't our parents know _their_ parents andtheir grandparents and----"
"Well, somebody new _might_ come to town," Doris, the second member ofthe sleuth committee, remarked hopefully.
"Sure thing, someone _might_," Merry said with such emphasis on the lastword that Bertha dropped her work on her lap to comment: "You speak asthough you _knew_ that someone new is coming."
"I do!" Merry replied calmly, bending over her sewing that the girlsmight not see how eager she was to tell them her news.
"Stop being so tantalizing, Merry! What in the world do you know todaythat you didn't know Saturday?" Peg inquired.
"Oh, I know, I know!" Rose sang out. "It's something that handsome boy,Alfred Morrison, told you when he went to call on Jack. Out with it,Merry; don't keep us in suspense."
"Of course! How stupid we didn't think to ask what happened after you andAlfred Morrison had left us at our homes," Doris put in. "We knew he wasgoing with you to call on Jack. Is _he_ coming to live in Sunnyside? Say,wouldn't it be keen if he did?"
"Well, you are all warm anyway," Merry conceded. "The someone who iscoming to live in Sunnyside; I mean the someone to whom I am referring,is a girl, but I guess _we won't_ want to cultivate _her_ acquaintance atall, at all."
"Merry Lee, if you don't tell us, I shall come over there and shake youuntil you do." Betty Byrd was so tiny that this threat made the girlslaugh gaily, but it had the desired effect, for their president ceasedteasing and told them a story which interested them greatly.