CHAPTER XVII IN THE APPLE-TREE
Chester Humphreys was by no means a fool, nor was he unduly influenced byLadybird's rhapsodies; but the winsome and beautiful Stella had attractedhim very strongly, and were it not for the absurd complications of thecase, he would have greatly enjoyed making her further acquaintance; andalthough he realized that it would perhaps be wiser for him to go away atonce, he felt a strong, though vague and undefined hope that he might seethe young woman again before his departure.
At breakfast next day, then, when he announced his intention of leavingthat morning, and his hostesses hospitably begged him to stay untilafternoon, he willingly accepted.
"Let's go for a walk," said Ladybird, as they rose from the table; andthe young man assented cordially, for this strange child had a peculiarfascination for him, and he was glad of a further opportunity to studyher.
Ladybird chattered gaily as they walked through the gardens and orchards,and showed Mr. Humphreys all of her favorite haunts, and the trees whichshe liked best to climb. She led him through all the orchards of PrimrosePlace, and as they left the last one, they found themselves at the littlebrook, and sat down on the bank.
"I'm very glad," said Ladybird, hugging her knees up under her chin,"that you have decided to do what I want you to do; but it seems to meyou needn't have been so long making up your mind."
"Long!" cried Chester Humphreys, in astonishment. "What do you mean? Andbesides, I haven't made up my mind!"
"Oh," exclaimed Ladybird, "don't begin to wobble again! Why, there's onlyone thing _for_ you to do! The greatest, beautifulest thing any man canhave a chance to do is to rescue a fair lady from distress; and there'splenty of distress; and here you are, and there's the fair lady."
"Where?" asked Humphreys, looking around.
"Never you mind," said Ladybird, significantly. "But I'll just tell youthis while I think of it: there's one thing you didn't do that you oughtto have done."
"What's that?" asked Humphreys, lazily. He was absently twisting a stemof timothy-grass around his finger and thinking about Stella.
"You didn't bring me any candy. Now I would have preferred a man forStella who knew enough to bring candy to _me_."
"I don't blame you," said Chester Humphreys, heartily; "you're quiteright; and though I never can forgive myself, it may help a little if Isend you a box as soon as I go back."
"That will do nicely," said Ladybird, gravely. "And now shall we go on?"
"Go on where?"
"Go on with our walk; we're taking a walk, you know. Now we'll cross thebrook."
Humphreys followed his elf-like guide as she swung herself across theline of stepping-stones, and together they walked through two fields.This brought them to another orchard--the same one in which some time agoLadybird had discovered Stella; and the child well knew that the girl wasmore than likely at this hour of the morning to be up in the same oldgnarled apple-tree.
Without so much as mentioning the fact that this particular orchard wasthe property of Stella's grandparents, Ladybird led her companion to theapple-tree in question, and invited him to sit down beneath it.
"You haven't told me yet," said Ladybird, as they leaned comfortably backagainst the great crooked trunk, "what you really think of Miss Russell."
She spoke in a high, clear voice, quite loud enough to be heard by anyone who might happen to be sitting in the tree above them.
"I told you I thought her very beautiful," said Chester Humphreys.
"But do you think her the most beautifulest girl you have ever seen?"persisted Ladybird.
"Yes," said Humphreys, "I really do, and I have seen a great many; butnever one with such exquisite coloring and such perfect features."
"And don't you think she's as good as she is beautiful?" was the nextquestion.
A slight disturbance was heard in the branches, and then a voice cried:"Ladybird, you'll have to stop that. I really can't allow myself to hearany more of it."
"Miss Russell!" exclaimed Chester Humphreys, starting to his feet.
"Why, Stella," cried Ladybird, innocently, "are you there? Won't you comedown; or shall we come up?"
"I'm not coming down," said Stella; "and if you choose to come up, Ishall be glad to receive you. There are plenty of vacant seats."
"Thank you," said Ladybird, "we'll be delighted. Will you go first, Mr.Humphreys?"
Being sufficiently athletic, Chester Humphreys swung himself up by thelow branches, and after shaking hands with Miss Russell, comfortablysettled himself on a bough near her.
"Will you look at that child!" exclaimed Stella, pointing down theorchard, where, among the trees, Humphreys could see Ladybird's flyingfigure, running as if her life depended upon it.
"What is she, anyway?" he exclaimed. "I never saw such a child. And yetshe fascinates me by her very queerness."
"She _is_ fascinating," said Stella; "and she has the dearest, sweetestnature in the world. I don't always understand her vagaries, but I dounderstand her warm, loving heart, and her brave, impetuous soul."
"She doesn't seem to inherit the characteristics of her aunts," saidHumphreys.
"No, she is not like them, except in her courage and indomitable will.Her father must have been something unusual. She is probably like him."
"And she was brought up in India."
"Yes; that might account for many of her peculiarities; or perhaps thetruth is that she grew up in India without having been brought up atall."
"That's more like it," assented Humphreys. "But she is not here now, andyou are, so I wish you would tell me something about yourself; won'tyou?"
"Oh, there's nothing interesting about me," said Stella, laughing: "I'mnot eccentric, I didn't grow up in India, and I'm really very much likeall the other young women you've ever met."
"Not exactly," said Humphreys; "for none of them ever received me in atree before."
"Oh, that's mere force of circumstance--I had no intention of doing so;and it's really only through one of Ladybird's crazy pranks that you arehere now."
"That is true," said Humphreys, with more meaning than she knew.
If Stella Russell had seemed to him beautiful the night before, sheseemed a thousand times more so now. Her type is often at its best in themorning.
Her youth and wonderful color, with the accessories of fresh, crisp, pinkmuslin, and the green leaves of the apple-tree, made a picture whichChester Humphreys never forgot.
And beside all this perfection of aesthetic beauty, he saw in the girl abeauty of mind and soul which shone in her dark eyes as they met hisacross the apple-boughs. All this was brought home to him so positivelythat only his subconscious sense of the fitness of things kept him fromspeaking his thoughts aloud; and the situation was appreciably relievedwhen Stella said casually:
"Are you staying down to-day, Mr. Humphreys?"
"Yes," he said conventionally; "I go back this afternoon."
"Ah! you are a relative of the Misses Flint?"
"No, not that, but my mother was an old friend; though I had never metthe Flint ladies until yesterday."
"And you live in the world?--the great outside world? I have alwayslonged for it."
"And why shouldn't you have it?" Humphreys's eyes across the greenapple-boughs looked straight into Stella's.
"Because I am not of the world," she said simply; "because I'm a countrygirl--country born and bred."
"But that doesn't mean that you must always continue to live in thecountry."
"No; though I feel sure I shall. But tell me of the great world. Have youbeen all over it?"
"Not quite that; but I've seen the best and worst of it."
"And which did you prefer?"
"Neither, I think--I'm not an extremist."
"Nor an enthusiast?"
"That, of course. Life wouldn't be worth living without enthusiasm. It isa part of our youth. Don't you possess it?"
"Yes," said Stella, very earnestl
y, "I'm sure I do. But mine has solittle to feed on that I fear it may die of insufficient nutrition."
"That seems a pity," said Humphreys, "when the world is so full of anumber of foods for enthusiasm."
"It is a pity," said Stella, quietly.
Their conversation was interrupted just then by Enthusiasm Incarnate,which, in the shape of Ladybird, came flying across the orchard toannounce luncheon.
"And Stella is invited too," she declared; "Aunt Priscilla said so."
But Stella declined the invitation, and so Chester Humphreys and Ladybirdstrolled back to Primrose Hall the same way they had come.
"Now," said Ladybird, with an air that would have sat well upon Napoleonafter the battle of Austerlitz, "what have you to say for yourself?"
"I have a great deal to say for myself," said Humphreys, "and it is to besaid now, and it is to be said to you, and it is strictly confidential."
"That means I mustn't tell, doesn't it?" inquired Ladybird, nodding herwise head.
"It means just that; and it also means that I trust you implicitly: thatI have faith in your honor, loyalty, and truth."
"You may," said Ladybird, looking at him with her eyes full of anintegrity suggestive of the rock of Gibraltar--"you may depend on me. Iam a Flint."
"Very well, then," said Chester. "Now, my little Flint, listen to me. Youdid a rash and daring thing when you wrote that letter to the governor;but never mind that part now: it may be that an inscrutable Fate used youfor a straw to show which way the wind was blowing."
"Are you going to marry Stella?" demanded Ladybird, who took littleinterest in proverbial philosophy.
"That's the first thing I want to speak to you about," said Humphreys;"you _must_ overcome your propensity for asking that question. It is ahabit, and unless broken, it may defeat your own ends."
"Oh, talk so I can understand you," said Ladybird, impatiently. "And,anyway, _are_ you?"
"Listen, Ladybird," said Chester Humphreys, suddenly becoming verystraightforward and serious. "You are very fond of your friend Stella,and you want to help her; and it may be that you will be able to do so ifyou are willing to listen to reason. And first you must stop asking me ifI'm going to marry Stella, because that is a thing that a man does nottell other people until he has discussed it with the lady mostinterested. Also, if it is your wish that I shall marry Miss Russell, thesurest way to prevent it is for you to go about repeating that foolishquestion. Now I told you I intended to be confidential with you, so Iwill say that I admire Miss Russell very much indeed--more, I think, thanany other young woman I have ever met; but it is not nice nor wise fromthat fact to jump immediately to the conclusion of a wedding. Because Iadmire Miss Russell is an especial reason why I wish you to treat herwith deference, consideration, and delicacy. Matters of this sort mustadvance slowly and unfold their possibilities as they go on. What mayhappen in the future cannot be decided now, or even discussed. You havedone your part, and though your methods were unusual, your plansucceeded. Now any further attempt on your part to assist will prove onlya hindrance. Am I clear?"
"You're not _very_ clear," said Ladybird, with a thoughtful puckerbetween her eyebrows, "but I think I understand what you mean. You meanthat you'd like to marry Stella, but it isn't polite to hurry her so,and, anyway, you're not quite sure about it."
"Well," said Humphreys, "that states the situation pretty fairly, thoughwithout mentioning its more subtle details."
"Well, I'm satisfied," said Ladybird; "it's all right, and I think weunderstand each other. Don't hurry any faster than you choose; and,anyhow, now that Stella has seen you, I know she'll never look at CharleyHayes again. And as to your not being quite sure of yourself, I know verywell that you'll only get surer every time you see her."
"Very likely," said Humphreys. "But remember, Ladybird, this is aconfidence that I have intrusted to you, feeling sure that you will proveyourself worthy of it."
"See my finger wet, See my finger dry, See my finger cut my throat if I tell a lie!"
chanted Ladybird, suiting to her words actions rather more realistic thandramatic, but which carried conviction.
After luncheon Chester Humphreys had an interview with the Misses Flintthat somehow induced those ladies to invite him to remain longer undertheir roof.
"You see, aunty," said Ladybird, when she heard of Humphreys's acceptanceof this invitation,--"you see I am not such a fool as I look."
"Which is fortunate for us all," said Miss Priscilla, grimly.
"Quite so," said Ladybird, serenely; "for I know sometimes I do look andact most exceeding foolish. But I suppose that is because I am really aFlint."
Whereupon, for some inexplicable reason, Miss Priscilla kissed her.