"nurse lucy," said hildegarde that evening, as they sat in the porch after tea, "why have you never told me about pink chirk,—about her being a cripple, i mean? i had no idea of it till i went to see her to-day. how terrible it is!"
"i wonder that i haven't told you, dear!" replied nurse lucy, placidly. "i suppose i am so used to pink as she is, i forget that she ever was like other people. she is a dear, good child,—his 'sermon,' jacob calls her. he says that whenever he feels impatient or put out, he likes to go down and look at pink, and hear her talk. 'it takes the crook right out of me!' he says. poor jacob!"
"but how did it happen?" asked hilda. "she says she was only three years when she—oh, think of it, nurse lucy! it is too dreadful. tell me how it happened."
"don't ask me, my dear!" said dame hartley, sadly. "why should you hear anything so painful? it would only haunt your mind as it haunted mine for years after. the worst of it was, there was no need of it. her mother was a young, flighty, careless girl, and she didn't look after her baby as she should have done. that is all you need know, hilda, my dear! poor susan chirk! it took the flightiness out of her, and made her the anxious, melancholy soul she has been ever since. then bubble was born, and soon after her husband died, and since then she has had a hard time to fend for herself. but pink has never been any trouble to her, only a help and a comfort; and her neighbors have done what they could from time to time."
dame hartley might have said that she and her husband had kept this desolate widow and her children from starvation through many a long winter, and had given her the means of earning her daily bread in summer; had clothed the children, and provided comforts for the crippled girl. but this was not nurse lucy's way. the neighbors had done what they could, she said; and now bubble was earning good wages for a boy, and was sure to get on well, being bright and industrious; and mrs. chirk took in weaving to do for the neighbors, and went out sometimes to work by the day; and so they were really getting on very well,—better than one could have hoped.
hildegarde laid her head against the good dame's shoulder and fell into a brown study. nurse lucy seemed also in a thoughtful mood; and so the two sat quietly in the soft twilight till the red glow faded in the west, and left in its stead a single star, gleaming like a living jewel in the purple sky. all the birds were asleep save the untiring whippoorwill, who presented his plea for the castigation of the unhappy william with ceaseless energy. a little night-breeze came up, and said pleasant, soft things to the leaves, which rustled gently in reply, and the crickets gave their usual evening concert, beginning with a movement in g sharp, allegro con moto. other sound there was none, until by and by the noise of wheels was heard, and the click of old nancy's hoofs; and out of the gathering darkness farmer hartley appeared, just returned from the village, whither he had gone to make arrangements about selling his hay.
"wal, marm lucy," he said, cheerfully, throwing the reins on nancy's neck and jumping from the wagon, "is that you settin' thar? 'pears to me i see somethin' like a white apun gloomin' out o' the dark."
"yes, jacob," answered "marm lucy," "i am here, and so is hilda. the evening has been so lovely, we have not had the heart to light the lamps, but have just been sitting here watching the sunset. we'll come in now, though," she added, leading the way into the house. "you'll be wanting some supper, my man. or did ye stop at cousin sarah's?"
"i stopped at sary's," replied the farmer. "ho! ho! yes, sary gave me some supper, though she warn't in no mood for seein' comp'ny, even her own kin. poor sary! she was in a dretful takin', sure enough!"
"why, what was the matter?" asked dame hartley, as she trimmed and lighted the great lamp, and drew the short curtains of turkey red cotton across the windows. "is abner sick again!"
"shouldn't wonder if he was, by this time," replied the farmer; "but he warn't at the beginnin' of it. i'll tell ye how 'twas;" and he sat down in his great leather chair, and stretched his legs out comfortably before him, while his wife filled his pipe and brought it to him,—a little attention which she never forgot. "sary, she bought a new bunnit yisterday!" farmer hartley continued, puffing away at the pipe. "she's kind o' savin', ye know, sary is [nurse lucy nodded, with a knowing air], and she hadn't had a new bunnit for ten years. (i d' 'no' 's she's had one for twenty!" he added in parenthesis; "i never seed her with one to my knowledge.) wal, the gals was pesterin' her, an' sayin' she didn't look fit to go to meetin' in the old bunnit, so 't last she giv' way, and went an' bought a new one. 'twas one o' these newfangled shapes. what was it lizy called it? somethin' chinese, i reckon. fan song! that was it!"
"fanchon, wasn't it, perhaps?" asked hilda, much amused.
"that's what i said, warn't it?" said the farmer. "fan song, fan chong,—wal, what's the odds? 'twas a queer lookin' thing, anyhow, i sh'd think, even afore it— wal, i'm comin' to that. sary showed it to the gals, and they liked it fust-rate; then she laid it on the kitchen table, an' went upstairs to git some ribbons an' stuff to put on it. she rummaged round consid'able upstairs, an' when she kum down, lo and behold, the bunnit was gone! wal, sary hunted high, and she hunted low. she called the gals, thinkin' they'd played a trick on her, an' hidden it for fun. but they hadn't, an' they all set to an' sarched the house from garrit to cellar; but they didn't find hide nor hair o' that bunnit. at last sary give it up, an' sot down out o' breath, an' mad enough to eat somebody. 'it's been stole!' says she. 'some ornery critter kem along while i was upstairs,' says she, 'an' seed it lyin' thar on the table, an' kerried it off!' says she. 'i'd like to get hold of her!' says she; 'i guess she wouldn't steal no more bunnits for one while!' says she. i had come in by that time, an' she was tellin' me all about it. jest at that minute the door opened, and abner kem sa'nterin' in, mild and moony as usual 'sary,' says he,—ho! ho! ho! it makes me laugh to think on't,—'sary,' says he, 'i wouldn't buy no more baskets without handles, ef i was you. they ain't convenient to kerry,' says he. and with that he sets down on the table—that fan chong bunnit! he'd been mixin' chicken feed in it, an' he'd held it fust by one side an' then by the other, an' he'd dropped it in the mud too, i reckon, from the looks of it: you never seed sech a lookin' thing in all your born days as that bunnit was. sary, she looked at it, and then she looked at abner, an' then at the bunnit agin; an' then she let fly."
"poor sarah!" said nurse lucy, wiping tears of merriment from her eyes. "what did she say?"
"i can't tell ye what she said," replied the farmer. "what did your old cat say when spot caught hold of her tail the other day? an' yet there was language enough in what sary said. i tell ye the hull dictionary was flyin' round that room for about ten minutes,—webster's unabridged, an' nothin' less. an' abner, he jest stood thar, bobbin' his head up an' down, and openin' an' shettin' his mouth, as if he'd like to say somethin' if he could get a chance. but when sary was so out of breath that she couldn't say another word, an' hed to stop for a minute, abner jest says, 'sary, i guess you're a little excited. jacob an' me'll go out an' take a look at the stock,' says he, 'and come back when you're feelin' calmer.' an' he nods to me, an' out we both goes, before sary could git her breath agin. i didn't say nothin', 'cause i was laughin' so inside 't i couldn't. abner, he walked along kind o' solemn, shakin' his head every little while, an' openin' an' shettin' his mouth. when we got to the stable-door he looked at me a minute, and then he said, 'the tongue is a onruly member, jacob! i thought that was kind of a curus lookin' basket, though!' and that was every word he said about it."
"oh, what delightfully funny people!" cried hilda. "what did the wife say when you came in to supper, farmer hartley?"
"she warn't thar," replied the farmer. "she had a headache, the gals said, and had gone to bed. i sh'd think she would have had a headache,—but thar," he added, rising suddenly and beginning to search in his capacious pockets, "i declar' for 't, if i hain't forgotten huldy's letter! sary an' her bunnit put everything else out of my head."
hilda sprang up in delight to receive the envelope which the farmer handed to her; but her face fell a little when she saw that it was not from her parents. she reflected, however, that she had had a double letter only two days before, and that she could not expect another for a week, as mr. and mrs. graham wrote always with military punctuality. there was no doubt as to the authorship of the letter. the delicate pointed handwriting, the tiny seal of gilded wax, the faint perfume which the missive exhaled, all said to her at once, "madge everton."
with a feeling which, if not quite reluctance, was still not quite alacrity, hildegarde broke the pretty seal, with its cupid holding a rose to his lips, and read as follows:—
saratoga, july 20.
my dearest, sweetest hilda,—can it be possible that you have been away a whole month, and that i have not written to you? i am awfully ashamed! but i have been so too busy, it has been out of the question. papa decided quite suddenly to come here instead of going to long branch; and you can imagine the frantic amount of work mamma and i had to get ready. one has to dress so much at saratoga, you know; and we cannot just send an order to paris, as you do, my dear queen, for all we want, but have to scratch round (i know you don't allow your subjects to use slang, but we do scratch round, and nothing else can express it), and get things made here. i have a lovely pale blue henrietta-cloth, made like that rose-colored gown of yours that i admire so much, and that you said i might copy. mamma says it was awfully good of you, and that she wouldn't let any one copy her french dresses if she had them; but i told her you were awfully good, and that was why. well, then i have a white nun's-veiling, made with triple box-plaits, and a lovely pointed overskirt, copied from a donovan dress of mamma's; and a dark-red surah, and oh! a perfect "frou-frou" of wash-dresses, of course; two sweet white lawns, one trimmed with valenciennes (i hate valenciennes, you know, but mamma will make me have it, because she thinks it is jeune fille!), and one with the new russian lace; and a pink sateen, and two or three light chambrays.
but now i know you will be dying to hear about my hats; for you always say that the hat makes the costume; and so it does! well, my dearest, i have one redfern hat, and only one. mamma says i cannot expect to have more until i come out, which is bitter. however, this one is a beauty, and yet cost only thirty dollars. it goes well with nearly all my dresses, and is immensely becoming, all the girls say: very high, with long pointed wings and stiff bows. simple, my dear, doesn't express it! you know i love simplicity; but it is redferny to a degree, and everybody has noticed it.
well, my dearest queen, here am i running on about myself, as if i were not actually expiring to hear about you. what my feelings were when i called at your house on that fatal tuesday and was told that you had gone to spend the summer on a farm in the depths of the country, passes my power to tell. i could not ask your mother many questions, for you know i am always a little bit afraid of her, though she is perfectly lovely to me! she was very quiet and sweet, as usual, and spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world for a brilliant society girl (for that is what you are, hilda, even though you are only a school-girl; and you never can be anything else!) to spend her summer in a wretched farm-house, among pigs and cows and dreadful ignorant people. of course, hilda dearest, you know that my admiration for your mother is simply immense, and that i would not for worlds say one syllable against her judgment and that of your military angel of a father; but i must say it seemed to me more than strange. i assure you i hardly closed my eyes for several nights, thinking of the misery you must be undergoing; for i know you, hildegarde! and the thought of my proud, fastidious, high-bred queen being condemned to associate with clowns and laborers was really more than i could bear. do write to me, darling, and tell me how you are enduring it. you were always so sensitive; why, i can see your lip curl now, when any of the girls did anything that was not tout à fait comme il faut! and the air with which you used to say, "the little things, my dear, are the only things!" how true it is! i feel it more and more every day. so do write at once, and let me know all about your dear self. i picture you to myself sometimes, pale and thin, with the "white disdain" that some poet or other speaks of, in your face, but enduring all the horrors that you must be subjected to with your own dignity. dearest hilda, you are indeed a heroine!
always, darling,
your own deeply devoted and sympathizing
madge.
hildegarde looked up after reading this letter, and, curiously enough, her eyes fell directly on a little mirror which hung on the wall opposite. in it she saw a rosy, laughing face, which smiled back mischievously at her. there were dimples in the cheeks, and the gray eyes were fairly dancing with life and joyousness. where was the "white disdain," the dignity, the pallor and emaciation? could this be madge's queen hildegarde? or rather, thought the girl, with a sudden revulsion of feeling, could this hildegarde ever have been the other? the form of "the minx," long since dissociated from her thoughts and life, seemed to rise, like banquo's ghost, and stare at her with cold, disdainful eyes and supercilious curl of the lip. oh dear! how dreadful it was to have been so odious! how could poor dear papa and mamma, bless them, have endured her as they did, so patiently and sweetly? but they should see when they came back! she had only just begun yet; but there were two months still before her, and in that time what could she not do? they should be surprised, those dear parents! and madge—why, madge would be surprised too. poor madge! to think of her in saratoga, prinking and preening herself like a gay bird, in the midst of a whirl of dress and diamonds and gayety, with no fields, no woods, no glen, no—no kitchen! hilda looked about the room which she had learned so to love, trying to fancy madge everton in it; remembering, too, the bitterness of her first feeling about it. the lamplight shone cheerily on the yellow painted walls, the shining floor, the gleaming brass, copper, and china. it lighted up the red curtains and made a halo round good nurse lucy's head as she bent over her sewing; it played on the farmer's silver-bowed spectacles as he pored with knitted brows and earnest look over the weekly paper which he had brought from the village. the good, kind farmer! hilda gazed at him as he sat all unconscious, and wondered why she had not seen at once how handsome he really was. the broad forehead, with its deep, thoughtful furrows; the keen, yet kindly blue eyes; the "sable-silvered" hair and beard, which, if not exactly smooth, were still so picturesque, so leonine; the firm, perhaps obstinate, mouth, which could speak so wisely and smile so cordially,—all these combined to make up what the newspapers would call a "singularly attractive exterior." and "oh! how good he has been to me!" thought hilda. "i believe he is the best man in the world, next to papa." then she thought of madge again, and tried to fancy her in her redfern hat,—pretty madge, with her black eyes and curly fringe, under the "simplicity" of the heaven-aspiring wings and bows; and as she smiled at the image, there rose beside it the fair head of pink chirk, looking out like a white rose from the depths of her dingy straw tunnel. then she fancied herself saying airily (she knew just how she used to say it), "the little things, my dear, are the only things!" and then she laughed aloud at the very funniness of it.
"hut! tut!" said farmer hartley, looking up from his paper with a smile. "what's all this? are ye keepin' all the jokes to yerself, huldy?"
"it is only my letter that is so funny," replied hilda. "i don't believe it would seem so funny to you, farmer hartley, because you don't know the writer. but have you finished your paper, and are you ready for robin hood?"
"wal, i am, huldy!" said the good farmer, laying aside his paper and rubbing his hands with an air of pleasurable anticipation. "'pears to me we left that good-lookin' singin' chap—what was his name?"
"allan-a-dale!" said hilda, smiling.
"ah!" said the farmer; "allan-a-dale. 'pears to me we left him in rayther a ticklish situation."
"oh, but it comes out all right!" cried hilda, joyously, rising to fetch the good brown book which she loved. "you will see in the next chapter how delightfully robin gets him out of the difficulty." she ran and brought the book and drew her chair up to the table, and all three prepared for an hour of solid enjoyment. "but before i begin," she said, "i want you to promise, farmer hartley, to take me with you the next time you go to the village. i must buy a hat for pink chirk."
