as a matter of fact, the picnic party imagined that boris and nell intended to follow on later in the donkey-cart. the lorrimer picnics were well known in the neighbourhood. they always passed through the village in the following order—first the waggonette, drawn by the bony horse and packed to overflowing with baskets and young people, who waved their arms and shouted in high glee as they went by; then the pony-trap, driven sometimes by jane macalister, sometimes, when jane was in a very good humour, by kitty or even boris; and last, at an interval of about half an hour, the donkey-cart. the donkey-cart as a rule contained kettles and pots, for the lorrimers would consider a picnic only half a picnic if they did not boil their own potatoes out of doors and make their own tea in the woods. consequently, the coarser utensils which were required for the feast were usually reserved for the donkey-cart. the donkey, as a rule, was driven, or rather led, by guy, the tall schoolboy, aged thirteen, who would be owner of the towers, if it were not sold over his head, some day. harry, the brother next in age, would also accompany the donkey-cart, and sometimes one or two of the younger children would prefer this rough mode of travelling to the more refined waggonette or the fleeter pony-carriage. the donkey-cart had of course to be late, as guy and harry would not [pg 43]be home from school until quite an hour after the rest of the party had started.
"where is boris?" asked hester, addressing herself to molly when they had driven about half of the distance.
molly had tranquil blue eyes, like her mother.
"isn't he in the pony-carriage?" she asked.
"who is boris?" interrupted annie forest. "is he the pretty little round-faced boy in the sailor suit?"
"yes," said nora, joining in the conversation.
"then he's not in the pony-trap," replied annie. "i don't think he left the schoolroom."
"cute little beggar," laughed nora. "he wants to come in the donkey-cart."
annie raised her brows in inquiry; the mystery of the donkey-cart was explained to her, and no further questions were asked with regard to boris.
elinor had not yet been missed.
friar's wood was a perfect place for a picnic, and in due course of time the happy cavalcade arrived there. the younger children and miss macalister began to make preparations for the first meal. the lorrimers always had two hearty ones whenever they went on a picnic. kitty, nora, and annie forest went off to explore the fairies' glen, a lovely spot about a quarter of a mile away. mrs. lorrimer took out her knitting and sat with her back against a great beech tree, and molly and hester found themselves thrown together.
"that's right," exclaimed molly. "i wanted to have a talk with you, hetty. will you come to the top of the knoll with me? we can sit there and cool ourselves. there is not the faintest chance of dinner being ready for quite an hour."
[pg 44]
the girls set off at once. molly was not yet sixteen, hester was past seventeen, nevertheless they had been intimate friends for a long time.
"why have you got that little frown between your brows, molly?" asked hester.
it smoothed out the moment hester spoke.
"i surely ought not to have a frown to-day," retorted molly. "the weather is glorious, we are all in perfect health, we are out for a picnic, you are here, you have brought your friend, annie, about whom we have always heard so much, and nan is home from school. yes, i certainly ought not to frown; but let me retort on you, hester. why have you those grave lines round your lips?"
"because i'm a goose," answered hester. "sit down here, molly. you have not got me up to the top of this knoll just to make me recount my grievances. out with yours; you know you have one at least."
"well, yes, i have one," said molly. "a horrid little cankering jade—a sort of black imp. i thought i had tucked him up snug in bed until the evening, and there, you have loosened the sheets, and he has sprung up again to confront me."
molly's honest face was undoubtedly troubled now, and there was a suspicion of tears in the blue eyes, which were nearly as frank and round as boris's.
"i suppose i must confess," she said: "it's only that the colts, joe and robin, have been sold."
"i don't think i know them," said hester.
"well, you must imagine them. they are not broken-in yet. they were born at the towers, and we used to feed them when they were foals. then one day robin got rather wild, and kicked boris [pg 45]severely, and father said we were to leave them alone; but nell somehow managed to evade the order; she never could be got to fear any four-footed creature. she spent almost all her leisure time with the colts, and i believe she used to ride them bare-backed. well, they were sold this morning, and nell will fret awfully. fretting is very bad for her, for she is not at all strong, you know. that is one thing that troubles me," continued molly, after a brief pause. "i am sorry the colts are sold, on account of nell, for i know, although she won't pretend to fret a bit, how she will secretly grieve and grieve; and the other reason is, that i know father would not have sold them if he had not been hard up for money again. oh, i wish, i wish," continued molly, her face turning crimson, "that there was no such thing as money in the world."
hester looked at her with a mingling of sympathy and surprise.
"i think you must be wrong," she said slowly. "i mean, of course, that i know you're not rich as my father is rich, for you are such a large family, and father has only nan and me; but still, it cannot be true that your father wants money to the extent of having to sell the colts to get it, molly."
"i'm afraid it is true," said molly, in a sad voice. "i wish it were only my imagination. you would never take me for a fanciful girl, would you, hester? i am always called matter-of-fact, and i think i am. i really don't care a bit for poetry, and not much for music, and even story-books don't amuse me unless they're the downright sort, like 'little women,' or unless they tell all about housekeeping and that sort of thing. i love cooking, and [pg 46]i rather like accounts, and i delight in overhauling the linen cupboard, and i am not a bad hand at darning the linen. i'm just a commonplace, matter-of-fact sort of girl; it isn't in me to imagine things."
"well?" said hester, for she saw that molly was intensely in earnest.
"i know i'm right about the money," said molly. "you cannot think how troubled father looks sometimes; and mother told me only yesterday that we were not to go to the seaside this year, and she thinks our shabby old hats will do quite well for church. you don't suppose i care about shabby hats, or even about the seaside, but i do care when i see father looking troubled. once a stranger came to see him, and they were shut up together in the library for a long time, and when he went away i noticed that father looked quite old. oh, i know there are money troubles, and i am sure things will get worse. i know what father dreads, and dreads and dreads. oh, hester, if it happens it will kill him!"
"molly, dear, how white you are. if what happens?"
"don't whisper it, hester; but i dread it. if he has to sell the towers it will kill him."
"to sell the towers!" echoed hester. "i should think so, indeed; but——"
"what are you two doing up there?" shouted the voice of nora from below. "come down at once and make yourselves useful. the donkey-cart has come, and so have guy and harry, and we are washing the potatoes and want you to rub them, molly. come along down and help, you lazy good-for-nothings."
the girls hastened to obey. as if by magic all [pg 47]trace of a cloud left molly's face. it became radiant, smiling, and dimpled. she was once more matter-of-fact, charming, capable molly, who could work with a will and never once think of herself. molly was so generally self-forgetful, that her happiness was not put on. good-nature shone from her eyes. she was not a particularly brilliant or witty girl, but she was a strong rock to rely upon, as all the other lorrimers knew well.
nora, who was very pretty and very gay, gave herself up to heedless enjoyment as soon as molly appeared upon the scene. the potatoes would certainly be done to a turn now. the table-cloth would be laid in that part of the wood where the midges were least troublesome. jane macalister would not have to complain of no one helping her. guy, who was very like molly, and nearly as good-natured, would also do his best to make the picnic lively, and nora, one year molly's junior, could give herself up to the fascinations of annie forest's society.
nora had never before found herself in the company of such a completely grown-up and such a very pretty girl. nora could give herself little airs when occasion required. she could put on rather a killing grown-up sort of would-be society manner. she never dared adopt it when guy and harry were near, but she contrived to get annie away by herself, and then indulged in what the other children called her "high-falutin" talk.
it was nipped in the bud, however, by annie herself. annie forest was nothing if she was not frank and fearlessly matter-of-fact. she quickly discovered how hollow and insufficient poor nora's attempts to maintain a worldly conversation really [pg 48]were. she crushed her by telling her that she had never been in society herself in the whole course of her life, that she knew nothing whatever of it or its ways, that she had just left school, and that in all probability she would have to earn her bread in the future.
"but, look here, nora!" she exclaimed, suddenly, "why should we two stand here chattering? i'm sure we ought to help the others."
"oh, no; there's nothing really to be done," replied nora, in a languid voice. "i like picnics, but i hate the fuss of preparing the meals, and as all the others adore it, i generally leave it for them to do. won't you sit here? there is a charming little peep between those two oak trees. you can just see the towers from there, and i think the grange also. don't you think the grange a very beautiful place?"
"yes; but not half as beautiful as the towers."
"don't you, really? well, i am surprised! of course, the towers is very old. we are quite one of the very oldest of the county families round here, but my father likes us to live quietly just at present. molly and i will have to be presented by-and-by. it is a pity father and mother don't think more about society, but they'll have to when we are grown up, and molly is sixteen now. hester will be very rich, and so will nan. i'm surprised that you prefer the towers to the grange."
"i beg your pardon," said annie, "but did not the donkey-cart arrive about half an hour ago?"
"yes, of course."
"and two of your brothers with it?"
"yes," replied nora, suppressing a yawn, "guy [pg 49]and harry. how hot it is to-day—the heat makes one dreadfully languid, does it not?"
"i must go and tell hester that boris has not come," exclaimed annie.
she put wings to her feet as she spoke, and left the astonished and indignant nora to her own reflections.
annie ran quickly through the wood. the sound of many voices floated on the summer breeze to greet her. she had almost reached the party when she suddenly came upon kitty, who was standing alone. kitty had just had a furious quarrel with nan, and was in consequence feeling considerably out in the cold. kitty knew that boris was not of the party. she had known this from the beginning, but in the excitement and fun of having nan thornton to herself had been too selfish to mention the fact. kitty guessed why boris had remained behind. she remembered the severe punishment which jane macalister had inflicted upon him—a punishment which jane had doubtless forgotten, but which boris himself remembered.
kitty thought of boris now as she stood by a blackberry-bush, and pricked her finger on purpose against one of the thorns. nan had been very snubbing and very disagreeable, and kitty cordially hated her for the time being, and wished with all her heart that boris was there. she could snub boris, who would never retort, but now there was no one for her to play with.
"what is your name?" asked annie, stopping and looking at her kindly; "you are one of the lorrimers, of course, but i have not caught your name yet. do you mind telling it to me?"
[pg 50]
"i'm kitty," answered the little girl; she raised her brown eyes and looked full at annie. she had never seen anyone so lovely as annie before. she had never even imagined that the world could contain anyone so sparkling and so gay.
"you're kitty; that is capital," replied annie. "then, kitty, i am sure you will do just as well as hester. can you tell me why your dear little brother boris has not come to the picnic?"
"i was thinking of him," said kitty. tears slowly welled up into her eyes; her heart began to ache; she tried to prick her finger again to relieve the pain inside.
"boris has not come," she replied. "i'll tell you why. he spilt some ink, and jane macalister said he must be punished by staying indoors for a whole hour after lessons were over. i expect she forgot all about boris when we got a holiday so suddenly, but boris didn't forget, and he stayed behind."
"dear little boris!" exclaimed annie; "dear, good, plucky little boris! the moment i looked at him i knew i should adore him. but see here, kitty, the hour is up now, isn't it?"
"oh, yes, of course; some time ago."
"then he'll follow us, won't he?"
"how can he? he can't come alone; it's nearly an hour's drive to friar's wood."
"of course he cannot walk," said annie, impatiently; "but haven't you got a trap or carriage, or horse, or something?"
"no, i'm afraid we haven't," said kitty, looking very sorrowful. "there's only old rover, who draws the waggonette, and dobbin the pony, and jacko the donkey. of course, there's father's mare, she's quite [pg 51]a beauty; but we are none of us allowed to have anything to do with her."
"then we are not to have dear little boris at the picnic?" said annie; "i declare i shan't enjoy it a bit. i want him to be my own special knight."
"what do you want a knight for?" asked kitty, looking up with interest.
"what do i want a knight for? you silly child, all fair ladies want their own true knights."
"you are a very fair lady," said kitty. "at least, i mean you're a very lovely lady—very, very lovely; but can't you do with guy or harry for a knight?"
"no; i have fallen in love with boris, and i won't have anyone else. kitty, can't we manage to get him to the picnic?"
"i don't know, i'm sure. he could ride harry's bicycle, but i don't think it would once enter into his head."
"it would if i went back and told him to."
"how can you go back? you can't walk."
"yes, i am a splendid walker. besides, i am sure the road is longer than by the fields, and you could take me part of the way and show me the short cuts."
"it would take a long, long time," said kitty, "and when you came back dinner would be over, and you'd have lost quite half the fun."
"no, you dear little thing, i wouldn't. i mean to go and fetch boris; virtue shall be rewarded, and the knight shall be rescued by the lady. now, come with me part of the way and show me the short cuts. why, i'm as strong as a lion. you don't suppose a walk of a few miles tires me? come along, kit, we are wasting time."
[pg 52]
in reality, kitty was charmed beyond words with any move which was to bring boris on the scene. the moment boris seemed at all unattainable, he became wonderfully precious in kitty's eyes. she would, of course, snub him in five minutes after he did arrive, but that really did not matter. the fascination of annie's secret mission also delighted her much, and she skipped along now by the side of this beautiful lady in a state of high good-humour.
"i'll show you a lovely short cut," she said. "it will take two miles off the distance. there's a bog, and a sunken ditch, and a wire fence; but you won't mind them, will you?"
"not a bit," said annie, laughter in her eyes.
"and there's farmer granger's bull-dog, and perhaps the bull himself may be in the four acre field; but you won't mind," continued kitty.
"not a bit, not a bit."
"well, let's run down into this little dell. i'll start you from the wicket gate at the end of the dell."
"it sounds quite pilgrim's progressy," said annie.
"annie," said kitty, in an ecstatic whisper, "is it to be a secret?"
"of course; if you dare to reveal it my knight shall execute vengeance on you."
"oh, annie!" said kitty, "i do love you; its so perfectly delicious to have a secret."
"well, see you keep this one faithfully. now we have come to the wicket gate. how shall i go? can i see the bull from here?"
"no."
"can i hear the bull-dog bark?"
"no."
"kitty, you little wretch, you've been trying to [pg 53]frighten me with imaginary dangers. yes, i see my road. i follow the winding path wherever it leads. keep a bit of dinner for me, kitty. i'll be back in a couple of hours."
kitty promised, and annie started with great vigour on her long walk.
kitty stood at the stile and watched her. suddenly she raised a cry.
"annie."
annie turned.
"you'll find nell at home, too, annie."
"is nell another lorrimer?"
"yes; the ugly one of the family; the duckling, we call her most times."
"well, the duckling shall come, too," shouted heedless annie; and kitty, with the full weight and delirious importance of her secret radiating all over her stout little person, slowly returned to the other members of the picnic party.
