vacation was over, the boys went back to school, and poor macwas left lamenting. he was out of the darkened room now, andpromoted to blue goggles, through which he took a gloomy view oflife, as might have been expected; for there was nothing he coulddo but wander about, and try to amuse himself without using hiseyes. anyone who has ever been condemned to that sort ofidleness knows how irksome it is, and can understand the state ofmind which caused mac to say to rose in a desperate tone one day"look here, if you don't invent some new employment oramusement for me, i shall knock myself on the head as sure as youlive."rose flew to uncle alec for advice, and he ordered both patientand nurse to the mountains for a month, with aunt jessie andjamie as escort. pokey and her mother joined the party, and onebright september morning six very happy-looking people wereaboard the express train for portland two smiling mammas, ladenwith luncheon baskets and wraps; a pretty young girl with a bag ofbooks on her arm; a tall thin lad with his hat over his eyes; and twosmall children, who sat with their short legs straight out beforethem, and their chubby faces beaming with the first speechlessdelight of "truly travelling."an especially splendid sunset seemed to have been prepared towelcome them when, after a long day's journey, they drove into awide, green door-yard, where a white colt, a red cow, two cats,four kittens, many hens, and a dozen people, old and young, weregaily disporting themselves. everyone nodded and smiled in thefriendliest manner, and a lively old lady kissed the new-comers allround, as she said heartily"well, now, i'm proper glad to see you! come right in and rest, andwe'll have tea in less than no time, for you must be tired. lizzie,you show the folks upstairs; kitty, you fly round and help father inwith the trunks; and jenny and i will have the table all ready by thetime you come down. bless the dears, they want to go see thepussies, and so they shall!"the three pretty daughters did "fly round," and everyone felt athome at once, all were so hospitable and kind. aunt jessie hadraptures over the home-made carpets, quilts and quaint furniture;rose could not keep away from the windows, for each framed alovely picture; and the little folks made friends at once with theother children, who filled their arms with chickens and kittens, anddid the honours handsomely.
the toot of a horn called all to supper, and a goodly party,including six children besides the camp-bells, assembled in thelong dining-room, armed with mountain appetites and the gayestspirits. it was impossible for anyone to be shy or sober, for suchgales of merriment arose they blew the starch out of the stiffest,and made the saddest jolly. mother atkinson, as all called theirhostess, was the merriest there, and the busiest; for she kept flyingup to wait on the children, to bring out some new dish, or to banishthe live stock, who were of such a social turn that the colt cameinto the entry and demanded sugar; the cats sat about in people'slaps, winking suggestively at the food; and speckled hens clearedthe kitchen floor of crumbs, as they joined in the chat with acheerful clucking.
everybody turned out after tea to watch the sunset till all the lovelyred was gone, and mosquitoes wound their shrill horns to soundthe retreat. the music of an organ surprised the new-comers, andin the parlor they found father atkinson playing sweetly on thelittle instrument made by himself. all the children gathered abouthim, and, led by the tuneful sisters, sang prettily till pokey fellasleep behind the door, and jamie gaped audibly right in themiddle of his favourite"coo," said the little doves: "coo," said she,"all in the top of the old pine-tree."the older travellers, being tired, went to "bye low" at the sametime, and slept like tops in home-spun sheets, on husk mattressesmade by mother atkinson, who seemed to have put some soothingpowder among them, so deep and sweet was the slumber thatcame.
next day began the wholesome out-of-door life, which works suchwonders with tired minds and feeble bodies. the weather wasperfect, and the mountain air made the children as frisky as younglambs; while the elders went about smiling at one another, andsaying, "isn't it splendid?" even mac, the "slow coach," was seento leap over a fence as if he really could not help it; and whenrose ran after him with his broad-brimmed hat, he made thespirited proposal to go into the woods and hunt for a catamount.
jamie and pokey were at once enrolled in the cosey corner lightinfantry a truly superb company, composed entirely of officers, allwearing cocked hats, carrying flags, waving swords, or beatingdrums. it was a spectacle to stir the dullest soul when this gallantband marched out of the yard in full regimentals, with captaindove a solemn, big-headed boy of eleven issuing his orders withthe gravity of a general, and his falstaffian regiment obeying themwith more docility than skill. the little snow children did verywell, and lieutenant jack dove was fine to see; so was drummerfrank, the errand-boy of the house, as he rub-a-dub-dubbed withall his heart and drumsticks. jamie had "trained" before, and wasmade a colonel at once; but pokey was the best of all, and calledforth a spontaneous burst of applause from the spectators as shebrought up the rear, her cocked hat all over one eye, her flagtrailing over her shoulder, and her wooden sword straight up in theair; her face beaming and every curl bobbing with delight as herfat legs tottered in the vain attempt to keep step manfully.
mac and rose were picking blackberries in the bushes beside theroad when the soldiers passed without seeing them, and theywitnessed a sight that was both pretty and comical. a little fartheron was one of the family burial spots so common in those parts,and just this side of it captain fred dove ordered his company tohalt, explaining his reason for so doing in the following words"that's a graveyard, and it's proper to muffle the drums and lowerthe flags as we go by, and we'd better take off our hats, too; it'smore respectable, i think.""isn't that cunning of the dears?" whispered rose, as the little troopmarched slowly by to the muffled roll of the drums, every flag andsword held low, all the little heads uncovered, and the childishfaces very sober as the leafy shadows flickered over them.
"let's follow and see what they are after," proposed mac, whofound sitting on the wall and being fed with blackberries luxuriousbut tiresome.
so they followed and heard the music grow lively, saw the bannerswave in the breeze again when the graveyard was passed, andwatched the company file into the dilapidated old church thatstood at the corner of three woodland roads. presently the sound ofsinging made the outsiders quicken their steps, and, stealing up,they peeped in at one of the broken windows.
captain dove was up in the old wooden pulpit, gazing solemnlydown upon his company, who, having stacked their arms in theporch, now sat in the bare pews singing a sunday-school hymnwith great vigour and relish.
"let us pray," said captain dove, with as much reverence as anarmy chaplain; and, folding his hands, he repeated a prayer whichhe thought all would know an excellent little prayer, but notexactly appropriate to the morning, for it was"now i lay me down to sleep."everyone joined in saying it, and it was a pretty sight to see thelittle creatures bowing their curly heads and lisping out the wordsthey knew so well. tears came into rose's eyes as she looked; mactook his hat off involuntarily, and then clapped it on again as ifashamed of showing any feeling.
"now i shall preach you a short sermon, and my text is, 'littlechildren, love one another.' i asked mamma to give me one, andshe thought that would be good; so you all sit still and i'll preach it.
you mustn't whisper, marion, but hear me. it means that weshould be good to each other, and play fair, and not quarrel as wedid this very day about the wagon. jack can't always drive, andneedn't be mad because i like to go with frank. annette ought tobe horse sometimes and not always driver; and willie may as wellmake up his mind to let marion build her house by his, for she willdo it, and he needn't fuss about it. jamie seems to be a good boy,but i shall preach to him if he isn't. no, pokey, people don't kiss inchurch or put their hats on. now you must all remember what i tellyou, because i am the captain, and you should mind me."here lieutenant jack spoke right out in meeting with therebellious remark"don't care if you are; you'd better mind yourself, and tell how youtook away my strap, and kept the biggest doughnut, and didn'tdraw fair when we had the truck.""yes, and you slapped frank; i saw you!" bawled willie snow,bobbing up in his pew.
"and you took my book away and hid it 'cause i wouldn't go andswing when you wanted me to," added annette, the oldest of thesnow trio.
"i shan't build my house by willie's if he don't want me to, sonow!" put in little marion, joining the mutiny.
"i will tiss dimmy! and i tored up my hat 'tause a pin picked me,"shouted pokey, regardless of jamie's efforts to restrain her.
captain dove looked rather taken aback at this outbreak in theranks; but, being a dignified and calm personage, he quelled therising rebellion with great tact and skill, by saying, briefly"we'll sing the last hymn; 'sweet, sweet good-by' you all knowthat, so do it nicely, and then we will go and have luncheon."peace was instantly restored, and a burst of melody drowned thesuppressed giggles of rose and mac, who found it impossible tokeep sober during the latter part of this somewhat remarkableservice. fifteen minutes of repose rendered it a physicalimpossibility for the company to march out as quietly as they hadmarched in. i grieve to state that the entire troop raced home ashard as they could pelt, and were soon skirmishing briskly overtheir lunch, utterly oblivious of what jamie (who had been muchimpressed by the sermon) called "the captain's beautiful teck."it was astonishing how much they all found to do at cosey corner;and mac, instead of lying in a hammock and being read to, as hehad expected, was busiest of all. he was invited to survey and layout skeeterville, a town which the children were getting up in ahuckleberry pasture; and he found much amusement in planninglittle roads, staking off house-lots, attending to the water-works,and consulting with the "selectmen" about the best sites for publicbuildings; for mac was a boy still, in spite of his fifteen years andhis love of books.
then he went fishing with a certain jovial gentleman from thewest; and though they seldom caught anything but colds, they hadgreat fun and exercise chasing the phantom trout they were boundto have. mac also developed a geological mania, and went tappingabout at rocks and stones, discoursing wisely of "strata, periods,and fossil remains"; while rose picked up leaves and lichens, andgave him lessons in botany in return for his lectures on geology.
they led a very merry life; for the atkinson girls kept up a sort ofperpetual picnic; and did it so capitally, that one was never tired ofit. so their visitors throve finely, and long before the month wasout it was evident that dr. alec had prescribed the right medicinefor his patients.
