In the High Valley

  CHAPTER X.

  A DOUBLE KNOT.

  THE next few days in the High Valley were too full of excitement anddiscussions to be quite comfortable for anybody. Imogen was seized withcompunctions at leaving Lionel without a housekeeper, and proposed toDorry that their wedding should be deferred till the others were readyto be married also,--a suggestion to which Dorry would not listen for amoment. There were long business-talks between the ranch partners as tohows and whens, letters to be written, and innumerable confabulationsbetween the three sisters, in which Imogen took part, for she counted asa fourth sister now. Clover and Elsie listened and planned and advised,and found their chief difficulty to consist in hiding and keeping in thebackground their unfeigned and flattering joy over the wholearrangement. It made matters so delightfully easy all round to haveImogen engaged to Dorry, and it was so much to their own individualadvantage to exchange her for Johnnie that they really dared not expresstheir delight too openly.

  The great question with all was how papa would take the announcement,and whether he could be induced to carry out his half promise of leavingBurnet and coming to live with them in the Valley. They waited anxiouslyfor his reply to the letters. It came by telegraph two days before theyhad dared to hope for it, and was as follows:--

  God bless you all four! Genesis xliii. 14. P. CARR.

  This Biblical addition nearly broke John's heart. Her sisters had tocomfort her with all manner of hopeful auguries and promises.

  "He'll be glad enough over it in time," they told her. "Think what itwould have been if you had been going to marry a Californian, or a manwith an orange plantation in Florida. He'll see that it's all for thebest as soon as he gets out here, and he _must_ come. Johnnie, you mustnever let him off. Don't take 'no' for an answer. It is so important tous all that he should consent."

  They primed her with persuasive messages and arguments, and both Cloverand Elsie wrote him a long letter on the subject. On the very eve of thedeparture came a second telegram. Telegrams were not every-day things inthe High Valley, the nearest "wire" being at the Ute Hotel five milesaway; and the arrival of the messenger on horseback created a momentarypanic.

  This telegram was also from Dr. Carr. It was addressed to Johnnie,--

  Following just received: "Miss Inches died to-day of pneumonia." No particulars. P. CARR.

  It was a great shock to poor Johnnie. She and "Mamma Marian," as shestill called her god-mother, had been warm friends always; theycorresponded regularly; Johnnie had made her several long visits atInches Mills, and she had written to her among the first with the newsof her engagement.

  "She never got it. She never will know about Lionel," she kept repeatingmournfully. "And now I can never tell her about any of my plans, and shewould have been so pleased and interested. She always cared so much forwhat I cared about, and I hoped she would come out here for a long visitsome day, and see you all. Oh dear, oh dear! what a sad ending to ourhappy time!"

  "Not an ending, only an interruption," put in the comforting Clover. ButJohn for a time could not be consoled, and the party broke up under acloud, literal as well as metaphorical, for the first snow-storm wasdrifting over the plain as they drove down the pass, the melting flakesinstantly drunk up by the sand; all the soft blue of distance hadvanished, and a gray mist wrapped the mountain tops. The High Valley wasin temporary eclipse, its brightness and sparkle put by for the moment.

  But nothing could long eclipse the sunshine of such youthful hearts andhopes. Before long John's letters grew cheerful again, and presently shewrote to announce a wonderful piece of news.

  "Something very strange has happened," she began. "I am an heiress! Itis just like the girls in books! Yesterday came a letter from a firm oflawyers in Boston with a long document enclosed. It was an extract fromMamma Marian's will; and only think,--she has left me a legacy of thirtythousand dollars! Dear thing! and she never knew about my engagementeither, or how wonderfully it was going to help in our plans. She justdid it because she loved me. 'To Joanna Inches Carr, my namesake andchild by affection,' the will says; and I think it pleases me as much ashaving the money. That frightens me a little, it seems so much. At firstI did not like to take it, and felt as if I might be robbing some oneelse; but papa says that she had no very near relations, and that I neednot hesitate. Oh, my darling Clover, is it not wonderful? Now Lion andI need not wait two years, unless _he_ prefers it, and can just go onand make our plans happily to suit ourselves and all of you,--and Ishall love to think that we owe it all to dear Mamma Marian; only itwill be a sore spot always that she never got the letter telling of ourengagement. It came just after she died, and they returned it to me.

  "Ned has his orders at last. He goes to sea in April, and Katy writes topapa that she will come and spend a year with him if he likes, while Nedis away. But papa won't be here. He has quite decided, I think, to leaveBurnet and make his home for the future with us in the High Valley.Three different physicians have already offered to buy out his practice,and it is arranged that Dorry shall rent the old house of him, and thefurniture too, except the books and a few special things which papawishes to keep. He is going to write to you about the building of whathe is pleased to call 'a separate shanty;' but please don't let theshanty be really separate; he must be in with all of us somehow, or weshall never be satisfied. Did Lionel decide to move the Hutlet? Ofcourse Katy will spend her year in the Valley instead of Burnet. I ambeginning to get my little trousseau together, and have set up a'wedding bureau' to put the things in; but it is no fun at all withoutany sisters at home to help and sympathize. I am the only one who hashad to get ready to be married all by herself. If Katy were not comingin two months I should be quite desperate. The chief thing on my mind ishow to arrange about the two weddings with the family so scattered as itis."

  This difficulty was settled by Clover a little later. Both the weddingsshe proposed should take place in the Valley.

  "It is a case of Mahomet and mountain," she wrote. "Look at itdispassionately. You and papa and Katy and Dorry have got to come outhere any way,--the rest of us _are_ here; and it is clearly impossiblethat all of us should go on to Burnet to see you married,--though ifyou persist some of us will, inconvenient and expensive as it would be.But just consider what a picturesque and romantic place the Valley isfor a wedding, with the added advantage that you would be absolutely thefirst people who were ever married in it since the creation of theworld! I won't say what may happen in the remote future, for Rose Redwrites that she is going to change its name and call it henceforward'The Ararat Valley,' not only because it contains 'a few souls, that iseight,' but also because all the creatures who go into it seem to enterpell-mell and come out two by two in pairs. You will inaugurate the longprocession at all events! Do please think seriously of this, dear John.'Consider, cow, consider,--' and write me that you consent.

  "We are building papa the most charming little bungalow ever seen,--abig library and two bedrooms, one for himself and one to spare. It isjust off the southwest corner, and a little covered way connects it withour piazza; for we are quite decided that he is to take his meals withus and not have the bother of independent housekeeping. Then if youdecide to put _your_ bungalow on the other side of his, as we hope youwill, we shall all be close together. Lion will do nothing about thebuilding till you come. You are to stay on indefinitely with us, andoversee the whole thing yourself from the driving of the first nail. Wewill all help, and won't it be fun?

  "There is something very stately and comforting in the idea of a'resident physician.' Elsie declares that now Phillida may have croup orany other infant disease she likes, and I sha'n't lie awake at night towonder what we should do in case Geoffey was thrown from the burro andbroke a bone. I am not sure but we may yet attain to the dignity of a'resident pastor' as well, for Geoff has decided not to move the Hutlet,but leave it as it is, putting in a little simple
furniture, and offerit from time to time to some invalid clergyman who needs Colorado airand would be glad to spend a few months in the Valley. Who knows but itmay grow some day into a little church? Then indeed we should have asmall world of our own, with the learned professions all represented;for of course Phil by that time will be qualified to do our law for us,in case we quarrel and require writs and replevins or habeas corpuses,or any last wills and testaments drawn up.

  "I have begun on new curtains for Katy's room already, and Elsie and Ihave all manner of beautiful projects for the weddings. Now Johnniedarling, write at once and say that you agree to this plan. It reallydoes seem a perfect one for everybody. The time must of course depend onwhen Dorry can get his leave, but we will be all ready whenever itcomes."

  Clover's arguments were unanswerable, and every one gradually gave in tothe plan which she had so much at heart. Dorry got a fortnight'sholiday, beginning on the 15th of June; so the twentieth was fixed asthe day for the double wedding, and the preparations went merrily on.Early in May Katy arrived in Burnet; and after that Johnnie had no needto complain of being unsistered, for Katy was a host in herself, andgave all her time to helping everybody. She sewed and finished, shepacked and advised, she assisted to box her father's books, and wentwith Dorry to choose the new papers and rugs which were to make the oldhouse freshly bright for Imogen; she exclaimed and rejoiced over eachwedding present that arrived, and supplied that sweet atmosphere ofmutual interest and sympathy which is the vital breath of a familyoccasion. All was ready in time; the old home was in exact and perfectorder for its new mistress, the good-bys were said, and on the morningof the fifteenth the party started for Colorado.

  Quite a little group waited for them on the platform of the St. Helen'sstation three days later. Lionel had of course come in to meet hisbride, and Imogen her bridegroom; and Geoff had come, and Clover, tomeet her father and Katy, and Phil was also in waiting. It was truly awonderful moment when the train drew up, and Johnnie, all beautiful insmiles and dimples, encountered Lionel; while Dorry jumped out to greetImogen, who was in blooming health again, and very pleased to see him.

  "We have brought the two carryalls," Clover explained. "Geoff got a newone the other day, that the means of transportation may keep pace withthe increase of population, as he says. I think, Geoff, we will put thebrides and bridegrooms together in the new one. Then the 'echoes' fromthe back seat can mix with the 'echoes' from the front seat; and it willbe as good as the East Canyon, and they will all feel at home."

  So it was arranged, and the party started.

  "Katy," cried Clover, looking at her sister with eyes that seemed todrink her in, "I had forgotten quite how dear you are! It seems to methat you have grown handsome, my child; or is it only that you are alittle fatter?"

  "I am afraid the latter," replied Katy, with a laugh. "No one but Nedwas ever so deluded as to call me handsome."

  "Where is Ned? It is such a _shame_ that he can't be here,--the only oneof the family missing!"

  "He is on his way to China," said Katy, with a little suppressed sigh."Yes, it is too bad; but it can't be helped. Naval orders are like timeand tide, and wait for no man, and most of all for no woman." She pauseda moment, and changed the subject abruptly. "Did I tell you," she asked,"that after I broke up at Newport I went to Rose for a week?"

  "Johnnie wrote that you were to go."

  "It was such a bright week! Boston was beautiful, as it always is inspring, with the Public Garden a blaze of flowers, and all the prettycountry about so green and sweet! Rose was most delightful; and I sawever so many of the old Hillsover girls, and even had a glimpse of Mrs.Nipson!"

  "That must have been rather a bad joy."

  "N--o, not exactly. I was rather glad, on the whole, to meet her again.She isn't as bad as we made her out. School-girls are almost alwaysunjust to their teachers."

  "Oh, come, now," said Clover, making a little face. "This is a happyoccasion, certainly, and I am in a benignant frame of mind, but really Ican't stand having you so horridly charitable. 'There is no virtue,madam, in a mush of concession.' Mrs. Nipson was an unpleasant oldthing,--so there! Let us talk of something else. Tell me about yourvisit to Cousin Helen."

  "Oh, that was a sweet visit all through. I stayed ten days, and she wasbetter than usual, it seemed to me. Did I write about little Helen'sball?"

  "No."

  "She is just nineteen, and it was her first dance. Such a prettycreature, and so pleased and excited about it! and Cousin Helen wasequally so. She gave Helen her dress complete, down to the satin shoes,and the fan and the long gloves, and a turquoise necklace, and turquoisepins for her hair. You never saw anything so charming as the way inwhich she enjoyed it. You would have supposed that Helen was her ownchild, as she lay on the sofa, with such bright beaming eyes, while thepretty thing turned round and round to exhibit her finery."

  "There certainly never was any one like Cousin Helen. She is embodiedsympathy," said Clover. "Now, Katy, I want you to look. We are justturning into our own road."

  It was a radiant afternoon, with long, soft shadows alternating withgolden sunshine, and the High Valley was at its very best as they slowlyclimbed the zigzag pass. With every turn and winding Katy's pleasuregrew; and when they rounded the last curve, and came in sight of thelittle group of buildings, with their picturesque background of forestand the splendid peak soaring above, she exclaimed with delight:--

  "What a perfect situation! Clover, you never said enough about it!Surely the half was not told me, as the Queen of Sheba remarked! Oh, andthere is Elsie on the porch, and that thing in white beside her isPhillida! I never dreamed she could be so large! How glad I am that Ididn't die of measles when I was little, as dear Rose Red used to say."

  Katy's coming was the crowning pleasure of the occasion to all, but mostof all to Clover. To have her most intimate sister in her own home, andbe able to see her every day and all day long, and consult and adviseand lay before her the hopes and intentions and desires of her heart,which she could never so fully share with any one else, except Geoff,was a delight which never lost its zest, and of which Clover never grewweary.

  To settle Dr. Carr in his new quarters was another pleasure, in whichthey all took equal part. When his books and microscopes were unpacked,and the Burnet belongings arranged pretty much in their old order, therooms looked wonderfully homelike, even to him. The children soonlearned to adore him, as children always had done; the only trouble wasthat they fought for the possession of his knee, and would neverwillingly have left him a moment for himself. His leisure had to beprotected by a series of nursery laws and penances, or he would neverhave had any; but he said he liked the children better than the leisure.He was born to be a grandfather; nobody told stories like him, or knewso well how to please and pacify and hit the taste of little people.

  But all this, of course, came subsequently to the double wedding, whichtook place two days after the arrival of the home-party. The morning ofthe twentieth was unusually fine, even for Colorado,--fair, cloudless,and golden bright, as if ordered for the occasion,--without a cloud onthe sky from dawn to sunset. The ceremony was performed by a clergymanfrom Portland, who with his invalid wife were settled in the Hutlet forthe summer, very glad of the pleasant little home offered them, and toescape from the crowd and confusion of Mrs. Marsh's boarding-house,where Geoff had found them. Two or three particular friends drove outfrom St. Helen's; but with that exception the whole wedding was"valley-made," as Elsie declared, including delicious raspberryice-cream, and an enormous cake, over which she and Clover had expendedmuch time and thought, and which, decorated with emblematical designs inicing and wreathed with yucca-blossoms, stood in the middle of thetable.

  The ceremony took place at noon precisely, when, as Phil facetiouslyobserved, "the shadows of the high contracting parties could never beless." There was little that was formal about it, but much that wasreverent and sweet and full of true feeling. Imogen and Johnnie had bothagreed to wear white muslin dresses,
very much such dresses as theywere all accustomed to wear on afternoons; but Imogen had on her headher mother's wedding-veil, which had been sent out from England, andJohn wore Katy's, "for luck," as she said. Both carried a big bouquet ofMariposa lilies, and the house was filled with the characteristicwild-flowers of the region most skilfully and effectively grouped andarranged.

  A hospitably hearty luncheon followed the ceremony, of which allpartook; then Imogen went away to put on her pretty travelling-suit ofpale brown, and the carry-all came round to take Mr. and Mrs. TheodoreCarr to St. Helen's, which was the first stage on their journey of life.

  The whole party stood on the porch to see them go. Imogen's last wordand embrace were for Clover.

  "We are sisters now," she whispered. "I belong to you just as much asIsabel does, and I am so glad that I do! Dear Clover, you have been moregood to me than I can say, and I shall never forget it."

  "Nonsense about being good! You are my Dorry's wife now, and our owndear sister. There is no question about goodness,--only to love oneanother."

  She kissed Imogen warmly, and helped her into the carriage. Dorry sprangafter her; the wheels revolved; and Phil, seizing a horseshoe which hungready to hand on the wall of the house, flung it after the departingvehicle.

  "It's more appropriate than any other sort of old shoe for this Place ofHoofs," he observed. "Well, the Carr family are certainly pretty welldisposed of now. I am 'the last ungathered rose on my ancestral tree.' Iwonder who will tear me from my stem!"

  "You can afford to hang on a while longer," remarked Elsie. "I don'tconsider you fairly expanded yet, by any means. You'll be twice as wellworth gathering a few years from now."

  "Oh, very fine!--years indeed! Why, I shall be a seedy old bachelor!That would never do! And Amy Ashe, whom I have had in my eye ever sinceshe was in pinafores, will be married to some other fellow!"

  "Don't set your heart on Amy," said Katy. "She's not seventeen yet; andI don't think her mother has any idea of having her made into Ashes ofRoses so early!"

  "There's no harm in having a girl in one's eye," retorted Phil,disconsolately. "I declare, you all look so contented and so satisfiedwith yourselves and one another, that it's enough to madden a fellow,left out, as I am, in the cold! I shall go back to St. Helen's with Dr.and Mrs. Hope."

  The others, left to themselves in their happy loneliness, gatheredtogether in the big room after the last guest had gone. Geoff touched amatch to the ready-laid fire; Clover wheeled an armchair forward for herfather, and sat down beside him with her arm on his knee; John andLionel took possession of a big sofa.

  "Now let us enjoy ourselves," said Clover. "The world is shut out, weare shut in; there are none to molest and make us afraid; and, pleaseHeaven, there is a whole, long, happy year before us! I never didsuppose anything so perfectly perfect could happen to us all as this.Now, papa,--dear papa,--just say that you like it as much as we all do."

  Elsie perched herself on the arm of her father's chair; Katy stoodbehind, stroking his hair. Dr. Carr held out his hand to Johnnie, whoran across the room, knelt down, caught it in both hers, and fondly laidher cheek upon it.

  "I like it _quite_ as much as you do," he said. "Where my girls are isthe place for me; and I am going to be the most contented old gentlemanin America for the rest of my days."

  THE END