CHAPTER IX
Quite early the next morning Sidney Graham was in his office at thetelephone. He conferred with the carpenter, agreeing to meet him outat the barn and make final arrangements about the windows in a veryshort time. Then he called up the trolley company and the electriccompany, and made arrangements with them to have a wire run from theroad to his barn, with a very satisfactory agreement whereby he couldpay them a certain sum for the use of as much light as he needed. Thisdone, he called up an electrician, and arranged that he should sendsome men out that morning to wire the barn.
He hurried through his morning mail, giving his stenographer a freehand with answering some of the letters, and then speeded out toGlenside.
Three men were already there, two of them stone-masons, working awayunder the direction of the contractor. They had already begun workingat the massive stone around the windows, striking musical blows from alight scaffolding that made the old barn look as if it had suddenlywaked up and gone to house-cleaning. Sidney Graham surveyed it withsatisfaction as he stopped his car by the roadside and got out. He diddelight to have things done on time. He decided that if thiscontractor did well on the job he would see that he got bigger thingsto do. He liked it that his work had been begun at once.
The next car brought a quartette of carpenters, and before young Grahamwent back to the city a motor-truck had arrived loaded with lumber andwindow-frames. It was all very fascinating to him, this new toy barnthat had suddenly come into his possession, and he could hardly tearhimself away from it and go back to business. One would not havesupposed, perhaps, that it was so very necessary for him to do so,either, seeing that he was already so well off that he really couldhave gotten along quite comfortably the rest of his life without anymore money; but he was a conscientious young man, who believed that noliving being had a right to exist in idleness, and who had gone intobusiness from a desire to do his best and keep up the honorable name ofhis father's firm. So after he had given careful directions for theelectric men when they should come he rushed back to his office oncemore.
The next two days were filled with delightful novelties. He spent muchtime flying from office to barn and back to the office again, andbefore evening of the second day he had decided that a telephone in thebarn was an absolute necessity, at least while the work was going on.So he called up the telephone company, and arranged that connectionshould be put in at once. That evening he wrote a short note to MissShirley Hollister, telling her that the partitions were under way andwould soon be completed, and that in a few days he would send her thekey so that she might begin to transport her belongings to the new home.
The next morning, when Graham went out to the stone barn, he found thatthe front windows were in, and gave a very inviting appearance to theedifice, both outside and in. As Elizabeth had surmised, the biglatticed windows opening inwards like casement doors seemed quite inkeeping with the rough stone structure. Graham began to wonder why allbarns did not affect this style of window, they were so entirelyattractive. He was thoroughly convinced that the new tenants would notbe likely to remember or notice the difference in the windows; he wassure he shouldn't have unless his attention had been called to them insome way. Of course the sills and sashes were rather new-looking, buthe gave orders that they should at once be painted an unobtrusive darkgreen which would well accord with the mossy roof, and he trusted hisparticular young tenant would not think that he had done anythingpointed in changing the windows. If she did, he would have to think upsome excuse.
But, as he stood at the top of the grassy slope and looked about, henoticed the great pile of stones under each window, from the masonrythat had been torn away to make room for the larger sashes, and an ideacame to him.
"Mr. Jones!" he called to the contractor, who had just come over on thecar to see how the work was progressing. "Wouldn't there be stonesenough all together from all the windows to build some kind of a rudechimney and fireplace?" he asked.
Mr. Jones thought there would. There were stones enough down in themeadow to piece out with in case they needed more, anyway. Where wouldMr. Graham want the fireplace? Directly opposite the front doors? Hehad thought of suggesting that himself, but didn't know as Mr. Grahamwanted to go to any more expense.
"By all means make that fireplace!" said the young owner delightedly."This is going to be a jolly place when it gets done, isn't it? Ideclare I don't know but I'd like to come out here and live."
"It would make a fine old house, sir," said the contractorrespectfully, looking up almost reverently at the barn. "I'd like tosee it with verandys, and more winders, and a few such. You don't seemany of these here old stone buildings around now. They knew how tobuild 'em substantial in those old times, so they did."
"H'm! Yes. It would make a fine site for a house, wouldn't it?" saidthe young man, looking about thoughtfully. "Well, now, we'll have tothink about that sometime, perhaps. However, I think it looks verynice for the present"; and he walked about, looking at the improvementswith great satisfaction.
At each end of the barn a good room, long and narrow, had beenpartitioned off, each of which by use of a curtain would make two verylarge rooms, and yet the main section of the floor looked as large asever. A simple stairway of plain boards had been constructed a littleto one side of the middle toward the back, going up to the loft, whichhad been made safe for the children by a plain rude railing consistingof a few uprights with strips across. The darkening slats at the smallwindows in the loft had been torn away and shutters substituted thatwould open wide and let in air and light. Rough spots in the floor hadbeen mended, and around the great place both up-stairs and down, andeven down in the basement underneath, electric wires ran with simplelights and switches conveniently arranged, so that if it becamedesirable the whole place could be made a blaze of light. The youngman did not like to think of this family of unprotected women andchildren coming out into the country without all the arrangementspossible to make them feel safe. For this reason also he hadestablished the telephone. He had talked it over with the agent,paying a certain sum for its installation, and had a telephone put inthat they could pay for whenever they desired to use it. This wouldmake the young householder feel more comfortable about leaving hermother out in the country all day, and also prevent her pride frombeing hurt. The telephone was there. She need not use it unlessnecessity arose. He felt he could explain that to her. If she didn'tlike it, of course she could have it taken away.
There were a lot more things he would like to do to make the place morehabitable, but he did not dare. Sometimes even now his consciencetroubled him. What did he know about these people, anyway? and whatkind of a flighty youth was he becoming that he let a strange girl'sappealing face drive him to such lengths as he was going now?Telephone, and electric lights, and stairs, and a fireplace in a barn!It was all perfectly preposterous; and, if his family should hear ofit, he would never hear the last of it; that he was certain.
At such times he would hunt up his young sister and carry her off for along drive in the car, always ending up at Glenside Road, where sheexclaimed and praised to his heart's satisfaction, and gave anew herword not to tell anybody a thing about it until he was ready.
Indeed, Elizabeth was wild with delight. She wanted to hunt up some ofher mother's old Turkish rugs that were put away in dark closets, todecorate the walls with pictures and bric-a-brac from her own room, andto smother the place in flowering shrubs for the arrival of thetenants; but her brother firmly forbade anything more being done. Hewaited with fear and trembling for the time when the clear-eyed youngtenant should look upon the changes he had already made; for somethingtold him she would not stand charity, and there was a point beyondwhich he must not go if he wished ever to see her again.
At last one morning he ventured to call her up on the telephone at heroffice.
"My sister and I were thinking of going out to see how things areprogressing at the Glenside place," he said after he had explai
ned whohe was. "I was wondering if you would care to come along and lookthings over. What time do you get through at your office thisafternoon?"
"That is very kind of you, Mr. Graham," said Shirley, "but I'm afraidthat won't be possible. I'm not usually done until half-past five. Imight get through by five, but not much sooner, and that would be toolate for you."
"Not at all, Miss Hollister. That would be a very agreeable time. Ihave matters that will keep me here quite late to-night, and that willbe just right for me. Shall I call for you, then, at five? Or is thattoo soon?"
"Oh, no, I can be ready by then, I'm sure," said Shirley withsuppressed excitement. "You are very kind----"
"Not at all. It will be a pleasure," came the answer. "Then I willcall at your office at five," and the receiver clicked at the otherend, leaving Shirley in a whirl of doubt and joy.
How perfectly delightful! And yet ought she to go? Would mother thinkit was all right? His little sister was going, but was it quite rightfor her to accept this much attention even in a business way? Itwasn't at all customary or necessary, and both he and she knew it. Hewas just doing it to be nice.
And then there was mother. She must send a message somehow, or motherwould be frightened when she did not come home at her usual time.
She finally succeeded in getting Carol at her school, and told her totell mother she was kept late and might not be home till after seven.Then she flew at her work to get it out of the way before five o'clock.
But, when she came down at the appointed time, she found Carol sittingexcitedly in the back seat with Elizabeth, fairly bursting with thedouble pleasure of the ride and of surprising her sister.
"They came to the school for me, and took me home; and I explained tomother that I was going with you to look at a place we were going tomove to. I put on the potatoes, and put the meat in the oven, andmother is going to tell George just what to do to finish supper when hegets home," she exclaimed eagerly. "And, oh, isn't it lovely?"
"Indeed it is lovely," said Shirley, her face flushing with pleasureand her eyes speaking gratitude to the young man in the front seat whowas opening the door for her to step in beside him.
That was a wonderful ride.
The spring had made tremendous advances in her work during the ten dayssince they went that way before. The flush of green that the willowshad worn had become a soft, bright feather of foliage, and the mapleshad sent out crimson tassels to offset them. Down in the meadows andalong the roadside the grass was thick and green, and the bare brownfields had disappeared. Little brooks sang tinklingly as they glidedunder bridges, and the birds darted here and there in busy, noisypairs. Frail wavering blossoms starred the swampy places, and the airwas sweet with scents of living things.
But, when they came in sight of the barn, Elizabeth and her brothergrew silent from sheer desire to talk and not act as if there wasanything different about it. Now that they had actually broughtShirley here, the new windows seemed fairly to flaunt themselves intheir shining mossy paint and their vast extent of diamond panes, sothat the two conspirators were deeply embarrassed, and dared not facewhat they had done.
It was Carol who broke the silence that had come upon them all.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" she shouted. "Shirley, just look! New, great bigwindows! Isn't that great? Now you needn't worry whether it will bedark for mother days when she can't go out! Isn't that the best ever?"
But Shirley looked, and her cheeks grew pink as her eyes grew starry.She opened her lips to speak, and then closed them again, for the wordswould not come, and the tears came instead; but she drove them back,and then managed to say:
"Oh, Mr. Graham! Oh, you have gone to so much trouble!"
"No, no trouble at all," said he almost crossly; for he had wanted hernot to notice those windows, at least not yet.
"You see it was this way. The windows were some that were left overfrom another order, and I got a chance to get them at a bargain. Ithought they might as well be put in now as any time and you get thebenefit of them. The barn really needed more light. It was a verydark barn indeed. Hadn't you noticed it? I can't see how mygrandfather thought it would do to have so little light and air. Butyou know in the old times they didn't use to have such advanced ideasabout ventilation and germs and things----" He felt he was getting onrather famously until he looked down at the clear eyes of the girl, andknew she was seeing right straight through all his talk. However, shehadn't the face to tell him so; and so he boldly held on his way,making up fine stories about things that barns needed until he all butbelieved them himself; and, when he got through, he needed only tofinish with "And, if it isn't so, it ought to be" to have a regularWater-Baby argument out of it. He managed to talk on in this veinuntil he could stop the car and help Shirley out, and together they allwent up the now velvety green of the incline to the big door.
"It is beautiful! beautiful!" murmured Shirley in a daze of delight.She could not yet make it seem real that she was to come to thischarmed spot to live in a few days.
Graham unlocked the big doors, and sent them rolling back with a touch,showing what ball bearings and careful workmanship can do. The groupstepped inside, and stood to look again.
The setting sun was casting a red glow through the diamond panes andover the wide floor. The new partitions, guiltless of paint, forGraham had not dared to go further, were mellowed into ruby hangings.The stone fireplace rose at the opposite side of the room, and the newstaircase was just at the side, all in the ruddy evening glow thatcarried rich dusky shadows into the corners, and hung a curtain ofvagueness over blemishes.
Then all suddenly, before they had had time to take in the changes,more than the fact of the partitions which they expected, Grahamstepped to the side of the door, and touched a button, and behold amyriad of lights burst forth about the place, making it bright likenoontime.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" breathed Carol in awe and wonder, and "Oh!" again, asif there were nothing else to say. But Shirley only looked and caughther breath. It seemed a palace too fine for their poor little means,and a sudden fear gripped hold upon her.
"Oh Mr. Graham! You have done too much!" she choked. "You shouldn'thave done it! We can never afford to pay for all this!"
"Not at all!" said young Graham quickly. "This isn't anything. Theelectric people gave permission for this, and I thought it would besafer than lamps and candles, you know. It cost scarcely anything forthe wiring. I had our regular man do it that attends to the wiring andlights at the office. It was a mere trifle, and will make things a lotmore convenient for you. You see it's nothing to the company. Theyjust gave permission for a wire to be run from the pole there. Ofcourse they might not do it for every one, but I've some pretty goodfriends in the company; so it's all right."
"But the fireplace!" said Shirley, going over to look at it. "It'sbeautiful! It's like what you see in magazine pictures of beautifulhouses."
"Why, it was just the stones that were left from cutting the windowslarger. I thought they might as well be utilized, you know. It wasn'tmuch more work to pile them up that way while the men were here than ifwe had had them carted away."
Here Carol interrupted.
"Shirley! There's a telephone! A real telephone!"
Shirley's accusing eyes were upon her landlord.
"It was put in for our convenience while the workmen were here," heexplained defensively. "It is a pay phone, you see, and is no expenseexcept when in use. It can be taken out if you do not care to have it,of course; but it occurred to me since it was here your mother mightfeel more comfortable out here all day if she could call you when sheneeded to."
Shirley's face was a picture of varying emotions as she listened, butrelief and gratitude conquered as she turned to him.
"I believe you have thought of everything," she said at last. "I haveworried about that all this week. I have wondered if mother would beafraid out in the country with only the children, and the neighbors notquite near en
ough to call; but this solves the difficulty. You aresure it hasn't cost you a lot to have this put in?"
"Why, don't you know the telephone company is glad to have their phoneswherever they can get them?" he evaded. "Now, don't worry aboutanything more. You'll find hardships enough living in a barn withoutfretting about the few conveniences we have been able to manage."
"But this is real luxury!" she said, sitting down on the steps andlooking up where the lights blazed from the loft. "You have put lightsup there, too, and a railing. I was so afraid Doris would fall downsome time!"
"I'm glad to find you are human, after all, and have a few fears!"declared the owner, laughing. "I had begun to think you were Spartanthrough and through and weren't afraid of anything. Yes, I had the menput what lumber they had left into that railing. I thought it wasn'tsafe to have it all open like that, and I didn't want you to sue me forlife or limb, you know. There's one thing I haven't managed yet, andthat is piping water up from the spring. I haven't been able to gethold of the right man so far; but he's coming out to-morrow, and I hopeit can be done. There is a spring on the hill back of us, and Ibelieve it is high enough, to get the water to this floor. If it is itwill make your work much easier and be only the matter of a few rods ofpipe."
"Oh, but, indeed, you mustn't do anything more!" pleaded Shirley. "Ishall feel so ashamed paying such a little rent."
"But, my dear young lady," said Graham in his most dignified businessmanner, "you don't at all realize how much lower rents are in thecountry, isolated like this, than they are in the city; and you haven'tas yet realized what a lot of inconveniences you have to put up with.When you go back to the city in the winter, you will be glad to getaway from here."
"Never!" said Shirley fervently, and shuddered. "Oh, never! You don'tknow how dreadful it seems that we shall have to go back. But ofcourse I suppose we shall. One couldn't live in a barn in the winter,even though it is a palace for the summer"; and she looked aboutwistfully. Then, her eyes lighting up, she said in a low tone, for theyoung man's benefit alone:
"I think God must have made you do all this for us!" She turned andwalked swiftly over to one of the new casement windows, looking out atthe red glow that the sun in sinking had left in the sky; and thereagainst the fringes of the willows and maples shone out the brightweather-vane on the spire of the little white church in the valley.
"I think God must have sent you to teach me and my little sister a fewthings," said a low voice just behind Shirley as she struggled withtired, happy tears that would blur her eyes. But, when she turned tosmile at the owner of the voice, he was walking over by the door andtalking to Carol. They tumbled joyously into the car very soon, andsped on their way to the city again.
That night the Hollister children told their mother they had found aplace in which to live.