CHAPTER XVI
ARCHIE
'God wants the boys--the merry boys, The noisy boys, the funny boys, The jolly boys, with all their joys-- God wants the boys.'
You must not suppose that all this time Peggy's acquaintance with ArchieForster had been allowed to languish. That young gentleman hadintroduced himself to the rest of the family, and had made himself verymuch at home indeed at the Abbey. He kindly gave Father the benefit ofhis experience of farming in Colorado (greatly to the latter'sedification); he amused Lilian with his funny stories, and was a sourceof open-mouthed wonder to Nancy, who thought his achievements onlysecond to a conjurer she had once seen at Gorswen fair. Bobby naturallyregarded him with an admiration which bordered on worship, and trottedabout at his heels like an affectionate poodle, while Peggy foundherself living from Saturday to Saturday to continue the delightfulseries of projects which her enterprising friend lost no time instarting, and wondering sometimes how they had managed to exist beforethey knew him.
By good rights Master Archie ought to have been away at school, but atoo active brain in a fast-growing body had brought about such adelicacy that the doctor forbade any severer study than a few hours'daily reading with the curate, and recommended as much fresh air andexercise as possible. Miss Forster was not sorry to find so plausible anexcuse for keeping her pet nephew at the Willows, and the young manhimself had no objections, being fuller than ever of ingenious schemes,only he had transferred the seat of his operations to the Abbey, asoffering a wider scope in the way of material, and having the furtheradvantage of a number of appreciative assistants. The only person whowas not won over by Archie's friendly ways and frank American mannerswas Joe, who gloomily prophesied broken necks and kindred evils as theresult of the children's association with 'the young master from furrinparts'; but I fear there was a good deal of jealousy in this, for poorJoe had been a hero to the children in his modest way, and it was hardto find himself suddenly supplanted in their affections, especially by arival with whom it was quite impossible to compete.
Incited by an account of the tree-dwellings in one of Miss Forster'sbooks of travel, Archie determined to emulate them, and construct suchan elevated establishment for themselves. The trees in his aunt's gardenwere mostly ornamental shrubs, many of them clipped into quaint shapes,and could not be thought of for the purpose, but a tall elm growing onthe borders of the Abbey stackyard seemed designed by Nature for hisrequirements. He was a neat workman, and all his contrivances wereperfectly steady and durable, for, as he said:
'When you're out West, you have to be your own chore-boy. Dad put an axeinto my hand, and taught me to chop kindling before I was out ofpetticoats, and when we went up the Rockies shooting grizzlies we builtlog-cabins, and I can tell you there was no carpenter to fetch therenearer than a hundred miles, so I guess I ought to know how to handle asaw and fix up a bit of lumber.'
He first set to work to make a spiral staircase up the tree, which woundround and round the trunk like the little turret stairs in the tower.Every step was carefully nailed on and properly supported, and theerection grew daily until he had reached four large boughs whichbranched out twenty feet above the level of the ground. Here he arrangeda kind of platform, fixing pieces of wood across in the fashion of araft, and making a firm railing all round the edge. In the midst of thisplatform a small hut gradually grew up, the walls of stout hazel-stakeswattled across with branches and willow-withs, while the roof was neatlythatched with reeds. The whole erection was so steady and well madethat, though Father, as chief inspector, stamped vigorously about, hecould not make it shake, and was able to pass it as perfectly safe, andgive his congratulations to the young architect, while even Joegrudgingly admitted that 'Master Forster hadn't made half a bad job ofit neither.'
If grown-up people found it satisfactory, you can imagine the delight ofthe children at this wonderful bird's-nest. Their first thought each dayon coming home from school was to rush off to see how 'Sky Cottage,' asthey had christened it, had progressed in their absence, and their griefwas loud if anything hindered Archie from the prosecution of his labourson Saturdays, while they quite envied Lilian being able to run out anytime she liked and take a peep at the operations.
"HE FIRST SET TO WORK TO MAKE A SPIRAL STAIRCASE UP THETREE."]
Naturally Sky Cottage, like Rome, was not built in a day, and thoughArchie worked at it pretty constantly, it was November before the roofwas on and he considered the building complete. The question ofdecorations was much discussed, for while Father suggested hanging thewalls with sacking, and Lilian voted for garlanding them with wildflowers, both ideas were rejected, the one as too prosaic and the otheras not sufficiently durable, and it was not until Peggy conceived thebrilliant thought of lining their dwelling with moss that a satisfactorysolution was arrived at.
So off went the little party to the woods, with a couple of sacks and acoil of rope, to tear up the vivid green sheets which covered the rockslike carpets of velvet.
'All the thickest and best is on the other side of the stream, beyondwhere we had our picnic in the summer,' said Peggy, leading the way withthe proud air of a pioneer. 'If only we can manage to cross, for thewater is rather full to-day,' she added, with a lively remembrance ofher former dipping.
They found an unexpected help, however, for a recent storm had blowndown a large oak, which now stretched itself very conveniently over thestream like a bridge, and by the aid of its branches it was quite easyto hop across and climb up the bank at the other side. The woods werethick here and damp, and the moss was of such superior quality that itfully justified the extra labour involved in fetching it. They pulled itup in pieces a yard or more square, and crammed it into the sacks, tyingthe mouths with rope, so as to be able to drag them along, for the mosswas full of moisture, and the bags were dreadfully heavy. They wererather at a loss how to convey their spoils over the bridge. Bobbysuggested floating them down the stream, but, as Lilian pointed out,they would promptly sink to the bottom; so in the end Archie hoisted asack upon his back, and, with Lilian to steady it behind, managed tostagger across in safety, coming back for the other when the first hadbeen successfully landed.
It was hard work bumping the sacks over the rough, uneven ground, butthey got them home at last, safely conveyed to Sky Cottage, and emptiedout on to the platform. They were all busily engaged within the hut,nailing sheets of moss over the wattled walls, when a curious squeakingnoise began to attract Peggy's attention.
'What's that?' she inquired, pausing with the hammer suspended in herhand.
'A bird, most likely,' replied Lilian, with her mouth full of nails.
'No, it isn't,' said Peggy, going out to investigate. 'It seems to comefrom the moss at my feet. Archie, do come and look! Whatever can it be?'
The noise grew louder and louder, so that it resembled the squealing ofa kitten, and all four began to turn over the moss with eager fingers,till, with a cry, Archie drew out a small round ball of dried grass,about the size of Bobby's fist, from which issued such crescendo squeaksthat there could be no mistake as to the locality of the sound. Thelittle ball was so beautifully made and so neatly rounded that there wasnot the slightest aperture to be seen, and Archie turned it over andover in his hand in some perplexity.
'What can it be?' cried Peggy.
'Do open it!' piped Bobby.
'Oh, _do_ be careful! Suppose it's a viper!' shrieked Lilian.
'You goose! Vipers don't squeal, at any rate,' said Archie, whosefriendship had reached a degree of intimacy that was distinctlybrotherly; and gingerly pulling asunder the neatly-woven grass, hedisclosed to view a plump yellow dormouse, whom they had evidentlydisturbed in his winter quarters.
The little fellow lay flat on his back in the midst of his snug littlenest. He had not taken the trouble to open his eyes, but his paws werecrossed, and his pink mouth was open, giving vent to loud disapproval ofthe bumpings to which he had been rudely subjected unawares.
'My! ain't he cun
ning?' said Archie, stroking the soft fur with hisfinger, while the others crowded round to look. 'And so clean, too; helooks as if you had just loaned him new from a store, and he's as fat asbutter. He's been feeding up for this, I reckon. What shall I do withhim?'
'Oh! can't we keep him for a pet?' implored Peggy, with an eye on theever-increasing menagerie. 'We could get nuts and acorns and things forhim, and I've no doubt he would eat corn, too.'
'I guess he'll want to sleep now right away till spring, like ourgrizzlies do in the fall.'
'Let's wrap him up again,' said Lilian. 'I'm sure he'll catch cold, poordear! and we'll put him in a snug corner of the orchard, where we canlook at him now and then, and in the spring perhaps he'll wake up.'
As this seemed the most humane suggestion, Master Dormouse was tucked upin bed once more, and, still protesting, was carried to a sunny bankunder an apple-tree, and stowed away under a protecting clump of leaves,where his plaintive voice gradually subsided, and he settled down forfive months of oblivion, to ignore the winter frosts and storms untilthe April sunshine should tempt him out of his lair.
The moss lining to Sky Cottage was a great success, Archie arrangedwillow withs in a neat pattern over it, to keep it from falling down,and everyone agreed that it looked charming. Furnishing was the nextconsideration, and the attics and lumber-room at the Abbey wereransacked for any treasures they might afford. A few broken chairs, anda rickety gate-legged table were soon mended by Archie's clever fingers.Lilian hunted out an old piece of carpet and a tablecloth, and the placelooked so comfortable that the children, fired by Archie's accounts ofthe log-cabins in the Rocky Mountains, longed to put in a cooking-stoveand emigrate there altogether. They decided to have quite a garden onthe platform next spring, and to grow seeds in pots, and persuadenasturtiums and canary-creepers to climb up the walls, and they made abeginning by hauling up a box of soil, and planting some ivy, which theyhoped in time would cover the whole roof.
Peggy and Bobby would have been quite content to go on adding a nailhere or a shelf there, and further making improvements, but Archie, nowthat the chief work was over, found his interest cooling, and having gothold of a book on 'Balloons and Air-Ships,' proposed no less daring ascheme than that he should construct a flying machine, and start it fromthe platform. Father, however, getting to hear of the project, forbadeit so emphatically that the disgusted aeronaut was obliged to give way,and consoled himself by constructing a fire-balloon out of gay strips ofpink and green tissue-paper, which, ignited by methylated spirits, wasto be set off with great effect on Peggy's birthday.
As some slight amends for his disappointment, Lilian proposed that theyshould have a grand housewarming at Sky Cottage on Saturday afternoon,and invite Father to tea in the sanctum. The rest giving a hearty andvigorous approval, she set to work to bake cakes in honour of theoccasion, preserving such a halo of mystery round her cookery that theothers were consumed with curiosity, and felt ready for any surprises.
There were a great many preparations to be made when the eventfulafternoon arrived. The hut had to be swept and dusted, late flowers tobe gleaned from the garden to decorate the tea-table, cups and saucerspacked up and conveyed in baskets, together with the little tin kettleand the methylated spirit lamp, as they could scarcely light a fire onthe platform like they did for picnic teas in the woods. Archie hung upa Japanese lantern in the doorway, and fixed a Union-Jack on one side,and the star-spangled banner of the United States on the other, andPeggy found enough Michaelmas daisies and white asters to put a wreathall round the railing of the veranda, which rather suggested harvestdecorations, but looked very festive all the same.
They had brought a clean tablecloth from the kitchen drawer, and set thetable quite artistically, with a jam-pot full of flowers in the centre,and little plates full of cakes grouped round it. Lilian put out a verytempting looking selection of rock-buns and ginger-nuts, and Archieproduced a tin of real Scotch shortbread and some macaroons, acontribution from his aunt; so with bread-and-butter, and a pot of thenewly-made blackberry jam, there was quite a noble display. But Lilianhad kept her surprise in the background, and it was only when all wasready that she opened a basket, and proudly drew out her masterpiece, asubstantial-looking cake, with a cut-paper frill, and white icing onthe top, on which in pink sugary letters were inscribed the words:'Success to Sky Cottage!' Certainly some of the capitals were a littlestaggery, and the 'y' had strayed into the pink border round the edge,but it was felt to be a triumph of culinary art all the same, and gavequite a grace to the table.
At the last minute Father had been obliged to send his regrets andapologies, for the veterinary surgeon had arrived to doctor a sickhorse, and he could not possibly leave the stables, so the tea-partymust perforce begin without him, for the days were growing short now,and there was no time to spare.
It was a merry, not to say boisterous, party, for Archie was in one ofhis funniest moods, and told 'tall' Yankee stories till the childrennearly rolled off their seats with laughter, and Lilian went on pouringinto her overflowing cup till the tray was swimming with tea. The cakelooked such a work of art that, as Mrs. Squeers remarked of herYorkshire pie, it seemed 'quite a pity to cut into it'; but, seizing theknife, Peggy boldly severed the 's' and the 'u,' and with Aunt Helen'swedding festivities fresh in their memories, the company drank thehealth of Sky Cottage in tea, clinking their cups together over thetable in imitation of old Squire Henley.
They were in the very midst of one of Archie's most comical adventures,when a shout was heard underneath the tree, and going out on to theveranda, they beheld Nancy struggling timorously up the staircase, herevident anxiety to make some communication overcoming her naturalabhorrence of such an airy structure.
'Oh, Miss Lilian,' she panted, 'if there isn't Mrs. Davenport justarrived in her pony-shay, and she's put it up in the yard, and saysshe's sure you'll give her a cup of tea! So I left her sittin' in thedrawing-room lookin' at the photo-albums, and rushed off to tell youshe's here!'
'_What_ a nuisance!' groaned Lilian, who was not generally inhospitablydisposed. 'Run back, Nancy, quick, and be getting some tea ready, andI'll follow you! I must bring these cakes; they're the only ones wehave!'
She bundled the remains of the feast into her basket, and had justdescended the stairs, escorted by the sympathizing Peggy and Bobby, whenround the corner of the large haystack suddenly loomed the tall figureand black alpaca skirts of Mrs. Davenport, who, finding herself leftlonger in the drawing-room than she appreciated, had sallied forth insearch of her hostess. She stopped short now, quite thunderstruck at thevision before her.
'What do I see?' she exclaimed. 'What mad folly is this? Really, Lilian,I am astonished that you countenance such wild proceedings! Peggy I knewwas a sad tomboy, but I thought you, at least, were the sensible memberof the family, and would try to train the younger ones into morecivilized habits. I had heard from Miss Forster that that very indulgedand unmanageable nephew of hers had been making some sort of place in atree at the Abbey, but I never imagined so much as this. Sheer waste ofgood time, I call it; and a boy who can expend so much energy as toraise such a construction must be only shamming ill-health, and would befar better packed off to school. I shall tell his aunt so the next timeI see her, and I don't care who hears me!' she added, catching sight ofa grinning face on the veranda, for Archie had stolen out to see thefun, and overflowed in such gurgles of delight at this sally thatLilian trembled for the result.
'You had better come down, Archibald,' said Mrs. Davenport in her mostmajestic voice. But Master Archie evidently thought discretion thebetter part of valour, for he dived through the doorway like a rabbitinto a burrow, his overwrought feelings so far overcoming him that heexploded into a tremendous cock-crow as he sought the friendly shelterof Sky Cottage.
An embarrassing silence followed, broken at last by Lilian, who askedMrs. Davenport if she would not like to return to the house. Peggy andBobby tried, as Archie expressed it, to 'do a slope,' but in vain, for,saying
she had not seen them for a long time, and should like to talk tothem, their unwelcome visitor took the dismayed pair into custody like afemale policeman, and whirled them sternly along before her.
It really was too bad that Mrs. Davenport, instead of coming upon aWednesday or Thursday, when all would have been neatness and order, andNancy in her best black dress and muslin apron, should have chosen thisparticular Saturday afternoon, when there was no fire in thedrawing-room, a pile of mending on the dining-room table, and all thefamily in somewhat dishevelled array.
'But she always does manage to catch us, somehow,' lamented Lilianafterwards. 'She calls it "taking us just as we are," but then we_aren't_ generally in a muddle like this, so it doesn't seem quite fair.She ought to come sometimes when we are tidy, to see both sides.'
Once established in an armchair by the dining-room fire, Mrs. Davenporttook off her gloves, untied her veil, and enjoyed herself thoroughly.She catechized Lilian freely about her housekeeping arrangements, hopedNancy did her duty, and did not neglect to sweep out corners, told Bobbythat his irrepressible curls looked girlish, and his hair ought to becropped close every week, plied Peggy with embarrassing questions on thesubject of fine needlework and stocking-darning, and drank four cups oftea in the meantime, with the air of one conferring a favour thereby.
'I hear you see a good deal of Miss Forster's nephew,' she remarked, hereye wandering round the room, and taking in the pile of untidy musicscattered about on the window-seat and Father's dirty shooting-bootsunder the sofa.
'I suppose we do,' said Lilian meekly, wondering privately where Archiewas, and if he would go home without saying good-bye.
'Not a very suitable companion for any of you, I consider. Young peoplein America are brought up to have far too good an opinion of themselves,and this lad is no exception. I was not at all pleased with his mannerwhen I met him at the Willows,' frowning slightly at the remembrance;for Archie's cool and elaborately courteous treatment of her criticismson that occasion had completely baffled her.
But luckily the growing dusk reminded Mrs. Davenport that country laneswere unpleasant to drive along in the dark, so drawing on her gloves sherouted her groom, a small, depressed-looking boy, out of theharness-room, where he was retailing his grievances to the awe-strickenJoe, and tucked her black skirts safely into her pony-carriage, assuringthe children that it should not be long before she looked them up again,as she had promised their aunt to keep an eye on them after they wereleft alone. Half-way down the drive she met Mr. Vaughan, and stopped togive him some good advice as to the general upbringing of his family,even suggesting that Peggy--for a yearly consideration--should betransplanted to Pendlefield Rectory, to share the studies and maternalcare of the five little Davenports, a proposal which he declined with ahaste that was perhaps more emphatic than polite.
With a sigh of relief Lilian had adjourned with Peggy to the kitchen tohelp Nancy to wash up, when the back-door was softly pushed ajar.
'Is she gone?' said a cautious voice, and a fluffy red head appeared inthe opening, only followed by the rest of Archie's body on the fullassurance of the entire retreat of the enemy. 'I thought I should havedied with laughing,' announced that youth, sitting down easily among thecrockery on the table. 'My stars! Isn't she a terror? I shall have tokeep clear of the Willows every afternoon next week, for I know she'llmake a point of calling and telling poor Aunt Mary her candid opinion ofme. What a mercy we live at Gorswen instead of Pendlefield! Think ofexchanging the Rector for _her_ and little crushed Mr. Davenport! If shecame to live any nearer than four miles away, I declare I would pack myboxes and beg to be sent off to school!'