CHAPTER XI
FUN WITH LADY ELIZA
Hannah, in her white cap and apron, came at once and opened the door.Being a well-trained maid, she stepped back, and held the door open forthe lady to enter, but as the caller did not seem inclined to do so, butpersistently held out her card, Hannah took it, saying, “The ladies arenot at home, madam.”
Still the caller stood motionless, and Hannah looked at her with somecuriosity. The lace veil so shrouded her features that they were notvery discernible, but when Hannah’s glance fell on the rigid, pale hand,she gave a scream:
“My sakes, ma’am! is it dead ye are, or fainted?”
Not being able to grasp at once the truth of the matter, Hannah took thetwo cold hands in her own, and shook the lady slightly.
Lady Eliza toppled over, and would have fallen to the floor, but thatHannah caught her in her arms, and dragged her into the hall, where shedropped her on a large sofa.
“Delia!” she called, flying to the kitchen, “fetch some water. There’s alady fainted!”
Dick and Dolly, unable to restrain themselves longer, came running in,and met Hannah, who returned, followed by Delia with a bowl of water.
“Hurry up, Hannah,” cried Dick. “She’s in an awful faint! Can’t youbring her to?”
Dolly was dancing around the prostrate form of the visitor, and Michaeland Pat were peeping in at the front door.
“Ah, ye scallywags!” cried Delia, realising that some mischief was up.“What are ye up to, now? Who’s this leddy?”
So lifelike was the whole effect of the figure, that Delia could not atfirst take in the fraud. But when she did, she went off in peals oflaughter, and Hannah joined in heartily.
“Aren’t ye the smart scamps, now!” cried Delia, proud of the latestexploit of the children. “An’ will ye look now, Hannah? That’s MissRachel’s best blue dress! I’m wonderin’ ye didn’t recognise it!”
“I never thought,” said Hannah, still gazing half-fearfully at thefigure on the sofa. “I took it for granted it was a friendly visitor.”
Whereupon Dick outspread Lady Eliza’s arms in such a comical way, thatDelia went off again in fresh bursts of laughter.
“Now to fool the aunties,” said Dick, after the servants had returned totheir work and Dick and Dolly were left alone with their new possession.“How shall we fix it up, Dollums?”
Dolly considered. She was more ingenious than Dick in arranging dramaticeffects, and at last she said:
“I think we’ll just have her seated in a corner of the veranda, andthen, when the aunties come home, I’ll tell them there’s a lady waitingto see them.”
“Yes, that’ll be fine; let’s fix her now.”
So Lady Eliza Dusenbury was gracefully seated in a piazza chair. Uponher knees lay an open magazine, held in place with one slender pinkhand.
“Those hands give her away, Dolly,” said Dick. “They don’t look a bitreal.”
“Neither they don’t,” agreed Dolly; “I’ll get gloves.”
She ran upstairs and down again, bringing a pair of light kid glovesfrom Aunt Rachel’s room, which she succeeded in getting on the LadyEliza’s hands.
“That’s a heap better,” said Dick; “now, with the veil, and as itsgetting sort of darkish, I don’t see how they’ll suspect at all.”
Quietly the Lady Eliza sat waiting. Not quite so quietly, Dick and Dollysat on the top step of the veranda, waiting also, and at last Michael,who had gone after the Dana ladies, drove them up to the steps.
He had been charged by the twins not to mention their new acquisition,so, of course, had not done so.
Dick and Dolly met their aunts, with a smiling welcome, and then Dollysaid:
“There’s a lady to see you, Aunt Rachel; as you weren’t home when shecame, she sat down, over there to wait.”
In her pleasant, dignified way, Miss Rachel crossed the veranda,followed by Miss Abbie.
Though the ladies had slightly relaxed their “society” manner whengreeting the twins, they instantly assumed it again as they went to meettheir visitor.
“Good-afternoon,” said Miss Rachel as she neared the lady reading themagazine.
But the stranger did not look up, and Miss Rachel assumed she had notheard.
“How do you do?” she said, in louder tones, and held out her hand.
Miss Abbie also approached, and said “Good-afternoon,” and extended herhand, but apparently the visitor had no intention of stopping herreading.
With no thought other than that the lady was deaf or exceedinglypreoccupied, Miss Rachel stepped nearer, and said very loudly:
“Good-afternoon!”
Still no response, and now Miss Rachel became frightened.
“She has had a stroke or something,” she exclaimed, and, stooping, shepeered into the stranger’s face.
“Oh, Abbie! her cheek is hurt! Somebody has struck her, or thrown astone at her. How dreadful!”
Miss Abbie fluttered about.
“Oh, Rachel! How awful! What shall we do? Call for help, but don’t letthe children come here.”
“Yes, let us come,” cried Dick, as he and Dolly danced toward the group.“Let us come, she’s our friend; she’s Lady Eliza Dusenbury.”
“What do you mean?” cried Miss Rachel. “This lady has been hurt somehow.Go and call Hannah. Or perhaps we had better send Michael for a doctor.”
“No, don’t, Aunt Rachel,” said Dolly, who was now shrieking withlaughter. “Lady Eliza isn’t much hurt. But isn’t she a dear!”
Dolly threw her arms round the strange lady’s neck, and patted theinjured cheek gently. Magazine and shopping bag slid to the floor, butotherwise, the stranger made no motion.
“Dolly, behave yourself!” cried Aunt Abbie. “What do you mean by suchactions? Let the poor lady be! Oh, what shall we do, Rachel?”
But Aunt Rachel had begun to see daylight. The irrepressible mirth ofthe two children told her that there was a joke somewhere, and then, asshe recognised her own dress and hat, she suspected the truth.
“H’m,” she said; “suppose we take off the poor lady’s veil, and see howmuch she is hurt.”
“Suppose we do,” said Dolly, and she obligingly assisted her aunt toremove the veil from Lady Eliza’s beautiful, but scarred face.
“Well!” she exclaimed as she saw the glass eyes and the pink wax face,“what _have_ you two been up to, now?”
As for Aunt Abbie, she sank down on a nearby chair, helpless withlaughter.
Then Aunt Rachel followed her example, and Dick and Dolly danced roundthe three seated figures, while they screamed themselves hoarse withglee.
They moved Lady Eliza’s arms into threatening and despairing poses, eachmore ridiculous than the other.
They took off her hat, and breaking bunches of wistaria from the verandavine, they wreathed her golden mop of hair with them.
They took Aunt Rachel’s eyeglasses from the little gold hook on herbodice, and perched them on Lady Eliza’s nose, sticking a pin in the waxto hold them on. And at each ridiculous demonstration the two auntswould become convulsed with laughter.
“Isn’t she lovely!” said Dolly, at last, as she hung around AuntRachel’s neck, and watched Dick tie the string of a red balloon to LadyEliza’s hand, just so that the balloon kept thumping her in the face.
“She is beautiful,” agreed Aunt Rachel, with a shade of mentalreservation in her tones. “Where did you get her, and why did you takemy newest gown to play with?”
“I didn’t know it was your newest gown!” said Dolly, regretfully; butAunt Rachel told her not to mind, they would take it off, and there wereseveral older ones that would do equally well for Lady Eliza.
The story of the auction was told, and the aunts had another season ofmirth over the ridiculous bidding.
“All right,” said Aunt Rachel, after the story was finished, “but neverbid on anything unless you have enough money to pay for it.”
>
“We didn’t,” said Dick; “we counted our money first. And truly, this wasthe only thing in the whole auction we wanted.”
“Well, I’m glad you have her. I think you can have good fun with such abig doll. To-morrow I’ll find you some clothes.”
Aunt Rachel was as good as her word, and next day she went to the atticand found several discarded costumes of her own and Aunt Abbie’s thatwere fine for Eliza. Hats and bonnets, capes and shawls, a parasol and afeather boa,—indeed the Lady Eliza soon had a complete and evenluxurious wardrobe.
Aunt Abbie touched up the injured cheek with some water-colour paints,and then the injury scarcely showed at all.
That afternoon the twins prepared to spring the joke on Pinkie and Jack.They expected them both to come over and play, and beforehand they gotthe Lady Eliza ready. The arbour in the playground was now nearlycovered with vines, and formed a well-shaded tent.
In here, at a table, they placed Eliza, her hands meekly in her lap, andher face downcast. She wore a black-and-white checked suit, and a blackhat and veil. Her hands were ungloved, but were filled with flowers,which concealed the artificial-looking finger-tips.
Having arranged her exactly to their liking, the twins sat on theveranda steps, waiting for their friends. Pinkie came first, and Jackcame very soon after.
“Let’s go out to the playground,” said Dick, casually.
“All right,” agreed Jack. “It’s too hot for tag; let’s play hide andseek.”
They all sauntered toward the playground, and as they nearly reached it,Jack said:
“Why, there’s a lady in there!”
“A lady?” said Dick, looking surprised. “What are you talking about?”
“There is,” repeated Jack; “see.”
They all peeped through the vines, and sure enough, a lady was seated atthe table. Her hands were full of flowers, but she appeared dejected,and her head drooped a little.
“It isn’t either of the aunties,” whispered Dolly, “they’re in thehouse.”
“Who is it then?” Jack whispered back, and Pinkie said, “Don’t let’s goin, I’m afraid.”
“Afraid of a lady!” said Dick. “Pooh, I’m not. Maybe it’s your mother,Pinkie.”
“No, it isn’t,” she replied. “Mother’s at home. Maybe it’s Hannah.”
“What would Hannah be here for?” said Dolly. “Let’s go in and see who itis.”
“All right,” said Dick, and he stepped inside. “She won’t speak to me,”he said, stepping out again. “You go in, Jack.”
Not wishing to be thought cowardly, Jack stepped into the arbour, and inhis politest tones, said:
“How do you do, ma’am?”
But the lady did not move, and just looked at Jack with big blue eyes,that stared through her black veil.
“She’s a funny lady,” said Jack, rather bewildered. “She won’t speak,and she just stares at me.”
“You try, Pinkie,” said Dolly.
So Pinkie went up to the lady, and in her sweet little voice said:
“What’s the matter, lady?”
She, too, received only a blue-eyed stare, and no word of reply.
“Perhaps she’s asleep,” said Dick.
“No, her eyes are wide open,” said Jack, his own eyes also wide open insurprise.
“Then she must have fainted,” said Dick; “we must try to bring her to.”
He gave the lady a pat on the shoulder, but still she didn’t stir.
“Hit her harder,” said Dolly. “Don’t hurt her, you know, but you have toshake people to make ’em come out of a faint.”
Dick thumped her on the back, and slily bent her arm up until she seemedto be shaking her fist at them. The flowers tumbled to the floor, andher other arm flew up above her head.
“Oh!” cried Pinkie, and ran farther away from the nowbelligerent-looking lady.
“Oh!” cried Jack, catching on. Then, screaming with laughter, he seizedthe lady’s hand shook it, crying, “How do you do, ma’am! How _do_ youdo? I’m _so_ glad to meet you!”
Pinkie was still mystified, so Dolly ushered her up to the lady, saying,“Miss Pinkie Middleton ’low me to make you ’quainted with Lady ElizaDusenbury!”
Dick had taken off Eliza’s veil, and Pinkie at last realised what sortof lady she was meeting.
“Oh, Dolly,” she cried, “where did you get her? Isn’t it fun! I thinkshe’s fine!”
“She’s great!” declared Jack. “You fooled me good, old Mr. Dick Dana!What’s her name, did you say?”
“Lady Eliza Dusenbury,” said Dick, “but we call her Eliza, if we wantto. Let’s take her for a ride.”
They got the little express wagon that Dick and Dolly used to cart theirplants or flower-pots around the gardens in, and lifted Eliza in.
“She’ll have to stand up,” said Dolly, “because she can’t sit down.”
“All right,” said Jack, “we’ll tie her so she won’t upset.”
They fastened her iron pedestal, which served her instead of feet,firmly to the wagon, and then proceeded to deck both vehicle andpassenger with flowers, till it looked like a float in a parade.
Dolly and Pinkie made a gilt paper crown, and wound gilt paper around along rod for a sceptre.
“Oh, let’s make her Queen of the Fairies!” cried Pinkie.
So the dress Eliza had on was changed for a white one. This was deckedwith ribbons and garlands of flowers. Crown and wand were put in place,and then the whole four combined their ingenuity to invent wings. Atlast they were cut from thin pasteboard, and covered all over withfringed white tissue paper. This fringe, about an inch wide, and cutfine, was quickly made, and when pasted on in close rows, gave a lovelyfluffy appearance to the wings.
A gauzy white veil, spangled with gilt paper stars, floated down fromthe crown, and the Queen of the Fairies presented a most delectableappearance.
The express wagon was not good enough for this dream of beauty, so itwas made into a float, by placing some boards on top of it. This top wasneatly covered with a sheet and decked with flowers.
Then the Queen of the Fairies was raised to her triumphal car, and herfour willing subjects drew her about.
Long reins were made by cutting strips of white muslin, and these wereattached to four prancing little steeds, while the Queen held the endsin her waxen hands. The cortège made a tour of the grounds, and drew upfinally at the house to exhibit their peerless Lady Eliza to theaunties, who expressed heartfelt admiration.
“It’s the best plaything ever,” declared Jack, as he and Pinkie wenthome. “We’ll be over to-morrow to play some more.”