CHAPTER XXI
The Floral Festival
Bevis pulled round after all. As Dr. Tremayne had said, he had youthand a strong constitution on his side. The new method of treatmentseemed a miracle, and perhaps also the interview with Tudor, by settlingthe disturbance in his mind, allowed the medicines to have a fairchance. Nature reasserted herself, drove out baneful microbes, and setthat wonderful instrument of hers, the human body, once more in workingorder. As soon as the fever left him Bevis picked up very fast. Therewas so much to get well for. The papers, hidden away so long in Mrs.Jarvis's cottage, established without a doubt his claim to the Tallandproperty, and when the necessary formalities could be gone through hewould become its legal owner. Naturally the affair was the talk ofChagmouth, and Bevis would have been overwhelmed with visitors andcongratulations had not Mrs. Penruddock acted dragon, and kept away allcallers except those who had a special permit from the Doctor. Under herexcellent nursing he gained strength rapidly, and by the time St.Gervan's Day came round he looked almost his old self again. The floralfestival held every year in honour of the patron saint of Chagmouth wasan extremely ancient custom dating back probably to dim ages before thedawn of history. The antiquarians of the neighbourhood said it waseither a survival from the Romans, or more likely still a relic ofDruidism and sun worship. Christianity, finding pagan rites had alwaysheralded the beginning of the summer, had adopted the feast anddedicated it to St. Gervan, an obscure Cornish missionary whose verylegend was forgotten. Nothing is so persistent, however, as the survivalof an old village fete, and for hundreds of years Chagmouth people, whenthe anniversary occurred, had decked their boats with flowers, and rowedacross the harbour, and round the point to the little old church on therock. Ages ago Druids had no doubt invoked the heavens to sendfavourable harvests, in mediaeval times the parish priest had probablyblessed the fishing boats according to the custom which still obtains ata few places in Brittany, but these points in the old ceremony were nowlost, and it had simply become a village holiday. It is likely enoughthat in these modern times, when few are given to sentiment, the wholething would have fallen into disuse, had not the Vicar had the happyidea of combining with it a memorial service for those who had "passedon" in the Great War. Chagmouth people might smile at saints' days, andask who St. Gervan had been, but they remembered their own boys, andwould take wreaths to lay round the Celtic cross that had been erectedin the little churchyard.
Mavis and Merle were very anxious to see the floral festival, andthough the Easter vacation was over, and school had begun again at TheMoorings, they were allowed a special holiday for the purpose. That wasMother's doing. She had come to Durracombe with Father for Easter, andhad stayed on for some weeks because Aunt Nellie was not very well, andneeded extra care. On St. Gervan's day she hired a car from the hotel,and drove over to Chagmouth with the girls in order that they might allsee the interesting ceremony. It was years since Mrs. Ramsay had been inthe little town, and she was delighted to renew her acquaintance withit. To-day it was entirely _en fete_. Everybody was down by the quayside, where rowing boats of every description were ready in the harbour.The veriest old cockleshells had been patched up for the occasion, andthere were also some motor-launches, and a small pleasure steamer whichhad made the trip from Port Sennen. All local boats were beautifullydecorated with flags and with boughs of lilac or branches of pinkhawthorn, and garlands of all kinds of gay cottage blossoms, May tulips,wallflowers, pansies, forget-me-nots, double daisies, pinks, orcampanulas. There was great competition in the decorations. The schoolchildren had special boats to themselves, and proudly held up bannersand little staves upon which were tied round bunches of flowers andflying ribbons. The Provident Societies also had their boats and theirbanners, and their members wore nosegays in their button-holes.
The Ramsays had been offered places in Mr. Penruddock's boat, and theywalked along the quay side to where she was moored. It was really abeautiful and very quaint scene, the harbour with its green, lappingwater looking for once like a field of flowers, and the flocks ofseagulls wheeling overhead and screaming at the unwonted sight. _TheDinah_, an old tub that belonged to Grimbal's Farm, had been madeunwontedly smart for the occasion with a coat of fresh paint. Boughs ofwhite lilac, wreaths of early roses, forget-me-nots, globe flowers, andstarry clematis had fashioned it into quite a bower, the Union Jackfluttered in the stern, and rugs were spread over the seats.
The bell in the little church of St. Gervan's was clanging loudly, andpeople were beginning to get into their various craft, and push awayacross the harbour. Merle was carrying her camera, and was busy takingsnap-shots of the interesting scene. Mavis, who had leanings towardsart, had brought her sketch-book and jotted down impressions inblack-lead pencil. For the sake of everybody it was a mercy that theweather, which had been behaving badly of late, held up and gave burstsof brilliant sunshine. It was only a short row from the quay to the oldchurch. The congregation disembarked at a jetty, moored their boats, andclimbed the eighty-seven stone steps that led steeply upward. To-day theusually neglected place had been made to look wonderfully spick andspan. The grass had been mown between the graves and round the soldiers'monument, where people were already piling up wreaths, floral crosses,and bunches of blossoms. The tower still lacked its coping, and thedoorway had sunk yet more, but the windows had been cleaned, and allcobwebs were swept away. Inside the church was decked with beautifulflowers, arum lilies, and roses, and pale-pink peonies and bush lupins,and many lovely half-exotic plants from the gardens of The Warren andthe Vicarage. People were taking their places on the old oak benches.The Ramsays went into a seat half-way down the nave, exactly behind theGlyn Williamses, who had arrived in a body, governess and all. Bevis wasabout to follow when the Vicar came up to him, and after a shortwhispered conversation motioned him into the Talland family pew. It wasBevis's first visit to church since his illness, and to the wholecongregation the Vicar's act seemed a public acknowledgment of the boy'snew position in Chagmouth. He flushed scarlet, hesitated a moment, thenstepped forward and took his place with a quiet dignity which becameboth himself and the occasion.
The short service was very simple, partly a thanksgiving, and partly amemorial to those who had given their lives for their country.
Through the open door came the sound of the lap of waves and thescreaming of gulls.
"They that go down to the sea in ships," ran the Vicar's text, "that dobusiness in great waters: these see the works of the Lord and Hiswonders in the deep."
To Mavis the sunlight and the scent of the flowers and the prayers allseemed blended together into one beautiful picturesque whole, thatjoined ancient and modern and the living and the dead, and united thosewho worshipped with their rough forefathers who had carved those quaintbench ends, or those figures of the saints with the colourings of red,and blue, and gold.
As Bevis left the cool, flower-decked church, and stepped through thedoorway into the sunshine, the very first person to greet him was TudorWilliams. The two boys gripped hands heartily, and without a trace ofany former resentment.
"I believe they'll be friends now," said Mavis, as she talked the matterover with Merle afterwards. "I was afraid the Glyn Williamses would bebitterly disappointed at the prospect of having to give up The Warrensome day to Bevis, but Tudor never cared much for Chagmouth, and what doyou think Gwen told me just as we were starting back in our boat? Why,that her father had the offer of Godoran Hall, and all the property andshooting, and he means to buy it, and go and live there. It will be moreconvenient for them close to Port Sennen, and it's a lovely place."
"Oh, hooray! Perhaps they'll ask us to go and see them there sometimes.I hated them at one time, but I'd be sorry now if I never saw themagain. Funny how one turns round, isn't it?"
"I never believe much in your violent hatreds," laughed Mavis. "Yougenerally like people in the end."
"Well, I liked Bevis in the beginning."
"So did I. I've always felt what Jessop said about him was tru
e, he's a'gentleman-born'! I don't mean that he's better than other people justbecause he's a Talland and owns the estate, but always, when he wasquite poor and people jeered at him and called him a nobody, he behavedlike a true gentleman. He stuck to Mr. and Mrs. Penruddock and helpedthem, though he hated the work on the farm, and he never spoke roughlyand rudely like some of the boys about Chagmouth. He loves books andnatural history and all those nice kinds of things, and he wanted to goon studying, and yet he didn't shirk a scrap at ploughing, and cuttinghedges, and feeding the poultry. I'm sure if any one in this worlddeserves his good luck it's Bevis."
The girls had been uncertain whether they were to go home with Fatherand Mother to Whinburn after Easter or stay in Devon, but Dr. Ramsay haddeclared that the improvement in Mavis's health was so marvellous thatthe experiment was worth continuing.
"You look a different child," he said. "We'll leave you at Durracombefor another term at any rate."
"And what about the next term after that?" asked Mavis. "It will beautumn then, and very cold at Whinburn."
"That's a problem that needs carefully thinking out," answered Dr.Ramsay diplomatically.
He would say nothing further at the time, but later on, before shereturned north, Mrs. Ramsay had a secret to tell to Mavis and Merle.
"How would you like to live always at Durracombe?" she asked them.
"Always? Oh, Mummie! I'd adore it, if only it weren't for you andDaddy."
"We've missed you loads, Muvvie darling!"
"But suppose we were here, too?"
"Here! All the time?"
Then Mother, very proudly, revealed her great piece of news.
"Father is going to help with the practice. Uncle David has too muchwork, and wants somebody to take part of it off his hands. He and Fatherwill go into partnership as soon as we can sell the practice atWhinburn. We shall all live here at Bridge House. It's a splendidarrangement, because then I can take care of Aunt Nellie. She's such aninvalid now that she needs constant nursing. Jessop wants to leave andkeep house for a brother, who is a widower, and Aunt Nellie would belost without Jessop, unless she had me to look after her instead. Don'tyou think it's a lovely plan?"
"Lovely! It's absolutely splendiferous!"
"And if Daddy brings the Ford car down here I can drive it for him,"sparkled Merle.
"We'll see about that; you wouldn't have had that wild motoringexpedition if I had been on the spot, you young madcap!"
"But I fetched Mrs. Jarvis, and if I hadn't she might never have knownit was her own son at the hospital, and then she wouldn't have toldabout the papers, and Bevis would never have got the Talland property.It's like the story of the old woman and her pig: the fire began to burnthe stick, and the stick began to beat the dog, and the dog began tobite the pig, and the pig jumped over the stile, and she got home atlast. We did Bevis a good turn when we tore over to Chagmouth thatevening, didn't we, Mavis?"
"Rather! Though we didn't guess it at the time."
"So 'Whinburn High' will know us no more. Well, we've settled down quitecomfortably at The Moorings. It's rather a decent school now Opal hasgone."
"I hope it will improve very much," said Mrs. Ramsay. "Miss Pollardtells me that in September she's going to have a first-class Englishteacher, a B.A. with plenty of experience, who will run the school onnew lines. Funnily enough, it happens to be Eve Mitchell, who waseducated at St. Cyprian's College, Cousin Sheila's old school. I'veoften heard her talk about Eve. _She_'ll soon reorganize The Moorings.They have such a splendid record at St. Cyprian's for games and musicalsocieties, and literary clubs, and nature-study unions, and all the restof it. It was a school in a thousand, according to Sheila. Miss Pollardhas the promise of ever so many fresh boarders, elder girls, not littleones. The climate of Durracombe is getting quite a reputation, I hear,and specially suits anyone who has been born in India. If the numbersincrease so much, particularly in the upper forms, it will give theschool a far better opportunity in every way, especially in games."
"Hooray," exulted Merle joyfully. "That's the one thing where TheMoorings has been really slack. We could do nothing with only that crowdof kids. But with girls of our own age, and a mistress from St.Cyprian's, we ought to forge ahead now, and have topping times. I'mlooking forward to the September term."
"And yet I loved the last one," said Mavis. "I feel nothing will everquite come up to my first peep at Devonshire, and those Saturdays atChagmouth. It was like seeing a new world. It's been a first impression,a fresh experience, a gorgeous spring, an idyllic few months--what elsecan I call it?"
"Call it a very fortunate term," finished Merle.
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN _By Blackie & Son, Limited, Glasgow_
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Transcriber's note:
Punctuation has been made consistent.
The use of "The Glyn Williams" and "The Glyn Williamses", and spelling and hyphenation have been retained as they appear in the original publication except as follows:
Page 168 to take you a walk _changed to_ to take you for a walk
Page 199 had brought a thermos flash _changed to_ had brought a thermos flask
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