Page 10 of The Carter Girls


  CHAPTER X.

  OFF FOR THE MOUNTAINS.

  On the train at last and headed for the mountains!

  That month of preparation had been about the busiest in the lives of theCarter girls. Douglas had graduated at school and taken her examinationsfor college, besides being the head and guiding star of the family. Herfather's burden seemed to have fallen on her young shoulders; everythingwas brought to her to decide. Helen was fully capable of taking theinitiative but her extravagant tendencies were constantly cropping up,and Douglas was afraid to give her free rein for fear she would overturnthem in a ditch of debt.

  The letter from their mother had been unfortunate in a measure since ithad but strengthened Helen's ideas on what was suitable in the way ofclothes. She wanted to plunge into the extravagance of outing suits andpig-skin shoes and all kinds of extremely attractive camping get-upsadvertised in New York papers. Douglas was firm, however, and Helen wasforced to content herself with a love of a corduroy skirt, cold gravy incolor, with sport pockets and smoked pearl buttons. Lucy had pouted awhole day because she could not have one, too, just like it.

  Nan was a great comfort to Douglas as she was fully sensible of theimportance of their not charging anything, no matter how small, so thatwhen their father did recover he would not have debts awaiting him. Theonly trouble about Nan was she was so often in a dream, and her memorywas not to be depended upon. With all the good intentions in the worldshe would forget to deliver a most important message, or would promiseand mean to attend to something and then lose herself in a book ofpoetry and forget it absolutely.

  Lucy was gay and bright and very useful when it came to running errands.Her only trouble was the constant sparring with Helen, whom she secretlyadmired more than any one in the world.

  Master Bobby had spent a blissful month of "shoving" for Dr. Wright. Dr.Wright had a theory that all children were naturally good and that whenthey were seemingly naughty it was only because they were notsufficiently occupied.

  "Give the smallest child some real responsibility and he is sure to beworthy of it. If their brains and hands and feet are busy with somethingthat they feel is worth while, children are sure to be happy." Bobby hadsat in his car a half hour at a time, while the doctor was busy withpatients, perfectly happy and good, contenting himself with playingchauffeur. He would occasionally toot the horn just to let the passer-byunderstand that he was on the job.

  The beloved home had been put in apple pie order and handed over to thepoor, rich fugitives from the war zone. The kind old cook had biddenthem a tearful farewell and betaken herself to her new place aftercareful admonishings of her pupil, Helen, not to let nobody 'suade herthat any new fangled yeast is so good as tater yeast.

  The real fun in the venture was buying the provisions and necessarycamping outfits. That was money that must be spent and they could do itwith a clear conscience. The lists were written and rewritten andrevised a score of times until they could not think of a single thingthat had been left out. The freight was sent off several days ahead ofthem to give poor Cousin Lizzie's bed time to get there before them.

  Poor Cousin Lizzie, indeed! She was brave about the undertaking up tothe time of starting, but when she was handed into the common coach,there being no parlor car on that morning train, she almost gave up.Nothing but the memory of old Cousin Robert Carter's kindness to hermother sustained her.

  "A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children," shemuttered as she sank on the dusty, dingy cushions of the very common,common day coach. "That is surely what old Cousin Robert Carter did. Ihave not ridden in such a coach for more than thirty years, I am sure.Why was this train chosen? There must be good trains running to themountains that have chair cars."

  "Yes, Cousin Lizzie," said Douglas, "but you see Greendale is a verysmall station and only the very accommodating accommodations stop there.The trains with chair cars stop only at the big places."

  Douglas was very tired and looked it. She was very pale and her firmmouth would tremble a little in spite of her self-control. No one seemedto notice it, as every one was tired and every one had been busy. Shefelt when they were once off that she could rest, if only Cousin Lizziewould not complain too much and if Helen and Lucy would not squabble andif dear little Bobby would not poke his head too far out of the window.

  Dr. Wright came down to see them off and as he shook hands with Douglas,he looked very searchingly at her tired face.

  "You must be selfish when you get to the mountains and rest for a week,"he said. "You are about all in."

  "Oh, I'll be all right in a few minutes. It is just getting startedthat has tired me. Bobby, please don't poke your head out,--your arm,either. Don't you know something might come along and chop you right intwo?"

  "I'm a shover for this here train. If I don't stick my arm way out thetrain a-runnin' up behind us will c'lision with us."

  "See here, young man, you are still in my employ and I don't intend tohave you working for the C. & O. while you are working for me. When mychauffeur travels to the mountains, he has to keep his hands inside thewindows and his head, too. He must be kind to his sisters, especiallyhis Sister Douglas, who is very tired. I am really letting you off dutyso you can take care of Douglas. You see, when a lot of women start on atrip they have to have some man with them to look after them."

  "That's so, boss, an' I'm goin' to be that man. Women folks is meant tolook after eatin's an' to sew up holes an' things. I'm hungry rightnow!" exclaimed Bobby, man-like, finding some work immediately for thedown-trodden sex.

  "All aboard!" called the brakeman.

  Dr. Wright was bidding hasty adieux when it was discovered that Nan hadleft the carefully prepared lunch basket in the waiting-room. Poor Nan!She had been occupied trying to remember some lines of Alfred Noyesabout a railroad station and had carelessly placed the basket on theseat beside her, and then, in the excitement of getting Oscar and Susaninto the colored coach and picking up all the many little parcels andshawls and small pillows that Cousin Lizzie always traveled with, shehad forgotten it.

  "Oh, let me get off and get it," she implored, but Dr. Wright gentlypushed her back into her seat and hastily whispered something to herthat made her smile instead of cry, which she was on the verge of doing.She sat quite quietly while the engine puffed its way out of the shedand Dr. Wright jumped off the moving train.

  She waved to him and he gave her a reassuring smile.

  "He is like the hills," she thought. "'I will look unto the hills fromwhence cometh my help.'"

  "Nan, how could you?" started Helen, and Lucy chimed in with:

  "Yes, how could you?"

  "I am so sorry, but maybe it will come all right, anyhow."

  "Come all right, anyhow!" sniffed Cousin Lizzie. "It is all right now asfar as I am concerned. I certainly could not taste a mouthful in suchsurroundings as these."

  Douglas put her tired head on the dingy, dusty red plush upholstery andclosed her eyes. Food made no difference to her. All she wanted wasrest. Bobby opened the package of chewing gum that his employer hadslipped him as advance wages, and forgot all about the hunger that hehad declared a moment before.

  "I ain't a keering, Nan, 'bout no lunch. I am goin' to buy all thechoclid an' peanuts what the man brings in the train an' old lunch ain'tno good nohow."

  Nan kept on smiling an enigmatic smile that mystified Helen and Lucy.They were accustomed to Nan's forgetting things but she was usually socontrite and miserable. Now she just smiled and peeped out the window.

  "I don't believe she gives a hang," whispered Lucy to Helen.

  "Looks that way. If she had spent hours making the sandwiches, as I did,maybe she would not be so calm about it."

  "I made some of them, too."

  "Oh, yes, so you did,--about three, I should say."

  "Lots more. You're all the time thinking you make all the sandwiches."

  Douglas opened her tired eyes at the sharp tone of voice that Lucy hadfallen into.

  "
Girls, please don't squabble."

  "All right, we won't! You go to sleep, honey, and I'll keep Bobby fromfalling out the window and agree with Lucy about everything even if sheinsists that Dr. Wright is an Adonis. Come here, Bobby. Helen is goingto make up a really true story to tell you," and Helen lifted herlittle brother from the seat by Douglas. In a few moments he was soabsorbed in the wonderful true story about bears and whales that alittle boy named Bobby had shot and caught, he did not notice that thetrain had stopped at the first station after leaving Richmond.

  Some excitement on the platform made them all look out the window. Theconductor had waved to the engineer his signal for starting when a carcame dashing madly up to the station. Frantic pulling of ropes by theaccommodating conductor on the accommodating accommodation! A belatedtraveler, no doubt!

  "It's my 'ployer!" screamed Bobby. "Look at him park his car! Ain't hesome driver, though?"

  It was Dr. Wright, breaking laws as to speed, presuming on the Red Crosstag that the doctors attach to their cars. Several policemen had notedhim as he sped through the suburbs, but felt surely it was a matter oflife and death when they saw the Red Cross tag, and let him gounmolested and unfined.

  "Here it is, Miss Nan!" he called as he waved the heavy basket,endangering the precious sandwiches. Eager hands drew the basket throughan open window while a grinning brakeman and a rather irate conductorgot the train started once more.

  "Here's some aromatic ammonia! Make Miss Douglas take a teaspoonful in aglass of water," he said to Helen as he handed a small vial to her overBobby's head. "It almost made me miss the train, but she must have it."

  "Oh, Dr. Wright, I am so much obliged to you. You are very kind to us."

  "Helen's been making up a wonderfulest true story for me," called Bobby,leaning out dangerously far to see the last of his 'ployer. "So I'mbeing good an' not worrying Douglas."

  There was unalloyed approval now in the blue, blue eyes, and Helenthought, as the young doctor gave one of his rare smiles, that he wasreally almost handsome.