CHAPTER XIV.
"IT WAS NOT WORTH WHILE."
It was a week later. Every one in the house had got accustomed to thepresence of Captain Richmond, and Nan more fully, day by day, endorsedNora's and Kitty's verdict with regard to him. He was delightful; hewas kind; he was sunshiny. It seemed much easier to be good now thathe was there. The children--even Augusta--were all anxious to pleasehim, and at odd moments when lessons were over, and on half-holidays,he always had a pleasant scheme to propose, and would take his fournieces, as he called them, to all kinds of places which Nan had neverseen before. When there, he had a way of singling her out, taking herhand, and explaining things to her, so that from the first she was hisvery special little friend.
A week went by in this fashion, and then all of a sudden, just whenthey least wished for it, came a pouring wet Sunday. It was early inJune and the weather ought to have been fine. Captain Richmond saidthe clerk of the weather-office was seriously to blame; but whoeverwas wrong, the clouds were unmistakably there, and out of their sullendepths poured the rain without a moment's intermission. The childrenhad managed to go to church in the morning, but in the afternoon itwas hopeless.
"Uncle Peter," said Kitty, "come up to the schoolroom and let us havea cosy time."
"I am quite agreeable," replied the Captain.
"But, Peter," said his sister-in-law, "I am expecting quite a numberof guests this afternoon; you surely will not leave me in the cold!"
Uncle Peter put on a very wry face.
"You know, Jessie," he answered, "that I am not at all fond of whatmay be called callers; I never know what to say to them, and I do notthink they find me at all agreeable. May I not go and be happy in myown way with the children?"
"Very well," said Mrs. Richmond in a resigned voice; "but please sendAugusta downstairs, for she always helps me so nicely to entertain mySunday visitors."
"And now come, Uncle Peter--do not let us delay--come at once," saidKitty.
So, with Kitty hanging on one arm and Nora appropriating the other,the Captain made his way to the schoolroom. Here he was welcomed withshouts of glee by Nan and Augusta. Chairs were pulled forward, and thelittle party settled themselves in a happy circle.
"Oh Gussie!" said Kitty all of a sudden, "I quite forgot; mother wantsyou to go downstairs and help her entertain the Sunday visitors."
"Oh, but I won't! It is quite too bad," said Augusta, flushing withindignation. "Why should I?"
"You do most Sundays, and you always said you liked it so much."
"Well, I won't go now; it is not fair.--I need not go, need I, UnclePeter?"
"You must arrange that with your aunt, Augusta; it is not my affair."
Once again Captain Richmond put on that straight look which Augustaboth adored and feared. It always caused her heart to palpitate, andgave her a sensation of longing to be quite a different girl from whatshe really was. She got up now, frowning as she did so.
"It is too bad," she said--"just when we were going to have real fun."
"If you like, Augusta," suddenly said Nan, "I will go down when halfthe time is up, and you can come back. I dare say Mrs. Richmond willnot mind; she only wants some one just to hand round the cups of tea."
"Oh no; that would never do," said Captain Richmond. "I will go downwhen half the time is up and send you back, Augusta. Nan is too youngto be initiated into the ways of drawing-room folks."
So Augusta had to go, very unwillingly, and the two little sisters andNan were alone with the Captain.
"Now, Uncle Peter," said Kitty the moment the door closed behindAugusta, "we want you to be your very nicest self."
"And what is my nicest self?" he answered.
"We want you to be your exciting self."
"You quite mystify me, Kitty. I should like to know when I am nicest.And I never knew before that I was exciting."
"But you are when you make schemes."
"Oh! that is it, is it?"
"And we want a big, big scheme now--something to last us formonths--something to---- You know what I mean, don't you, Noney?"
"To rouse us all up--to make us walk with our heads in the air," saidNora.
"Dear me! How very funny!"
"We want to be soldiers. Do you not remember you talked to us beforeabout being soldiers? Let us be soldiers for a bit, and make lovelyplans, and you be our captain," said Kitty again.
"Well, of course you can be soldiers; that is easy enough."
"But you must settle a sort of victory time for us--a great big rewardtime--and let it come three months from now, after we come back fromthe summer holidays, or _perhaps_ before. Plan it all out, UnclePeter; plan everything out as straight as possible. Make us soldiers,and give us a battle to fight."
"Dear me!" said Uncle Peter, "this is quite a Sunday afternoon talk.Do you mean it in the religious sense?"
"Oh yes, if you like; but what we want is to have something to fighthard about.--Don't you think so, Nan?"
Nan's face had turned very white; her eyes, shining with intenseearnestness, fixed themselves on Captain Richmond's face.
"A sort of moral battle," said the Captain. "Well, of course it can bedone. I will plan it all out and tell you what we will do to-morrow; Icannot think of it in an instant. Those who wish to join must beregularly enrolled as soldiers."
"Soldiers under Captain Richmond," laughed Nora--"or Captain Peter, aswe always call you. You will have to set us things to do, and you willhave to write to us from Aldershot, and you must make a whole lot ofpunishments if we go wrong. Oh! it will be exciting--quite splendid."
Just then Miss Roy came into the room.
"How cosy you all look!" she said "What is up?"
"We are frightfully excited," said Nan. "We are going to be turnedinto soldiers, and we are going to fight under the banner of CaptainPeter. This is our captain," she added, touching the young soldier'sarm with great affection; "there is nothing we would not do forhim--nothing."
"I declare you quite touch me," said the good-natured fellow. "Well, Iwill think something out and let you know to-morrow. Now let us talkof something commonplace."
The conversation was merry and full of laughter; the wet afternoon wasforgotten. Augusta came back long before they expected her.
"There are no visitors," she said, "and Aunt Jessie did not want me."
"I was just coming down, but this is much pleasanter,"--said theCaptain.
"Oh Augusta! we have something wonderful to tell you," said Nora. "Sitright down here in this comfortable chair.--Please, Uncle Peter, tellher."
"Oh! it is a wild scheme of these little folk," he answered. "I do notsuppose a great tall girl like Augusta will join under anyconsideration whatever. Well, it is this, my dear niece Gussie--thesechildren want to become soldiers."
"Play soldiers?" asked Augusta.
"No, not exactly, but good, tough, moral soldiers; and they want toenlist under me, and I am to help them, forsooth! I will draw upplans, and those who want to join can be enrolled to-morrow afternoon.But I do not suppose you will care about it."
"Oh yes, but I will!" said Augusta. Her eyes wore a startled look; ared flush came into her cheeks. She looked at Nan, who shuffleduneasily and looked down.
"I shall join," she said the next moment; "it sounds very exciting,and the sort of thing I should like."
"Then there will be four of us.--Perhaps Miss Roy will join too?" saidKitty.
"Yes, dear; I should quite like to," said the governess. "I wantsomething to stimulate me, and I should like to serve under CaptainPeter."
"Then I shall deserve my captaincy," said the young man.--"And now,chicks, I am going away, for you have given me a pretty nut to crack.We will arrange to meet here at six o'clock tomorrow, when I shallhave all my plans drawn up."
When the Captain left the room the four children were silent for ashort time; then Miss Roy burst in.
"My dears," she said, "the clouds are breaking; there is a ray ofsunshine. We will have tea immediate
ly, and then get ready to go toevening service."
As Nan knelt in church she thought of Captain Peter, and wondered whatsort of soldier she would turn out under his leadership.
"If it were not for Augusta I should be the happiest of girls," shethought. "I do hope that to be one of his soldiers will mean lots ofhard lessons and stiff sort of things to do, and it won't mean beinggood and straight and honourable. Oh! I do hope and trust he won'twant us to be any of those, for I am not straight, Gussie is notstraight. Oh dear! oh dear! it is exciting. I am afraid."
Augusta rather avoided Nan that evening, to Nan's own great relief.The next day brought as usual a rush of work, with no opportunity forany private talks, and it was not until a few minutes to six thatAugusta and Nan found themselves alone.
Nan had gone into her room to brush her hair, preparatory to theCaptain's visit, when there came a tap at her door and in walkedGussie.
"Well, Nan," she said, "are you prepared for this?"
"Prepared for what?" asked Nancy.
"You know what I mean: for this sort of soldier business--folly, Icall it. Of course, I am going to join; but are you?"
"Yes, Augusta, I am," said Nancy. She spoke in a very firm voice.
"Well, all right; you know what it means, I suppose. There will be alot of morality in the matter."
"What do you mean by morality?"
"Keeping straight--keeping in the centre of that road where you wantto walk, but where you never do walk. I thought I would warn you. Ifyou are thinking of doing what the others are going to do, you willhave an impossible time; but do not say I did not warn you."
"No, I won't, Augusta. Oh! please remember that you are not"----
"That I am not what?"
"That you are not going quite straight yourself."
"You little wretch!" said Augusta. "If you ever dare--dare to breathewhat I in a moment of kindness helped you to do, won't you catch itfrom me? You do not know what I can be when I am really your enemy.Your own position, too; what are you in this house? A nobody. There! Iwill say no more."
Augusta ran out of the room. Nan stood white and trembling. Sheclasped her hands together; her eyes, brimful of tears, were fixed onthe window.
"How am I to bear it?" she thought. "Just when I was beginning to beso happy! Why am I so awfully miserable? I wonder what it means. I dothink that I really quite hate Augusta."
Just then Kitty's gay voice was heard.
"Come, Nancy; our captain will arrive in a minute or two, and he willwant all the soldiers to be waiting for him."
Kitty's laughing face, wreathed in smiles, was poked round the door.Nan made an effort to cheer up.
"How white you look!" said Kitty. "Is anything worrying you?"
"Oh no; nothing really."
"I thought you would be so glad about this! You do not know whatheavenly plans Uncle Peter is always making up. I will tell you aboutsome of his funny plans when we were children another time; but ofcourse there is nothing like this, and it was my thought to begin. Youwill see how splendidly he will draw up his rules, and how easy andyet how difficult it will be to obey them. He has a sort of way ofsearching through you, and dragging the best out of you, and crushingdown the bad in you. Oh, he is a darling! He is like no one else inthe world."
"I think so too," said Nan.
"And yet you look so sad, Nancy! I am sure you need not be, for everyone is so fond of you! And as for Uncle Peter, there is hardlyanything he would not do for you. He always calls you his dear littlenew niece; he is quite as fond of you as if you were his real niece."
"Is he--is he really?" said Nan. "Would he be as fond of me if heknew"----
"Knew what, Nan?"
"That I---- Oh Kitty! you know that I have no money, and you knowthat"----
"Now stop," said Kitty. "If you do want to make me angry you will talkof that sort of thing again; it is very unfair of you after whatmother said."
"Oh, then, I won't--I won't!"
"If that is all that is worrying you, cheer up; Uncle Peter does notwant sad faces."
"And if---- Suppose--suppose I was not good at any time, would he hateme then?" asked the little girl.
"I am sure he would not. Once, do you know, I did such a naughtything! I spilt a lot of ink on the carpet. I was a tiny child, andwhen Miss Roy came in--Miss Roy had not been with us more than amonth, and I did not know how kind she would be--I said pussy hadjumped on the table; and I had scarcely said it before Uncle Petercame in--he was staying in the house, you know. He sat down by thefire. It was wintertime, and he asked me to come and sit on his knee;and he put his arm round me, and I sat there so cosy, though I had abig, big ache in my heart. Miss Roy quite believed me about pussy, andshe got the ink wiped up, and washed the carpet with milk, so that itshould not show; and then she went out of the room, and I nestled upclose to Uncle Peter. There was a big pain in my heart. Uncle Peterlooked straight down at me.
"You see how the milk has taken out the ink; you can scarcely see itat all now," he said; and then he raised my face and looked into myeyes, and he said, "Kitty, it was not worth while."
Then I knew that he knew; and, oh, I cried so! And I said, "Did youhear?" And he said, "I saw you spill the ink, and I heard."
"And, oh! I was so sad, and he comforted me. He was not angry afterthe first, but he got me to go straight up to Miss Roy and tell herthe truth. It was awfully hard to do, but I did it; and then heforgave me, and I had no more pain in my heart. Come now, Nan--come."
"I want to kiss you first," said Nan. "Kitty, you do not know how muchI love you. I love you better at this moment than I have ever donebefore."