CHAPTER XXV--THE ORPHANS' FORTUNE
A great deal happened at Sunrise Farm before these later occurrenceswhich so delighted Ruth Fielding. The excitement of the loss of the six"fresh airs" was not easily forgotten. Whenever any of the orphans wason the Sunrise premises again, they had a bodyguard of older girls orboys who kept a bright lookout that nothing unusual happened to them.
As for the twins, Sadie took them in hand with a reformatory spirit thatamazed Willie and Dickie. Those two youngsters were kept at Sunrise Farmand put in special charge of Sadie. Thus Mr. Steele had the three Rabyorphans under his own eye until he could hear from Canada, and from theorphanage, and learn all the particulars of the fortune that might be instore for them.
After a bit Willie and Dickie found the watchfulness of their sistersomewhat irksome.
"Say!" the talkative twin observed, "you ain't got no reason to be sosharp on us, Sadie Raby. _You_ run away your ownself--didn't she,Dickie?"
"Yep," agreed the oracular one.
"An' we don't want no gal follerin' us around and tellin' us to 'stop'all the time--do we, Dickie?"
"Nope."
"We're big boys now," declared Willie, strutting like the young bantamhe was. "There ain't nothin' goin' to hurt us. We're too big----"
"What's that on your finger---- No! the other one?" snapped Sadie, eyeingWillie sharply.
"Scratch," announced the boy.
"Where'd you get it?"
"I--I cut it on the cat," admitted Willie, with less bombast.
"Humph! you're a big boy--ain't you? Don't even know enough to let thecat alone--and I hope her claw done you some good. Come here an' let meborrer Miss Ruth's peroxide bottle and put some on it. Cat's claws ispoison," said Sadie. "You ain't so fit to get along without somebodywatchin' you as ye think, kid. Remember that, now."
"We don't want no gal trailin' after us all the time!" cried Willie,angrily. "An' we ain't goin' to stand it," and he kicked his bare toeinto the sand to express the emphasis that his voice would not vent.
"Humph!" said Sadie, eyeing him sideways, meanwhile trimming carefully astout branch she had broken from the lilac bush. "So you want to be yourown boss, do you, Willie Raby?"
"We _be_ our own boss--ain't we, Dickie?"
For the first time, the echo of Dickie's agreement failed tomaterialize. Dickie was eyeing that lilac sprout--and looked from that tohis sister's determined face. He backed away several feet and put hishands behind him.
"And so you ain't goin' to mind me--nor Miss Ruth--nor Mr. Steele--nor Mr.Caslon--nor nobody?" proceeded Sadie, more earnestness apparent in eachsection of her query.
Her hand reached out suddenly and gripped Willie by the shoulder of hisshirt. He tried to writhe out of her grasp, but his sister's muscleswere hardened, and she was twice as strong as Willie had believed. Thelilac sprout was raised.
"So you're too big to mind anybody, heh?" she queried.
"Yes, we be!" snarled the writhing Willie. "Ain't we, Dickie?"
"No, we're not!" screamed his twin, suddenly, refusing to echo Willie'sdeclaration. "Don't hit him, Sade! Oh, don't!" and he cast himself uponhis sister and held her tight about the waist. "We--we'll be good," hesobbed.
"How about it, Willie Raby?" demanded the stern sister, without loweringthe stick. "Are you goin' to mind and be good?"
Willie stared, tried to writhe away, saw it was no use, and capitulated."Aw--yes--if _he's_ goin' to cry about it," he grumbled. He said it withan air intimating that Dickie was, after all, quite a millstone abouthis neck and would always be holding him back from deeds of valor whichWillie, himself, knew he could perform.
However, the twins behaved pretty well after that. They remained withSadie at Sunrise Farm, for the whole Steele family had become interestedin them.
The inquiries Mr. Steele set afoot resulted, in a short time, ininformation of surprising moment to the three Raby orphans. The oldinquiry which had brought the lawyer, Mr. Angus MacDorough, toDarrowtown three years before, was ferreted out by another lawyerengaged by Mr. Steele.
It was found that Mr. MacDorough had, soon after his visit to the Statesin the matter of the Raby fortune, been stricken ill and, after a longsickness, had died. His affairs had never been straightened out, and hisbusiness was still in a chaotic state.
However, it was found beyond a doubt that Mr. MacDorough had beenengaged to search out the whereabouts of Mrs. Tom Raby and her childrenby the administrators of the estate of Mrs. Raby's elderly relative, nowsome time deceased.
Nearly two thousand dollars in American money had been left as a legacyto the Rabys. In time this property was put into Mr. Steele's care tohold in trust for the three orphans--and it was enough to promise themall an education and a start in life.
Had it not been so, Mr. and Mrs. Steele would have felt sufficiently inSadie's debt, because of her having saved little Bennie Steele from thehoofs of the Black Douglass, to have made the girl's way--and that of thetwins--plain before them, until they were grown.
How much Ruth Fielding and her chum, Helen, were delighted by all thiscan be imagined. Sadie held an almost worshipful attitude toward Ruth;Ruth had been her first real friend when she ran away from "themPerkinses."
That Ruth and her chum bore the affairs of the Raby orphans in mind, andcontinued to have many other and varied interests, as well as amultitude of adventures during the summer, will be explained in the nextvolume of our series, to be entitled: "Ruth Fielding and the Gypsies;Or, The Missing Pearl Necklace."
Meanwhile, the visit to Sunrise Farm came to a glorious close. Thebelated Fourth of July was celebrated on the evening of the fifth, in aperfectly "safe and sane" manner by the burning of the wealth offireworks that Mr. Steele had supplied.
The days that followed to the end of the stay of the girls of BriarwoodHall and their brothers, were filled with delightful incidents. Picnics,fishing parties, tramps over the hills, rides, games on the lawn, andmany other activities occupied the delightful hours at Sunrise Farm.
"This surely is the nicest place I ever was at," Busy Izzy admitted, onthe closing day of the party. "If I have as good a time the rest of thesummer, I won't mind going back to school and suffering for eight monthsin the year."
"Hear! hear!" cried Heavy Jennie Stone. "And the eats!"
"And the rides," said Mercy Curtis, the lame girl. "Such beautiful ridesthrough the hills!"
"And such a fine time watching those fresh airs to see that they didn'tkill themselves," added Tom Cameron, with a grimace.
"Don't say a word against the poor little dears, Tommy," urged hissister. "Suppose _you_ had to live in an for orphanage all but fourweeks in the year?"
"Tom is only fooling," Ruth said, quietly. "I know him. He enjoyedseeing the children have a good time, too."
"Oh! if you say so, Miss Fielding," said Tom, laughing and bowing toher, "it must be so."
The big yellow coach, with the four prancing horses, came around to thedoor. Bobbins mounted to the driver's seat and gathered up the ribbons.The visitors climbed aboard.
Ruth stood up and waved her hand to the rest of the Steele family, andSadie and the twins gathered on the porch.
"We've had the finest time ever!" she cried. "We love you all for givingus such a nice vacation. And we're going to cheer you----"
And cheer they did. At the noise, the leaders sprang forward and theyellow coach rolled away. Ruth, laughing, sat down suddenly beside herchum, and Helen hugged her tight.
"We always have a dandy time when we go anywhere with _you_, Ruth," shedeclared. "For you always take your 'good times' with you."
And perhaps Helen Cameron had made a very important discovery.
THE END