CHAPTER XIX--A Queen And Her Subjects
The skies cleared during the night, and the day which succeeded wasperfect. Not a cloud rift obscured the sun, while the air wascrystalline, free from moisture and with enough coolness to beinvigorating to the last degree. It Would not be pleasant for some hoursto stroll through the woods because of their wetness, but a trifle likethat did not check the exuberant youngsters, who began dividing intosmall parties as before,--some to delve into bird lore, some to studytrees and others to fish. Breakfast was prepared out doors, for the foodcould not help tasting better than if cooked in the bungalow.
Mike Murphy, Alvin Landon and Chester Haynes, because of their formerassociation in many adventures, still chummed. While they were on themost amicable terms with all the other Boy Scouts, they naturally drewmore closely toward one another. It was creditable to the lads thatevery little company invited Isaac Rothstein to become a member of itfor the time. The lad was more quiet and reserved than usual, but heappreciated this special kindness shown him. He accepted the invitationof the Eagle Patrol, which was his own and with whose members he wasmore intimately acquainted.
The breakfast having been eaten and the morning chores finished, thetroop gathered on the beach in front of the clubhouse, where ScoutMaster Hall called out:
"We are going to have visitors; all must stay and give them a welcome."
They saw a canoe paddled by one man, with a woman sitting in the middle,while in the bow sat a little girl waving her hand at the group of boys.
"It's Sunbeam!" exclaimed the delighted Mike, "and her father andmither. That explains why the sun shines brighter this morning than iverbefoore, as the folks used to say whin thay obsarved me strolling downthe road."
There could be no mistake as to the identity of the callers. The doctorsmiled as he deftly plied the paddle and the boat headed straight forthe small landing.
"Hello, Cousin Mike! Are you glad to see me?" shouted an infantilevoice.
Mike yanked off his hat and waved it.
"If ye hev any doubt of the same I'll not wait fur ye to come ashore,but will swim out and shake hands wid ye," was his cheery reply as hemade a pretense of stepping into the water.
"Don't do that; I'll be there in a minute."
Alvin and Chester seized the bow of the frail craft and drew it slightlyup the beach. While they were doing this, Sunbeam made a leap and wouldhave fallen into the lake, had not the watchful Mike caught her. Hermother sharply chided her and her "cousin" was ready with an excuse.
"She obsarved me waiting fur her and catched me wink, which asked her tojump."
The doctor and his wife shook hands with the three youths that hadcalled upon them, and Alvin introduced them to Scout Master Hall and theBoy Patrols, who promptly drew up in line and saluted the visitors.
"You are as welcome as the flowers in spring," said Mr. Hall; "and mustnot think of leaving until after dinner at least and not then unless youmust."
"You are kind," said Mrs. Spellman, smiling into the bright faces, "butwe have stopped this time merely to leave Ruth for the day, unless shewill be in the way of the boys."
"Do ye hear _that_?" asked the aggrieved Mike; "it's our intuition tokaap her a waak at least and longer if her folks will consint."
"This time she is to spend the day."
"A day is twenty-four hours long," insinuated the Scout Master.
"But a work day is half or less than half of that," insisted the mother.
"This isn't going to be a _work_ day but a _play_ day, as Jerry Donovansaid after the bull had chased him a mile and was gaining on him all thetime."
"I guess we shall have to compromise, wife," remarked the husband, "andleave Stubby here until to-morrow."
"I am afraid there is no way of escaping it; Mike, you hear theagreement; you and Alvin and Chester must bring Ruth home to-morrow atthis hour."
"Ye hev me promise," and the other two bowed their heads.
"We are on our way to meet Uncle Elk, as I believe you call him," addedthe physician; "he should drop in on us but, as has been said, we canafford to waive ceremony when in the backwoods. Mrs. Spellman has neverseen him--nor have I for that matter--and we want to make hisacquaintance."
"You will find him one of nature's noblemen; we are likely to see himhere at any time."
The leader looked toward the margin of the woods, as if he expected thecoming of their Instructor in Woodcraft, but he did not appear. Themother gave a few words of advice to her child, who did not seem to hearor at least to understand one of them, and then was assisted into thecanoe, followed by her husband and the couple took their departure,heading eastward.
Before leaving, the physician repeated his proffer of services shouldany of the party find himself in need of them. The Scouts cheered himand his wife as they glided along the shore of the lake, the daughterwithdrawing her attention from her new friends long enough to blowkisses to her parents.
Cousin Mike naturally took charge of Sunbeam, who as naturally gaveherself over to his care, although the others postponed their departureto their fields of exploration and amusement for the sake of enjoyingher company for the time.
When Corporal George Robe came forward to speak to the child, Mike wavedhim off.
"Howld on, me bye; ye haven't been properly inthrodooced to the youngleddy, who is Queen of Gosling Lake."
The good-natured corporal looked inquiringly into the grave face of theguardian.
"If ye hev no objection, Sunbeam," said Mike, in his loftiest manner, "Itake the liberty of presinting Corporal Robe of the Wolf Patrol to yerleddyship. He isn't half as purty as he thinks he is, which is thedifference between him and mesilf."
The smiling corporal offered his hand to Ruth, who looked shyly up athim and startled every one by the abrupt question: "Can you stand onyour head?"
"Of course he can," Mike hastened to answer; "he prefers to stand on hishead instid of his feet; whin he slaaps at night he always rists hisshoes aginst the ceiling with his head on the flure, which is that softit sarves fur a piller. Corporal, stand on yer head fur the Queen."
The lad tried to back out, but all the others were vociferouslyinsistent and he was wise enough to make a virtue of necessity.
"I'll do anything for you," said he cheerfully; "give me room, boys."
All stepped back, leaving an open space on the beach for Robe to exhibithis acrobatic skill. He laid aside his hat, examined the ground for afew seconds, walked a pace or two and then, amid the hush, leaned overwith the palms of his hands on the earth. He rested the crown of hishead against the ground, his body being curved like a horseshoe, andthen gently pushed upward with his toes.
At first he did not rise far enough, and dropped back again, but he keptup the effort, coming nearer and nearer the perpendicular, but stillfalling a little short.
"Put more power in yer legs," called Mike, "and don't be so top-heavy."
"You are not half trying!" shouted several of the spectators; "thereisn't so much of you to lift from the ground."
Spurred by the taunts, the corporal made so vigorous an effort that hewent too far and landed on his back with a thump that made him grunt.Sunbeam clapped her hands and all laughed. The corporal did not crack somuch as a smile, but instantly renewed his efforts with the resolutionto do or die. Paying no heed to the vehement suggestions, he solved theproblem by clutching the grass with each hand and holding fast. Thuswhen his legs pointed skyward, he was able to preserve his balance andmaintain a wabbling verticality. He wavered for a time but finally gotthe right pose and cracked the heels of his shoes together in triumph.Then proudly bounding to his feet and clapping on his hat he called toMike:
"Now, let's see _you_ do better than that."
"I could do the same wid me eyes shet and me hands tied behind me, butit would not be fitting to me dignity; I'm superintendent and giveorders. What would the Queen like to hev done nixt?"
She was puzzled for a moment.
"Can you
run fast?" she asked.
"I'm the champion of Gosling Lake; I run so fast that out of pity furthese lumbering coal carts I save their feelings by refusing to run wid'em. Would ye like to obsarve a fut race?"
"Yes,--oh yes; I'll run with you all."
The thought had come to the girl like an inspiration, as she showed byher favorite act of clapping her hands and laughing.
The whole party were filled with delight.
"I must tell you that I can run awful fast," warned Sunbeam, aspreparations were begun for the test of speed; "I beat my father andmother every time we race."
"Ye don't till me!" exclaimed Mike as if frightened; "we'll hev to doour darnedst, and angels could do no more; but, Sunbeam," he addedimpressively, "ye mustn't let up, but show us no mercy."
"I'll try," she said with a shake of her head.
The preparations were simple and soon completed. Scout Master Hall wasrequested to act as umpire and complied. The beach sloped gently with avarying width of a rod or more. In order to give play to legs and arms,Mike arranged the contestants in two lines, one behind the other. Thenhe gravely paced off a distance of about a hundred yards, drawing a deepline in the earth by a sweep of the toe of his shoe, to mark theterminus of the course. Umpire Hall stationed himself a short distanceback of this, so as not to be in the way of the runners. Mike nextplaced Sunbeam in front of the two lines and gave his final orders.
"Mr. Hall will count one-two-three, and at the last word all will startand run like blazes fur the line I marked wid me toe. Ye must overtakeand pass Sunbeam in order to win the race, and I wish to add--"
Here he stepped to the eager forms and lowered his voice so that Ruthcould not hear his words----
"It is onnecessary on me part to warn ye that if by any trickery,desaat, chicanery, or unfair maans, one of ye should overtake the Queen,the aforesaid villain will have only two minutes to live. Mind, this isto be an honest race, as Tom Mugges said whin he chased a railroadtrain."
A general nodding of heads showed that all "caught on."
One of the necessities when a lad engages in a desperate foot race isfirst to spit on his hands and rub the palms together. Every Boy Scoutwent through that preliminary, grunted, inched forward, crowded hiscompanions on the right and left, spoke sharp words of reproach andintently watched the distant umpire for the word. Since he was master ofceremonies, Mike took no part in the contest, but stepped aside andwatched proceedings, so as to make sure his warning was heeded.
"Patrol Leader Chase, I obsarve that ye are grinning, showing the samewaakness that the girls do whin they see me approaching. Iron out yerface."
The Patrol Leader did his best to obey, but could not quite succeed.
"Captain Landon, ye have turned the toe of yer right fut in, which isagainst the rules; p'int the same outward, and save me the necissity ofmashing it. Second Mate Haynes, I saw ye take off yer hat jest now andscratch yer hid; don't do it agin, though of course it's solid. CorporalRobe, ye still seem to think ye are standing on yer head. Bear in mindthat ye're right side up and it depinds upon yersilf how long ye stayso."
Mike made clear the understanding to Sunbeam, who laughingly noddedseveral times, glanced over her shoulder and was in a tremor ofexcitement. Then he waved his hand to the umpire who from his station ahundred yards away was watching proceedings.
"Are you ready?" called Scout Master Hall.
"Riddy," replied Mike.
In a loud voice the umpire shouted--
"One--two--three!"
And immediately the race was on. Sunbeam came flying like a bird downthe course, her small feet twinkling as they doubled swiftly under her,her hair streaming straight away, while she struck a speed which in thecircumstances was remarkable.
And how those Boy Scouts did exert themselves! Every one grunted; mostof the eyes seemed to be popping out of their heads; a good many heldtheir breath or tried to do so, and all appeared to be putting forth themost strenuous exertions to overtake the fawn-like figure darting downthe course, continually glancing behind her, and not forgetting toscream with delight, for she was certainly holding her own, and striveas much as they might, there wasn't a lad that seemed able to lessen thedistance between himself and the little one.
Somehow or other, the stocky form of Corporal Robe drew slightly aheadof the others. This was strange, for, with the exception of Mike Murphy,he was the slowest sprinter in the whole troop. The director was able tokeep pace beside the boys, and observing the shameful trickery of thecorporal, shook his fist at him.
Just then Robe stubbed his toe--or seemed to do so--tumbled on his handsand knees and rolled over. Kenneth Henke right behind him, knew nobetter than to dive in a heap over him; Ernest Oberlander and ColgateCraig then mixed in, and after them came Kenneth Mitchell, Alvin Landon,Bobby Snow, Hubert Wood, Bobby Rice, Chester Haynes, Harold Hopkins andso many others that it isn't worth while to mention their names. Infact, it looked as if it were a football game in which the corporal washeading for the goal posts when he was downed and all the rest of theplayers piled on top of him.
By the time the mass could disentangle itself and the dazed runnersresume their wild dash for victory, Sunbeam bounded across the line,whirled about and, jumping up and down, clapped her hands and of coursescreamed with joy.
Scout Master Hall stood like a sphinx until the rabble came plungingdown the track and drew up in a disorderly crowd in front of him. Thenhe raised his hand for silence and called out in a loud voice:
"Sunbeam wins! You boys ought to be ashamed of yourselves."
The youths tried hard to look as if they were dejected over theirdisgrace. Several gouged their eyes; others muttered their discontent,and Chester Haynes had the audacity to declare loud enough for all tohear:
"Looks very much as if the 'empire' had money on the race."
Scout Master Hall must have heard the insulting words, but, if so, heshowed no evidence of it. Then the defeated runners recovered from theirhumiliation sufficiently to crowd around the victor and congratulate heron her success.
"It's larned 'em a lesson," said Mike, "which the same is not to be sococksure of their smartness whin they haven't got any smartness to becocksure of. But for this desarved defeat some of 'em would have theimperdence to challenge _me_ to a foot race."
The Boy Scouts were so charmed by the sweet innocence of the "Queen"that all remained at home for the remainder of the forenoon. Alvin drewfunny pictures for her on large sheets of paper; Chester showed nolittle ingenuity in cutting out dolls and odd figures; most of the otherboys went through scandalous antics for the sole purpose of winning herapplause, while Mike sang some of the lullabies and folk songs he hadlearned in Ireland. When he did this, everything else was hushed and allbecame listeners, for the charm of that wonderful voice wasirresistible.
At the dinner table the guest was set in a chair elevated for theoccasion, and presided like a veritable queen. Every hearer bowed hishead when she folded her hands, closed her eyes, looked upward and said:
"O Lord, who giveth all things good, To whom the ravens look for food, Deign to look on us from heaven, And bless the food that thou hast given."
There was a general scattering of the boys in the afternoon, thoughMike, Alvin, Chester and Mr. Hall remained behind with their visitor, itnot being thought prudent to take her on a ramble in the woods, whilethey were so damp.
It was a rare treat in the evening, when by the light of the fire andthe lamp overhead, all the company gave themselves up to amusing andbeing amused by their Queen, Scout Master Hall pleased the lads no lessthan the girl by his fairy stories, and again Mike sang with inimitablesweetness. Thus it went on until the "sandman" called on Sunbeam and shedrowsily said she guessed it was time for her to sleep. The mostluxurious couch in the bungalow was set apart for her; the leader andMike gave what slight help she needed in preparing for bed, and she saidher prayers at the knee of the Irish youth, who tenderly laid his handon the silken mass of hair and murmured:
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"Of such is the kingdom of heaven."