CHAPTER XIX.
A VISIT TO RICHMOND.
Those were certainly three mad, merry days I spent in Richmond with theTuckers. Poor Father had to go to Cousin Park Garnett's and he justhated it. But he had promised her that the first time he went toRichmond he would stay at her house, and stay he had to.
The Tuckers met us at the station in little Henry Ford. It had been onlya few days since they had been with us at Bracken, but we had much totalk about and a great deal of news to exchange.
"Father is having the deer skin tanned to make a rug for our room atGresham, and the antlers are to be mounted for a hat-rack," exclaimedDum.
"Sally Winn tried to die last night, and I drove over to Milton withFather, and Jo told me he thought you, Dee, were the most sensible ladyhe had ever met," I managed to get in.
"He promised me a pointer pup; I hope he won't forget it. Brindle had afight yesterday and is all bunged up from it. I know you are dying tomeet Brindle," said Dee.
"No doubt she is pining away for that honor," teased Mr. Tucker, "butdon't you think she could wait until after luncheon? How about it, MissPage?"
"Well, if Brindle can stand it, I fancy I can," said I. And so we wentto a delightful restaurant, where we had a scrumptious luncheon (I knowno other word to express it): Lynhaven oysters on the deep shell;Hampton spots so beautifully cooked that it must have made them glad tobe caught and fried; shoestring potatoes vying with the fish in charm;Waldorf salad, with everything in it but the kitchen stove, as Deedeclared.
Cousin Park was not expecting Father until the afternoon, so he wasspared to us for a little while, much to his delight and ours.
"Now, what shall we have for dessert?" asked our genial host. "Tweedlesalways wants pie,--cocoanut, as a rule."
"Pink ice cream for me," said Father. "Did you ever see a country Jakethat didn't want pink ice cream as soon as he hit the city?"
"What seasoning?" laughed Mr. Tucker.
"I don't care, just so it's pink."
"I believe I'll have what Father has. I like it pink, too."
"Well, cocoanut pie for mine," ordered Dum.
"And lemon meringue for mine," ordered Dee.
"You are not like the young man who never ate lemon meringue pie becauseit messed up his ears so, are you, Dee?" said Mr. Tucker; and so our gaylittle luncheon proceeded.
"My, how I hate to go to Cousin Park's!" sighed Father. "She is kind ina way, but so--so--ponderous."
"Poor Father!" and I patted his knee under the table, "I do wish youdidn't have to go."
"Well, I have plenty of engagements that will keep me busy, and I won'thave to do much more than eat and sleep there. But it is her long formaldinners that bore me so."
"Well, you have simply got to have dinner with us to-morrow, Saturday,evening at the Country Club, and no doubt these girls will have youfox-trotting before the evening is over," and Mr. Tucker would not take"No" for an answer,--not that Father was very persistent in his refusal.We dropped the dear man at Cousin Park's great, dark house and he hadthe look of "Give up all hope ye who enter here."
The Tuckers had a very attractive apartment in a large, new, up-to-datebuilding, but I could fancy the havoc that Dum and Dee caused wheneverthey resorted to the gloves to settle their disputes. The place was sofull of nicknacks that one could hardly turn around. There were reallyenough of what Mammy Susan called "doodads" to decorate a mansion, andall of these things were crowded into a not very large apartment. Someof the things were very beautiful and all of them were interesting, butif they belonged to me I would pack about half of them away in storage.
I thought of a colored woman in the country who lived in a very smallcabin with six little children falling over her feet all the time, andshe used to pray fervently, "Oh, Gawd, gimme grace not ter git sopestered dat I'll throw ary one er dem out do's." I am afraid I wouldhave been so pestered with all of the doodads that I would surely havethrown some of them outdoors.
"Miss Page, I have been trying to persuade Tweedles to help me to getrid of some of the mess in these rooms," said Mr. Tucker, almost asthough he had read my mind. "I feel the stuffiness of it even more sinceour visit at Bracken." That was it, the simplicity of Bracken hadspoiled me for overcrowded rooms.
"But Zebedee, everything we want to get rid of is just the thing youthink most of, and the things that you think superfluous are our specialtreasures," complained Dum.
"Well, I am afraid we'll have to wait until you get some kind ofeducation, and then, if stocks is riz, we'll move into a house bigenough to spread out in."
Their rugs were beautiful and their pictures I have since found out werevery fine. At that time, however, they did not seem very good to me.The taste in art of a fifteen-year-old girl who has seen next to nopictures is not to be relied upon; and no doubt my taste was abominable.
Brindle took me to his heart and made me perfectly at home. He was abow-legged, brindle bull with undershot jaw and eyes like damson jam.Dee loved him next to Zebedee and Dum; and I know cried herself to sleepmany a night at boarding school, longing for her pet. He was certainly avery human person, or rather dog, I should say, and ruled the Tuckerswith a rod of iron. He actually made Mr. Tucker get out of a chair thathe, Brindle, had taken a fancy to, and he curled himself up on the seatwith a haughty sniff that made us scream with laughter, until Deeinsisted that we control our merriment, as Brindle did not like to belaughed at.
"It is his one fault," she said; "he has not a very keen sense ofhumor."
"He has one other, Dee," said Mr. Tucker; "he does smell like a dog, youmust admit." Dee had to admit it, but declared she thought a dog shouldsmell like a dog and not like a tuberose; so the discussion ended.
We took in the movies that afternoon. I don't know how many of them, butit was great fun.
"Zebedee won't usually let us go without him," said Dee, "but he thinksyou are dignified enough to hold us down."
"Me--dignified? Why, father thinks I am as wild as a March hare!"
"Well, Zebedee says you know when to be quiet. Zebedee likes you a lot,Page," declared Dum. "If you weren't exactly what you are, Dee and Iwould be awfully jealous of you. What you blushing about?" Such adouble-barreled compliment would make an old pair of leather saddle bagsblush; and a girl of my thin skin naturally took on a rosy hue, that Deedeclared put me out of the chaperone class.
That evening we went to a vaudeville performance. Mr. Tucker's newspaperconnection gave him the _entree_ anywhere in the house, so we were verygrand in box seats. A particularly amusing black-faced artist was givinga song-and-dance when Dee exclaimed:
"Look up there in the balcony!" And what should we see but Father's dearold lean, solemn face convulsed with merriment. Zebedee--I mean Mr.Tucker--went up and made him join us.
"How did you escape Cousin Park?" I asked.
"Oh, she thinks I am in solemn conclave with some of my professionalbrethren! I didn't exactly tell a lie, but I acted one. It was eitherthat or burst a blood vessel. You know my Cousin Park, do you not, Mr.Tucker?"
"Y-e-s, I know her, but she never seems to know me. With Mrs. Garnett,one must have either plenty of very blue blood or more than plenty ofvery yellow gold. I've got blue blood to burn, but no yellow gold, asyou know. There must be something radically wrong with me in her eyes.What it is, I don't know; nor do I much care. I was very fond of herhusband. Major Peyton Garnett was a good friend to me. I admired himimmensely."
"Yes, the Major was a fine old gentleman," said father. He afterwardtold me that one reason he had to escape from Cousin Park's presence orbreak a blood vessel was that she had so many unkind things to say ofMr. Jeffry Tucker, the old croaker that she was! "I am sorry for you,Page, but you are in for a Sunday dinner at Cousin Park's." I groaned inagonized anticipation. "I couldn't get out of it for you, my child, shemade such a point of it. She is our kinswoman, and we have to show hersome respect."
"Well, thank goodness, this time I don't have to go to the dentist's,too! The combination
of Cousin Park and the dentist is a strong one, Ican tell you. If you can stand her, Father, I reckon I can."
"That's my good girl," said Father, patting my shoulder, and Mr. Tuckergave me a warm and friendly glance and said:
"Tweedles and I will see that you get there late and come away early."
It seems to me I laughed more at that vaudeville performance thananybody in the theater. I had seen very few shows in my life, andeverything was new and fresh to me. I was not bored even by the strongman who seemed to be so tiresome to the audience, and no joke was toomuch of a chestnut to be scorned by me. To have Father with us, too,made my cup of happiness full to the brim.
The next evening, Saturday, we had dinner at the Country Club, andstayed for the dance afterward. The Country Club was a beautifulbuilding with spacious grounds, golf links, tennis courts, and a view ofthe James River that appealed to me very much. The dinner was fine, andFather and I had a splendid time.
"I am glad to escape all the meals I can at the apartment house cafe,"confessed Mr. Tucker. "When Tweedles are away, I eat anywhere but athome."
"You are an extravagant piece," said Dee.
"But I have my regular meals served for Brindle," laughed Mr. Tucker.
"Oh, that alters the case, then!" exclaimed Dee. "Brindle should havejust as good food as people, with a variety of vegetables."
What a ballroom floor they had at that clubhouse! I had never danced, asI said before, until I went to school, but I had been an apt pupilbecause I was such an eager one, and now knew enough of the moderndances to get along very well. I had never in my life danced with a man.At school we took turns guiding, and I was much sought after because ofmy being so untiring.
"Miss Page, you are the guest of honor and I am the host, so it is inorder that you give me this first dance." And Mr. Jeffry Tucker bowed infront of me as though I were a great society belle.
The Tuckers were all born dancers, and as I glided away with Mr. Tucker,I remembered what Miss Jane Cox had said about his leading the germansat the University with his little sweetheart Virginia, afterward hiswife. A great wave of pity for the poor little dead wife swept over me,and I came very near missing step in a rather intricate dance we wereattempting. It must have been so sad to die and leave such a delightfulhusband and the twins, who were such charming girls that they must havebeen cunning little babies. What a vigorous presence was JeffryTucker's! He must have been a lover that any girl would have been happywith. I hoped if I ever did have a lover that he would be the kind thatI fancied Mr. Tucker must have been. Something made me blush as mythoughts dwelt on my ever having a lover.
"My, what a color dancing gives you!" exclaimed my partner. "A minuteago you looked so sad I wondered what you were thinking of, and now youare as rosy as the dawn."
"'It is darkest just before dawn,' you know," I answered. I wonderedwhat he would have said had he known what I was thinking of when Ilooked so sad. And then a strange thing happened, and the kind of thinghas happened very often in my life when I have been with Mr. Tucker: hetook up my thoughts almost as though he had read them and said:
"I was thinking of my little girl wife, Virginia. I so often think ofher when I dance. She and I danced our youth away. She was a wonderfuldancer. She had the same smooth glide that you have. I hate a hoppydancer," and with his usual disregard of appearances he wiped his eyesin which the big tears had gathered. I did feel so sorry for him, Iactually had the hardihood to pat him on the shoulder where my left handrested, but I could not say anything to him, I felt so choky. The suncame out in a very few moments, however, and he smiled into my eyes, andwe finished the dance without ever losing a step. I know Mr. JeffryTucker is the only person in the world who could cry and dance at thesame time. His tears were sincere, too, quite as sincere as his dancing,and he certainly put his whole soul into every step he took.
"Miss Page, you have been mighty good to Tweedles. I don't know how tothank you for it," he said, as the music stopped and left us strandedacross the ballroom from Father and the twins, also, who had beendancing with some college boys, home for the holidays.
"Me good to them! Why, they are good to me, as good as gold!"
"Oh, I know what you have done for them. They control themselves so muchbetter than they used to and are so much more considerate in every way.I see your influence at every turn. They haven't had a fight since theycame home and actually listen when I talk, whether I have anything tosay or not." I had to laugh at this. I had really made the girls come totheir senses about fighting when they disagreed. Even with gloves on, itwas a very boisterous way of settling disputes; and we had a rule at 117Carter Hall, instituted by me, that a fine of one penny was imposed whenany of us interrupted, unless the speaker had had the floor out of allreason.
We found the girls enthusiastic over the dancing, and Father having asgood a time as any of us. It was his first experience in seeing the muchwritten and talked-of new dances, and he was greatly interested.
"Why, daughter, you dance beautifully!" he said fondly, as I squeezed inby him. "If you have learned as much Latin and French at Gresham as youhave dancing, you will be a highly-educated young woman."
"Well, I can't promise that," I laughed; "but I know how to conjugate'to dance' both in Latin and French."
"Well, to be able to conjugate as well as dance means you are becomingvery erudite. That is a very pretty step that Dum has been taking. Isthat the fox-trot? It looks easy, too."
"It is easy, Doctor Allison," answered Dum, "and now they are going todance it again. Come on and try!" And to the delight and astonishment ofall of us, Father was on the floor with Dum fox-trotting with aprecision that made us know he had been watching the dancers verycarefully and had been mentally dancing for some time. I know he had notdanced for at least sixteen years, but, like Miss Jane Cox, once adancer, always a dancer.
"This is more fun than Gresham," whispered Dee to me, when we stopped torest a minute between dances. The college students had been veryattentive and the twins and I had danced every dance. Who should comerushing up to us at this moment but Mabel Binks! She embraced usnoisily, and one would have thought we were her long-lost sisters. Wewere coldly polite, but she overlooked our want of cordiality andfastened herself on to us. There was nothing for us but to introduce herto Father and Mr. Tucker and the young men who had been dancingattendance on us. That was what she wanted, and the dead set she made atMr. Tucker showed what she considered big game. The festive Mabel, wholived in Newport News, was stopping in Richmond for a few days on herway back to Gresham. She was visiting an old cousin who, she volublyexplained, was too selfish to do anything for her pleasure. She had withdifficulty persuaded her to bring her to the Country Club, and now theywere there the cousin either wouldn't or couldn't introduce her to anymen.
"I can just shift for myself, I'll let her know!" the dashing girlexclaimed. "The wall is not meant for me to hold up, and if no one willask me to dance, I'll get out and do a _pas seul_!"
"I should like to see that _pas seul_, but first will you do me theextreme honor to dance this with me?" said Mr. Tucker, with mockgrandiloquence.
"Dee-lighted!" gushed Mabel, and was soon engaged in a boisteroushopping match with Mr. Tucker.
"I could kill Zebedee!" said Dum through clenched teeth. "I believe thatBinks thing came through Richmond with the hope of meeting him, and herehe tumbles at the first shot and goes off dancing with her as thoughit---- Oh, I can't talk about it, it makes me so furious. Look how theyare romping, too! I dare Dee or me to romp that way."
I could but recall the views Mr. Tucker had so recently expressed to meabout dancers who hopped, and here he was jumping around like a hen on ahot griddle, and as far as I could see, enjoying himself very much. Isympathized with Dum; while I did not feel called upon to get into arage and clench my teeth, I was a little disappointed in my kind host. Ifelt very young and shy all of a sudden. Mabel, as she triumphantly boreoff the prize, had in a most condescending way tossed me herhandkerchief an
d gloves with a "Here, child, hold these for me!" That Iwould not do. The heavy smell of musk that hung around all of Mabel'sbelongings sickened me; and why should she make a catch-all of me,anyhow? I put them down disdainfully on a chair, meeting with Dum'shearty approval by my act, and then had a nice quiet dance with Father,who proved to be as good a partner as one could want.