A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia

by Alice Turner Curtis

  CHAPTER XIII

  HOME AGAIN

  Winifred awakened suddenly. For a moment she looked about with startledeyes.

  "Winifred! Winifred!"

  "That is Mother calling," she exclaimed aloud, springing to her feet,and resting one hand against the smooth trunk of the pine tree. For amoment she was too surprised and sleepy to respond to the call; then shecalled back, "Mother! I'm in the woods!" at the same time moving slowlyaround to the other side of the big tree.

  "Oh! There's a light! And there's the road! And there is Mother!" andstumbling and running Winifred appeared in the road only a shortdistance from the flickering light of the lantern.

  "Mother! Mother! Did you come all alone?" called Winifred, as her motherheld her close as if, thought the little girl, "I had been away a longtime."

  "I thought I was way in the deep woods, and I was close to the road allthe time. But Fluff is lost," she explained, as her mother led hertoward the cart.

  "No, dear; Fluff passed us on our way home, and will probably be safe inhis stall long before we get back," replied Mrs. Merrill, and as theydrove through the darkness she told her little daughter of how troubledshe and Mrs. Pernell had been as the afternoon passed and Winifred andRuth failed to return; of Gilbert borrowing Ned's pony, of meeting Ruth,"and I have been here an hour, calling and calling," she concluded.

  "How sound asleep I must have been not to hear you," said Winifredhappily, snuggling closer to her mother's side.

  "After Fluff ran off I began to be frightened," she continued. "Ithought of catamounts and bears; and then I thought of my sampler."

  "Your sampler?" repeated Mrs. Merrill, not understanding just whatWinifred meant.

  "Yes, Mother dear! Don't you remember the words you traced on it? 'Thereshall no evil befall thee. For he shall give his angels charge overthee, to keep thee in all thy ways,'" repeated the little girl. "Ikept saying it over and over and I was not afraid."

  For a moment Mrs. Merrill did not reply. She stooped and kissed herlittle daughter, and then said: "That was right, dear child."

  It was nearly midnight when Mrs. Merrill and Winifred reached home, andGilbert lifted a very sleepy little girl from the pony-cart. "Mrs.Pernell and Ruth are here," he said, "and she has some hot broth ready."

  Gilbert looked after Ned's pony before following his mother and sisterinto the house. Mrs. Pernell had already prepared his supper and he hadeaten it with Ruth on reaching home after their long walk; but thatseemed a long time ago, and he was quite ready to sit down at thecandle-lit table and join the others. The hot broth, toast and damsonpreserves were very welcome to Winifred and her mother. The little grouparound the table were all too tired to talk much, but they smiledhappily at one another, rejoicing that they were all safe and at home.

  It was decided that Mrs. Pernell and Ruth should stay the remainder ofthe night with the Merrill's.

  "Hero will take care of our house," Ruth said confidently, as she andher mother entered the pleasant chamber where they were to sleep.

  "Mother, you never scold me, do you?" she said, just as Mrs. Pernellextinguished the candle, and smiled happily to herself at her mother'slittle laugh.

  "Why, Ruthie dear! I should hope not. You know 'scold' is an ugly word.There is nothing about it that is fair. It means to 'find fault,' whichis never quite fair; do you think it is?" and Ruth agreed that "scold"had an ugly sound.

  "We didn't mean to stay away and to worry you," said Ruth.

  "Of course you didn't, dear child. Go to sleep," replied her mother, whowas thinking to herself that no other little girl was as dear and goodas her own little daughter. And, strange as it may seem, Mrs. Merrillwas thinking that very same thing about Winifred.

  How much there was for the two little friends to talk about the nextday! Gilbert and Fluff had started off at an early hour to bring homethe pony-cart, and early in the afternoon Betty Hastings came to seeRuth. She knew nothing about the adventure of the day before, andlistened eagerly to Ruth and Winifred as they told of the lonely road,the coming of darkness, and of the deer and fawn that Ruth had seen.

  The two younger girls looked at Betty admiringly as they all sattogether in Mrs. Pernell's front room. Betty's smooth brown curls underher pretty white straw hat, her shining brown eyes and pleasant smile,and the pretty dress of blue and white plaid, made her well worth theirapproving glances. Both Ruth and Winifred wondered to themselves why itwas that Betty's hands were always clean, her hair smooth, and her dressalways neat and in order. They decided, as they had often done before,that it was because Betty was so nearly grown up, nearly thirteen. Theywere quite sure that being tidy and careful was a gift that came withyears.

  Ruth always liked to have Betty come to see her.

  "It's just like really being grown up when Betty comes," she hadexplained to her mother, "because we always sit in the front room, andnever play dolls." So this afternoon when Mrs. Pernell brought in a traywith the little silver pitcher and sugar bowl, the luster teapot, andthe treasured Canton cups and saucers, together with a plate of roundfrosted cakes, and Ruth had the pleasure of giving Betty and Winifred acup of "real tea" she felt herself the most fortunate little girl inPhiladelphia.

  "'Tis not a taxed tea," Mrs. Pernell declared smilingly; for Americanshad refused to receive any tea on which the Government of Great Britaindemanded an unlawful tax.

  "I came to ask you and Winifred to a May party," said Betty, when shewas ready to start for home. "My mother says I may invite a dozen girlsto go Maying to some pleasant place on the river, where we can gatherflowers, put up a May-pole, and have a picnic lunch. Mother will getsome one to drive us all out in a big wagon."

  Both Ruth and Winifred were delighted at the invitation, and thankedBetty. May-day was nearly two weeks distant, but they were glad to haveso pleasant an invitation. And the front door had hardly closed behindtheir visitor when Ruth exclaimed:

  "We must begin on that table right away, Winifred, so that it willsurely be finished by May-day. I have just remembered that May first isBetty's birthday! Her mother always has a party for her."

  "So it is!" responded Winifred, as she followed Ruth toward the shed.

  There was a piece of chalk in the drawer of the work-bench, and Ruth,laying the square of smooth dark wood on the top of a barrel, began tomark a large heart, while Winifred stood beside her watching admiringly.

  "There!" Ruth exclaimed, as her rather uneven chalk line came to an end."I guess that is enough to go by. We can make the edges smooth with someof the tools."

  Winifred agreed promptly. "I'll make the legs," she volunteered.

  "Be sure and have them all the same length," advised Ruth. "You can takethis chalk and mark the places where to saw;" and in a few momentsWinifred with a small sharp saw was endeavoring to cut through thestrips of hard wood selected for table legs, while Ruth with a sharpknife tried in vain to make some impression on the square of mahogany.Snap! went the slender knife-blade!

  "Oh, Winifred! quick! I've cut off my thumb!" screamed Ruth, as sheraced past the horrified Winifred and ran into the kitchen calling:"Mother! Mother!"

  In a moment her mother was beside her; the injured thumb was bathed andbandaged, and Ruth was explaining, with Winifred's help, how theaccident occurred. It was really a deep cut, and it was no wonder thatthe little girl had been frightened.

  Mrs. Pennell went to the shed with the little girls, and looked withtroubled eyes at the cherished pieces of polished wood, and the finetools scattered about the floor.

  "We must put all these tools carefully back in the chest, and the woodon the shelf just as your father left it. Winifred will help me, for youmust not use your hand, Ruth," she said.

  "But, Mother, we want to make a heart-shaped table for a birthdaypresent for Betty," Ruth explained. "Mayn't we use Father's tools?"

  "No, my dear. It would have been a very serious thing if you had spoiledany of his saws or planes. And those strips and squares of wood arevaluable. Besides that you and
Winifred are not accustomed to the use oftools; and you might really have cut off your thumb instead of onlycutting it," said Mrs. Pennell. "I am to blame that I did not tell youhow much your dear father valued these tools and wood."

  "Oh, Mother! You are never to blame. I ought to have asked you," Ruthdeclared.

  "Well, my dear, I really think it would have been wiser. But now we mustthink of something else as a present for Betty. With that hurt thumb,Ruth, I am afraid you cannot make her anything," responded her mother,leading the way to the seat under the maple tree.

  "Now, let us all try and think of something that Betty would like for abirthday gift," she continued, as they all sat down. Hero came boundingacross the yard, and took his usual place at Ruth's feet.

  "I know! I know exactly what Betty would like," declared Ruth, "and I amsure I could help make it. Candy! She loves candy. Can I not use some ofyour sugar, Mother, to make some heart-shaped sweets?" For Ruth had sometiny heart-shaped molds of tin, into which hot candy mixture could beturned, and that when cool came out in perfect shapes.

  "That will be better than a table," said Winifred eagerly, "and I knowmy mother will give me some sugar for such a purpose. And, Ruth! we canmake a heart-shaped box of paper to put it in."

  Mrs. Pennell listened smilingly as the two little girls made their planfor their friend's birthday gift. She promised to give them a portion ofher scanty store of sugar.

  "You will not need to make it for a week to come; and Ruth's thumb willbe well by that time. You may have the kitchen to yourselves on the lastday of April," she said.

  Ruth quite forgot the ugly cut in her excitement over the proposedcandy-making.

  "I am glad May is only ten days away," she said. "Just think of all thatis going to happen next month! Betty's birthday picnic, and my visit toAunt Deborah! And perhaps even more than that. Perhaps I shall seeLafayette! And perhaps the English will leave Philadelphia."

  Both her mother and Winifred laughed at Ruth's eager prophecy.