Brenda's Bargain: A Story for Girls

by Oliver Optic

  XIII

  THE VALENTINE PARTY

  When the "Leaguers" announced that they intended to have a valentineparty, Julia and Miss South gave their assent with hesitation.

  "It has a sentimental sound," said Julia,--"a valentine party! and I dowonder whom they wish to invite."

  But when they were questioned the girls explained that they did notintend to ask a single person from outside, and, of course, not a singleboy. The valentines that they most enjoyed sending were to other girls,and they wanted only girls at their valentine party.

  These, at least, were the words of Concetta, their spokesman, and if anyof the others dissented, they did not express their disagreement.

  "But we expect you, Miss South, and Miss Bourne and Miss Barlow, and allthe ladies who have been so very kind to us. Miss Northcote is in thesecret, but every one else is going to be very much surprised."

  "We'll try not to be curious, and I suppose that you wouldn't let usbribe Angelina to tell us."

  "Oh, no'm; no, indeed. Miss Angelina," and Gretchen turned to Angelina,who was standing near, "if you tell we'll never--never--"

  "Oh, I'm not afraid."

  "We'll never call you Miss Angelina again--just plain Angelina."

  "I wouldn't stand being called 'plain Angelina,'" said Miss South,patting Angelina's shoulder as she passed by.

  Now for a week or two there was much secrecy, much whispering, manyhours spent in the gymnasium at times when the rules about exercisingdid not require the girls to be there. Snippings of bright-colored paperwere found in the hall, and not only bits of paper but of coloredcambric; and Julia, and Nora when she came to the cooking-class, and allthe other older persons interested in the Mansion, professed to beentirely mystified by what was going on.

  But at last the eventful fourteenth of February arrived, and all theguests had assembled in the dining-room. The little stage had been setup, and the audience awaited the performance with great interest. Eachgirl, as before, had been permitted to invite two guests, and a numberof boys and men were present,--brothers, cousins, uncles, and anoccasional father, and the women relatives were out in full force.

  Angelina's sister had come in from Shiloh to spend a day or two, and shewas doorkeeper in Angelina's place. As the guests went to their places,each one was given a heart-shaped card, the edges gilded, to which wasattached by a pink cord a small pencil shaped like an arrow.

  "Evidently we are to keep some kind of a score," said Nora, "but what itis to be I cannot imagine."

  "Nor I," responded Brenda; "I haven't been taken into the secret, but Iknow that it is to be something exciting."

  Brenda had not yet outgrown her love for emphatic words, and "exciting"once in a while reappeared as a reminder of her childish years.

  They had not waited very long when the door from the little room behindwas opened, and a barefooted maiden with a broad straw hat torn at therim, and a blue calico gown looped up over a paler blue petticoat,appeared. She carried a rake, and "Maud Muller" was breathed around theroom before Angelina, coming from behind the scenes,--that is, from theother room,--had had time to say, "Ladies and gentlemen, you are askedto listen to each character, and to make a record of two things: First,those who look the best, then those who speak the best, that is,--Imean--" and for the first time almost in the memory of those presentAngelina seemed to have stage fright, and was unable to translate hersentences into the clearer and more elegant phrases that she hadintended to use. Thereupon she retired in some confusion, and Maud, whowas really Nellie, recited the simple lines of the charming poem:

  "'Maud Muller, on a summer's day, Raked the meadow sweet with hay, Under her torn hat glowed the wealth Of simple beauty and rustic health.'"

  "I doubt that Maud had exactly that brogue," said Nora. "If she had, Ibelieve that the judge would have been too thoroughly fascinated to rideaway."

  After this came a strange, Spanish-looking figure, who took a kneelingattitude with bowed head. The solemnity of the effect was somewhatmarred when Concetta--for she it was--turned her head around slightly tomake sure that the audience was fully appreciative of her. Many were theguesses as to what she portrayed, and indeed it was one of the guests, athoughtful girl, who ventured Ximena, "the angel of Buena Vista," andthen every one else wondered why she had not been clever enough to thinkof this.

  "'From its smoking hell of battle, love and pity send their prayer, And still thy white-winged angels hover dimly in our air.'"

  After the women of Marblehead and Barbara Freitchie had made themselvesknown, "The Witch's Daughter" was given in series of tableaux, in whichMaggie took the part of Mabel, and Angelina the part of Esek Harden, ina coat which, if not historically accurate, was at least a suitable kindof masculine attire for a girl to wear. Next came Haleema as theCountess, and Luisa as Amy Wentworth, in rather elegant clothes thatsurely must have come from one of the chests in the end room; and last,but not least, Anna and Rhoda, the two sisters in their long whitegowns,--Anna timid and shrinking and Rhoda vehemently denouncing her;Inez the former and Phoebe the latter,--reciting some of the moretragic stanzas of the poem.

  "Must we give up these pretty hearts?" asked one after another as Phoebebegan to collect the cards.

  "Oh, you can have them back again if your names are on them, we onlywant to count the votes;" and then there was a general murmur, for somepeople had forgotten to record their opinions and a little time waslost. But in the interval Julia played a Chopin waltz that several ofthe girls especially liked, and followed this with a few chords of oneof the choruses they had been learning, in which they all joined veryheartily.

  When the score cards were brought back it was found that there was a tiefor the favorite character between Haleema as the Countess, and Maggieand Angelina as Mabel Martin and Esek.

  Angelina was in a state of excitement when this result was announced,and was determined that the decision should be immediately in her favor;while Maggie, disturbed by being so conspicuous, hoped that the prizemight be given to Haleema.

  "It isn't for you to decide," said Phoebe sagely; "they'll find someway of settling it--the ladies, I mean."

  This, of course, proved to be the case, and when an umpire had beenchosen whose decision all present agreed to respect, he decided that thefirst prize should go to the Mabel Martin actors. This was not entirelyto the satisfaction of the followers of the Countess, and Concetta, whowas sometimes on Haleema's side and sometimes against her, now became avery active partisan, and the two younger girls frowned ominously onAngelina and Maggie. So far at least as prizes were concerned, Anstiss,as President of the League, had brought it about that every actorshould have a prize, in each case an attractively bound book, with theonly advantage for the winners of the first prize that they were allowedto have first choice. But there was a book for each of the others, andeach girl, too, had the pleasure of hearing from her own friends thatshe really had made the very best representation of all. It was simply acase of where all were so good it was almost impossible to choose thevery best.

  Mrs. McSorley was especially proud of Maggie's performance, and her facealmost lost its wonted grimness as she walked about among the girls andtheir guests. "I'm thinking that you'll amount to something, after all,"she vouchsafed to her niece; and as this was almost the highest praiseshe had ever given, Maggie was more than content. It may be said herethat in Turquoise Street Mrs. McSorley was much more eloquent than shehad been to Maggie's face, and the neighbors for many a day heard thestory of this very brilliant evening at the Mansion, and of theremarkable manner in which Maggie McSorley had recited and acted thepart of the witch's daughter.

  Another pleasant result of the evening was that Haleema became morefriendly toward Maggie, for she had been impressed by Maggie'sgenerosity in being willing to resign the first prize to her.

  This, however, did not mean the winning of Concetta, who still seemed tofeel it her duty to refrain from any direct praise or showing anyfriendliness for Maggie
. But after this an observer would have seen thatshe seldom showed any direct unfriendliness, and this was one of thethings that Maggie especially observed.

  The fun of the valentine party was quite forgotten in the excitementthat the girls of the Mansion, like every one else in the country, felton that sixteenth of February; for that was the day when news wasbrought of the destruction of the "Maine." Angelina was the first toreport it when she broke into the dining-room with a newspaper that shehad bought from a boy at the front door. It had headlines in enormous,heavy black letters, and Miss South, in spite of her general disapprovalof the headlines, could not resist reading the sheet that Angelinahanded her.

  "It means war, doesn't it?" cried Angelina in a tone that implied thatshe hoped that it meant war. But neither Miss South nor the otherresidents, nor the great world outside, knew whether peace or war was tofollow the awful disaster. It was useless to forbid the girls readingthe harrowing details. All, indeed, except Maggie and Inez seemed totake a special delight in perusing them, and in speculating about thefamilies of the victims and the guilt of the Spaniards; for of coursethe Spaniards had done this thing. There were no two opinions on thesubject, so far as the girls were concerned. Gretchen quickly became theheroine of the day when it was learned that she had a cousin who was aseaman on the "Maine," and when his name was read in the list of thosewho had escaped, her special friends, Concetta and Luisa, seemed tothink that they, too, shared in the distinction, and they offered to doher share of the housework that she might have time to think it allover. Angelina was not altogether pleased that this honor had come toGretchen.

  "Julia," said Nora, whose day it was at the home, "I believe that she'dbe willing to sacrifice John for the sake of being the sister of avictim," and in fact Angelina scanned the list of names, in the hopethat she might find one that she might claim as a relative. Butunluckily she could not fix on a single name that she could properlyclaim. When she read aloud the President's message to Sigsbee, her voicetrembled with emotion:

  "The President directs me to express for himself and the people of the United States his profound sympathy for the officers and crew of the 'Maine,' and desires that no expense be spared in providing for the survivors, and the care of the dead.

  "JOHN D. LONG, _Secretary._

  "SIGSBEE, U. S. S. 'Maine.'"

  "But there isn't any 'Maine' now," said Maggie, as Angelina read thelast words, and then was the young girl moved to a word of genuineeloquence. "There will always be a 'Maine;' it will always live in thehearts of the American people!" and Julia, who happened to approach thegroup just at this moment, said "Bravo! bravo! Angelina, you are a truepatriot."