CHAPTER I--THE NEST IN THE OLD CEDAR
Nathalie came running up the steps of the veranda her brown eyes alightwith excitement as she cried, "Oh, Mother, what do you think? Down inthe old cedar-tree on the lawn is a nest of tiny blue robins--they'rejust the cutest things--do come and see them!"
"Blue robins?" quizzed her brother Dick from where he lay reading in thehammock. "Who ever heard of blue robins?"
"I think she means bluebirds," ventured Mrs. Page, looking up from themorning paper and smiling at the earnest young face of her daughter.Then her eyes dimmed, but she winked her lashes quickly as if torestrain a sudden rush of tears, rose in answer to the note of appeal inthe girl's voice, and stepped to her side.
A moment later they were strolling across the new-grown grass of thelawn, the girl of sixteen supporting the slender, black-gowned figure ofher mother, whose delicate, high-bred face with its impress of recentsorrow defined the youthful glow of the one that smiled upon her sotenderly.
"Now, Mumsie, look!" whispered the girl as she pointed to a dark cavityin the trunk of the cedar but a short distance from the ground; "see,are they not robins?"
Mrs. Page's tired eyes brightened as she watched with keen interest thefive bobbing heads with open bills, turweeing in hungry clamor, "Why no,Nathalie," she replied laughingly, "they are bluebirds."
At this instant they spied the mother bird as she flitted excitedlyamong the upper branches of the tree. Drawing her mother to one side,Nathalie whispered tensely, "Oh, there's the mother bird--she wants tofeed them! Let's see what she will do!" Nathalie's eyes sparkledexpectantly.
It was quite evident what Mrs. Bluebird was going to do, for sheimmediately jumped to the edge of the nest and dropped a fat, squirmingworm into an open bill. As she poised over her nestlings she caughtsight of the two figures under the tree. In another instant she had setup such a vigorous scolding that the interlopers were quite disturbed.Seeing, however, that they did not offer to molest her little ones, Mrs.Birdie finally subsided, cocked her head perkily on one side, andwatched them with eyes that shone like two fireflies.
Father bird now came flying up with another good-sized wriggler in hisbeak, which mother bird, with an eye to business, hastily snatched anddropped into a wide-open bill.
"Why, Mother," commented Nathalie, "do you see that the father bird ismuch the handsomer of the two, for he is of a deep blue color, whilemother bird's feathers are grayish-blue."
Her mother nodded as she answered, "Yes, and his beautiful coat is instriking contrast to his throat and breast, which are reddish-brown."
"And the white feathers below," continued Nathalie, with keen eyes,"look like a white apron."
"But come, dear," interposed her mother, "we must go back, for I hearDick whistling--he is getting impatient--I promised to get him a sofapillow for the hammock."
As they stepped on the veranda, Dick inquired, with sarcasticinflection, balancing himself on the edge of the hammock and pushing itto and fro with his crutch, "Well, how many blue robins did you find?"
"We found five tiny bluebirds," responded his mother with unwontedanimation as she seated herself in a low rocker, and then she continuedin lower tone as her daughter disappeared in quest of the pillow, "Oh,Dick! I am so glad to see some color in Nathalie's cheeks again, for shehas been looking very wan and pale. The poor child has not only sufferedthe loss of her father, but she has had to give up so many things--thevery things, too, that a girl of her age longs for so much!" Mrs. Pagesighed drearily.
"Giving up college was the hardest," added her son, his face expressingthe sympathy he hardly knew how to voice; "but she's a corker, for shehas faced every disappointment like a little hero. I didn't know she hadso much pluck in her."
"She takes after her father, he was always so cheerful about facing theinevitable--" His mother's lips quivered; she paused as if to gaincontrol of her voice and then resumed brokenly, "Oh, Dick, to think hehas gone--it seems as if it could not be true--"
"True enough," retorted Dick gruffly; and then he added, in a softervoice, "but after all, Mother, every one has to have trouble. We'rehaving ours just now--that's all--and we've got to bear it. Things mighthave been worse, I suppose--we've got enough left to live on--oh, if itwasn't for this confounded knee of mine--to be helpless when--"
"Hush, Dick, don't say that," cried his mother in a pained voice; "justhave patience, and you will be all right; have patience with me, too,dear, because I am such a coward to allow myself to get so depressed."She made a brave attempt at a smile. "It will be as you say, all rightsoon."
Hearing Nathalie's step, she hastily hid her tear-stained face behindthe paper; then, as that young woman threw the sofa pillow at Dick'shead, she exclaimed, "I am so glad, Nathalie, to see you take aninterest in the new home. I think it is a lovely--"
"Doll's house!" interposed the girl laughingly. "But, O dear, I must becareful, for when I called it a doll's house while Mrs. Morton was hereshe looked rather queer, and then I remembered that her house is notmuch bigger. But do you know, Mother," she rattled on girlishly, "Ithink we are going to be quite comfy in this little home--after a time ofcourse," she hastened to add, "when we have become used to thechange--and all--" she stopped abruptly, for she, too, was thinking of thedear father who had gone so suddenly--without even saying good-by, as shehad so often wailed in the darkness of night--leaving Mother with only ameager income, and with poor Dick to take care of, and her and Dorothy,who didn't know enough to earn a penny!
A sudden slam of the door was heard, a "How are you, Auntie?" in asweet, assured voice, and then with smiling eyes a tall, graceful, youngwoman, with shiny, fluffy hair came forward and kissed her auntcaressingly.
"Oh, Lucille, what do you think?" broke from Nathalie impetuously; "Ifound a nest of tiny bluebirds down in the old cedar-tree on the lawn!"
"Um-m, well, you are always finding something to enthuse over," remarkedher cousin with careless indifference, "but I wish you would make thatall-round maid of yours do my room, I want to write a letter." There wasspoiled impatience in the girl's voice.
Mrs. Page looked up with a startled expression as she murmuredapologetically, "Oh, I forgot, Lucille. I will do it--I thought--"
"No, no, Mother," came from Nathalie hurriedly, as with heightened colorand gentle insistence she forced her mother back to her seat. "I will doit."
Nathalie disappeared within the door. She had smiled sweetly for hermother's sake, but as she went up the stairs there was an upward lift toher chin that showed that she had a will and a temper of some weight."Why is Lucille so mean," she questioned mutinously, "as not to make herown bed when she knows that now we shall have to get along with only onemaid? Mother is not going to wait on her!" Her eyes gleamed with angrydecision, and then the curves of her mouth softened as she struggledsilently with her jarring thoughts.
Yes, it must be borne, for was it not a part of the great change thathad come into her life with her first great sorrow? The shock of herfather's death had dazed her, and she had suffered in a dulled,uncomprehending way until she was aroused from her grief by the manyanxieties and disappointing changes that the financial tangle of herfather's affairs had caused.
Leaving their beautiful city home, giving up the many luxuries and thepleasures to which she had been accustomed, parting from her schoolfriends, and coming to the unknown suburban town were bitterdisappointments; the one that cut the deepest was giving up college, butthe hardest to bear was Dick's accident!
The next moment the girl was hard at work picking up Lucille'sdisordered room, humming cheerily as she went about her task, for, afterall, her cousin was independent--she paid her board--and now they wouldneed every penny.
A resolute will and deft fingers can accomplish much in this workadayworld, and so Nathalie soon finished her new job, as she called it, andsat on the veranda watching the robins as they hopped nimbly over thelawn, ducking their heads every minute or so to reappear with fat,dangling worms in their beaks.
> Their cheerful twitter, the budding leaves on trees and bushes, and themany reminders of the revival of life under the warmth and glow of thespring sunshine thrilled her with exhilaration. Her depression vanished,she felt happy again, but vaguely perhaps, scarcely comprehending thatthe buoyancy of youth and the joy of life were compensations that dulledthe harrowing edge of grief.
With a long breath, as if to capture as much as possible of the springbalminess, Nathalie turned to see her mother seated in the low chair,with her basket of mending, wearing the same dazed, worried look on herface that had haunted the girl ever since their sorrow. She becamekeenly aware that her tireless mother, who had always stood ready to dothe thousand and one things that were constantly calling her, wasfailing. Something swelled up in her throat, she fought valiantly amoment, and then jumping up, she grabbed the half-darned sock from hermother's hand, pitched it into the basket, picked it up and carried itover to her chair.
"Now, Mumsie," she declared in answer to her mother's startled look,"you are not to darn any more stockings; henceforth your humble servantis to be the champion mender." Nathalie's cheeks flushed, for as sheraised her eyes she encountered those of a young girl about her own agewho was just coming out of the adjoining house.
As her neighbor saw Nathalie, she smiled a cheery good-morning, showinga row of strong, white teeth, and then strode down the walk with thelight step and easy swing of the athletic girl.
"Huh! what a queer rig," commented Lucille, with a supercilious raisingof her eyebrows, as she noted that the girl wore a short brown khakiskirt over bloomers, a middy with a Turkey red tie, and a broad-brimmedhat banded with red. "Is that the Salvation Army's summer apparel?" Thenseeing that the girl carried a strong staff in her hand, she added witha giggle, "Or perhaps she is some aspiring member of the militants."
"Why, I think the uniform--for I presume it is that--" interposed Mrs.Page, "is very attractive, and most appropriate for a Girl Pioneer."
"Why, Mother, how do you know she is a Girl Pioneer?" questionedNathalie with mild amazement.
"Ah, I forgot to tell you that her mother, Mrs. Dame, called the day youwere out walking. She told me that Helen, her only daughter, belongs to'The Girl Pioneers of America.'"
"The Girl Pioneers of America!" repeated her daughter; "why, I neverheard of them. Is it a patriotic society?"
"In a way I presume it is," returned her mother, "as it is anorganization which trains girls to emulate the sterling qualities of theearly pioneer women."
"I wonder what they do, and if it is anything like the Boy Scouts!"continued Nathalie interestedly.
"I think from what Mrs. Dame told me that it must be a sister society tothat organization, for its object is to awaken within the girls a desirefor healthy, outdoor activities, as well as a broad and useful lifealong many lines. I am sure in these days, when girls are so shallow andartificial-looking, and have no higher thought than getting all thepleasure they can out of life, that it is something which is sadlyneeded." Mrs. Page's tones were expressive.
"Oh, Aunt Mary," demurred Lucille, looking up with a frown from hernovel, "one would think that you expected girls to dress and act liketheir grandmothers. I am sure one can be young but once, and if onedoesn't have a good time then, what's the use of living? And for puttinga little color on one's face, why, the most fashionable people do itnowadays."
Mrs. Page's face flushed slightly, but she replied with quiet dignity,"I am surprised, Lucille, to hear you talk that way, brought up as youhave been, too. It is true," she continued, "that there is no harm inwanting a good time--as you call it--that is youth's privilege, and no onewishes to turn youth into age, but back of it all there should be commonsense and a desire for right living. As for putting artificial color ona face that should represent the freshness and the natural bloom ofyouth, why, to me it is demoralizing."
Lucille frowned impatiently and resumed her reading.
"Mrs. Dame," continued her aunt, turning towards Nathalie, "said herdaughter Helen was coming in to call on you; she will probably give youall the information you want about the new organization. I hope you willlike her, dear, for she seems a pleasant, well-bred girl and surely willprove companionable to you. We might as well, all of us, try to forgetour city life with its past pleasures, and see if we cannot adaptourselves to our surroundings."
"Indeed I will try, Mumsie," replied Nathalie with a slight catch in hervoice, as her thoughts turned back to her chums in the city, and shewondered what they would think of her humble little home. "But really,Mother," she spoke aloud, "I think Miss Dame has an awfully bright face,and I wish she would call, for I should like to know about the GirlPioneers."
A few days after the finding of the bluebird's nest, Nathalie, enlivenedby the desire to investigate her surroundings, and curious for newexperiences, set forth on a little exploring tour to the woods on theoutskirts of the town. She had tried to induce her cousin to join her,but that young lady was absorbed in running over a new ragtime song. Hersister Dorothy, aged twelve, had also declined on the score that she hadan engagement with a girl neighbor who lived in the big house down theroad.
Sunshine and youth are joy-bearers, and as Nathalie felt the air infragrant little whiffs against her cheeks, she thrilled with pleasure asshe strode briskly up the hill. A moment later, however, her shiningeyes shadowed, and she unconsciously shivered as she encountered a coldglance from a lady, weirdly garbed in gray, who was just passing.
The color flashed to her cheeks; she felt as if some one had slapped heras the haunting vision of that uncanny stare of aversion from twosteely-gray eyes penetrated her consciousness. Tempted by curiosity sheturned and watched the peculiar-looking figure as it glided with almostspecter-like swiftness down the hill.
"I wonder who she is and why she gave me such a harrowing glance,"thought Nathalie. "Whew! she has frozen me stiff," and then a laughbrightened the brown eyes as she continued on her way. She had almostreached the top of the hill when she saw a large brown card on the walk.Picking it up she read, "Westport Library," and then the written name,"Elizabeth Van Vorst." Not a great loss, to be sure, but likely to causeinconvenience.
"Oh, I wonder if that lady didn't drop it, she had a book under herarm," flashed into the girl's mind. She hesitated--she did not want toclimb that long hill again--but the next second she had whirled about andwas running lightly down the slope in the direction of a Carnegiebuilding that glimmered picturesquely between green-boughed trees.
"Oh, I beg your pardon," panted Nathalie as she held out the card to thegray lady who had just emerged from the library and was looking vexedlyabout on the walk in front of the building, "did you not lose yourlibrary card?"
The lady turned sharply, stared suspiciously at the girl a moment, andthen, as her eyes fell upon the extended card, exclaimed coldly, "Oh,did you find it? Thank you, I am much obliged!" With a haughty glance ofdismissal she turned and ascended the library steps.
Nathalie's eyes gleamed angrily, but with a toss of her head she was offon her second trudge up the slope. "Well, she is the limit--" shemuttered. "Of all hateful, disagreeable, peculiar, mysterious creatures,she takes first rank." But when the girl reached the woods where thenew-gowned trees and the white blossoms of the dogwood, which she hadspied the day before, riding in a trolley car, rustled softly in thesunlight, as if in a spring greeting to the flower-seeker, theunpleasant incident was forgotten.
With eager eyes and cheeks aglow she began to break off a sprig here andthere, lingering only to caress the snowy petals that tantalizinglybrushed her cheek.
"What a beauty!" she exclaimed as she suddenly halted; "it will be justthe spray to sketch." Up went her arm--a little higher--and then somethingwent from under her; she tried to regain her footing, but slipped againon the moist turf. She felt her foot turn, and then came a sharp twingethat whitened her lips as she dropped, a helpless heap, on the ground.
For a few moments the girl forgot her dogwood blossoms, the slip, andthe pain, and then she
opened her eyes to realize, with a pang ofdismay, that she must have fainted. Oh, she must have twisted her ankle,for when she tried to stand she almost screamed with the knife-liketwinges.
She leaned her head against the tree with closed eyes, trying to think,but her thoughts seemed to run around in a circle, for she could see noway out of her dilemma. She was too far from the trolley line to hail acar, or to beckon to any passer-by who might be on the road.
She thought ruefully of how worried her mother would be if she did notreturn before dark. And who was there to look for her? Dick was helplesswith his crutch, Dorothy would not be home until late, and Lucille--well,whoever heard of Lucille ever doing anything for any one but herself?
She screamed, but when her voice rang out with reverberating shrillnessshe clapped her hands to her ears. She would sing; and her fresh youngvoice broke forth into ragtime song.
But the ragtime quivered pathetically into a half-wail. What should shedo? At last in sheer desperation she began to sing hymns; but theysounded so doleful in her nervous state that she desisted with a soundthat was half a sob and half a laugh. She was about to embraceresignation to fate when she caught the glimmer of a brown skirt betweenthe low-hung branches of the trees near by. In a moment there was asharp crack of a twig, and Nathalie with a sudden exclamation of joy sawa young girl coming quickly toward her, wearing the same kind of a brownuniform she had perceived on her neighbor a few days ago.
"Oh, are you hurt?" asked the girl quickly, as she saw Nathalie's whiteface resting against the tree.
Nathalie, attempting to smile, told of her mishap, and then withwidening eyes saw the girl run a few steps into the open. Then theshort, staccato whistle of Bob White struck the air.
It was hardly a moment when, in response to this bird-call, severalgirls appeared in the opening beyond. A few hurried words with the girlwho had signaled them, and they were around Nathalie, listening to thestory of her accident.
After expressing their sympathy, two of the taller girls quickly slippedoff their khaki skirts, unbuttoned them, and then, to the injured one'samazement, one of the girls pushed her staff through the belt of oneskirt and hem of the other, while her companion did the same with herstaff. They were improvising a stretcher, as neat andcomfortable-looking as if it had just been removed from an ambulance.
While the stretcher was being made, one of the girls had taken from herknapsack a small black case from which she extracted a bottle. Hastilykneeling on the ground, after Nathalie's boot had been removed by herassistant, she bathed the injured foot, then, as her companion handedher a roll of white lint she bound it with a cotton compress, whileNathalie, with much curiosity, watched her as she quickly and skillfullyperformed the work of First Aid to the Injured. As she rose to her feetand turned to direct her companions in the lifting of her patient on thestretcher, Nathalie recognized her next-door neighbor, Helen Dame, theGirl Pioneer!
Blue Robin, the Girl Pioneer Page 5
