"I believe," said Lispeth to her special confidante Althea, "that perhaps we were making rather a mistake. You can't have any influence with those kids unless you keep well in touch with them. I was so busy, I just let them slide before, and I suppose that was partly why they got out of hand, though the little monkeys had no business to get up that impudent7 strike! They're as different as possible now, and some of them are quite decent kiddies. Dorrie Barnes brought me a rose this morning. I suppose it was meant as a sort of peace-offering."
It was arranged to hold what was called "The Rainbow Fête" on breaking-up afternoon, and parents and friends were invited to the ceremony. There was to be both a sale and an exhibition. The best of the toys and little fancy articles were to be at a special stall, and would be sold for the benefit of the "War Orphans9' Fund," and those that were not quite up to standard would nevertheless be on view, and would be sent away afterwards to help to deck Christmas trees in the slums. THE stall, as the girls called it, was of course the center of attraction. It was draped with colored muslins in the rainbow tints10, and though real irises11 were unobtainable, some vases of artificial ones formed a very good substitute. The home-made toys were really most creditable to the handicraft-workers, and had been ingeniously contrived12 with bobbins, small boxes, and slight additions of wood, cardboard, and paper, aided by the color-box. Windmills, whirligigs, carts, engines, trains, dolls' house furniture, jigsaw13 puzzles, cardboard animals with movable limbs, black velveteen cats with bead14 eyes, beautifully dressed rag dolls, wool balls and rattles15 for babies, and dear little books of extracts, were some of the things set out in a tempting16 display. Fil, whose slim fingers excelled in dainty work, had contributed three charming booklets of poetry and nice bits cut from magazines and newspapers, the back being of colored linen17 embroidered18 with devices in silk. They were so pretty that they were all snapped up beforehand, and could have been sold three times over.
"You promised one to me—you know you did!" urged Linda Slater, much aggrieved19 at the non-performance of an order.
"Well, I thought I'd have time to do four, and could only manage three," apologized Fil. "You see, they really take such ages, and Miss Strong was getting raggy about my prep."
"You might make me one for my birthday!" begged Evie.
"Certainly not! Those that ask shan't have!"
"Well, couldn't you do some during the Christmas holidays?"
"No, I can't and shan't!" snapped Fil. "I'm sick to death of making booklets, and I'm not going to touch one of them during the holidays. You seem to think I've nothing else to do except cut bits out of magazines for your benefit!"
"There! There! Poor old sport! Don't get baity!"
"You shouldn't do them so jolly well, and then you wouldn't get asked!"
The stall occupied a position of importance at the end of the lecture hall, and the rest of the exhibits were put round on trestle tables. They were what Ingred described as "a mixed lot." Some of the animals were bulgy20 in their proportions, or shaky in their cardboard limbs, the wheels of the carts did not quite correspond, the windmills were apt to stick, or the puzzles would not quite fit. In spite of their imperfections, however, they looked attractive, and would, no doubt, give great pleasure to the little people who were to receive them, and who were hardly likely to be very critical of their workmanship.
To make the afternoon more festive21, there was to be a tea stall, to which the girls brought contributions of cakes, and music was to be given from the platform, so that the scene might resemble a café chantant. Ingred had been chosen as one of the artistes, and arrayed in her best brown velveteen dress, with a new pale-yellow hair ribbon, she waited about in her usual agonies of stage fright. Learning from Dr. Linton, however improving it might be to her touch, was hardly conducive22 to self-complacency, and, after having suffered much vituperation for her imperfect rendering23 of a piece, it was decidedly appalling24 to have to play it in public, especially with the horrible possibility that at any moment her master might happen to pop in to view the exhibition and arrive in time for her performance.
"I shall have forty fits if I see him in the room, I know I shall!" she confided25 to Fil. "You've no idea how he scares me. I have my lessons on the study piano generally, and if only he would sit still I shouldn't mind, but he will get up and prowl about the room, and swing out his arms when he's explaining things; he only just missed knocking over that pretty statuette of Venus the other day. I'm sure if Miss Burd knew how he flourishes about, she wouldn't let him loose among her cherished ornaments26!"
"Perhaps he won't turn up to-day!"
"Oh yes! He said he should make a point of buying a toy for his little boy. If I break down suddenly in the midst of my piece, you'll know the reason. I'm shaking now."
"Poor old sport! Don't take it so hard!"
By three o'clock the lecture hall was filled with what Lilias Ashby (who had undertaken to write a report for the school magazine) described as "a distinguished27 crowd." Fathers indeed were as few and far between as currants in a war pudding, but mothers, aunts, and sisters had responded nobly to the invitations, and were being conducted round by the girls to see their special exhibits.
Mrs. Saxon had been unable to come that afternoon, but Quenrede had turned up, looking very pretty in a plum-colored hat, and giving herself slight airs as of one who is now a finished young lady, and no longer a mere28 schoolgirl. She chatted, in rather mincing29 tones, to Miss Burd herself, while Ingred stood by in awe30 and amazement31, and when she bought a cup of tea from Doreen Hayward at the refreshment32 stall, she murmured: "Oh, thanks so much!" with the manner of a patroness, though only six months ago she and Doreen had sat side by side in the Science Lectures. It was a new phase of Quenrede, which, though accepted to some extent at home, had never shown itself before with quite such aggravated33 symptoms.
Ingred, walking as it were in her shadow, was not sure whether to admire or laugh. It was, of course, something to have such a pretty and decidedly stylish34 sister; she appreciated the angle at which the plum-colored hat was set, and the self-restraint that made the tiny iced bun last such an enormous time, when a schoolgirl would have finished it in three bites, and have taken another. A grand manner was certainly rather an asset to the family, and Queenie was palpably impressing some of the intermediates, who poked35 each other to look at her.
"It's my turn to play soon, and I'm just shivering!" whispered Ingred.
"Nonsense, child! Don't be such a little goose!" declared her sister airily. "It's only a school party—there's really nothing to make a fuss about!"
"Only a school party!" That seemed to Ingred the absolute limit. Quenrede last term had, in her turn, shivered and trembled when she had been obliged to mount the platform! Could a few short months have indeed effected so magnificent a change of front?
"All the same, it's I who've got to play, not she! It's easy enough to tell somebody else not to mind," thought Ingred, as, in answer to Miss Clough's beckoning36 finger, she made her way towards the piano to undergo her ordeal37.
One point in favor of the recital38 was that the audience moved about the room and went on buying toys or cups of tea and cakes, and even talking, instead of sitting on rows of seats doing nothing but watching and listening. It was rather comforting to think that the concert was really only like the performance of a band, a soothing39 accompaniment to conversation. Ingred opened her music with an almost "don't care" feeling. For one delirious40 moment she felt at her ease, then, alack! her mood suddenly changed. In a last lightning glance towards the audience she noticed among the crowd near the tea-stall the tall thin figure, cadaverous face, and long lank41 hair of Dr. Linton. The sight instantly wrecked42 her world of composure. If it had not been for the fact that Miss Clough was standing43 near, and nodding to her to begin, she would have run away from the platform.
"Oh, the ill luck of it!" she thought. "If I had only played last time, instead of Gertie, I'd have had it over before he came into the room! I know he'll be just listening to every note, and criticizing!"
With a horrid44 feeling, as if her breath would not come properly, and her head was slightly spinning, and her hands dithering, Ingred began her "Nocturne," trying with a sort of "drowning" effort to keep her mind on the music in front of her, instead of on the music-master at the other end of the room. For sixteen bars she succeeded, then came the hitch45. She had rejected the offered services of Doris Grainger, and had elected to turn over her own pages. She now made a hasty dash at the leaf, her trembling hand was not sufficiently46 agile47, the sheet slipped, she grabbed in vain, and the music fluttered on to the floor. The performance came to a dead halt. Doris and Miss Clough rushed to the rescue, but they were put politely aside by a tall figure who stepped on to the platform, and Dr. Linton himself picked up the scattered48 sheets of the unfortunate "Nocturne." He arranged them together in order, placed them upon the stand, and, addressing his dismayed pupil, said:
"Now, then, begin again, and I shall turn over for you. Bring out that forte49 passage properly! Remember there's a pedal on the piano!"
It was like having a lesson in public. Ingred felt too scared to begin, and yet she was too much afraid of her master to refuse, so the bigger fright prevailed, and—as a cat will swim to escape an enemy—she dashed at the "Nocturne." Once restarted, it went magnificently: afterwards, she always declared that Dr. Linton must have hypnotized her, she was sure her unaided efforts could never have rendered it in such style. He behaved as if he were conducting an orchestra, soothing the piano passages and spurring her on to fortissimo efforts, even humming the melody in his eccentric fashion, quite unmindful of the audience. The enthusiastic applause at the end was so evidently for both master and pupil that he bowed instinctively50 in response.
Ingred, remembering, now the ordeal was over, that she was nervous, melted from the platform, and left him to receive the laurels51. He did a characteristic but very kind act, looked round for his pupil, and then, perceiving that she had beaten a retreat, sat down to the piano himself, and, unasked, gave an encore for her. A solo from Dr. Linton was an unexpected treat, especially as he was in the mood for music, and played with a sort of rapture52 that carried his listeners into an ethereal world of delicate sounds. Ingred, hidden behind a protecting barrier of schoolfellows, could see all the sylphs dancing and the fairy pipers piping as the crisp notes came tripping from his practised fingers. At the end she came back as from a dream, to realize that she was not in elf-land, but in the College Lecture Hall, and that she was sitting on a form next to Miss Strong, who held on her knee a little red-coated, brown-haired boy with Dr. Linton's unmistakable dark eyes.
In that instant, as the music ceased, Ingred received quite a sudden and new impression of Miss Strong; there was a tender look on the mistress's face, as she held her arm around the child, and she whispered something to him that made the dark eyes dance. He slipped from her lap, and hand in hand they went together towards the toy-stall. It was quite a pretty little scene, one of those tiny glimpses into other people's lives that we catch occasionally when the veil of their reserve is for a moment held aside. Ingred looked after them meditatively53.
"Shouldn't have thought the Snark capable of it," she ruminated54. "Perhaps she likes boys better than girls. Some people do."
The toy stall, though half depleted55 of its contents, was still the center of attraction. Lispeth and Althea were displaying what were left of its windmills and whirligigs to friends who bought with an eye to Christmas presents. Miss Strong, reckless in the matter of expense, purchased the chef-d'euvre of the whole collection—a wonderful contrivance consisting of two cardboard towers and a courtyard, across which, by means of a tape wound round bobbins, and turned by a handle, walked a miniature procession of wooden soldiers. Little Kenneth Linton received it with open arms.
"Better let me wrap it up in paper," urged Lispeth. "Somebody said just now that it's beginning to snow, and you don't want to have it spoilt before you get it home, do you?"
"N-no," said Kenneth, relinquishing56 it doubtfully.
"You're a lucky boy," continued Lispeth, as she made up the parcel. "Isn't that a Teddy Bear in your pocket? And a ball too? There, I believe I've used up all the string! What a nuisance! Can anybody get me any from anywhere?"
"I'll find you some in half a jiff," said Dorrie Barnes, whisking off immediately.
Since the formation of the Junior Rainbow League, Dorrie had taken a liking57 to Lispeth which amounted to absolute infatuation. She followed her like a pink-faced shadow, and was always at her elbow, sometimes at convenient and sometimes at embarrassing moments. She fled now, like a messenger from Olympus, with the fixed58 determination of procuring59 string for her goddess from somewhere. It was not an easy task, for string was a scarce commodity; what there was of it had mostly been already used, and what was left was jealously guarded by its proprietresses, who refused to part with it, even on the plea that it was for the head prefect. Dorrie, however, was a young person of spirit and resource, and she did not mean to be done. One of the trestles that supported the secondary exhibits of toys had rather come to grief, and had been patched up temporarily with stout60 twine61. Her sharp eyes had noted62 this fact, so, going down on her hands and knees, she managed to creep unobserved under the table, cut the twine with her penknife, and unwound it. She was just congratulating herself upon the success of her achievement when the unexpected happened, or, rather, what might have been expected by any one with an ounce of forethought. The damaged trestle, no longer held together, promptly63 gave way, and the table collapsed64, burying a squealing65 Dorrie amid a shower of toys. She was pulled out, agitated66 but uninjured, and the scattered exhibits were carried to another table. In the confusion of their transit67 she managed to secrete68 the piece of twine, the loss of which had been the cause of the whole upset, and presented it quite innocently to Lispeth, who, not knowing that she was receiving stolen goods, thanked her and tied the parcel. Ingred, who had watched the whole comedy, laughed, but did not give away the secret.
"That child's an imp8!" she said to Quenrede. "But she's a very accomplished69 imp. I'll tell you the joke afterwards, not now! Lispeth little knows where her string comes from, and she's wrapping up that parcel so placidly70! Isn't the Snark looking quite pretty this afternoon? Never saw her with such a color! Well, if you're ready, Queenie, we'll go over to the hostel71 and get my things. We can just catch the four o'clock train, if we're quick. Wait half a sec, though! There goes Dr. Linton with Kenneth. I don't want to walk out under his wing!"
The tall dark figure of the music master was striding through the doorway72, carrying his small son, who hugged his toy with one arm, and waved a friendly good-by with the other.
"What possessed73 you to drop all your music, child?" said Quenrede, rather patronizingly to Ingred. She was still trying to live up to the plum-colored hat. "You played ever so decently afterwards, though—you did, really! Don't tell me again that you're nervous, for it's all rubbish. You looked as if you enjoyed it."
"Enjoyed it!" echoed Ingred. "If you'd gone through the palpitations that I felt this afternoon you'd want to go to a specialist, and consult him for heart trouble! I've lived through it this once, but if I'm ever asked to play again in public, you'd better go to the cemetery74 beforehand, and choose a picturesque75 corner for my grave, and buy a weeping willow76 ready to plant upon it. Yes, and order a headstone too, with the simple words: 'Died of fright.' I mean it! 'Enjoyed it!' indeed! Why, I've never in the whole of my life been in such an absolutely blue funk!"
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1
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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spurt
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| v.喷出；突然进发；突然兴隆 | |
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allotted
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| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dabbed
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| （用某物）轻触( dab的过去式和过去分词 )； 轻而快地擦掉（或抹掉）； 快速擦拭； （用某物）轻而快地涂上（或点上）… | |
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overalls
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| n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣 | |
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complacent
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| adj.自满的；自鸣得意的 | |
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impudent
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| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
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imp
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| n.顽童 | |
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orphans
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| 孤儿( orphan的名词复数 ) | |
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tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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irises
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| n.虹( iris的名词复数 )；虹膜；虹彩；鸢尾（花） | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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jigsaw
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| n.缕花锯，竖锯，拼图游戏；vt.用竖锯锯，使互相交错搭接 | |
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bead
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| n.念珠；(pl.)珠子项链；水珠 | |
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rattles
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| （使）发出格格的响声， （使）作嘎嘎声( rattle的第三人称单数 )； 喋喋不休地说话； 迅速而嘎嘎作响地移动，堕下或走动； 使紧张，使恐惧 | |
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tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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aggrieved
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| adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
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bulgy
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| a.膨胀的；凸出的 | |
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festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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conducive
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| adj.有益的，有助的 | |
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rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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mincing
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| adj.矫饰的；v.切碎；切碎 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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aggravated
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| 使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火 | |
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stylish
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| adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的 | |
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poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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beckoning
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| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
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ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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lank
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| adj.瘦削的；稀疏的 | |
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wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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45
hitch
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| v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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agile
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| adj.敏捷的，灵活的 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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forte
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| n.长处，擅长；adj.(音乐)强音的 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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51
laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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52
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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53
meditatively
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| adv.冥想地 | |
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54
ruminated
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| v.沉思( ruminate的过去式和过去分词 )；反复考虑；反刍；倒嚼 | |
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depleted
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| adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词 | |
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56
relinquishing
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的现在分词 )； 放弃 | |
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liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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59
procuring
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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61
twine
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| v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕 | |
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62
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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63
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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squealing
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| v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的现在分词 ) | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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transit
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| n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过 | |
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secrete
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| vt.分泌；隐匿，使隐秘 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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hostel
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| n.（学生）宿舍，招待所 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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willow
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| n.柳树 | |
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