A week later Peter appeared at the family breakfast table, having arrived on the early morning express, and he seemed in a more gracious mood than usual. Indeed, he was really talkative.
"I met Will Morrison in New York, Hannah," he said to his wife. "He was just sailing for London with his family and will remain abroad all summer. He wanted us to occupy his mountain place, Hillcrest Lodge3, during July and August, and although I told him we couldn't use the place he insisted on my taking an order on his man to turn the shack5 over to us."
"The shack!" cried Aunt Hannah indignantly.
"Why, Peter, Hillcrest Lodge is a little palace. It is the cosiest6, most delightful7 place I have ever visited. Why shouldn't we accept Will Morrison's proposition to occupy it?"
"I can't leave my business."
"You could run up every Friday afternoon, taking the train to Millbank and the stage to Hillcrest, and stay with us till Monday morning."
He stared at her reflectively.
"Would you be safe in that out-of-the-way place?" he asked.
"Of course. Didn't you say Will had a man for caretaker? And only a few scattered8 cottages are located near by, so we shall be quite by ourselves and wholly unmolested. I mean to go, and take the girls. The change will do us all good, so you may as well begin to make arrangements for the trip."
Peter Conant stared awhile and then resumed his breakfast without comment. Mary Louise thought she saw a smile flicker9 over his stolid10 features for a moment, but could not be positive. Aunt Hannah had spoken in a practical, matter-of-fact way that did not admit of argument.
"Let me see," she resumed; "we will plan to leave on Thursday morning, over the branch road, which will get us to Millbank by noon. If you telegraph the stage-driver to meet us we can reach Hillcrest Lodge by three o'clock—perhaps earlier—and that will enable us to get settled before dark. That is far better than taking the afternoon train. Will you make the proper arrangements, Peter?"
"In New York I ran across a lot of second-hand13 books at an auction14 sale—old novels and romances which you will probably like. I bought the lot and shipped them home. If they arrive in time you can take them to Hillcrest and they will keep you reading all summer."
"Oh, thank you, Uncle Peter!" exclaimed the chair-girl gratefully.
"Have you any—any—news of Gran'pa Jim?" asked Mary Louise diffidently.
"No," he said and walked away.
During the few days that remained before their exodus15 they were busy preparing for the anticipated vacation. Summer gowns had to be looked over and such things gathered together as might be useful during their two months' stay at Hillcrest.
"Of course no one will see us," remarked Aunt Hannah; "it's really the jumping-off place of the world; but Will Morrison has made it as cosy16 as possible and we three, with just Peter at the week-ends, can amuse one another without getting lonely. Peter will fish in the mountain streams, of course, and that's the reason he is allowing us to go. We've visited the Morrisons two or three times at the Lodge and Peter has fished for trout17 every minute he was there."
"Who are the Morrisons?" asked Mary Louise.
"Will Morrison is a rich banker and his wife Sallie was an old schoolmate of mine. The Lodge is only a little resort of theirs, you know, for in the city they live in grand style. I know you girls will enjoy the place, for the scenery is delightful and the clear mountain air mighty18 invigorating."
All girls delight in change of location and although Irene was a little worried over the difficulties of getting to Hillcrest Lodge in her crippled condition, she was as eager to go as was Mary Louise. And she made the trip more comfortably than she had feared.
At Millbank the stage-driver fixed a comfortable seat for her in his carryall and loaded the boxes and baggage and the wheeled chair and the box of books—which had arrived from New York—on the railed top of his bus, and then they drove away through a rough but picturesque19 country that drew from the girls many exclamations20 of delight.
Presently they came to a small group of dwellings21 called the "Huddle," which lay at the foot of the mountain. Then up a winding22 path the four horses labored23 patiently, halting often to rest and get their breaths. At such times the passengers gloried in the superb views of the valley and its farms and were never impatient to proceed. They passed one or two modest villas24, for this splendid location had long ago been discovered by a few others besides Will Morrison who loved to come here for their vacations and so escape the maddening crowds of the cities.
Aunt Hannah had planned the trip with remarkable25 accuracy, for at about three o'clock the lumbering27 stage stopped at a pretty chalet half hidden among the tall pines and overlooking a steep bluff28. Here the baggage and boxes were speedily unloaded.
"I gotta git back ter meet the aft'noon train," said Bill Coombs, their driver. "They won't be any more passingers in this direction, tain't likely, 'cause the houses 'roun' here is mighty scattered an' no one's expectin' nobody, as I know of. But in the other direction from Millbank—Sodd Corners way—I may catch a load, if I'm lucky."
So back he drove, leaving the Conants' traps by the roadside, and Peter began looking around for Morrison's man. The doors of the house were fast locked, front and rear. There was no one in the barn or the shed-like garage, where a rusty29 looking automobile30 stood. Peter looked around the grounds in vain. Then he whistled. Afterward31 he began bawling32 out "Hi, there!" in a voice that echoed lonesomely throughout the mountain side.
And, at last, when they were all beginning to despair, a boy came slouching around a corner of the house, from whence no one could guess. He was whittling33 a stick and he continued to whittle34 while he stared at the unexpected arrivals and slowly advanced. When about fifteen paces away he halted, with feet planted well apart, and bent35 his gaze sturdily on his stick and knife. He was barefooted, dressed in faded blue-jeans overalls36 and a rusty gingham shirt—the two united by a strap37 over one shoulder—and his head was covered by a broad Scotch38 golf cap much too big for him and considerably39 too warm for the season.
"Come here!" commanded Mr. Conant.
The boy did not move, therefore the lawyer advanced angrily toward him.
"Why didn't you obey me?" he asked.
"Who are you?" inquired Mr. Conant.
"Me? I'm jus' Bub."
"Where is Mr. Morrison's man?"
"Meanin' Talbot? Gone up to Mark's Peak, to guide a gang o' hunters f'm the city."
"When did he go?" asked the lawyer.
"I guess a Tuesday. No—a Wednesday."
"And when will he be back?"
"Answer me!"
"How kin I? D'ye know where Mark's Peak is?"
"No."
"It takes a week ter git thar; they'll likely hunt two er three weeks; mebbe more; ye kin tell that as well as I kin. Mister Will's gone ter You-RUPP with Miss' Morrison, so Talbot he won't be in no hurry ter come back."
"Great Caesar! Here's a pretty mess. Are you Talbot's boy?"
"Nope. I'm a Grigger, an' live over in the holler, yonder."
"What are you doing here?"
"Earnin' two bits a week."
"How?"
"Lookin' after the place."
"Very well. Mr. Morrison has given us permission to use the Lodge while he is away, so unlock the doors and help get the baggage in."
Mr. Conant uttered an impatient ejaculation. It was one of his peculiarities44 to give a bark similar to that of a dog when greatly annoyed. After staring at the boy a while he took out Will Morrison's letter to Talbot, opened it and held it before Bub's face.
"Read that!" he cried.
Bub grinned and shook his head.
"I kain't read," he said.
Mr. Conant, in a loud and severe voice, read Mr. Morrison's instruction to his man Talbot to do everything in his power to make the Conants comfortable and to serve them as faithfully as he did his own master. The boy listened, whittling slowly. Then he said:
"Mebbe that's all right; an' ag'in, mebbe tain't. Seein' as I kain't read I ain't goin' ter take no one's word fer it."
"You insolent45 brat46!" exclaimed Peter Conant, highly incensed47. Then he turned and called: "Come here, Mary Louise."
Mary Louise promptly48 advanced and with every step she made the boy retreated a like distance, until the lawyer seized his arm and held it in a firm grip.
"What do you mean by running away?" he demanded.
"Don't be a fool. Come here, Mary Louise, and read this letter to the boy, word for word."
Mary Louise, marking the boy's bashfulness and trying to restrain a smile, read Mr. Morrison's letter.
"You see," said the lawyer sharply, giving Bub a little shake, "those are the exact words of the letter. We're going to enter the Lodge and take possession of it, as Mr. Morrison has told us to do, and if you don't obey my orders I shall give you a good flogging. Do you understand that?"
Bub nodded, more cheerfully.
"If ye do it by force," said he, "that lets me out. Nobody kin blame me if I'm forced."
Mary Louise laughed so heartily50 that the boy cast an upward, half-approving glance at her face. Even Mr. Conant's stern visage relaxed.
"See here, Bub," he said, "obey my orders and no harm can come to you.
This letter is genuine and if you serve us faithfully while we are here
I'll—I'll give you four bits a week."
"Heh? Four bits!"
"Exactly. Four bits every week."
"Gee51, that'll make six bits a week, with the two Talbot's goin' ter give me. I'm hanged ef I don't buy a sweater fer next winter, afore the cold weather comes!"
"Very good," said Mr. Conant. "Now get busy and let us in."
Bub deliberately52 closed the knife and put it in his pocket, tossing away the stick.
"Gals," he remarked, with another half glance at Mary Louise, "ain't ter my likin'; but FOUR BITS—"
He turned and walked away to where a wild rosebush clambered over one corner of the Lodge. Pushing away the thick, thorny53 branches with care, he thrust in his hand and drew out a bunch of keys.
"If it's jus' the same t' you, sir, I'd ruther ye'd snatch 'em from my hand," he suggested. "Then, if I'm blamed, I kin prove a alibi54."
Mr. Conant was so irritated that he literally55 obeyed the boy's request and snatched the keys. Then he led the way to the front door.
Mr. Conant opened the front door. The place was apparently57 in perfect order.
"Go and get Hannah and Irene, please," said Peter to Mary Louise, and soon they had all taken possession of the cosy Lodge, had opened the windows and aired it and selected their various bedrooms.
"It is simply delightful!" exclaimed Irene, who was again seated in her wheeled chair, "and, if Uncle Peter will build a little runway from the porch to the ground, as he did at home, I shall be able to go and come as I please."
Meantime Aunt Hannah—as even Mary Louise now called Mrs. Conant—ransacked the kitchen and cupboards to discover what supplies were in the house. There was a huge stock of canned goods, which Will Morrison had begged them to use freely, and the Conants had brought a big box of other groceries with them, which was speedily unpacked58.
While the others were thus engaged in settling and arranging the house, Irene wheeled her chair to the porch, on the steps of which sat Bub, again whittling. He had shown much interest in the crippled girl, whose misfortune seemed instantly to dispel59 his aversion for her sex, at least so far as she was concerned. He was not reluctant even to look at her face and he watched with astonishment60 the ease with which she managed her chair. Having overheard, although at a distance, most of the boy's former conversation with Uncle Peter, Irene now began questioning him.
"Have you been eating and sleeping here?"
"Of course," answered Bub.
"In the Lodge?"
"No; over in Talbot's house. That's over the ridge61, yonder; it's only a step, but ye kain't see it f'm here. My home's in the South Holler, four mile away."
"Do you cook your own meals?"
"Nobudy else ter do it."
"And don't you get dreadfully lonesome at night?"
"Who? Me? Guess not. What the Sam Hill is they to be lonesome over?"
"There are no near neighbors, are there?"
"Plenty. The Barker house is two mile one way an' the Bigbee house is jus' half a mile down the slope; guess ye passed it, comin' up; but they ain't no one in the Bigbee house jus' now, 'cause Bigbee got shot on the mount'n las' year, a deer hunt'n', an' Bigbee's wife's married another man what says he's delicate like an' can't leave the city. But neighbors is plenty. Six mile along the canyon62 lives Doolittle."
Irene was delighted with Bub's quaint63 language and ways and before Mrs. Conant called her family to the simple improvised64 dinner the chair-girl had won the boy's heart and already they were firm friends.
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1
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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glum
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| adj.闷闷不乐的，阴郁的 | |
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lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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kin
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shack
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| adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚 | |
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cosiest
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| adj.温暖舒适的( cosy的最高级 )；亲切友好的 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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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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flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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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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second-hand
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| adj.用过的，旧的，二手的 | |
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auction
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| n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖 | |
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15
exodus
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| v.大批离去，成群外出 | |
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cosy
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| adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的 | |
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trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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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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exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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21
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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labored
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| adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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villas
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| 别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅 | |
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25
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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lumbering
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| n.采伐林木 | |
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bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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bawling
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的现在分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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33
whittling
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| v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的现在分词 ) | |
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whittle
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| v.削（木头），削减；n.屠刀 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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overalls
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| n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣 | |
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strap
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| n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎 | |
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scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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39
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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40
gals
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| abbr.gallons （复数）加仑（液量单位）n.女孩，少女( gal的名词复数 ) | |
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confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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42
whittled
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| v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
notched
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| a.有凹口的，有缺口的 | |
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44
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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brat
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| n.孩子；顽童 | |
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incensed
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| 盛怒的 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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51
gee
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| n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转 | |
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52
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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53
thorny
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| adj.多刺的，棘手的 | |
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54
alibi
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| n.某人当时不在犯罪现场的申辩或证明；借口 | |
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55
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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56
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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57
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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58
unpacked
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| v.从（包裹等）中取出（所装的东西），打开行李取出( unpack的过去式和过去分词 )；拆包；解除…的负担；吐露（心事等） | |
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59
dispel
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| vt.驱走，驱散，消除 | |
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60
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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61
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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canyon
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| n.峡谷，溪谷 | |
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63
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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improvised
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| a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
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