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Sara, a Princess

F >> Fannie E. Newberry >> Sara, a Princess




"Neither do I," said Morton, calmly attacking his seventh herring, and
his hot-headed little sister, as usual, was vanquished by his superior
coolness and precision.

This time even Miss Prue was satisfied, and entered heartily into all
the plans and arrangements for the flitting, while Morton forgot his own
disappointment in the interest of this great change.

They were in the midst of the packing, Sara, Miss Prue, and Morton, with
Molly guarding the baby, who had a savage desire to snatch at everything
and destroy it, when the elder maiden laughed out,--

"Sara, I've a scheme; you can let the house as a summer cottage, instead
of taking the boarders I once insisted upon. Now, come! Isn't that an
idea?"

"If I can't sell it," said Sara.

"Of course, but then you can't. Nobody ever sells anything in Killamet
except tobacco. I doubt if you could give it away!"

Sara smiled and sighed in a breath.

"I'd hate to do either, but I fear it will never be our home again, so
why cling to it? But really, do you suppose any city family would be
satisfied with this?" indicating the large, littered room with a
sweeping gesture.

"Why not, just for the summer? They crowd into far more uncomfortable
places, I'm sure. I can imagine this room with pretty rugs and cane
chairs, and a hammock slung across the alcove, and a pinebough ablaze in
the fireplace, being a most attractive nook some cool summer evening,
after a long day of blue-fishing; and there's one nice bedroom besides
the loft."

Sara shook her head dubiously.

"I wish some one would take it, but I'm afraid it will have to stay
closed and useless. Molly, Molly! Do watch the baby; he's just starting
for the best glass sugar-bowl with the hammer, and I think he has some
tacks in his mouth."

Baby having been made to disgorge his too sharp repast, the talk ran on
to other things, Miss Prue giving much valuable advice on "How to live
on ten dollars a week;" but the sage maxims were so interspersed with
hammerings, hunts, and hurry, that I fear much of their value was lost
on Sara.

It happened to be a fair day when they left for the new home, and it
seemed as if all Killamet turned out to bid them God-speed. They ate
their last dinner with faithful Miss Prue, then, accompanied by a goodly
little procession, walked down to the beach, where Jasper Norris, who
had somehow happened home a few days before, was waiting with his tidy
little wherry to row them across the bay to Norcross, where they would
reach the railroad, their goods having been sent by wagon a day or two
before. It was curious to see how differently each of the Olmstead group
was affected by this leave-taking.

Sara was pale and still, and her beautiful, sad eyes heavy with unshed
tears; Morton had an air of manliness new and good to see, and seemed
determined to look after every one and everything; Molly's cheeks were
red, and her eyes aglow with excitement, as her feet danced over the
white sand, while baby laughed at the surrounding friends with charming
impartiality, and talked every minute in his own particular dialect,
which eye and motion made almost as intelligible as the queen's English.

At length they stood on the crescent beach, the sea rolling in at their
feet, as Sara had watched it so many times. A fresh April wind curled
the waves into fluffy white turbans (as Molly observed), and an April
sun gave them an almost blinding sparkle. Each lighthouse gleamed
whitely across the bay, and the tall cliff rocks stood out in bold
relief against the dazzling blue of the sky; but Jasper saw it all as
through a mist, for his heart was heavy.

What did this departure portend? Would it break up their life-long
friendship? He was glad to see his mother take Sara's hand, and, as she
kissed her tenderly, exact a promise that she would write occasionally.

But when the others crowded around, each eager for the last word, he
turned away and busied himself with his tiller-rope, sick at heart. At
last the good-bys were all said; Morton had taken his seat at the
rudder, and Molly was nestled with baby on a cushion in the bottom of
the taut little boat, when, just as Jasper was holding out a hand to
help Sara aboard, she turned and gave a last, long, lingering look over
the quaint little town in its radiant setting of sea and sky.

"Good-by, all--all I love!" she said brokenly, then turned to Jasper,
and was soon silently seated in her designated place.

The young man, also silent, took up the oars to fit them into the
rowlocks, when suddenly Molly was seen scrambling to her feet.

"Wait, Jap, wait!" she cried eagerly, and leaping over the seats, sprang
lightly ashore.

"Why, what is it?" "Have you lost something?" "What can the child want?"
were some of the questions showered after her from boat and beach, as
she was seen to stoop and plunge a quickly bared arm into the water.

She drew it forth again, and held up something green and many-clawed.

"It's just a lobster I saw," she said calmly, as she climbed back to her
place with the surprised crustacean gingerly suspended from her dripping
hand. "We can boil it to-morrow, Sara, then I'll have the claws to suck;
where shall we put it so't it won't grip the baby?"

The laughter called forth by this characteristic escapade effectually
dispelled all tears and sadness.

Even Jasper grinned, as he handed the creature on to Morton, to be
thrown into the bait-box under the stern-seat, and, amid lighter sallies
and laughter, instead of tears, they rowed away. But Sara's eyes rested
upon her well-loved birthplace until they had rounded the lighthouse,
and the familiar scene was quite shut out by the intervening tongue of
land.

It was about mid-afternoon when the little party entered the railway
coach at Norcross; and this being Molly's first glimpse of a train of
cars, her eyes would have put an owl's to shame for size and roundness,
as she sat on the very edge of the seat, and stared uneasily about her.

Jasper, having fixed them comfortably, gave a hurried hand to each,
leaving the last for Sara. He had thought a dozen times just what he
would say to her at parting, but everything went out of his head in the
nervousness of that last anxious moment, with the engine apparently
determined to run away with all who would linger over their farewells,
and he simply uttered a choked "Well, good-by, Sairay!" as he held her
hand an instant in a trembling clasp.

"Good-by, Jasper, I shall not soon forget your kindness; but do hurry
off before the train starts." So does the rush and rattle of modern
times overpower romance and sentiment.

But, safe on the station platform, he watched the one window he cared
for with misty eyes, while Sara on its other side felt that the last of
home was leaving her, while before her stretched only a strange,
untried, uncertain future.




CHAPTER XIII.

FROM KILLAMET TO DARTMOOR.


The train started with a shriek, faintly echoed by excited Molly, the
bells clanged, belated men swung themselves up to the rear platform,
there was the quick panting of impatient haste through the monster's
whole length, till the jerks settled into a contented glide, and Molly's
distressed puckers broadened into a smile of delight.

"It's like flying!" she gasped, turning from her intent gaze out of the
window. "Everything's flying, only the trees and fences all go the other
way. I tell you I like it!"

Dartmoor was about a three hours' ride distant, so it was not yet dark
when they reached there, and were met by Madame Grandet, who had been in
the college town with her husband for a fortnight. How good it was to
see her charming face again! Sara felt the stricture of forlornness and
fear about her heart loosen suddenly at sight of her.

"Here are you all then, quite safe and well!" she said merrily, as she
took the baby from his sister's tired arms, "and I have a carriage for
you; pray follow." They obeyed; and soon the party were driving through
the broad, quiet streets, bordered by old elms and maples whose summer
foliage must stretch a green canopy quite across them, thought Sara. She
gazed about her, and was delighted with the comfortable, old-time look
of the deep-verandaed houses, set solidly in the midst of green lawns,
outlined by winding shell walks of dazzling whiteness.

Once she uttered a cry of pleasure, as they crossed a large green park
interspersed by broad avenues, with a pile of gray stone buildings
surrounding three of its sides, while elms of rare height and grace were
scattered irregularly over its velvety surface.

"It is the campus that you now see," said the madame, answering the
question in her eyes, "and those large buildings are of the college a
part. Do you observe over this way, to our right, a wide, wide arch with
a statue above? It is the entrance to the museum, in which you do work,
and this beautiful street we drive upon, it is the College Avenue, and
here are the homes of the faculty that we now pass."

"Do we live with the faculty?" inquired Molly, whose neck seemed in
danger of dislocation, so constantly did she keep it twisting and
turning.

"Ah! no, hardly so," laughed the madame; "it is on a little street that
I do find apartments for you, but it is nice there; I do hope you will
be pleasured."

"Oh, I'm sure we will! Baby dear, don't chew your pretty cloak-strings,
you will spoil them. Ah! is this the place?" as they whirled around a
corner and stopped shortly in a narrow but clean court, surrounded by
small, trim cottages with tiny squares of green in front.

The madame led them up a gravelled foot-path--there were no fences--to
a door in one of these, which she opened and entered.

"Follow, follow!" she called out merrily, and flitted up the narrow,
uncarpeted stairway. She stopped at the head of this, and stood till all
had gathered about her in the dim little hall-way, then, with a graceful
flourish, cried, "Behold then!" and threw wide a door.

There was a universal shout of satisfaction, which made the madame's
eyes dance, while Sara's grew misty with feeling; for that kind little
Frenchwoman had almost settled their rooms for them, doing all an
outsider could do, so that the bare, homeless look many of us can
remember when newly entering a tenantless house, was quite removed.

After the first pause of surprise, the children began running wildly
about, while the madame and Sara took it more leisurely. "See," said
the former, "it is here your sitting room, with three pleasant windows,
and a bit of a fireplace under this wooden mantel. When it is dressed
with something bright it will not so bare seem. Here are two cosey
bedrooms with the air and light, and a so large closet between, besides
this cunning little bath-apartment, which I know you will much prize.
Then here," throwing open a door, "is your kitchen, with two fine
windows, and this tiny range. Is it not pretty?"

She ran about, showing its conveniences, and explaining how these
apartment-cottages were built by a humane society, to furnish
comfortable homes for those who had little means, ending:--

"And the rent, my dear, it is so small--so very small--only a little ten
dollars a month!"

It did not seem small to Sara, but she would not damp the madame's
enthusiasm by saying so; and in time she learned to appreciate, and be
grateful for, this really cosey flat at so low a rental.

"The family below is very nice," said madame; "their name it is
Hoffstott, and he is a little German baker of much baldness on his head,
but greatly smiling and pleasant; the wife is about the same in her
width as she is in her height, and laughs with a big mouth, and white
teeth fine to see; and they have two little girls with yellow braids,
like that candy of molasses Miss Zeba did have in her windows--and all
so clean! Ah!" with a charming gesture, "it do shine through every room
with soap and sand, and the brush that scrubs!"

"Dear me!" sighed Sara, "I'm afraid I can never suit them then; baby
will get things around so!"

"Never do you fear of yourself, little princess!" tapping her gently on
the shoulder. "I can still in my mind see your beautiful white floor
and shining window-panes, down there by the sea. You, too, are clean, my
sweet child, I know! Now, have you any supper had?"

"Why, no, not a bit!" laughing. "I had almost forgotten."

"Well, I hadn't," said Morton, "I'm about starved!"

"I, too!" cried Molly, and the baby put in a pathetic plea for "bed-e-
mik" that was irresistible.

"Ah, such fun!" cried the madame merrily, as she whisked off her wraps.
"I did think it would be so, and I had that good Hoffstott to send us a
nice little tin kitchen that I now have hidden away in the warm oven;
and see! I did take some dishes out of the barrel. We will have a supper
to make a _chef_ rave with envy soon!"

If it would hardly produce so dire an effect on a head-cook, it
certainly gave supreme satisfaction to the partakers; for in the tin
kitchen, which seemed to prying Molly like some Fortunatus box, was a
dear little pot of baked beans, some steaming rolls, and potatoes baked
in their jackets, while from a cooler place came a dainty glass of jam,
and some cake.

It was now dark, and the children felt surrounded by wonders. As Molly
expressed it, "Madame just turned a handle, and the light shot out; and
turned another, and the water fell out;" and she asked, innocently
enough, if, when they wanted milk or tea, all that people had to do here
was just to move a handle, and let it run out of the wall! But madame,
after her laughter, answered this by proceeding to steep some tea in an
odd little contrivance over the gas-jet, much as Sara did over the log-
fire at home; but neither Morton nor Molly would have been surprised to
see food come sliding in, all cooked, or clothes all made, by the simple
turn of a crank, so like fairyland was it all.

When, at length, the kind madame left them, Sara looked about her with
an odd feeling, half forlorn, half thankful.

It was certainly a snug little haven, yet everything was so new and
strange she felt as if she could never get used to it. But, during the
next day or two, which was passed busily, getting the rooms into better
shape, she gradually grew accustomed to the odd contrivances, and
acknowledged their convenience. Mrs. Hoffstott came up, and kindly
offered her services, and the baby took such a fancy to the good-natured
German woman that he would hardly leave her for any one but Sara.

As to the little girls, they fraternized with Morton and Molly at once,
and introduced them to their home below, and their father's shop on a
neighboring street, before the day was over.

By Sunday morning--their flitting had been on a certain Thursday--
everything was in excellent order, and Sara had begun to feel that the
little flat was indeed home; so the blessed day was spent in the quiet
and rest they all needed. As they sat around the tiny grate in the
twilight, Morton looked slowly all about him. The room was square, with
a large double window in front, and a single one at the side. By the
madame's suggestion, and with her help, these windows and the mantel-
shelf had been prettily draped with inexpensive material, which was,
however, delicate in tint and pattern. Upon the floor was the only
carpet Sara owned--old-fashioned, and perhaps too bright for artistic
tastes, but looking warm and comfortable that chilly spring evening.
Then there was a table, also draped, while the collection of minerals
was conspicuous upon a set of shelves in one corner; and about the fire
were a few home-cushioned chairs. Plain, to homeliness, as it was, yet
the effect was so entirely one of brightness and comfort that Morton
broke out with,--

"Well, Sara, this is pretty nice! Rather better than Uncle Jabez's old
cabin on the Mary Jane, isn't it?"

"I'm so glad you think so, Morton! And I'm sure you will like school
here. Mrs. Hoffstott has taken such a fancy to baby that she will take
care of him for me until I can find some one else; so tomorrow we begin
our education,--you and Molly and I."

"You, Sara? How funny! Why, you are through with yours, aren't you?"

"No, Molly, I sometimes think I am just beginning; and if you dread the
starting in to-morrow, so do I! Bring the Bible, Morton, and let's read
a chapter, to give us courage for the ordeal."

It was indeed an ordeal! After starting off the children, with the
little Hoffstotts to pilot them, and seeing baby happy with some toys
in their mother's trim kitchen, Sara put on her modest wraps, and walked
briskly, not giving her courage time to weaken, from the little court
toward College Avenue. At its farther end she was to meet Professor
Grandet, who lived there in a professional boarding-house of intense
respectability and learning, from whence he was to accompany her to the
museum, a programme which had been arranged with Sara by himself and
madame, when they had called Saturday evening.

She found him awaiting her in the doorway, beside his wife, who greeted
her with a cheery word, and bade her, laughingly, have no fear, for she
knew all about professors, and really, in most things, they were no
wiser than common people! Then, laughing mischievously in her husband's
face, she gave him a little push down the steps, which came near
upsetting both his balance and his dignity. But before he could turn to
remonstrate she was volubly bidding him not to go off into a brown study
over some plesiosaurus, and forget all about his charge, or make a
mistake and introduce her to the dinotherium, instead of Professor
Macon; then, gayly waving her hand, she vanished behind the closing
door.

"She has ze spirits zat are high--she!" he said with a smile, for
everything this bonny wife did seemed good to him. "It is ze best sing
zat it ees thus, for she ees much alone--_la pauvre petite!_ Now, I
must zis sing say to you, Mees Sara; it will not be allowed zat you keep
zat mos' fine colleczione while ze college have you in employ--zat ees
contraire to ze rule. What would you with it then? If you it will zell,
I s'all be mos' happy to buy, eh?"

"Certainly, if it is against the rule to keep it; but that seems queer!"

"But no, it ees quite right, you zee? Ze collecziones mus' be for ze
college--all--no private ones; it will not do."

"Yes, I see; all must work for the general good when making a
collection."

"Yes, yes, it ees so."

They were now passing into the museum building, whose wide and lofty
corridors sent a thrill of awe through the impressionable girl. Feeling
very small and young, she followed the professor over the tiled floors,
then through two or three large apartments filled with strange looking
beasts and birds of a startling naturalness, past long glass cases,
where she caught hasty glimpses of everything possible in shell, bone,
stone, or mineral, then across a narrow corridor, where the professor
stopped and tapped at a door.

"Enter!" was called loudly from within, and they obeyed.

It was a bright, sunny room they stepped into, not large, in comparison
with those they had passed through, though here, too, were smaller glass
cases, as well as tables heaped with jars and specimens, and two knee-
hole desks of fair size.

From one of these a gentleman advanced; not a large man, but having a
fine head and face. His black hair was thrown carelessly back from a
broad white forehead, while his mouth and chin were concealed under a
full dark beard. His eyes, of the same dusky hue, peered keenly through
glasses.

"Professor, here I have mine leetle vriend, Mees Sara Olmstead; and zis,
Mees Sara, ees ze good man with whom you do vork, Professor Macon."

The professor and his new assistant shook hands, while the latter felt
she herself was being classified and labelled by those penetrating orbs.

"I'm happy to meet Miss Olmstead; pray be seated. Don't hurry away,
Professor Grandet; can't you sit down a while, also?"

"Not zis morning, t'anks; I haf mooch to do. Well, Mees, I leaves you in
good hands; _au revoir._"

"Good-morning; and thank you," said Sara timidly.

"Thou art mos' velcome; adieu!" and with a flourish of his hat he was
gone.

"You may take off your wraps in here, if you please, Miss Olmstead,"
said Professor Macon, leading the way to a small cloak-room; then, as
she returned unbonneted, he pointed to the desk near his own.

"This is your place, and for this morning your work will be labelling
these specimens. When you are the least uncertain about one, speak to
me, please. You will find everything needed before you." He returned to
his own work, and Sara soon grew absorbed in hers; for it was the kind
of task she liked, and had often spent hours over, for pure amusement.
How it brought back the shore and the cliffs! The long rambles inland,
also, and the evenings on the floor amid her specimens, down before the
drift-wood fire. She forgot her surroundings finally, so interested was
she; and once the professor, glancing up, smiled a little at sight of
the bent head and eager, intent face. He watched her, unperceived, for
some seconds, then, with a nod of satisfaction, returned to his own
labors.

The three morning hours passed as one in this congenial labor, then
there was the brisk walk home to meet the children at a light lunch, and
look after baby. She found the little fellow supremely contented with
his new quarters, having made loving advances to a gray kitten who,
though suspicious of his favors, was too meek to escape them; and Mrs.
Hoffstott declared he had been "so goot as nefar vas!" The older
children were voluble over their school, Morton talking most of the
great, cheerful rooms, with their wonderful conveniences for study;
while Molly expatiated at large over a little girl with the euphonious
name of Henrietta May Hendrington, with whom she seemed to have fallen
rapturously in love!

Half-past one found them all at work again, and the afternoon hours were
even shorter than those of the morning to all but baby, who began to
grow homesick towards four o'clock, and who could not be comforted,
even by the children, who were out of school at three. He wanted his
"Wawa," and no one else. It was really pathetic to see how the little
fellow clung to her, hiding his pretty wet eyes in her neck, and
lovingly patting her shoulder, as he crooned his wordless reproaches in
her ear, and Mrs. Hoffstott, looking on, thought this must indeed be a
good sister to win such hearty affection, and felt her own motherly
heart warm to the forlorn little orphaned brood. But, as Sara climbed
the steep staircase, with the child clasped close, and opened the door
of their little snuggery above, her heart was full. How had the loving
Father cared for his children! Here she was, a princess indeed, in her
own domain, surrounded by her loving subjects; and when she shut the
door she seemed to shut out sorrow and care, for here all was peace.

How they enjoyed the nice hot supper, and the visit afterward, baby in
Sara's lap, warming his pink toes before the bit of a blaze, which these
chill nights of early spring demanded! Then, when the little fellow was
in bed, out came the books, and all was still, as Molly hunted out lakes
and rivers, Morton puzzled over fractions, and Sara revelled in Owen,
ready at any moment to give her help to the younger ones.

Perhaps some dainty miss of eighteen, enjoying her first winter in
"society," and counting up her bouquets and admirers after last night's
party, might think it too tame an existence; but to Sara, reared amid
toil, privation, and loneliness, it was a veritable bit of Eden.

It could not be expected that such a beautiful girl as Sara could cross
the campus several times a day, and pass unobserved by the hundreds of
students who felt this to be their special stalking-ground; and finally,
one morning when an unusual number of graceless young "Sophs" and
"Freshes" were on guard there, she was subjected to so many stares,
smiles, touchings of the hat, and half-heard remarks, that she entered
the workroom with flushed cheeks and a perturbed manner which could not
well escape the professor's keen eyes.

"You have walked too fast, Miss Olmstead; there is no such hurry these
sunny mornings."

"It isn't that, sir; I--it is not agreeable crossing the campus."

"Ah!" with a lift of the eyebrows and a quizzical look at the lovely
disturbed face before him. "I can well believe it! Well, there's a
better way, if you would like to try it; at least a more secluded one,"
giving her a keen glance. "When you come down College Avenue, watch till
you see a large brown house with a tower, and a porch with heavy
pillars"--

"Oh, yes, sir; and a deep green lawn in front; I've often noticed it."

"Very well," smiling agreeably, "that's my home. Turn in at the
carriage-drive, and follow it until you see an opening in the hedge; go
through, and keep to the little foot-path; it will bring you here, for
it's my own private way."

"Thank you," said Sara, "I will be very glad to use it," and seated
herself at her desk in the business-like way she was acquiring, much to
the professor's secret amusement.

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