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 Another Random Document on
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Dick and Dolly
 This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
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eBook.

Title: Dick and Dolly

Author: Carolyn Wells

Illustrator: Ada Budell

Release date: September 29, 2016 [eBook #53166]

Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DICK AND DOLLY

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The Project Gutenberg eBook, Dick and Dolly, by Carolyn Wells,
Illustrated by Ada Budell

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“She saw a little girl coming eagerly toward her” (Page 95)

DICK AND DOLLY

 BY
CAROLYN WELLS

AUTHOR OF

THE MARJORIE BOOKS,

THE PATTY BOOKS,
THE TWO LITTLE WOMEN SERIES,

ILLUSTRATED BY
ADA BUDELL

GROSSET & DUNLAP

PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
Made in the United States of America

Copyright, 1909, by
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
 Published, October, 1909

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I The Brook 1

II The Arrival 15

III An Early Stroll 29

IV Gardens 43

V A Playground 57

VI A Social Call 72

VII Pinkie 87

VIII A Secret 102

IX Phyllis 118

X An Auction Sale 132

 XI Fun with Lady Eliza 147

XII Obeying Orders 161

XIII Aunt Nine 177

XIV A Coronation 191

XV Punishment 207

XVI The Playhouse 222

XVII The Fate of Dana Cottage 236

XVIII A Lovely Plan 249

XIX The Big Chief 264

XX A Gay Party 279

ILLUSTRATIONS

“She Saw a Little Girl Coming Frontispiece

Eagerly Toward Her”

“Oh, How Good the Cool Ripply Facing page 40

Water did Feel!”

In the Garden ” ” 124

Lady Dusenbury’s Party ” ” 200
 CHAPTER I
THE BROOK

D ick Most
and Dolly were twins and had been twins for nine years.
of these years had been spent with Grandma Banks and
Aunt Helen, for Dick and Dolly were orphaned when they were tiny
tots, and Aunt Helen Banks was their mother’s sister.
Then, about two years ago, Grandma Banks had died, and now
Aunt Helen was to be married and go far away across the sea to live.
So their Chicago home was broken up, and the twins were sent
to the old Dana homestead in Connecticut, to live with their father’s
people.
This transfer of their dwelling-place didn’t bother Dick and Dolly
much, for they were philosophical little people and took things just
as they happened, and, moreover, they were so fond of each other,
that so long as they were together, it didn’t matter to them where
they were.
But to the two people who lived in the old Dana place, and who
were about to receive the twin charges, it mattered a great deal.
Miss Rachel and Miss Abbie Dana were maiden ladies of precise
and methodical habits, and to have their quiet home invaded by two
unknown children was, to say the least, disturbing.
But then Dick and Dolly were the children of their own brother,
and so, of course they were welcome, still the aunts felt sure it
would make a great difference in the household.
And indeed it did.
From the moment of the twins’ arrival,—but I may as well tell
you about that moment.
You see, Aunt Helen was so busy with her wedding preparations
that she didn’t want to take the time to bring Dick and Dolly all the
way from Chicago to Heatherton, Connecticut, so she sent them East
in charge of some friends of hers who chanced to be coming. Mr.
and Mrs. Halkett were good-natured people, and agreed to see the
twins safely to Dana Dene, the home of the waiting aunts.
And the aunts were waiting somewhat anxiously.
They had never seen Dick and Dolly since they were tiny babies,
and as they had heard vague reports of mischievous tendencies,
they feared for the peace and quiet of their uneventful lives.
“But,” said Miss Abbie to Miss Rachel, “we can’t expect children
to act like grown people. If they’re only tidy and fairly good-
mannered, I shall be thankful.”
“Perhaps we can train them to be,” responded Miss Rachel,
hopefully; “nine is not very old, to begin with. I think they will be
tractable at that age.”
“Let us hope so,” said Miss Abbie.
The Dana ladies were not really old,—even the family Bible didn’t
credit them with quite half a century apiece,—but they were of a
quiet, sedate type, and were disturbed by the least invasion of their
daily routine.
Life at Dana Dene was of the clock-work variety, and mistresses
and servants fell into step and trooped through each day, without a
variation from the pre-arranged line of march.
But, to their honest souls, duty was pre-eminent, even over
routine, and now, as it was clearly their duty to take their brother’s
children into their household, there was no hesitation, but there was
apprehension.
For who could say what two nine-year-olds would be like?
But in accordance with their sense of duty, the Misses Dana
accepted the situation and went to work to prepare rooms for the
new-comers.
Two large sunny bedrooms, Dolly’s sweet and dainty, Dick’s more
boyish, were made ready, and another large room was planned to be
used as a study or rainy-day playroom for them both. Surely, the
aunts were doing the right thing,—if the children would only respond
to the gentle treatment, and not be perfect little savages, all might
yet be well.
Now it happened that when Mr. and Mrs. Halkett reached New
York with their young charges, the trip from Chicago had made Mrs.
Halkett so weary and indisposed that she preferred to remain in New
York while her husband took the twins to Heatherton. It was not a
long trip, perhaps three hours or less on the train, so Mr. Halkett
started off to fulfil his trust and present Dick and Dolly at the door of
their new home, assuring his wife that he would return on the first
train possible after accomplishing his errand. Mrs. Halkett took pride
in seeing that the children were very spick and span, and prettily
arrayed, and gave them many injunctions to keep themselves so.
Sturdy Dick looked fine in his grey Norfolk jacket and
knickerbockers, with wide white collar and correct tie. Pretty little
Dolly was in white piqué, very stiff and clean, with a tan-coloured
coat and flower-trimmed hat.
The twins looked alike, and had the same big, dark eyes, but
Dick’s hair was a dark mass of close-cropped curls, while Dolly’s was
a tangle of fluffy golden ringlets. This striking effect of fair hair and
dark eyes made her an unusually attractive-looking child, and
though they had never thought of it themselves, the twins were a
very beautiful pair of children. Docilely obedient to Mrs. Halkett’s
injunctions, they sat quietly in the train, and did nothing that could
by any possibility be termed naughty.
Truth to tell, they were a little awed at the thought of the two
aunts, whom they did not yet know, but had every reason to believe
were not at all like Auntie Helen. They chatted together, as they
looked out of the window at the landscape and stations, and Mr.
Halkett read his paper, and then looked over his timetable to see
how soon he could get back to New York.
There was a train that left Heatherton for New York about half an
hour after their own arrival, so he hoped he could leave the twins at
Dana Dene and return to the metropolis on that train. But owing to a
delay of some sort they did not reach the Heatherton station until
about twenty minutes after schedule time.
After the train Mr. Halkett desired to take back to New York, there
was no other for two hours, and greatly annoyed was that
gentleman. When they stood at last on the station platform, a
pleasant-faced Irishman approached and informed Mr. Halkett that
he was from Dana Dene, and had been sent to meet Master Dick
and Miss Dolly. As the man appeared so capable and responsible, Mr.
Halkett was tempted to put the children in his care, and return
himself at once to New York.
He explained about the trains, and told of his wife’s illness, and
the intelligent Michael said at once:
“Shure, sor, do yez go back to New York. I’ll be afther takin’ the
childher safe to the house. Don’t yez moind, sor, but go right along.
Lave all to me, sor.”
Impressed with the man’s decisive words, and sure of his
trustworthiness, Mr. Halkett assisted the children into the carriage,
and bidding them good-bye turned back to the station.
Dolly looked a little wistful as he turned away, for though no
relative, he had been a kind friend, and now she felt like a stranger
in a strange land.
But Dick was with her, so nothing else really mattered. She
slipped her hand in her brother’s, and then Michael picked up his
reins and they started off.
It was early May, and it chanced to be warm and pleasant. The
carriage was an open one, a sort of landau, and the twins gazed
around with eager interest.
“Great, isn’t it, Dolly?” exclaimed Dick, as they drove along a
winding road, with tall trees and budding shrubs on either side.
“Oh, yes!” returned Dolly. “It’s beautiful. I love the country a
whole heap better than Chicago. Oh, Dick, there’s woods,—real
woods!”
“So it is, and a brook in it! I say, Michael, can’t we get out here a
minute?”
“I think not,” said the good-natured coachman. “The leddies is
forninst, lookin’ for yez, and by the same token, we’re afther bein’
late as it is.”
“Yes, I know,” said Dick, “but we won’t stay a minute. Just let us
run in and see that brook. It’s such a dandy! I never saw a brook
but once or twice in all my life.”
“Yez didn’t! The saints presarve us! Wherever have yez lived?”
“In the city,—in Chicago. Do stop a minute, please, Michael.”
 “Please, Michael,” added Dolly, and her sweet voice and coaxing
glance were too much for Michael’s soft heart.
Grumbling a little under his breath, he pulled up his horses, and
let the children get out.
“Just a minute, now,” he said, warningly. “I’ll bring yez back here
some other day. Can yez get under the brush there?”
“We’ll go over,” cried Dick, as he climbed and scrambled over a
low thicket of brush.
Dolly scrambled through, somehow, and the two children that
emerged on the other side of the brush were quite different in
appearance from the two sedate-looking ones that Mr. Halkett had
left behind him.
Dick’s white collar had received a smudge, his stocking was badly
torn, and his cheek showed a long scratch.
Dolly’s white frock was a sight! Her pretty tan coat had lost a
button or two, and her hat was still in the bushes.
“Hey, Doddy, hey, for the brook!” shouted Dick, and grasping
each other’s hands, they ran for the rippling water.
“Oh!” cried Dolly, her eyes shining. “Did you ever!”
To the very edge of the brook they went, dabbling their fingers in
the clear stream, and merrily splashing water on each other.
All this would have been a harmless performance enough if they
had been in play clothes, but the effect on their travelling costumes
was most disastrous.
Leaning over the mossy bank to reach the water caused fearful
green stains on white piqué and on light-grey knickerbockers. Hands
became grimy, and faces hot and smudgy. But blissfully careless of
all this, the children frolicked and capered about, rejoiced to find the
delightful country spot and quite oblivious to the fact that they were
on their way to their new home.
“Let’s wade,” said Dick, and like a flash, off came four muddy
shoes, and four grass-greened stockings. Oh, how good the cool
ripply water did feel! and how they chuckled with glee as they felt
the wavelets plashing round their ankles.
Across the brook were the dearest wild flowers,—pink, yellow,
and white.
 “We must gather some,” said Dolly. “Can we wade across?”
“Yep; I guess so. It doesn’t look deep. Come on.”
Taking hands again, they stepped cautiously, and succeeded in
crossing the shallow brook, though, incidentally, well dampening the
piqué skirt, and the grey knickerbockers.
Sitting down on the mossy bank, they picked handfuls of the
flowers and wondered what they were.
“Hollo! Hollo!” called Michael’s voice from the road, where he sat
holding his horses.
“All right, Michael! In a minute,” shrilled back the childish voices.
And they really meant to go in a minute, but the fascination of
the place held them, and they kept on picking flowers, and grubbing
among the roots and stones at the edge of the water.
“We really ought to go,” said Dolly. “Come on, Dick. Oh, look at
the birds!”
A large flock of birds flew low through the sky, and as they
circled and wheeled, the children watched them eagerly.
“They’re birds coming North for the summer,” said Dick. “See
those falling behind! They don’t like the way the flock is going, and
they’re going to turn back.”
“So they are! We must watch them. There, now they’ve decided
to go on, after all! Aren’t they queer?”
“Hollo! Hollo! Come back, yez bad childher! Come back, I say!”
“Yes, Michael, in a minute,” rang out Dolly’s sweet, bird-like
voice.
“In a minute, nothin’! Come now, roight sthraight away! Do yez
hear?”
“Yes, we’re coming,” answered Dick, and together they started to
wade back across the brook.
Then there were shoes and stockings to be put on, and with
sopping wet feet, and no towels, this is not an easy task.
They tugged at the unwilling stockings and nearly gave up in
despair, but succeeded at last in getting them on, though the seams
were far from the proper straight line at the back. Shoes were not so
hard to put on, but were impossible to button without a buttonhook,
so had to remain unbuttoned.
 Meantime, Michael was fairly fuming with angry impatience. He
could not leave his horses, or he would have gone after the truants,
and no passers-by came along whom he could ask to hold his restive
team.
So he continued to shout, and Dick and Dolly continued to assure
him that they were coming, but they didn’t come.
At last they appeared at the thicket hedge, and as the two
laughing faces peeped through, Michael could scarcely recognise his
young charges. Torn, soiled, dishevelled, unkempt, there was
absolutely no trace of the spick and span toilets Mrs. Halkett had
looked after so carefully, in spite of her aching head and tired
nerves.
“Yez naughty little rascals!” cried Michael. “Whativer possessed
yez to tousel yersilves up loike that! Shame to yez! What’ll yer
aunties say?”
For the first time, the twins realised their disreputable
appearance.
What, indeed, would their new aunties say to them? Aunt Helen
would have laughed, in her pretty, merry way, and sent them trotting
away to clean up, but with new and untried aunties they couldn’t be
sure. Moreover, they had an idea that Aunt Rachel and Aunt Abbie
were not at all like pretty, young Auntie Helen.
Rescuing her hat from the thorn bush where it hung, Dolly looked
ruefully at its twisted flowers. The more she tried to pull them into
shape, the worse they looked.
She put it on her head, dismayed meanwhile to find her broad
hair-ribbon was gone, and her sunny curls a moist, tangled mop.
Dick was conscious of a growing feeling of wrong-doing, but
there was nothing to be done but face the music.
“Get in,” he said, briefly to his sister, and they clambered into the
carriage.
Michael said no more; it was not his place to reprimand the
children of the house, but he sat up very straight and stiff, as he
drove rapidly toward home. To be sure, his straightness and stiffness
was to conceal a fit of merriment caused by the thought of
presenting these ragamuffins at the portals of Dana Dene, but the
ragamuffins themselves didn’t know that, and regretful and
chagrined, they sat hand in hand, awaiting their fate.
 CHAPTER II
THE ARRIVAL

I nRachel
the dark and somewhat sombre library at Dana Dene, Miss
and Miss Abbie sat awaiting their guests. The room might
have been called gloomy, but for the sunshine that edged in through
the long, narrow, slit-like windows, and made determined golden
bars across the dark-red carpet. Both the Misses Dana showed
clearly their anxiety to have the children arrive and end their
suspense.
“If only they’re tidy children,” said Miss Rachel for the fiftieth
time; and Miss Abbie responded, as she always did, “Yes, and quiet-
mannered.”
Miss Rachel Dana was of rather spare build, and sharp features.
Her brown hair, only slightly tinged with grey, was deftly arranged,
and every curled lock in its right place. Her pretty house-dress of
dark blue foulard silk, with white figures, was modishly made and
carefully fitted.
Miss Abbie was a little more plump, and her gown was of a shade
lighter blue, though otherwise much like her sister’s.
The ladies had a patient air, as if they had waited long, but
though they now and then glanced at the clock, they expressed no
surprise at the delayed arrival. Trains were apt to be late at
Heatherton, and they knew Michael would return as soon as
possible. They had not gone themselves to the station to meet the
twins, for it had seemed to them more dignified and fitting to receive
their young relatives in their own home. Meantime, the young
relatives were drawing nearer, and now, quite forgetting their own
untidy appearance, their thoughts had turned to the waiting aunts,
and the welcome they would probably receive.
“I don’t believe they’ll be as nice as Aunty Helen,” said Dick,
candidly, “but I hope they’ll be jolly and gay.”
 “I hope they’ll like us,” said Dolly, a little wistfully. She had always
missed a mother’s love more than Dick had, and her affectionate
little heart hoped to find in these aunties a certain tenderness that
merry Aunt Helen had not possessed.
Dick eyed his sister critically. “I don’t believe they will,” he said,
honestly, “until we get some clean clothes on. I say, Dollums, we
look like scarecrows.”
“So we do!” said Dolly, fairly aghast as she realised the state of
her costume. “Oh, Dick, can’t we get dressed up before we see
them?”
“’Course we can’t. Our trunks and bags haven’t come yet; and,
anyway, they’ll probably be on the porch or somewhere, to meet us.
Buck up, Dolly; don’t you mind. You’re just as nice that way.”
“Is my face dirty?”
“Not so much dirty,—as red and scratched. How did you get so
chopped up?”
“It was those briers. You went over, but I went through.”
“I should say you did! Well, I don’t believe they’ll mind your
looks. And, anyway, they’ll have to get used to it; you ’most always
look like that.”
This was cold comfort, and Dolly’s feminine heart began to feel
that their appearance would be greatly in their disfavour.
But she was of a sanguine nature, and, too, she was apt to
devise expedients.
“I’ll tell you, Dick,” she said, as an idea came to her; “you know,
‘a soft answer turneth away wrath’; no,—I guess I mean ‘charity
covereth a multitude of sins.’ Yes, that’s it. And charity is love, you
know. So when we see the aunties, let’s spring into their arms and
kiss ’em and love ’em ’most to death, and then they won’t notice our
clothes.”
“All right, that goes. Let me see,—yes, your face is clean,”—Dick
made a dab or two at it with his handkerchief. “How’s mine?”
“Yes, it’s clean,” said Dolly, “at least, there aren’t any smudges;
but you’d better wash it before supper.”
“All right, I will. Here we go now, turning in at the gate. Be ready
to jump out and fly at them if they’re on the porch.”
 They weren’t on the porch, so the twins went in at the great
front door, which was opened for them by a smiling maid, whose
smile broadened as she saw them. Then, repressing her smile, she
ushered them to the library door and into the presence of the two
waiting aunts.
“Now!” whispered Dick, and with a mad rush, the two flew across
the room like whirlwinds and fairly banged themselves into the arms
of Miss Rachel and Miss Abbie Dana.
This sudden onslaught was followed by a series of hugs and
kisses which were of astonishing strength and duration.
What Miss Rachel and Miss Abbie thought can never be known,
for they had no power of thought. Victims of a volcanic visitation do
not think,—at least, not coherently, and the Dana ladies were quite
helpless, both mentally and physically.
“Dear Auntie,” cooed Dolly, patting the cheek of the one she had
attacked, though not knowing her name; “are you glad to see us?”
Miss Rachel stared stupidly at her, but the stare was not
reassuring, and Dolly’s heart fell.
“Jolly glad to get here,” cried Dick, loyally trying to carry out
Dolly’s plan, as he nearly choked the breath out of the other aunt.
Miss Abbie had a little more sense of humour than her sister,—
though neither of them was over-burdened with it,—so she said to
Dick:
“Then do stop pommeling me, and stand off where I can see
what you look like!”
But this was just what Dick was not anxious to do. So he only
clung closer, and said, “Dear Auntie, which is your name?”
“I’m your Aunt Abbie,” was the response, not too gently given,
“and now stand up, if you please, and stop these monkey-tricks!”
Of course, since she put it that way, Dick had to desist, and he
released his struggling aunt, and bravely stood up for inspection.
Miss Rachel, too, had pushed Dolly away from her, and the twins
stood, hand in hand, waiting for the verdict. It was an awful
moment. The physical exertion of the manner they had chosen of
greeting their aunts had made their flushed little faces still redder,
and the scratches stood out in bold relief.
 Also, their soiled and torn garments looked worse in this
elegantly appointed room even than they had in the woods or in the
carriage.
Altogether the twins felt that their plan of defence had failed, and
they were crestfallen, shy, homesick, and pretty miserable all ’round.
But the funny part was, that the plan hadn’t failed. Though the
aunts never admitted it, both their hearts were softened by the
feeling of those little arms round their necks, and those vigorous, if
grimy kisses that fell, irrespectively, on their cheeks, necks, or lace
collars.
Had it not been for this tornado of affection, the greeting would
have been far different. But one cannot speak coldly to a guest who
shows such warmth of demonstration.
“Well, you are a pretty-looking pair!” exclaimed Miss Rachel,
veiling her real disapproval behind a semblance of jocularity. “Do you
always travel in ragged, dirty clothes?”
“No, Aunt Rachel,” said Dick, feeling he must make a strike for
justice; “at least, we don’t start out this way. But you see, we had
hardly ever seen a brook before——”
“And it was so lovely!” put in Dolly, ecstatically.
“And wild flowers to it!” cried Dick, his eyes shining with the joy
of the remembrance.
“And pebbly stones!”
“And ripply water!”
“And birds, flying in big bunches!”
“Oh, but it was splendid!”
“And so you went to the brook,” said Aunt Rachel, beginning to
see daylight.
“Yes’m; on the way up from the station, you know.”
“Did Michael go with you?”
“No; he sat and held the horses, and hollered for us to come
back.”
“Why didn’t you go when he called you?”
“Why, we did; at least, we went in a minute. But, Aunt Rachel,
we never had seen a real live brook before, not since we were little
bits of kiddy-wids,—and we just couldn’t bear to leave it.”
 “We waded in it!” said Dolly, almost solemnly, as if she had
referred to the highest possible earthly bliss.
The Dana ladies were nonplussed. True, the affection showered
on them had tempered their severity, yet now justice began to
reassert itself, and surely it would not be just or fair to have these
semi-barbaric children installed at Dana Dene.
“Did your aunt in Chicago let you act like this?” asked Aunt
Abbie, by way of trying to grasp the situation.
“Well, you see, there never was a brook there,” said Dick,
pleasantly. “Only Lake Michigan, and that was too big to be any fun.”
“Oh, isn’t Heatherton lovely?” exclaimed Dolly, her big, dark eyes
full of rapture.
She had again possessed herself of Miss Rachel’s hand and was
patting it, and incidentally transfering some “good, brown earth” to
it, from her own little paw.
Though Dolly had planned their mode of entrance, she had
forgotten all about it now, and her affectionate demonstrations were
prompted only by her own loving little heart, and not by an effort to
be tactful.
In her enthusiasm over the beautiful country-side, she fairly
bubbled over with love and affection for all about her.
“Are you both so fond of the country, then?” said Miss Abbie, a
little curiously.
“Yes, we love it,” declared Dick, “and we’ve ’most never seen it.
Auntie Helen always liked fashionable places in summer, and of
course in winter we were in Chicago.”
“And we were naughty,” said Dolly, with a sudden burst of
contrition, “to go wading in the brook in our good clothes. Mrs.
Halkett told us ’spressly not to get soiled or even rumpled before we
saw you. And we’re sorry we did,—but, oh! that brook! When can
we go there again? To-morrow?”
“Or this afternoon,” said Dick, sidling up to Aunt Rachel; “it isn’t
late, is it?”
The twins had instinctively discerned that Miss Rachel was the
one of whom to ask permission. Aunt Abbie seemed more lovable,
perhaps, but without a doubt Aunt Rachel was the fixer of their fate.
 “This afternoon! I should say not!” exclaimed Miss Rachel. “It’s
nearly supper time now, and how you’re going to be made
presentable is more than I know! Have you any other clothes?”
“In our trunks,—lots of ’em,” said Dick, cheerfully. “But these are
our best ones. Mrs. Halkett put them on us purpose to come to you.
I’m sorry they’re smashed.”
Dick’s sorrow was expressed in such blithe and nonchalant tones,
that Miss Rachel only smiled grimly.
“Are you hungry?” she said.
“No’m,” said Dick, slowly, and Dolly added, “Not very. Of course
we’re always some hungry. But Aunt Rachel, can’t we go out and
scoot round the yard? Just to see what it’s like, you know. Of course,
this room is,—beautiful, but we do love to be out doors. May we?”
“No,” said Miss Rachel, decidedly, and though Miss Abbie said,
timidly, “Why don’t you let them?” the elder sister resumed:
“Go out on my lawn looking like that? Indeed you can’t! I’d be
ashamed to have the chickens see you,—let alone the servants!”
“Oh, are there chickens?” cried Dolly, dancing about in
excitement. “I’m so glad we’re going to live here!”
She made a movement as if to hug her Aunt Rachel once again,
but as she saw the involuntary drawing away of that lady’s
shoulders, she transferred her caress to Dick, and the tattered twins
fell on each other’s necks in mutual joy of anticipation.
“You are a ridiculous pair of children,” said Aunt Abbie, laughing
at the sight; “but as I hope you’ll show some of your father’s traits,
you may improve under our training.”
“If we can train such hopeless cases,” said Miss Rachel. “Has
nobody ever taught you how to behave?”
“Yes,” said Dick, growing red at the implication. “Auntie Helen is a
lovely lady, and she taught us to be honourable and polite.”
“Oh, she did! and do you call it honourable to go off wading in
your best clothes, while we were waiting for you to come here?”
Dick’s honest little face looked troubled.
“I don’t know,” he said, truly, but Dolly, who was often the
quicker-witted of the two, spoke up:
 “It may have been naughty, Aunt Rachel, but I don’t ’zackly think
it was dishonourable. Do you?” Thus pinned down, Miss Rachel
considered.
“Perhaps ‘dishonourable’ isn’t quite the right word,” she said, “but
we won’t discuss that now. I shall teach you to behave properly, of
course, but we won’t begin until you look like civilised beings,
capable of being taught. Just now, I think hot baths, with plenty of
soap, will be the best thing for you, but as you have no clean
clothes, you’ll have to go to bed.”
“At five o’clock! Whew!” said Dick. “Oh, I say, Aunt Rachel, not to
bed!”
“Anyway, let us go for a tear around the yard first,” begged Dolly.
“We can’t hurt these clothes now; and I don’t believe the chickens
will mind. Are there little chickens, Aunt Abbie?”
“Yes, little woolly yellow ones.”
“Like the ones on Easter souvenirs? Oh, please let us see them
now,—please!”
More persuaded by the violence of her niece’s plea than by her
own inclination, Miss Rachel said they might go out for half an hour,
and then they must come in to baths and beds.
“And supper?” asked Dick, hopefully.
“Yes, bread and milk after you’re clean and tucked into bed.”
“Only bread and milk?” said Dolly, with eyes full of
wheedlesomeness.
“Well, perhaps jam,” said Aunt Abbie, smiling, and somehow her
smile augured even more than jam. Out they scampered then, and
soon found Michael, who introduced them to the chickens and also
to Pat, who was the gardener.
“I like you,” said Dolly, slipping her little hand into Pat’s big one,
both being equally grimy. “Please show us all the flowers and
things.”
There was so much to look at, they could only compass a small
part of it in their allotted half-hour. Dana Dene covered about thirty
acres, but it was not a real farm. A vegetable garden supplied the
household wants, and the rest of the estate was park and flower
beds and a bit of woods and an orchard and a terrace, and the
poultry yard and stables, and other delights of which the children
could only guess.
“Aren’t you glad we came?” said Dolly, still hanging on to Pat’s
hand.
“I—I guess so, Miss,” he replied, cautiously; “but I can’t say yet,
for sure. Ye’re rampageous, I’m afraid. Ain’t ye, now?”
“Yes,” said Dick, who was always honest, “I think we are. At
least, everybody says so. But, Pat, we’re going to try not to make
you any trouble.”
“Now, that’s a good boy. If ye talk like that, you ’n me’ll be
friends.”
Dolly said nothing, but she smiled happily up into Patrick’s kind
eyes, and then, with their usual adaptability to circumstances, the
twins began to feel at home.
 CHAPTER III
AN EARLY STROLL

S oon after daybreak next morning, Dolly woke, and surveyed with
satisfaction her pretty room.
Pink roses clambered over the wall paper, and over the chintz
hangings and furniture, and over the soft, dainty bed-coverlet.
It was much more attractive than her room at Aunt Helen’s, and
as Dolly loved pretty things, she gave a little sigh of content and
nestled comfortably into her pillows. Then she heard Dick’s voice
whispering through the closed door between their rooms.
“Hi, Dolly; I say! Aren’t you up yet?”
“No, are you?”
“Yes, and ’most dressed. Hustle, can’t you? and let’s go out and
chase around the place.”
“Before breakfast?”
“Yes; breakfast isn’t until eight o’clock, and it’s only six now.”
“All right, I’ll hustle,” and Dolly sprang out of bed, and began to
dress.
The twins were a self-reliant pair, and quite capable and
methodical when they had time to be.
Dolly dressed herself neatly in a clean blue and white plaid
gingham; and as she could tie her hair ribbon quite well enough,
except for special occasions, the blue bow on her golden curls was
entirely satisfactory.
“I’m all ready, Dick,” she whispered at last, through the door,
“and we mustn’t make any noise, for maybe the aunties are asleep
yet.”
“All right; I’ll meet you in the hall.”
So both children went on tiptoe out into the big, light hall, and
softly down the stairs.
No one seemed to be stirring, but they unfastened the locks and
chains of the front doors, and stepped out into the beautiful fresh
morning.
“I’ve got to holler!” said Dick, still whispering. “They can’t hear us
now.”
“Yes, they can; wait till we get farther away from the house.”
So, hand in hand, they ran down the garden path, and when a
grape arbour and a cornfield were between them and their sleeping
aunts, they decided they were out of hearing.
“Hooray!” yelled Dick, as loud as he could, at the same time
turning a jubilant handspring.
Dolly was quite as glad as her brother, but contented herself with
dancing about, and giving little squeals of delight as she saw one
rapturous sight after another.
“Oh, Dick,” she cried, “there’s a fountain! ’way over there on the
little hill. Do you s’pose that’s on our grounds?”
“’Course it is. This is all ours, as far as you can see, and more
too. That woodsy place over there is ours; Pat told me so.”
“We’ll have picnics there. And Dick, maybe there are fairies in the
woods.”
“Sure there are. That’s just the kind of woods that has fairies.
But they only come out at night, you know.”
“Yes, but it’s only just a little past night now. The sun has only
been up a short time. Maybe there are some fairies there yet.”
“Maybe; let’s go and see.”
With a skip and a jump the children started for the woods, which,
however proved to be farther away than they had thought.
They trudged merrily on, stopping now and then to speak to a
robin, or kick at a dandelion, but at last they came to the edge of
the grove.
“Oh, Dick!” cried Dolly, in ecstasy, “think of having a real woods,
right in our own yard! Isn’t it gorgeous!”
“Great! but go softly now, if we want to see fairies. I’m ’fraid
they’ve all gone.”
Hand in hand the children tiptoed into the wood. They moved
very cautiously, lest they should step on a twig, or make any noise
that should frighten the fairies.
 “There’s where they dance,” whispered Dick, pointing to a
smooth, green mossy place. “But of course they always fly away
when the sun rises.”
“Yes, I s’pose so,” said Dolly, regretfully. “Shall we come out
earlier to-morrow?”
“Yes; or we might come out to see them some night. Moonlight
nights; that’s the time!”
“Would you dare? Oh, Dick, wouldn’t it be grand!”
“Hey, Dolly, there’s a squirrel; a real, live one! That’s better’n
fairies. Oh, look at him!”
Sure enough, a grey squirrel ran past them, and now sat, turning
his head back to look at them, but ready for instant flight if they
moved.
But they didn’t move, they knew better; and scarce daring to
breathe, they sat watching the wonderful sight.
Meantime, there was consternation in the household. At seven
o’clock Miss Rachel had sent Hannah, the waitress, to call the twins.
The maid returned with a scared face, and announced that the
children had gone.
“Gone!” cried Miss Rachel, who was engaged in making her own
toilet; “where have they gone?”
“I don’t know, ma’am; but they’re not in their rooms, and the
front door is wide open.”
“Oh, they’ve run away!” cried Miss Rachel, and hastily throwing
on a dressing gown, she went to her sister’s room.
“Get up, Abbie,” she exclaimed. “Those children have run away!”
“Run away? What do you mean?”
“Why, they’ve gone! I suppose they didn’t like us. Perhaps they
were homesick, or something. Abbie, do you suppose they’ve gone
back to Chicago, all alone?”
“Nonsense, Rachel, of course they haven’t! Children always rise
early. They’re probably walking in the garden.”
“No, I don’t think so. Something tells me they’ve run away
because they don’t like us. Oh, Abbie, do you think that’s it?”
“No, I don’t. Go on and dress. They’ll be back by the time you’re
ready for breakfast. If you’re worried, send Hannah out to hunt them
up.”
So Hannah was sent, but as she only looked in the verandas and
in the gardens near the house, of course, she didn’t find the twins.
By the time the ladies came downstairs, Hannah had impressed Pat
and Michael into service, and all three were hunting for the missing
guests.
But it never occurred to them to go so far as the woods, where
Dick and Dolly were even then sitting, watching the grey squirrel,
and looking for fairies.
“I’m thinkin’ they’ve fell in the pond,” said Pat, as he gazed
anxiously into the rather muddy water.
“Not thim!” said Michael; “they’re not the sort that do be afther
drownin’ thimsilves. They’re too frisky. Belikes they’ve run back to
the brook where they shtopped at yisterday. Do yez go there an’
look, Pat.”
“Yes, do,” said Miss Rachel, who, with clasped hands and a white
face was pacing the veranda.
“Don’t take it so hard, sister,” implored Miss Abbie. “They’re
around somewhere, I’m sure; and if not,—why, you know, Rachel,
you didn’t want them here very much, anyway.”
“How can you be so heartless!” cried Miss Rachel, her eyes
staring reproachfully at her sister. “I do want them; they’re brother’s
children, and this is their rightful home. But I wish they wanted to
stay. I’m sure they ran away because they didn’t like us. Do you
think we were too harsh with them yesterday?”
“Perhaps so. At any rate, they have run away. I thought they
were in the garden, but if so, they would have been found by now.
Do you suppose they took an early train back to New York?”
“Oh, Abbie, how can you say so! Those two dear little mites
alone in a great city! I can’t think it!”
“It’s better than thinking they are drowned in the pond.”
“Either is awful; and yet of course some such thing must have
happened.”
The two ladies were on the verge of hysterics, and the servants,
who had all been hunting for the children, were nonplussed. Pat had
jumped on a horse, and galloped off to the brook which had so
taken their fancy the day before, and Michael stood, with his hands
in his pockets, wondering if he ought to drag the pond. Delia, the
cook, had left the waiting breakfast and had come to join the
anxious household.
“I’m thinkin’ they’re not far off,” she said; “why don’t ye blow a
horn, now?”
“That’s a good idea,” said Miss Abbie; “try it, Michael.”
So Michael found an old dinner-horn that had hung unused in the
barn for many years, and he blew resounding blasts.
But unfortunately, the babes in the woods were too far away to
hear, and forgetful of all else they watched two squirrels, who,
reassured by the children’s quiet, ran back and forth, and almost
came right up to Dick and Dolly’s beckoning fingers.
“If only we had something to feed them,” said Dick, vainly
hunting his pockets for something edible.
“If only we had something to feed ourselves,” said Dolly; “I’m
just about starved.”
“So’m I; let’s go back now, and come to see the squirrels some
other time, and bring them some nuts.”
“All right, let’s.”
So back they started, but leisurely, for they had no thought of
how the time had slipped by. They paused here and there to
investigate many things, and it was well on toward nine o’clock
when they came within hearing of Michael’s horn, on which he was
blowing a last, despairing blast.
“Hear the horn!” cried Dick. “Do you s’pose that’s the way they
call the family to breakfast?”
“Oh, it isn’t breakfast time, yet,” said Dolly, confidently. “I’m
hungry enough, but it can’t be eight o’clock, I know. And, besides, I
want time to tidy up.”
The clean frock had lost its freshness, and the blue bow was
sadly askew, for somehow, try as she would, Dolly never could keep
herself spick and span.
They trudged along, through the barnyard and the garden, and
finally came to the kitchen door, which stood invitingly open.
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