Mary Louise by Lyman Frank Baum (top 100 books of all time checklist .txt) đ
- Author: Lyman Frank Baum
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âYouâre the right sort, Sarah. If ever you drift into Washington and need work, come to me and Iâll get the Chief to take you on. I know heâd be glad to get you.â
âThank you, Nan,â said Sarah meekly.
But there was a smile on her freckled face as she watched her recent acquaintance walk down the road, and it lingered there while she returned to her kitchen and finally washed and put away the long neglected lunch dishes.
Bub dashed into the yard and tooted his horn. Sarah went out to him.
âYe kin call me lucky, ef ye donât mind,â he said with a grin. âSent yer telâgram, found out the tenner ye guv me were good, anâ got back without the folks gettânâ a single blink at me.â
âYouâre some driver, Bub, and youâve got a wise head on your shoulders. If you donât talk about this trip, and I donât, no one will ever know, except we two, that the car has been out of the garage.â
Peter Conant had told his wife that he wouldnât be at the Lodge this week until Saturday, as business would prevent his coming earlier, yet the Thursday afternoon train brought him to Millbank and Bill Coombsâ stage took him to Hillcrest.
âWhy, Peter!â exclaimed Aunt Hannah, when she saw him, âwhat on earth brought youââ
Then she stopped short, for Peterâs eyes were staring more roundly than usual and the hand that fumbled at his locket trembled visibly. He stared at Aunt Hannah, he stared at Irene; but most of all he stared at Mary Louise, who seemed to sense from his manner some impending misfortune.
âH-m,â said the lawyer, growing red and then paling; âIâve bad news.â
He chopped the words off abruptly, as if he resented the necessity of uttering them. His eyes, which had been fixed upon the face of Mary Louise, suddenly wavered and sought the floor.
His manner said more than his words. Mary Louise grew white and pressed her hands to her heart, regarding the lawyer with eyes questioning and full of fear. Irene turned a sympathetic gaze upon her friend and Aunt Hannah came closer to the girl and slipped an arm around her waist, as if to help her to endure this unknown trial. And Mary Louise, feeling she could not bear the suspense, asked falteringly:
âHasâGranâpa Jimâbeenââ
âNo,â said Mr. Conant. âNo, my dear, no.â
âThenâhas anything happened toâtoâmother?â
âWell, well,â muttered the lawyer, with a sort or growl, âMrs. Burrows has not been in good health for some months, it seems. Sheâehâwas under aâehâunder a nervous strain; a severe nervous strain, you know, andââ
âIs she dead?â asked the girl in a low, hard voice.
âThe end, it seems, came unexpectedly, several days ago. She did not suffer, your grandfather writes, butââ
Again he left his sentence unfinished, for Mary Louise had buried her face in Aunt Hannahâs bosom and was sobbing in a miserable, heart-breaking way that made Peter jerk a handkerchief from, his pocket and blow his nose lustily. Then he turned and marched from the room, while his wife led the hapless girl to a sofa and cuddled her in her lap as if she had been a little child.
âSheâs best with the women,â muttered Peter to himself. âItâs a sorrowful thingâa dreadful thing, in a wayâbut it canât be helped and- -sheâs best with the women.â
He had wandered into the dining room, where Sarah Judd was laying the table for dinner. She must have overheard the conversation in the living room, for she came beside the lawyer and asked:
âWhen did Mrs. Burrows die?â
âOn Monday.â
âWhere?â
âThatâs none of your business, my girl.â
âHas the funeral been held?â
He regarded her curiously. The idea of a servant asking such questions! But there was a look in Sarahâs blue eyes that meant more than curiosity; somehow, it drew from him an answer.
âMrs. Burrows was cremated on Wednesday. It seems she preferred it to burial.â Having said this, he turned to stare from the window again.
Sarah Judd stood silent a moment. Then she said with a sigh of relief:
âItâs a queer world, isnât it, Mr. Conant? And this death isnât altogether a calamity.â
âEh? Why not?â whirling round to face her.
âBecause,â said Sarah, âit will enable Mr. Hathaway to face the world againâa free man.â
Peter Conant was so startled that he stood motionless, forgetting his locket but not forgetting to stare. Sarah, with her hands full of forks and spoons, began placing the silver in orderly array upon the table. She paid no heed to the lawyer, who gradually recovered his poise and watched her with newly awakened interest. Once or twice he opened his mouth to speak, and then decided not to. He was bewildered, perplexed, suspicious. In thought he began to review the manner of Sarahâs coming to them, and her subsequent actions. She seemed a capable servant. Mrs. Conant had never complained of her. Yetâwhat did she know of Hathaway?
Mary Louise did not appear at dinner. She begged to be left alone in her room. Sarah took her some toast and tea, with honest sympathy in her eyes, but the sorrowing girl shook her head and would not taste the food. Later, however, in the evening, she entered the living room where the others sat in depressed silence and said:
âPlease, Mr. Conant, tell me all you know aboutâmother.â
âIt is very little, my dearâ replied the lawyer in a kindly tone.â This morning I received a message from your grandfather which said: âPoor Beatrice passed away on Monday and at her request her body was cremated to-day. Be very gentle in breaking the sad news to Mary Louise.â That was all, my child, and I came here as quickly as I could. In a day or so we shall have further details, I feel sure. I am going back to town in the morning and will send you any information I receive.â
âThank you,â said the girl, and was quietly leaving the room when Irene called to her.
âMary Louise!â
âYes?â half turning.
âWill you come with me to my room?â
âNow?â
âYes. You know I cannot go up the stairs. AndâI lost my own dear mother not long ago, you will remember.â
Tears started to the girlâs eyes, but she waited until Irene wheeled her chair beside her and then the two went through the den to Ireneâs room.
Mrs. Conant nodded to Peter approvingly.
âIrene will comfort her,â she said, âand in a way far better than I might do. It is all very dreadful and very sad, Peter, but the poor child has never enjoyed much of her motherâs society and when the first bitter grief is passed I think she will recover something of her usual cheerfulness.â
âH-m,â returned the lawyer; âit seems a hard thing to say, Hannah, but this demise may prove a blessing in disguise and be best for the childâs future happiness. In any event, Iâm sure it will relieve the strain many of us have been under for the past ten years.â
âYou talk in riddles, Peter.â
âThe whole thing is a riddle, Hannah. And, by the way, have you noticed anything suspicious about our hired girl?â
âAbout Sarah? No,â regarding him with surprise.
âDoes sheâehâsnoop around much?â
âNo; sheâs a very good girl.â
âToo good to be true, perhaps,â observed Peter, and lapsed into thought. Really, it wouldnât matter now how much Sarah Juddâor anyone elseâknew of the Hathaway case. The mystery would solve itself, presently.
Mr. Conant decided to take the Friday morning train back to Dorfield, saying it would not be possible for him to remain at the Lodge over Sunday, because important business might require his presence in town.
âThis demise of Mrs. Burrows,â he said confidentially to his wife in the privacy of their room, âmay have far-reaching results and turn the whole current of Colonel Weatherbyâs life.â
âI donât see why,â said Aunt Hannah.
âYouâre not expected to see why,â he replied. âAs the Colonel is my most important client, I must be at the office in case of developments or a sudden demand for my services. I will tell you one thing, however, and that is that this vacation at Hillcrest Lodge was planned by the Colonel while I was in New York, with the idea that he and Mrs. Burrows would come here secretly and enjoy a nice visit with Mary Louise.â
âYou planned all that, Peter!â
âYes. That is, Weatherby planned it. He knows Will Morrison well, and Will was only too glad to assist him; so they wired me to come to New York, where all was quickly arranged. This place is so retired that we considered it quite safe for the fugitives to come here.â
âWhy didnât they come, then?â
âTwo reasons prevented them. One was the sudden breaking of Mrs. Burrowsâ health; the other reason was the Colonelâs discovery that in some way our carefully laid plans had become known to the detectives who are seeking him.â
âGood gracious! Are you sure of that, Peter!â
âThe Colonel seemed sure. He maintains a detective force on his own account and his spies discovered that Hillcrest is being watched by agents of the Secret Service.â
âDear me; what a maze of deceit!â wailed the good woman. âI wish you were well out of the whole affair, Peter; and I wish Mary Louise was out of it, too.â
âSo do I, with all my heart. But itâs coming to a focus soon, Hannah. Be patient and it may end better than we now fear.â
So Bub drove Mr. Conant to Millbank and then the boy took the car to the blacksmith shop to have a small part repaired. The blacksmith made a bungle of it and wasted all the forenoon before he finally took Bubâs advice about shaping it and the new rod was attached and found to work successfully.
It was after one oâclock when the boy at last started for home and on the way was hailed by a strangerâa little man who was trudging along the road with both hands thrust in his pockets.
âGoing far?â he asked.
âUp thâ mountân to Hillcrest,â said Bub.
âOh. May I have a lift?â
âHow fer?â
âWell, I canât say how far Iâll go. Iâm undecided. Just came out here for a little fresh air, you know, with no definite plans,â explained the stranger.
âHop in,â said Bub and for a time they rode together in silence.
âThis âereâs the Huddle, as weâre cominâ to,â announced the boy. âOlâ Missâ Parsons she sometimes takes boarders.â
âThatâs kind of her,â remarked the stranger. âBut the air isnât so good as further up the hill.â
âEf ye go up,â said Bub with a grin, âguess yeâll hev to camp out anâ eat scrub. Nobody donât take boarders, up thâ mountân.â
âI suppose not.â
He made no demand to be let out at the Huddle, so Bub drove on.
âBy the way,â said the little man, âisnât there a place called Bigbeeâs, near here?â
âCominâ to it pretty soon. Theyâs some gals livinâ there now, so ye wonât care to stop.â
âWhat sort of girls are they?â
âSort oâ queer.â
âYes?â
âYe bet ye. Come from the city a while ago anâ livinâ by theyselves. Somethânâ wrong âbout them gals,â added Bub reflectively.
âIn what way?â asked the little man in a tone of interest.
âThey ainât here fer nuthânâ special âcept watchinâ the folks at Hillcrest. Themâs the folks I belongs to. For four bits a week. Theyâs somethânâ queer âbout them, too; but I guess all the folks is queer thet comes here from the city.â
âQuite likely,â agreed
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