 Chapter 13 of The Little Colonel's Chum, Mary Ware. This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Reading by Mickey Lee Rich. The Little Colonel's Chum, Mary Ware. By Annie Fellows Johnston. Chapter 13, The Jester's Sword. Because he was born in Mars month, which is ruled by the Red War God, they gave him the name of a Red Star, Aldebaran. The Red Star is the Eye of Taurus, and because he was born in Mars month, the Bloodstone became his signet, sure token that undaunted courage would be the jewel of his soul. Now all his brothers were a stalwart and a straight ev'lem as he, and each one's horoscope held signs foretelling valorous deeds. But Aldebaran's so far outblazed them all with comets, trails, and planets in the most favorable conjunction that from his first year, it was known the Sword of Conquest should be his. The Sword had passed from Sire to Song all down a line of kings, not to the oldest one always, as did the Throne, though now and then the lot fell so, but to the one to whom the signs all pointed as being worthiest to wield it. So from the cradle it was destined for Aldebaran, and from the cradle it was his greatest teacher. His old nurse fed him with such tales of it that even in his play the thought of such a heritage urged him to greater venture than his mates dared take. Many a night he knelt beside his casement, gazing through the darkness at the red eye of Taurus, whispering to himself the words the old astrologers had written. As Aldebaran the star shines in the heavens, so Aldebaran the man shall shine among his fellows. Day after day the great ambition grew within him, bone of his bone and strength of his sinew, until it was as much a part of him as the strong heart beating in his breast. But only to one did he give voice to it, to the maiden Vesta, who had always shared his play. Now it chanced that she too bore the name of a star, and when he told her what the astrologers had written she repeated the words of her own destiny. As Vesta the star keeps watching the heavens above the hearths of mortal, so Vesta the maiden shall keep eternal vigil beside the heart of him who of all men is the bravest. When Aldebaran heard that, he swore by the bloodstone on his finger that when the time was ripe for him to wield the sword he would show the world a far greater courage than it had ever known before. And Vesta smiling, promised by the same token to keep vigil by one fire only, the fire that she had kindled in his heart. One by one his elder brothers grew up and went out into the world to win their fortunes. And like a restless steed that frets against the rain, impatient to be off, he chafed against delay and longed to follow. For now the ambition that had grown with his growth had come to be more than bone of his bone and strength of his sinew. It was an all-consuming desire which coursed through him even as his heart's blood. For with the years had come an added reason for the keeping of his youthful vowel. Only in that way could Vesta's destiny be linked with his. When the great day came at last for the sword to be put into his hands with a blare of trumpets the castle gates flew open and a long procession of nobles filed through. To the sound of cheers and ringing bells Aldebaran fared forth on his quest. The old king, his father, stepped down in the morning sun and with bared head Aldebaran knelt to receive his blessing. With his hand on the sword he swore that he would not come home again until he had made a braver conquest than had ever been made with it before and by the bloodstone on his finger the old king knew that Aldebaran would fail not in keeping of that oath. With the godspeed of the villagers ringing in his ears he rode away. Only once he paused to look back when a white hand fluttered at a casement and Vesta's sorrowful face shone down on him like a star. Then she too saw the bloodstone on his finger as he waved her a farewell and she too knew by that token he would not fail in the keeping of his oath. It was passing wonderful soon how Aldebaran began to taste the sweets of great achievement. His name was on the tongue of every troubadour, his deeds in every minstrel song and though he traveled far to alien lands scarce known by hearsay even to the folks at home his fame was carried back far overseas again and in his father's court his name was spoken daily in proud tones as they recounted all his honours. Young, strong with the impetuous blood begotten of success tingling through all his veins he had no thought that Diarmys have could seize him. That pain or malady or mortal weakness could pierce his armour which youth and health had girt about him. From place to place he went wherever there was need of some brave champion to espouse a weak one's cause. It mattered not who was arrayed against him whether a tyrant king, a dragon breathing fire or some hideous scaly monster that preyed upon the villages. His sort of conquest was unsheathed for each and as his courage grew with each added victory he thirsted for some greater foe to vanquish remembering his youthful vow. And as he journeyed on he pictured often to himself the day of his returning the day on which his vow should find fulfillment how wide the gates would be thrown open for his welcome how loud would swell the cheers of those who thronged to do him honour. His dreams were always of that triumphal entrance and of Vesta's approving smile. Never once the shadow of a thought stole through his mind that it might be far otherwise was not he born for conquest did not the very stars foretell success. One night belated in a mountain pass he sought the shelter of a shelving rock and with his mantle wrapped about him lay down to sleep. Upon the morrow he would sally forth and beard the province terror in his stronghold would challenge him to combat and after a long and glorious battle would rid the country of its dreaded foe. Already tasting victory he fell asleep a smile upon his lips. But in the night a storm swept down the mountain pass with sudden fury uprooting trees a century old and rending mighty rocks with sword thrusts of its lightning and when it passed Aldebaran lay prone upon the earth born down by rocks and fallen trees lay as if dead until two passing goat herds found him and bore him down in pity to their hut. Long weeks went by before the fever craze and pains began to leave him and when at last he crawled out in the sun he found himself a poor misshapen thing all maimed and marred with twisted back and face all drawn awry and foot that dragged one hand hung nervous by his side nevermore would it be strong enough to use the sword he could not even draw it from its scabbard. As in a days he looked upon himself thinking some hideous nightmare had him in its hold this is not I he cried in horror at the thought then as the truth began to pierce his soul he sat with starting eyes and lips that gibbered in cold fear the while they still persisted in their fierce denial this is not I. Again he said it and again as if his frenzied words could work a miracle and make him as he was before then when the sickening sense of his calamity swept over him like a flood in all its fullness he cast himself upon the earth and prayed to die despair had seized him but death comes not at such a call kind death who waits that one may have a chance to rise again and grapple with the foe that downed him and conquering wiped the stigma cowered from his soul so with Aldebaran at first it seemed that he could not endure to face the round of useless days now stretching out before him an eagle broken winged and drooping in a cage he sat within the goat herds hut and gloomed upon his lot and cursed the vital force within that would not let him die to fall asleep with all the world within one's grasp and waken empty handed that is a small bane to one who might spring up again and by sheer might rest all his treasures back from fortune but to wake hopeless as well as empty handed the strength for ever gone from arms that were invincible to crawl a poor crushed worm the mark for all men's pity where one had thought to win the mead of all men's praise ah then to live is agony each breath becomes a venomed atter's sting most of all Aldebaran thought of Vesta the stroke that marred his comeliness and took his strength had robbed him of all power to win his happiness it was written by the hearth of him who is the bravest she shall keep eternal vigil and yet he had not risen above the level of his forebearers bravery only up to it now it was impossible to show the world a greater courage shorn as he was of strength and even had her horoscope willed otherwise and she should come to him all filled with maiden pity to share his ruined hearth he could not say her yea his man's pride rose up in him rebellious at the thought of pity from one in whose sight he feigned would be all that is strong and comely looking down upon his twisted limbs the pain that wracked him was greater torture than mere flesh can feel although it was casting heaven from him he drew his mantle closer hiding his disfigured form and prayed with groans and writhings that she might never look on him again so days went by there came a time when even through his all-absorbing thought of self there appears to consciousness that he no longer could impose upon the goat herds bounty food was scarce within the hut and even though he grown to die the dawns brought hunger so at the close of day he dragged him down the mountainside thinking that under cover of the dusk he would steal into the village and seek a chance to earn his bread but as he neared the little town and the sound of evening bells broke on his ear and lighted windows marked the homes were welcome-weighted other men he went as from a blow this was the village he had thought to enter in the midst of loud acclaims its brave deliverer from the province terror then every window in the hamlet would have blazed for him then every door would have been set wide to welcome Aldebaran the royal son of kings fittest to bear the sword of conquest and now Aldebaran was but the crippled makeshift of a man who could not even draw the sword from out its scabbard and whose rye features all must turn away in loathing and some perchance might even set the dogs to snarling at his heels in haste to have him gone in all the world he cried in bitterness there breathes no other man whom faith hath used so cruelly emptied of hope, robbed of my all life doth become a prison house that dooms me to its lowest dungeon why struggle any longer against my lot why not lie here and starve and thus force death to turn the key and break the manacles which bind me to my misery while he thus mused footsteps came up the mountainside a lusty voice was raised in song and before he could draw back into cover a head in a fantastic cap appeared above the bushes it was the village jester capering along the path as if the world were thistle down and every day a holiday but when he saw Aldebaran he stopped a gape and crossed himself then he pushed nearer now those who saw the jester only on a market day or at the country fair plying his trade of merry-met for all twas worth knew not a sage was hid behind that motley or that his sympathies were tender as a saints yet so it was the motto written deep across his heart was this to ease the burden of the world it was beyond belief how wise he'd grown in weadling men to think no load lay on their shoulders now he stood and gazed upon the prostrate man who turned away his face and would not answer his low-spoken words what ales see brother it boots not in this tale what wiles he used to gain Aldebaran's ear and tongue another man most surely must have failed because he shrank from pity as from salt rubbed in a wound and felt that none could hear his woeful history and not bestow that pity but if the jester felt its throbs he gave no sign seated beside him on the grass he talked in the light tone that served his trade as if Aldebaran's woes were but a flight of swallows across the summer sky and would soon be gone and when between his quirks he'd drawn the piteous tale entirely from him he'd doubled up with laughter and smote his sides and I'm the fool and thou art the sage he gasped between his peels of mirth gadsukes me thinks it is the other way around look ye man here thou ghost adjuncting through all the earth to find a chance to show unequaled courage and then find fate just shove it underneath thy very nose thou turnst away lamenting I've heard of those who know not beans although the bag be opened and now I laugh to see one of that very kind before me then dropping his unseemly mirth and all his wanton railery he stood up with his face ashy and spake as if he were the heaven sent messenger of hope rise up he cried knowest thou not it takes a thousand fold more courage to sheath the sword when one is all on fire for action than to go forth against the greatest foe here is thy chance to show the world the kingliest spirit it has ever known here is a phallix thou may meet all single-handed a daily struggle with a host of hurts that cut thee to the quick this sheathed sword upon thy side will stab thee hourly with deeper thrusts than any adversary can give it will be a daily minder of thy thwarted hopes for foiled ambition is the hydro-headed monster of the learn a marsh two heads will rise for everyone thou severest it will be a fight till death art brave enough to lift the gauntlet that despair flings down and waged this warfare to thy very grave such call to arms seemed mockery as Aldebaran looked down upon his twisted limbs but as the blood stood on his finger met his sight his kingly soul leapt up I'll keep the oath he cried and struggling to his feet laid hand upon the jeweled hilt that decked his side by sheathed swords since blade is now denied me he swore I'll win the future that my stars foretold in that exalted moment all things seemed possible and though his body limped as haltingly he followed on behind his newfound friend his spirit walked erect and faced his future for the time undaunted his merry Andrew of the host made festival when they at last came to his dwelling lit a great fire upon the earth brewed him a drink that warmed him to the core brought wheaten loaves and set a bit of savoury meat to turning on the spit ho ho he laughed they say it is an ill wind that blows good to none now thou dost prove the proverb the tempest that didst blow thee from thy course may have may send me on my way rejoicing I have long wished to leave this land and seek the distance province where my kindred dwell but there was never one to take my place and when I spake of going my townsmen said me nay to as wide as bad they vowed as if the priest should suddenly desert his parish with none to shepherd his abandoned flock who will cheer us in our doldrums they demanded who will help us bear our troubles by making us forget them thou canst not leave us Piper until some other merry soul comes by to set our feet a dancing now thou art come yes I a merry soul indeed Aldebaran cried in bitterness well maybe not quite that his host admitted but thou couldst pass as one because at least put all my grotesque garb couldst learn the quips and quirks by which I make men laugh thou wouldst not be the first man who had hidden aching heart behind a smile the tune thou pipest may not bring thee pleasure but if it sets the world to dancing it is enough and two it is an honest way to earn thy bread canst think of any other Aldebaran hid his face in his hands no no he groaned there is no other way and yet my soul abhors the thought that I, a king's son should descend to this the gestures motley and the cap and bells how can I play such a part because thou art a king's son said the gesture that in itself is ample reason that thou shouldst play more royally than any other men whatever part fate may assign thee Aldebaran sat wrapped in thought well was a slow reply after a long pause a hundred years from now I suppose to make no difference how circumstances chafe me now a poor philosophy but still there is a grain of comfort in it I'll take thy offer friend and give thee gratitude and so next day the two went forth together Aldebaran showed a brave front to the crowd glad of the painted mask glad of the painted mask that hid his features and no one guessed the misery that lurked beneath his laugh and no one knew what mighty tax it was upon his courage to follow in the gesture's lead and play buffoon upon the open street it was a thing he loathed and yet, twas as the gesture said his training in the royal court had made him sharp of wit and quick to read men's minds and to the countrymen who gathered there a gate around him in the square his keen replies were wonderful as wizards magic and when he piped it was no shallow fluting that merely set the rustic feet a jig it was a strange and stirring strain that made the simplest one among them stand with his soul a tiptoe as he listened as if a kingly train with banners went a marching by so royally he played his part that even on that first day he surpassed his teacher the gesture jubilant that this was so thought that his time to leave was near at hand but when that night they reached his dwelling Aldebaran tore off the painted mask and threw himself upon the hearth tis more than flesh can well endure he cried all day the thought of what I've lost was like a constant sword thrust in my heart instead of deference and respect that once was mine from high and low twas laugh and jibe and pointing finger and two his voice grew shrill and quarrelous I saw young lovers straying in the lanes together how can I endure that sight day after day when my arms must remain forever empty and little children prattled by their father's side no matter where I turned I who shall never know a little son's grasp felt like a starving man who looks upon bread and may not eat far better that I crawl away from haunts of men where I need never be tormented by such contrasts the jester looked down on Aldebaran's wan face it was as white and drawn as if he had been tortured by the rack and thumbscrew so he made no answer for the moment but when the fire was kindled and they had sucked the broth set out in steaming bowls upon the table he ventured on a word of cheer at any rate he said for one whole day thou has kept thy oath no matter what the anguish that it costs thee from sunrise till sunsetting thou has held despair at bay it was the bravest stand that thou has ever made and now if thou has lived through this one day why not another it is only one hour at a time that thou art called on to endure come by the bloodstone that is thy birthright I knew thou had kept thy oath until the going down of one more sun so Aldebaran pledged him one more day and after that another and another until a fortnight slowly dragged itself away and then because he met his hurt so bravely and made no sign the jester thought the struggle had grown easier with time and spoke again of going to his kindred nay do not leave me yet Aldebaran pled wouldst take my only crutch it is thy cheerful presence that alone upholds me yet it would show still greater courage if thou couldst face thy fate alone the jester answered despair cannot be vanquished till thou has taught thyself to really feel the gladness thou dost feign I've heard that if one will count his blessings as the faithful tell their rosary beads he will forget his losses and pondering on his many benefits perchance if thou wouldst try that plan it might avail so Aldebaran went out determined to be glad in heart as well as speech if so be it he could find enough of cheer I will be glad he said because the morning sun shines warm across my face he slipped a golden beam upon his memory string I will be glad because there are diamond sparkles on the grass and larks are singing in the sky a dew drop and a birds trill for his rosary I will be glad for bread for water from the spring for ice sight and the power to smell the budding lilacs by the door for friendly greetings from the villagers a goodly rosary symbol of all the things for which he should be glad was in his hand at close of day daily by the hearth that night recounting all his blessings till the gesture thought at last he's found the cure but suddenly Aldebaran flung the rosary from him and hid his face within his hands twill drive me mad he cried to go on stringing bubbles that do but set my mind the firmer on the priceless jewel I've lost may heaven forgive me I am not really glad tis all a hollow mockery and pretense then was the gesture at his wits end for reply it was a welcome sound when presently a knocking at the door broke on the painful silence the visitor who entered was an aged friar beseeching alms at every door as was the custom of his brotherhood with which to help the sick and poor and while the gesture searched within a chest for some old garments he was pleased to give and bade the friar draw up to the hearth and tarry for their evening meal which then was well nigh ready the friar glad to accept the hospitality spread out his lean hands to the blaze and later when the three sat down together warmed into such a cheerfulness of speech that Aldebaran was amazed surely thy lot is hard good brother he said looking curiously into the wrinkled face humbling thy pride to beg at every door force wearing thine own good in every way the others may be fed and yet thy face speaks of inward joy I pray thee tell me how thou has found happiness by never going in its quest the friar answered long years ago I learned a lesson from the stars our holy abbey took me out one night into the quiet cloister and pointing to the glittering heavens showed me my duty in a way I never have forgot I had grown restive in my lot and chafed against its narrow round of cell and cloister but in a word he made me see that if I stepped aside from that appointed path merely for my own pleasure to admire the order of God's universe as surely as if a planet swerved from its eternal course no shining lot is thine he said yet neither have the stars themselves alight they but reflect the central sun and so may as thou while swinging onward faithful to thy orbit reflect the light of heaven upon thy fellow men since then I've had no need to go as seeking happiness for bearing cheer to others keeps my own heart a shine I pass the lesson on to thee good friend remember men need laughter sometimes more than food and if thou has no cheer thyself to spare why thou mayest go a gathering it from door to door as I do crusts and carry it to those who need long after the good friar had sept and gone Aldebaran sat in silence and then crossing to the tiny casement that gave upon the street the stars long, long he mused fitting the friar's lessons to his own soul's need and when he turned away the old astrologer's prophecy had taken on a new meaning as Aldebaran the star shines in the heavens no light within itself but borrowing from the central sun so Aldebaran the man might shine among his fellows beggard of joy himself yet flashing its reflection on the world when next he went into town he no longer shunned the sights that formerly he'd passed with face averted for well he knew that if he would shed joy and hope on others he must go to places where they most abound what matter that the thought of Vesta stabbed him nigh to madness when he looked on hearthfires that could never place for him with courage almost more than human he put that fond ambition as if it were another sword he'd learned to sheath at first it would not stay in hiding but flew the scabbard of his will to thrust him soar as often as he put it from him but after a while he found a way to bind it fast and when he'd found that way it gave him victory over all a little child came crying towards him in the marketplace its world a waste of will because a toy it cherished broken in its play Aldebaran would have turned aside on yesterday to press the barbed thought still deeper in his heart that he had been denied the joy of fatherhood but now he stooped as gently as if he were the child's own sire to wipe its tears and soothe its sobs and when with skillful fingers he restored the toy the child bestowed on him a warm caress out of its boundless store he passed on with his pulses strangely stirred it was but a crumb of love the child had given yet as Aldebaran held it in his heart behold a miracle it grew full loaf and he would vain divide it with all hungering souls so when a stone's throw further on he met a man well nigh distraught from many losses he did not say in bitterness as once he would have done that was the common lot of mortals to look on him if one would know the worst that fate can do nigh rather did he speak so bravely of what might still be rung from life though one were maimed like he that hope sprang up within his hearer and sent him on his way with a face as shine that grateful smile was like a revelation to Aldebaran showing him he had indeed the power belonging to the stars beggard of joy no light within himself yet from the central sun could he reflect the hope and cheer that made him as the eye of tourists among his fellows the week slipped into months months into years the jester went his way unto his kindred and never once was missed because Aldebaran more than filled his place in time the town forgot it ever had their jester and in time Aldebaran began to feel the gladness that he only feigned before and then it came to pass whenever he went by men felt a strange strength giving influence radiating from his presence a sense of hope one could not say exactly what it was it was so fleeting so intangible like warmth that circles from a brazier or perfume that is waved from those thus he came down to death at last and there was dole in all the province so that pilgrims journeying through that way asked when they heard his passing bell what king is dead that all thus do him reverence tis but our jester one replied a poor maimed creature in his outward seeing and yet so blithely did he bear his lot it seemed a kingly spirit dwelt among us and earth is poor for his going all in his motley since he'd willed so they laid him on his briar to bear him back again unto his father's house and when they found the sort of conquest hidden underneath his mantle they marveled he had carried such a treasure with him through the years and unbeknown even to those who walked the closest at his side when after many days the funeral train drew through the castle gate the king came down to meet it there was no need of blaze and scroll to tell Aldebaran's story all written in his face it was and on his scarred and twisted frame and by the blood stone on his finger the old king knew his son had failed not in keeping of his oath more regal than the royal or mine seemed his motley now more eloquent the sheath sword a told of years of inward struggle than if he bore the blood of dragons for on his face there's shown the piece that comes alone of mighty triumph the king looked round upon his nobles and his stalwart sons then back again upon Aldebaran lying in silent majesty bring royal purple for the pawl he faltered and leave the sort of conquest with him no other hands will ever be found worthier to claim it that night when tall white candles burned about him there stole a white-robed figure to the flower-stroom buyer Tuas Vesta decked as for a bridle her golden tresses falling round her like a veil they found her kneeling there beside him her face like his all filled with starry light and round them both with such a wondrous shining the watchers drew aside in awe Tis as the old astrologers foretold they whispered her soul had entered on its deathless vigil in truth he was the bravest that this earth had ever known the porter was lighting the lamps when Mary finished reading there was one directly above her she moved her hand so that the light fell on her zodiac ring and sat turning it this way and that to watch the doll gleams by the bloodstone on her fingers she was vowing that her courage should fail not in helping Jack pick up the gauntlet which despair flung down and waged the warfare to his very grave all the way through the story she had read Jack for Aldebaran and it should be her part to play the role of the jester who had led him back to hope she opened the book again to the sentence the motto written across his heart was this to ease the burden of the world henceforth that should be her aim in life to ease Jack's burden together by sheath's sword since blade was now denied him they would prove his right to the sword of conquest some great load seemed to lift itself from her own shoulders as she made this resolution she was glad that she had been born in this month she was glad that this little story had fallen in her way it gave her hope and courage beggard of joy himself Jack should be as the eye of Taurus among his fellows End of Chapter 13 Recording by Mickey Lee Rich For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Diana Schmidt The Little Colonel's Chum Mary Ware by Annie Fellows Johnston Back at Lone Rock All the rest of the way to Lone Rock Mary's waking moments were spent in anticipating her rival and planning diversions for the days to follow now that she was so near she could hardly wait to see the family the seven months that she had been away seemed seven years judging by her changed outlook on life she felt that she had gone away a mere child and that she was coming back years older and wiser she wondered if they would notice any difference in her that Mrs. Ware did was evident from their moment of greeting that she had broken down and sobbed on Mary's shoulder as she did now always she had been the comforter and Mary the one to be consoled but for a few moments their positions were reversed conscious that her coming had lifted a burden from her mother's shoulders the burden of enduring her anxiety alone she tiptoed into Jack's room ready to begin playing the jester at once with some Mary's speech which she was sure would bring a smile ready to begin playing the jester at once with some Mary's speech which she was sure would bring a smile but he was lying asleep and the jest died on her lips as she stood and gazed at him she had expected him to look ill but his face white and drawn with great dark shadows under his closed eyes was so much that it was a shock to find him so she stole out of the room again to the sunny little back porch as sick at heart as if she had seen him lying in his coffin he was no more like the strong jolly big brother she had left than the silent shadow of him she was thankful that her first sight of him had been while he was asleep otherwise she must have betrayed out on the porch she heard from Norman how it had happened Jack had seen the danger that threatened two of the workmen and had sprung forward with a warning cry in time to push them out of the way but had been caught himself by the falling timbers the miners had always liked Jack Norman told her he could do anything with them and now they would get down and crawl for him if it would from her mother and the nurse Mary heard about the operation that had been made to relieve the pressure on the spinal cord it seemed successful as far as it went they could not hope to do more than to make it possible for him to sit up in a wheeled chair the injury had been of such a peculiar character that they were fortunate to accomplish even that much it would be several weeks before he had attempted Jack did not know yet how seriously he had been injured they were afraid to tell him until he was stronger the company was paying all the expenses of his illness and there was an accident insurance at first Mary insisted on sending away Hulda the faithful woman who had been the maid of all work in her absence protesting that a penny saved a penny earned and that she herself was amply able to do the work and that she could economize even if she couldn't bring in any money to the family treasury but she was soon persuaded of the wisdom of keeping her the nurse was to leave as soon as Jack was able to sit up and Mary would have her hands full then he would need constant attendance at first the nurse told her I shall begin teaching you how to give it just as soon as he rallies a little more the nurse promised you will have to be both hands and feet for him for many a week to come poor boy and feet always it is good that you are so strong and untiring yourself for a while Mary went about feeling like a visitor since there was little for her to do either in kitchen or sick room Jack had not yet reached the stage when he needed amusement he seemed glad that she was home and his eyes followed her wistfully about the room but he did not attempt to talk much sometimes the emptiness of the hours pawled on her till she felt that she could not endure it she wrote long letters to Joyce Betty and all the school girls with whom she wanted to keep up a correspondence she mended everything she could find that needed mending and she spent many hours telling her mother all that had happened in her absence but for once in her life her usual resources failed her the little mining camp of Lone Rock was high up in the hills so that April there was not like the April's she had known at the wigwam there were still patches of snow under the pine trees above the camp but the stir of spring was in the air and every afternoon while Mrs. Ware was resting Mary slipped away for a long walk sometimes she would scramble up the hillside to the great overhanging rock which gave the place its name and sit looking down at the tiny village below it was just a cluster of minor shacks most of them inhabited by Mexicans there were the company stores and the post office and away at the farther end of one street were the houses of the few American families who had found their way to Lone Rock either on account of the mines or the healthful climate of the pine covered hills she could distinguish the roof of their own cottage among them and the chimney of the little unpainted schoolhouse she wondered what the outcome of all their troubles was to be she couldn't go on in this aimless way day after day she must find something to do that would pay her salary and it must be something that she could do at home where she would be needed sorely as soon as the nurse left then she would go over and over the same little round she might teach she knew that she could pass the examination for a license but the school was already supplied with a competent teacher of many years experience whom the trustees would undoubtedly prefer to a 17 year old girl just fresh from school herself there was stenography that was something she could master by herself and at home but there was already a stenographer in the company office and there was no other place for one in Lone Rock round and round she went like one in a treadmill always to come back to the starting point that there was nothing she could do in Lone Rock to earn money and she must earn some and she could not go away from home sometimes the hopelessness of the situation gave her a wild caged feeling as if she must beat herself against the bars of circumstance and make them give way for her pent-up forces to find an outlet the only thing that Mrs. Weir could suggest was that they might advertise in the Phoenix papers for summer boarders she had been told that the year before several camping parties had pitched tents near Lone Rock and they had said that if there were a good boarding place in the village it could be filled to overflowing with a desirable class of guests so Mary spent an evening pencil in hand calculating the probable expenses and income from such a venture they could not go into it on a large scale the house was too small the cost of living was high in Lone Rock and the market limited to the canned goods on the shelves of the company stores her careful figuring proved that there would be so little profit in the undertaking that it would not pay to try but the evening was not lost it suggested the vegetable garden which with Norman's help she proceeded to start the very next morning plain spading in unbroken sod is not exactly what a boy of 13 would call sport and Norman started at the task with little enthusiasm but Mary following vigorously in his wake with hoe and rake spurred him on with visions of the good things they should have to eat and the fortune they should make selling fresh garden stuff to the summer campers she caught some of her indomitable spirit and really grew interested in the work Mary confined her energies to the vegetables which she knew would grow in that locality and which would be sure to find a ready sale but Norman gradually enlarged the borders to make experiments of his own till all the lot back of the house was a well-tilled garden if it had done nothing but keep her employed out of doors many hours of the day it would have been well worth the effort for it kept her from brooding over her troubles and largely took away the caged feeling which had made her so desperate as the fresh green shoots came up through the soil and she counted the long straight rows she counted also the dimes each one ought to bring to the family purse and drew a breath of relief they would amount to a neat little sum of the season and by that time maybe some other way would be opened up for her to earn money at home true not all the things they planted came up fully a third of the garden failed to answer to roll call Norman said but those that did respond to their diligent care amply made up for the failure of the others Jack's room in the wing of the cottage had a south door overlooking the garden and it was a happy day for the entire household when he asked to know what was going on out there he could not see the garden from the corner where his bed stood but the nurse propped a large mirror up against a chair in a way to reflect the entire scene Norman was vigorously hoeing weeds and Mary armed with a large magnifying glass was on a hunt for the worms that were threatening the young plants the scene seemed to amuse Jack immensely and entirely aroused out of his apathy he began to ask questions and to suggest various dishes that he would like to sample as soon as the garden could furnish them every morning after that he called for the mirror to see how much the garden had grown in the night it was an event when the first tiny radish was brought in for him to taste and a matter of family rejoicing when the first crisp head of lettuce was made into a salad for him because his enjoyment of it was so evident about that time he was able to be propped up in bed a little while each day and was so much like his old cheerful self that Mary wrote long hopeful letters to Joyce and Betty about his improvement he joked with the nurse and talked so confidently about going back to work that Mary began to feel that the first fears had been unfounded and that much of her mental anguish on his account had been unnecessary sometimes she shared his hopefulness to such an extent that she half regretted leaving school before the end of the year when the girls wrote about the approaching commencement and the good times they were having and of how they missed her she thought how pleasant it would have been to have had them she was afraid she would be sorry all the rest of her life that she had missed those experiences of commencement time the exercises were always so beautiful at Warwick Hall she could not wholly regret her return however when she saw how much Jack depended on her for entertainment he was ready to hear all about her escapades at school now and hours at a time when she had not yet read or read to him choosing with unerring instinct the tales best suited to his mood Phil kept them supplied with all the current magazines Phil had been so thoughtful about that and his occasional letters to Jack had made red letter days on Mary's calendar they had been almost as good as visits they were so charged with his jolly lighthearted spirit but it happened that he intended to read Jack first the jester's sword still lay unopened on her table she could not even suggest his likeness to Aldebaran while he talked so hopefully of what he intended to do as soon as he was out of bed it was evident that he did not realize the utter hopelessness of his condition or he could not have made such big plans for the future of course I appreciate your firm he told her it's good for mama to have you here and it's fine for me too to have you look after me but I'm sorry you were so badly frightened that you thought it necessary you'll have to pay up for this holiday Missy I shall expect you to study all summer to make up lost time so you can catch up with your class and enter sophomore with them next fall to please him she brought out her books and studied a while every day reciting her French and Latin to her mother and wrestling along with the others as best she could then too it was impossible not to be affected to some extent by his spirit of hopefulness and several times she gave herself up to the bliss of dreaming of the joyful thing it would be if he should prove to be right and she could go back to Warwick Hall in the fall then one day the surgeons came up from and made their examination and experiments and after that the lessons in the daydream stopped everything stopped it seemed they told him the truth because he would have nothing else although they shrank from doing it until the last moment of their stay they knew it would be like giving him his death blow Mary standing in the door saw the look of unspeakable horror that stole slowly over his face then his helpless sinking back among the pillows and the twitching of his hands as he clenched them convulsively not a word or a groan escaped him but the wild despair of his set face and staring eyes was more than she could endure she rushed out of the room and out of the house to the little loft above the woodshed where no one could hear her frantic sobbing it was hours before she ventured back into the house it would only add to his misery to see her distress she knew so she left him to the little mother's ministrations anticipating such a result the surgeons had brought several appliances to make his confinement less irksome there was a hammock arrangement with pulleys by which he might be swung into different positions and out into a wheeled chair they fastened the screws into walls and ceiling put the apparatus in place and carefully tested it before leaving then they were at the end of their skill they could do nothing more there was nothing that could be done several times in the days that followed the nurse spoke of the brave way in which Jack seemed to be meeting his fate but Mrs. Ware shook her head sadly she knew why no complaint escaped him she had seen him act the Spartan before to spare her Mary too knew what his persistent silence meant he was not always so careful to veil the suffering which showed through his eyes when he was alone with her she knew that half the time when he appeared to be listening to what she was reading he was so absorbed in his bitter thoughts that he did not hear a word an eagle broken winged and drooping in a cage he gloomed upon his lot and cursed the vital force within that would not let him die one morning when he had been settled in his wheeled chair she brought out the story of the jester's sword saying tremulously will you do something for me Jack read this little book yourself I know you don't halfway listen to what I read anymore and I don't blame you but this seems to have been written just on purpose for you he took the book from her listlessly and open it because she wished it watching him from the doorway she waited until she saw him glance up from the opening paragraph to the fob watch lying on the stand at his elbow then he looked back at the page with a slight show of interest and she knew that the reference to Mars month and the blood stone had caught his attention as it had hers then she left him alone with it hoping fervently it would arouse in him at least a tithe of the interest it had awakened in her when she came back after a while he merely handed her the book saying in a different way a very pretty little tale Mary and leaned back in his chair with closed eyes as if dismissing it from his thoughts she was disappointed but later she saw him sitting with it in his hand again closed over one finger as if to keep the place while he looked out of the window with a far away expression in his eyes later the nurse asked her what book it was he kept under his pillow he drew it out occasionally she said and glanced at one of the pages as if he were trying to memorize it that he had at last read it as she read it putting himself in the place of Aldebaran Mary knew one day from an unconscious reference he made to it a sudden wind had blown up scattering papers and magazines across the room and fluttering his curtains like flags she ran in to pick up the wind-blown articles and close the shutters when everything was in order as she thought she turned to go out he stopped her saying almost fretfully you haven't picked up that picture that blew down when she glanced all around the room unable to discover it he pointed to the hearth a photograph had fallen from the mantle faced downward there Vesta's picture Mary picked it up and turned it over exclaiming why no it is Betty's that's what I said he answered the unconscious of his slip of the tongue that had betrayed his secret her back was turned towards him so that he could not see the tears which sprang to her eyes if already it had come to this that Betty was the Vesta of his dreams then his renunciation must be an hundred fold harder than she had imagined with the pity so deep that she could not trust herself to speak she busied herself in blowing some specks of dust from the mantle as an excuse to keep her back turned she was relieved when the nurse came in with a glass of lemonade and she could slip out without his seeing her face she sat down on the back steps her arms around her knees to think about the discovery she had just made it made her heart sick because it added so immeasurably to the weight of Jack's misfortune oh why did it have to be she demanded again a fate it is too cruel that everything the dear boy wanted most should be denied him with her thoughts centered gloomily on his injuries it seemed almost an insult for the son to shine or for anyone to be happy and she was in no mood to meet anyone in a different humor from her own added to her dull misery on Jack's account was a baffled, disappointed feeling that she had not been the comfort to him she had hoped to be true, she was learning to give him the massage he needed with almost as skillful a touch as the nurse but she could not see that she had eased his burden mentally in the least although she had tried faithfully to carry out the good fryer's suggestion it seemed so hard when she was ready to make any sacrifice for him it seemed so great even to exchanging her strength for his helplessness that the means should be denied her while she sat there longing for some great angel of opportunity to open the way for her to help him a little one was coming in at the back gate so disguised that she did not recognize it as such she was even impatient at the interruption a wheelbarrow came up from the barn with a whole train of smaller boys running alongside to support the chicken coop he was wheeling Norman's face shown with importance and he called excitedly as he fumbled at the gate-latch look, Mary, you can't guess what we've got in this box a young wild cat Lupe wants to sell him for mercy's sake, Norman where? she answered impatiently haven't we enough trouble now without your bringing home a wild cat to add to them and now, of all times, the tone carried even more disapproval than her words it seemed to insinuate that if he had the proper sympathy for Jack he would not be thinking of anything else but his affliction instantly the bright face clouded and in an injured tone he began to explain I thought brother would like to see it and he could make the trade for me he talks Mexican and I only know a few words I couldn't make the boys understand more than that they were to bring it along I don't see why Jack's being sick should keep me from having a nice pet like a wild cat he isn't a bit mean and I haven't had a single thing since the puppy was poisoned the procession had paused and the piercingly bright eyes of each one of the little Mexicans seemed to be also asking why Mary suddenly had to acknowledge to herself that there wasn't any good reason to prevent because one brother was desperately unhappy was no reason why she should cloud the enjoyment of the other one by refusing him something on which he had set his heart Norman could not understand the lightning change in her but he followed joyfully when she answered with a brief well come on and led the way around to the south door of Jack's room and called his attention to the embryo menagerie outside to her surprise for the first time since the surgeon's last visit Jack laughed it was an amusing group the wild cat in the chicken coop with its bodyguard of dirty grinning little Mexicans and Norman circling excitedly around them explaining that Lupe asked a dollar for it but that he could only give 50 cents and for Jack to make him understand Jack did make him understand and conducted the trade to Norman's entire satisfaction then recognizing Lupe as one of the boys he had seen around the office he began to question him in Mexican about the minds and the men then it developed that Lupe was the son of one of the men who had been saved by Jack's quick warning and when the boy repeated what some of the miners had said about him Jack grew red and did not translate it all the part he did translate was to the effect that the men wanted him back at the mine they were having trouble with the fat boss their name for the new manager the little transaction and talk with the boys to cheer Jack up so much that Mary mentally apologized to the Wildcat for her inhospitable reception and electrified Norman by an offer to help him build a more suitable cage for it than the coop in which it was confined Norman, who had unbounded faith in Mary's ability as a carpenter accepted her offer joyfully she wasn't like some girls he had known when she drove a nail it held things together and whatever she built would be strong enough to hold any beast he might choose to put in it now if I could get a couple of coyotes and a badger and a fox or two he remarked I'd be fixed Mary, who was sorting over pile of old boards back of the woodshed paused in alarm it strikes me young man she said a trifle sarcastically that the more some people get the more they want your wishes seem to be on the Jack's beanstalk scale they grow to reach the sky in a single night suppose you did have those things you wouldn't be satisfied it would be a zebra and a giraffe and a jungle tiger next no it wouldn't he declared I wouldn't know how to take care of them but I do know how to feed the things that live around here well you know what Hulda said about summer campers there's always a lot of boys along and if I had a sort of menagerie they'd want to come over and play circus and then they'd let me in on their ball games and things it's awful lonesome with school out and Billy Downs gone back east there's so few fellows here my age and Jack won't let me play much with the little Mexicans they aren't much fun anyhow when I can't talk their lingo Mary straightened up hammer in hand and squinted her eyes thoughtfully a way she had when something puzzled her it had not occurred to her that Norman had social longings like her own which Lone Rock failed to satisfy he watched her anxiously that preoccupied squint always meant that interesting developments would follow Norman Ware she said slowly I didn't give you credit for being a genius but you are as great in one way as Emerson you've hit on one of his ideas all by yourself he said if a man can write a better book preach a better sermon or make a better mousetrap than his neighbors though he build his house in the woods the world will make a beaten track to his door if you want company as bad as all that you shall have a beaten track to your door we'll build something better than the neighbors ever dreamed of and it won't be a mousetrap either there's enough old lumber here to build half a dozen cages and if you'll pay for the wire netting out of your share of the garden profits I'll help you put up a menagerie the PT Barnum himself wouldn't have been ashamed of Norman's answer was a whoop and a double somersault and he came up on his feet again remarking that she was worth all the fellows in Loan Rock put together according to what you've just said that isn't very much of a compliment left Mary still it gratified her so much the presently she was planning a sideshow for the menagerie there were all her mounted specimens of trap door spiders and butterflies and desert insects she would loan the collection occasionally and her stuffed Gila monster and the arrow heads and rattlesnake skins that she and Holland had collected as she hammered and sawed she told Norman the story of the juster sword that is one reason I am taking so much interest in this she explained I've been thinking for days about what the old friar said men need laughter sometimes more than food and if we haven't any cheer to spare ourselves we may go gathering it from door to door as he did crusts and carry it to those who need that is why I have gone on long walks and made so many calls on the few people that are here so that I'd have something amusing to tell Jack when I came home but he has seemed to find my crusts of cheer mighty dry food and he didn't take half the interest in them that he did in talking to Lupe today Lupe will make a beaten track to his door fast enough, prophesied Norman when he finds we want to buy more animals I'll send word to him to set his traps for those coyotes and foxes that evening after supper Jack wheeled himself out on to the porch it was the first time he had attempted it when he had made the trip successfully he sat a few minutes watching the stars they seemed unusually brilliant and he amused himself in tracing the constellations with which he was familiar it had been a family study at the wigwam and they had learned many things from the little atlas of the heavens which Mrs. Ware kept among her other old school books presently he called Mary I've located Taurus see just over that treetop and there is its red eye Aldebaran I wanted you to see what a jolly twinkle he has tonight it was the first direct reference he had made to the story and Mary waited expectantly for him to go on don't you worry little pard he said after a pause I've known all along how you felt about me but I'm not knocked quite out of the game even if I am such a wreck I felt so until I had that talk with Lupe as if there was no use of my cumbring the ground any longer but I found out a lot from him the men want me back they don't understand the new boss at all they will do anything for me so even if I can't walk I can be worth at least half a man to the company in just being on the spot to interpret and to keep things running smoothly I could attend to the correspondence too for my head in hands are all right I know I am as helpless as a baby yet but if you'll just stand by me and keep up that treatment and help me get my strength back I'll make good some way or another just as well as Aldebaran did by the bloodstone on my watch fob he added laughingly how is that for a fine swear the old hopeful note in his voice made his helplessness more pathetic than ever to Mary but she answered gaily you know I'll stand by you till the last cock crows and the last trump blows you didn't have to be born in Mars month to make undaunted courage the jewel of your soul perched on the arm of his chair she sat watching the red star for a moment thinking of the events that had led to his resolution it's queer isn't it she said aloud I almost drove Norman away this afternoon with his beast and his train of little Mexicans I was so out of patience with him for bringing them here but how is one to know an opportunity when it comes in a chicken coop disguised as a wildcat End of Chapter 14 Chapter 15 of the little Collins' gem Mary where? This is a LibriVolks recording or LibriVolks recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVolks.org Recording by Elaine Conway England The Little Colonel's Jump Mary where? By Annie Fellows Johnston Chapter 15 Keeping Christ and hundred times that summer Jack made the story of Elder Barron his own he had his rare exalted moments when all things seemed possible when despite his helpless body his spirit walked direct and faced his future for the time undaunted he had his daily struggle with a host of hurts which cut him to the quick the reminders of his thwarted hopes and foiled ambitions then too there were times when the only way he could keep up his courage was to repeat grimly through set teeth to his only one hour at a time that I am called on to endure by the bloodstone that is my birthright I'll keep my oath until the going down of one more son before the summer was over it came to pass that more than one soul given fresh courage by his brave example looked upon him as the villagers had upon Elder Barron a poor maimed creature in his outward seeming and yet so blithely does he bear his lot it seems a kingly spirit dwells among us Mr. Joyce began to take on a cheerful tone that was vastly encouraging to the toiler in the studio we have revised Emerson she wrote one July morning it is fully as true to say if one can make a better garden show a bigger circus or put up a more cheerful front to fate than his neighbours though he built his house in lone rock the world will make a beaten track to his door the path it has made to ours is a wide one the boys swarm here all hours of the day to Norman's delight the summer campers make our garden the mecca of their morning pilgrimages and the cheerful front we put up to fate seems to be the magnet that draws them back again in the afternoon really? our shady front porch reminds me sometimes of a popular summer resort it is so gay and chatty the ladies of the camp come over nearly every day and bring their sewing and fancy work and holder and I serve tea it would do you good to see how mama enjoys Mrs. Levering and Mrs. Alden are friends she used to have back in Plainsville and this is the first really good social time she has heard since we left there Professor Levering and Professor Salden seemed to find Jack so congenial they taught him by the hour on the scientific subjects he loves it is a godsend to him to have such a diversion Mrs. Levering said to me this morning there is a daily wonder to them all and a rebuke as well we think we have troubles she said until we come over here then you make them seem so insignificant that we are ashamed to label them troubles oh you whers I never saw such a family you fairly radiated cheerfulness I wish you'd tell me how to do it I told her I suppose it was because we were all such copycats first we imitated the old vicar of Wakefield so many years that it gave us a cheerful bent of mind and lately we've taken the story of Alder Baron to heart and were imitating him and the other jester she said commend me to copycats I'm glad I discovered the sweeces I'm telling you all this in order that you may see that we have managed to keep inflexible to the extent of impressing our neighbours at least and there is no need for you to worry about us any more I hope you will accept Eugenia's invitation and spend that two weeks at the seashore in the idlest most carefree way you can think of and not give one anxious thought to us true our day of great things is over we no longer lay large plans and sweep the heavens with a telescope looking for pleasure on a large scale among the stars but it is wonderful how many little things we find now that we used to let slip unheeded since we've gone to looking for them with a microscope two days later another letter was sent post-haze to Joyce written in a hurried scroll with a pencil clearly showing Mary's agitation something exciting has happened at last the leverings brought a friend to call this afternoon who has just arrived in Lone Rock to spend the rest of vacation with them a grumpy middle-aged, absent-minded old professor from the east who seemed rather bored with us at first when he was taken out to the sideshow in the zoo he waked up in a hurry his very spectacles gleamed and his gray whiskers bristled with interest when he saw my assortment of pressed wildflowers from the desert and the collection of butterflies and a trap-tool spider and other insects in my buggery as Norman calls it when I showed him all the data I had collected from textbooks and encyclopedias about the insect and plant life of the desert and all the notes had made myself for my own observations he actually whistled with surprise he sat and fired questions at me like a gatcheling gun for nearly an hour winding up by asking me if I had any idea what a valuable collection I had made and if I would be willing to part with it then it came out that he is a noted naturalist who is preparing a set of books on insects and their relation to plant life and is spending a year in the west on purpose to study the varieties here some of my specimens are so rare he has not come across them before and he said my notes would save him weeks of time in fact would be like a blaze trail through a wilderness showing him where to go to verify my observations without loss of time of course when it comes to the pinch I don't want to part with my beautiful collections of specimens it means a great deal to me I was over four years making it but it is too great an opportunity to let pass he is to name the price tomorrow after he has made a careful estimate so I don't know how much he will offer but Mrs. Levering says it is sure to be far more than an inexperienced teacher or stenographer could iron in a whole summer how I wore it and threaded and fumed because I had no way to make money here now besides what I get for my specimens I am to have a chance to earn a little more and the cahns will be here till cold weather and since I can give him intelligent assistance as he calls it he will have work for me in connection with his notes copying and indexing them and gathering new material now you can go back to saving up for your year abroad and give the family the honour of claiming one member with a career Jack is really going back to the office the first of September for a part of every day at quite a respectable salary considering the length of time he will work he's too valuable a man to the company for them to part with as for me I'm sure something else will turn up as soon as my work for Professor Cahns comes to an end we weirs can look back over so many ebonyzas some special time when providence came to a rescue that we have no right ever to be discouraged again Professor Cahns is my last one though nobody would be more astonished than he to know that he is regarded in the light of an old israelitish memorial stone you will not have such frequent letters from me after this as I shall be so busy but Jack says he will attend my correspondence he is beginning to write a little every day yesterday he wrote to Betty he has enjoyed her letter so much telling about her lovely time up in the main woods I'm so glad you are to have a vacation too so no more at present from your happy little sister like all people who are limited to one hobby and who pursue one line for years regardless of other interests Professor Cahns took little notice of anything outside of his special work if Mary had been a new kind of book he would have studied her with profound interest spending days in learning her peculiarities and sparing no pains in classifying her and assigning her to the place she occupied the plan of creation but being only a human being she attracted his attention only so far as she contributed to the success of his work he would go tramping through the woods wherever she led only vaguely aware of the fact that she had enlisted half a dozen small boys in her service and that she was turning them into enthusiastic young naturalists before his very eyes she was not doing this consciously however her motive for inviting them on these expeditions was simply to include Norman and his friends in her own enjoyment of the summer woods it was so easy to turn each excursion into a picnic to build a fire near some spring and set out a simple lunch that seemed a feast of the gods for the boys' appetite the goodly smell of corn roasting in the ashes or fresh fish sizzling on hot stones gave a charm to the learning of woodlore that it never could have possessed otherwise at first with a heedlessness of city bread boys they crashed through the underbrush with unseen eyes and unhearing ears but it was not long they learned the alertness of young Indians following by signs of barb and leaf and fallen feather trails more interesting than any detective's story gradually the older professor aroused to the fact that they were valuable assistants began to take some notice of them they awakened memories of his own barefooted boyhood and sometimes when he had had a particularly successful morning he threw off his habitual abstraction and as Mary reported Jack was as human as anybody it seemed to that at these times he saw Mary in a new light saw her as the boys did fearless as one of themselves tireless as a score and a happy-go-lucky comrade who could turn the most ordinary occasion into a jolly outing her lack of inventing substitutes when he had left some necessary article at home filled him with mild wonder he came to believe that her resources were unlimited one morning early in September he forgot his memorandum book and pencil and did not discover the fact until he was ready to note some measurements which he could not trust to memory it was no matter she assured him cheerfully as he stood peering helplessly around over his spectacles and slapping his pockets in vain you know, like Sandra says where the lion's skin will not reach it must be pierced with a fox's I'll find some kind of a substitute for your pencil somewhere after a moment's absence she came up the hill again with some broad sycamore leaves which she laid on a flat rock there she exclaimed you dictate and I'll write on these leaves with a hairpin Hazel Lee and I used to write notes on them by the hour playing post office back at the wig one several times during the dictation he looked at her as if about to make some personal remark then changed his mind what he had to say needed more explanation than he felt equal to making had he decided to send Mrs. Levering as his spokesman being a relative she understood the situation he wanted to make plain and he felt she could deal with the subject better than he so that afternoon Mrs. Levering came over on his errand Mrs. Ware and Mary were sewing and she plunged at once into her story Professor Kahn's had been left the guardian of a 15 year old niece who was born into the world with a delicate constitution an unhappy disposition and the proverbial gold spoon in her mouth as far as finances were concerned the poor professor felt that he had been left with something worse than a white elephant on his hands for he knew absolutely nothing about girls and Marion with her morbid super sensitive temperament was a constant puzzle to him she had been in a conference school until recently but now her physician has advised that she be taken out and sent to some place in the country where she could lead an active outdoor life for an entire year they recommended a climate similar to the one at Lone Rock the professor could make arrangements for her to board in Dr. Gray's family quite near the wares and felt that she would be well taken care of there physically but he recognised the necessity of providing for her in other ways she had no resources of her own for entertainment and he knew she would fret herself into a decline unless some means were provided to interest and amuse her he had been wonderfully impressed with Marion's ability to make the best of every situation he's been awakened to the fact that she was an unusual specimen of humanity had studied her carefully now he confided to Mrs. Levering his greatest desire for Marion was that she might grow up to be a self-reliant and happy hearted a young girl as Marion seeing how she had aroused such a love for nature studying the boys he felt that she might do the same for Marion it was really a marvel Mrs. Levering insisted how she had bewitched both her coal and Tommy Salden they were in a fair way to become as great cranks as the old professor himself now this was the proposition he wanted to make that Marion should take the place of teachers and textbooks for a while and to vote herself to the tiles of making Marion forget herself and her imaginary grievances to interest her in wood-law to the extent of making her willing to spend much time out of doors and to imbue her if possible with some of the cheerful philosophy that made the entire family each delightful companions of course explained Mrs. Levering he understands that one could never be adequately repaid for such a service it would be worth more than any course at college or any fortune to Marion if she could be changed from a listless and happy girl to one like yourself she will tax your ingenuity and require infinite tax and patience but he feels that you can do more for her than any older person because she needs healthy young companionship more than anything else in the world if you will devote your mornings to her trying to attain the result he wants in any way you see fit he will gladly pay you anything in reason just let me take back word that he will consider his offer and he will be over here post-haze to make terms with you Mary looked inquiring near across at her mother this sudden prospect of such good fortune to answer for herself but Mrs. Ware consented immediately I think it is a very fortunate arrangement for both girls there is no one near Mary's age in Lone Rock that I have been dreading the winter for her on that account I'm sure she can make a real friend and a companion out of Marion and I can say this for my little girl it will never be dull for anybody who follows her trail through life Mrs. Levering rose to go then it's as good as settled I'm sure the poor old professor will feel that you've taken a great burden off his shoulders and that this will be the most profitable year's education that Marion will ever have Hardy had their visitor departed when Mrs. Ware was seized around the waist by a young cyclone who passed her through the kitchen down the golden warp and out to the shade of tree where Jack search reading in his wheeled chair tell him mama Mary demanded breathless and panting I'm too happy for words then call in the neighbors and sing the doxology later as she and Jack start discussing a situation with a zest which left he said teasingly you needn't be pluming yourself complacently over all those compliments do you realise when all said and done they've asked nothing more of you than simply to put a cap on and bowls and play the jester a while for that girl's benefit I don't care retorted Mary I'm not proud and I can stand the motley as long as it brings in the duckets it isn't the career I had planned but she broke off abruptly and began hunting for her spool of thread which had rolled off into the grass when she found it she stitched away in silence as if she had forgotten her unfinished sentence what career did you have planned little sister asked Jack gently when the silence had lasted a long time she looked up with a start as if her thoughts had been far away then said with a deprecatory smile I hardly know myself Jack I don't mind confessing to you though I couldn't to anyone else it was so big I couldn't see the top of it with her eyes bent on her sewing she told him about the voice and the vision that had come to her when she looked up at Edrin's window for the first time and how she had been wondering ever since what great duty it was with which she was to keep trist some day I can always tell you things without fear of being laughed at she ended so I don't mind saying that I believed at the time it really was the king's call and that some great destiny oh far greater than voices or betties awaited me it seemed so real I don't see how I could have been mistaken and yet, now it does seem foolish for me to aspire so high doesn't it there was a little break in her voice although she ended with a laugh Jack watched the brown head bent over her sewing for several minutes before he replied then he said in a grave kind tone that he always liked because it seemed so intimate and as if he regarded her as his own age since I've been hurt I've done a lot of thinking and I come to the conclusion that the highest thing a man can aspire to and the blessedest is to ease the burden of the world either consciously or unconsciously that is what every artist does who paints a masterpiece he helps us bear our troubles by making us forget them at least as long as the uplift and the inspiration stay with us every author and musician whose work lives does the same every inventor who creates something to make toil easier and to life happier eases that burden to a degree so I don't think you were mistaken about that call but it may be greater than the other girls even here in lone rock as much bigger and better as a whole life is bigger and better than a few books and pictures you've begun on me and you'll have Marion to try your hand on next no telling where you will stop you may be the apostle of cheerfulness to the entire far west before you are done who knows although the last words were spoken lightly we felt the seriousness underline them and looked up her face shining as if some mystery had suddenly been clear to her oh jack she cried you don't know how easy that makes everything I've looked at life at lone rock as something to be endured nearly as a stepping stone to better things but if you think that it is the beginning of my real tryst I can answer the call in such a different spirit by the winged spur of our ancestors she cried gaily waving the ruffle she was humming I'll be ready, ay ready for whatever comes Jack did not go back to the office the first of September it was the middle of the month before he made the attempt Norman wheeled him over on his way to school and Mary standing in the door to watch them start out the tears spring to her eyes as she compared this pitiful going to the buoyant stride with which he used to start to work still he was so much better than they had dared to hope he would be that when she went back to her room she picked up a red pencil and marked the date on her calendar with a star then she remembered that this was the day the girls would be trooping back to Warwick Hall and she recalled the opening day the year before when she had been among them she wondered who was taking possession of her room and if the new girls would be as devoted to Betty as the old ones were she could picture them all driving up the avenue singing as they came then Hawkins' imposing reception and Madame Chartley's greeting as she longed to be the bustle of unpacking and to make the rounds of all her favourite horns by the river and in the beautiful old garden Doreen and Corny wouldn't be there, they were graduated and gone but Elsie and AO and Margaret Elwood and Betty as she named them over such a homesick pang seized her that it seemed as if she could not bear the thought of never going back the thought of all she was missing drove her as it used to do to a shadow tum for sympathy and a Lloyd was in her thoughts all day somehow when Holder came back from the grocery bringing her a letter from Lloyd she was not at all surprised although it was the first one she had received from her since she left school except a little note of sympathy right after Jack's accident the surprise came when she opened the letter she read it over and over and then because Jack was at the office and her mother at neighbour's she turned to her long neglected journal for a confidant she had to hand through all the drawers for a desk for it it had been hidden away so long she felt that the news and the letter was worthy a place in her good times book for it recorded Lloyd's happiness which was as dear to her as her own oh little red book she wrote what an amazing secret I'm going to give you to hold Lloyd is engaged and not to Phil she has been engaged since last June to Robb Moore she's not to be announced formally until Christmas and they are not to be married for a long time but Eugenia knows and Joyce and her very most intimate friends she wanted me to know and hear it from herself because she found that no one could wish her joy more sincerely than her little term I'm so glad she really called me that after all my months of make-believe but it was the surprise of my life to find that Robb is the Prince and not Phil poor Phil I'm sure he was disappointed and somehow I kept thinking of that more than of Lloyd's happiness I don't see how she could prefer anybody else to the best man did she pause to begin fingering the unwritten leaves of the diary wondering if the time would ever come when they would hold the record of other engagements nearly a third of the pages were stiff blank how many nice things she could think of that she would like to be able to write there on maybe they would hold the date of a visit to Oakley someday to Mrs Robb Moore how odd that sounded or what was more probable since he had already mentioned it in his letters to Jack a visit from Phil if he went back to California with his father and Elsie on her return and maybe it might hold the news of Joyce's engagement someday or better and maybe some far far off day it might hold her own that seemed a very unlikely thing just now princes were an unknown quantity in lone rock and yet she looked dreamily across the hills there were the words of that song and if he comes not by the road and come not by the hill and come not by the farsi way yet come he surely will close all the roads of all the world love's road is open still seizing her pen she wrote just below her last entry it is five months since that dismal day on the train when I closed the record in this book as I thought forever and wrote after the last of my good times the end but it wasn't that at all and now no matter how dark the outlook may be after this I shall never believe that I have reached the end to happiness the end End of Chapter 15 End of The Little Colonel's Jumb Mary Ware by Annie Fellows Johnston