Hildegarde's Neighbors Read online

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  THE HILDEGARDE SERIES

  Hildegarde's Neighbors

  A STORY FOR GIRLS

  BY LAURA E. RICHARDS

  Author of

  "The Margaret Series," "The Hildegarde Series," "Captain January,""Melody," "Five Minute Stories," etc.

  ILLUSTRATED

  TO

  M.C.G.

  IN TOKEN OF THE AFFECTION OF MANY YEARS.

  CONTENTS.

  CHAPTER

  I. THE ARRIVAL

  II. OLD FRIENDS AND NEW

  III. PUMPKIN HOUSE

  IV. HESTER'S PLAYROOM

  V. TEA AT ROSEHOLME

  VI. ANOTHER TEA-PARTY

  VII. IN GOOD GREEN WOOD

  VIII. "HANDS ACROSS THE SEA"

  IX. MERRY WEATHER INDOORS

  X. A NEW LIFE

  XI. A NIGHT-PIECE

  XII. A-SAILING WE WILL GO

  XIII. IN PERIL BY WATER

  XIV. ROGER THE CODGER

  XV. A MORNING HOUR

  XVI. GOOD-BY

  HILDEGARDE'S NEIGHBORS

  CHAPTER I.

  THE ARRIVAL.

  "Mamma," said Hildegarde Grahame, flying into her mother's room,"I have news for you, thrilling news! Guess what it is!"

  Mrs. Grahame looked up from her sewing.

  "The house is on fire," she said, quietly, "or you have found aRoyal Walnut Moth; or, possibly, Hugh has developed wings andflown away. None of these things would greatly surprise me; but inthe first case I must take action, while in either of the others Ican finish this seam."

  "Continue your prosaic labours!" said the girl. "The dress ismine, and I want it."

  She sat down, and fanned herself with her broad straw hat. "It ishot!" she announced with emphasis.

  "And that is the news?" said her mother. "Astonishing! I shouldnever have guessed it, assuredly."

  "Madam, you are a tease! The big yellow house is let, and thefamily is moving in today, at this moment! NOW, how do you feel?"

  "Much the same, thank you!" was the reply. "Slight acceleration ofthe pulse, with fever-flush; nothing more. But it is great news,certainly, Hilda. Do you know anything of the people?"

  Hildegarde quoted:

  "'I saw them come; one horse was blind, The tails of both hung down behind, Their shoes were on their feet.'

  "Mr. and Mrs. Miles Merryweather, six children, cook, housemaidand seamstress, two dogs, two cats (at least the basket mewed, soI infer cats), one canary bird, and fourteen trunks."

  "Do I understand that Miss Grahame has been looking through thegap in the hedge?"

  "You do, madam. And oh, mammina, it was such fun! I really couldnot help it; and no one saw me; and they came tumbling in in sucha funny, jolly way! I rather think we shall like them, but it willbe strange to have such near neighbours."

  "I wonder what the Colonel will say!" Mrs. Grahame commented.

  "He is pleased," said Hildegarde; "actually pleased. He knows Mr.Merryweather, and likes him; in fact, he has just been telling meabout them."

  "Hildegarde, you are becoming a sad gossip," said Mrs. Grahame,severely. "I think you would better sit down and work thesebuttonholes at once."

  "So that I can repeat the gossip to you," said this impertinentyoung woman, kissing her mother lightly on the forehead."Precisely, dear madam. Where is my thimble? Oh, here! Where arethe buttonholes? Oh, there! Well, now you shall hear. And I fear Ihave been a gossip, indeed.

  "It began with obedience to my elders and betters. You told me togo down and see how Mrs. Lankton's 'neurology' was; and I went. Ifound the poor old thing in bed, and moaning piteously. I am boundto say, however, that the moans did not begin till after I clickedthe latch. It is frightful to see how suspicious a course of Mrs.Lankton always makes me. I went in, and the room was hermeticallysealed, with a roaring fire in the air-tight stove."

  "To-day!" exclaimed Mrs. Grahame; "the woman will die!"

  "Not she!" said Hildegarde. "I was nearly suffocated, andprotested, with such breath as I could find; but she said, 'Oh,Miss Grahame, my dear! you don't know anything about trouble orsickness, and no need to before your time. A breath of air, mydear, is like the bellers to my neurology--the bellers itself! Ah!I ain't closed my eyes, not to speak of, since you was here last.'

  "I tried to convince her that good air was better than bad, sinceshe must breathe some kind of air; but she only shook her head andgroaned, and told me about a woman who got into her oven and shutthe door, and stayed there till she was baked 'a beautiful lightbrown,' as Mrs. Lincoln says. ''T was a brick oven, dear, such asyou don't see 'em nowadays; and she was cured of her neurology,slick and slap; but I don't never expect no such help of mine, nowMr. Aytoun's dead and gone. Not but what your blessed ma is amother to me, and so I always tell the neighbours.'

  "Do you want any more, missis? I can go on indefinitely, if youlike. I stayed as long as I dared, and managed to hold the dooropen quite a bit, so that a little air really did get in; and Igave her the liniment, and rubbed her poor old back, and then gaveher a spoonful of jelly, and ran. That is the first part of mytale. Then, I was coming home through the Ladies' Garden, and Ifound my Hugh playing Narcissus over a pool, and wondering whetherfreckles were dirt on his soul that came out in spots--the lamb!And I had to stay and talk with him a bit, and he was so dear! Andthen I walked along, and just as I came to the gap in the hedge,Mrs. Grahame, my dear madam, I heard the sound of a lawn-mower onthe other side, and a man's voice whistling. This was amazing, andI am human, though I don't know whether you ever noticed it. Ilooked, I did; and so would others, if they had been there. Awagon stood at the back door, all piled with trunks and bags andbaskets; I liked the look of the baskets, I can't tell exactlywhy. And at that very moment a carriage drove up, with twodelightful brown horses, and a brown man who looked delightful,too, driving. I know it must be Mr. Merryweather, mammy, and I amsure we shall like him. Tall and straight and square, with clearblue eyes and broad shoulders; and handled his horses well, and--what are you laughing at, Mrs. Grahame, if I may be permitted toask?"

  "I was only thinking that this charming individual was, in allprobability, the coachman," said Mrs. Grahame, with mildmalignity.

  "Mamma!" cried Hildegarde, indignantly. "As if I didn't know acoachman when I saw him! Besides, the Colonel--but wait! Well, andthen there was Mrs. Merryweather--stout and cheerful-looking, andI should think very absent-minded. Well, but, mother," seeing Mrs.Grahame about to protest, "she was dressed for driving, not to saytravelling, and she--she had a pen behind her ear. She truly had!

  "There were two big girls, and two big boys, and a little girl,and a little boy. I thought they all looked nice, and the girlswere pretty, and one of the big boys was so full of fun hetwinkled all over. A handsome boy, with red hair and dark blueeyes; but, oh, such a pity! his name is Obadiah, for I heard theother call him so. How can intelligent people call a boy Obadiah?"

  She sewed for some minutes in silence, her needle darting in andout with thoughtful regularity, then went on.

  "All the family seem to have strange names. The other boy iscalled Ferguson, and one girl is Toots, and another is Chucky. Idetest nicknames; but these people all seemed so jolly, and onsuch good terms with each other, that I felt a sort of warming tothem. The girl named Toots tumbled out of the wagon, and theothers all laughed, and she laughed, too. She dropped everythingshe was carrying, and she was carrying a great deal,--a butterfly-net, and a mouse-trap, and three books, and a bandbox,--andeverybody seemed to think that the best joke of all. One calledher medicine dropper, and another drop-cake, and another droppedegg, and so on; and away they all went into t
he house, laughingand shouting and tumbling over each other. Such a jolly family.Mamma!"

  "Yes, my dear," said Mrs. Grahame, very quietly, but withoutlooking up.

  "Nothing!" said Hildegarde. "You are an angel, that is all."

  Mrs. Grahame sighed, and thought, as Hildegarde had been thinking,how good it would be to have many children, like a crown ofsunbeams, about her; and thought of a little grave in Greenwood,where her only boy lay.

  Presently she looked up with her usual bright smile.

  "This is all very interesting, Hilda, and I fully sympathize withyour feelings behind the hedge; but you have not told me how youcame to know about our new neighbours. Did Colonel Ferrers joinyou at your peep-hole?"

  "He did, mamma! He did just precisely that. I saw him coming alongthe road, swinging his stick, and frowning and humming tohimself,--dear thing! And when he came near the house, and heardthe voices, he stopped and looked, and began to go softly andslowly; so then I knew that he, too, wanted to see what was goingon. So I slipped to the gate and beckoned to him, and he came inon tiptoe and joined me. Such fun we had,--just like twoconspirators! He could see over my head, so we could both look atonce; and he kept muttering scraps of information in my ear, sothat it quite buzzed. Yes, I know you are shocked, dear madam, butit really could not be helped; and you said once to Jack--poor oldJack!--that his uncle was a criterion of gentle breeding andmanners! So now, Mrs. Grahame!"

  "Well," said Mrs. Grahame, "since matters are so, I may as wellhear what my criterion had to say about our new neighbours. Apretty state of things, truly! the magnate and the maiden, spyingthrough bushes on these unsuspecting strangers. Say on, unhappygirl!"

  "Of course he said, 'Hum, ha!' first, a good many times; and welaughed at each other, under our breath, and were very happy. Andthen he said, 'Miles Merryweather, my dear! Excellent person!Heard he had taken the old house, but had no idea he was coming sosoon. Eminent scientific man, manager of the new chemical works atBrompton, over yonder. Met him once, some years ago; glad to renewthe acquaintance. Large family, I see, yes, yes; hum, ha! Boyabout Hugh's age; inferior to him in intellect, my dear, I'll beta--I should be tolerably certain. Astonishing lad, my Hugh! Ha!Mrs. Merryweather, presumably; literary, I hear, and that sort ofthing. Don't care for literary people myself; prefer their books;but looks amiable. Pretty girl that, Hilda, my dear! the tall slipwith the fair hair! Yes, yes! "A pretty girl's the noblest workof"--you remember? What's that? "An honest man," in the original?Now, will you hear this girl setting her elders to rights? Iwonder what your mother was thinking of when she brought you up,young woman!' and so on, and so on, in his own delightful way.Really, mammina, from what he said, we are going to have a greatacquisition to the little neighbourhood. We must call as soon asit would be in any way decent, mustn't we? Oh, but wait! I musttell you the end. We had been so interested in watching thechildren, and in seeing them go tumbling down and up into thehouse, that we had lost sight of Mr. Merryweather himself. Isuppose he must have driven round to the stable and left thehorses there; for suddenly, almost in our ears, we heard a deepvoice saying, 'A fine hedge, but needs clipping badly; we must setthe boys to work in the morning.' We started back as if we hadbeen shot. Colonel Ferrers turned purple, and I felt every colourin the rainbow flooding my cheeks. We made sure we had been seenor heard, and I think Colonel Ferrers was on the point of steppingforward like a soldier, and apologizing; but I held his arm for amoment, in pure cowardice, and the next moment we saw Mr. and Mrs.Merryweather, arm in arm, gazing calmly at the hedge, andevidently unconscious of any guilty crouchers on the other side.Oh, mammy! if you could have seen us stealing away, how you wouldhave laughed. The Colonel is not very light, you know, bless him!and to see him mincing along on the tips of his dear toes,scarcely daring to draw breath, still purple with embarrassmentand suppressed laughter, and looking over his shoulder at everystep, as if he expected to see Mr. Merryweather come burstingthrough the hedge in pursuit,--oh, it was too funny! When we gotround the corner we both sat down on the steps and giggled, liketwo infants; and then he said he was deeply ashamed of me, andbade me go in and make confession to you for both of us. So now Ihave done it, dear madam, and you are to forgive all our sins,negligences and ignorances, please, and the Colonel is coming totea, with his compliments."