And then Polly must show Edgar how she had made Austin Dobson’s “Milkmaid Song” fit “Nelly Ely,” and she must teach him the pretty words.
“Across the grass,
I saw her pass,
She comes with tripping pace;
A maid I know,
March winds blow
Her hair across her face.
Hey! Dolly! Ho! Dolly!
Dolly shall be mine,
Before the spray is white with May
Or blooms the eglantine.”
By this time the bandage had come off the burned wrist, and Edgar must bind it on again, and Polly shrieked and started when he pinned the end over, and Edgar turned pale at the thought of his brutal awkwardness, and Polly burst into a ringing peal of laughter and confessed that the pin had n’t touched her, and Edgar called her a deceitful little wretch. This naturally occupied some time, and then there was the second verse:—
“The March winds blow,
I watch her go,
Her eye is blue and clear;
Her cheek is brown
And soft as down
To those who see it near.
Hey! Dolly! Ho! Dolly!
Dolly shall be mine,
Before the spray is white with May
Or blooms the eglantine.”
After this singing-lesson was over it was nearly eleven o’clock, but up to this time Edgar had shown no realizing sense of his engagements.
“The dinner is over, and the theatre party is safe,” thought Polly. “Now comes the ‘tug of war,’ that mysterious game of billiards.”
But Mrs. Oliver was equal to the occasion. When Edgar looked at his watch, she said: “Polly, run and get Mrs. Noble’s last letter, dear;” and then, when she was alone with Edgar, “My dear boy, I have a favor to ask of you, and you must be quite frank if it is not convenient for you to grant it. As to-morrow will be Saturday, perhaps you have no recitations, and if not, would it trouble you too much to stay here all night and attend to something for me in the morning? I will explain the matter, and then you can answer me more decidedly. I have received a letter from a Washington friend who seems to think it possible that a pension may be granted to me. He sends a letter of introduction to General M––, at the Presidio, who, he says, knew Colonel Oliver, and will be able to advise me in the matter. I am not well enough to go there for some days, and of course I do not like to send Polly alone. If you could go out with her, give him the letter of introduction, and ask him kindly to call upon us at his leisure, and find out also if there is any danger in a little delay just now while I am ill, it would be a very great favor.”
“Of course I will, with all the pleasure in life, Mrs. Oliver,” replied Edgar, with the unspoken thought, “Confound it! There goes my game; I promised the fellows to be there, and they ‘ll guy me for staying away! However, there ‘s nothing else to do. I should n’t have the face to go out now and come in at one or two o’clock in the morning.”
Polly entered just then with the letter.
“Edgar is kind enough to stay all night with us, dear, and take you to the Presidio on the pension business in the morning. If you will see that his room is all right, I will say good-night now. Our guest-chamber is downstairs, Edgar; I hope you will be very comfortable. Breakfast at half past eight, please.”
When the door of Mrs. Howe’s bedroom closed on Edgar, Polly ran upstairs, and sank exhausted on her own bed.
“Now, mamma, ‘listen to my tale of woe!’ I got off at the wrong station,—yes, it was stupid; but wait: perhaps I was led to be stupid. I lost my way, could n’t find Professor Salazar’s house, could n’t find anything else. As I was wandering about in a woodsy road, trying to find a house of some kind, I heard a crowd of boys singing vociferously as they came through the trees. I did n ‘t care to meet them, all alone as I was, though of course there was nothing to be afraid of, so I stepped off the road behind some trees and bushes until they should pass. It turned out to be half a dozen university students, and at first I did n’t know that Edgar was among them. They were teasing somebody to go over to San Francisco for a dinner, then to the minstrels, and then to wind up with a game of billiards, and other gayeties which were to be prolonged indefinitely. What dreadful things may have been included I don’t know. A wretch named ‘Tony’ did most of the teasing, and he looked equal to planning any sort of mischief. All at once I thought I recognized a familiar voice. I peeped out, and sure enough it was Edgar Noble whom they were coaxing. He did n’t want to go a bit,—I ‘ll say that for him,—but they were determined that he should. I didn’t mind his going to dinners and minstrels, of course, but when they spoke of being out until after midnight, or to-morrow morning, and when one beetle-browed, vulgar-looking creature offered to lend him a ‘tenner,’ I thought of the mortgage on the Noble ranch, and the trouble there would be if Edgar should get into debt, and I felt I must do something to stop him, especially as he said himself that everything depended on his next examinations.”
“But how did you accomplish it?” asked Mrs. Oliver, sitting up in bed and glowing with interest.
“They sat down by the roadside, smoking and talking it over. There was n’t another well-born, well-bred looking young man in the group. Edgar seemed a prince among them, and I was so ashamed of him for having such friends! I was afraid they would stay there until dark, but they finally got up and walked toward the station. I waited a few moments, went softly along behind them, and when I was near enough I cleared my throat (oh, it was a fearful moment!), and said, ‘I beg your pardon, but can you direct me to Professor Salazar’s house?’ and then in a dramatic tone, ‘Why, it is—is n’t it?—Edgar Noble of Santa Barbara!’ He joined me, of course. Oh, I can’t begin to tell you all the steps of the affair, I am so exhausted. Suffice it to say that he walked to Professor Salazar’s with me to make my excuses, came over to town with me, came up to the house, I trembling for fear he would slip through my fingers at any moment; then, you know, he stayed to dinner, I in terror all the time as the fatal hours approached and departed; and there he is, ‘the captive of my bow and spear,’ tucked up in Mrs. Howe’s best bed, thanks to your ingenuity! I could never have devised that last plot, mamma; it was a masterpiece!”
“You did a kind deed, little daughter,” said Mrs. Oliver, with a kiss. “But poor Mrs. Noble! What can we do for her? We cannot play policemen all the time. We are too far from Edgar to know his plans, and any interference of which he is conscious would be worse than nothing. I cannot believe that he is far wrong yet. He certainly never appeared better; so polite and thoughtful and friendly. Well, we must let the morrow bring counsel.”
“I hope that smirking, odious Tony is disappointed!” said Polly viciously, as she turned out the gas. “I distinctly heard him tell Edgar to throw a handkerchief over my hair if we should pass any wild cattle! How I ‘d like to banish him from this vicinity! Invite Edgar to dinner next week, mamma; not too soon, or he will suspect missionary work. Boys hate to be missionaried, and I ‘m sure I don’t blame them. I hope he is happy downstairs in his little prison! He ought to be, if ignorance is bliss!”
Chapter VIII.
Two Fireside Chats
It was five o’clock Saturday afternoon, and Edgar Noble stood on the Olivers’ steps, Mrs. Oliver waving her hand from an upper window, and Polly standing on the stairs saying good-by.
“Come over to dinner some night, won’t you, Edgar?”