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And all the little girls wept into their handkerchiefs, while the boys sniffed audibly. "Bless their hearts," said Mrs. Batcheller to Miss Mary, "it's too bad to have them cry." But the Judge, who was a keen observer of human nature, shook his head. "A little sadness now and then won't hurt them," he said. "It is the shadows that make us appreciate the sunshine, you know."
In the first place Anne Batcheller came in late for the only time in her life, and in the second place, when the service was half over, a slender, distinguished maiden in a violet-wreathed white hat, slipped along the aisle, flashing a glance at Anne as she passed, and smiling at the delighted Judge as she entered the pew.
"But I do hate to start to school again," said Anne, when she finished breakfast, and had given Belinda a saucer of milk and Becky a generous piece of corn bread. "Are the children going to speak their pieces this week?" asked Mrs. Batcheller, as Anne tied on her hat and went out into the garden to gather some roses for the teacher. "Yes, on Saturday," said Anne; "it's going to be awfully nice.
Perkins brought it in on a great silver platter, and placed it in front of Judy with a flourish. "Oh, oh, isn't it lovely," cried all the little girls. "That's great," from Launcelot and Tommy. "Perkins' chef d'oeuvre," was the Captain's comment, and the Judge and the doctor and Mrs. Batcheller added their praises. It really was a beautiful cake.
"Anne Batcheller," she cried, tempestuously, "you are too good to live," and she went out of the room like a whirlwind. She went straight to the Judge and Mrs. Batcheller, who were chatting together in the dimness and quiet of the great parlor. "I sha'n't have anything to do with the lawn party, grandfather," she blazed, after she had told her story, "if that teacher is to be invited!"
Batcheller, "if you look at it that way. Now in my day, if a girl had a sweet temper and nice manners, that was all that was necessary." "Hum " mused the Judge. "But I remember somebody in a little white gown with green sprigs, and a hat with pink roses under the brim." "Judith and I had them just alike," smiled the blushing little grandmother.
The plaid lining of her mackintosh showed, and the wind sounded wheezy, but the pathos in Judy's face, the tragedy in her eyes as the third verse was read: "And the stately ships go on, To the haven under the hill, But oh, for the touch of a vanished hand, And the sound of a voice that is still!" made the Judge wipe his eyes, and Mrs. Batcheller say hurriedly, "She should not have done it.
"What's the matter with Anne?" he demanded. "She talked in school," said Tommy, doggedly. "I don't believe it." "Well, she did, anyhow." "Whose fault was it?" "Hers, I suppose." "You don't suppose anything of the kind. Anne Batcheller never broke a rule in her life willingly, and you know it, Tommy Tolliver."
Batcheller, however, and she sat down again to decide upon a plan for spending the day. She would not stay in the little gray cottage, that was a sure thing, and to go back to the Judge's meant a dull day by herself. As she mused, a cheery whistle sounded down the road. "A Life on the Ocean Wave" was the tune and Judy started to her feet.
The various hardware exhibits, such as the Disston saws, Ames shovels, Collins axes, Batcheller forks, Russell & Erwin builders' hardware, as well as the Remington, Colt, Winchester, Sharpe and Owen Jones rifles and revolvers, and the Gatling and Gardner guns, are a little on one side of my present line of subjects.
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