Tattine Part 2

"I'm sorry she hasn't a day," said Tattine, "because--because--"

"If ye're maning that you'd like to give us a call, miss," said Patrick, beginning to take in the situation, "shure she could have a day at home as aisy as the foinest lady, and proud indeed she'd be to have it with your little self for the guest of honor."

"I would like to bring Rudolph and Mabel, Patrick."

"And what should hinder, miss?"

"And I'd like to have it an all-day-at-home, say from eleven in the morning until five in the afternoon, and not make just a little call, Patrick."

"Of course, miss, a regular long day, with your donkey put into a stall in the barn, and yourselves and the donkey biding for the best dinner we can give ye."

"And I'd like to have you there, Patrick, because we might not feel AT HOME just with Mrs. Kirk."

"Well, I don't know, miss; do you suppose your Father could spare me?"

and Patrick thought a little regretfully of the dollar and a half he would insist upon foregoing if he took a day off, but at the same moment he berated himself soundly for having such an ungenerous thought.

"Indade, miss, if you'll manage for me to have the day I'll gladly stay to home to make ye welcome."

"Then it's settled, Patrick, and we'll make it the very first day Papa can spare you." They had raked down, while they had been having this conversation, to close proximity to two pretty rows of apple-trees that had been left on the front lawn, a reminder of the farm that "used to be," and the sight of the trees brought a troubled look into Tattine's face. "Patrick," she said ruefully, "do you know that some of the nests in these trees have been robbed of their eggs? Four or five of them are empty now. Have you an idea who could do such a thing?"

"Yes, I have an idea," and Patrick rested his hands upon the handle of his rake and looked significantly towards the barn; "somebody who lives in the barn, I'm thinkin'."

"Why, Joseph would not do it, nor Philip the groom, and little Joey is too small to climb these trees."

"It's something smaller than Joey, miss. Whisht now, and see if she's not up to mischief this minute."

Tattine's little black-and-white kitten, whose home was in the barn, had been frisking about her feet during all the raking, but as the raking came under the apple-trees, other thoughts came into her little black-and-white head, and there she was stealthily clawing her way up the nearest tree. Tattine stood aghast, but Patrick's "whisht" kept her still for a moment, while the cat made its way along one of the branches. Tattine knowing well the particular nest she was seeking, made one bound for her with her rake, and with such a scream as certainly to scare little Black-and-white out of at least one of the nine lives to which she is supposed to be ent.i.tled. But p.u.s.s.y was too swift and swiftly scrambled to the very topmost twig that would hold her weight, while Tattine danced about in helpless rage on the gra.s.s beneath the tree. "Tattine is having a fit," thought little Black-and-white, scared half to death and quite ready to have a little fit of her own, to judge from her wild eyes and bristling tail.

Tattine's futile rage was followed in a few minutes by, "Oh, Patrick, I never dreamt it was Kittie. Has SHE been TRAINED to do it, do you think?"

"Oh. no, miss; it just comes natural to cats and kittens to prey upon birds and birds' nests."

"Patrick," said Tattine solemnly, "there is not going to be any four-legged thing left for me to love. I am done with Betsy and Doctor, and now I'm done with Black-and-white. I wonder if Mamma can make it seem any better," and then she turned her steps to the house in search of comfort, but she had gone only half-way when the coachman, who was waiting at the door with the little grey mare and the phaeton, motioned to her to come quietly. Tattine saw at a glance what had happened, and sped swiftly back to Patrick. "Keep Black-and-white up the tree," she said, in a breathless whisper; "don't let her go near the nest, and don't let her come down for the world. The little Phoebe-birds have lit."

"All right, miss," not at all understanding the situation, but more than willing to obey orders. Tattine was in such haste to get back to the house that she hardly heard his answer. What she had tried to tell him was that the five little fledglings, crowded into the tiny nest under the eaves of the porch, had taken it into their heads to try their first flight at that precise moment, and there they were perched on the shafts of the phaeton, lighting, as it seemed, on the first thing they came to, while the father and mother birds were flying about in frantic anxiety to see them in such a perilous situation. How could those tiny little untrained claws keep their hold on that big round, slippery shaft, and if the carriage started down they would surely go under the wheels or under the feet of that merciless little grey mare. But the little fledglings were in better hands than they knew, for, with the exceptions of Betsy, Doctor, and Black-and-white, every living thing at Oakdene was kind to every other living thing.

"Whoa, girlie; whoa, girlie," had been Patrick's quieting words to Lizzie, and then when Tattine came hurrying that way he had motioned her to come quietly for fear of frightening them. Then, as you know, Tattine flew to make sure that treacherous Black-and-white was kept close guarded, and then back she flew again to the aid of the little birds themselves. Softly she drew nearer and nearer, saying over gently, "Whoa, Lizzie! dear little birdies!" until she came very near and then she put out one hand towards them. That was enough for the fledglings.

Refreshed by their rest on the shafts, they flapped their tiny wings and fluttered up to the anxious mother bird on the branches above them, wholly unconscious that they had been in any peril whatsoever.

"And Black-and-white would have killed them, every one, if she had had the chance," thought Tattine; "oh, if I only knew how to teach her a lesson!"

CHAPTER V. THE KIRKS AT HOME

Barney the donkey was harnessed, and Tattine sat in the little donkey-cart waiting, and as she waited she was saying aloud, "What, Grandma Luty? Yes, Grandma Luty. No, Grandma Luty. What did you say, Grandma Luty?" and this she said in the most polite little tone imaginable. Meantime Rudolph and Mabel, discovering that Tattine did not see them, came stealing along under cover of the apple-trees.

"Whatever is Tattine doing, talking to herself like that?" whispered Mabel, and then they came near enough to hear what she was saying.

"She's out of her head," said Rudolph, when they had listened some moments, and then Tattine turned round and saw them.

"No, I'm not out of my head at all," she laughed; "I was just practicing a little while I waited for you."

"Practicing your GRANDMOTHER," which as you have observed was a pet expression with Rudolph, whenever he wished to intimate that he considered your remarks to be simply absurd.

"Yes, that's exactly it," Tattine answered good-naturedly. "I am practicing my Grandmother. Grandma Luty, that's Mamma's mother, has come to make us a visit, and Mamma has discovered that I'm not very polite to old people. Children used to be taught, you know, to say, 'Yes'm,' and 'Yes, sir,' but now that is not considered nice at all, and you must always say the name of the person you are speaking to, especially if they are older people, to whom you ought to be respectful," and Tattine sounded quite like a little grandmother herself as she talked.

"Yes, we know, and it's an awful bother," sighed Rudolph. "We're fairly nagged about it, Mabel and I, but Mother says she's going to keep it up until we always do it. Perhaps we would get on faster if we practised by ourselves as you do, but really, Tattine, it did sound as though you were out of your head, to hear you saying all those sentences over to yourself."

While the children were having this little talk about politeness, Rudolph and Mabel had climbed into the wagon, and the donkey, acting upon a suggestion from Tattine's whip, had started down the roadway. The trio were off for Patrick's, for this was to be the day of the Kirks'

"At Home," and, dressed in kis Sunday-best, Patrick that very minute was waiting at his door to receive them.

Full two miles lay ahead of the children, and though Barney fortunately seemed to be in the mood for doing his best, Patrick would still have a full half-hour to wait. At last the donkey-cart drew up at the Kirks'

door and two happy old people welcomed three happy little people into their comfortable little home. It would take another book, the size of this one, to tell you all the doings of that August day. First they went into the house and laid their wraps on the white coverlid of the great high feather-bed in the little spare room, and then Mrs. Kirk sat them down to three little blue bowls of bread-and-milk, remarking, "shure you must be after being hungry from your long drive," and the children ate it with far more relish than home bread-and-milk was ever eaten.

"Now I'm doubting," said Patrick, standing with his back to the cooking-stove and with a corn-cob pipe in his mouth, "if it's the style to have bread-and-milk at 'At Homes' in the city."

"Patrick," answered Tattine seriously, "we do not want this to be a city 'At Home.' I don't care for them at all. Everybody stays for just a little while, and everybody talks at once, and as loudly as they can, and at some of them they only have tea and a little cake or something like that to eat," and Tattine glanced at the kitchen-table over by the window with a smile and a shake of the head, as though very much better pleased with what she saw there. A pair of chickens lay ready for broiling on a blue china platter. Several ears of corn were husked ready for the pot they were to be boiled in. A plate of cold potatoes looked as though waiting for the frying-pan, and from the depths of a gla.s.s fruit-dish a beautiful pile of Fall-pippins towered up to a huge red apple at the top.

"Indade, thin, but we'll do our best," said Mrs. Kirk, "to make it as different from what you be calling a city 'At Home' as possible, and now suppose you let Patrick take you over our bit of a farm, and see what you foind to interest you, and I'm going wid yer, while ye have a look at my geese, for there's not the loike of my geese at any of the big gentlemin's farms within tin miles of us."

And so, nothing loth, the little party filed out of the house, and after all hands had a.s.sisted in unharnessing Barney and tying him into his stall, with a manger-full of sweet, crisp hay for his dinner, they followed Mrs. Kirk's lead to the little pond at the foot of the apple-orchard. And then what did they see! but a truly beautiful great flock of white geese. Some were sailing gracefully around the pond, some were pluming their snowy b.r.e.a.s.t.s on the sh.o.r.e beside it, and three, the finest of them all, and each with a bow of ribbon tied round its long neck, were confined within a little picket-fence apart from the others.

"Why, what beauties, Mrs. Kirk!" exclaimed Tattine, the minute she spied them, "and what are the ribbons for? Do they mean they have taken a prize at some show or other? And why do they each have a different color?"

"They mane," said Mrs. Kirk proudly, standing with her hands upon her hips and her face fairly beaming, "they mane as how they're to be presinted to you three children. The red is for Master Rudolph, the white is for Miss Mabel, and the blue is for you, Miss Tattine."

"Oh, Mrs. Kirk!" the three children exclaimed, with delight, and Mabel added politely, "But do you really think you can spare them, Mrs. Kirk?"

"Why, of course she can! can't you, Mrs. Kirk?" cut in Rudolph warmly, for the idea of relinquis.h.i.+ng such a splendid gift was not for a moment to be thought of. "I wonder how we can get them home," he added, by way of settling the matter.

"Indade, thin, and I have this foine crate ready to go right in the back of your cart," and there, to be sure, was a fine sort of cage with a board top and bottom and laths at the sides, while other laths were lying ready to be nailed into place after the geese should have been stowed away within it. The children were simply wild over this addition to their separate little sets of live-stock, and although the whole day was delightful, there was all the while an almost impatient looking forward to the supreme moment when they should start for home with those beautiful geese in their keeping. And at last it came.

"I wonder if my goose will be a little lonely," said Tattine, as they all stood about, watching Patrick nail on the laths.

"Faith and it will thin," said Mrs. Kirk. "It never came to my moind that they wouldn't all three be together. Here's little Grey-wing to keep Blue-ribbon company," and Mrs. Kirk seized one of the smaller geese that happened to be near her, and squeezed it into the cage through the small opening that was left.

"Well, if you can spare it, I think that is better, Mrs. Kirk, because everything has a companion over at our place. We have two cats, two pairs of puppies, two little bay horses, and two greys, and two everything, but as there's only one of me I am friends with them all--"

"Bless your heart, but I'm glad you thought to mintion it," and then Patrick and Mrs. Kirk gave each little extended hand a hearty shake, and the children--declaring over and over that "they had a lovely time and were so much obliged for the geese"--climbed into the cart and set off for home.

"I'd go the short cut by the ford," advised Patrick; "it looks like we might get a shower by sunset."

"Yes, I think we would better," said Rudolph, glancing toward the clouds in the west Rudolph prided himself on his ability to forecast the weather, and was generally able to tell correctly when a shower was pretty sure to come and when it was likely to "go round."

So Barney was coaxed into a good gait, which he was ready as a rule to take towards home, and the little ford by way of a farm-lane, and which saved a good mile on the road home, was soon reached. Barney knew the place well and, always enjoying it, picked his way carefully to the middle of the ford, and then he took it into his stubborn little head to stand stock still, and to plant his four hoofs firmly in the nice soft mud at the bottom of the stream.

"Go on," urged Tattine; "Go on," urged Mabel, and Rudolph applied his sapling whip with might and main, but all to no effect. Meantime some geese from a neighboring farm had come sailing out into the ford, to have a look at their friends in the crate, and the geese in the crate, wild to be out on the water with their comrades, craned their long necks far out between the laths, and set up a tremendous squawking. It was rather a comical situation, and the children laughed till their sides ached, but after a while it ceased to be so funny. The clouds were rolling up blacker, and there was an occasional flash of lightning far off in the distance, but Barney stood still obdurate and unmoved, simply revelling in the sensation of the cool water, running down-stream against his four little donkey-legs. At last Rudolph was at his wits'

end, for what did Tattine and Mabel do but commence to cry. Great drops of rain were falling now, and they COULD NOT BEAR THE THOUGHT of being mid-way in that stream with the storm breaking right above their heads, and when girls, little or big, young or old, cannot bear the thought of things they cry. It does not always help matters; it frequently makes them more difficult, but then again sometimes it does help a little, and this appeared to be one of those things, for when the girls' crying put Rudolph to his wits' end, he realized that there was just one thing left to try, and that was to jump overboard and try and pull Barney to land, since Barney would not pull him. So into the water he jumped, keeping the reins in his hand, and then, getting a little ahead of Barney, he began to walk and pull. Now fortunately, there is nothing like the force of example, which simply means that when Barney saw Rudolph walking and pulling he began to walk and pull too.