Elsie on the Hudson Part 28

"Yes, but we are going to visit the other parts of the house first,"

said Grace; "or we'll have to do it alone, which wouldn't be half so much fun as going along with papa and the rest."

They finished their inspection quickly, then set to work at their unpacking and arranging, laughing and chatting merrily as they worked.

Violet, in her rooms, with Elsie and Ned to help or hinder, was busied in much the same manner. The captain was in the library examining letters and periodicals which had acc.u.mulated during his absence, when he was interrupted by the announcement that Mr. Dinsmore had called to see him.

"Mr. Dinsmore?" he said inquiringly.

"Yes, sah; Mr. Chester. Here am his kyard."

"Ah, yes; just show him in here."

The two greeted each other cordially, and Chester was invited to take a seat, which he did.

"I am making you an early call, captain," he said. "I knew you were expected to-day, and heard, perhaps an hour ago, that you had actually arrived. I have, as you requested, kept a lookout for that escaped convict who threatened your daughter at the time of his trial. He has not yet been caught, but as I cannot learn that he has been seen anywhere in this neighborhood, I hope he has given up the idea of wreaking vengeance upon her."

"I hope so, indeed," returned her father; "but I shall be very careful never to let her go from home unattended."

"I am glad to hear you say that, sir," said Chester; "and I shall be very happy if I may sometimes be permitted to act as her escort. You may not always find it entirely convenient to undertake the duty yourself."

"Thank you for your offer; I may sometimes be glad to avail myself of it," was the reply.

They chatted a while longer, then Chester rose as if to take his leave.

"Don't go yet," said the captain. "My wife and daughters will join us presently, and feel glad to see you. Stay and take tea with us, and give us all the news about the family at The Oaks."

"Thank you," returned Chester, sitting down again. "We are all quite well, Syd busy with her preparations for going South to join Maud and d.i.c.k."

"Ah! she leaves soon?"

"I think before very long; but the exact time is not set yet."

"You will feel lonely--robbed of both your sisters."

"Yes, sir," Chester returned with a slight smile. "I should greatly prize a sweet young wife, who would much more than fill their places."

"Ah, yes; but this is one of the cases where it is best to make haste slowly, my young friend," the captain returned in a pleasant tone.

"I am feeling a little uneasy lest Percy Landreth or someone else may have got ahead of me," Chester said inquiringly, and with an anxious look.

"No; her father wouldn't allow any such attempt, and it is quite sure that his daughter is still heart-whole. And as I have told you before, if either suit is to prosper, I should rather it should be yours--as in that case she would not be taken far away from me."

"That is some consolation, and she is well worth waiting for," said Chester in a tone of resignation.

"So her father thinks," said the captain.

Just then there was a sound of wheels on the drive.

"The Roselands carriage," said Chester, glancing from the window; and both he and the captain rose and hurried out.

They found the whole Roselands family there--Calhoun and his wife and children; Dr. Arthur, his Marian, and their little Ronald.

Violet and her children, with Lucilla and Grace, had hastened down to receive them, and warm greetings were exchanged all around.

Chester took particular pains to get possession of a seat near Lucilla, and had many questions to ask in regard to the manner in which she had spent the long weeks of her absence from home--for long, he averred, they had seemed to him.

"Well now, they didn't to me," laughed Lucilla; "on the contrary, I thought them very short; time fairly flew."

"And was so filled with interesting occurrences that you hardly thought of your absent friends?"

"Oh, yes; I did think of them, occasionally even of you, Chester," she said in sportive tone. "Really, I do wish you could have seen and enjoyed all that we did. Were you moping at home all the time?"

"Not all the time; much of it found me very busy; and for a fortnight I was away on a boating excursion with some friends."

"I am glad of that, for I am sure you needed some rest. Sometimes I think you are too hard a worker. Don't forget the old saying that 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.'"

But there the talk was interrupted by another arrival--the carriage from The Oaks, bringing all that family, including Chester's sister Sydney. They were on their way to Ion to welcome Grandma Elsie home, so made but a short call.

The Roselands people were urged to stay to tea, but declined, and presently took their leave. But they had scarcely gone, when Violet's brothers Harold and Herbert came, and they stayed to tea. They were bright and genial as usual; Chester, too, was gay and lively; and so altogether they const.i.tuted a blithe and merry party.

The evening brought the families from Ashlands, Pinegrove, and The Laurels, and the next day those from Fairview, Beechwood, and Riverside. Rosie expressed herself as charmed with her new home, and insisted upon having them all there to tea with her mother and old Mr.

and Mrs. Dinsmore. The other relatives she had already entertained, she said; and she was planning to have all at once at no very distant day.

"Surely we can wait for that, Rosie," said the captain, "and content ourselves with a call upon you and a sight of your pretty home, leaving the greater visit to the time you speak of."

"No, Brother Levis, I won't be satisfied with that," she said. "I want you all to take tea with us to-morrow evening."

"Are you not willing that we should, father?" asked Lucilla.

"Yes, if you wish to do so," he replied; and as all expressed themselves desirous to accept the invitation, they did so; and they were so well and hospitably entertained that everyone was delighted.

They returned home rather early in the evening, on account of the little ones. Violet took them upstairs at once, and Grace went to her room, so that Lucilla and her father were left alone together, as so often happened early in the evening. She followed him into the library, asking, "Haven't you some letters to be answered, father? and shall I not write them for you on the typewriter?"

"I fear you are too tired, daughter, and had better be getting ready for bed," he answered, giving her a searching but affectionate look.

"Oh, no, sir," she said; "I am neither tired nor sleepy; and if I can be of any use to my dear, kind father, nothing would please me better."

He smiled at that, lifted the cover from the machine, and they worked busily together for the next half-hour or more. When they had finished, "Thank you, daughter," he said; "you are such a help and comfort to me that I hardly know what I should ever do without you."

"Oh, you are so kind to say that, you dear father," she returned, her eyes s.h.i.+ning with joy and filial love. "I often say to myself, 'How could I ever live without my dear father?' and then I ask G.o.d to let you live as long as I do. And I hope he will."

"He will do what is best for us, daughter," returned the captain in moved tones; "and if we must part in this world, we may hope to meet in that better land where death and partings are unknown."

"Yes, papa, the thought of that must be the greatest comfort when death robs us of our dear ones."

He took her hand, led her to a sofa, and, seating her by his side, put his arm about her, drawing her close to him. "I have something to say to you, daughter," he said in low, tender tones.

She gave him a rather startled, inquiring look, asking, "About what, papa?"