Frederica and her Guardians Part 28

"I am not afraid, Dixen. Yes, I am a little afraid. But I have prayed to G.o.d, and so has Selina, and He will take care of me. Wait at the corner; and if I don't come out in half an hour; you must tell some one, and come for me."

But she did not keep him half that time. She went slowly up the steps and in at the door. She did not go forward into the wide hall as she had done when they came with Father Jerome, but turned at once, and went up a narrow stair, down which the sound of voices came. Still following the sound, she came to a room where a score or two of little boys were amusing themselves. They did not see her at first, and she stood watching them for a little while. She did not see her brothers, but she called softly several times,--

"Charlie! Hubert! are you here?" And as she spoke, a little hand touched hers, and she turned to meet the wondering eyes of her youngest brother. Without a word, she drew him outside of the room, and along the pa.s.sage toward the stairs.

"Where is Charlie?" uttered she with difficulty. "No, we must not look for him. I have one safe, and I can come again for Charlie."

It does not sound possible that this should have happened, but it is perfectly true. The stairs were pa.s.sed, and the hall, and they ran across the yard, and into the street, and no eye had seen them. At least, no hand had stopped them. It would not have been easy to stop them, Frederica thought; for her courage rose to the occasion the moment she felt the touch of her little brother's hand. It was a happy thing that no one tried. Dixen rubbed his eyes as they pa.s.sed him without a word, but he lost not a moment in following them. After they had crossed a good many streets, they paused, and he overtook them.

"Where shall we go? Not home. To Mrs Brandon's? Yes. And you must go home and tell Selina. Go quickly, Dixen, before you are missed."

In her haste she had not noticed the way she was taking. The streets were not familiar to her and as she hurried on, hardly daring to speak to her brother, or even to look at him, she became bewildered and anxious, and her courage failed a little.

"I am afraid Caroline will think I have been foolish. And they will be sure to look in her house, as they will not find him at home. Oh! if I only had a safe place in which to hide him for a few days!"

She thought of Mr St. Cyr's house. But then she was not sure that their old friend had remained true to them. And besides, he was ill, and Father Jerome was often there, and the house was no place for Hubert.

"A safe place," repeated she, and then there came into her mind the thought of Mistress Campbell and her garret, where there never entered a creature, but Eppie herself. Without a moment's hesitation, she turned her steps in the direction of Mrs Glencairn's house.

"Hubert dear," said she coaxingly, "you will be very good, won't you, and stay with Mistress Campbell till I know what I ought to do. No one will think of looking for you there."

"But are we not going home? Why should we not go home?" demanded Hubert.

"It is quite impossible to-night," said Fred firmly. "Father Jerome would have you back at school again this very night. You cannot go home."

"Father Jerome? What has he to do with it? I don't know what you mean, Fred."

"Was it not he who took you there, when he should have taken you back to your former school again?"

No, Hubert thought not. He did not remember very well about it. But Father Jerome had nothing to do with their going to school. But Frederica had her doubts about it all the same, and hurried on.

"But we cannot go home, because mama is not there, nor papa. But Madame is there, and you may be sure she would not let you even stay one night, but send you back at once, and they would be sure to punish you for coming without leave."

"It is you they ought to punish, Fred, I think," said Hubert.

"Ah! wouldn't they. If they could! And tell me about about Charlie.

Where was he?"

"But Hubert knew very little about his brother. They very seldom saw each other. They were not in the same cla.s.s."

"And are they good to you? Are you glad to come away?"

It was not so, bad as it might be. Still, Hubert was very glad to get away. Some of the boys were not nice, and they had queer ways there.

But of his life there he had no complaint to make. In the midst of his talk they reached Mrs Glencairn's house. They went round to the door at the wing at which the pupils entered. They stumbled over a scrubbing-brush and a pail of water at the open door, but they saw no one; and went up till they reached the attic unseen.

"Where are we going?" said Hubert, holding fast his sister's hand in the dimness, of the little pa.s.sage. "Into the spider's parlour, I think."

"By no means," said Frederica, as she knocked. "We are going to see Mistress Campbell; who used to be so good to Tessie and me when we were at school. And you must not look surprised at anything you may see.

And, Hubert dear, you will be a good boy, won't you?"

"Oh, yes, of course. Why should I not be good?" said Hubert impatiently.

"Eh, Missy! is this you?" exclaimed the old woman, holding up her hands in astonishment. "And this is your wee brother?--a bonny laddie, but--"

Mistress Campbell could not finish her sentence; for, excited and tired beyond her strength, Frederica burst into tears.

"My bairn! what is it?" said Eppie. "To think of my folly in speiring that I after all that has come to you and yours, since we saw you here.

But, my dear, you have no cause to grieve--for your mama--"

Frederica put up her hand to stop her.

"No--I am glad for mama--but--I am frightened--and tired."

"Sit down and rest you, my bairn," said her old friend tenderly. "Go away yonder to your window, and I'll make acquaintance with your brother here--a fine lad he is."

Hubert, though a little startled at the sight of Frederica's tears, had never taken his eyes from the small brown wrinkled face of the old woman, and he met her look with an undisguised curiosity and wonder that amused her.

"Your wee brother, did I say? No, this must be the elder of the two-- and a fine well-grown lad he is," said Mistress Campbell admiringly.

"No, Charlie is bigger than I am," said Hubert gravely.

"Dear me! I ay thought Miss Frederica's brothers were but wee boys; but you have had time to grow, it's true, since I have been in the way of hearing about you. You're near hand as big as Miss Frederica herself."

This was not saying very much, but it won the good-will of Hubert, whether she meant it to do so or not. And some interesting confidences followed on his part, in the midst of which his sister found him, when she recovered herself.

"And you'll bide to your tea with me," said Mistress Campbell. "I'm sore failed since you were here, Miss Frederica, but I am not altogether helpless yet. So you'll bide still a wee while."

But Frederica was not sure that they ought to stay.

"First, I must tell you why we came," said she.

She told the story hurriedly, and it was doubtful whether Mrs Campbell followed her closely through it all. She understood, however, that Miss Tessie had been "spirited away," as she called it, and that from some dread mysterious fate Frederica had courageously rescued her little brother, and that in some way she was relied on for help.

"But I thought the days for such things were long past, and that they only whiles happen in books," said he wondering. "But dear! dear! What is the like o' me to ken about what is going on in the world? And one has but to look out, first at one window and then another, at the great buildings that are rising up on every hand, to be sure that the 'scarlet woman' has this for a favoured abiding-place. And I doubt she's no'

much changed since the old days, though her hands are a wee tied. And you rescued your brother, did you? 'Deed you're a brave la.s.sie."

But Hubert had no idea of being looked on as rescued.

"If I had known you cared about it, Fred, I could have run away any time--I could have done it quite easily."

"I'm no' just so sure o' that," said Mistress Campbell gravely. "If these long-coated gentry had a motive for keeping you, they wouldna have let you go, or they would have had you back again."

"Yes, and no one must know where he is," said Frederica anxiously. "I could think of no other safe place to bring him to. And, Hubert dear, if Mistress Campbell will have you, you will stay here quietly till I can see Caroline and Mr Brandon, or till papa comes home."

"There has nothing happened to your papa, has there? They're bold, these folk, or they're sure o' their ground," said Mistress Campbell gravely.

"Dixen said that about papa. But we have had no more news. We had no letter last mail."

"Oh well! No news is good news, they say; and it's utter nonsense to think that anything can really happen to harm you in a Christian country like this."