The Convert. Elizabeth Robins

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СКАЧАТЬ shrill squeals of some pleasurable emotion not defined. This, too, in spite of the fact that Dampney had picked up the pillow and was advancing upon Miss Sara with an expression calculated to shake the stoutest heart. It obviously shook the visitor's. 'Listen, Sara! If you don't be quiet and let nurse cover you up, she won't want me to stay.' Miss Levering actually got up off the little boy's bed, and stood as though ready to carry the obnoxious suggestion into instant effect.

      Sara darted under the bedclothes like a rabbit into its burrow. The rigid woman, without words, restored the tousled pillow to the head of the bed, extracted Miss Sara from her hiding-place with one hand, smoothed out the rebellious legs with the other, covered the child firmly over, and tucked the bedclothes in.

      'What's the use of all that? Mother always does it over again.'

      'You know very well she's been and done it once already.'

      'She's coming again if father doesn't need her.'

      'There's a whole big dinner-party needing her, so you needn't think she can come twice to say good-night to a Jumping-Jack like you.'

      'You ought to say a Jumping-Jill,' amended Sara.

      During this interchange Master Cecil was complaining to the visitor—

      'I can't see you with that thing all round your head.'

      'Yes, take it off!' his sister agreed; and when the lady had unwound her lace scarf—'Now the coat! And you have to sit on my bed this time. It's my turn.'

      As the visitor divested herself of the long ermine-lined garment, 'Oh, you are pretty to-night!' observed the gallant young gentleman over the way, seeming not to have heard that these effects don't appeal to little boys.

      Sara silently craned her neck. Even the high and mighty Mrs. Dampney, in the surreptitious way of the superior servant, without seeming to look, was covertly taking in the vision that the cloak had hitherto obscured. The little girl followed with critical eyes the movement of the tall figure, the graceful fall of the clinging black lace gown embroidered in yellow irises, the easy bend of the small waist in its jewelled belt of yellow. The growing approval in the little face culminated in an ecstatic 'Oh-h-h! let me see what's on your neck! That's new, isn't it?'

      'No—very old.'

      'I didn't know there were yellow diamonds,' said Sara.

      'There are; but these are sapphires.'

      'And the little stones round?'

      'Yes, they're diamonds.'

      'The hanging-down thing is such a pretty shape!'

      'Yes, the fleur-de-lys is a pretty shape. It's the flower of France, you know—just as the thistle is the——'

      'There, now!' A penetrating whisper came from the other bed. 'She's gone.'

      'It's you who've been keeping her here, you know.' Miss Levering bent her neat, dark head over the little girl, and the gleaming jewels swung forward.

      'Yes,' said Cecil, in a tone of grandfatherly disgust; 'yelling like a wild Indian.'

      'Well, you cried,' said his sister—'just because a feather pillow hit you.' Her eye never once left the glittering gaud.

      'You see, Cecil is younger than you,' Miss Levering reminded her.

      'Yes,' said Sara, with conscious superiority—'a whole year and eight months. But even when I was young I had sense.'

      Miss Levering laughed. 'You're a horrid little Pharisee—and as wild as a young colt.' Contrary to received canons, the visitor seemed to find something reassuring in the latter reflection, for she kissed the small, self-righteous face.

      'You just ought to have seen Sara this morning!' Cecil chuckled, with a generous admiration in family achievements. 'We waked up early, and Sara said, "Let's go mountaineering." So we did. All over the rocks and presserpittses.' He waved his hand comprehensively at the rugged scenery of the night-nursery.

      'Of course we had to pile up the chairs and things,' his sister explained.

      'And the coal scuttle.'

      'And we made snow mountains out of the pillows. When the chairs wobbled, the coal and the pillows kept falling about; it was quite a real avalanche,' Sara said conversationally.

      'I should think so,' agreed the guest.

      'Yes; and it was glorious when Sara excaped to the top of the wardrobe.'

      'To the w——' Miss Levering gasped.

      'Yes. We were having the most perfectly fascinating time——' Sara took up the tale.

      But Cecil suddenly sat bolt upright, his little face quite pink with excitement at recollection of these Alpine exploits.

      'Yes, Sara had come down off the wardrobe—she'd been sitting on the carved piece—she says that's the Schreckhorn!—but she'd come down off it, and we was just jumping about all those mountains like two shamrocks——'

      'Like what?'

      '—when she came in.'

      'Yes,' agreed Sara. 'Just when we're happiest she always comes interfiddling.'

      'Oh, Sara mine, I rather like you!' said Miss Levering, laying her laughing face against the tousled hair.

      'Now! Now!' cried Cecil, suddenly beating with his two fists on the counterpane as though he'd seen as much valuable time wasted as he felt it incumbent upon him to tolerate. 'Go on where you left off.'

      'No, it's my visit this time.' Sara held fast to her friend. 'It's for me to say what we're going to talk about.'

      'It's got to be alligators!' said Cecil, waving his arms.

      'It shan't be alligators! I want to know more about Doris.'

      'Doris!' Cecil's tone implied that the human intelligence could no lower sink.

      'Yes. I expect you like her better than you do us.'

      'Don't you think I ought to like my niece best?'

      'No'—from Cecil.

      'You said we belonged to you, too,' observed Miss Sara.

      'Of course.'

      'And all aunts,' she pursued, 'don't like their nieces so dreadfully.'

      'Don't they?' inquired Miss Levering, with an elaborate air of innocence.

      'You didn't say how-do-you-do to me,' said Cecil, with the air of one who makes a useful discovery.

      'What?'

      'Why, she went to you the minute I threw the pillow.'

      'That was just to save me from being СКАЧАТЬ