"From Jack and Jill's--the House that Jack Built,you know.""You mean--Mr.John Gurnsey's house?"A deeper color had come into Miss Holbrook's cheeks.
"Yes.Over there at the top of the little hill across the brook,you know.You can't see THEIR house from here,but from over there we can see the towers finely,and the little window--Oh,Lady of the Roses,"he broke off excitedly,at the new thought that had come to him,"if we,now,were in that little window,we COULD see their house.Let's go up.Can't we?"Explicit as this was,Miss Holbrook evidently did not hear,or at least did not understand,this request.She settled back on the divan,indeed,almost determinedly.Her cheeks were very red now.
"And do you know--this Mr.Jack?"she asked lightly.
"Yes,and Jill,too.Don't you?I like them,too.DO you know them?"Again Miss Holbrook ignored the question put to her."And did you walk into their house,unannounced and uninvited,like this?"she queried.
"No.He asked me.You see he wanted to get off some of the dirt and blood before other folks saw me.""The dirt and--and--why,David,what do you mean?What was it--an accident?"David frowned and reflected a moment.
"No.I did it on purpose.I HAD to,you see,"he finally elucidated."But there were six of them,and I got the worst of it.""David!"Miss Holbrook's voice was horrified."You don't mean--a fight!""Yes'm.I wanted the cat--and I got it,but I wouldn't have if Mr.Jack hadn't come to help me.""Oh!So Mr.Jack--fought,too?"
"Well,he pulled the others off,and of course that helped me,"explained David truthfully."And then he took me home--he and Jill.""Jill!Was she in it?"
"No,only her cat.They had tied a bag over its head and a tin can to its tail,and of course I couldn't let them do that.They were hurting her.And now,Lady of the Roses,won't you please play?"For a moment Miss Holbrook did not speak.She was gazing at David with an odd look in her eyes.At last she drew a long sigh.
"David,you are the--the LIMIT!"she breathed,as she rose and seated herself at the harp.
David was manifestly delighted with her playing,and begged for more when she had finished;but Miss Holbrook shook her head.She seemed to have grown suddenly restless,and she moved about the room calling David's attention to something new each moment.
Then,very abruptly,she suggested that they go upstairs.From room to room she hurried the boy,scarcely listening to his ardent comments,or answering his still more ardent questions.
Not until they reached the highest tower room,indeed,did she sink wearily into a chair,and seem for a moment at rest.
David looked about him in surprise.Even his untrained eye could see that he had entered a different world.There were no sumptuous rugs,no silken hangings;no mirrors,no snowflake curtains.There were books,to be sure,but besides those there were only a plain low table,a work-basket,and three or four wooden-seated though comfortable chairs.With increasing wonder he looked into Miss Holbrook's eyes.
"Is it here that you stay--all day?"he asked diffidently.
Miss Holbrook's face turned a vivid scarlet.
"Why,David,what a question!Of course not!Why should you think I did?""Nothing;only I've been wondering all the time I've been here how you could--with all those beautiful things around you downstairs--say what you did.""Say what?--when?"
"That other day in the garden--about ALL your hours being cloudy ones.So I didn't know to-day but what you LIVED up here,same as Mrs.Holly doesn't use her best rooms;and that was why your hours were all cloudy ones."With a sudden movement Miss Holbrook rose to her feet.
"Nonsense,David!You shouldn't always remember everything that people say to you.Come,you haven't seen one of the views from the windows yet.We are in the larger tower,you know.You can see Hinsdale village on this side,and there's a fine view of the mountains over there.Oh yes,and from the other side there's your friend's house--Mr.Jack's.By the way,how is Mr.Jack these days?"Miss Holbrook stooped as she asked the question and picked up a bit of thread from the rug.
David ran at once to the window that looked toward the House that Jack Built.From the tower the little house appeared to be smaller than ever.It was in the shadow,too,and looked strangely alone and forlorn.Unconsciously,as he gazed at it,David compared it with the magnificence he had just seen.His voice choked as he answered.
"He isn't well,Lady of the Roses,and he's unhappy.He's awfully unhappy."Miss Holbrook's slender figure came up with a jerk.
"What do you mean,boy?How do you know he's unhappy?Has he said so?""No;but Mrs.Holly told me about him.He's sick;and he'd just found his work to do out in the world when he had to stop and come home.But--oh,quick,there he is!See?"Instead of coming nearer Miss Holbrook fell back to the center of the room;but her eyes were still turned toward the little house.
"Yes,I see,"she murmured.The next instant she had snatched a handkerchief from David's outstretched hand."No--no--I wouldn't wave,"she remonstrated hurriedly."Come--come downstairs with me.""But I thought--I was sure he was looking this way,"asserted David,turning reluctantly from the window."And if he HAD seen me wave to him,he'd have been so glad;now,wouldn't he?"There was no answer.The Lady of the Roses did not apparently hear.She had gone on down the stairway.
