A Realized Hope
: JewelOne afternoon Mr. Evringham did not return from the city at the usual
time. Jewel, watching for him, was surprised after a while to see him
walking up from the gate.
"Why, what's happened?" she asked. "Zeke went for you."
"Yes; but he found he had to leave Dick to be shod."
"Then are you going to saddle Essex Maid yourself? Oh, can I see you do
it, grandpa?" She hopped with ant
"I don't know that I'll ride just now. It's an excellent day for
walking. It seems rather strange to me, Jewel, that you've never shown
me the Ravine of Happiness. You talk a good deal about it."
"Oh, would you like to come?" cried the child, flushing. "Good! I have
the pond all fixed in Anna Belle's garden, and the ferns droop over it
just like a fairy story."
"Have you put up a sign for the fairies to keep out?"
"No--o," returned Jewel, drawing in her chin and smiling.
"Oh well, you may be sure they're at it, then, every moonlight night.
They haven't a particle of respect, you know, for anything. If I were in
Anna Belle's place, I should put up a sign, 'Private Grounds.'"
"Oh, she's so unselfish she wouldn't. If they only won't break the
flowers she won't care," returned the child, entering into the fancy
with zest.
Mr. Evringham took the doll from her arms, and carrying it up the steps
deposited it in the piazza chair.
"Isn't she going?" asked Jewel soberly.
"No, not this time. She doesn't care, she's been there so much. Just see
how cheerful and comfortable she looks!"
There was, indeed, a smile of almost cloying sweetness on Anna Belle's
countenance, and she seemed to be seeing pleasing visions.
"I never saw such a good child!" said Jewel with an admiring sigh; then
she put her hand in her grandfather's and they strolled out into the
park and up the shady road. Just before reaching the bend around which
lay the gorge, Mr. Evringham surprised his companion by breaking in upon
her lively chatter with a tune which he whistled loudly.
It was such an unusual ebullition that Jewel looked up at him. "Why,
grandpa, I never heard you whistle before," she said.
"You didn't? That's because you never before saw me out on a lark. I
tell you, I'm a gay one when I get started," and forthwith there burst
again from his lips a gay refrain, that sounded shrilly up the leafy
path. They rounded the bend in the road, and the broker looked down into
the eyes that were bent upon him in admiration.
"You whistle almost as well as Mr. Bonnell," said the child.
"Give me time and I dare say I shall beat him out," was the swaggering
response. "Ah, here's your ravine, is it?"
"Yes, that's"--began Jewel, and went no further.
A couple of rods from where she suddenly came to a standstill was an
object which for a moment rooted her to the spot. A small horse, black
as jet, with a white star in his forehead and a flowing, wavy mane and
tail, stood by the roadside. His coat, gleaming like satin, set off the
pure white leather of his trappings. On his back was fastened a side
saddle, and he was tethered to the rail of the light fence.
Mr. Evringham appeared not to see him. He was looking down the rocks and
grass of the steep incline.
"Is there any sort of a path?" he asked, "or do you descend it as you
would a cellar door? I think you might have told me, so I could change
these light trousers."
"Grandpa!" exclaimed Jewel in a hushed tone, pointing before her. "See
that horse--just like the coal black steed the princess rides in a fairy
story."
"Why, that's so. He is a beauty. Where do you suppose the princess is?"
"She's probably gone down the ravine," returned the child, her feet
drawn forward as if by a magnet. "Let's not go down yet."
The broker allowed himself to be led close to the pony, who turned his
full bright eyes upon the pair curiously.
"Do you think I might touch him, grandpa?" asked the child, still in the
hushed voice.
"If he's a fairy horse he might vanish," returned Mr. Evringham. "Let's
see how he stands it." So saying he gave the shining flank some sturdy
love pats. "Oh, he's all right. He's good substantial flesh and blood."
"But the lady," said Jewel, looking about, the pupils of her eyes
dilated with excitement.
"Oh, I don't think a very big lady has been riding in that saddle. You
can do as you'd be done by, I fancy."
Upon this Jewel stroked the pony over and over lovingly, and he nosed
about her in a friendly way.
"Grandpa, see him, see him! And oh grandpa, see his beautiful star,
white as a snowflake!"
"Well, upon my word, if this isn't lucky," remarked Mr. Evringham. "Here
is some sugar in my pocket, now." He passed some lumps to the child.
"Would it be right?" she asked, glancing down the ravine. "Had I better
wait till the girl comes up?"
"She won't mind, I'll wager," returned Mr. Evringham; so the child,
thus encouraged, fed the coal black steed, who, for all his poetical
appearance, had evidently a strongly developed sweet tooth.
"Hello, what's this!" exclaimed the broker, stepping to the fence and
taking up something black and folded. When he shook it out, it proved to
be a child's riding skirt.
"She's left it there," said Jewel eagerly. "We ought not to touch it.
It's very hard on clothes going down the ravine, and she's left it
there. Don't you think, grandpa, you ought to put it back?" for to her
great surprise her punctilious and particular relative was shaking the
fine skirt about recklessly and examining it.
"Here's a name," he said, bringing his prize to Jewel and showing her an
oblong bit of white cloth, much as tailors use inside dresses. "What do
you make of it?"
The child, disturbed by such daring, and dreading to see the owner of
these splendid possessions scramble up the bank, looked reluctantly.
The name was a long one, but so familiar that she recognized it at once.
"Evringham."
She lifted her eyes to her grandfather. "It's the same as ours."
"There isn't another Evringham in Bel-Air," returned the broker. "The
fairies dropped this for you, I guess, Jewel. It certainly won't fit me.
Let's try it on."
He slipped it over the head of the dazed child and hooked it around her
waist.
"'It fitted her exactly,'" murmured Jewel. "They always say so in fairy
stories.
"Look here," said her grandfather. He put his hand into the stirrup and
drew out a folded bit of paper. He handed it to the child, who began to
wonder if she was dreaming.
DEAR JEWEL (she read),--I believe you expected Divine Love to send you a
horse. I have come to belong to you, and my name is STAR.
It was astonishing what a large, round penmanship the pony possessed.
There was no possibility of mistaking a word.
Jewel read the note over twice as she stood there, the long, scant
skirt, making her look tall. Mr. Evringham stood watching her. His part
in the comedy was played. He waited.
She looked up at him with eyes that seemed trying to comprehend a fact
too large.
"Grandpa, have you given me this horse?" she asked solemnly, and he
could see her hands beginning to tremble.
"Oh, am I to get some credit for this?" returned the broker, smiling
and twisting his mustache. "I didn't expect that."
He knew her lack of motion would not last long, and was bracing himself
for the attack when, to his surprise, she pulled up the impeding skirt
and made a rush, not for him, but for the pony. Hiding her face on the
creature's satin shoulder, she flung her arm around his throat, and
seizing his rippling mane, sobbed as if her heart would break.
Mr. Evringham had not spent weeks in selecting and testing a horse for
his granddaughter without choosing one whose nervous system would be
proof against sudden assaults of affection; but this onslaught was so
energetic that the pony tossed his head and backed to the end of his
tether.
His new mistress stumbled after him, her face still hidden. She was
trying heroically to stifle the sobs that were shaking her from head to
foot.
"Jewel, Jewel, child!" ejaculated her grandfather, much dismayed. "Come,
come, what's this?"
He drew her with a strong hand, and she deserted the pony, much to the
latter's relief, and clasping Mr. Evringham as high up as she could
reach, began bedewing his vest buttons with her tears.
"Oh, gra--grandpa, I c--can't have him!" she sobbed. "There isn't any
roo--room for him in our--our fla--fla--flat!"
"Well, did you expect to keep him in the flat?" inquired Mr. Evringham,
stooping tenderly, his own eyes shining suspiciously, as he put his arms
around the little shaking form.
"N--no; but we--we haven't any bar--barn."
The broker smiled above the voluminous, quivering bows.
"Well, hasn't some good livery man in your neighborhood a stable?"
"Ye--yes." Jewel made greater efforts to stop crying. "But I--I talked
with mo--mother once about cou--could I ha--have a horse sometime before
I grew up, and she said she might buy the horse, but it would cost so
much--much money every week to board it, it would be error."
Mr. Evringham patted the heaving shoulder.
"Ah, but you don't know yet all about your horse. In some respects I've
never seen a pony like him."
"I--I never have," returned the child.
"Oh, but you'll be surprised at this. This pony has a bank account."
Jewel slowly grew quiet.
"Nobody has to pay for his board and clothes. He is very independent.
He would have it that way."
"Grandpa!" came in muffled tones from the broker's vest.
"So don't you think you'd better cheer up and look at him once more, and
tell him you won't cry on his shoulder very often?"
In a minute Jewel looked up, revealing her swollen eyes. "I'm ashamed,"
she said softly, "but he was--so--be--autiful--I forgot to remember."
"Well, I guess you did forget to remember," returned Mr. Evringham,
shaking his head and leading the child to her pony's side.
He lifted her into the saddle and arranged her skirt, brushing away the
dust.
"Grandpa!" she exclaimed softly, with a long, quivering sigh, "I'm so
happy!"
"Have you ever ridden, Jewel?"
"Oh, yes, a thousand times," she answered quickly; "but not on a real
horse," she added as an afterthought.
"H'm. That might make a difference." Mr. Evringham loosed the pony
and put the white bridle in the child's hands; then he led the pretty
creature down the woodland road.
"I'm so happy," repeated Jewel. "What will mother and father say!"
"You'll be a regular circus rider by the time they come home."
As the broker spoke these words Zeke appeared around the bend in the
road, riding Essex Maid. His face was alight with interest in the sight
that met him.
Jewel called to him radiantly. "Oh, Zeke, what do you think?"
"I think it's great," he responded. "Hello, little kid," he said, as he
came nearer and perceived the signs in the child's face. "Pony do any
harm, Mr. Evringham?" he asked with respectful concern.
"No; Jewel cried a little, but it was only because I told her she could
not sleep nights in Star's manger."
The child gave one look of astonishment at the speaker's grave
countenance, and then shouted with a laugh as spontaneous as though no
tear had ever fallen from her shining eyes.
"See Essex Maid look at my pony, grandpa!" she said joyously. "She looks
so proud and stuck up."
"Look away, my lady," said the broker. "You'll see a great deal more of
this young spring before you see less."
Zeke dismounted.
"Now then," Mr. Evringham looked up at the child. "I'm going to let go
your bridle."
"I want you to," she answered gayly.
Mr. Evringham mounted his horse. "We'll take a sedate walk through the
woods," he said. "Zeke, you might lead her a little way."
"No, no, please," begged the child. "I know how to ride. I do."
"Well, let her go then," smiled the broker, and Essex Maid trotted
slowly, noting with haughty bright eyes the little black companion,
who might have stepped out of a picture book, but whose easy canter was
tossing Jewel at every step.
"I haven't--any--whip!" The words were bounced out of the child's lips,
and Mr. Evringham's laugh resounded along the avenue.
"I believe she'd use it," he said to Zeke, who was running along beside
the black pony.
"I guess she would, sir," grinned the young fellow responsively.
It was not many days before Jewel had learned to stay in the saddle. She
had an efficient teacher who worked with her con amore, and the sight
of the erect, gray-haired man on his famous mare, always accompanied
by the rosy little girl on a black pony, came to be a familiar sight in
Bel-Air, and one which people always turned to follow with their eyes.
Eloise had her talk with Mr. Evringham one evening when Jewel was
excluded from the library, and she emerged from the interview with a
more contented heart than she had known for a year.
She endeavored to convey the situation to her mother in detail, but when
that lady had learned that there were no happy surprises, she declined
to listen.
"Tastes differ, Eloise," she said. "I am one who believes that where
ignorance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise." Mrs. Evringham had regained a
quite light-hearted appearance in the interest of expending a portion of
her windfall on her own and Eloise's summer wardrobe.
"Well, you shan't be bothered then," returned her daughter. "You have me
to take care of our money matters."
"I prefer to let father do it," returned Mrs. Evringham decidedly. "He
is a changed being of late, and we are as well situated as we could hope
to be. I don't feel quite satisfied with the lining of the brougham, but
some day I mean to speak of it."
Eloise threw up both hands, but she laughed. She and her grandfather had
an excellent understanding, and she knew that the mills of the gods were
about to grind.
One evening the broker called his daughter-in-law into the library.
"I hope it isn't on business," she remarked flippantly as she entered.
"I tell you right at the start, father, I can't understand it." Her eyes
wandered about the room curiously. It was strange to her. She took up a
woman's picture from the desk. "Who is this?" she asked.
"How do you like the face?" he returned.
The dark eyes and sweet mouth looked back at her. She frowned slightly.
She did not like the situation in which she had found the photograph. It
was far too intimate for a stranger, and made her a little nervous.
"If he is going to marry again, then good-by indeed!" she thought.
"I think it is rather sentimental," she returned, with an air of
engaging candor, "don't you? Just my first impression, you know; but
it's a face I shouldn't trust. Who is it?"
"It is Jewel's mother," returned the broker quietly, "my daughter Julia.
Jewel brought it down last night, also a lot of little letters her
mother had put in the pockets of the child's dresses when she packed
them."
"Ah!" exclaimed Mrs. Evringham triumphantly. "Didn't I say she was
sentimental? About that sort of thing my perceptions are always so
keen."
"H'm. I read the letters, and I judged from them that one can trust her.
Will you be seated?" He placed a chair. "I should like to ask your plans
for the summer."
Mrs. Evringham looked up quickly, startled. "Oh, I haven't any. Have
you?"
"Yes. I always seek some cool spot. You have an invitation to View
Point, I understand. You could scarcely do better."
"I have reasons, father," impressively, "reasons for declining that."
"Then where are you going?"
"I would just as lief stay here and take care of your house as not,"
declared the lady magnanimously.
"Ha! Without any servants?"
"Why, what do you mean?"
"They are going away for a vacation. I am intending to have the house
wired, and Mrs. Forbes and Zeke will hold sway in the barn. She doesn't
wish to leave him."
Mrs. Evringham was silenced and dismayed. She felt herself being firmly
and inexorably pushed out of this well-lined nest.
Her eyes fell before the impenetrable ones regarding her.
"How did Jewel ever win him?" she thought. The picturesque pony, with
his arched neck and expensive trappings, had outraged her feelings for
days.
"About the View Point plan," continued Mr. Evringham deliberately.
"I think there are influences waiting for you there that will be of
benefit. There is a new philosophy percolating in these days through our
worldly rubbish which you and I would be the better for grasping. Your
chances are better than mine, for you are young still. Your daughter is
expanding like a flower already, in the first rays of her understanding
of it. This young man whom you fancy you can avoid is a help to her. Mr.
Reeves was talking to me about him last night. He says that so far as
his business is concerned, young Bonnell is proving the square peg in
the square hole. I don't know what Eloise's sentiments are toward him,
but I do know that she shall be independent of any one's financial help
but mine."
Mrs. Evringham lifted her eyes hopefully.
"I shall eke out the little income which is left to you with sufficient
for you to live--not as you have done--but comfortably."
The eager light faded from his listener's eyes.
"Eloise and I have arranged that," he continued, "and she is satisfied.
Take my advice, Madge. Go to View Point."
"I suppose Eloise doesn't need horses so long as Jewel has them," said
Mrs. Evringham rising.
Her host followed her example. "She thinks not," he returned concisely;
then he opened the library door, and his daughter-in-law swept from his
presence with all the dignity she could muster.
More
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The housekeeper warned Jewel not to run out of doors that morning as she wished to accompany her to the shoe store. "I'm not going to take you, Anna Belle," Jewel said to her doll. "I don't like to ask the giantess if I may, and of course, it won'... A Sledge-ride
Formentera was at once recognized by Servadac and the count as the name of one of the smallest of the Balearic Islands. It was more than probable that the unknown writer had thence sent out the mysterious documents, and from the message just come ... A Spaceship Named Mcguire
The basic trouble with McGuire was that, though "he" was a robot spaceship, nevertheless "he" had a definite weakness that a man might understand.... No. Nobody ever deliberately named a spaceship that. The s... A Spaceship Named Mcguire
The basic trouble with McGuire was that, though "he" was a robot spaceship, nevertheless "he" had a definite weakness that a man might understand.... No. Nobody ever deliberately named a spaceship that. The s... A Spy's Startling Story
WE remained fully two hours in the noisome Treasure-chamber of the Sanoms, the early history of which was lost in the mist of legendary lore, then after careful and minute examination of the rifled chests, worked our way to the base of the shaft, ... A Story Of The Days To Come
I--THE CURE FOR LOVE The excellent Mr. Morris was an Englishman, and he lived in the days of Queen Victoria the Good. He was a prosperous and very sensible man; he read the Times and went to church, and as he grew towards middle age an e... A Story Of The Stone Age
I--UGH-LOMI AND UYA This story is of a time beyond the memory of man, before the beginning of history, a time when one might have walked dryshod from France (as we call it now) to England, and when a broad and sluggish Thames flowed thro... A Strange Awakening
My first sensation was one of sudden and intense cold--a chill that shot through my body and engulfed it like a charge of electricity. For a moment I was conscious of nothing else. Then I knew that I was sinking in cold water, and that I was fight... A Strange Experiment
Soon after my arrival in London, I called on Brande, at the address he had given me in Brook Street. He received me with the pleasant affability which a man of the world easily assumes, and his apology for being unable to pass the evening with me ... A Strange Promise
BY the light of the flambeaux the sleek, black, oily-looking natives managed their clumsy craft, which, dipping suddenly now and then, shipped great seas, compelling us to hang on for life. The sails creaked and groaned as they bent to the wind, s... A Strange World
I WAS UNCONSCIOUS LITTLE MORE THAN AN INSTANT, for as I lunged forward from the crossbeam to which I had been clinging, and fell with a crash to the floor of the cabin, the shock brought me to myself. My first concern was with Perry. I was horr... A Struggle Against The Impossible
For a long time Barbicane and his companions looked silently and sadly upon that world which they had only seen from a distance, as Moses saw the land of Canaan, and which they were leaving without a possibility of ever returning to it. The proje... A Submarine Forest
We had at last arrived on the borders of this forest, doubtless one of the finest of Captain Nemo's immense domains. He looked upon it as his own, and considered he had the same right over it that the first men had in the first days of the world. ... A Sunrise
A MONTH after this, on the evening of the 20th of August, Simon Ford and Madge took leave, with all manner of good wishes, of four tourists, who were setting forth from the cottage. James Starr, Harry, and Jack Ryan were about to lead Nell's ste... A Suspicious Fishing-smack
A raw north wind swept over the island of Walcheren and the mouth of the West Schelde, ruffling into tiny waves the water of the broad stream, which in the twilight looked like a shoreless sea. Only those acquainted with the ground knew that the f... A Task For Loyalty
Long and loud was the applause that rose above the Field of Jetan at Manator, as The Keeper of the Towers summoned the two Princesses and the victorious Chief to the center of the field and presented to the latter the fruits of his prowess, and then... A Telegraphic Dispatch
The great works undertaken by the Gun Club had now virtually come to an end; and two months still remained before the day for the discharge of the shot to the moon. To the general impatience these two months appeared as long as years! Hitherto t... A Telepathic Telegram
I left the room and hurried outside without any positive plan for my movements. My brain was in such a whirl I could form no connected train of thought. These men, whose conversation was a jargon fitting only for lunatics, had proved that they cou... A Third Machine
I confess that at first this letter dumfounded me. "Ohs!" and "Ahs!" slipped from my open mouth. The old servant stared at me, not knowing what to think. "Oh, sir! is it bad news?" I answered for I kept few secrets from this faithful soul... A Transmutation Of Muddles
An experienced horse-trader, bargain-haggler, and general swapper has a very special talent for turning two headaches into one aspirin pill.... The rugged little stellar scout ship flared down to the surface of Kappa Orionis VII about a mile ... A Vanished Continent
The next morning, the 19th of February, I saw the Canadian enter my room. I expected this visit. He looked very disappointed. "Well, sir?" said he. "Well, Ned, fortune was against us yesterday." "Yes; that Captain must needs stop exactly at... A Vigil In The Night
Although Lennard had always recognised the possibility of such a catastrophe as that which John Castellan threatened, and had even taken such precautions as he could to prevent it, still this direct menace, coming straight from the man himself, br... A Visit To The Panchronicon
At precisely eight o'clock that evening, a knock was again heard at the door of the Wise home, and Droop was admitted by the younger sister. She did not speak, and her face was invisible in the dark hall. The visitor turned to the right and entere...