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Frank Merriwell's Son; or, A Chip Off the Old Block, a fiction by Burt L. Standish |
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Chapter 3. On The Veranda |
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_ CHAPTER III. ON THE VERANDA It was a beautiful sunny morning some three weeks later. Inza and Elsie sat on the broad veranda of Merry Home, while Lizette, the nurse, trundled the baby up and down beneath the shady trees on the broad lawn. Over at the east of Farnham Hall a group of laborers, among whom were fully twenty of the Farnham boys, were completing the foundations for Merriwell's new manual-training school building. A glimpse of the distant athletic ground showed a number of boys hard at work on the track and the baseball field. There was a look of serene happiness on Inza's face, while Elsie was positively rosy. After chatting a while, they sat some moments in silence, busy with their own thoughts. Finally their eyes met, and Inza laughed. "No one would ever dream now that you were at one time determined to be an invalid, Elsie," she said. "Determined to be?" exclaimed Elsie. "Why do you use that word, Inza?" "Why, you remember that I laughed at you--you remember I told you a hundred times that you would be well and strong again." "Yes, you were most encouraging, Inza, and I'll never forget how faithfully you stuck by me. Still, there were reasons why I feared for my future health." "Silly reasons." "Oh, no, Inza; not silly. You can't call them that. You know my mother was never strong, and she finally became a chronic invalid." "But your father----" "Oh, he was a rugged man." "You know it's said that girls generally take after their fathers and boys after their mothers." "But in my case it was different. A thousand times my father told me how much I looked like my mother. I had a picture of her, and I could see I was becoming more and more like her every day." "You're a person who worries, Elsie. When things are not going just right you give yourself over to fears for the future. I have absolute courage and faith." "Oh, I know my failing," admitted the golden-haired bride. "You and Frank were made for each other. You're both courageous and trustful. Frank has done marvels for Bart in the way of giving him unwavering confidence and courage. You know Bart used to be quick-tempered, resentful, and inclined to brood. He has learned, through Frank's example, to overcome such failings, and he's now almost as confident and optimistic as Frank himself. I think Bart will help me in that respect." "We're both extremely fortunate," said Inza gravely. "If other girls could have such good fortune, this world would be a happy place. You are going to stay with us this summer?" "Oh, I don't know. Bart thinks it his duty to return to the mines. If he goes, I shall go with him." "But Frank says Bart will not be needed there for three months, at least. You're not going to settle down to live in Arizona or Mexico, Elsie?" "Oh, I don't expect we'll live there all our lives," was the smiling answer. "But while duty keeps my husband out there, I shall remain with him." "That's fine--that's splendid! But Frank says there is no reason why Bart should spend more than five or six months of the year at the mines. Frank wants you to have a home in the East--here in Bloomfield." "Oh, I hope we may!" cried Elsie. "I'm sure Bart would like that." "Then you'd better make your plans for it. There's a fine building lot down the road, and Frank owns it. You know you were married so suddenly we had no opportunity to make you a wedding present. If you can induce Bart to build, Frank and I have decided to give you that lot as a wedding present." Elsie sprang up, her eyes dancing, flung her arms round Inza's neck, and kissed her repeatedly. "It's too much--too much!" she cried. For a few moments their words and laughter were mingled in such confusion that the record would produce a senseless jumble. Finally Elsie sat down, appearing utterly overcome. "Oh, what a glorious world!" she murmured. "What a grand, inexpressible thing real true friendship is! Still, such a gift is----" "Now don't feel that this is a case of charity," laughed Inza. "I want you here--we want you here. Bart doesn't need charity. His interest in the San Pablo makes him independent. He could buy a building lot anywhere he chose in Bloomfield; but it happens Frank owns the best lot near us, and our selfish desire to have you close by is one motive for the present." "Selfish, Inza? There never was a selfish bone in you or in your husband. I understand and appreciate the spirit of the gift, and I'm sure Bart will. Oh, won't it be the finest thing to plan our new house, to watch while it is being built, to furnish it, and finally to move into it and start with a real home of our own!" Again they were silent. Amid the trees birds were calling, mate to mate. A proud redbreast danced across the lawn, pausing to capture a fated insect, then flew up into one of the trees to feed its mate upon a nest. Elsie was watching the maid, now bending over the carriage and crooning softly to the baby. "Did you ever notice how queerly Lizette does her hair, Inza?" "Yes, I've noticed," was the answer. "There are several queer things about her. Her skin is strangely dark, almost as if stained, and I know she makes up her eyebrows. Sometimes I've noted that her French, when she speaks in her own language, is anything but correct, yet she seems a girl of some education. Her intonation is occasionally a trifle different from that of most French people I've met." "But she's very faithful." "Yes, she is very faithful and very kind with the baby. But I believe Lizette has a secret." "A secret?" "Yes." "Why do you think that?" "Occasionally she looks at me in the most peculiar manner. I've caught her looking that way several times. Once I discovered her glaring at Frank's back in a way that was almost savage." "How singular! What do you suppose it means?" "Oh, I don't know, unless it may be that she envies Frank and me. It may be that some time she was disappointed by an unfaithful lover." "Poor girl!" breathed Elsie. "If such is the case, I think I realize how she feels. But look, Inza, here come the boys now. They're coming over from the Hall." The "boys" were Frank and Bart, who were approaching side by side, two splendid specimens of American manhood. _ |
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