Princess Polly\'s Playmates

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"It's as if they knew we were here, and just wanted to scare us,"
whispered Rose.

Frightened, hungry, weary, and nervously staring into that shadowy
doorway, they waited--waited hoping that someone might come before
anything happened to make their terror greater.

At the great house on the avenue, there was wild excitement. At the end
of the sitting, Aunt Lois had gone to the little room, expecting to find
two tired children who would be eager to go home. The sitting had been
longer than usual, and she would reward them for their patience by
stopping at the confectioner's on the way home and purchasing some fine
candy for them.

"I am to come to you again on Thursday," she said. "Very well, I will
try to be prompt. The children must be tired of waiting. If you are
willing, I'll bid you 'Good afternoon' here, and go out by the side door
with them."

Without waiting for him to reply, she had hastened to the smaller room,
only to find that it was empty.

She was not at all frightened.

Her first thought was that the long afternoon had been tedious, and they
had gone home.

"I shall find them on the piazza waiting for me," she said. "Rose would
have asked if she might go, but I had told her not to interrupt while he
was painting."

Gentle Aunt Lois had no thought of being angry. Instead, she was sorry
that the hours had dragged so heavily for Rose and Polly.

She purchased two fine boxes of candy, smiling as she walked along with
her parcel, that was to be a surprise.

She walked slowly because she was very tired. She wondered that Rose did
not run to greet her.

"Where are the children?" she asked, as the maid opened the door.

"Sure, they've not been home since they went out with you," said the
maid.

Aunt Lois sank on the great hall chair, and the frightened maid thought
that she was ill.

"Are ye faint, mum?" she asked, "an' will I be gettin' ye a glass o'
water?"

"Call the coachman," said Aunt Lois.

"Sure, I don't want to be bold with advice, but I'd not like ter see ye
goin' out fer a ride feelin' like ye do now. I'd think--"

"GET the coachman!" said Aunt Lois, and the girl, now thoroughly
frightened, did as she was bid.

Nora ran at top speed to the stable, crying, as she reached the door:

"Oh, John, John! Miss Lois is come home, an' she's talkin' o' goin'
right out ter ride, an' her sick, an' she wants ye ter come to her in
the hall now, an' me not knowin' what ter do, at all!"

"Hi! Now calm down like a good lass, and tell a man what you need. I
can't make sense out of what you said. Now, then?"

"Oh, come in, come in!" cried Nora, and turning, she ran toward the
house, the coachman following, muttering something about girls never
having their wits about them.

But when he reached the house, and heard that Rose and charming little
Princess Polly were missing, his kindly face looked very serious, and he
promised to get help and make a thorough search of the town.

He called the gardener and a boy who had been helping him, and then came
the question as to where to look first.

In the street some boys were playing ball, among them, Lester Jenks.

"It might be that they were around the neighborhood, but haven't yet
come home," ventured the gardener.

"That's not likely," said the coachman, "but we might ask a few
questions of those boys.

"Hi, there, boys! Have you seen Rose, or her friend Polly around here
this afternoon?'

"They went down town with Rose's aunt to Mr. Kirtland's studio," shouted
Lester. "Here, Jack, pitch decently, will you?"

"Look here, young feller! This ain't no joke. Quit playin' ball long
'nough ter hear what I say. They're lost, those two little girls are.
They haven't come home!"

"I saw 'em down there, when I was there, and I left them there, in the
little yard when I came home."

"When was that?" said John.

"Oh, 'bout six, I guess," said Lester. "I don't know exactly."

The coachman hurried to the house.

"If ye please, 'm, the Jenks boy says he saw them out in the little
garden that joins the studio at about six. It's about half past six, or
so, now, 'm, an' ye've just reached home. I can't make out how ye missed
them, but I think I'll go over ter Mr. Kirtland's house, and if he isn't
out ter some reception, like he often is, I'll ask the loan of his key,
and with the gardener, I'll hunt there first. I believe they're there."

Aunt Lois, now really wild with anxiety, could only say: "Go, at once.
Go somewhere, do something, to find them. See! It is getting dusky.
Wherever they are, they are frightened, I know, and surely I am almost
sick with fear for their safety."

Mr. Kirtland was at home, and while he could not believe the children
were in his studio, he felt that no place should be neglected in the
effort to find them, and he insisted upon joining the searching party.

Meanwhile, in the studio the dusky shadows had grown deeper. The two
terrified little girls had begun to wonder if anyone would ever come for
them.

They still clung to each other, and for some time not a sound had broken
the stillness. Naught save the ticking of the clock, and that did not
startle them, but, rather, by its monotonous tune, seemed like a friend
that sought to cheer them.

Not even a team passed, and no footstep upon the sidewalk told of a
pedestrian who walked by the building.

"If you heard someone walk past this place would you wish he'd stop, or
would you wish he wouldn't?" whispered Rose.

"I'd hate to hear him go right by without stopping, because I'd know he
wasn't coming to take us home, but if he stopped I'd be scared!"
whispered Polly.

"Hark!"

Rose grasped Polly's arm.

"It's in THERE! It's in THERE!" they shrieked, as if with one voice,
then in a frightened little heap they slipped to the floor and tried to
draw the rug over them to hide and shield them from they knew not what!

Suddenly both rooms were flooded with light, and a familiar voice spoke.

"They're not here, you see; I felt sure that they could not be in the
studio. We must search elsewhere, and lose no time about it."

It was Arthur Kirtland's voice, and scrambling to their feet, they ran
to greet him, all fear left behind.

"Oh, Mr. Kirtland, we ARE here," cried Rose.

"And we've been here just almost FOREVER," Polly added.

"And, oh, here's John!" cried Rose. "Now we can go home!"

"I think ye can, bein's yer Aunt Lois thinks ye're both lost, and no
knowin' whether we'll find ye or not. Ye better be tellin' Mr. Kirtland
how it is ye are here after he'd thought the place empty, and he'd
locked it up, an' gone home."

Quickly they told the story of their trip to the ice cream parlor, and
of their late return, finding entrance by the little green door.

Of the lonely waiting, of the noises that had frightened them.

"Oh, Mr. Kirtland! That armor is standing just as it did when it was
daylight here, but truly we heard his sword rattle against his shield,
and once--" Rose's voice faltered.

"Once," said Polly, taking up the story, "we thought he walked across
the floor!"

"I have heard the same thing," was the quick reply, "and I am not at all
surprised that you were terrified."

Rose and Polly were grateful that he did not laugh or even look amused.

"But he COULDN'T walk," said Rose; "it's only an iron suit."

"Oh, he surely doesn't move," Arthur Kirtland said, and he smiled kindly
at the children, "but sometimes I think a tiny mouse mistakes it for a
huge cage and runs around in it, and as to his walking, the cars on the
railroad that runs back of the studio jar the building and shake the
suit of armor. I think that may be what you heard."

"Well, it sounds harmless enough when ye know what made the noise," John
said, with a laugh, "and now I guess ye'll be some willin' ter go home
ter Aunt Lois. The carriage is at the door."

"Oh, yes, yes!" they cried.

"A studio is a lovely place in the day-time," said Polly, "and the
pictures are beautiful then, but when it begins to be dark it's
DIFFERENT."

"Different! I guess that's so," said the coachman; "and now, come! We'll
drive home at a lively pace."

"Oh, doesn't it seem good to be safe!" cried Polly when, snugly seated
in the carriage, they saw that they were on their own familiar avenue.

"Yes, and we always like to be GOING somewhere, and now we're glad that
we're almost home," said Rose.

"I guess anybody would be glad to get away from that studio, if they'd
ever been in there alone when it gets darker and darker every minute,"
said Polly.

"Do you b'lieve Mr. Kirtland would dare to be there at night?"
questioned Rose.

"Why, he came there after us!" cried Polly, in surprise.

"Well, he had our coachman with him," Rose replied; "he didn't come
alone!"

"That's so," agreed Polly; "he couldn't be afraid with the coachman for
company!"

Aunt Lois was just beginning to think that she could not bear waiting to
hear from the searching party, when she heard little feet upon the
piazza, the music of merry voices, and when the maid opened the door,
Rose ran in, followed by Polly.

"Oh, please may I stay, 'm, to hear what happened to the two dears?"
pleaded Nora.

Aunt Lois smiled assent, and then Rose, with Polly's help, told the
story of the afternoon, of their return to the studio, of the terror
that seemed to fill shadowy corners when twilight came.

"And the noises! Oh, Aunt Lois, you don't know what strange sounds there
were in that studio! I love the pictures, and it's beautiful there in
the daylight, but I can't forget the fright we had, and I won't want to
go there again for, oh, a LONG time!" said Rose.

"We've told you how dark and lonely it was," added Polly, "but you'd
have to HEAR that armor clank to know how it sounded."

"I'm so deaf that some of the lesser noises would not have reached me,
and really that is the only mercy I know of in being deaf," Aunt Lois
said. "You've both been so completely frightened there, that I, too,
think you would better not go there for some time. Indeed, I wish
something very bright and cheery might occur that would turn your
thoughts from the studio."

"Ye'll not let the children go there, but if I might make so bold as to
advise ye, 'm, I'd ask ye ter let the portrait go an' stay away from
there. The place is jist haunted, and the demons might get ye, even in
daylight!" Nora had shrieked that Aunt Lois might hear.

"Nora! Nora! Not a word of demons or haunting! You well know that I do
not approve of any such foolish notions," Aunt Lois replied.

Nora went back to the kitchen and there expressed her belief to the
cook, that studio place was "just full of old spooks!"

CHAPTER VII

AN UNEXPECTED GUEST

ON the day after the one at the studio, Rose and Polly sat on the
terrace, their laps filled with flowers. Each was weaving a wreath for
the other, and each was intent upon making a very beautiful one.

"Mine will be syringas and pink geraniums," said Rose, "and, Polly
Sherwood, would you ever think shadows could be so horrid as they were
last night?"

"No, I wouldn't," said Polly, "specially when we're out here in the
sunlight. Now, just see what I'm doing. I'm making this wreath of pink
rosebuds and mignonette. You'll look fine in it when it's done."

"So will you, Princess Polly, when you wear the wreath I'm making. You
always look like a TRULY princess, but you'll look more like one than
ever when you have this on. I put syringas in it because they're so
sweet," said Rose.

"That's why I used mignonette," said Polly. "Look! Mine is half done."

"Oh, it's lovely!" cried Rose.

They surely were having a fine time. The gay colored boxes filled with
bonbons that Aunt Lois had given them lay on the grass between them, and
they were almost empty boxes, because busy little hands had paused so
often to dip into them.

"Six left," said Rose; "three for you and three for me. Let's keep the
boxes for paper dolls, they're such pretty ones."

"We will," agreed Polly, "and now, Rose, try on the wreath."

"Oh, it looks fine on your brown curls," she cried, as she placed the
pretty wreath on Rose's head.

"And here's yours," said Rose, as she laid it lightly upon Polly's
flaxen curls.

"Oh, my, it's just the right kind of a wreath for you!" she cried.
"Let's go in and show them to Aunt Lois."

They sprang from the grass and turned toward the house just in time to
meet Nora, the maid, as she was coming toward them.

"Yer Aunt Lois wants yer ter come right in, Miss Rose, an' bring Miss
Polly with yer," she said.

"That's funny," said Rose, with a merry laugh in which Polly joined,
"for we were just going to run in and let her see our wreaths."

"Well, now, ye look like fairies with the bright flowers on yer hair,
an' do ye go right in, because there's someone has come that's wantin'
ter see yer. Keep the flowers on yer heads an' go right in," said Nora.

"Who is it, Nora?" Rose asked, her eyes bright with excitement.

"Well, I do'no whether she'd want yer ter be surprised or let me tell
yer, but--it's yer Uncle John!"

The smiles fled from their faces.

"Uncle John!" gasped Rose. "Oh, Nora, is he very old? Does he carry a
cane? Is he deaf? Is he going to take me away from here?"

She had clasped her hands nervously, and stood waiting for Nora to
answer her questions.

"Now, Miss Rose," said Nora, her eyes twinkling, "I think ye better go
right in an' see him."

"But should you think he's over NINETY?" persisted Rose.

"Well I shouldn't say he was OVER that," Nora replied dryly.

"Come Polly," said Rose. "There's nothing else to do but to go in."

With lagging steps they walked along the path and turned toward the
house. Then for the first time they saw the automobile in which the
guest had arrived.

"Why, who drove him here?" said Rose. "Look! There's no man waiting in
it, and if he's NINETY he wouldn't drive alone, would he?"

Polly shook her head.

"Perhaps he isn't QUITE that," she said.

It was the only bit of encouragement that she could offer.

"I think I'll wait here on the piazza," she said when they had reached
the door.

"Why, don't you want to meet him?" Rose asked.

"Oh, yes," Polly answered, "but if he's--if he, oh, I don't quite know
how I mean it. I just thought perhaps you'd like to know him a little,
and then I'll come in, and _I'_LL know him, too."

Nora, just behind them, reached forward and touched Rose's shoulder.

"Run right in," she said, "the gentleman's waiting to see you."

For the moment she forgot Polly, and hastening across the great hall,
lest Uncle John might guess that she did not wish to meet him, little
Rose Atherton entered the long, cool parlor, and found herself face to
face with a tall, handsome man, who rose to greet her. His waving hair
was touched with gray, his brown eyes were merry.

"So this is little Rose," he said, "will you come and let me look at
you? Why, who made the dainty wreath for you?"

He offered not one, but both his hands to her, and with a happy cry, she
laid her little hands in his.

"Will you come for a few days and make me a visit?" he asked. "You will
have a pleasant time, and we shall get acquainted. I think I can make
you like me, little Rose."

"Oh, I do, I DO like you NOW!" she cried, and her little heart was
filled with delight.

Here was a cheery, handsome young uncle, in place of the unattractive
old uncle that she had supposed awaited her.

"Don't remove your wreath," he said, as she raised her hands toward the
flowers, "because it is really very becoming. Were you playing alone
when I arrived?"

"Oh, no," said Rose, "I was so glad when I saw you, because--" she
hesitated.

"Because?" he said, his eyes twinkling.

"Because you aren't OLD. I thought my Uncle John MUST be 'most ninety,"
she said softly, so that Aunt Lois might not hear.

"And Polly, Princess Polly, was with me. She's my little guest. May I
bring her now? She's so beautiful you'll just love to look at her."

"Oh, then, bring Miss Polly at once," he said.

Rose ran to the hall.

"Oh, come, come!" she said, in a whisper so loud that it reached Uncle
John's ear and caused him to laugh softly.

"Come!" she repeated. "He's as handsome as a prince," and clasping
Polly's hand, she returned to the parlor.

He greeted Polly as cordially as he had Rose, and Polly at once decided
that Rose's Uncle John was the handsomest man, next to her dear papa,
that she had ever seen.

"I have been asking Lois to loan Rose to me for a few days, and she has
consented. Rose seems to think it might be enjoyable. I would not think,
however, of taking her from you while you are her guest, Miss Polly, but
if you will come with her, I shall be doubly happy. I have a lovely
place at the shore. Will you come?"

"Oh, I'd love to," said Polly, "there's nothing finer than the shore."

"MAY we?" Rose asked, running to Aunt Lois.

"Why, certainly. I think the change will be pleasant for you. Nora must
pack whatever you will need in your suit cases. Uncle John never did
like to wait for anything, and he wishes to take you back with him."

Uncle John took a package from his pocket.

"I stopped on my way and purchased two veils. Men don't know much about
such things, and when the clerk showed me a box full of them, I didn't
know which to choose. I looked at a pink and a blue one, and because I'd
no idea which you'd like best, I brought them both to you, Rose. You can
loan one to Polly. You'll need your hats tied on securely on your ride
to the shore."

"Oh, see the lovely, LOVELY VEILS!" cried Rose, when, having opened the
parcel, the soft blue and pink gauze lay before them.

"No one could have found prettier ones," said Rose. "On, thank you for
bringing them to me. I like to have gifts, but, oh, I LOVE to know folks
care to give them to me. That's BEST of all."

"Dear little girl, you are right about that," Uncle John said heartily,
"and now run and get your wraps, and we'll spin away to the shore."

"Oh, Polly, Princess Polly, Princess Polly! ISN'T he dear?" whispered
Rose, when together they climbed the stairway to help Nora to choose
what they would need for the visit.

"Oh, Nora!" cried Rose, "why didn't you tell me he wasn't old at all?"

"Sure, now," replied Nora, "if I'd said what I thought, I'd have said he
looked like a noble lord, so he does."

"And I'm to go, too, Nora!" cried Polly, "and wasn't he kind to seem
just as glad to have me as he was to have Rose. Of course, he wasn't
TRULY, but he was SOME glad, and I wish he was my Uncle John, too."

"Well, now," said Nora, "do ye just PLAY he's yer own uncle, and go
along with Rose, and himself ter have a fine visit."

Nora found it something of a task to pack the two suit cases, because
the two little girls were so excited that they could hardly keep still
long enough to choose what they wished to carry.

"Put my pink dress in, Nora, and Polly, you take your pink one, too,"
said Rose, "and, oh, come over here to the window and see how lovely the
automobile looks from here!"

Away they ran to the window.

"It's a beauty," said Polly, "and I'd rather ride in a red one than--"

"Miss Polly, will I be puttin' yer pink frock in?" questioned Nora,
"sure, he's waitin', an' we ought ter hurry the packin'!"

"Well we ought to hurry!" agreed Polly, "and, Rose, didn't his eyes just
twinkle when he asked us to come!"

"And to think I EVER believed he was old!" said Rose.

"Hold still till I tie yer hats on with a veil. Now, which will ye wear,
Miss Rose?"

"Pink, because it's ROSE color," cried Rose.

"No, no!" said Polly; "the blue is prettier!"

At last they were ready. They ran down the stairway, Nora following with
the suit cases, and laughing because they hopped on every other stair.

"All ready? Why, what charming little ladies I have to take home! Those
veils are really all right, and hugely becoming. Would you like to start
now, or wait an hour or two?" As he asked the question his brown eyes
were dancing.

"Oh, now, NOW!" they cried.

He laughed, and stooping, lifted little Rose so that he could look
straight into her eyes, eyes as brown as his own.

"Little Rose Atherton," he said softly, "you are like your father, and
your mother, too, but most of all you are every inch an Atherton."

He kissed her gently and set her down, but the look in his eyes and the
kiss had won her little heart, and she clung to his hand.

Aunt Rose and Aunt Lois had been all that was kind, but Uncle John! Ah,
he would LOVE her!

She had always wanted someone to love her.

"Do be careful, John," said Aunt Lois "I can't seem to think those
automobiles are as safe as my carriage is."

"I'll take the best of care of my precious little passengers," he said,
"and Lois!" speaking loudly, that she might hear, "I remember a ride
that I took with you years ago. The horse shied at a piece of old paper
in the road, at a girl with a red parasol, and a half dozen other
equally harmless things. I'll promise you the automobile won't act like
that! If it does, I'll sell it and get another!"

At last they were off. They had waved their hands to Aunt Lois, and now,
side by side, they were spinning over the road, Uncle John feeling very
proud of his lovely little guests.

They laughed and chattered all the way, and Uncle John thought he never
had heard merrier music.

It was when they had left the country town behind and caught the first
glimpse of the sea that their cries of delight charmed him.

"See the sails! The sails way out there against the sky!" cried Rose.

"And the big gulls!" cried Polly. "See them fly way, way up high, and
then down, down again to the waves."

It had been a long, sunny road, with seldom a turn, and only
occasionally a glimpse of the sea, but suddenly the road curved, winding
around behind a high bluff, and there, blue and glistening in the
sunlight, lay the sea, the big blue sea!

"We're here at the shore!" cried Rose, "and oh, I've never been there
before. I didn't know it was so lovely!"

"You're a real little sailor's lass, or rather, a sea-captain's lass, if
you love the sea so well!" said Uncle John, well pleased with her
excitement and delight.

He stopped that they might watch the incoming tide for a few moments,
then off over the road they sped.

"Here we are!" he cried, when after a half hour's more ride, they turned
in at the driveway of a fine shore villa.

"Welcome to 'The Cliffs'!" said Uncle John.

He lifted them down, and taking each by the hand, turned toward the
broad piazza.

"Ah, Mrs. Wilton, you were looking for us!" he said, greeting the
housekeeper, a stout, cheery looking woman, who took the suit cases and
smiled, as if caring for two small girls were the one thing that
delighted her.

"Yes, I was watching for you, and when you drove up to the house I said
to myself:

"'Well, he's TWICE lucky, for he wanted Rose for a visitor, and he's
found another child to bring with her!'"

She greeted the children cordially as they were introduced.

"Her name could be nothing but Atherton," she said, "why, sir, she looks
like you enough to be your own child."

"She is my BORROWED little girl," Uncle John replied, "she's MINE while
here."

CHAPTER VIII

AT THE SHORE

Three days had passed, and Uncle John Atherton had filled them full of
pleasure.

They had bathed in the surf, they had taken long tramps along the beach
when the tide was out, they had sailed in his yacht, "The Dolphin," they
had been up at the great hotel, where a fine hop was enjoyed.

Was there any pleasure that he had not given them?

One morning he looked into the two bright little faces, as they sat at
breakfast, and wondered what he would best choose for the day's chief
event.

"I believe I'll ask you two little friends to choose your amusement for
to-day. What shall we do first?" he asked.

"'The Dolphin!' A sail on 'The Dolphin!'" they cried without a moment's
hesitation.

"Then get on those sailor frocks that you wore yesterday, and your big
sailor hats, and we'll sail on the 'briny deep,' right after breakfast,"
was the quick reply.

He was well pleased, for they had chosen just that which he so loved to
do.

They hurriedly finished their breakfast and ran up to their room to put
on the pretty sailor suits that he had so admired.

"Rose!" called Uncle John.

"I'm almost ready," she answered.

"No hurry," he replied, "only when you, and Polly are ready, run right
down to the boat. I've told Donald to take you for a row, and just as
soon as I have finished some letters, I'll go with you for a sail."

"Oh, that will be fine!" cried Rose, "because while we are waiting for
you we'll be on the water."

Uncle John returned to his letters, and soon Rose and Polly hurried down
to the piazza and out onto the driveway.

It was a short run to the beach, where they found Donald, the little
Scotch lad, waiting for them.

With a new knife he was whittling a bit of wood into the rude semblance
of a boat.

He had intended to go fishing with another boy, and he was not pleased
to be rowing two small girls, so much younger than himself; therefore he
was sullen. True, he was well paid for rowing them, and he was glad of
the money, but, ungrateful little lad that he was, he most unwillingly
waited for Rose and Polly.

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