CHAPTER XIII.
THE COMMITTEE BUY RIBBONS AND MAKE AN ACQUAINTANCE.
Miss Blake and the committee went up to the village milliner’s the next afternoon to select the ribbons which were to give the last touch of elegance to the dolls’ toilets.
It was a grave responsibility, for some of the dolls’ dress-makers had very positive ideas about the shade, quality, and width needed for certain costumes, and as Miss Smith’s stock was exceedingly limited the purchasers would in most instances have to use their own judgment about choosing the next best things.
Miss Blake was very patient and good-natured and gave all the advice she could, but the girls deliberated so long over some of the least satisfactory things that after a while she excused herself, as she had a sick friend to visit, and promised to call for them in half an hour.
The important decisions were made before it was time to expect her, and Delia proposed going over to Mr. Williams’s store, a place where every thing under the sun to eat, drink, or wear, or to work with might be asked for with a reasonable hope of finding it. It was the only place in the village, except the station restaurant, where candy could be bought, and it was very disappointing to the girls to-day to be told, when they applied to the man who waited on that department, that there had been some delay in receiving their usual weekly supply and there was nothing in stock except some deplorable specimens which would not tempt any one.
It was very provoking, for a number of the girls had commissioned them to buy candy and would be very much disturbed at not receiving it. The same thought was in the mind of each, but neither liked to express it, but the thought moved their footsteps in the same direction; and, leaving Mr. Williams’s, they slowly sauntered toward the station and presently found themselves at the door of the little waiting-room, one end of which was crossed by a counter where hurried travelers could regale themselves with coffee and sandwiches at one end, or fill their pockets with cakes and candy at the other.
The girls looked at each other as they stopped at the open door. Mrs. Abbott had never actually said no one should go into the station unless accompanied by a teacher, because she never supposed any one would want to go there, but she was very particular, and they knew well she would disapprove of their going in.
“Well?” said Bell, wrinkling her brows and looking steadily at her companion.
“There isn’t a soul in there now except the girls behind the counter,” said Fannie.
“I don’t suppose we really ought to go in,” said Bell, putting her foot on the first of the four steps.
“No,” said Fannie, stepping up to her side; “but after all what harm can there be?”
“And the girls will be so awfully put out about not getting the candy,” said Bell, going one step higher.
“Come along in,” said Fannie, with sudden decision, grasping Bell’s hand and drawing her in the door. “It’s all right. Nobody need ever know we came here if we don’t choose to tell.”
Their easily quieted scruples were all forgotten when they saw the enticing supply of confectionery seductively displayed under glass covers. There was no such trouble in selecting here as there had been in buying ribbons, for there were chocolate creams, maple caramels, and candied cherries among the extensive variety, and those were the things that all the girls longed for more than any other sweets.
It was delightful to feel that they were preparing a pleasant surprise for their friends, who never dreamed of having any thing more luscious than the lemon sticks, peppermint balls, and “sat-upon” cocoanut cakes of a pallid white or dangerous red which Mr. Williams, true to the traditions of his far-away childhood, considered the proper stock of confectionery.
The saleswoman was a little indifferent and slow, and so engrossed with a conversation of deep interest she was maintaining with the other clerk that it was hard to get her attention; and then she lingered so over tying up the packages that the girls grew very impatient, for a sharp whistle told them that a train was coming. The young woman tried to hurry then, but she had tied up the creams in too thin paper, and they burst their bonds and flew over the counter and floor. She seemed ashamed of her awkwardness then, and weighed out another half-pound and put them into a paper bag of firmer constitution, delivering them over to the girls just as the train stopped and quite a little crowd of passengers rushed up to the lunch-counter. In the hurry of serving coffee and glasses of milk which were wanted instantly, the woman could not stop to make change for the girls. Bell had handed her a two-dollar bill, from which she was to deduct eighty-five cents for the candy. Clearly it would not do to give up one dollar and fifteen cents, particularly as the money was not their own, so there was nothing else to do but to keep their places and wait till the greedy travelers could spare the clerk long enough to get their change. They deplored their folly then in having given Miss Smith all their silver and small change and left themselves with only the bill; but it was too late to mourn for that now, and they stood impatiently at the end of the counter, wondering how even the fear of being left behind by the train could give men the courage to pour boiling hot coffee down their throats.
At last a lull came, the clamorous travelers were supplied, and the girls’ change was handed them and they hurried off toward the milliner’s, greatly fearing that Miss Blake would have come back and would demand an explanation. They passed a showily dressed young man with a traveling-bag, who did not look quite like a gentleman, but were so occupied with their own uneasiness that they did not notice that he quickened his tardy steps soon after they passed him, till, with a very low bow, he stopped them, just before the road turned to go up the hill, and asked if they would kindly direct him to the village.
“Why, you can’t miss it,” said Fanny, rather startled at being addressed by a stranger; “there’s just this one road and no other.”
“If the ladies are going to the town and do not object I will walk with them so I can be sure of going right,” said the man.
The girls were uncomfortable, but did not know what they ought to do; so they walked on without speaking.
“Very pretty little town, Coventry,” said the man, with a smile and bow that he evidently meant to be very engaging. “Is there a nice hotel here?”
“There isn’t any at all now; if any one spends a night they have to stop at the big tavern by the station,” said Fannie, with a wild hope that he would retrace his steps and seek the big tavern’s shelter.
But he still accommodated his steps to theirs, and presently asked if they were residents of Coventry.
“Our parents don’t live here, but we are boarding scholars at Mrs. Abbott’s school,” said Bell, haughtily, thinking that the mention of Mrs. Abbott’s name might prove discouraging.
“You walk very fast, young ladies,” said their companion affably. “Mrs. Abbott is a very particular friend of mine, and I am going over to see her about taking my sister into the school.”
“There is no room for another scholar,” said Fannie; “the school is as full as can be.”
“O, Mrs. Abbott will do any thing to oblige me,” said he, confidently. “I can talk her over. How young does she take pupils? My little sister would not be happy unless there were some other very small girls there besides herself.”
“There are none very small,” said Fannie.
“Except Elfie,” corrected Bell.
“Why, Bell, you can hardly call Elfie a scholar, and you know she was only taken out of regard for Mr. Bellamy. No one else so young would be admitted.”
“It would be very sad for me if my poor little orphaned sister were refused,” said the man, who had been listening eagerly; “but please, young ladies, say nothing about it to Mrs. Abbott; I prefer to open the matter myself when I call on her this evening.”
He touched his hat very politely then and turned back, murmuring something about securing a room at the tavern.
“Wasn’t he horrid!” exclaimed Fannie, almost before he was beyond hearing her words.
“Horrid!” agreed Bell, giving a great sigh of relief as she looked into the milliner’s window and saw that the shop was empty. But they had hardly seated themselves on two tall stools in front of the counter before Miss Blake came in full of apologies for staying twice as long as she intended.