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Judy, a novel by Temple Bailey |
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Chapter 16. The Wind And The Waves |
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_ CHAPTER XVI. THE WIND AND THE WAVES It was dark and raining when the travellers reached The Breakers, but a light streamed out from the doorway, and Mrs. Adams, the caretaker, met them on the step. "I couldn't get any maids to help me," she explained to the Judge, as she led the way in, "but my sister is coming over in the morning, and Jim will build the fires--and I've set out supper in the hall." "That's all right, Mrs. Adams," said the Judge, heartily, "Perkins will serve us, and you needn't stay up. I know you are tired after hurrying to get the house ready for us." "Being tired ain't nothin' so that things suits," said Mrs. Adams, with an awed glance at the expert Perkins, who having relieved the Judge of his hat and raincoat was carrying the bags up-stairs under the guidance of Mr. Adams. "Everything is just right, Mrs. Adams," said Judy, with eyes aglow. "I am so glad you set the supper-table in front of the big fireplace--we used to sit here so often." Her voice trembled a little over the "we," for the sight of the little round table with its shining glass and silver had unnerved her. But she had made up her mind to be brave, and in a minute she was herself again, leading the way to her room, which Anne was to share, and doing the honors of the house generally. The Breakers was a cottage built half of stone and half of shingles. It was roomy and comfortable, but not as magnificent as the Judge's great mansion in Fairfax. To Judy it was home, however, and when she came down again, she sighed blissfully as she dropped into a chair in front of the blazing fire. "Listen, Anne," she said to the little fair-haired girl, "listen--do you hear them--the wind and the waves?" Anne was not quite sure that she liked it--the moaning of the wind, and the ceaseless swish--boom, crash of the waves. "I wish it was daylight so that I could see the ocean," she said, politely, "I think it must be lovely and blue and big--" "It is lovely now," said Judy, and went to the window and drew back the curtain. "Look out here, Anne--" As Anne looked out, the moon showed for an instant in a ragged sky and lighted up a wild waste of waters, whose white edge of foam ran up the beach half-way to the cottage. "How high the waves are," said little Anne. "I have seen them higher than that," exulted Judy. "I have seen them so high that they seemed to tower above our roof." "Weren't you afraid?" "They couldn't hurt me, and it was grand." "Supper is served, miss," announced Perkins, coming in with a chafing-dish and a half-dozen fresh eggs on a silver tray. "I thought you might like something hot, sir," he said to the Judge with a supercilious glance at the cold collation which Mrs. Adams had provided, and with that he proceeded on the spot to make an omelette--puffy, fluffy, and perfect. It was a cozy scene--the old butler in his white coat bending over the shining silver dish with the blue flame underneath. The polished mahogany of the table giving out rich reflections as the ruddy light of the fire played over it. The sparkling glass, the quaint old silver, Judy's violets all fragrant and dewy in the center, and at the head of the table the Judge in a great armchair, and on each side the two girls, the dark-haired and the fair-haired, in white gowns and crisp ribbons. But Judy ate nothing, although Perkins tempted her with various offers. "I'm not a bit hungry," she said, over and over again, and Anne, who was ravenous, felt positively greedy in the face of such daintiness. "You are tired," said the Judge at last, as Judy sat with her chin in her hand, gazing at a picture of her father which hung over the fireplace--a full-length portrait in uniform. "Go to bed, dear." And in spite of protests, as soon as Anne had finished her supper, he ordered them both to bed. "What are we going to do about her, Perkins?" the Judge asked in a worried tone, when he and the old servant were alone. "Miss Judy, sir?" "Yes. She isn't well, Perkins." "She will be better down here, sir," said Perkins. "She is like her father, you know, sir--likes the water--" "Perkins--" after a pause. "Yes, sir." "Do you think--he is alive?" It was the first time in years that the Judge had spoken of his son. Perkins stopped brushing the crumbs from the table, and came and stood beside his master, looking into the fire thoughtfully. "Miss Judy thinks he is, sir," he said at last. "I know--" "And I find that it's the women that's mostly right in such things," went on Perkins. "A man now only knows what he sees, but, Lord, sir, a woman knows things without seein'. Sort of takes them on faith, sir." "The uncertainty is bad for Judy," said the Judge, the deep lines showing in his care-worn face. Perkins laid a respectful hand on the back of his chair. "You'd best go to bed yourself; sir," he said, gently, "you're tired, sir." "Yes--yes." But he did not move until Perkins had drawn the water for his bath and had laid out his things, and had urged him, "Everything is ready, sir." Then he got up with a sigh, "I wish I knew." "I wish I knew," he said, a half-hour later, as the careful Perkins covered him with an extra blanket. "I wish I knew where he is--to-night." Outside the wind moaned, the rain beat against the windows and the waves boomed unceasingly. Perkins drew the curtain tight, and laid the Judge's Bible on the little table by the bed, where his hand could reach it the first thing in the morning; then he picked up the lamp and went to the door. "I think wherever he is, he's bein' took care of, sir," he said, comfortingly, and with an affectionate glance at the gray head on the pillow, he went out and closed the door. In the morning Anne slept soundly, but Judy slipped out of bed early, put on her bathing-suit and a raincoat, and with a towel in her hand went down-stairs. She found Perkins in the lower hall. "You are early, Miss," he said. "Yes, I am going to take a dip in the waves," said Judy. "You're sure it's safe, Miss?" asked Perkins anxiously. "I have done it all my life," asserted Judy, "and it gives me an awful appetite for breakfast." Perkins brightened. "Does it now, Miss," he asked. "Is there anything you would like cooked, Miss Judy--I could speak to Mrs. Adams." But Judy shook her head. "I am not hungry now," she said gaily, as she went off, "but I know I shall have an appetite when I come in." She tripped away to the bath-house, and as she came out of the door looking like a sea-nymph in her white-bathing suit and white rubber cap she saw Anne, also towel laden and rain-coated, flying down towards her. "Why didn't you wake me up," scolded the younger girl. "Oh, Judy, isn't it lovely," and she dropped down on the beach, panting. The morning sun cast rosy shadows over the sea, there was a touch of amethyst in the clouds, and the waves as they curled over the golden beach were gray-green in the hollows and silver-white on their crests. "I just know I sha'n't dare to stick my toes into the water," said Anne with a shiver. "It is so--so big, Judy." "You look just dear," declared Judy, as Anne dropped her raincoat and came forth in a scarlet suit, "that red suits you." Anne clasped her hands. "Oh, Judy, does it," she sighed rapturously. "Yes." "You don't think I am getting vain, do you, Judy?" inquired Anne, anxiously, "but I do love pretty things." "I think you are a goosie," said Judy with a little laugh, then she caught hold of Anne with impatient hands. "Come on in, little red bird," she urged, "it's lovely in the water." Anne squealed and struggled, and finally waded in until the water came up to her knees. "Don't take me any farther, Judy," she begged, and when Judy saw her frightened face, she let her go. "Sit on the sand, then, and watch me, Annekins," she advised. "You will get used to this after a while and enjoy it as much as I do." She was off with a run and a leap, and for fifteen minutes or more she was over and under and up and down on the waves like a snowy mermaid. "And now for breakfast," said the young lady in white, as she dashed up the sands, with raincoat flying and towel fluttering in the breeze. Ten minutes later two red-cheeked, wet-haired damsels rushed into the dining-room and kissed the Judge, who sat at the head of the table with his newspaper propped up in front of him. "Bless my soul," he said, gazing at them over his spectacles, "are you really up?" "We have been up for an hour," gurgled Anne, happily, "and in bathing." But Judy did not stop for explanations, "Oh, waffles, waffles. Perkins, I love you. How did you know I wanted waffles?" "You said you would have an appetite, Miss," said the beaming Perkins, "and there's nothing that touches the spot on a cool morning like waffles." He exchanged satisfied glances with the Judge as Judy finished her sixth section, having further supplemented the waffles with a dish of berries and a lamb chop. "We are going down to the bay after breakfast," announced Judy. "And I am going to take a book and read on the sand," planned Anne. "Books, nothing," said Judy, slangily. "We are going to sail and catch crabs." "Little red crabs?" asked Anne with interest. "No, big blue ones, you goosie, and then Perkins will cook them for us. Won't you, Perkins?" "Anything you say, Miss," said Perkins, resignedly. But it rained the next day, and after that they went sailing in Judy's own sailboat "The Princess," which she could manage as well as any man, and after that they drove to town with the Judge, so that it was over a week before the crabbing expedition came to pass. The Breakers stood on a strip of land between the bay and the ocean. It was on a peninsula, but the connecting link with the mainland was many miles away, so that for all practical purposes the house was on an island, with the ocean in front and the bay behind, and all the pleasures that both made possible. Anne was entranced with the delights of crabbing. It was very exciting to get the great rusty fellows on the line, tow them up to the top of the water, where the competent Perkins nabbed them with the crab-net. Perkins caught crabs as he did everything else, expertly, and with dignity. His only concession to the informality of the sport was a white yachting cap and a white linen coat, and it was a sight worth going miles to see, to watch him officiate at a catch. The great vicious fellows might clash their claws in vain, for Perkins subdued them with a scientific clutch at the back that rendered them helpless. "We are going to cook them as soon as we get home," Judy told Anne. "Perkins knows all about fixing them, and Mrs. Adams is going to give up the kitchen to us--it's lots of fun to eat the meat out of the claws." "Do you want them--devilled, Miss?" and Perkins coughed discreetly before the word. "Yes. In their shells, with parsley stuck in the top. They are delicious that way, Anne." Anne had her doubts as to the deliciousness of anything so spidery-looking as those strange fish, but she said nothing. "Is there anything Perkins can't do?" she asked Judy, as Perkins went on ahead, bearing the great basket of crabs, and the net. "I don't believe there is," laughed Judy. "He is supposed to be grandfather's butler, but he won't let any one do a thing for grandfather, and he plays valet and cook half the time when the other servants don't suit him." Once in the kitchen, Anne eyed the big basket shiveringly. The fierce creatures stared at her with protruding bead-like eyes, and in a way that seemed positively menacing. "If they should get out," she thought, as she was left alone with them for a moment. She never knew how it happened, but Perkins must have left the basket too near the edge of the chair on which he had placed it, for as she took hold of the cover to shut it, the basket tipped, and down came the living load, and in another moment, the desperate shell-fish were scuttling across the floor in all directions. With a shriek Anne took refuge on top of the stationary wash-tubs. "Come up here, Judy," she cried, frantically, and Judy who had reached the middle of the room, and was surrounded by pugilistic creatures before she realized the catastrophe, drew herself up beside Anne, and together they shrieked for Perkins. Perkins came and saw and conquered as usual. The girls laughed until the tears ran down their cheeks to see the battle. One by one the crabs were picked up and dropped into a big kettle until at last it was full. "And now you young ladies had best go out," said Perkins, firmly, "while I cook them." It is well to draw a veil over the tragic fate of the kettleful of blue crabs, but when Anne next saw them they were beautifully boiled, and red--red as the scarlet of her bathing-suit. All the afternoon the little girls, under Perkins' skilful guidance learned a lesson in expert cookery, and at last, as a dozen perfectly browned and parsley-decorated beauties were laid on a platter, Judy breathed an ecstatic sigh. "Aren't they beautiful?" she murmured. "Yes, Miss, that they are," and Perkins surveyed them as an artist lets his glance linger on a finished masterpiece. He raised the platter to carry it to the dining-room, but as he turned towards the door he stopped and set it down quickly. "What's the matter, sir," he asked sharply, "has anything gone wrong?" The Judge stood on the threshold, his face white with excitement. In his hands was a letter, and his voice shook as he spoke. "It's nothing bad, Perkins," he said, and Judy, as she faced him, saw that his eyes were bright with some new hope. "It's nothing bad. But I've had a letter--a strange, strange letter, Perkins--and I must go on a journey to-night--a journey to the north--to Newfoundland, Perkins." _ |
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