Dorothy Dainty at the Mountains Part 18

CHAPTER IX

FLOSSIE'S LETTER

THE children said "good-by" to little Lois, and as her father carried her away, she waved her hand to them.

"Wasn't she cunning?" said Dorothy.

"She was very sweet," said Nancy, "and how well she did her little dance!"

"She didn't dance half as fine as you do, Nancy Ferris," said Floretta.

"You _know_ that."

"Oh, but I was trained for dancing," said Nancy, "and, beside, she was very little to dance so cleverly."

Floretta made no reply, but she thought of what Nancy had said.

"Trained for dancing. She said she was _trained_ to dance. I wonder where? I wish I knew, but I didn't quite dare to ask her."

Once more they walked around the big tent, and Uncle Harry purchased a gift for each to carry home as a souvenir.

There were little baskets that the gypsies had woven, and fancy boxes filled with woodland plants. The boxes were made from birch bark, and were very dainty.

These the children prized, and lovingly they thanked him for the pretty gifts.

At the candy table he purchased enough of the homemade bonbons to fill the baskets, and then they left the tent to start on the homeward trip.

The barge was waiting for them, and they clambered in, tired, but very happy.

"This is the nicest fair I ever went to," said Dorothy, "and I've had so many good things that I'm going to save my basket of candy until to-morrow."

"So am I," cried all the others.

"And so am _I_," said Uncle Harry, as he held up a huge basket filled with all kinds of candy.

How they laughed, and accused him of having a "sweet-tooth."

"Now, just a moment!" he cried, as he held up his finger for silence, "I'm taking this _big_ basket home to treat the _big_ ladies with. I took the _little_ ladies with me, but I've not forgotten the _big_ ladies that I left at the hotel."

"Because you don't ever forget any one," said Flossie, and the others cried:

"That's it! Just it! He does nice things for every one."

"Oh, spare my blushes," said Uncle Harry, but it was easy to see that their affection for him pleased him.

The ride home seemed shorter than the trip to the fair.

They joined in singing the merry songs that his fine voice led, and the horses, knowing that they were on the homeward trip, jogged along at a better pace than when they had started out.

Uncle Harry had found some bells, and fastened them to their harnesses, and they made a jingling accompaniment to the merry voices.

And when the barge drew up at the Cleverton, Uncle Harry, with elaborate courtesy, handed each young lady down, bowing low, and thanking her for the honor she had conferred upon him by permitting him to take her to the fair.

"Oh, you do truly know we have to thank you for giving us such a lovely day!" said Dorothy.

"But think how happy I have been," he said, and although his blue eyes were laughing, they knew that he meant it.

"Oh, mamma, we had the finest time," cried Dorothy, "and see the fine basket of candy and the pretty birch bark box! See the little ferns growing in it. Isn't he _dear_?"

"He surely is charming," said Mrs. Dainty. "His generous, sunny nature makes every one love him, and I believe he values the love of his friends more than most things."

"He has been gay, and full of fun all day," said Nancy, "and it will take a long time to tell you all the pleasant things he did for us. I do wish you and Aunt Charlotte _could_ have been there when he had his fortune told."

"And he couldn't have been any nicer to us if we'd been tall ladies,"

said Floretta.

"I hope every one of you little friends were real _little ladies_, thus rewarding him for his kindness," Aunt Charlotte said, gently.

"Oh, we were," said Nancy, "not a single one of us did anything that could trouble him."

"There were a number of little girls who only came here last week, so we weren't much acquainted with them, but they were all very nice, and he said he had as fine a time as we did," said Dorothy.

She climbed into a large hammock, and with Nancy beside her, sat swinging, and thinking of the day that had been so delightfully spent.

Mrs. Fenton came out upon the piazza, and, instead of sitting down, seemed to be looking for something.

"Can I help you?" said Nancy, slipping from the hammock, and hastening toward her.

"I've mislaid my gla.s.ses," she said, "and I can't find them."

She did not thank Nancy for so kindly offering to help her, but Nancy seemed not to notice that. She peeped under chairs, lifted their cus.h.i.+ons, and even looked between folds of newspapers that lay near at hand, but the gla.s.ses were not in sight.

"How trying!" said Mrs. Fenton, "I have some letters that I wish to read, and I can't read them until my gla.s.ses are found."

"Did you use them anywhere but just here?" Nancy asked.

Mrs. Fenton stood for a moment thinking.

"Seems to me I _did_ have them in the dining-room," she said.

"I'll go and ask the waitresses if they have seen them," said Nancy, as she ran toward the hall.

She paused in the doorway, amazed at what she saw.

Floretta, with a pair of eyegla.s.ses upon her small nose, was walking up and down the room, as nearly as possible, in Mrs. Fenton's manner, and exactly imitating her voice, while a group of waitresses, the cook, and two kitchen maids laughed, and applauded her.

She cared not who composed her audience, so long as she obtained applause. Floretta was, evidently, quite herself once more!

"Oh, Floretta!" cried Nancy, "you mustn't, truly you mustn't. Give me the gla.s.ses. Mrs. Fenton is looking everywhere for them!"