Elsie at Ion Read online

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  A LIST OF THE ELSIE BOOKS AND OTHER POPULAR BOOKS

  BY

  MARTHA FINLEY

  _ELSIE DINSMORE._ _ELSIE’S HOLIDAYS AT ROSELANDS._ _ELSIE’S GIRLHOOD._ _ELSIE’S WOMANHOOD._ _ELSIE’S MOTHERHOOD._ _ELSIE’S CHILDREN._ _ELSIE’S WIDOWHOOD._ _GRANDMOTHER ELSIE._ _ELSIE’S NEW RELATIONS._ _ELSIE AT NANTUCKET._ _THE TWO ELSIES._ _ELSIE’S KITH AND KIN._ _ELSIE’S FRIENDS AT WOODBURN._ _CHRISTMAS WITH GRANDMA ELSIE._ _ELSIE AND THE RAYMONDS._ _ELSIE YACHTING WITH THE RAYMONDS._ _ELSIE’S VACATION._ _ELSIE AT VIAMEDE._ _ELSIE AT ION._ _ELSIE AT THE WORLD’S FAIR._ _ELSIE’S JOURNEY ON INLAND WATERS._ _ELSIE AT HOME._ _ELSIE ON THE HUDSON._ _ELSIE IN THE SOUTH._ _ELSIE’S YOUNG FOLKS._ _ELSIE’S WINTER TRIP._ _ELSIE AND HER LOVED ONES._

  * * * * *

  _MILDRED KEITH._ _MILDRED AT ROSELANDS._ _MILDRED’S MARRIED LIFE._ _MILDRED AND ELSIE._ _MILDRED AT HOME._ _MILDRED’S BOYS AND GIRLS._ _MILDRED’S NEW DAUGHTER._

  * * * * *

  _CASELLA._ _SIGNING THE CONTRACT AND WHAT IT COST._ _THE TRAGEDY OF WILD RIVER VALLEY._ _OUR FRED._ _AN OLD-FASHIONED BOY._ _WANTED, A PEDIGREE._ _THE THORN IN THE NEST._

  ELSIE AT ION

  BY MARTHA FINLEY

 

  NEW YORK

  DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY

  PUBLISHERS

  COPYRIGHT, 1893,

  BY

  DODD, MEAD & COMPANY.

  _All rights reserved._

  ELSIE AT ION.

  CHAPTER I.

  VIOLET and Lulu were still alone upon the veranda where the captain hadleft them while he drove into the village on that first evening aftertheir home-coming from beautiful Viamede. They had now taken possessionof two easy-chairs standing close together, and were enjoying the quietand an extended view of the well-kept grounds and the green fields andwooded hills that lay beyond.

  For some moments neither had spoken; then Violet broke the silence.“Lulu, I have been thinking of that poor Mrs. McAlpine and her daughterwhom you met when your father took you and Max out to the far West.Tell me something about them if you feel inclined.”

  “Yes, Mamma Vi; they were refined, lovable people and I like to thinkand talk of them; except that it makes me sad to think what a hard,trying life they led and are yet leading, I suppose.”

  “Yes, my heart bleeds for them; the poor mother especially,” sighedViolet. “Foully robbed of her husband’s love, what charm has life inthis world left for her?”

  “If I were in her place I’d just make up my mind not to care for him orhis love, and be happy in loving my children and being loved by them!”exclaimed Lulu in indignant tones. “I’d never break my heart for such awretch!”

  “He is certainly not worth it,” was Violet’s response. “Ah, there isyour father!” as a carriage turned in at the great gates opening uponthe high-road.

  It came swiftly up the drive, halted at the front entrance, and thecaptain, quickly alighting, handed out a girlish figure clad in aplain, dark dress and hat.

  “Miss McAlpine, my dear, Lulu, it is your old friend Marian.”

  “Welcome, my poor dear girl,” said Violet, taking Marian’s hand in akindly pressure and giving her a kiss.

  “O Marian, Marian, what a delightful surprise!” was Lulu’s greeting asshe threw her arms about her friend and kissed her again and again.

  “Just as I meant it should be,” the captain remarked with a pleasedsmile.

  But Marian seemed speechless with emotion, clinging to Lulu andsobbing as if her heart would break.

  “O you poor dear!” Lulu said, gently patting and stroking her, “don’tcry so bitterly; we will do all we can to make you happy. You must bevery tired with your long journey, but you can rest now in this sweethome of ours.”

  “Yes, take her up to the spare room nearest your own, Lulu,” said thecaptain, “and see that she has everything she needs.”

  “And we will have her tea sent up to her,” added Violet.

  “She took that in the village, my dear,” said the captain, “and as sheis very weary had better get to bed as soon as she can. I see that hertrunk has already been carried up.”

  “O sir, how kind, how kind you are to me!” Marian exclaimed sobbingly,putting her hand into his and lifting grateful eyes to his face.

  “Ah, my poor child, it would be a great delight to me could I butrelieve all your sorrows,” he returned in moved tones. “That is beyondmy power; but cast all your burdens on the Lord and he will sustainyou, fulfilling to you his gracious promise, ‘As thy days, so shallthy strength be.’ You need rest; do not lie awake grieving, but try toobey the scriptural injunction, ‘casting all your care upon him, for hecareth for you.’”

  “O sir, I believe it!” Marian responded in deeply grateful tones;“for otherwise he would never have raised up such a friend as you areproving yourself to be. How shall I ever thank one who shows himselffar kinder than my own father?”

  “Yes, my dear girl, my good husband feels for you very much as he doesfor his own children when they are in trouble,” Violet said feelingly,as Marian turned to say good-night to her. “Lulu, dear,” she added,“try to make sure that your guest has everything that can add to hercomfort.”

  “I will, Mamma Vi,” Lulu answered in pleasant tones.

  “And stay with Marian only long enough to see to that,” added thecaptain; “for her journey has fatigued her greatly and she needs restmore than anything else.”

  “Yes, sir; we can wait till to-morrow for our talk,” Lulu replied,looking smilingly up into his face; “and I’ll come directly to you sothat you will know I have obeyed the order.”

  “That is right; you will find me here,” he returned.

  “Oh, what a lovely home you have, Lulu!” exclaimed Marian, glancingabout her as they went up the stairway.

  “Yes, indeed, I think we have; and I love it dearly; but not athousandth part as much as I do the dear father who made it for us andmakes us so happy in it. This is the room he bade me bring you to,Marian,” opening a door and leading the way into a large, airy, andbeautifully furnished bedroom.

  “Oh, how lovely, how lovely!” exclaimed Marian. “Ah, it is much toogrand for me—a poor girl who has not a dollar in the world.”

  “Not a bit,” said Lulu in reply; “those who have nothing need help allthe more; besides, papa does not value people for their wealth and hasnever taught his children to. Ah, there is your trunk! I see the menhave unstrapped it. Now if you are too tired to get out the things youwant for to-night, and will give me the key, I will do so for you whileyou sit here in this easy-chair and direct me.”

  “Oh, thank you! but I feel able to wait on myself.”

  “Well, you shall do exactly as you please,” returned Lulu with a smile.“I see the servants have filled your pitchers, and if you should wantanything that is not here, you have only to touch this knob which ringsan electric bell in the kitchen—giving it one push for cold, or two forhot water, or three for the chambermaid to come to you.”

  “How very nice and convenient!” exclaimed Marian.

  Lulu then explained about the light, saying she was welcome to put itout or leave it burning just as she preferred, and bidding her a kindgood-night l
eft the room. Hurrying down to the veranda, she found herfather and Violet still there sitting side by side, conversing togetherin rather subdued tones.

  “Here I am, papa,” Lulu said, approaching them.

  “That is right,” he responded and drew her to a seat upon his knee.“You saw that your guest had every want supplied?” he asked, caressingher hair and cheek with his hand as he spoke.

  “Yes, sir. O papa, tell me all about it, please.”

  “All about what?” he asked with a smile, holding her close and pressinga kiss upon her lips.

  “About Marian, sir. Did you know she was coming? and was it just to gether you drove into the village?”

  “One question at a time, my child,” he returned with an amused look.“Yes, I knew she was coming. I had found a letter from her on mylibrary table telling me so, and reminding me of the invitation youheard me give her just before leaving Minersville, to apply to me forhelp should the time ever come when she would need a friend able andwilling to aid her.”

  “Oh, yes, papa, I remember it, and I don’t think anybody could find abetter friend than my dear father when in need of one.”

  “Well, I found the letter, read it to your Mamma Vi, then drove intothe village for Marian, leaving for you the pleasure of being taken bysurprise on seeing her return with me.”

  “And a very pleasant surprise it was, papa. Is she going to stay? andoh, what has become of her poor mother and the boys? I suppose she toldyou all about them as you drove back from the village?”

  “More than two questions at once this time,” laughed her father. “Iwill try to answer them in turn. She is likely to stay with us forthe present at least. Her mother and all the younger children, exceptSandy, are dead; the little ones dying of diphtheria, the mother ofgrief and the fatigue from nursing them through their illness. Sandyis working his way with a farmer for the present; the father attemptedto force Marian into a match with a Mormon thirty or forty years olderthan herself, and she, by running away, barely escaped a fate that sheesteemed far worse than death.”

  “Oh, poor thing!” cried Lulu. “How glad I am that I have a father whowould never force me to leave him for anybody else,” clinging stillcloser to him as she spoke.

  “Never, no, never, my own precious child!” he returned with emotion.“But you are still far too young even to be thinking of such a thing.”

  “Yes, I know that, papa, and I’m glad of it. I like to be a little girlthat nobody wants to get away from her father.”

  “Then we are both satisfied.”

  “Papa, is Marian going to live here with us?” she asked.

  “Nothing is decided yet,” he replied, “but it will depend uponcircumstances. Would you wish it, daughter?”

  She hesitated a little, then said: “If you and Mamma Vi want her here,papa, I would not like to stand in the way of her having such a sweethome, but—it’s so delightful to have our dear home to ourselves; justyou and Mamma Vi and us children.”

  “So your mamma and I think,” he returned with a gratified look; “andvery possibly Marian herself would prefer some other plan, for Iperceive she is of a very independent disposition. I have learned thatit is her desire and purpose to earn her own living, and I think thekindest thing I can do will be to help her fit herself for whateverwork she may think best suited to her talents and inclination.”

  “O papa, take her for one of your pupils, won’t you?” cried Lulu in hermost eager, coaxing tones.

  “If she wishes it, and can be located in the near neighborhood,” hesaid.

  “Oh, I have a thought!” exclaimed Lulu. “Why can’t she live with Mrs.Allen and Susie at the cottage?”

  “Ah, that strikes me as a very good suggestion,” the captain replied.“What do you think of it, Violet, my dear?”

  “I highly approve,” returned Violet, “unless it may crowd them toomuch.”

  “Ah, in that case I can easily add another room, or two of them ifdeemed desirable,” he said. “They might stand a little crowding fora time, till they satisfy themselves as to their congeniality ofdisposition—for even good people sometimes find that they are morecomfortable apart than thrown constantly together; and that having beensatisfactorily proved, I would make the addition. But we need decidenothing in regard to these matters to-night. There is the bell forprayers, after which Lulu must go to her nest, and you and I, my dear,will, I think, be ready for ours.”

  When the short service was over, Lulu bade Violet good-night; thenturning to her father, asked, “Must I say it to you too now, papa?”

  “No, daughter,” he replied. “I will step in your room for a moment whenyou are about ready for bed. I suppose it would hardly do to omit iton the first night after our return from our wanderings,” he added,smoothing her hair caressingly as she stood by his side.

  “No, indeed, sir,” she returned with an earnestness that made himsmile; “and please do not think it will do at any time; unless you aresick or have some company you cannot leave to give me even a minute.Ah, how thankful I ought to be, and am, that my father is so differentfrom poor Marian’s!”

  “Yes, indeed,” said Violet. “Marian, poor girl, is greatly to bepitied; so let us all be as kind to her as possible.”

  “Yes, Mamma Vi; and I think it will be my place to stay with herto-morrow, though I shall be very sorry to miss spending the afternoonand evening with the rest of you at Ion.”

  “You dear girl, you shall do no such thing,” returned Violet with anaffectionate smile into Lulu’s eyes. “I will speak to mamma throughthe telephone to-morrow morning, and I am sure she will give Marian acordial invitation to make one of the family party.”

  “I do not doubt it, my dear,” said Captain Raymond, “but in her fatigueand grief Marian would, I think, prefer to spend the day here in restand sleep; nor will there be any occasion for Lulu to deny herselfthe pleasure of going with the rest of us to Ion, or us the pleasureof having her along,” again laying a caressing hand upon her head andsmiling down affectionately into the bright dark eyes lifted lovinglyto his. “Now go, daughter, to your room. I want you to have a goodnight’s rest that you may enjoy the pleasures of to-morrow to thefull.”