Amy in Acadia Part 45

"It doesn't seem quite the thing on Sunday, does it?" murmured Priscilla to Amy; whereat Martine, laughing loudly, cried:

"But surely it is better for the soldiers to turn out to church in a body than to sit in their barracks moping."

"Soldiers moping!" and Fritz laughed.

"Perhaps it isn't the soldiers, but the people crowding to stare at them, who take away the Sunday feeling," continued Priscilla.

"That's just what we are doing ourselves," retorted Martine, "and I don't feel very wicked."

"Come, come, children, don't quarrel," cried Lucian. "You are both probably right, and both probably wrong."

Neither girl replied, for the troops in their brilliant uniforms were beginning their homeward march to the inspiring music of a fine band.

As they walked homeward Martine, slipping her arm through Amy's, drew her one side.

"Tell me," she said, "and please don't let the others hear or they will laugh--is Halifax the capital of Canada?"

"No, my dear, it--"

"There, I thought it couldn't be; I knew it must be Montreal. But I asked Priscilla why that old gray building was called Government House, and she said because Halifax was the capital. I never expect Priscilla to make a mistake;" and there was a slight touch of sarcasm in Martine's tone.

"She was not wholly wrong," rejoined Amy, "for Halifax is the capital of Nova Scotia. Canada itself is composed of several provinces, of which Nova Scotia is one. The provinces are united under a general government with Ottawa the capital--not Montreal--as you suggested. All the provinces send representatives to the Parliament that a.s.sembles every year at Ottawa."

"Oh, I see--like our States and Washington."

"Yes, the general plan of government is much the same, and each province has its own Parliament. Priscilla and I were in the Parliament building here the other day. It is really a State House."

"I've noticed the Parliament building, but what is the Government House?"

"Oh, that is the residence of the Governor of Nova Scotia. His real t.i.tle is Lieutenant-Governor, because all Canada has a Governor-General, who lives at Ottawa."

Both girls had been so interested in this little conversation that unconsciously they had lagged, and the others were now far ahead of them.

"Martine," said Amy, "as we have a few minutes alone now, do let me influence you to make up with Priscilla--not that any little misunderstanding is wholly your fault, but it is so much harder for Priscilla to give in than it is for you."

"But honestly, I haven't said or done a thing to offend her,--at least, not a thing that I know of, though of course for a day or two I have seen that she was trying to be particularly stiff with me."

"Well, then I wouldn't notice her stiffness. Just act as if you were the best friends in the world, and things will soon straighten themselves out."

"That certainly would be the most agreeable way, and to please you, Miss Amy Redmond, I will follow your advice. Besides, I have something very exciting to tell you and Priscilla, and I really cannot wait longer than this afternoon."

"Hurry, young ladies, hurry, hurry!"

It was Lucian calling to them. He had turned to meet them.

"What kept you so long, Martine? What have you been doing?"

"Nothing, only talking."

"Oh, that accounts for it. When once Martine begins to talk in earnest, she takes no heed of time."

Martine replied lightly to her brother's badinage, and the three reached the house in great spirits. With Amy's caution before her Martine avoided collision with Priscilla during the dinner hour. After dinner, while they were all sitting together in the little arbor,--Mrs. Redmond as well as the girls,--Martine drew a letter from her pocket.

"Listen," she cried; "I have something to read you--no, I can tell it better in my own words, although it is nearly all in papa's letter. So listen, Amy; it's for you,--and it's for you, Priscilla, as well as for me."

"And for me, too?" asked Lucian, trying to throw great expression into his voice.

"No, no, of course not. Mrs. Redmond knows, and she thinks it fine, so listen. In the first place, papa feels much obliged to every one for keeping me contented. You know I tried to make a fuss when they wouldn't take me to Europe, and he says that it's a splendid thing for me to get so interested in history. This is what he says:--

"'When you get back to Chicago you'll find that there's a lot of history there that is worth studying--not entirely about the great fire, and part of the history of Illinois is French.' I never knew that before,"

interpolated Martine. Then she continued to read, "'Your mother and I think that you owe much to the young ladies who are with you, as well as to Mrs. Redmond, to whom I am also writing this mail. We are much gratified by what you write about the various young people in whom you are interested. Although I cannot promise, without knowing more about her, to launch your special protegee, Yvonne, on a prima donna's career, it seems right that you should be helped to do something for her, so I am enclosing a check for three hundred dollars.'"

Amy started; Priscilla gazed in astonishment.

"'This,'" Martine continued to read, "'is to be divided into three parts. Your third is for Yvonne; a second third is for Miss Amy to use as she sees fit for the little French boy--I forget his name; and though you haven't said so, I am sure that Miss Priscilla hasn't been behind her friends in adopting somebody. Perhaps I ought to have sent more, but it will do for a beginning, and I shall be glad to hear that the money does some good.'"

"There's more about mamma's getting better and coming home soon, that I needn't read. But isn't it splendid? You can't think how hard it was for me to keep it to myself a whole day."

Upon this there was a small Babel for a second or two, until, after a moment of silence, Priscilla, in words that showed some slight hesitation, spoke,--

"I must thank you, Martine, as much as your father. You must have made him think very pleasantly of us all. But I wonder if I ought to keep the money?"

"No, my dear Puritan Prissie, you mustn't keep it. It's for you to give away as quickly as you can to your protegee, and we all know who that is."

"Yes," added Mrs. Redmond; "you need have no hesitation in using it for Eunice. Mr. Stratford has written me fully on the subject. He says that this summer has cost him so much less than Martine's vacations usually cost, that his gift is only a part of what he has saved."

"He hasn't heard yet about the Windsor fire," murmured Martine, "or he might feel differently, though the silver and the jewelry will be a Christmas matter," she concluded hastily. "Shall I send all the money at once to Yvonne, Mrs. Redmond?"

"Oh, no, my dear; we must talk things over and make careful plans for Yvonne and Pierre. A little money will go a good way with both of them."

"Oh, of course, Mrs. Redmond, whatever you say will be the thing. That isn't slang is it, Miss Amy Redmond? There's a pained expression at the corners of your mouth; but never mind, you can't deny that I've improved this summer--to beat the band;" and with this shot Martine, darting forward, laid her hand on Amy's arm.

"As an impartial judge I can say that you all have improved this summer,--at least, speaking for the three girls," said Mrs. Redmond.

"Although I haven't commented on it, it has pleased me greatly to observe the rounding off of several sharp corners."

"'Speaking for the three girls,'" quoted Fritz,--"but where do we two come in? Didn't we banish ourselves when we were bid, and keep out of sight, until we heard that you had been almost destroyed by fire? Our improvement has been quite remarkable, though I don't see any one paying premiums to us; and if we had proteges whom we wished to protect we'd have to go deep into our own pockets for the wherewithal."

"Yes," added Lucian, "I was thinking of that myself. It's a good thing that we haven't found any one to be interested in."

"Oh, but you have, Lucian; at least, I have found some one for you.

Don't you remember our new cousins, the Airtons? How stupid! I haven't told any one else." And hereupon, without further delay, Martine plunged into an account of the discovery that she thought that she had made--that Eunice Airton and her brother were cousins in the third or fourth degree to her and Lucian.

"I feel as if we ought to wait until we can make sure, but Lucian says that he can put his hand on the papers when he returns to Cambridge--and at any rate mamma will know. I'm awfully sorry, Prissie dear, that they are not your cousins too; but perhaps we can find a link somewhere back among the Mayflowers--just large enough to join you and Eunice."

Priscilla, not knowing what to reply to Martine's fun, wisely chose the golden mean of silence. If Martine had not said "Prissie" she might have thought her wholly in earnest.

"But oh, dear," reflected Priscilla, "I do wish that Eunice had turned out to be my cousin instead of Martine's. It doesn't seem fair that she should have everything." This thought, however, had hardly shaped itself, when Priscilla put it far from her. Martine had certainly been generous, and Priscilla, if narrow in some ways, meant never to be unjust.

Martine, however, had other things than Priscilla's att.i.tude on her mind.