The Pot of Gold, and Other Stories Part 20

"Well, I can; but I guess he won't want it," said Grandma.

At last the coach came in sight, and Grandma was all ready excepting her bonnet and gloves, and Grandpa had only to brush his hat very carefully and put it on; so they did not miss the train.

w.i.l.l.y's mother hugged him tight and kissed him. There were tears in her eyes. This was the first time he had ever been away from home without her. "Be a good boy," said she.

"There isn't any need of tellin' him that," chuckled Grandpa, getting into the coach. He thought w.i.l.l.y was the most wonderful child in the world.

It was quite a long ride to Exeter. They did not get there until tea-time, but that made it seem all the pleasanter. w.i.l.l.y never forgot how peaceful and beautiful that little, elm-shaded village looked with the red light of the setting sun over it. There was aunt Annie, too, in the prettiest blue-sprigged, white cambric, standing in her door watching for them; and she was so surprised and delighted to see w.i.l.l.y, and they had tea right away, and there were berries and cream, and cream-tartar biscuits and frosted cake.

Uncle Frank, w.i.l.l.y thought, was going to be the nicest uncle he had.

There was something about the tall, curly-headed, pleasant-eyed young man which won his boyish heart at once.

"Glad to see you, sir," uncle Frank said in his loud, merry voice; then he gave w.i.l.l.y's little slim hand a big shake, as if it were a man's.

He was further prepossessed in his favor when, after tea, he begged to take him over to the store and show him around before he went to bed. Grandma had suggested his going directly to bed, as he must be fatigued with the journey, but uncle Frank pleaded for fifteen minutes' grace, so w.i.l.l.y went to view the store.

It was almost directly opposite uncle Frank's house, and uncle Frank and his father kept it. It was in a large old building, half of which was a dwelling-house where uncle Frank's parents lived, and where he had lived himself before he was married. The store was a large country one, and there was a post-office and an express office connected with it. Uncle Frank and his father were store-keepers and postmasters and express-agents.

The jolly new uncle gave w.i.l.l.y some sticks of peppermint and winter-green candy out of the gla.s.s jars, in the store-window, and showed him all around. He introduced him to his father, and took him into the house to see his mother. They made much of him, as strangers always did.

"They said I must call them Grandpa and Grandma Perry," he told his own grandmother when he got home.

He told her, furthermore, privately, when she came upstairs after he was in bed to see if everything was all right, that he thought Annie had shown very good taste in marrying uncle Frank. She told of it, downstairs, and there was a great laugh. "I don't know when I have taken such a fancy to a boy," uncle Frank said warmly. "He is so good, and yet he's smart enough, too."

"Everybody takes to him," his grandmother said proudly.

In a day or two w.i.l.l.y wrote a letter to his mother, and told her he was having the best time that he ever had in his life.

w.i.l.l.y was only seven years old and had never written many letters, but this was a very good one. His mother away down in Ashbury thought so.

She shed a few tears over it. "It does seem as if I couldn't get along another day without seeing him," she told w.i.l.l.y's father; "but I'm glad if it is doing the dear child good, and he is enjoying it."

One reason why w.i.l.l.y had been taken upon the trip was his health. He had always been considered rather delicate. It did seem as if he had every chance to grow stronger in Exeter. The air was cool and bracing from the mountains; aunt Annie had the best things in the world to eat, and as he had said, he was really having a splendid time. He rode about with uncle Frank in the grocery wagon, he tended store, he fished, and went berrying. There were only two drawbacks to his perfect comfort. One came from his shoes. Grandpa Perry had found an old pair in the store, and he wore them on his fishing and berrying jaunts; but they were much too large and they slipped and hurt his heels. However he said nothing; he stumped along in them manfully, and tried to ignore such a minor grievance. w.i.l.l.y had really a stanch vein in him, in spite of his gentleness and mildness. The other drawback lay in the fact that the visit was to be of such short duration. It began Monday and was expected to end Sat.u.r.day. w.i.l.l.y counted the hours; every night before he went to sleep he heaved a regretful sigh over the day which had just gone. It had been decided before leaving home that they were to return on Sat.u.r.day, and he had had no intimation of any change of plan.

Friday morning he awoke with the thought, "this is the last day."

However, w.i.l.l.y was a child, and, in the morning, a day still looked interminable to him, especially when there were good times looming up in it. To-day he expected to take a very long ride with uncle Frank, who was going to Keene to buy a new horse.

"I want w.i.l.l.y to go with me, to help pick him out," he told Grandma Stockton, and w.i.l.l.y took it in serious earnest. They were going to carry lunch and be gone all day. This promised pleasure looked so big to the boy, as he became wider awake, that he could see nothing at all beyond it, not even the sad departure and end of this delightful visit on the morrow. So he went down to breakfast as happy as ever.

"That boy certainly looks better," Grandpa Stockton remarked, as the coffee was being poured.

"We must have him weighed before he goes home," Grandma said, beaming at him.

"That's one thing I thought of, 'bout stayin' a week longer," Grandpa went on. "It seems to be doin' Sonny, here, so much good." Grandpa had a very slow, deliberate way of speaking.

w.i.l.l.y laid down his spoon and stared at him, but he said nothing.

"I don't see what you were thinking of not to plan to stay longer in the first place," said aunt Annie. "I don't like it much." She made believe to pout her pretty lips.

"Well," said uncle Frank, "I'll send for that coat right away this morning, so you'll be sure to get it to-morrow night."

"Yes," said Grandpa, "I'd like to hev it to wear to meetin'. Mother thinks my old one ain't just fit."

"No, it ain't," spoke up Grandma. "It does well enough when you're at home, where folks know you, but it's different among strangers. An'

you've got to have it next week, anyhow."

w.i.l.l.y looked up at his grandmother. "Grandma," said he tremblingly, "ain't we going home to-morrow?"

"Why, bless the child!" said she. "I forgot he didn't know. We talked about it last night after he'd gone to bed."

Then she explained. They were going to stay another week. Next week Wednesday, Grandpa and Grandma Perry had been married twenty-five years, and they were going to have a silver wedding. So they were going to remain and be present at it, and Grandpa was going to send for his best coat to wear.

w.i.l.l.y looked so radiant that they all laughed, and uncle Frank said he was going to keep him always, and let him help him in the store.

Before they started off to buy the horse, uncle Frank telegraphed to Ashbury about the coat; he also mentioned w.i.l.l.y's shoes.

The two had a beautiful ride, and bought a handsome black horse. Uncle Frank consulted w.i.l.l.y a great deal about the purchase, and expatiated on his good judgment in the matter after they got home. One of w.i.l.l.y's chief charms was that he stood so much flattery of this kind, without being disagreeably elated by it. His frank, childish delight was always pretty to see.

The next afternoon he went berrying with a little boy who lived next door. At five o'clock aunt Annie ran over to the store to see if the coat had come.

"It has," she told her mother when she returned; "it came at one o'clock, and Mother Perry gave it to w.i.l.l.y to bring home."

"To w.i.l.l.y? Why, what did the child do with it?" Grandma said wonderingly. "He didn't bring it home."

"Maybe he carried it over to Josie Allen's and left it there." Josie Allen was the boy with whom w.i.l.l.y had gone berrying. His house stood very near uncle Frank's, and both were nearly across the road from the store.

"Well, maybe he did, he was in such a hurry to go berrying," said Grandma a.s.sentingly.

About six o'clock, when the family were all at the tea-table, w.i.l.l.y came clumping painfully in his big shoes into the yard. There were blisters on his small, delicate heels, but n.o.body knew it. His little fair face was red and tired, but radiant. His pail was heaped and rounded up with the most magnificent berries of the season.

"Just look here," said he, with his sweet voice all quivering with delight.

He stood outside on the piazza, and lifted the pail on to the window-sill. He could not wait until he came in to show these berries.

He would have to walk way around through the kitchen in those irritating shoes.

They all exclaimed and admired them as much as he could wish, then Grandma said suddenly: "But what did you do with the coat, w.i.l.l.y?"

"The coat?" repeated w.i.l.l.y in a bewildered way.

"Yes; the coat. Did you take it over to Josie's an' leave it? If you did, you must go right back and get it. Did you?"

"No."

"Why, what did you do with it?"

"I didn't do anything with it."

"William Dexter Norton! what do you mean?"

[Ill.u.s.tration: "JUST LOOK HERE!" SAID w.i.l.l.y'S SWEET VOICE.]