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 cjj-t. a. \ThIs1"le, or 
 
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 contain." Gazette. 
 
 LEE & SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston. <^
 
 OLIVER OPTIC'S 
 
 LAKE SHORE SERIES. 
 
 Six VOLS., ILLUST. PER VOL., $1.25. 
 
 Throash by Daylight ; 
 
 Or, The Young Engineer of the Lake 
 Shore Railroad. 
 
 Lightning Express ; 
 
 Or, The Rival Academies. 
 
 On Time; 
 
 Or, The Young Captain of the Ucayga 
 Steamer. 
 
 Switch Off; 
 
 Or, The War of the Students. 
 
 Brake Up ; 
 
 Or, The Young Peacemakers. 
 
 Bear and Forbear ; 
 
 Or, The Young Skipper of Lake Ucayga. 
 
 Oliver Optic owes his popularity to a pleasant 
 style, and to a ready sympathy with the dreams, 
 hope*, aspirations, and fancies of the.young people 
 for whom he write*. He writes like a wise, over- 
 grown bov, and his books have therefore fresh- 
 ness and'raciness rarely attained by his fellow 
 scribes. Christian Advocate. 
 
 LEE & SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston. 
 
 OLIVER OPTIC'S 
 
 STARRY FLAG SERIES. 
 
 Six VOLS., ILLUST. PER VOL., $1.25. 
 
 The Starry Flag; 
 
 Or, The Young Fisherman of Cape Ann. 
 
 Breaking Away; 
 
 Or, The Fortunes of a Student 
 
 Seek and Find; 
 
 Or, The Adventures of a Smart Boy. 
 
 Freaks of Fortnne ; 
 
 Or, Half Round the World 
 
 Make or Break; 
 
 Or, The Rich Man's Daughter. 
 
 Down the River; 
 
 Or, Buck Bradford and his Tyrants. 
 
 These books are exciting narratives, and full of 
 stirring adventures, but the youthful heroes of the 
 stories are noble, self-sacrificing, and courageous, 
 and the stories contain nothing which will il-i 
 injury to the mind or heart of the youthful reader. 
 Webster Timts. 
 
 LEE & SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston. 
 
 OLIVER OPTIC'S 
 
 BOAT CLUB SERIES. 
 
 Six VOLS., ILLUST. PER VOL., $1.25. 
 
 The Boat Club; 
 
 Or, The Bunkers of Rippletoa. 
 
 All Aboard; 
 
 Or, Lite on the Lake. 
 
 Now or Never ; 
 
 Or, the Adventures of Bobby Bright. 
 
 Try Again ; 
 
 Or, The Trials and Triumphs of Harry 
 West. 
 
 Poor and Proud; 
 
 Or, The Fortunes of Katy Redbum, 
 
 Little by Little ; 
 
 Or The Cruise of the Flyaway. 
 
 Boys and girls have no taste for dry and tame 
 things; they want something that will rtir the 
 blood and wnrin the heart. Optic alwavs does 
 this, while at the same time he ir- proves the taste 
 and elevates the moral nature. The coming gen- 
 eration of men will never know how much they 
 are indebted tor what is pun- and enobling to his 
 writings. R. 1. Schoobnate. 
 
 \# LEE & SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston. 
 
 OLIVER OPTIC'S 
 
 WOODVILLE STORIES. 
 
 Six VOLS., ILLUST. PeR VOL., $1.35. 
 
 Rich and Humble; 
 
 Or, The Mission of Bertha Grant 
 
 In School and Oat; 
 
 Or, the Conquest of Richard Grant 
 
 Watch and Wait; 
 
 Or, The Young Fugitives. 
 
 Work and Win; 
 
 Or, Noddy Newman on a Cruise. 
 
 Hope and Have; 
 
 Or, Fanny Grant among the Indians. 
 
 Hate and Waste; 
 
 Or, The Young Pilot of Lake Cham- 
 plain. 
 
 Oliver Optic is the apostolic successor, at the 
 "Huh." of Peter Parley. He has just completed ; 
 the "Wno.lvi.ic Stories," by the publication or 
 " Haste and Waste." The best notice to give of 
 them is to mention that a couple of youngsters 
 pulled them out of the pile two hours since, and 
 are yet devouring them out in the summer-house 
 (albeit anftimn loaves cover it) oblivious to muffin : 
 time. -A'. Y. Leader. CJ 
 
 LEE 4 SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston. ij
 
 GOOSY GANDER CLUB. Page 25.
 
 THJffi PKOVERU SERIES. 
 
 A WRONG CONFESSED 
 
 IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 BY 
 
 MRS. BRADLEY, 
 
 AUTHOK OF "HIKPS OP A FEATIIEK," "IIAKHROME is THAT 
 
 HANDSOME DOES," " JtUEAl> UI'ON THE WATKK8," 
 "JJOUGLASS FAUM," ETC. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS. 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 LEE, SHEPARf) & DILI.IXGIIAM, 4U GREENE STREET. 
 1872.
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, 
 
 BY LEE AND SHEPAKD, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 Electrotyped at the 
 
 Boston Stereotype Foundry, 
 
 19 Spring Lane.
 
 3727m- 
 
 MT "ROSE OF JUNE." 
 
 WITH SWEETEST MEMORIES OF THE CHILDHOOD PAST; 
 
 LOVING THOUGHTS OF THE GIRLHOOD PRESENT; 
 
 DEAREST HOPES FOR THE WOMANHOOD 
 
 TO COME. 
 
 CEDAR GLEN, ON THE HUDSON, 
 October, 1869. 
 
 622S3;
 
 THE PROVERB SERIES. 
 
 1. BIRDS OF A FEATHER. 
 
 2. FINE FEATHERS DO NOT MAKE FINE 
 
 BIRDS. 
 
 3. HANDSOME IS THAT HANDSOME DOES. 
 
 4. A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF RE- 
 
 DRESSED. 
 
 5. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. 
 
 6. ONE GOOD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PACK 
 
 I. THE BROWN COTTAGE 9 
 
 II. " AMBO." 27 
 
 III. THE STAR-BABY 42 
 
 IV. VIOLET'S HANDKERCHIEF 62 
 
 V. VIOLET'S GRANDFATHER 84 
 
 VI. LAURA'S IDEA 100 
 
 VII. THE WRONG PROPOSED 118 
 
 VIII. IN THE ORCHARD 127 
 
 IX. VIOLET TO THE RESCUE 141 
 
 X. VIOLET'S DILEMMA 161 
 
 XI. THE WRONG CONFESSED 178 
 
 XII. THE WRONG REDRESSED 203 
 
 XIII. THE FAIR. 222 
 
 7
 
 A WftONG CONFESSED IS HALF 
 EEDEESSED. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE BROWN COTTAGE. 
 
 - GUILFORD'S cottage was one of the 
 " cosy " places in Englewood. It stood far 
 back from the village street, so surrounded with 
 trees, and shrubbery, and flowers, that one 
 seemed to come upon it unawares, like a bird's 
 nest in a bush. The yard in front was full of 
 old-fashioned, sweet-smelling flowers, big bushes 
 of lilac, and sweet syringa, and those brown 
 " strawberry shrubs " that children hide in their 
 bosoms for the fragrant odor, with great beds 
 of moss pinks, and purple pansies, and delicious 
 little violets hiding away in the grass. 
 
 Around the roots of the two large fir trees 
 at the gate they grew too thickly for hiding, and 
 people stopped many a time to steal a handful 
 
 9
 
 10 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 of the blue-eyed darlings as they passed. It was 
 pretty well known that Mrs. Guilford would not 
 mind ; she loved flowers so dearly herself that 
 she was always willing to give them to others to 
 enjoy ; and when the violet-stealers walked up 
 through the pretty green yard to the brown cot- 
 tage, as they often did, with their plunder in 
 their hands, she was quite ready to come but 
 with her garden scissors and cut tulips and hya- 
 cinths to add to the bouquet. 
 
 At this rate she had plenty of visitors, one 
 may be sure. They came in May, when the 
 lilies of the valley were breathing out their 
 dainty fragrance ; in June, when the roses and 
 honeysuckles had their own story to tell ; in July 
 and August, when heliotrope and verbena over- 
 ran the beds all the year round, in short, for 
 Mrs. Guilford always had flowers, in doors or 
 out ; and, more than that, always had a smile 
 and a welcome, warm as sunshine, sweet as May 
 blossoms, for everybody. 
 
 It was this sunshiny way of hers that made 
 the brown cottage cosy within, as it was pretty 
 without. There was nothing 'costly or fine in 
 the rooms ; the parlor, the dining-room, the 
 sitting-room, and the nursery, all had the look
 
 THE BROWN COTTAGE. II 
 
 of being well used. Books lay about as if they 
 were read ; the piano stood open, as if music 
 was a habit ; writing materials, drawing mate- 
 rials, fancy work, and work baskets, with the 
 signs of more practical matters, were seen every- 
 where ; not in slovenly or careless fashion, for 
 Mrs. Guilford allowed no untidiness, but with 
 a home-like air of cheerful occupation. People 
 liked to come there, and all sorts of people did 
 come ; and nobody felt in the way or not wanted. 
 And, better still, those who lived there liked no 
 other place so well. 
 
 To the doctor himself it was the most perfect 
 home in the world. He rode about from one 
 patient to another all day long, and now was 
 in a stately mansion that would have swallowed 
 up half a dozen brown cottages, and now in a 
 hovel. And he would as soon have thought of 
 changing his own little nest for one as the other. 
 It held all the sweetness he wanted in life, for 
 his wife and children were there. And the young 
 people, for their part, in spite of having am- 
 bitions and vain longings, as young people must, 
 found " no place like home," after all. 
 
 There were three of them together in the cool, 
 shady parlor one warm June afternoon Laura,
 
 12 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 a girl of fourteen, with bright, dark eyes, heavy 
 brown hair braided in a thick coil about her 
 small, shapely head, and a sensible and good- 
 humored, rather than pretty face ; Sydney,, her 
 twin brother, very much like her ; and little Fan, 
 a blue-eyed and flaxen-haired maiden of five 
 years, who sat at her ease in the broad window 
 seat, making paper dolls. 
 
 Laura had been having a practice-hour at the 
 pian.o, and Sydney had just come in with a pile 
 of books to " do his lessons " for the next day. 
 He laid them down on a table near the piano, 
 and pulled away the piece of music that Laura 
 was practising. 
 
 " Time's up, ma'am, and I don't want any 
 more hammering ; I'm going to learn my les- 
 sons," was his saucy greeting. 
 
 "Well, that's cool isn't it?" Laura looked up 
 with a good-humored remonstrance. " Why 
 can't you learn your lessons somewhere else ? " 
 
 " Because there's somebody in the sitting-room 
 chattering, and somebody in the dining-room 
 setting the table for tea, and Archie's on the 
 rampage in the nursery, and up in my room 
 it's as hot as pepper," said Sydney, categori-
 
 THE BROWN COTTAGE. 13 
 
 cally. " It's nice and comfortable in here 
 would be, at least, if you'd be quiet." 
 
 " As if I wasn't ! " exclaimed Laura, swinging 
 round on the music-stool. " You've put a stop 
 to my noise, but don't curl up the .edges of my 
 ' Weber,' Syd. I hate things that are mussed." 
 
 " You'll be an old maid, if you're so par- 
 ticular." 
 
 " I don't care if I am ; I won't have my music 
 dog's-eared, at all events," said Laura, putting 
 away her Letzter Gedanke in a neat portfolio. 
 " And another thing, Syd : mamma objects to 
 dusty shoes in the parlor though you can't say 
 that she's an old maid." 
 
 Sydney looked down at his feet, and made a 
 grimace. " I forgot my shoes," he exclaimed, 
 and ran out of the room ; coming back two min- 
 utes later with a clean pair on. 
 
 " Will that suit your ladyship ? " he asked ; 
 " and may I have the privilege of studying my 
 lessons in your drawing-room now ? " 
 
 "Yes, if you won't tilt your "chair back, and 
 put your feet on the table. That's impolite in 
 the presence of ladies, to say nothing of spoiling 
 the furniture." 
 
 " Never mind the furniture," said Sydney,
 
 14 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 easily. " We haven't got any that's too good to 
 be used ; that's one comfort." 
 
 " Well, I do believe it is," laughed Laura ; 
 " though sometimes I wish we had velvet car- 
 pets, and mirrors, and rosewood etageres, and 
 silk curtains, as the Johnsons have. Their draw- 
 ing-room is perfectly elegant, Sydney." 
 
 " I bet it isn't as comfortable as this," said 
 Sydney, complacently. "I bet they keep it 
 shut up for company, and don't have any good 
 of it themselves." 
 
 " O, of course," assented Laura. " I went 
 there with mamma once last winter, and we 
 couldn't see where to sit down, until the ser- 
 vant opened a crack in the shutters. It was 
 dark as a pocket, and cold as a barn ; but when 
 the daylight ivas let in, the room looked splen- 
 did." 
 
 " I'd rather have one that wasn't so splendid, 
 where the daylight could stay in all the time," 
 answered her brother. " In fact, I don't want 
 anything different from what I've got already. 
 I'm thankful mamma hasn't any ridiculous no- 
 tions." 
 
 " So am I," responded Laura. " Only fancy 
 our not being allowed to sit in any room in the
 
 THE BROWN COTTAGE. 15 
 
 house when we choose ! But Annie Carey says 
 that Cathy Johnson's mother scolds like fury 
 if the girls go into that precious room with- 
 out permission. Think of mamma doing such 
 a thing ! " 
 
 " Scolding like fury? Excuse me, I couldn't," 
 said Sydney, with a superior air, " any more 
 than I could think of her making use of such an 
 expression." 
 
 " O, dear ! " cried Laura ; " how fine we are 
 all at once ! You never make use of expressions, 
 of course. You only bet when it would be 
 proper to suppose, and skedaddle when you 
 mean to run away, and talk about things being 
 bully and hunky-dory, and " 
 
 "Where's my ' Keetel,' I wonder?" inter- 
 rupted Sydney, irrelevantly. " I brought it in 
 with me, I'm sure. Did you meddle with my 
 books, Fan, when I went out just now ? " 
 
 " Fan hasn't stirred," said Laura, laughing ; 
 " and there's your ' Keetel ' on the floor, where 
 you dropped it yourself. I don't wonder you 
 want to change the subject ; but you mustn't do 
 French lessons just this minute : I want to talk 
 to you." 
 
 " Of course you always want to talk," he
 
 1 6 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 retorted, taking his revenge. " Some more gos- 
 sip about your neighbors, and how Annie Carey 
 told Georgie White that Cathy Johnson's cousin 
 Sue heard Nannie Cox's mother scold like 
 fury ! " 
 
 " You be still ! " and Laura gave a twitch to 
 his curly locks her favorite mode of punish- 
 ing his boyish impertinences. " As if I ever 
 said anything like thai ! It takes a boy for such 
 a ' string of stuff and Nannie Cox's mother 
 never scolds. She's almost as nice as ours." 
 
 " O, by the way," exclaimed Sydney, with a 
 sudden recollection, " Charlie Cox told me some- 
 thing to-day. He says the old Van Wyck place 
 is sold, and a family from New York are com- 
 ing up. They're going to have it all pulled to 
 pieces, and made over again as fine as a fiddle, 
 Charlie says." 
 
 "Pull the old house to pieces ! what a shame !" 
 Laura cried, indignantly. " Why, it's like a pic- 
 ture as it is." 
 
 " O, not taken down, but overhauled, you 
 know, and cleaned out, 'and painted up, and all 
 sorts of things. Charlie says he saw the man 
 that bought it. He's a crusty old fellow, with
 
 THE BROWN COTTAGE. 1 7 
 
 goggles and a knobby cane, and Charlie said he 
 looked cross as Ajax." 
 
 & "I thought it was girls that talked gossip," 
 said Laura, significantly. 
 
 " So it is. That's not gossip ; it's news. Can't 
 you see the difference ? " 
 
 " Yes, just as much as between tweedledum 
 and tweedledee. Scolding like fury and looking 
 cross as Ajax come to much the same thing in 
 the end, sir." 
 
 " I guess I'll do my exercises," drawled "Syd- 
 ney. " You're much too smart for such warm 
 weather. Fan, where' s my pencil ? " turning to 
 the quiet little figure in the window. 
 
 " I'm usin' it," was the sedate answer. 
 
 " Well, I want it. Hand over." 
 
 " Ain't done with it yet. Got to finish chim- 
 min' my doll's frock." 
 
 " Chimmin'f what's that?" 
 
 " She means trimming," put in Laura. " Let's 
 see your doll's frock, Fan. O, what ecstatic 
 scallops ! " as the child held up her work with 
 a pleased look. " Is that for Kitty Clover or 
 blue-eyed Mary ? " 
 
 " No, it's Lady Flora's ; and I've did another, 
 
 2
 
 iS A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 too, that's prettier," said Fan, eagerly. " Look 
 here." 
 
 " You've did it what did I tell you about 
 that yesterday ? " exclaimed Sydney. 
 
 " I mean I done it," she said, with such a 
 complacent assurance of being right now that 
 Sydney shouted. 
 
 " You're a little grammatical heathen ; it's no 
 use trying to teach you," he laughed. " Give . 
 me my pencil." 
 
 But Fan held it tight, and made up a griev- 
 ous lip. 
 
 " Don't take it away, Syd ; let her keep it," 
 said Laura, quickly. " It's early yet, and I've 
 got something to tell you, truly. Come over 
 here, on the sofa." 
 
 " It's all nonsense, I know ; " but he did as 
 she wished, all the same. 
 
 " Now, then," as he sat down by her, " you 
 know, Sydney, our sewing society has decided 
 to have a fair." 
 
 "O, don't I?" he answered, comically. 
 "Haven't you told me sixteen times before?" 
 
 " No, I haven't, you goose. And never mind 
 if I have. I'm going to tell you something now
 
 THE BROWN COTTAGE. 19 
 
 that will give you an interest in it. It's been 
 proposed to invite you to join the society." 
 
 " Me ! " exclaimed Sydney. " Much obliged 
 to you ; but I can't see it. What would a boy 
 look like in a sewing society ? " 
 
 " Boys might as well make themselves use- 
 ful, once in a way," retorted Laura, " as for girls 
 to do it all the time. Any way, we've made a 
 resolution " 
 
 "To buy thimbles for the academy?" inter- 
 rupted Sydney. " I'll tell all the fellows to look 
 out for 'em." 
 
 " Don't be silly. We've no money to waste 
 on clumsy fingers, ajid we can do our own sew- 
 ing. It isn't that we want of the boys." 
 
 " What is it, then ? " he asked more seriously, 
 as he saw that Laura was really in earnest. 
 
 " Well, I dare say you will laugh ; and I don't 
 know if you will be willing you or any of the 
 other boys. But we've been talkinj about it in 
 the society, and we thought perhaps you, and 
 Harry Walker, and Charlie Cox, and Sam Ha- 
 ven, and the rest of our brothers, you know, 
 we shan't ask any strangers, of course, would 
 like to be honorary members. Now don't laugh," 
 for Sydney's face was puckered up with a droll
 
 2O A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 expression, " but just hear me out. We're 
 going to have a fair, and we want it to be real 
 nice, and, of course, we want all the help we 
 can get." 
 
 " Lots of help you'll get out of boys ! " Syd- 
 ney interpolated, derisively. " Can they make 
 pin-cushions and book-marks ? " 
 
 " Some boys can, for I've seen them.'" 
 
 " Muffs ! " was his comment. 
 
 " No such thing. Sam Haven isn't a muff, 
 you know, and he worked a beautiful pin-cushion 
 for his aunt. It was in all the shades of scarlet, 
 and very nicely done. He used to amuse him- 
 self with it last winter, in the long evenings ; 
 Carrie told me so. However," she added, 
 hastily x " it isn't anything of that sort we want, 
 as I told you before. What we do want is 
 sometlring that boys can do better than girls, 
 because they have penknives and tools, and are 
 always whittling." 
 
 " O, I see," said Sydney, " you want little 
 brackets, and picture-frames, and wooden knick- 
 knacks." 
 
 " Yes, exactly ; and some boys are so clever 
 about those things. Carrie Haven showed me a 
 book-rack that her cousin, Bert Holroyd, had
 
 THE BROWN COTTAGE. 21 
 
 made for her. The ends were all carved in open- 
 work, with her initial in the centre. It was just 
 as handsome as any of those things one buys in 
 the shops." 
 
 " That's all veiy well for Bert Holroyd," said 
 Sydney, with a shrug of his shoulders. " But 
 everybody isn't a genius in wood-work. I 
 couldn't do it, you know." 
 
 " You can make beautiful boats, though," said 
 Laura, warmly. " That toy ship you rigged for 
 Archie was pretty enough to sell at any fair. 
 And didn't you make a bedstead for Flossie's 
 doll, and a paper-knife for me besides all those 
 building-blocks in the nursery ? You can do lots 
 of things ! " 
 
 " O, yes that sort of trash," he answered, 
 coloring up, though, with pleasure at her praise. 
 " If a fellow can be what do you call it? an 
 honorary member on the strength of that " 
 
 " Then you will ? " asked Laura, eagerly. " If 
 you join us, the other boys won't refuse, I know ; 
 and really, Syd, we'll have some fun out of it 
 as well as work. We'll let you come to the 
 meetings sometimes, and may be we'll have a 
 picnic." 
 
 " That's jolly but what for?"
 
 22 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HAtF REDRESSED. 
 
 " Why, to collect material. You'll want wood 
 to whittle, and we want mosses, and ferns, and 
 wild flowers, to work up into all sorts of pretty 
 things. Little Olive Elsie Raymond's lame 
 sister, you know makes the most beautiful 
 crosses, and wreaths, and moss baskets. She 
 hasn't anything else to do, poor little thing, and 
 Elsie says she's quite delighted to think of work- 
 ing for the fair." 
 
 " Have you said anything about it to any of the 
 other fellows ? " asked Sydney. 
 
 " I haven't, of course ; but I dare say Lizzie, 
 and Carrie, and Gertie, and the rest, have been 
 talking to their brothers, as I have to you, this 
 afternoon. It was only to-day, at recess, that we 
 decided on the measure," continued Laura, with 
 a little important air. " Boys are not always 
 desirable, you see. Sometimes they're very much 
 in the way." 
 
 " O, if that's the case " Sidney began mis- 
 chievously. 
 
 " But it isn't in this case," she made haste to 
 add. " We decided that the boys we meant to 
 invite could help us a great deal,* if they chose. 
 So we all agreed to propose it this afternoon ; 
 and then, if it's settled, we'll have a meeting next
 
 THE BROWN COTTAGE. 23 
 
 Saturday, and arrange things, and present you 
 all with badges of membership." 
 
 " With 'wh-a-t ? " Sydney jumped up with so 
 absurd a face that Laura burst into a laugh. 
 " Have we got to wear badges, like a Sunday 
 school procession ? O, come now, that's a little 
 too much." 
 
 " No, it isn't, either," she insisted, merrily. 
 " You are going to have beautiful blue ribbons, 
 all embroidered with the motto of the society, 
 and they'll look elegant on your military uniform. 
 The girls will wear them, too ; and then every- 
 body will know we are one society. I think you 
 ought to feel highly honored." 
 
 " To make a guy of myself ! and what's the 
 precious motto, I'd like to know ? " 
 
 " O, that's the trouble," confessed Laura, with 
 an anxious look. " If we have you boys in, we 
 can't call ourselves just the sewing society any 
 longer. We ought to have some kind of a mu- 
 tual name, and a Latin motto, and they've all 
 left it for me to choose. What shall it be ? See 
 if you can't think of something." 
 
 Sydney puckered up his forehead, and pon- 
 dered diligently for a minute. Presently a mis-
 
 24 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDKESSED. 
 
 chievous twinkle came into the corner of his eye, 
 and he said, demurely, 
 
 " I've thought of a name, and perhaps I can 
 fit it with a motto, too. Wait a minute." 
 
 " Tell me what the name is first," she an- 
 swered, eagerly. 
 
 " Guess. I'll give you the initials G. G. C." 
 
 " G. G. C. ! " Laura repeated, looking mysti- 
 fied. " How can I tell what that means? I 
 can't think of anything but Good Girls' Club, 
 and of course you wouldn't be so ridiculous." 
 
 " O, of course not," he responded, with the air 
 of one who would scorn to do such a thing. 
 " Try again." 
 
 " What's the use of guessing when you can 
 tell me ? Don't be aggravating, Syd, if you are 
 a boy." 
 
 "Hi tell you, will you promise to adopt it, 
 and work the initials on your badges ? " 
 
 " No, indeed," said Laura, promptly, suspect- 
 ing mischief; " not till I know whether it's 
 suitable." 
 
 " Take that for granted," he persisted, with the 
 same virtuous air. " I assure you it couldn't be 
 more so. Takes in boys and girls both, and de- 
 scribes the whole thing perfectly."
 
 THE BROWN COTTAGE. 25 
 
 " Very good ; but I won't risk my promise till 
 I hear it. What does G. G. C. stand for? " 
 
 " It stands for what a doubting Thomas you 
 are ! " he exclaimed, suddenly, moving away 
 from the sofa. 
 
 " Dear me ! how well it fits the initials ! " 
 was her quick retort. " If that's the best you 
 can do " 
 
 " Well, if you must know," Sydney began, 
 with a wicked look, that prepared Laura for 
 what was coming, " and you're so stupid that 
 you can't guess, it stands for Goosy Gander 
 Club!" 
 
 And with a shout of saucy laughter at his 
 own smartness, he jumped aside to escape the 
 dash at him which former experiences with 
 Laura had taught him to expect. But he did 
 not take account of a hassock that stood in the 
 way, and it proved a pitfall to him. Plunging 
 over it, he came down head foremost, and lay 
 at her mercy next minute, with his heels in the 
 air. Such a splendid opportunity was not to be 
 neglected ; and Laura pounced upon him, strug- 
 gling and choking with laughter, and pinched 
 and pommelled him to her heart's content. Little 
 Fan looked on with demure "enjoyment of the
 
 26 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 fun, maintaining a strict neutrality, in spite of 
 Sydney's appeals for help ; and Laura made 
 him eat " humble pie " to her complete satis- 
 faction, before she allowed him to regain his 
 " centre of gravity."
 
 AMBO. 27 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 " AMBO." 
 
 TV /TRS. GUILFORD believed in the policy 
 of non-intervention, with certain limita- 
 tions. She heard the tumble and scuffle in the 
 parlor, and listened attentively, to discover if 
 there were any sounds of anger, or real trouble. 
 Not perceiving any, she chose to let them settle 
 the matter after their own fashion. She was 
 prompt to interfere, restrain, and prevent, if fun 
 degenerated into rudeness, or dispute into real 
 vexation of spirit ; but that seldom happened, 
 quarrelling in earnest not being a habit at the 
 brown cottage. 
 
 On the contrary, the rule of the house was, 
 " Little children, love one another" It had 
 been the nursery motto from the beginning of 
 things, and had been kept before all eyes by a 
 variety of ingenious devices, which the doctor 
 used to laugh at, though he heartily approved all 
 the same.
 
 28 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 It hung up, as a splendid illuminated text, 
 all blue, and red, and gold, over the crib 
 where Laura and Sydney used to tumble together 
 in their childhood. Then it made an ornamental 
 inscription on the cornice of Laura's first baby- 
 house, and shone conspicuously on the locomotive 
 of Sydney's first train of cars. Letter blocks had 
 been made to spell out the sweet precept, and 
 picture-books to illustrate it, with a patient inge- 
 nuity on the part of the loving mother, until it 
 became the first practical lesson of life to all the 
 little Guilfords. She found it easier to teach 
 them duty to God and obedience to parents, 
 when they had learned that love was the rule and 
 reason for all goodness. 
 
 So it happened that, while they all had their 
 share of faults and follies, who hasn't? they 
 gi'evv up in an atmosphere of love, that made 
 them forbearing and considerate, and prevented 
 the pessibility of the wrangling and unkindness 
 that are too often seen among brothers and sisters. 
 Their disagreements never lasted long, or held 
 bitterness, because they loved each other, and 
 could not bear the pain of separation, even in 
 feeling. 
 
 In the present afiair there was nothing but
 
 AMBO. 29 
 
 fun, which Sydney enjoyed as much as Laura, in 
 spite of having got rather the "worst of it. He 
 scrambled up, all flushed and tumbled, with his 
 curly hair like a mop, and his eyes sparkling 
 with merry excitement. 
 
 " Don't you touch me don't you dare ! " 
 Laura screamed, for there was a wicked look in 
 them that boded retaliation. His only answer 
 was, to snatch her suddenly, and whirl her round 
 and round till they were both dizzy as tops with 
 the wild waltz, and sank together exhausted upon 
 the sofa. 
 
 " "'Now, then, let us have peace ! as General 
 Grant says," he gasped, out of breath. " Tit 
 for tat's fair play, Miss Laura, and one good turn 
 deserves, another." 
 
 " It's nice to quote proverbs, and ' our distin- 
 guished president,' " pouted Laura, with a rueful 
 face. " But look at my hair ! " 
 
 The glossy braids were all tumbling apart in 
 a picturesque disorder that she knew would not 
 be admissible at the tea-table. It was something 
 of a task to rearrange them in the shapely coil 
 upon which she prided herself, and she had her 
 lessons to learn, besides, before tea. So she had 
 to content herself with a parting pull at her
 
 30 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 brother's equally dishevelled hair, and run up 
 stairs to make herself tidy again, as speedily as 
 possible. 
 
 Sydney was deep in his French exercise when 
 she came back. Little Fan had given up the 
 pencil, and gone to look for other amusement, 
 and the room was quiet enough now. So Laura 
 settled heYself soberly to her tasks, and for the 
 next hour there was no sound heard but the 
 scratch of pencils on paper, and the little hum- 
 ming whisper with which girls always get their 
 lessons by heart. 
 
 They were both good students, as boys and 
 girls go. Sydney was a day pupil at the Military 
 Academy, and ranked well in all his classes ; 
 Laura was with Mrs. Delancy, at The Glen, a 
 classmate with our old friends Elsie Raymond 
 and May Barnard, and ambitious to keep up with 
 their steady march of improvement. The one 
 study-hour at home which was all the doctor 
 allowed, on hygienic principles was generally 
 made the most of by both of them ; and when 
 it came to a close this afternoon, with the tinkle 
 of the tea-bell, a good deal had been accom- 
 plished. 
 
 The exercises were made out correctly, and
 
 AMBO. 31 
 
 Sydney had learned his irregular verbs, worked 
 out his " theorems," and construed his page of 
 Sallust ; while Laura had mastered her tasks in 
 French and English grammar, and taken various 
 steps, geographical and historical, in a general 
 pursuit of knowledge. k 
 
 They were quite hungry enough to enjoy their 
 tea when it came ; and tea, at the brown cottage, 
 was always what Laura called " nice." Not 
 with exclusive reference to the celestial beverage, 
 which was nowhere more so than at Mrs. Guil- 
 ford's table, but as a generally convivial occasion, 
 when everybody was expected to be what Sydney 
 called "jolly." 
 
 The doctor made a conscience of coming 
 home to it punctually. His breakfasts were apt 
 to be hurried, and his dinner very often forgotten, 
 in the excitement of an urgent " case ; " but he 
 managed, as a rule, to so arrange the day's work, 
 that he could take his evening meal in leisurely 
 comfort with his family. This was the children's 
 hour for seeing their father, discussing their 
 various plans and projects that required his sanc- 
 tion, preferring petitions, and obtaining indulgen- 
 ces. They circled the pretty round table, looking 
 as fresh and sweet, in the doctor's eyes, as the
 
 32 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 flowers that always ornamented it. Their clean, 
 smiling faces, their shining hair, their little white 
 pinafores, were all beautiful to him, and always 
 delightful ; his heart expanded with the same 
 genial happiness every evening as he took his 
 seat amongst them, whatever the cares or vexa- 
 tions of the day might have been before. For 
 this hour everything else was put by, and the 
 young people had it all their own way with 
 him. 
 
 There was chatter enough, as usual, to-night. 
 The pinafores had their father's ear first by com- 
 mon consent, and eveiy one of them had a spe- 
 cial tale for him. Archie, the three-year-old 
 " baby," dumpling cheeked, and slow of speech, 
 stumbled through a deeply-interesting history of 
 his " yubber ball," that he dropped down the 
 well, and Sydney fished up again in the bucket. 
 Fan had found a quarter a real silver quarter 
 nt the root of a weed in her own little garden. 
 Papa must speculate, as everybody else had spec- 
 ulated vainly before, upon the how and when of 
 its getting there, and give his advice, moreover, 
 upon the best investment for such a fortune. 
 Flossy, the chatterbox, who always had adven- 
 tures to relate, made a marvellous story about a
 
 AMBO. 33 
 
 strange cat that almost caught the canary. And 
 Sydney and Laura chimed in, as they got oppor- 
 tunity, with a jumble of school matters, sewing 
 society, fairs, and honorary members, until the 
 doctor grew fairly -bewildered with the confusion 
 of tongues. 
 
 " It's a little more than usual to-night, it seems 
 to me," he said, resignedly. " If you wouldn't 
 all talk at once, I might get an idea of what 
 you are talking about. Who's going to have 
 a fair? Fan, on the strength of that silver 
 quarter ? " 
 
 " O, papa, no I" Laura began, and Flossy 
 caught it up, glibly. 
 
 " It's the sewing society, papa, you know ; and 
 I wish I was as big as Laura, so I could belong 
 to it. Can't I have a quarter, though, as well as 
 Fan ? I dug up every weed in my garden, but / 
 couldn't find one ! " 
 
 " O, and don't you think," exclaimed little 
 Fan, with a lofty air of wisdom, " she dug up 
 ever so many of her pretty flowers ! Did she 
 think anybody planted quarters? / told her 
 not to." 
 
 " People plant funnier things than quarters 
 sometimes," said the doctor. " I was reading, 
 3
 
 34 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 the other clay, Fan, about a little boy who planted 
 his shoes and sowed his stockings." 
 
 Fan looked scornful. " They didn't come 
 up, I know," she returned, confidently. 
 
 " Yes, they did, too," put in Sydney, quickly, 
 who knew the story. " Isn't it true, papa? " 
 
 The doctor laughed, and nodded, " seeing the 
 point," and Fan's eyes grew round with incred- 
 ulous wonder. 
 
 " Stockin's an' shoes don't grow," she per- 
 sisted, with a puzzled look, elevating her little 
 red morocco boot to the level of the table, as if 
 to assure herself more fully. " Things can't 
 grow without roots don't I know? " 
 
 " Did they really, papa? Tell me about it," 
 pleaded Flossy. 
 
 " Why, it was a little boy who was fond of 
 making experiments like you," said the doc- 
 tor. " He slipped away from his nurse one day, 
 and was having a fine time in the garden, all 
 alone, when the nurse missed him, and found him 
 out. He had the hoe and the watering-pot, and 
 there was a great deal of fresh mud on his face, 
 and hands, and clothes ; but that was nothing 
 new. The singular thing, was, that his little toes 
 were all bare, and there was no sign of his shoes
 
 AM BO. 35 
 
 and stockings. The nurse scolded, and shook 
 him, and slapped him, but he wouldn't tell what 
 he had done with them, until at last she declared 
 she would shut him up in the dark cellar. And 
 that was too much for his courage ; so he sobbed 
 out, ' I pup- planted my shoes, an' sus- sowed 
 my stockin's ! ' ' 
 
 " Poor little fellow 1 " exclaimed Mrs. Guilford. 
 
 
 
 " He thought he was going to raise a crop of 
 shoes and stockings." 
 
 " Yes, and the heartless nurse crushed his 
 hopes by digging up the seed," laughed the doc- 
 tor. " That's the way they came up, Fan 
 they were dug up." 
 
 Fan turned up her little nose at Sydney, and 
 observed, loftily, that " he thought he was smart ; 
 but didn't she kno\y all the time ? Anything 
 could come up if it was took up." 
 
 And Archie dropped the big strawberry that 
 was half way to his mouth, to state solemnly that 
 " his yubber ball corned up, too" 
 
 Whereupon everybody laughed again, as if the 
 little dumpling had said something wonderfully 
 witty and clever. But laughing comes so easy, 
 if people are only in a good humor ! 
 
 " I do think, though," Laura put in, pleading-
 
 36 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 ly, " that you might talk to me a little now, 
 papa. Can't the children be quiet? I want to 
 tell you about our fair, and I want you to take 
 an interest in it." 
 
 u Fairs ! " exclaimed the doctor, mischievous- 
 ly. " They are the most ruinous things in the 
 world. They swallow up principal as well as 
 interest. Don't ask me." 
 
 " Of course I want some money, by and by," 
 said Laura, coolly. " But it's only advice just 
 now. We're going to reconstruct our society, 
 you know. We've only been girls before, and 
 now " 
 
 ''You are going to make boys of yourselves? 
 Good gracious ! " The doctor raised his hands 
 with an air of dismay. 
 
 " Not tomboys, I hope," Mrs. Guilford added, 
 merrily. And Laura gave her shoulders a little 
 jerk of comical impatience. 
 
 " O, dear ! how everybody does interrupt ! 
 Now, between you, you've scattered all my 
 thoughts." 
 
 " Soon said of thistle-down," was her father's 
 retort ; " but I'll blow you back a feather. You 
 were going to reconstruct the girls, you said ; 
 well, that wouldn't be so bad for some of them."
 
 AMBO. 37 
 
 " Meaning me, of course," Laura returned, 
 composedly. " I know you don't really think it, 
 papa ; so I don't mind. What I wanted to tell 
 you was this : that we're going to make honorary 
 members of our brothers, and so we want to give 
 the society a name ; something nice and descrip- 
 tive, and we'd like it to be in Latin. But /can't 
 think of anything that will suit." 
 
 " Why don't you apply to your honorary mem- 
 bers ? Here's a Latin scholar that ought to do 
 something for you." 
 
 " Not he," Sydney responded, promptly. " lie's 
 had his lesson beforehand." 
 
 " Deserved it, too. Only think of his impu- 
 dence, mamma, to give me Goosy Gander Club 
 for a name ! Didn't he deserve to be pun- 
 ished?" 
 
 " He got his due, I fancy, and a little over," 
 Mrs. Guilford replied, " if that was the causa 
 belli for all the uproar I heard." 
 
 " Hear mamma quoting Latin ! " cried Syd- 
 ney. " She is the one to go to, after all, Laura." 
 
 But mamma declined the honor, and the doc- 
 tor was appealed to again, but not with any 
 s-itisfactory results. Laui'a was too fastidious 
 to accept any of the hackneyed Latin phrases
 
 38 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 which he teasingly offered. She rejected Semper 
 Idem as absurd. 
 
 " That's the very thing we are not, papa," 
 she exclaimed, indignantly. "Always the same, 
 when we are just going to be something differ- 
 ent ! How Tvoiild that look ? " 
 
 " Cui Bono " was offered next ; but that was, 
 of course, insulting ; ''Nil Despcrandum " was 
 no better; and, on the other hand, "Summum 
 JBonum " was too assuming. 
 
 " Besides, I could have found all that in the 
 Scholar's Companion," she said, disdainfully. 
 " I want something original, and not as old as 
 the hills." 
 
 " And therefore she goes to the dead lan- 
 guages," Sydney interposed, in a " stage aside." 
 
 " I don't know what to do for you," said the 
 doctor, in a resigned tone of voice, " unless 
 you'd like Felix Familia. It strikes me that 
 it's going to be a kind of Barnum's happy family 
 business." 
 
 " No, papa ; fclis et cants is better," Sydney 
 put in slyly. " You know what that is, Laura? " 
 
 " Felis sedit by a hole, 
 
 Intent! she cum omni soul 
 Pendere rats,
 
 AMBO. 39 
 
 Mice cucurrant over the floor 
 In number duo, tres, or more, 
 Obliti cats " 
 
 repeated the doctor, ridiculously ; and Laura 
 gave it up in despair, and was obliged to laugh 
 in spite of herself. 
 
 " It's lucky you're on the other side of the 
 table," she flung across to Sydney, " else we'd 
 have cats and dogs for tea. Only please to wait, 
 though, till I've finished my strawberries." 
 
 " Only please to excuse me," he retorted ; 
 " I've finished mine, and with your permission, 
 mamma, I'll run down to the post-office. The 
 mail train's up." 
 
 And hardly waiting for her nod of assent, he 
 pushed his chair back, and took a flying leap 
 through the low, open window, out upon the 
 grass-plot beneath. 
 
 " I expect that boy will break his neck some 
 day," observed the doctor, calmly. 
 
 " I expect he will break my English wood- 
 bine," said Mrs. Guilford, getting up to put back 
 in their place the long branches that had been 
 shaken loose by l.is leap. " I never could un- 
 derstand anybody's preference for going through 
 a winJow, when a duar io so much more handy."
 
 40 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 " It is because the window is so much more 
 7<?--gy," suggested the doctor ; and with the 
 laugh that followed this, the tea-table was de- 
 serted. 
 
 Laura went to look for Sydney's Latin lexicon, 
 and bringing it out upon the piazza-, where her 
 father had taken Archie for a swing in the ham- 
 mock, she declared her intention to find a name 
 for herself, independent of anybody's assistance. 
 The doctor said he admired her spirit, and 
 waited with an amused look to see what she 
 would achieve. For ten minutes her head was 
 bent over the closely -printed pages with a most 
 resolute air ; then she closed the book, and an- 
 nounced, gravely, that she had " suited herself," 
 as the Irish " girls " say. 
 
 " Well ? " said the doctor, interrogatively. 
 
 " Well," repeated Laura, assertively, " of 
 course you'll laugh, papa ; you've laughed at me 
 all along, but I don't care." 
 
 " Laura ! " her mother gave her a glance of 
 gentle reproof. " That's not quite the tone to 
 use to papa, dear." 
 
 " Well, I do care, then excuse me. But I 
 mean that papa wouldn't help me, and so I'm 
 going to stick to my choice, any way. If s just
 
 AMBO. 41 
 
 Ambo, both. That's short and simple ; and Una 
 Voce for a motto, mamma, in remembrance of 
 your advice." 
 
 Tho doctor smiled ; but he only said, " You 
 might have done worse, Laura." 
 
 The ridicule came from Sydney, who shouted 
 with d jrision when he heard it. " Why don't 
 yoir say Sambo, and done with it? Then you 
 might send the fair money to the freedmen's 
 bureau." 
 
 And he teased her all the evening with singing 
 absurd parodies upon " Champagne Charlie." 
 
 " Ambo-Sambo is my name, Sambo-Ambo is my name ; 
 O, won't the honorary fellows rejoice, with Sambo- 
 Ambo for a name ! "
 
 42 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 - CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE STAR-BABY. 
 
 TN spite of this, Laura's ipse dixit prevailed, 
 and the name was unanimously adopted by 
 the society, of which she was, in fact, the princi- 
 pal personage. 
 
 She had a fair share of her mother's benevo- 
 lent disposition, and by force of instinct, as well 
 as example, took pleasure in active charities. 
 She liked to go with her mother to look after 
 poor people, and had often given up her hour of 
 amusement, or pleasant reading, to help in the 
 making or mending of garments intended for 
 them. She also had a way of excusing herself" 
 for rough usage of her own dresses on charitable 
 grounds. " The sooner I spoil them, the sooner 
 they'll go to Janie Russell, you know, or some- 
 body else that needs them badly." 
 
 Which was logical, but not commendable, or 
 approved by her mother, who argued that neat-
 
 THE STAR-BABY. 43 
 
 ness and carefulness in personal matters were 
 essential elements of ladyhood; moreover, that 
 the end should never be relied upon to justify 
 the means. 
 
 There was a straggling settlement in the out-- 
 skirts of Englewood which went by the name 
 of Bobtown ; Dr. Guilford said that .Bob-/<z// 
 would have been more descriptive, and there was 
 certainly no lack of " rag, tag." He had plenty 
 of patients there, however, and attended them as 
 kindly and faithfully as if any good thing had 
 ever come out of Bobtown in the shape of a 
 fee. None ever had, in his experience ; but the 
 doctor's gig was seen there most days in the 
 week, now at one poor shanty and then at anoth- 
 er. And the doctor's wife followed up his med- 
 icines, in many places, with broth and gruel, 
 and baby clothes, that were equally gratuitous. 
 
 Laura was coming home one day, a year 
 ago, after a long holiday ramble with her 
 " particular friend," Susie Francr. They had 
 been as far as Croton woods, and had their hands 
 full of ferns, and wild honeysuckle, and hepatica, 
 gathered beside the brook that Elsie Raymond 
 had christened " Laughing Water." They had 
 to come through Bobtown to et into the village
 
 44 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 again, and became, of course, the " centre of ob- 
 servation " to the little rag-tags who paddled 
 about Bobtown at all hours promiscuously. 
 
 Half a dozen of them, with bare legs and bon- 
 netless heads, gathered around the young ladies, 
 with a sociable impulse. 
 
 " Gimme a flower, missis," said one, that was 
 lugging a baby half as big as herself. " I know 
 who you are you're the doctor's girl." 
 
 " And I know who you are," retorted Laura. 
 " You're Katie Flinn, that dropped her little 
 brother into the duck pond the other day. What 
 should I give you a flower for?" But she put 
 a bunch of pink honeysuckle into the little brown 
 paw all the same, and Katie giggled her thanks. 
 
 " I didn't hurt the baby ; I jist ducked him the 
 laste bit ; but that girl," pointing to a red-headed 
 comrade, " she beats her little brother awful bad, 
 an' pinches him. Don't she, Biddy? " 
 
 " No, I don't, no such thing ! " protested ' that 
 girl,' indignantly. " Don't you belave her, mis- 
 sis. Katie Flinn tells the' biggest lies ; and here's 
 Biddy O'Brine can prove it. Now, can't ye, 
 Biddy?" 
 
 But Biddy declined to testify for either side. 
 She giggled, and stuck her fingers in her mouth,
 
 THE STAR-BABY. 45 
 
 leaving one to infer, what was very nearly the 
 truth, that there was not much to be said to the 
 credit of either. 
 
 " I expect you're both of you just as bad as 
 you can be," said Laura, laughing with her eyes, 
 though she tried to be very severe. " If you 
 tell lies, Katie Flinn, you'll never go to heaven. 
 And if you what's your name?" to the red- 
 headed girl. 
 
 " Maggie M'Carty," in chorus from them all. 
 
 " Well, if you pinch your little brother, Mag- 
 gie M'Carty, I'll tell the doctor of you, now ; 
 and he won't come to see you when you get 
 sick." 
 
 Maggie showed her white teeth in a saucy 
 laugh. " I ain't goin' to get sick, no time," was 
 her confident answer. " I know somebody that 
 wants the doctor, though." 
 
 " Who is it? " asked Laura. 
 
 " It's a woman over yonder, in that house," 
 pointing to one of the shabbiest of the shanties. 
 " My mother took her somethin' to eat this morn- 
 in', 'cause she didn't have nothin', an' she says 
 she's rale sick, too." 
 
 " What's the matter with her? "
 
 40 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 " / do' know," said Maggie ; but Katie Flinn 
 put in glibly, 
 
 " It's chills she's got ; shakin' ager. My mother 
 said so. An' my mother says she don't do noth- 
 in' but cry all the time." 
 
 Laura gave Susie a look of quick interest. 
 "What does she cry for?" she asked. "Just 
 because she's sick? " 
 
 " 'Cause she hain't got nobody to do nothin' 
 for her," answered Katie. 
 
 " An' she ain't got nothin' to eat," added 
 Maggie. 
 
 " I'll go and see her this very minute," said 
 Laura, promptly. " Susie, are you afraid? Will 
 your mother mind, do you think? Chills aren't 
 catching, you know." 
 
 " I guess not," said Susie. " I'll risk it, any 
 way." 
 
 " Come on, then," said Laura, full of eager- 
 ness. " If it's true what these little monkeys 
 say, somebody ought to see to her, you know. 
 I wonder if papa has heard anything about 
 her?" 
 
 " My mother said she was goin' to speak to 
 the doctor, next time she saw him," put in Biddy 
 O'Brine, finding her tongue at last.
 
 THE STAR-BABY. 47 
 
 " Then papa doesn't know," was Laura's con- 
 clusion ; and, without more ado, she hurried on 
 to the house indicated, the whole body-guard of 
 little paddies following close at her heels. The 
 door opened as they reached the place, and a 
 woman came out that was instantly greeted with 
 a yell from Katie Flinn's big baby. 
 
 "Mahmy! mahmy ! maJimyl" stretching out 
 his fat arms to be taken by his mother. She 
 snatched him up for a minute, and then tumbled 
 him back to Katie indifferently, while she turned 
 to Laura. 
 
 " Sure, miss, an' is it the doctor's young lady? 
 I was wishin' this blessid minnit I cud lay eyes 
 on the face uv him, for the poor crather's sake 
 that's a groanin' in it." 
 
 "Is she very sick?" asked Laura. "That's 
 what we came for to see her." 
 
 " The Lord bless the purty faces av yez ! 
 Come in it, thin, and give her a frindly word, for 
 shure's it's hersilf that wants it bad. Katie Flinn, 
 go right along home, an' don't be afther droppin' 
 that baby. Biddy O'Brine, your mother's waitin' 
 for you, wicl a big stick forninst the fince. Be 
 aff wid yez all ! " 
 
 They scattered, reluctantly, before her out-
 
 48 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 stretched arms, the Flinn baby bawling lustily 
 for his " mahmy," and Biddy O'Brine looking 
 rather dejected at the cheerful prospect awaiting 
 her " forninst the fince." Laura and Susie went 
 inside, and saw there, upon her forlorn-looking 
 bed, the poor creature that lay so helpless and un- 
 cared-for. Her face was hot with fever, and she 
 moaned with pain as she tried to push away the 
 tangled hair from about it. Her clothing, and 
 that of the bed, with the few bits of furniture 
 in the room, were all of the most poverty-stricken 
 appearance ; and the desolate misery pictured in 
 her face filled the tender hearts of the two little 
 girls with the keenest pity. 
 
 " Hasn't she any friends at all ? " Susie Franer 
 asked. " Where did she come from ? what's her 
 name ? " And Laura asked, half indignantly, 
 " Why didn't somebody tell my father about 
 her?" 
 
 " Faith, an' it's me that mint to spake to 
 him," Mrs. Flinn said. " But Katie was jist 
 afther makin' a drownded kitten uv Johnny, 
 an' all my sinses forsuk me complately. An' 
 that was the last time I laid eyes on the doctor, 
 God bless him for a rale gintlcman as he is, an' 
 a kind frind to Bobtown."
 
 THE STAR-BABY. 49 
 
 "What's her name?" asked Susie again, 
 breaking into Mrs. Flinn's voluble speech. 
 
 " Is it her name ye said ? Faith, an' it's a 
 quare soundin' name she's got, thin. She called 
 hersilf Gritchin Shiffin something Me tongue 
 can't ketch it at all, at all." 
 
 " Gretchen ScheifTendecker," moaned the sick 
 woman from her bed, and Mrs. Flinn rat- 
 tled on. 
 
 " O, yis, and that same it is. It comes asy to 
 her, but me tongue ain't used to the likes of it, ye 
 see, miss. It's outlandish, but she's a dacent 
 body, the poor crather, an' a stiddy, hard worker 
 till her trouble tuk her. As I told me husband, 
 ' Pat,' sez I, ' she works aquil to a horse,' sez I, an' 
 ' Biddy,' sez he, ' what a blessin' it ud be if she'd 
 tache yersilf the thrick of it ! ' But that was jist 
 for the sake of tazin', as I told him. ' Pat,' sez I, 
 ' you've no raysin' to complain,' sez I. ' Nor I 
 don't,' sez he, ' for I wouldn't be so onfeelin' as to 
 tache an' old dog new thricks,' sez he." 
 
 Laura and Susie exchanged glances as the 
 flow of words streamed on. " Did you ever hear 
 such a tongue ? " said Susie's eyes. " No, I never 
 did ! " answered Laura's. And they began to 
 despair of ever getting any real information about 
 
 4
 
 5O A \VROXG*CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 the sick woman. Mrs. Flinn dearly loved the 
 music of her own voice, and this was such an 
 opportunity that she could not refrain from im- 
 proving it. However, it came out by and by, in 
 connection with a good many " Pat, sez I's," and 
 "Biddy, sez he's," that the Scheiffendecker woman 
 had " tramped " there, with her husband, in 
 search of work, about six months before. The 
 man had got something to do at the aqueduct, 
 and the woman had worked anywhere, and at 
 anything she could find to do : washing and iron- 
 ing,, house cleaning, digging in the fields, hay 
 making she never reftised anything. And so 
 for a while they had got on comfortably, until all 
 at once the man took to drinking, went on a 
 spree, lost his place, and finally cleared off 
 altogether one day, leaving his wife to shift for 
 herself. 
 
 " He made a pretinse of goin' to New York 
 to find work," said Mrs. Flinn, " an' he chated 
 the poor thing into belavin' that he'd come back 
 to fetch her. But he's niver come, nor niver mint 
 to, as I said to Pat. ' Pat,' sez I, 
 
 " Well," interrupted Laura, hastily, dreading 
 another avalanche of Pat, " I shall go right home, 
 and tell papa ; and he'll come and see her to-
 
 THE STAR-BABY. 5! 
 
 morrow, and mamma, too. She shan't be left 
 to suffer." 
 
 " The blessin's of the Lord upon you ! " Mrs. 
 Flinn exclaimed, piously. " It was only yister- 
 day I was sayin' to Pat, 'Pat,' sez I " 
 
 "Good by, Mrs. Scheiffendecker," said Laura, 
 unceremoniously. "You keep a good heart now, 
 and don't fret. When you see my mother to- 
 morrow, you'll feel better right away. And my 
 father's a doctor, too ; he'll have you all right 
 again in no time." 
 
 She laid her little plump, cool hand on Mrs. 
 Scheiflendecker's hard and homely one, all hot 
 with fever. It was clasped in a convulsive sort 
 of way, and drawn up to the poor parched lips. 
 " Such a kiss ! " Laura said afterwards. " It 
 fairly burned my hand." But she understood the 
 poor creature's grateful impulse, and it filled her 
 heart with active pity. 
 
 " I want to do something for that woman," she 
 said to Susie, as they hurried home together, 
 walking fast to overtake the sunset. " I don't 
 know what I can do, I'm sure ; but I feel to want 
 it, as old Miss Hetty says." 
 
 "I should like to do something for Mrs. Flinn," 
 said Susie, comically. " Your father isn't the
 
 52 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 sort of doctor that cuts off people's legs and 
 arms, and things is he? " 
 
 " No, indeed ; what do you mean ? " asked 
 Laura, looking surprised. 
 
 " If he could only persuade Mrs. Flinn to 
 let him take an inch or two off her tongue ! " 
 said Susie. 
 
 " What a goose ! " Laura exclaimed. And so 
 they both went home in a merry mood, in spite 
 of the poor Scheifiendecker. 
 
 But her case was duly presented to the powers 
 at home ; and when the doctor started on his 
 rounds the next morning, Mrs. Guilford went 
 with him ; and a nice little basket of nourishing 
 food, and other sick-room necessities, went with 
 her. When Laura came home from school, she 
 found her mother in the nursery, busily stitching 
 up a very small night-gown. Three or four little 
 white rolls, that looked as if they might be more 
 night-gowns, cut out for making, lay in her work- 
 basket, with some breadths of old flannel, ripped 
 out of a petticoat that Laura had used up. She 
 looked at them curiously. 
 
 u Are you making night-gowns for Pinkie 
 Bluebell, mamma?" she asked in all seriousness; 
 the garments bearing more proportion to the size
 
 THE STAR-BABY. 53 
 
 of Flossy's big doll than to the dimensions of 
 baby Archie. 
 
 " My dear, they are for a live doll," was 
 Mrs. Guilford's answer. u Your friend, Gretchen 
 Scheiffendecker, has a little daughter." 
 
 " Why, I didn't see it," exclaimed Laura, sur- 
 prised. "And I asked Mrs. Flinn if she had any 
 children, too." 
 
 " What did Mrs. Flinn say? " 
 
 " O, what didn't she say?" cried Laura, 
 laughing. " Such a gabble of ' Pat, sez I,' and 
 ' Biddy, sez he ! ' But I understood her that there 
 weren't any children at all." 
 
 u I found one this morning, at all events," 
 said Mrs. Guilford, smiling. " It was a little 
 star-baby, I suppose, that came down in the night 
 on a bridge of moonbeams. And being mild 
 weather up there, the grown-up stars didn't think 
 it necessary to send any clothes with it. But 
 clown here, you know, the wind changes. So 
 I've been cutting up some of your old night- 
 gowns and petticoats for present needs. Would 
 you like to help me make them? " 
 
 " Mamma," said Laura, solemnly, taking up 
 one of the little white rolls, and spreading out 
 the pieces before her, " I fully believe all that is
 
 54 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. ' 
 
 nonsense. In the first place, there wasn't any 
 moon at all last night." 
 
 " O," Mrs. Guilford exclaimed, with the most 
 candid air, " I forgot that. Well, perhaps the 
 stars linked themselves into a golden chain to let 
 her down." 
 
 "In the next place," pursued Laura, scornfully 
 indifferent to this hypothesis, " there never was a 
 star-baby. Any way, they wouldn't be such little 
 geese as to come down from a beautiful blue sky 
 to live in Bobtown." 
 
 " Ah, but poor Mrs. ScheifFendecker," remon- 
 strated her mother, " why shouldn't she have 
 the comfort of a dear little baby, if she does live 
 in Bobtown ? " 
 
 There was no answering this argument ; so 
 Laura brought her work-box, and sat down to 
 help her mother make the night-gowns. The 
 case was urgent, for the poor little " star-baby " 
 had found its way to a desolate and destitute 
 home. There were none of the soft embroklcre 1 
 flannels, the dainty tucked slips, the bewitching 
 little socks, and ruffled shirts, that await the 
 coming of most babies, prepared for the small 
 ScheifFendecker. It lay, just now, cuddled up in 
 an old quilt that belonged to Mrs. Flinn, and had
 
 THE STAR-BABY. 55 
 
 a wrinkled-tip and disconsolate look, as if it didn't 
 think much of its new quarters. That's a look 
 I've observed, however, in other star-babies, even 
 when they were wrapped in white cashmere and 
 swan's down, and lay in a blue satin bassinette. 
 So, perhaps, it doesn't mean anything par- 
 ticular. 
 
 Laura's tongue kept pace with her needle, and 
 at least as many words as stitches went to the 
 making-up of her night-gown. They were not 
 altogether idle words, either ; for out of some 
 of them grew, as the oak in the acorn, the 
 sewing society, which was now widened into 
 " Ambo." 
 
 " I'll tell you what, mamma," was the begin- 
 ning, " Susie Franer and I ought to be doing this 
 work, not you. We found that Gretchen, you 
 know." 
 
 " You are doing your share," said Mrs. 
 Guilford. 
 
 " Susie would be willing to help, too, I know. 
 Suppose you give it all up to us, you have so 
 many other things to attend to, always." 
 
 " But the baby is njtked, meanwhile, and you 
 and Susie are at school, with lessons, arid prac- 
 tice-hours to consider. I'm afraid the child
 
 56 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 would suffer, with the best intentions on your 
 part." 
 
 " No, we could have a bee,". Laura persisted. 
 " I know two or three girls that would help, be- 
 sides Susie. And, let's see to-morrow's Fri- 
 day, next day's Saturday. I could ask Lizzie 
 Walker, and Elsie, and Alice to come here Sat- 
 urday afternoon ; Gertie Fisher, too, and Georgie 
 White, I guess they'd all come. And just think, 
 what a lot of sewing easy sewing like this 
 we could do amongst us ! " 
 
 Mrs. Guilford pondered the matter. To have 
 Laura's bee implied the trouble for herself of a 
 tea-party for the flock, and the preparation and 
 general direction of all the work. It would really 
 be easier to make the baby-clothes herself, with 
 such assistance as Laura was inclined to render. 
 On the other hand, there was something in the 
 fact of association for a good purpose ; it might 
 be made beneficial in various ways, and lead to 
 more results than one. 
 
 So it ended in Laura's having permission to 
 ask the girls, who all gave a willing consent ; and 
 there was a merry, busy afternoon at the brown 
 cottage, with the jolliest little tea-party imagina- 
 ble to wind it up. Two night-gowns, two flan-
 
 THE STAR-BABY. 57 
 
 nel pinners, two slips, and a sacque, were put 
 together, with the aid of much advice and " fixing" 
 from Mrs. Guilford. To say that they were not 
 puckered and cobbled considerably, or that the 
 stitches were not distinctly visible to the naked 
 eye, at almost any distance, would be an 
 evasion of the truth of which I decline to be 
 guilty. But the Gretchen woman, as Flossy 
 called her, was no judge of needle-work, and 
 what did the star-baby care about it? 
 
 The sewing bee led to results, helped along a 
 little by Mrs. Guilford. The garments that they 
 had made were of course not enough, except for 
 immediate use, and Laura said it was a pity to 
 stop, when they had begun so well, until they 
 had given the child a wardrobe. So they prom- 
 ised to come another Saturday afternoon ; and at 
 Elsie Raymond's suggestion, they each brought 
 a donation, in the shape of some cast-off gar- 
 ment of their own. Elsie always thoughtful 
 brought hers ready pi'eparecl for sewing; 
 Alice brought half a dozen articles, all too good 
 to cut up for such uses ; the other contributions 
 were more or less serviceable, but all in the 
 rough ; and Mrs. Guilford had to plan, cut out, 
 and arrange for everybody.
 
 5'S A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 But the girls enjoyed the work, and the sense 
 of doing good by it ; and it was pleasant to be 
 all together, laughing and chattering like so many 
 wrens while they sewed, to say nothing of the 
 festive time they were sure to have at tea, with 
 such appetites for the dainty biscuit, and cake, 
 and fruit, such a cheerful, merry welcome from 
 the doctor, and Mrs. Guilford always so bright 
 and cordial. 
 
 Nobody objected to coming a third Saturday, 
 to finish up things, and by that time Laura's busy 
 little brain had conceived the idea of turning her 
 sewing bees into a regular association. She con- 
 sulted w r ith her mother, who approved the idea, 
 and suggested practical methods of carrying it 
 out. So on the third meeting the new society 
 was organized by unanimous consent, and a plan 
 and by-laws drawn up with the utmost formality. 
 
 Laura was chosen president, Susie vice-presi- 
 dent, Elsie secretary, and Gertie treasurer. The 
 rest were to make themselves useful according to 
 opportunity, and they were all to be a committee 
 of supplies, for enlisting new members, and col- 
 lecting contributions. The}' were to meet once a 
 week, at each other's houses, taking it in regular 
 turn ; and their work, at first, was to be the alter-
 
 THE STAR-BABY. 59 
 
 ing and making over of second-hand clothes, to 
 be given away wherever it was agreed by the 
 society. Afterwards, when they had improved a 
 little, they were to take in sewing, after the fash- 
 ion of older societies, and earn money, which 
 they would dispense in charity, according to gen- 
 eral consent. Fines for non-attendance not to 
 exceed five cents ; fines for unladylike behavior, 
 bad grammar, and the vise of slang words, one 
 penny. Contributions from the members unso- 
 licited, and entirely optional ; smallest favors 
 thankfully received from the public at large ! 
 
 They had a merry time getting up " their con- 
 stitution," and Mrs. Guilford entered into all the 
 fun with them, at the same time that she made 
 them feel they were undertaking something of 
 importance. It was not sure to be always an 
 amusement ; it would sometimes be a hindcrance 
 to other pleasures, and, when the novelty was. 
 over, it would very likely be felt occasionally as 
 a task and a weariness, she told them. They 
 must understand in the beginning all the respon- 
 sibilities, and make up their minds fully to accept 
 all the consequences ; else it would be better not 
 to undertake the thing at all. She said they 
 might, if they chose, make their meeting together
 
 60 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 for this purpose a real benefit to themselves 
 as well as to the poor people they meant to help. 
 And when Gertie Fisher who had an inquiring 
 mind, and always wanted to know the practical 
 how and why of everything asked what she 
 meant, she gave them a nice little lecture on 
 mutual improvement, which I shan't spoil by 
 trying to repeat. The argument of her discourse 
 was the opportunity afforded for gain in self- 
 control, and mutual courtesies and consideration, 
 since they were subject to no authority but their 
 own. She touched upon the comprehensive 
 meaning of the word charity, which they pro- 
 posed to exemplify. It was to make garments 
 for the poor, and it was also to think no evil of 
 one another, to suffer long and be kind, not to 
 vaunt itself and be puffed up, or easily provoked, 
 and so on, and so on. 
 
 It was a shrewd little lecture, adapted to the 
 idiosyncrasies of her audience. She knew Laura's 
 love of managing and directing things, Alice's 
 quick temper, Susie's disposition to be jealous, 
 and Georgie's positive way of expressing opinion. 
 Lizzie and Gertie had their own little crotchets, 
 too, which Mrs. Guilford's watchful eyes had 
 taken note of; and so they all even to Elsie
 
 THE STAR-BABY. 6 1 
 
 herself, though the lecture was never meant for 
 her found a cap to fit, and put it on grace- 
 fully. Nobody was ever vexed with Mrs. Guil- 
 ford's plain speaking ; her look and smile said 
 always, so irresistibly, " It is because I love you, 
 my dear ! "
 
 6a A WRONG CONFESSED JS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 VIOLET'S HANDKERCHIEF. 
 
 THE little society flourished apace from this 
 beginning. The original seven doubled 
 and trebled itself in a short time, and they were 
 the best girls of the village and the neighbor- 
 hood who swelled its ranks. Carrie Haven and 
 Lucy Holbrook, May Barnard and Jennie Cobb, 
 were among the first recruits ; Annie Joline, and 
 Nellie Bacon, and Fannie Doorman followed soon 
 after ; and Gussie Pike would have accepted the 
 very slightest invitation to become a member. 
 But nobody gave her one, as it happened, in 
 spite of many hints, and more open advances as 
 well. Since Maddie Shaw had left the school, 
 there was nobody upon whom Gussie could fasten 
 herself; and when Elsie Raymond, out of her 
 abundant charity, suggested her name once for a 
 new member, it was unanimously voted down. 
 " We don't want anybody here to set us all
 
 VIOLET'S HANDKERCHIEF. 63 
 
 by the ears," said Laura. And Alice declared, 
 flatly, that Elsie ought to be ashamed of her- 
 self for thinking of such a thing. 
 
 " I didn't think of it myself," was Elsie's an- 
 swer ; " and to tell the honest truth, I don't sup- 
 pose Gussie would help us much. But then she 
 asked me, and how could I refuse ? " 
 
 " Easy enough," retorted Alice. " Tell her 
 you'd see her in ' Ballyhang ' first." 
 
 " Softly, Alice ! " Gertie Fisher held up a 
 warning finger. u You'll get a fine for slang, 
 or something." 
 
 "Is that slang? Well, I thought it was geog- 
 raphy," said Alice, ridiculously. So they all 
 laughed, and Gussie was " loft out in the cold " 
 which, if one must tell the truth, was no more 
 than she deserved. For it was not any good 
 motive that made her wish to get into the circle. 
 It was chiefly the opportunity for gossip, the 
 chance of going to houses where she was never 
 asked otherwise, and a love of eating, which 
 was one of Gussie's prominent characteristics. 
 She envied the girls when she heard them talk- 
 ing of the nice little suppers with which the 
 society meetings were wound up. Her mouth 
 watered after the strawberries and cream, the
 
 64 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 jelly-cake and chocolate, the cold chicken and 
 muffins, the sweetmeats and custards, which were 
 duly provided by indulgent mammas. She re- 
 sented having no share in them, but she did not 
 ask herself, with any honest conviction, the rea- 
 son why " this was thus." If she had, her con- 
 science might have answered, 
 
 " Because you have never taken pains to win 
 the liking and respect of your companions ; be- 
 cause you have found your element in mischief- 
 making, backbiting, and talebearing ; because 
 you are selfish, greedy, and untruthful ; because 
 you have laughed at reproof, and despised the 
 advice of those who tried to influence you to bet- 
 ter things ; in a word, because you have chosen 
 the bad instead of the good, and so, naturally, 
 you are avoided by those who prefer what is 
 ' lovely, and pure, and of good report.' " 
 
 It would have been " a verdict in accordance 
 with the facts" more's the pity! but it would 
 have been also the best basis of reform, if ever 
 Gussie and her conscience had talked together 
 after this wise. Unfortunately, they never did, 
 and Gussie continued to tread her little round 
 of petty wickedness unabashed and unrepenting.
 
 VIOLET'S HANDKERCHIEF. 65 
 
 But the sewing society, at least, was not stirred 
 up by her " evil communications." 
 
 It had its little ups and downs in other direc- 
 tions, in spite of Mrs. Guilford's good advice. 
 Some of the members got vexed, and resigned ; 
 then got over it, and came back again. Some 
 were indolent, and came more for the fun than 
 the work ; some were industrious, and very self- 
 righteous and "superior" in consequence. Hu- 
 man nature is pretty much alike all the world 
 over ; the meeting together for a good purpose 
 does not keep petty jealousies and disagreements 
 out of grown-up societies, and why should it do 
 more for the younger branches? 
 
 On the whole, however, there was a great deal 
 more harmony than discord, all things consid- 
 ered ; and the first annual report of the secretary 
 written out in Elsie's most finished style 
 was a satisfactory evidence that the society had 
 accomplished something. 
 
 Three babies, besides the " star-baby " par 
 excellence, had been provided with wardrobes 
 entire ; and each of the mothers had been pre- 
 sented with two or three welcome articles of 
 clothing. Janje Russell had had a new dress, 
 and two little Bobtovvn waifs had been induced 
 5
 
 66 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 to come to Sunday school by reason of a decent 
 outfit from the society. Besides all this, there 
 had been quite a number of little fancy articles 
 made up at odd times with reference to the 
 inevitable Fair, that, by some condition of their 
 being, always crops out of these feminine asso- 
 ciations. 
 
 Its first suggestion had come from little Olive, 
 who had volunteered contributions from her in- 
 exhaustible treasure-box ; and the idea being 
 taken up, one thing led to another, until the 
 fair grew a fact in esse, and the society began 
 to count up its resources in good earnest, to 
 make it a brilliant /-fair. It was Lizzie Walk- 
 er's proposition that they should call in their 
 brothers' help. The society concluded that it 
 might be a good thing ; and we have seen how 
 the invitation was extended to one of the " hon- 
 orary members." The rest a dozen or more 
 merry school-boys, ready for fun in any shape 
 took it up willingly. There was a meeting, at 
 which all the members, old and new, appeared 
 in force at the brown cottage ; and the boys were 
 instructed in the duties and services that were 
 expected of them. They laughed at the badges, 
 and shouted over the Latin, and behaved as boys
 
 VIOI-ET'S HANDKERCHIEF. 67 
 
 generally behave, with a great indifference to law 
 and order. But they consented and that was 
 the main point to give all the help they could ; 
 and a day was agreed upon for the picnic in 
 Dale Woods to collect material for their rustic 
 work. Mrs. Guilford wound up the proceedings 
 by sending in a well-filled tray of cake and lem- 
 onade, and then the meeting adjourned in mu- 
 tual satisfaction to meet again on the coming 
 Saturday and march in procession down to Dale 
 Woods. 
 
 The skies were watched anxiously for the rest 
 of the week, and the bright sunshine that streamed 
 across the hills Saturday morning was reflected 
 in Laura's face, as she bustled about in her 
 picnic preparations. Sydney had been up be- 
 times, and gathered a basket of dewy-ripe straw- 
 berries ; and Laura filled another with cake and 
 buttered biscuit in liberal quantities. By nine 
 o'clock the first comers arrived, and pretty soon 
 the piazza was full of boys and girls and lunch- 
 baskets, and the whole place astir with a merry 
 bustle and confusion. The badges were all ready 
 for the occasion, a gay blue ribbon with a very 
 large letter A embroidered in yellow, and these 
 had to be pinned on, with plenty of luughmg
 
 08 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 and nonsense of course. Then the procession 
 must be formed, two by two, and the baskets 
 divided amongst the boys, with special charges 
 about the manner of carrying certain delicate 
 articles ; and at last they all marched off in 
 merry humor, the blue badges conspicuous, and 
 the boys whistling " Captain Jinks " by way of 
 marching-music. 
 
 " What have we got to do ? " was the first 
 question when they reached the woods and 
 broke ranks in the cool shadow of the rustling 
 hemlocks and beeches. 
 
 " Rest ourselves, and enjoy the beauties of 
 nature," said Sydney, promptly, stretching him- 
 self at length on a tempting green bank. " That's 
 the first thing to be done." 
 
 And the pleasant ripple of the water close by, 
 the cool whispering wind, and the lovely waver- 
 ing shadows, seemed to invite them to take his 
 lazy advice. So they all sat down for a while 
 some finding seats on the mossy rocks that crop 
 up every where in Dale Woods ; some spreading 
 themselves on the dried leaves of last year's drop- 
 ping ; some making spring seats by bending 
 down the slender young saplings. The girls 
 were rather tired with the long walk through
 
 VIOLET'S HANDKERCHIEF. 69 
 
 the June sunshine, and the rest and coolness 
 were refreshing to even-body. Besides, it was 
 an opportunity to settle the plan of the day's op- 
 erations, and decide the work that each one 
 could do best. 
 
 " Did you ever see picture-frames made of oat 
 straws?" asked Charlie Cox. "They are ever 
 so pretty for little card-pictures, photographs 
 and things, and I know how to make 'cm." 
 
 " But oat straws don't grow in the woods," 
 objected his sister Nannie. " What's the use of 
 talking about them now ? " 
 
 " 0, I just happened to think of them. Other 
 things grow in the woods that will make frames 
 too ; fir cones are nice, and acorns, and different 
 kinds of twigs. I guess I'll devote myself to the 
 fancy-frame business. What do you say, Mr. 
 President?" 
 
 " Ail right," answered Laura. " Sydney's go- 
 ing to make boats, and I want somebody to 
 make jack-straws." 
 
 " Frank can do that," said Gertie Fisher. " He 
 whittled a set for me when we had the measles. 
 It was the only thing that kept me alive, watch- 
 ing him." 
 
 " What a whopper ! " exclaimed Frank. " You
 
 7O A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 kept alive on chicken-broth and jelly, and cross- 
 ness." 
 
 " Nice diet," laughed Laura ; " especially the 
 last." 
 
 " Wouldn't anybody be cross with the mea- 
 sles?" asked Gertie, defiantly. "I'd just like 
 to know ! " 
 
 " Of course they would anybody that wasn't 
 a goose. About the jack-straws, though ; they 
 ought to have fancy heads, you know tom- 
 ahawks, and arrows, and crosslets " 
 
 Frank nodded complacently. 
 
 " /know," he said, with the air of being quite 
 equal to any amount of fancy heads. 
 
 So the jack-straws were assigned to him, and 
 Harry Walker volunteered to make nice little 
 wooden boxes for them. Tom Franer said he 
 could make paper-knives out of white pine ; and 
 Joe Barnard had decalcomania materials, and of- 
 fered to decorate boxes, knives, and everything in 
 the highest style of that high art. Will Haviland 
 offered to contribute marble paper-weights ; he 
 had a friend in the marble-works, who would 
 give him the odd pieces of marble, and get them 
 cut and polished for a trifling cost. Sam Haven 
 promised a set of hanging book-shelves, and
 
 VIOLET'S HANDKERCHIEF. 71 
 
 Chester Boorman some corner brackets ; while 
 Jack Holbrook declared that he was like his 
 name, a Jack of all trades, and didn't mean to 
 confine himself to anything in particular, but do 
 wonders in a general way. 
 
 They spent a pleasant hour in discussing these 
 various matters, and then they scattered about the 
 woods to collect such material as might be avail- 
 able for their purposes. The girls wanted ferns, 
 and wild flowers, mosses, and lichen, and grasses ; 
 the boys wanted wood of different sorts for their 
 whittling affairs, and pebbles and rock from the 
 brook for a fresh water aquarium, which two or 
 three of them had ambitiously undertaken to 
 accomplish. 
 
 A bushel or two of miscellaneous matter was 
 gathered together in a short time, and then it 
 had to be prepared for transportation ; the ferns 
 and leaves pressed between folded newspapers, 
 the mosses packed in a basket, the grasses tied 
 up for drying, the rough branches whittled into 
 portable bundles. By the time this was done, 
 everybody agreed that lunch was the next thing 
 to be considered. 
 
 Sydney whistled, " Molly, put the kettle on," 
 as he began to gather up dry twigs and leaves to
 
 72 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 make a fire, and the girls ran away to unpack 
 their dishes. Nobody really cared about tea ; 
 but it was gypsy-like to make a pretence of cook- 
 ing something, and there was a fireplace ready 
 made, which it would be a shame not to use. 
 This was a hollow tree, which had been burned 
 out close to the ground by some picnic party ; 
 the ashes of their fire still remained, and the 
 cross-piece upon which they had suspended their 
 kettle. A little tin 'pail soon hung there again, 
 and there was a merry " crackling of thorns " 
 under it in a few minutes. The thin, blue smoke 
 curled in and out in fairy-like wreaths, and vivid 
 little tongues of flame shot to and fro, till they 
 leaped up all together in one hot, bright blaze, 
 that soon made the water boil. 
 
 " Double, double, toil and trouble, 
 Fire burn, and caldron bubble," 
 
 quoted Sydney, with a melodramatic gesture. 
 " Bring on your herbs now ; 
 
 ' Round about the caldron go, 
 And in jour ' " 
 
 " Sydney, be still ! Aren't you ashamed of 
 yourself? " Laura interrupted before he could
 
 VIOLET'S HANDKERCHIEF. 73 
 
 finish the line. " We won't have any witches' 
 broth here, if yoti please." 
 
 " Be still yourself. I was only going to say, 
 ' In your prime old Java throw.' What's that to 
 be ashamed of? " 
 
 "Who ever heard of prime old Java teal" 
 shouted Frank Fisher. " If I was going to make 
 a parody, I'd do better than that, old fellow. 
 Say, in your herb celestial throw and here 
 the crinkly tea leaves go ! " suiting the action to 
 the word by emptying the whole paper of tea, 
 that Gertie had just laid down, into the boiling 
 water. 
 
 Gertie made a spring at him. " O, Frank! 
 that's no way to make tea. It ought to be steeped, 
 and have the water poured on. Did anybody 
 ever see such a stupid trick?" 
 
 " We honorary fellows are not wanted here ; 
 that's plain," said Frank, shrugging his shoul- 
 ders. " Come, Syd, let's make ourselves useful 
 somewhere else." 
 
 " You'd better," snapped Gertie. " Go and 
 bring up the lemonade, and don't make any mis- 
 chief with that. Now mind." 
 
 They ran off, laughing, to obey her. The lem- 
 onade, made at home, had been put in a covered
 
 74 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 pail, and intrusted to Frank, who volunteered to 
 find a cool place for it. Anywhere in the brook 
 would have been cool enough ;. but he thought he 
 was doing a clever thing when he took the pail 
 out into the middle of the stream, and wedged 
 it down between some rocks, over which the 
 water foamed and rushed in a particularly invit- 
 ing manner. 
 
 " It's sure to keep cool there," had been his 
 complacent thought ; and he did not grudge the 
 wet shoes it had cost him to get out to the rocks. 
 No misgiving crossed his mind as he went now 
 to fetch it back ; but his face grew very blank 
 as he reached the bank of the brook opposite the 
 spot, and saw no sign of the pail. 
 
 "What's the matter?" asked Sydney at his 
 sudden ejaculation. "Don't tell me the lemonade 
 has come to grief! " 
 
 " Well, it has, then, and nothing shorter." 
 Frank's face had a ludicrous dismay in it, as he 
 stood staring at the treacherous rocks, and the 
 water whirling and tumbling over them with a 
 rapid, ceaseless tumult. 
 
 " Did you put it out there?" shouted Sydney. 
 " O, good gracious ! " And he burst into a deri- 
 sive laugh, which, under the circumstances, was
 
 VIOLILT J HANDKERCHIEF. 75 
 
 most exasperating. Frank turned upon him 
 angrily. 
 
 " Why shouldn't I put it there? It's the cool- 
 est place, and the safest place if nobody med- 
 dled with it. You've been at it, I do believe ! 
 It's just like you to play a trick on a fellow." 
 
 " Upon my word and honor, Frank," Syd- 
 ney stopped laughing, and spoke with such sin- 
 cerity that there was no doubting him, " I've 
 never so much as seen it. I only know there's 
 too much water power out in those rapids. 
 Most anything would be washed away. You'll 
 find the pail farther down the stream, I guess, 
 and not much lemonade in it, either." 
 
 "May be somebody else got it before we came," 
 said Frank, with a forlorn hope.' And they ran 
 up into the woods again to make inquiries. But 
 no one had thought about it since it was delivered 
 up to Frank, hours ago ; and a great hue and ciy 
 was set up at its disappearance. The boys ridi- 
 culed him, the girls lamented, and Gertie felt 
 called upon to be severely sarcastic. 
 
 " You're a nice boy to bring on a picnic, real 
 nice now aren't you? " she asked, in a wither- 
 ing way. " First you spoil the tea, and then you
 
 76 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 lose the lemonade ; and what are we going to do 
 without it? Just tell me." 
 
 " Dry up ! " said Frank, disrespectfully, mean- 
 ing it as a command, and not as an answer to 
 her question. 
 
 u Slang expressions ! " cried Susie Franer. 
 " Fine, one penny, Mr. Frank Fisher, and your 
 sister is the treasurer." 
 
 " Go to Guinea, and collect it," Frank retorted, 
 half laughing, half vexed, as he broke away from 
 them to make another search farther down the 
 stream. 
 
 Sydney and Charlie Cox had gone ahead of 
 him, and a shout from the bushes, in the marshy 
 ground below,- announced that something had 
 been discovered. Frank dashed down just in 
 time to meet Sydney coming up witli the tin pail 
 in his hand upside dou>n, Charlie Cox had 
 the cover, also inverted, and two or three squeezed 
 lemons lay in it as in a dish. Explanation was 
 unnecessary, and comment was superfluous. The 
 story told itself, and Frank had to own up, with 
 as good a grace as possible, that he ought to have 
 known better. lie felt so chagrined, and re- 
 quested everybody in such a resigned tone of 
 voice, to " pitch in, and blow him up for a reg-
 
 VIOLET'S HANDKERCHIEF. 77 
 
 ular dummy ; he hadn't a word to say," that 
 everybody grew magnanimous immediately, and 
 declared there was no harm done. What did 
 anybody want of lemonade ? Wasn't there water ? 
 a whole roaring brook full ! and tea by the 
 quart ; and whoever wasn't satisfied with such 
 richness 
 
 u Well, he don't deserve to be an honorary 
 Sambo," said Sydney, " capping the climax ; " 
 and so the lemonade question was settled, and 
 nobody's appetite was spoiled. Neither was the 
 tea, after all, if the way the cups were emptied 
 was any sign. Buttered biscuits and sandwiches' 
 disappeared as rapidly ; cake and strawberries 
 followed suit ; and by the time " Ambo " had 
 lunched, the fragments of the feast were " noth- 
 ing to nobody." 
 
 "What shall we do next?" asked May Bar- 
 nard ; and a chorus of propositions made an- 
 swer. 
 
 u Let's have a dance," said Susie Franer ; " it's 
 just the place for a Virginia reel." 
 
 " Let's play Copenhagen," said Jack Holbrook ; 
 " such fun to chase the girls for kisses round 
 these trees ! " 
 
 " Don't you see us letting you?" asked Alice
 
 78 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 Haviland, with a toss of her curls. " Kissing 
 games are not allowed in this society, let me 
 tell you." 
 
 " Let's tell stories," Came Haven proposed. 
 " That's the nicest thing to do, and Elsie can 
 begin." 
 
 " Elsie begs to be excused," very promptly. 
 
 " Let's take a nap, I say," from Sydney 
 Guilford, with a lazy yawn. " I feel just like it." 
 
 " And I say let's wash the dishes ! " Laura 
 suggested, practically. " Here's warm water 
 and lots of towels, and we'll make Sydney kindle 
 the fire again to keep him awake." 
 
 Her unexpected proposition met with unani- 
 mous approval. Washing dishes was an opera- 
 tion that possessed the charm of novelty to most 
 of the party, and it was set about at once, with 
 more zeal than discretion. Elsie Raymond, who 
 had, as we know, experience in such matters, 
 looked on with dismay at the reckless handling 
 of delicate crockery, and interposed quietly a 
 suggestion here and there that saved several arti- 
 cles from total ruin. It was owing to her alto- 
 gether that a glass cream-jug of Mrs. Haviland's 
 .was not split with boiling water, and a fine dam- 
 ask napkin was rescued from service in wiping
 
 VIOLET'S iiAxri:::xciriEF. 79 
 
 out the unwashed strawberry plates. A few 
 dishes were cracked, and a cup and saucer " dam- 
 aged hopelessly," as Frank Fisher said, in spite 
 of her efforts. But these were trifles that did not 
 disturb the general serenity. 
 
 Sydney strolled oft' while this housewifery was 
 going on. " Too many cooks spoil the broth," 
 he said, to excuse his laziness. " I guess I'll go 
 over into the cemetery, and walk around amongst 
 the old tombstones." 
 
 The cemetery lay beyond the brook that skirted 
 Dale Woods. Its white tombstones could be seen 
 in the distance, through opening vistas of the 
 woodland, and its bowery paths went up hill and 
 down dale, winding about another branch of the 
 same stream, and leading one into many a lovely 
 nook. The air was sweet with roses, blooming 
 ungathered in the burial plots, and the grassy 
 slope of the hill was golden with buttercups. 
 Everything looked peaceful and beautiful in the 
 still, bright sunshine ; and Sydney who was 
 thoughtful when he chose to be enjoyed the 
 sense of loneliness, and the half sad, half sweet 
 fancies that came to him as he wandered amongst 
 these silent graves.
 
 80 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 There was one that had been made* on a tjr- 
 race above the path. Two or three marble steps 
 led up to a circular plot that was enclosed with 
 a hedge of orange trees ; and inside was just one 
 little grave, a baby's, with a white cross at 
 its head. The inscription was only, " Our Little 
 Heart's Ease" and the little green mound was 
 covered with pui'ple pansies, scattered there by 
 some loving hand not many hours before ; for the 
 flowers were fresh and unfaded still. 
 
 Sydney was too much like his mother not to be 
 touched by anything so simple and tender. He 
 stopped with involuntary admiration, and leaned 
 over the hedge to look at the cross, the pansies, 
 the dear little grave picturing to himself the 
 innocent baby face that lay so still beneath them. 
 Other people had done the same thing that day, 
 as he discovered presently. Something white 
 fluttered under the hedge as he went down the 
 steps again, and, stooping to pick it up, he found 
 a dainty little handkerchief, fine as a cobweb, 
 and pure as a snow-flake, with a delicate lace 
 border around the edge, and in one corner an em- 
 broidered name. 
 
 Spelling this out, letter by letter, for Sydney
 
 VIOLET'S HANDKERCHIEF. Si 
 
 was not very skilful in deciphering the alphabet- 
 ical ornaments that ladies are fond of, he finally 
 made it out to be u Violet'' which was very 
 pretty, and in one way descriptive ; for a faint 
 fragrance suggestive of the flower (or Lubin's ex- 
 tract) floated about it, as if to justify the name ; 
 but it did not help one to a definite idea of the 
 owner of the handkerchief. 
 
 " Violet ! Violet ! I never knew anybody that 
 was named Violet," Sydney said to himself, puz- 
 zling over it. " Why don't people write their 
 names on their handkerchiefs in good English, 
 and black ink, instead of working all these flow- 
 ery flummeries, that don't tell anything at all? 
 / don't know what to do with the thing. I've a 
 great mind to leave it where I found it." 
 
 But on second thought he concluded to carry 
 it over the brook with him, and take feminine 
 advice as to the chances of returning it to its 
 owner. Some of the girls might know who 
 u Violet " was, perhaps. So he put the hand- 
 kerchief in his pocket, and made his way back 
 to the picnic party, who had finished their 
 " kitchen work," as he contemptuously called the 
 dish washing, and were playing, with shouts of 
 6
 
 82 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 merriment, the ridiculous game of " Bird, Beast, 
 and Fish." 
 
 Sydney broke it up by displaying his " find," 
 and the girls flocked around to wonder at and 
 admire the pretty little mouchoir. They in- 
 formed him that the lace was " real .Valen- 
 ciennes," and the embroidery " French ; " but 
 who " Violet " was, or where she might be 
 found, nobody was able to tell. It wasn't any 
 one who belonged in Englcwood ; they were 
 all sure of that. 
 
 " But it might be one of the summer boarders, 
 that come up here every year," May Barnard 
 suggested. 
 
 And as this was a very probable supposition, 
 Englewood being a popular place of summer 
 resort, it was decided that it was useless to 
 make inquiries for the unknown owner. 
 
 " I shall advertise it in the post-office," Sydney 
 said, laughingly ; " and if Violet doesn't come 
 forward to prove property and pay expenses, 
 then I'll tell you what'll I do with it." 
 
 " Give it to me, of course," said Laura, 
 merrily. 
 
 " Not a bit of it. I'll ' turn to the east, and
 
 VIOLET'S HANDKERCHIEF. 83 
 
 turn to the west, and give it to the pretty girl that 
 I love best.' " 
 
 But who that " pretty girl " was he refused 
 to tell ; perhaps for the reason that he didn't 
 know himself.
 
 84 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 VIOLET'S GRANDFATHER. 
 
 AT this very time, while the boys and girls 
 in Dale Woods were talking about Vio- 
 let's handkerchief, an old gentleman was sitting 
 at a window, a mile or two away, watching im- 
 patiently for Violet herself. It was the dinner 
 hour at the boarding-house, and everybody else 
 had gone down ; but Colonel Schuyler was a 
 fastidious old gentleman, very punctilious in his 
 notions of etiquette, and he would never go to 
 the table until his granddaughter was ready to 
 accompany him. 
 
 So he sat at the parlor-window all alone, 
 and fretted and fidgeted as he heard the rattle of 
 knives and forks, and the cheerful hum of voices 
 in the next room, and thought of the cold dinner 
 that he was likely to eat, and which he did not 
 relish in anticipation. He liked his comfort in 
 most things, and was particular about his din-
 
 VIOLET'S GRANDFATHER. 85 
 
 ner. Anything that interfered with that was apt 
 to ruffle his temper, which was not like "the 
 bosom of a lake on a summer noon" at any 
 time. 
 
 Fortunately for his peace of mind, he had 
 not long to wait. The gallop of hoofs in ths 
 distance made his face brighten presently, and 
 leaning out of the window, he saw a glimpse of 
 blue fluttering amongst the trees. Next minute 
 a little shaggy Shetland pony came dashtng 
 through the open gate, a long, blue riding-habit 
 streaming over the saddle, and a mass of lovely 
 golden hair, blown back from the bright, flushed 
 face of its wearer, flying loose in the breeze. 
 
 Colonel Schuyler hastened out to help her dis- 
 mount ; but the young girl gathered up her 
 habit, and sprang off lightly, as one accustomed 
 to it. 
 
 " I have kept you waiting haven't I, grandpa ? 
 Am I ever so late?" she exclaimed, eagerly, as 
 she ran up to him. " Don't scold, though ! I've 
 had such a lovely morning, and found so many 
 beautiful places ! I think this country all about 
 here is perfectly charming" 
 
 " And I think my dinner will be perfectly 
 charming, when I get it," growled the colonel.
 
 86 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 " Do you know- the bell rang all of ten min- 
 utes ago ? " 
 
 " If you only wouldn't wait for me " Violet 
 began ; but he interrupted her. 
 
 " Never mind about that. Fly up stairs and 
 get your habit off." 
 
 And Violet flew, coming back again in an in- 
 credibly short time, with her floating hair tamed 
 down, her peachy cheeks more blooming than ever, 
 after the hasty dash of cold water, and a short blue 
 frock in place of the riding-skirt. Everybody 
 looked up as they came into the dining-room 
 together, and more than one admiring glance 
 rested on the graceful little figure, escorted so 
 ceremoniously by -the white-headed old gentle- 
 man. Violet was quite unconscious of any- 
 body's notice. She was little more than a child 
 in years, and perfectly child-like in disposition, 
 though she had a dainty ease and dignity of 
 manner that proved her well-bred association. 
 
 She kept on in a low tone, for her grand- 
 father's ear only with the history of her morn- 
 ing's adventures, while the colonel sipped his 
 soup : she only played with her spoon. 
 
 " I have been into the woods, grandpapa, and 
 to the cemetery close by," she said. " There's
 
 VIOLET'S GRANDFATHER. 87 
 
 such a brook all rocks and waterfalls and 
 so many wild flowers growing everywhere ! I 
 gathered them till I didn't know what to do with 
 them, and then they withered, and I had to throw 
 them away." 
 
 " Most sensible thing you could do," said the 
 colonel. "What do you want with the weeds?" 
 
 " O, they are beautiful. And another time I 
 mean to take a basket, and gather moss, and 
 keep them fresh. I saw some girls and boys in 
 the woods to-day, a whole party of them, 
 and they were pressing ferns and wild flowers in 
 newspapers." 
 
 " Big business. I suppose you joined the 
 party ? " 
 
 " No, of course not ; " with a silvery little 
 laugh. " But I wanted to, dreadfully, grand- 
 papa they seemed to be enjoying themselves 
 so much, and some of the girls were so pretty 
 and lady-like." 
 
 " How about the boys?" laughed the colonel. 
 
 " O, they were nice, too. They were all 
 dressed in a sort of uniform, and had bits of 
 bright blue ribbon pinned on their jackets. The 
 girls had the same, every one of them. It was 
 some sort of badge, I think,"
 
 88 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 " A Sunday-school picnic," suggested her 
 grandfather. 
 
 " No, it was not like a Sunday school at all," 
 Violet objected. ' " There were no teachers or 
 grown people only boys and girls. I did 
 not get close enough to hear what they talked 
 about. I was afraid they would see me, you 
 know ; but I couldn't help peeping at them be- 
 hind the trees, they looked so pretty and merry ; 
 and I was curious to see what they were doing. 
 It was very rude, I suppose," she added, apolo- 
 getically ; " but I was only admiring them, and 
 envying them just a little." 
 
 " It's a pity you should have to do that," said 
 her grandfather, quietly. 
 
 Violet's face flushed quickly. " I only meant 
 just for the time," she answered, hastily. " There 
 were so many of them, and I felt lonely for a 
 minute. I don't envy anybody in earnest, grand- 
 papa, you know." 
 
 " I hope you have no reason to," he said, in 
 the same tone. " Most people would think you 
 were the one to be envied. What did you do 
 with Tarn O'Shanter while you were playing 
 Peeping Tom?" 
 
 " What a name to call me, grandpapa ! "
 
 VIOLET'S GRANDFATHER. 89 
 
 Violet looked up with a cloud in her blue eyes, 
 but it melted into sunshine as she met his smile. 
 u You are only teasing ms," she said, with a 
 pretty little pout. " It wasn't any harm to look 
 at the picnic now was it, really ? " 
 
 " Not much," he owned, smilingly ; and she 
 went on, relieved, to explain that she had tied 
 Tarn O'Shanter the pony to a tree i:i the 
 cemetery, while his mistress had gone about on 
 a voyage of discovery. There was a gully, with 
 steep sides, and a rivulet rippling over the stor.y 
 bottom, which separated the woods from the 
 cemetery road. Violet had gathered up her 
 habit, and scrambled over this gully, then fol- 
 lowed the up-hill, winding path wherever it led, 
 till she came, unawares, upon the picnic party 
 which had so attracted her fancy. It was odd 
 enough that none' of the restless little crowd had 
 caught a glimpse of her ; but they were all busy 
 at that time, and she had kept herself hidden 
 behind the bushes for the minute or two that 
 she stopped to watch them. Then she had 
 slipped back again, quietly, in tlie same way, and 
 amused herself with wandering in the picturesque 
 grounds of the cemetery, reading the epitaphs, 
 and gathering ferns by the brook-side, until the
 
 90 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 morning slipped away, and she discovered that 
 she would have to gallop fast to overtake the 
 dinner hour. 
 
 " Which you didn't overtake, after all," said 
 her grandfather. " The idea of being so fasci- 
 nated with a graveyard as to forget all about 
 your dinner ! I dare say you picked out the 
 spot where you wish to be buried, and composed 
 a romantic epitaph, full of moonshine and lilies." 
 
 " No, indeed, I didn't," Violet returned, gayly. 
 " I don't care about being buried just now, if 
 you please ; the world is too beautiful to leave 
 so soon. There were graves there that would 
 have fitted me, though," she added, softly. " One 
 tombstone had my very birthday on it, and one 
 had my name. But that was a dear little baby's 
 grave. I couldn't help crying over it." 
 
 " I hope you were well supplied with hand- 
 kerchiefs," said Colonel Schuyler, comically ; 
 and Violet laughed. 
 
 " No, I only had one, and I lost that," she 
 answered. "Whatever I did with it I can't 
 imagine ; but it slipped away from me, and I 
 was provoked about it, I can tell you." 
 
 " It must have been a serious loss, considering 
 the tears."
 
 VIOLET S GRANDFATHER. 9! 
 
 " It was one of my prettiest handkerchiefs," 
 returned Violet, practically. " And you gave 
 it to me, besides. That was what provoked 
 me." 
 
 " Perhaps, by industry and economy, I can 
 raise the means to give you another," he said, 
 jocosely. And as Violet knew very well that 
 she could have a dozen more of the same kind, 
 if she expressed a wish for them, the little 
 handkerchief was easily forgotten. She had 
 such luxuries in plenty ; laces, and ribbons, and 
 trinkets, and pretty fineries of all sorts, had been 
 lavished upon her by her grandfather, to whom 
 she herself was the most precious and beautiful 
 thing in all the world. They were every-day 
 matters to her, and she attached very little im- 
 portance to them. She had none of Maddy 
 Shaw's vain consciousness, and never imagined 
 that anybody would think more or less of her 
 on account of her dress or possessions. 
 
 What she wished for, and sometimes felt 
 linclined to envy others for having, was the 
 * jmpanionship of young people. She loved 
 her grandfather dearly, but she could not help 
 feeling lonely at times, and thinking, in a wist- 
 ful way, how nice it would be to have a brother
 
 92 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 or a sister, or somebody, that was young and 
 foolish like herself, to go everywhere with 
 her, and share all the childish fancies and 
 projects that were too trifling to bother 
 grandpapa about. 
 
 Grandpapa had strict notions about many 
 tilings, and in his opinion there were very few 
 young people who were good enough to associate 
 with his darling. In a general way he would 
 acknowledge, of course, that she was not per 
 feet, and there might be a great many boys 
 and girls who would make suitable companions 
 for her. Violet was not much the better, how- 
 ever, for these hypothetical boys and girls. She 
 was not allowed to visit any young people, and 
 it was only on rare occasions that any had been 
 invited to visit her. She used to wish that 
 she could go to school ; but that was not to 
 be thought of. She must be educated at home, 
 according to her grandfather's theories ; and 
 he had taken the greatest pains to find the most 
 accomplished governess for her. 
 
 Mrs. Weldon was kind and affectionate, as 
 well as cultivated and lady-like. Violet was 
 fond of her, and happy to be her pupil. She 
 loved Mrs. Brown, the good housekeeper, who
 
 VIOLET'S GRANDFATHER. 93 
 
 had petted her from her babyhood, and Becky 
 Price, the seamstress, who had once been her 
 nurse. She loved her grandfather best of all, 
 and she was not in the least unhappy or dis- 
 contented amongst these grown-up people. But 
 still, if she had had her wish, there would 
 have been more fun and frolic in the house, 
 and the sound of other children's voices to 
 mingle with her own. 
 
 She had watched the party in the woods with 
 such longing eyes ! " If grandpapa would only 
 let me get acquainted with some of those nice- 
 looking girls ! " had been her wistful thought. 
 " It must be nice to have so many playmates ; 
 and they all seem so merry together ! I wish I 
 might know them some time." 
 
 And she had even singled out the faces that 
 she liked best in the little crowd, and pictured 
 over to herself, afterwards, Elsie, and Carrie, 
 and Alice, and Laura, with a very distinct recol- 
 lection of their different looks. It was Laura's 
 face, however, that dwelt longest in her fancy, 
 and she found herself more than once, during the 
 day, thinking how pleasant it would be to have 
 her for a friend, and wondering if such a thing
 
 94 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 might be one of the possibilities of this new 
 home they were to live in. 
 
 She did not speak her thoughts aloud, for Colonel 
 Schuyler never liked to think that she felt lonely, 
 or wished for anybody but himself. He asked 
 her, after dinner, if she was too tired to go over 
 to the house, and see how the workmen were 
 getting on with the repairs and alterations. 
 Violet laughed at the idea of being tired, and 
 they were soon on their way to "the old Van 
 Wyck place," which had now become, by right 
 of purchase, Colonel Schuyler's property, and, 
 as Sydney had told Laura, he was having it 
 thoroughly overhauled to make it ready for his 
 own occupation. The workmen had been busy 
 for a month, during which time Violet and her 
 grandfather had had rooms at the large summer 
 boarding-house, which was conveniently near ; 
 and as Mrs. Weldon had taken the opportunity 
 of the general change and unsettlement to make 
 a visit to her relatives, Violet was having a long 
 holiday. 
 
 She enjoyed it heartily, and improved it by 
 taking long rides and walks in every possible 
 direction. She spent a great deal of time at the 
 old house, too, which she thought the most
 
 VIOLET'S GKANDFATHER. 95 
 
 beautiful and picturesque place she had ever 
 seen. The gray stone walls were mantled with 
 ivy, in which a host of birds built their nests ; 
 there was a mtillioned window, and a stately 
 arch under which the carriages stopped before 
 the front entrance ; with wings, and gable-ends, 
 and diamond-paned lattices, and an observatory, 
 from which one could have a clear sweep of 
 the beautiful river from the Palisades to Croton 
 Point. 
 
 Inside the house were a great many rooms, 
 some of them very quaint and pretty, some very 
 lofty and fine ; with long corridors, and little 
 unexpected passages, leading to queer closets 
 and corners, and unsuspected staircases. Violet 
 thought it was all delightful, and was glad that 
 her grandfather meant to leave all these un- 
 changed. He was having the fine old wood- 
 work polished and restored, the ceilings frescoed, 
 and the paper-hangings renewed. But every- 
 thing was done in harmony with the old style 
 of the house ; and even the new furniture that 
 was ordered had been made to correspond with 
 the general antiquity. 
 
 " It will soon be ready for us to come into 
 won't it, grandpapa ? " she asked, as they stood
 
 96 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 together by the fine Gothic window in the hall. 
 " All this part of the house is ready for the fur- 
 niture now isn't it?" 
 
 " Yes, and that will come to-morrow. In 
 about a week we can take up our quarters here. 
 Do you think you will be happy in the old 
 house, Violet?" 
 
 "Yes, indeed," said Violet, promptly. "I 
 never saw any place that I liked so well." 
 
 She had said the same thing twenty times 
 before, but it was always pleasant to him to 
 hear her say it. 
 
 " Come out into the orchard, and let us see 
 if we can find some cherries. Those ox-hearts 
 ought to be ripe after to-day's sun," he said ; and 
 Violet tied on her broad-brimmed hat again, 
 and went with him across the lawn, through the 
 garden, and down a sunny slope to the orchard 
 that lay below. 
 
 > There were many varieties of fruit trees here ; 
 apple and quince, plum and pear, and cherry, 
 apricot, peach, and nectarine. A grapery was 
 built at one end, and orange and lemon trees 
 were growing under the glass. There was the 
 promise of plenty of luscious fruit in its season, 
 but the cherries were the only eatable things
 
 VIOLET'S GRANDFATHER. x 97 
 
 just now. Violet sat down on the soft thick 
 grass under the tree, while her grandfather 
 hooked down, with his cane, long branches 
 full of crimson clusters, broke them off, and 
 tossed them into her lap. It was very pleasant 
 to sit there, eating the pretty fruit, with the 
 fresh wind rustling through the leaves, and the 
 birds singing over her head. 
 
 " I never saw such cherries in New 'York, 
 grandpapa ; they are as sweet as honey," she 
 said. 
 
 " Wait till the black ones are ripe, over there," 
 he answered. " Then you will see cherries that 
 are worth eating. Of course you never had 
 such in New York, for they are always spoiled 
 by the journey. Cherries should be eaten fresh 
 from the tree." 
 
 " Are there any peaches in the orchard?" she 
 asked. 
 
 " Yes ; they are trained against the wall near 
 the grapery. Murphy says there are two or 
 three very choice varieties, and the pears are 
 the finest in the country. Old Van Wyck paid 
 a great deal of attention to his orchard ; he did 
 not care so much for his flower garden. You 
 
 7
 
 98 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 and Mrs. Weldon will have plenty to do there, 
 Violet." 
 
 " I shall like it dearly,'" said Violet. " I al- 
 ways wanted a garden to take care of. And I 
 mean to have some poultry, too, some chickens, 
 and guinea hens O ! and a peacock ! We 
 ought to have a peacock, grandpapa, to strut 
 about the lawn, and spread his elegant tail." 
 
 " And keep us awake at night with his 
 screams," laughed her grandfather. " Did you 
 ever hear the noise the creatures make? It's 
 worse than a cat howling." 
 
 " Everything makes a noise here," said Violet. 
 " I hear the cows lowing, and the dogs barking, 
 and the owls hooting, and the chickens crow- 
 ing. Every night I hear something when I wake 
 up. But I don't mind it. I like all the coun- 
 try noises so much better than the city noises." 
 
 "We must have a dog, I suppose," said 
 Colonel Schuyler. 
 
 " O, yes ! a dear little King Charles, to bark 
 at the peacock," said Violet, merrily. 
 
 " O, no ! a big bull-dog, or mastiff, to bark at 
 the tramps," he retorted. 
 
 " The poor tramps ! " exclaimed Violet. 
 " Why must they be barked at, I wonder ? "
 
 VIOLET'S GRANDFATHER. 99 
 
 " To keep them from stealing my fruit, prowl- 
 ing about my poultry-yard, and robbing my 
 house, maybe. They will be barked at, and 
 bitten, too, if they are caught trespassing." 
 
 " I thought it was the school-boys that stole 
 the fruit," said Violet. " They always do in 
 the story-books. I read one once, where a boy 
 stole five cherries, one night, off a tree, and the 
 five cherry-stones tormented him by turning up 
 continually in the most unexpected places. They 
 obliged him to confess, at last, and I always 
 felt sorry for the poor fellow, to think he only 
 had five cherries for all that trouble ! " 
 
 Her grandfather laughed. 
 
 " The play was hardly worth the candle, 
 was it? But it was all the better lesson for him, 
 and served him right. I'd punish a boy for 
 stealing five cherries with as good a will as if 
 he had stolen five bushels. The intention to 
 steal is the crime, not the value of the tiling 
 stolen. Remember that, missy."
 
 100 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LAURA'S IDEA. 
 
 " 'THHERE is one thing I haven't heard yet," 
 JL said Sydney. " What are you going to 
 do with the money supposing there is any 
 that comes from the fair?" 
 
 It was Laura's turn to have the society, and 
 the parlor at the brown cottage was full of busy 
 bees. All the girls were there in force, and a 
 few of the " honoraries" had dropped in, "just 
 to see what was going on, and have a little fun." 
 The fun consisted chiefly in mischief, Charlie 
 Cox being an inveterate " practical joker," and 
 Frank Fisher and Sydney not at all too virtuous 
 to follow his bad example. 
 
 The work-baskets were upset " accidentally," 
 and the spools tangled together in wild confu- 
 sion ; the knitting-work, laid down for a moment, 
 lost its needles mysteriously, and the scissors and 
 emery-cushions kept bobbing out of sight just
 
 LAURA'S IDEA. 101 
 
 when they were most particularly wanted. No 
 boy had the slightest idea how it happened, of 
 course, when Carrie Haven's crochet-needle, that 
 she had hunted for five minutes, was found sud- 
 denly sticking in her waterfall. And it filled 
 them all three with the most innocent astonish- 
 ment when Flossie's cat marched in with Lizzie 
 Walker's emery-cushion tied round her neck. 
 
 Laura rose, at last, " to a point of order." 
 , " I'll turn all three of you out of the room 
 if you don't behave better. You are worse thiin 
 magpies, and jir.kilaws, and monkeys, all togeth- 
 er," she scolde;!, half laughing, half vexed. 
 " Charlie Cox, I'll tell your mother of you the 
 very next time I see her." 
 
 "Now, isn't that rough on a fellow?" asked 
 the " honoraiy," with an appealing look of in- 
 jured innocence. u I leave it to the assembled 
 Ambo, and I hope they'll answer una voce, if 
 anybody has seen me do an identical thing?" 
 
 " O, no ! " said Laura, in a withering way. 
 " Of course not. We don't see you doing any- 
 thing, but we feel the consequences. Now, 
 what's become of that other shoe, I wonder? 
 It was here two minutes ago, and .io\v it isn't."
 
 IO2 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 
 
 "Is it the doll's shoe?" asked Sydney, inno- 
 cently. 
 
 " Yes, it is. Now, Syd, I'm tired of tricks, 
 and I want to finish this doll to-day. Tell me 
 where it is, if you know.'" 
 
 But he didn't know. He only meant to sug- 
 gest that " if she'd look in the place where it 
 was lost, she'd probably find it." Which was 
 eminently satisfactory, of course. 
 
 " Charlie Cox knows where it is ; I see it in 
 his eyes," said Alice Haviland. 
 
 " O, good gracious ! Come and take it out ! " 
 he exclaimed, jumping up in a hurry. " Who'd 
 have thought of such a thing ! How could 
 it have got there? Does anybody else see it? 
 She sees a doll's shoe sticking in my eye ; O, 
 come and take it out before I die ! " 
 
 He danced about with such a ridiculous pre- 
 tence of terror, that the boys shouted, and the 
 girls screamed with laughter. Even Laura had 
 to join in the " audible smile," though she was 
 vexed at the nonsense and the hinderance to 
 her work. The missing shoe was not to be 
 found, even after everybody had jumped up, 
 and shaken out their skirts, and peeped under 
 the sofas and chairs, and hunted over all the
 
 LAURA'S IDEA. 103 
 
 possible hiding-places. So Laura sat down 
 again at last, with a resigned expression. 
 
 " It is no use looking any longer, and of 
 course it's no use expecting you to tell what 
 you did with it. I might as well make an- 
 other, though I don't believe I can cut another 
 out of this little scrap of morocco," she said, 
 dolefully. 
 
 " Was it made out of red morocco ? " asked 
 Frank Fisher, with as much simplicity as if he 
 were really asking for information. 
 
 Gertie gave him a severe look. 
 
 " You know it was, Frank ; and it's too bad 
 to tease Laura so. Why don't you tell her where 
 it is, and not let her have all the trouble of 
 making another ? " 
 
 " I saw," said Frank, with a sly giggle, and 
 a slanting look at Charlie Cox, " something red 
 inside the doll's head, where it's hollow, you 
 know; the place where* the brains ought to be. 
 / didn't put it there." 
 
 " O!" exclaimed Gertie, vehemently. "Did 
 anybody ever " But language was inade- 
 quate. A chorus of indignant outcry from the 
 girls and a shout of fun from the boys finished 
 her sentence. Laura snatched her scissors, and
 
 104 A WROXG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 made a dash at the doll. Rip, rip went the 
 stitches with which the head had been so se- 
 curely fastened on a poke up into the region 
 of the brain a shake and out dropped, true 
 enough, the poor little red shoe. 
 
 Charlie Cox looked on with innocent wonder. 
 
 " If that isn't the funniest thing ! " he ex- 
 claimed. " What were you thinking about, 
 Laura, when you did that ? " 
 
 But it was no use to scold such a monkey, 
 even for his sauciness. Laura was glad to get 
 her shoe back at any cost, and she contented 
 herself with darting an unutterable glance at 
 him before she proceeded to sew on the doll's 
 head again. Whether it was this that subdued 
 him, or whether his mischief had reached its cli- 
 max, I don't know ; but " Ambo " subsided, after 
 this, into a soberer frame. Charlie offered his 
 services to wind worsteds, and that furnished oc- 
 cupation for two pairs of hands his own and 
 Sydney's. Frank Fisher demanded something 
 to do, also, on the plea that 
 
 " Satan finds some mischief still 
 For idle hands to do, " 
 
 and he couldn't be responsible for consequences
 
 LAURA'S IDEA. 105 
 
 unless somebody set him to work. Susie Franer 
 gave him a box of beads to sort, the black 
 from the white, the blue from the red and yel- 
 low, and so on, which he found quite enough 
 for his present attention. So everybody was busy 
 at last, and the fair-work made better progress. 
 
 Sydney's question started a controversy. 
 
 " I think we ought to buy some new books 
 with the money, for the Sunday-school library," 
 said May Barnard. 
 
 " Which library ? " asked Carrie Haven. 
 " There are Baptists, and Presbyterians, and 
 Church-women in this crowd, and we've all got 
 Sunday schools." 
 
 May was rather taken aback. 
 
 " Of course I meant our own library," she 
 said. "We are more Episcopalians than any- 
 thing else." 
 
 " It isn't fair to leave the rest of us out in 
 the cold, though is it?" asked Susie Franer, 
 with a little toss, to signify she was as good as 
 anybody, if she wasn't an Episcopalian. 
 
 " No, indeed," interposed Laura, quickly. 
 " Everybody has an equal right here, and we 
 must do everything una voce, you know." 
 
 " We might divide the money," May persisted,
 
 IO6 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 " so much for each school, in proportion to its 
 representatives in the society." 
 
 " That's a nice way to get the lion's share for 
 yourself," retorted Susie. " We ought to be 
 much obliged to her, Gertie you and I, and 
 Georgie. We'd have at least three new books 
 for our library ! " 
 
 " I thought," said Elsie Raymond, putting in 
 a quiet word by way of diversion, " that we were 
 working for the poor, and not for ourselves 
 at all." 
 
 " So we are, of course ! " exclaimed two or 
 three together. " What was May thinking 
 about?" 
 
 " Aren't there poor children in the Sunday 
 school?" asked May, a little nettled. "And 
 won't the books benefit them, I wonder? It 
 was only a suggestion, though. If anybody has 
 anything better to propose " 
 
 " I'll tell you what / think would be nice," 
 said Carrie Haven. " There's poor Mrs. Riley, 
 with her three little- children to work for. She 
 takes in sewing, you know, to support herself; 
 and if she had a sewing machine " 
 
 " Well, she has got one," interrupted Frank 
 Fisher, looking up from his bead-work. " I
 
 LAURA'S IDEA. 107 
 
 went by her window yesterday, and I saw her 
 clicking- away at the machine like a house 
 afire." 
 
 " That's nil you know," retorted Carrie. " The 
 machine isn't hers at all. She has to hire it, 
 and she told me herself that it was very hard 
 work to earn her living, and pay for the rent 
 of the machine. She said that many a day she 
 and her children had nothing but dry bread to 
 eat. Now, I think s/ie's an object of charity." 
 
 " So do I," said Laura, warmly ; " but I never 
 knew she was as poor as that." 
 
 " She doesn't tell people," said Carrie. " But 
 aunty went there one day to get some work 
 done, and she asked her questions, and . found 
 out more than we ever knew before." 
 
 " I thought you said she told you" interposed 
 Lizzie. 
 
 " Well, and so she did," returned Carrie, col- 
 oring up. " I had something, I didn't want it 
 myself, and I wanted to give it to her. So then 
 I went there by myself, and she told me some 
 things. But you know she isn't like the Bob- 
 town people ; she's proud, and wouldn't like to 
 have it talked about that she is so poor. If
 
 IOS A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED 
 
 we do anything for her, we must do it so as 
 not to hurt her feelings." 
 
 " What do you all think about it ? " asked 
 Lnura. "What do you think, Elsie?" 
 
 "That we couldn't do anything better if 
 we have money enough," was Elsie's answer. 
 " Perhaps, though, we had better not decide 
 until we see if our fair is a success." 
 
 " Elsie is always on the prudent side," laughed 
 Alice. " But if we don't make enough to buy 
 a sewing machine, we ought to be ashamed of 
 ourselves." 
 
 " Let's see what they cost," said Laura, pick- 
 ing up a pretty little "Golden Calendar" th;;t 
 lay on a table near her. " Here's the Wheeler 
 and Wilson Almanac, with a list of different 
 styles and prices ; pictures of them too. How 
 do you like tliis? Full case, polished rosewood, 
 and drawers, with satin-wood lining price two 
 hundred and fifty dollars." 
 
 " Nonsense ! " said Carrie, flatly. " We can 
 get one for a quarter of that." 
 
 " Of course," laughed Laura. " Here's an- 
 other for fifty-five dollars. ' This machine is 
 adapted for family use,' " she read aloud, " ' for 
 seamstresses, for tailoring, and for manufactur-
 
 LAURA'S IDEA. 109 
 
 ing purposes. It will sew all kinds of fabrics. 
 It is the cheapest machine manufactured.' There, 
 that's just what we want isn't it? And, as 
 Alice says, if we don't make our fair worth 
 fifty-five dollars, we ought to be ashamed of 
 ourselves." 
 
 " We ought to make twice, thi-ee times as 
 much," said Charlie Cox, " and we will too. 
 We'll get the machine for Mrs. Riley, and a 
 silver medal all round for Ambo." 
 
 "A leather one for you," exclaimed Laura, 
 merrily. " I'll make one now out of this scrap 
 of red morocco." 
 
 " Suppose we should have a lot of money 
 more than enough for the machine," put in 
 Gertie. "What will we do next?" 
 
 ' O, *don't count any more chickens till they 
 are hatched," was Sydney's sage advice. " If 
 we're all agreed upon the machine, that's an 
 object to work for. We can talk about the silver 
 medals afterwards." 
 
 " There's one thing I've thought about," said 
 Laura, with a more hesitating manner than she 
 usually displayed in expressing her thoughts. 
 "I've never said anything in the society, be- 
 cause I suppose it is ridiculous and impossible,
 
 IIO A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REPRESSED. 
 
 and perhaps some of you wouldn't think it worth 
 while, even if we could manage it." 
 
 " What is it, though? tell us," they asked, cu- 
 riously. 
 
 " I know," said Sydney, teasingly, " and it's all 
 nonsense. Now, Laura, what is the use of being 
 romantic ? " 
 
 " You be still, Syd," she retorted. " Mamma 
 doesn't think it's nonsense ; she thinks O, 
 here comes mamma herself! Now we'll ask 
 her." 
 
 Mrs. Guilford was standing at the door, with 
 little Archie beside her, hiding his face shyly in 
 her dress. Some of the girls ran to kiss him, 
 and coax him in ; others sprang .up to offer ther 
 pleasantest seats in the room to his mother. 
 She was always a welcome visitor in the soci- 
 ety, and she never "wore her welcome out" by 
 staying too long, or interfering, except by their 
 own desire, in any of their arrangements or 
 councils. She was ready to give assistance or 
 advice whenever it was wished ; but she thought 
 it best, in general, to let them develop their own 
 ideas of self-government. 
 
 "What is it I am to be asked?" she said, 
 when the little bustle of her entrance had sub-
 
 LAURAS IDEA. Ill 
 
 sided. " I came in to see what made you all 
 so quiet." 
 
 " It's about Janie Russell," Laura answered. 
 " You know what we were talking last night, 
 mamma and Sydney says it's all nonsense; 
 but is it, now, really ? " 
 
 " Not that, exactly, but hardly practicable, 
 I'm afraid. What does 'Ambo' say to it?" 
 
 "We don't know what it is yet," said several 
 of the girls together. 
 
 " Why don't you tell them, then ? " asked Mrs. 
 Guilford. " It is your own idea, and not a silly 
 one at all. Perhaps, if you all agreed upon it, 
 it might be accomplished, after all." 
 
 So Laura explained, that Janie Russell the 
 lame girl that lived with her old grandmother 
 down by the railroad had shown her one day 
 a quantity of drawings, all by her own hand. 
 Some were in charcoal, some were in ink, some 
 were in pencil, and they were on the merest 
 odds and ends of paper old letter-backs, old 
 fly-leaves of books, wrapping-paper, anything she 
 could pick up. But Laura knew enough about 
 drawing to see that they were not bad at all ; 
 that they were very good, indeed, in spite of the 
 rough materials, and especially considering that
 
 112 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HAI.F REDRESSED. 
 
 nobody had ever taught Janie a single rule of 
 the art. She brought home some of the sketches, 
 and showed them to her mother, and aftei^wards 
 to Miss Gurney, and found her own opinion of 
 their merits promptly confirmed by bpth. Miss 
 Gurney said there was no doubt that Janie hud 
 real talent, which might be improved to very 
 good purpose, if she only had the opportunity 
 of instruction. 
 
 So, upon this, Laura had built up a castle in 
 the air : Janie was poor, and would have to 
 work for her living ; but she was lame and del- 
 icate, and could not go out to sen-ice, or do any 
 hard labor ; she could ew, but that was a poor 
 dependence : now suppose only suppose 
 that she could be sent to the " School of De- 
 sign," and become an artist! Laura had read 
 of more surprising and less probable things in 
 her " Anecdotes of Painters." But there was 
 one great difficulty the expense of the under- 
 taking. There was the School of Design at the 
 Cooper Institute with all its advantages and op- 
 portunities free to her ; but to avail herself of 
 them, Janie must live in New York ; and to live 
 in New York, to be lodged, and fed, and clothed,
 
 LAURAS IDEA. 113 
 
 and taken care of respectably, would require a 
 large sum of money, year after year. 
 
 " Of course it's no use," Laura said, when she 
 had explained the matter to her companions. 
 " But still I couldn't help wishing* that we might 
 make enough by our fair, and you might all 
 agree to it, and poor Janie might have a 
 chance ! " 
 
 "And I don't see why she mightn't, for my 
 part ! " cried Alice, who had listened with great 
 interest. She was very fond of drawing, and 
 had some little artistic dreams of her own. 
 
 " It seems to be a mighty matter on the 
 whole," Mrs. Guilford put in, laughingly, " and 
 I am afraid will prove beyond your means, 
 Laura." 
 
 " Like Captain Jinks's ' corn and beans,' said 
 Sydney. " Of course it will ; and I vote for Mrs. 
 Riley and the sewing machine. I give you warn- 
 ing, Laura : the proceeds of my industry shall 
 not be diverted from their legitimate channel," 
 he added, pompously. 
 
 "When did you swallow the dictionary?" 
 Laura retorted, a little vexed at his opposition. 
 
 "And where does the industry come in?" 
 8
 
 114 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 asked Alice, saucily. " Has anybody seen it 
 this afternoon?" 
 
 " We might manage to do without the pro- 
 ceeds, according to present appearances," Carrie 
 chimed in. And the laugh turned against Mas- 
 ter Syd, who, so far, had certainly not enriched 
 the society much by his labor. 
 
 "What do you think it would cost?" asked 
 Elsie, who had been pondering the matter -in 
 thoughtful silence. 
 
 " Three hundred dollars at least," said Mrs. 
 Guilford ; " perhaps more, the first year." 
 
 "And it would have to be paid every year, 
 of course?" 
 
 " Well, we could have a fair every year," 
 Laura put in, hastily, afraid of Elsie's veto. 
 " Three hundred dollars isn't so awful, with a 
 whole year to earn it in. And only think, Elsie, 
 how splendid it would be if Janie should turn 
 out a real artist, like Rosa Bonheur, and Miss 
 yosmer, and Miss " 
 
 " That's all you know ! " interrupted Sydney, 
 derisively. " Miss Hosmer doesn't paint pictures 
 at all. She's a sculptress." 
 
 *' I don't care ; it's all the same ; and you
 
 LAURA'S IDEA. 115 
 
 can just stop making yourself so disagreeable, 
 Sydney." 
 
 Laura turned round upon him with a height- 
 ened color and a sharper tone in her voice than 
 usual. She had worked herself up into a real 
 excitement, and it was provoking to have Syd- 
 ney setting himself against her wishes, and 
 " making fun of her," as she considered. 
 
 -It was nothing but fun, in reality, for he did 
 not care at all how the fair-money was appro- 
 priated, and he looked up in surprise at her 
 vexed face. 
 
 " I guess I'll clear out of this," he observed, 
 dryly. " It's getting too hot for my complexion. 
 Wouldn't you like some crab-apples, Charlie, 
 just by way of a change, you know?" 
 
 And with this sarcastic speech he marched 
 out 'of the parlor, followed readily by Charlie 
 Cox, who was getting tired of sorting beads and 
 winding worsteds. 
 
 Laura felt rather ashamed of herself as she 
 saw them go, and met her mother's reproach- 
 ful glance in addition. But she was in a " crab- 
 apple mood," and didn't choose to make any 
 concessions. 
 
 " I don't care if they do -go ; they've tormented
 
 Il6 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 us enough, any way. Haven't they, Susie?" 
 was her pettish comment upon their secession. 
 " We can settle our affairs now without being 
 interrupted so often." 
 
 " Yes, we can. And do, please, Frank, see 
 if you can't be quiet," added Gertie, addressing 
 her brother with unnecessary emphasis. He had 
 been sorting Susie's beads with praiseworthy 
 diligence, and had not been heard to speak for 
 ten minutes at least. It was insulting, there- 
 fore, to be desired to " keep quiet " in that 
 public manner, and " the honorary " resented it 
 accordingly. 
 
 " I beg permission to retire, Mr. President," 
 he exclaimed, jumping up hastily, and upsetting 
 the whole box of beads by a mischievous acci- 
 dent as he did so. " I can't stay to be insulted, 
 and I shall take the liberty of joining my hon- 
 orable brethren outside. You can pick up the 
 beads, Gertie, after I'm gone," he added, pro- 
 vokingly ; and 'with a saucy bow to Laura, he 
 darted through the open window, and joined 
 Sydney and Charlie on the lawn. 
 
 " It's a good riddance of them all," said Car- 
 rie. " Boys are a nuisance, in my opinion." 
 
 But Susie set up a wail about her beads
 
 LAURA'S IDEA. 117 
 
 that were rolling hopelessly about the floor, 
 half of them irrecoverable ; and Laura could 
 not feel comfortable, watching the grave look 
 upon her mother's face, and knowing she had 
 brought it there.
 
 II 8 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE WRONG PROPOSED. 
 
 OUT of doors the boys were amusing them- 
 selves with swinging in the crab ti'ee, and 
 pelting each other with the little, rosy, bitter- 
 sweet apples that were just ripening. 
 
 " How they pucker up your mouth ! " said 
 Charlie, biting into one ; " I wonder if they don't 
 taste like persimmons? " 
 
 " Not a bit," said Frank. " Didn't you ever 
 see persimmons? They're little, soft, wrinkled- 
 np, greenish-yellow things, more like a plum 
 than an apple. They have a stone inside, and 
 when they're real ripe they're jolly. But you 
 bite into a green one, and won't it button your 
 tongue up, though ! " 
 
 " Talking of plums," exclaimed Charlie, 
 " didn't we have fun last summer, Frank, hook- 
 ing greengages out of old Van Wyck's orchard ? " 
 
 " I guess we did," was the prompt answer.
 
 THE WRONG PROPOSED. . 119 
 
 " Don't you wish we had as good a chance this 
 summer? A 
 
 " Perhaps we have," said Charlie, signifi- 
 cantly. 
 
 " Well, I can't see it," Frank retorted. " The 
 place is sold now, and the old fellow that bought 
 it keeps a dog. I wouldn't like to have him fly- 
 ing at my legs." 
 
 " I guess I could manage that, if I tried," 
 Charlie answered, looking wise. " The dog 
 stays around the house, and the orchard is off at 
 a distance." 
 
 " But you have to go through the grounds, and 
 past the house, to get to the orchard," persisted 
 Frank. " And wouldn't the dog hear you, I'd 
 like to know?" 
 
 " Suppose I didn't go through the grounds at 
 all?" asked Charlie. "Suppose I climbed the 
 orchard fence ? " 
 
 " With all those sharp spikes on top? I'd like 
 to see you ! " 
 
 " And I'd like to know what you're driving at," 
 Sydney put in. " You talk exactly as if you 
 meant to rob that orchard, Charlie ! " 
 
 " W T ell, what if I do ? " Charlie returned, with 
 a rather confused laugfh. " Where's the harm of
 
 I2O A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 taking a pocket full of plums from such a stingy 
 old chap?" 
 
 " It's stealing ; that's all," said Sydney, coolly. 
 
 " Nonsense ! " exclaimed the other two in a 
 breath. " That's all humbug, Syd," Frank add- 
 ed. " It can't be stealing to take what nobody 
 misses, and it's such a jolly lark. Why, all the 
 boys do it when they get a chance. You don't 
 know what fun we used to have last summer." 
 
 " You ought to hear Joe Bingham, and some 
 of the other fellows up at the Academy, tell about 
 their adventures," put in Charlie. " You remem- 
 ber, Frank, the night they went after water- 
 melons, and hid them in the haystack? They 
 got locked out, of course, and the fellow that 
 was inside, and promised to open the door for 
 them, went off to bed, and cheated them. So 
 they had to climb up the lightning-rod, and 
 nearly broke their necks getting in at a window." 
 
 " What fun that must have been ! " said Syd- 
 ney, sarcastically. 
 
 " Well, it was," persisted Charlie. " It's the 
 best sort of a lark when there's a little danger 
 in it, and you know it, Syd ; so don't be dis- 
 agreeable." 
 
 There was a truth in this which Sydney could
 
 THE WRONG PROPOSED. 121 
 
 not deny. He liked the excitement of " a little 
 danger " as well as the others, and as they went 
 on rehearsing various other " jolly scrapes " of 
 Joe Bingham and his set at the Academy, his 
 ideas of right and 'wrong began to grow indis- 
 tinct, and his heart to thrill with an emulous de- 
 sire. Charlie Cox was quick to see the change 
 and take advantage of it. He was not a bad 
 boy, and would not have done anything that he 
 considered really dishonest for the world ; but 
 he had the usual school-boy obliquity in the 
 matter of fruit. " It was no harm " to take a 
 pocket full of plums, though the " pocket " 
 held a peck sometimes, or to carry off a ripe 
 watermelon which he had never planted. It was 
 "just fun" to trick the owners, and escape the 
 clogs, and deceive teachers and parents, and risk 
 one's life and limb, climbing trees, and jumping 
 out of windows, and " shinning up " lightning- 
 rods in the dark. It's the school-boy theory that 
 fruit is common property, or, if it isn't, it ought 
 to be ; and Charlie Cox, having accepted this 
 theory fully for himself, saw no wrong in per- 
 suading Sydney to act upon it with him. 
 
 That Sydney allowed himself to be persuaded 
 was more surprising ; for he had certainly been
 
 122 A WROXG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 taught a very opposite doctrine at home. But 
 there were two against one, to say nothing of his 
 own inclination taking part with his tempters ; 
 and it ended in his agreeing to join the boys in 
 an unlawful raid upon Colbnel Schuyler's or- 
 chard, to take place as soon as a certain tree of 
 fine egg plums, well known to Frank and Char- 
 lie, should be fully ripe for plunder. 
 
 Up stairs, in Sydney's drawer, carefully wrapped 
 in soft paper, lay a dainty little handkerchief with 
 a lace border, and " Violet" worked in the corner. 
 Sydney had " advertised " it in the post-office, 
 and made various efforts to find the owner ; but 
 nobody had come forward to claim it, and, thanks 
 to Colonel Schuyler's exclusive ideas, his pretty 
 little granddaughter was as much a stranger to 
 the Englewood boys and girls as on the day when 
 she peeped at them through the brier bushes, and 
 lost her handkerchief in the cemetery. Sydney 
 had seen her once ; she rode past him one day on 
 Tarn O'Shanter, and he had stared after her with 
 open-eyed admiration of her sweet face and gold- 
 en hair, and her graceful, fearless riding. But 
 he never dreamed that this was " Violet," whose 
 little handkerchief he kept so carefully, any 
 more than he knew now that it was Violet's
 
 THE WRONG PROPOSED. 123 
 
 grandfather whose plums he meant to pilfer. 
 If he had but guessed how he should find it 
 out! 
 
 The tea-bell rang by the time they had ar- 
 ranged their plan, and a troop of the girls came 
 running out to bring in the deserters. Laura 
 was foremost of them, and anxious to " make 
 up " with Sydney. She had succeeded in get- 
 ting the Society's verdict in Janie's favor, so 
 far, at least, as to have the final decision left 
 in Mrs. Guilford's hands. The proceeds of the 
 fair were to be brought to her, and she was to 
 decide whether there was enough to justify the 
 attempt, and, if so, she had promised to find 
 other ways and means of carrying out, or help- 
 ing them to carry out, what they had . begun. 
 This was even more than Laura had hoped to 
 accomplish ; so she was in high good humor with 
 everybody, and ready to apologize, in her fashion, 
 for her momentary crossness. 
 
 Her fashion was a little peculiar. " I sup- 
 pose you mean to beg my pardon now, Syd," 
 she began, saucily, as the boys came forward 
 to meet her. " But you needn't say another 
 word about it. I know you're sorry, and I've 
 made up my mind to forgive you."
 
 124 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 " All right," Sydney returned, magnanimously. 
 " I accept with thanks." 
 
 " Then kiss me, and never aggravate me again," 
 she commanded, imperiously, putting up her 
 round cheek to his lips. " And now all of 
 you come in to supper before the waffles get 
 cold." 
 
 " I should like to pepper Frank's with the 
 beads he spilled," said Susie, spitefully, as they 
 went in. But happily for his digestion, she 
 did not try to carry out her amiable wish. The 
 waffles were hot and crisp, the cut peaches, 
 melting in golden cream, were delicious, and 
 the boys' appetites were not in the least spoiled 
 by any sense of their misdemeanors, past or 
 to be.- 
 
 Sydney, it is true, had an uneasy conscious- 
 ness that he had consented to something wrong. 
 He knew his father's straightforward, uncom- 
 promising honesty, his mother's clear ideas of 
 truth and ho:ior, so often impressed upon him. 
 The thought of how they would feel towards 
 him if they knew what he was going to do, 
 came across him, with rather a sickening sensa- 
 tion, in the midst cf all the merriment going
 
 THE WRONG PROPOSED. 125 
 
 on at the supper-table. The doctor was in 
 one of his most genial moods, telling stories 
 and making funny speeches, that kept the girls 
 in a gale of laughter and amusement ; Mrs. 
 .Guilford was pouring out innumerable cups of 
 tea, and keeping everybody's plate replenished, 
 yet found time to entertain the boys most agree- 
 ably still. She knew exactly how to talk to 
 them, and Charlie and Frank both admired her 
 immensely, as a woman that was willing " to 
 talk sense to a fellow." Sydney admired her, 
 too, but he could not take his usual enjoyment 
 in her conversation. 
 
 " Suppose we do steal those plums, and she 
 ever finds it out what will she say to me ? " 
 was the uncomfortable question that kept putting 
 itself in his way. 
 
 Why didn't he give it up at once, if he re- 
 pented so soon? is a question we might ask 
 here. But everybody's experience goes to prove 
 that people constantly do things which they 
 know to be wrong, against their conscience and 
 almost against their will, simply because they 
 have promised. In the school-boy code it was 
 dishonorable " for a fellow to go back on his
 
 126 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 word ; " and Sydney, though he really wished 
 already that he had not made a rash promise, 
 and dreaded more than he would have ac- 
 knowledged its possibly painful consequences, 
 had still no idea of escaping them by break^ 
 ing: it.
 
 IN THE ORCHARD. 127 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 IN THE ORCHARD. 
 
 IT was a moonlight night that was fixed upon 
 for the unlawful excursion ; but it had been 
 a dull, sunless day, and the moon sailed under a 
 mist that made her rays very dim and uncertain. 
 Sydney was thankful for it, as he sat by the win- 
 dow of his room waiting for his father to come 
 up to bed before he could slip out to join Frank 
 and Charlie. He was supposed to be in bed 
 himself, having said good night to his mother 
 and Laura half an hour ago ; Laura was ah'eady 
 asleep in the next room, his mother was in her 
 chamber, the servants had gone up stairs, and the 
 way was all clear except for his father. 
 
 But Dr. Guilford seemed to have no intention 
 of retiring early that night. Sydney waited, in 
 weariness and impatience. He dared not lie 
 down, lest he should go to sleep ; he could not 
 light his candle again, because his mother would
 
 I2cS A WRONG CON'FKSSKD IS HALF RKDRESSED. 
 
 see the light under the door, and come in to see 
 what was the matter ; he could not read, or move 
 about, and there was nothing to do but sit still 
 and watch the misty moonlight, and listen for 
 his father's upward step, which was so long in 
 coming. 
 
 It was tiresome enough ; but the longest watch 
 must come to an end some time, and this did at 
 last. The doctor finished his writing, turned out 
 the lights, and came up stairs, passing Sydney's 
 door with no suspicion of the eager listener be- 
 hind it. lie had no sooner closed his own, than 
 Sydney stole silently out, and crept down stairs, 
 tiptoe, with his shoes in his hands. The back 
 door was easily opened ; its bolts slipped aside 
 noiselessly, having been touched with a feather- 
 tip and a little oil by way of preparation, and 
 he closed it softly behind him, and stood out of 
 doors at last, unseen by any of the family. It 
 was easy enough to cross the lawn in the shadow 
 of the shrubbery, and slip out of the gate ; and 
 round the corner, in an empty lot that was 
 boarded in from the street, he found the boys 
 waiting for him. So far the adventure was a 
 complete success. Charlie and Frank were in 
 high spirits, and gave him a jolly welcome, and
 
 IN THE ORCHARD. 129 
 
 all three started off at once for their up-hill walk 
 to Colonel Schuylcr's orchard. 
 
 It was about half a mile out of the village, 
 the house arfd lawn fronting on the post-road, 
 but the orchard lying back, and separated by a 
 high, spiked fence from the meadow lands of 
 another 'proprietor. Two or three railed fences 
 lay between ; these the boys leaped over easily, 
 and came at last, with cautious steps, to the spot 
 they had marked out for their operations. The 
 plum tree stood near the fence so near that a 
 .boy who was light and agile could swing him- 
 self into the branches without difficulty, if once 
 he had a foothold on the fence itself. Sydney 
 was a good climber, as the others knew very 
 well ; it was the 'knowledge of that fact which 
 made them so eager for his cooperation, and a 
 little vain consciousness of it also that helped to 
 win Sydney's consent. 
 
 The whole success of the enterprise depended 
 upon him ; he was to " boost " himself, with 
 Charlie's help, upon Frank's shoulders, that were 
 luckily broad and strong, and so scale the wall. 
 Then, balancing his weight for a moment upon 
 the top of the fence, there was just room be- 
 9
 
 I3O A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 tween the spikes for him to plant his feet, he 
 was to swing oft' into the nearest tree. 
 
 To carry out such a programme required. some 
 courage "and skill ; but Sydney proved himself 
 equal to the task. Charlie helped him up to a 
 standing position on Frank's shoulders ; that 
 brought his elbows to the top of the wall ; and 
 drawing up cautiously first one foot and then the 
 other, holding on by the spikes, which were luck- 
 ily not sharp, or very close together, he managed 
 to raise . himself upon his feet, and spring off 
 lightly into the tree. 
 
 There was a crash of breaking branches, a 
 great rustle of leaves, and flutter of frightened 
 birds, who flew off their nests, chirping and 
 screaming at such a sudden "apparition. But 
 Sydney was safe in the midst of the tree, his 
 feet firm on a strong limb, and great mellow 
 plums, ripe and golden, hanging thickly all 
 about him. 
 
 The boys outside were more frightened than 
 he. To their startled ears the crashing stems 
 and twigs made noise enough to wake the house- 
 hold ; and they held their breath in terror for 
 a moment, expecting to hear the growl and rush
 
 IN THE ORCHARD. 131 
 
 of the fierce dog that lay unchained in his 
 kennej. 
 
 All was quiet, though, and Charlie ventured to 
 call out presently, in a smothered voice, 
 
 " Are you there, Syd, all right ? " 
 
 " All right," Sydney returned, promptly and 
 cheerfully, " and bushels of plums ! " 
 
 " Bully for you \ " whispered Frank, excitedly. 
 " Shovel 'em in, Syd, fast as you can. Got your 
 bag safe ? " 
 
 " Guess I have. Hear the plums rattle in? " 
 
 " O, don't talk so loud ! " exclaimed Charlie, 
 who was not so bold now as he had been before. 
 "There's that dog, you know; don't let him 
 hear you for the world." 
 
 " Pooh ! who's afraid ? " Sydney answered, 
 boastfully, tossing a plum over the fence. He 
 was elated with success, and a reckless excite- 
 ment had taken the place of his previous doubts 
 and fears. He leaped about, like a monkey, from 
 one branch to another, stripping off the fruit by 
 handfuls, and stuffing it into the bag, which filled 
 up rapidly. Now and then half a dozen big 
 plums would coaie rattling over the fence, and 
 Frank and Charlie would scramble after them, 
 though trembling with fear lest the noise should
 
 132 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 betray them. Charlie kept entreating him, in 
 anxious whispers, to be careful ; but in his ex- 
 citement Sydney paid little heed to the prudent 
 caution. 
 
 " I don't believe there's any dog at all," he 
 whispered back. " If there is, he's too far oft' 
 to hear me ; and, any way, I'm not afraid of him. 
 I'll tell you what, boys : I shan't leave this orchard 
 without some pears, too ; I see some splendid 
 ones a little way off." 
 
 "Ain't he plucky?" said Frank, admiringly. 
 " Go in for the Bartletts, Syd, by all means. 
 / won't tell the old colonel who robbed his 
 orchard." 
 
 " You ought not to encourage him, Frank," 
 said Charlie, reproachfully. " You're outside, 
 and you can run if anything happens. But sup- 
 pose that dog flies at him there what can 
 he do?" 
 
 " Seems to me you've grown very anxious 
 lately," Frank retorted, rather contemptuously. 
 " You were very eager to get Syd into it, and 
 now you're doing your best to scare him out." 
 
 ' I don't want him to get into danger," was 
 Charlie's answer ; " and he will if he goes 
 cruising round the orchard. Somebody'll be
 
 IN THE ORCHARD. 133 
 
 sure to see him, and then there'll be a pretty 
 kettle o' fish." 
 
 " You let him alone. Syd's no fool," Frank 
 responded, coolly. Being in a perfectly safe 
 place himself, he could afford to have confidence 
 in Syd's wisdom ; but Charlie could not be quite 
 so selfish or indifferent, He made another effort 
 to prevent the rashness of going farther into the 
 orchard. 
 
 " We don't want the pears haven't you got 
 a bag full of plums ? Tie it up and throw it 
 over the fenge, Syd, and then come out yourself. 
 You've done enough for to-night, old fellow," he 
 whispered, earnestly. 
 
 But Sydney was obstinate and defiant of con- 
 sequences. He could see the fine large pears 
 hanging thick on several trees not far off, for the 
 clouds were drifting away from the moon, and a 
 soft, clear light was increasing. It showed him 
 treasures of ripe fruit, peaches and apricots, 
 as well as pears and plums, gleaming out from 
 the dark foliage ; and having " got his hand in," 
 as he said to himself, he was determined to select 
 a few specimens of each kind before he left the 
 orchard. So he swung himself down to the 
 ground, regardless of Charlie's remonstrances,
 
 134 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 and, with his bag over his shoulder, stole lightly 
 on from tree to tree, plucking everything within 
 reach of his arm. 
 
 The bag was soon full, to its utmost capacity. 
 But even then he was not satisfied. Clusters of 
 tempting nectarines hung over his head, mellow 
 apples dotted the grass at his feet ; and the rapa- 
 cious spirit which had suddenly taken possession 
 of him, made him greedy of everything. He 
 stuffed his pockets, jacket, and trousers ; he 
 took off his hat and filled that ; and at last he 
 started back to the fence, having no room for 
 anything more, to throw his plunder over to his 
 accomplices. 
 
 He found on the way, however, as other rob- 
 bers have done before him, that he had taken too 
 much for his own comfort. The bag was heavy, 
 and required both hands ; so he had to put the 
 hat down and leave it till he should come back. 
 He left it in a safe place, never thinking of any 
 difficulty in finding it again, and hurried on to 
 the fence with his bag. By this time even Frank 
 was getting impatient to be gone. 
 
 u Come, Syd, hurry up," he cried. " You've 
 got enough, and it's time we were home. Throw
 
 IN THE ORCHARD. 135 
 
 us the plunder, and then scramble over your- 
 self." 
 
 " Yes, do," Charlie added, urgently. " And 
 be careful about the spikes, Syd. If you once 
 get back without breaking your neck, I shall be 
 thankful." 
 
 " Never you fear," Sydney laughed. " I've no 
 intention of breaking my neck, and I've had a 
 real jolly time. Sorry for you fellows over 
 there that haven't had any fun ! " 
 
 " Better not laugh till you're out of the woods," 
 Frank advised. " We're on the safe side, at 
 any rate." 
 
 " Heave that bag over, and stop your gabble," 
 put in Charlie, impatiently. 
 
 " Look out, then here goes ! " and Sydney 
 tossed it up with all his strength. It cleared 
 the spikes, and fell with a dull thud into the 
 arms that were eagerly extended to catch it on 
 the other side. 
 
 " Now it's your turn," cried Charlie, eagerly. 
 " Swing over, Syd, and let's go home. What a 
 jolly lot of fruit ! " 
 
 " That isn't all, either," Sydney returned, tri- 
 umphantly. "-I've left a hat full behind me up 
 in the orchard."
 
 136 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 " Never mind that," said Charlie, hastily ; 
 " we've got enough without it. Don't go back 
 again, Syd, whatever you do. I think I hear 
 that dog ! " 
 
 " Nonsense ! There isn't any dog," was the 
 careless answer. 
 
 " Don't be a fool," Charlie exclaimed, angrily. 
 " I tell you there is a dog, and a fierce one, too. 
 If you don't come out, I'll go and leave you, 
 Syd, I declare I will." 
 
 " Well, you'd better," Sydney retorted. " That 
 would be an honorable proceeding on your 
 part." 
 
 " Why don't you come, then? You're enough 
 to tiy the patience of Job ! " 
 
 " I've left my hat in the orchard. I've got to 
 go back for it, unless you want me to go home 
 bareheaded." 
 
 " O, good gracious ! " Charlie groaned with 
 impatience and vexation. " We'll all come to 
 grief yet, I know it. Why couldn't he be satis- 
 fied with such a bag full ? " 
 
 " Don't be such a muff", Charlie," Frank put 
 in, rather scornfully. " You've badgered Syd 
 the whole time, and I think he's done splendidly,
 
 IN THE ORCHARD. 137 
 
 for my part. There's no such desperate hurry to 
 get home, after all ; let him alone." 
 
 And Frank seated himself on the ground,- and 
 began to eat a pear with cool unconcern. He 
 wondered at Charlie's nervousness ; but Charlie 
 could not get over an instinctive dreadf that had 
 possessed him all the time, of trouble ahead for 
 Sydney. He felt more acutely than Frank the 
 responsibility of having persuaded him into join- 
 ing them ; and he could not help reproaching 
 himself for putting him foremost to take all the 
 risks, while he and Frank remained in compara- 
 tive safety. It was the sting of this conscious- 
 ness which made him so anxious, and prevented 
 the possibility of any peace of mind until Syd- 
 ney was outside again. Instead of sitting down 
 to eat fruit, as Frank did, he wandered restlessly 
 to and fro, starting at every sound, and muttering 
 impatient exclamations under his breath. 
 
 Sydney, meanwhile, went hastily back to look 
 for his hat. He had set it very carefully on the 
 forked branch of a young pear tree, the last one 
 from which he had gathered fruit. But., through 
 some curious forgetfulncss, or nervousness (for 
 Charlie's anxiety had begun to affect him), he 
 imagined that he had left it on the ground, and
 
 138 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 went poking about with his eyes at his feet, look- 
 ing vainly for a thing that was on a level with 
 his head. The moon began to grow dim again, 
 to increase his perplexity ; a slow-moving cloud 
 sailed over her fair face, and darkened it so 
 effectually that he could no longer distinguish 
 objects with any clearness. He was surrounded 
 with a bower of foliage, but he could not pick 
 out the different trees which had guided him in 
 some sort before ; he could not even see the 
 fence behind which his companions waited, and 
 so could not tell whether, in his blind groping 
 about, he was keeping near them, or going 
 towards the unsafe neighborhood of the house 
 and garden. 
 
 He had not the least desire to prove his bravery 
 by doing that ; but as it generally happens that 
 when people get bewildered they go in the direc- 
 tion exactly opposite to the one they wish and 
 intend, . so it happened in this case. Sydney 
 groped around, getting more and more bewil- 
 dered and uncertain, and more and more anxious 
 about his hat, which had disappeared so un- 
 accountably, and with every step went farther 
 away, not only from the hat, but from his friends. 
 Outside, Charlie was fuming and fretting, and
 
 IN THE ORCHARD. 139 
 
 even Frank beginning to fidget at the long delay ; 
 inside, Sydney was inarching unconsciously right 
 into the dog's teeth. 
 
 The cloud-bank broke up suddenly, and a 
 bright ray shot out from the gloom. It lighted 
 up not only the shadowy orchard : the soft, fair 
 radiance streamed over a spacious garden, a 
 broad lawn, a stately stone mansion, and all 
 three were suddenly revealed to the boy's startled 
 eyes. He found himself standing outside of the 
 sheltering trees, at the foot of a smooth green 
 slope, above which spread out wide garden 
 alleys, brilliant flower-beds, and clumps of shrub- 
 bery ; and beyond these rose up the many-win- 
 dowed, ivy-wreathed wall of the old manor- 
 house. 
 
 An involuntary cry of amazement and conster- 
 natidn broke from his lips. It was answered in- 
 stantly by a low, thunderous growl ; a huge black 
 dog sprang from his kennel, shook his shaggy 
 sides, looked around him and snified the air for 
 a moment, and then, with long, swinging leaps, 
 came bounding down the alley. 
 
 Sydney stood as if turned to stone ; he saw 
 tho huge creature springing towards him, but he 
 seemed to have lost the power of motion. lie
 
 140 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 knew that escape was hopeless, and with one 
 pitiful cry for help, he flung himself on the 
 ground, face downwards, just as the faithful 
 guardian of his master's property leaped upon 
 him. 
 
 What happened to him then for a minute or 
 two Sydney never knew. In his wild terror he 
 gave himself up for lost, and as the Irishman 
 said, " he thought he was kilt intirely." He felt 
 the huge paws holding him down, the savage 
 teeth at his throat ; he tried to gasp out a prayer, 
 but he could not find the words, and with a 
 despairing murmur, " Mamma, mamma ! " he 
 swooned outright from sheer terror.
 
 VIOLET TO THE RESCUE. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 VIOLET TO THE RESCUE. 
 
 IF he had not lost consciousness so suddenly, 
 he would have discovered that his cry for help 
 had been heard. From one of the upper win- 
 dows of the old house a faint light was shining, 
 and, half encircled by the vines that clustered over 
 the casement, a sweet little face, like a picture 
 set in a rustic frame, was peeping out into the 
 moonlight. 
 
 It was certainly long past Miss Violet's bed- 
 time. The old clock in the hall had struck the 
 half hour since midnight, and all the lights in the 
 house were out except her own. Grandpapa had 
 kissed her good night three hours and a half ago, 
 and it was full two hours since he had laid his 
 own head on his pillow. The sen-ants had all 
 gone to bed long ago. Mrs. Bunn was so sound 
 asleep that she never heard the mice nibbling in 
 her closet, and in Mrs. Weldon's room every tiling
 
 142 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 was dark and quiet. Why was it that Violet was 
 keeping this midnight watch, the only wakeful 
 spirit in the house ? 
 
 One might have answered that question by 
 looking into her room, for beside the lamp upon 
 the table lay a new book, open at the last page. 
 Instead of going to bed dutifully when she retired 
 to her chamber, she had taken up " Leslie Gold- 
 thivaite" a treasure only that day acquired, 
 and lost in the fascination of that unequalled sum- 
 mer in the White Mountains, she had kept no 
 account of time. The hours flew unheeded while 
 her golden locks drooped over the delightful 
 pages ; the fitful moonlight brightened and faded 
 by turns, while she watched with Leslie the glory 
 of sunrise on the mountain-tops, hunted "garnet- 
 geodes " for " Gray-wacke," and laughed over Sin 
 Saxon's irresistible " howl." 
 
 It was after midnight before the last page was 
 turned, and even then Violet Was not in the least 
 sleepy. Her thoughts were still running on the 
 various scenes and characters of her story, and 
 the moonlight was so bright now, and the waver- 
 ing shadows of leaf and vine so lovely, that to do 
 so stupid a thing as go to bed was quite out 
 of the question. It was much more delightful to
 
 VIOLET TO THE RESCUE. 143 
 
 sit up in the window-seat and listen to the katy- 
 dids, and watch the fleecy clouds with silver lin- 
 ings that floated so airily around the bonnie Lady 
 Moon. 
 
 So Violet turned her lamp down to its smallest 
 blue flame, and perched herself like a fairy in the 
 ivy-wreathed window, laughing softly to herself 
 at the oddity of being up, and dressed, and wide 
 awake, at a time when all the world was asleep. 
 A shadowy misgiving crossed her mind that 
 grandpapa might not approve of such a vigil, 
 and would probably send her to her pillow at 
 once if he could see her. Conscience vaguely 
 suggested that if this was the case, she ought not 
 to linger any longer ; but Violet trifled a little 
 with conscience to-night, and coaxed her with 
 specious pleadings. It couldn't really be any 
 harm to sij; up when it was impossible to go to 
 sleep ; and wasn't it better to be here watching 
 that beautiful, heavenly sky, that gave her such 
 happy thoughts, than to be tossing and tumbling 
 in a stupid old bed ? 
 
 So Violet lingered, and the crickets chirped, 
 and the katydids sag, and chattered, and con- 
 tradicted each other, 
 
 " Katy did, Katy didn't, 
 Katy did, did, did"
 
 144 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF UEDHEESSD. 
 
 and the clouds sailed through the sky, now gloomy 
 and dense, shutting up the Lady Moon in a black 
 prison ; now broken with ragged rifts through 
 which her sweet face smiled serenely again ; and 
 all manner of quaint thoughts and fancies were 
 keeping company with the moon's changes, in 
 the little wakeful spirit that watched it. 
 
 She had been alone so much of her life, solitary 
 at least, amongst grown-up people, that she had 
 fallen into a habit of making companionship for 
 herself with her own imaginations. She built 
 castles in the air, wonderful and sweet as Mrs. 
 . Browning's " House in the Clouds ; " she went 
 down into the sea caves, where u the wild white 
 horses foam and fret," and the little mermaidens 
 ride them ; she peered into the gruesome caverns 
 where the gnomes and kobolds watch over their 
 golden treasures ; she danced with fairies in en- 
 chanted gardens, and found out the secrets of 
 bloom and perfume ; she floated on storm-clouds, 
 and crossed rainbow bridges ; she soared up to 
 the golden gates of Paradise itself, and dreamed 
 her innocent, childish dreams of things celestial. 
 
 She got no harm from indulging these fancies ; 
 they created for her a somewhat unreal atmos- 
 phere, but they kept her simple and pure, and
 
 VIOLET TO THE RESCUE. 145 
 
 left no room for the commonplace vanities that fill 
 up so many little feminine brains. They furnished 
 her with a delightful occupation, too, for she put 
 them into pictures, and filled her portfolio with 
 sketches of pixies and water-lilies, brownies peep- 
 ing out of old ruined castles, and banshees flying 
 on windy, moonlit clouds. Her grandfather 
 would laugh at them, and say, " Where do you 
 get such absurd ideas?." but secretly he recog- 
 nized the delicate grace and beauty of her pic- 
 tured fancies, and was proud of the talent they 
 evinced. As for Violet herself, she delighted in 
 her pretty gift, without guessing that she did any- 
 thing remarkable. 
 
 She had truly an .artist's eye, however, that 
 appropriated every suggestion of beauty ; there 
 were wonderful pictures in those shifting clouds, 
 those sudden bursts of light, those wavering leaf- 
 shadows which took on so many grotesque 
 shapes ; and she was grouping them mentally 
 into a " Goblin Dance," to be traced on paper 
 some time, when Sydney's cry for help suddenly 
 reached her ears. 
 
 It was not a loud or sharp cry, that would 
 have startled any one from sleep ; it was a fright- 
 ened, half-smothered wail, sounding far away, 
 10
 
 146 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 and no one else heard it. If Violet had been 
 reading still, away from the window, it would 
 have passed unnoticed ; but as she sat there, 
 watching and listening, it came to her ears with 
 perfect distinctness, a pitiful call of " Help ! 
 help ! " 
 
 She sprang to her feet involuntarily, and as she 
 did so she heard the savage growl of the dog. A 
 suspicion of the truth flashed into her mind : with- 
 out stopping to consider what was the best to be 
 done, she obeyed her first impulse, which was to 
 step out upon the gallery that ran outside of the 
 window, and see if she could discover the tramp 
 or burglar that the great watch-dog had surprised. 
 From the way her window fronted there was 
 nothing to be seen ; but another low growl from 
 the dog drew her round to the south angle of the 
 balcony. There lay the garden below her, 
 flooded with moonlight, and there, at the foot of 
 the green slope that verged to the orchard, was a 
 little heap upon the ground, black and motionless 
 against the clear white light. 
 
 Violet stood for one moment, uncertain and 
 hesitating : she could see the dog's figure plainly, 
 but the outline of the other was indistinct ; it 
 looked like a child ; and with a sudden, unrea-
 
 VIOLET TO THE RESCUE. l^J 
 
 soiling conviction that it was no dangerous rob- 
 ber, but some helpless, innocent creature that had 
 been attacked, the young girl, brave as she was 
 tender-hearted and delicate, resolved to go to the 
 rescue. There was no time for deliberation, or 
 to waken any one : the dog was fierce, and might 
 do harm, but Violet knew that he would obey a 
 word from her. She could call him off if she dis- 
 covered that it was a harmless person he had 
 attacked ; and if it were really a burglar or thief, 
 he would protect her. 
 
 These thoughts went quickly through her mind, 
 and her resolve was taken on the instant. There 
 was no outside descent from the gallery ; but just 
 where she stood was a window that opened above 
 a landing-place of the main stairway of the house. 
 By some accident it had not been closed that 
 night, and Violet raised herself up to the sill, 
 leaped lightly down to the landing below, and 
 flew with noiseless feet down the broad, thickly- 
 carpeted steps, till she reached the hall. The 
 heavy doors were locked, and barred, and bolted ; 
 she knew she could not open them without noise 
 and loss of time ; but there was a French win- 
 dow, whose fastenings yielded easily to her hands. 
 She was outside of it in a moment, standing upon
 
 148 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 the stone terrace, and in another, hearing the 
 dog's growl again, she was flying down the gar- 
 den alley towards the orchard close. 
 
 Sydney had recovered his senses by this time. 
 The blank unconsciousness of his sudden terror 
 was gradually giving way to a full realization of 
 his unpleasant predicament. There was a warm, 
 heavy weight upon his shoulders, and a most un- 
 comfortable pressure of two great paws upon the 
 back of his neck. He tried to lift his head, but 
 the paws gripped his throat, and warned him to 
 lie still. Lying so, perfectly powerless to help 
 himself, and not daring to cry aloud for assistance 
 from others, his reflections, as one may imagine, 
 were not of the most cheerful description. 
 
 " What a fool I was ! " he groaned inwardly ; 
 " what a little bragging, conceited fool ! Why 
 couldn't I be satisfied with what I had? why 
 didn't I go back when Charlie wanted me ? and, 
 O, dear! why did I ever come at all? That's 
 the mischief of it if I only had kept out of a 
 thing that I knew was wrong ! O, mamma, 
 mamma, what trouble and shame I have made 
 for you ! " 
 
 It was the bitterest thought of all ; and big boy 
 as he was, Sydney did not try to control the hot
 
 VIOLET TO THE RESCUE. 149 
 
 tears of shame and distress that rolled down his 
 cheeks. 
 
 " I shall never dare to look anybody in the face 
 again," he went on, despairingly. " It will be 
 all over the village, "and papa will hear of it wher- 
 ever he goes. O, dear ! if I could get away from 
 this beast ! I never can, though. He'll choke 
 me to death, and I don't care if he does. O, 
 dear, dear, dear ! " 
 
 He buried his head in the grass, and sobbed 
 aloud in hopeless misery and wretchedness. It 
 was no use trying to be brave ; there was only 
 one way of escape from his humiliating position, 
 he knew, and that was worse even than anything 
 the dog could do. By and by they would hear 
 him at the house, and then the servants would 
 come, and call the dog off} and drag him, like a 
 thief, before the master. What could he say for 
 himself, then ? he, Sydney Guilford, son of a man 
 that all Englewood, far and near, respected, he 
 would have to hang his head, and confess his 
 guilt, like any other thief caught in the act ; and 
 his father, and his mother, and Laura would have 
 to bear the shame of it, too. All for a few mis- 
 erable plums and peaches !
 
 I5O A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 A light, quick step sounded presently on the 
 garden walk above him. . 
 
 " Now they've come ! " he thought, desperately, 
 and plunged his face deeper in the thick grass. 
 The dog lifted his head up, wagged his tail, and 
 gave a little welcoming bark. 
 
 " Bruno ! Bruno ! what are you doing, Bruno ? " 
 said a soft, girlish voice, in a cautious whisper ; 
 and then Sydney heard the rustle of a girl's skirts, 
 as some one ran lightly down the slope, and felt 
 his neck suddenly released from the pressure of 
 the dog's paws. But shame kept his head down 
 still,' though he was free at last ; he could not 
 look up to face his deliverer, though he was con- 
 scious of a sudden sense of hope that thrilled him 
 as he heard the sweet, girlish accents. 
 
 "Who is here? what is the matter?" the voice 
 asked again, anxiously. " Has Bruno hurt you ? 
 Get up, and speak to me ! " 
 
 Violet had seen at a glance that this was no 
 fierce robber: it was only a boy, and a well- 
 dressed boy r too ; and, with a girl's quick wit, 
 she had guessed at the truth instantly. The story 
 of the cherry stones flashed back to her memory, 
 and with it her grandfather's pungent remarks 
 concerning thieves, small and great.
 
 VIOLET TO THE RESCUE. Page 150.
 
 VIOLET TO THE RESCUE. 151 
 
 " This boy has been stealing fruit," was her 
 rapid conclusion ; " and if grandpapa gets hold 
 of him, he will make an example of him. He 
 said he would ; but it's a pity to punish him, poor 
 fellow ! just for a little fruit ; and he looks like a 
 nice boy, too. I've a great mind to let him go, 
 and never tell ! " 
 
 With this charitable, but not strictly upright, 
 purpose, she stooped over Sydney's prostrate 
 figure, and laid a little soft hand upon his 
 shoulder. 
 
 " Get up," she whispered, " and go away. 
 I'll keep Bruno quiet if you'll go directly. But 
 if grandpapa comes, he won't let you off so 
 easily. Down, Bruno ! and let him alone." 
 
 
 
 The dog seemed to guess that the ends of jus- 
 tice were going to be defeated ; he gave a growl, 
 and straightened himself to spring again, but 
 Violet held him back, with her hand upon his 
 collar, and a gentle but decided command. Syd- 
 ney rose up slowly from the ground ; he could 
 not hide his face forever, ashamed as he was to 
 show it, and this opportunity of escape was so 
 much better than anything he could have ex- 
 pected, that it would have been the height of 
 folly not to avail himself of it.
 
 152 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF KEDRESSED. 
 
 Violet watched him, her heart beating fast 
 with excitement, as he drew himself up and 
 turned his face towards her. She was frightened 
 at her own boldness in telling him to go when 
 she was sure that he had been committing a tres- 
 pass, but she did not feel in the least afraid of the 
 boy himself. In fact, there was so much real 
 shame and regret in his eyes when they met hers 
 that she felt nothing but pity for him ; especially 
 when he began to thank her, in a confused 
 and distressed sort of way, for her kindness to 
 him. 
 
 " I never did anything like this before," he 
 stammered out, awkwardly. " I suppose you 
 won't believe me, though." 
 
 " Yes, I will, if you say so," Violet answered, 
 fearlessly. " You don't look like a bad boy 
 though what you've been doing," she added, re- 
 provingly, " is very bad indeed. You ought to 
 know better than to steal here in the night, like 
 this, to take our fruit. If you had come to the 
 house, any d-ay, and asked for it, my grandpapa 
 would have given you all you wanted ; but it 
 makes him very angry to have people take it 
 without leave. He says it's just as wicked to 
 steal fruit as to steal money."
 
 VIOLET TO THE RESCUE. 153 
 
 " I suppose it is," said Sydney, with a rue- 
 ful air. " My father always told me the same 
 thing." 
 
 " Why do you do it, then ? " she asked, quickly. 
 
 " Because I'm an idiot," was his disgusted an- 
 swer. 
 
 " A very good reason," she retorted, saucily ; 
 and the severe expression which she had called 
 up to her face, melted away in a smile so merry 
 and sweet, that Sydney's heart leaped up involun- 
 tarily. 
 
 " I wonder what makes you so kind to me," 
 he exclaimed, looking up at her with, a sudden 
 admiring perception of her beauty and goodness. 
 " Why didn't you let the dog choke me, or bring 
 somebody to punish me ? I deserve to be pun- 
 ished, you know." 
 
 " I dare say you do," she assented, with a grave 
 little nod. " But I think you are sorry, and I 
 don't believe you will try it again." 
 
 " How did you happen to be awake, this 
 time of night? It must be very late for you," he 
 asked. 
 
 " So it is, and every one else is asleep. But I 
 sat up late, because I was reading, and I wanted
 
 154 A W R ONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 to finish my book. Thaf s the way I happened 
 to hear you when you cried ' help ! ' " 
 
 " Did you come out here all alone, on purpose 
 to help me? " Sydney cried, in amazement. 
 
 " Yes, I did," was her simple answer. " I 
 heard you call out, and I heard the dog, and I 
 was afraid he would hurt you if I waited to wake 
 up grandpapa, or anybody. So I just ran down 
 here as fast as I could." 
 
 " But you didn't know it was /," Sydney 
 exclaimed, in still greater astonishment. " It 
 might have been a a real thief a bad man 
 a burglar! I should think a girl like you 
 wouldn't have dared ! " 
 
 " I knew Bruno could take care of me, if there 
 was any danger," she said, quietly. 
 
 Sydney looked at her again with eyes full of 
 admiration. " You're the' bravest girl I ever 
 
 s 
 
 saw," he said, warmly, " and the kindest, and the 
 prettiest. You've been just like an angel to me, 
 and you look like one, too ! " 
 
 It was not just then a very exaggerated state- 
 ment ; for, as Violet stood there in her white 
 dress, with her lovely golden hair flowing loose 
 over her shoulders, and the soft moonlight re- 
 fining every delicate feature, there was indeed
 
 VIOLET TO THE RESCUE. 155 
 
 something angelic in her appearance. But she 
 laughed her own little merry laugh at " such a 
 ridiculous idea." 
 
 " You had better go away," she said, " instead 
 of stopping here to say such silly things. I must 
 go back to the house directly, and I would ad- 
 vise you to get out of Bruno's reach as quickly 
 as possible. I hope it will be a lesson to you in 
 future," she added, with a little dignified air, 
 as she turned away. u It's not a gentlemanly 
 thing, to say the least of it, to be robbing or- 
 chards." 
 
 " I'll never do it again as long as I live," Syd- 
 ney cried, eagerly, coming nearer to her, and 
 holding out his hand. " I wish you'd shake 
 hands with me, just to show you believe me." 
 
 Violet held out her hand readily. " Of course 
 I will," she said ; and he grasped it with . a 
 squeeze. 
 
 " Tell me your name, too," he continued, hold- 
 ing the little hand tight. " Mine is Sydney Guil- 
 ford ; and, some time or other, may be, you 
 will let me get acquainted with you, and prove to 
 you that I'm not such a mean sneak as I look like 
 to-night." 
 
 " I don't know about getting acquainted," said
 
 156 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 Violet, drawing back a little. " My grandpapa 
 does not let me have acquaintances, and I don't 
 suppose I shall ever see you -any more. But 
 I'll tell you my name. It is Violet Violet 
 Schuyler." 
 
 "Violet?" Sydney exclaimed, with a sudden 
 recollection of the little handkerchief. " Were 
 you ever in Dale cemetery? Did you lose some' 
 thing there one day a pretty little handkerchief, 
 with your name worked on it ? " 
 
 " I've lost lots of handkerchiefs, with my name 
 on them," she answered, looking puzzled. " I 
 don't know if I lost one in Dale cemetery O, 
 yes, I do, though," she interrupted herself sud- 
 denly. " It was a good while ago, one day in 
 June, when we first came to live in Englcwood. 
 Yes, I remember now ; I lost my handkerchief 
 that day that I saw all the boys and girls in the 
 woods having a tea-party." 
 
 " Yes, it was the day of our picnic," Sydney 
 returned, eagerly. " Were you in the woods 
 then ? did you see us ? " 
 
 " I saw a crowd of boys and girls were you 
 there ? " she answered, as eagerly. " I was 
 behind the bushes, and I peeped through, -and
 
 VIOLET TO THE RESCUE. 157 
 
 saw them making tea, and setting out lunch with 
 a table-cloth on the grass." 
 
 " It was our picnic ; of course I was there," 
 said Sydney, excitedly. " I wish I had known 
 you were so near ! " 
 
 " Grandpapa scolded me for peeping, when I 
 came home and told him. But it looked so 
 pleasant to see you all so merry together, build- 
 ing the fire, and making the tea, and losing the 
 lemonade. I heard all the fuss about that, and 
 it' was so funny, I thought I should laugh out 
 loud more than once. How odd it is that you 
 should be one of those boys'! and that you should 
 find my handkerchief and then that I should 
 find you " 
 
 " Robbing your grandfather's plum trees," in- 
 terrupted Sydney, bitterly. " That's the oddest 
 thing of all. But I haven't stolen your handker- 
 chief, at any rate, Miss Violet. I tried to find 
 out the owner for a long time, and then I put it 
 away safely. I shall bring it to you to-morrow." 
 
 " O, never mind it ; I don't care about it at all," 
 she said, hastily. " You must really go away 
 now ; don't stay another minute. There's a light 
 in the house somebody is up ! " 
 
 " Good by, then ! '' he exclaimed, giving her
 
 158 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 little hand another energetic squeeze. " I'll never 
 forget you as long as I live ! " 
 
 And he darted into the orchard, while Violet 
 held Bruno's collar firmly, and stroked his head 
 with her hand ; whispering softly to him to pre- 
 vent the bark or growl which might be heard at 
 the house. Bruno was quiet under her caresses, 
 though his doggish brain was evidently rather 
 puzzled by this ending to the affair. It was not 
 in his experience of things to let an offender es- 
 cape scot-free ; but, as Miss Violet would have 
 it so, it must be all right. So he sniffed, and 
 wagged his tail at her coaxing words, and suf- 
 fered himself to be led back quietly to his kennel, 
 while Sydney was making alfr speed through the 
 orchard. He had made up his mind to leave his 
 hat to its fate, and waste not a moment in look- 
 ing for it. But as luck would have it, he ran 
 past the very tree where he had left it, and a 
 friendly moonbeam suddenly revealed it to him, 
 perched in the fork of the branches, with its 
 luscious contents all undisturbed. 
 
 He snatched it with eager delight, tossed on 
 the ground the fruit that he had selected so care- 
 fully, and, jamming the hat on 'his head, hurried 
 on to the fence behind which Charlie and Frank
 
 VIOLET TO THE RESCUE. 159 
 
 were waiting still in a sort of dumb despair. It 
 was not really half an hour since Sydney had left 
 them, to go back for his hat, although so much r 
 had happened in the mean while. But to them, 
 waiting so anxiously, and ignorant of what was 
 going on, it had seemed an eternity. Frank had 
 stuffed himself with pears and plums, and so 
 diverted his anxiety for a time ; but Charlie had 
 been in a state of unmitigated misery, imagining 
 every misfortune that could possibly happen to 
 Sydney, and shaking in his boots with terror, lest 
 the old colonel, or the dog, or something worse, 
 should suddenly rush out upon them also. 
 
 Never was a more welcome sound than Syd- 
 ney's hurried footsteps, when they came at last. 
 Charlie sprang up with an inexpressible sense of 
 relief, and Frank exclaimed, under his breath, 
 " There he is, now ! " with an eagerness that 
 showed an equal anxiety. 
 
 "Are you there, boys?" came, in a nervous 
 whisper, from the other side of the fence. " Look 
 out for me when I swing over." 
 
 " All right," Charlie returned. " Hurry up ! " 
 And the next minute Sydney was in the plum 
 tree, swinging himself from branch to branch, 
 and finally reaching a foothold on the fence once
 
 l6o A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 more. Frank lent his shoulders for a stepping- 
 stone, and Charlie caught him as he scrambled 
 down ; and both together began to pour out ques- 
 tions, which Sydney cut oft' at the root. 
 
 " Run as fast as you can they've seen us at 
 the house ! " 
 
 And there was no stopping to parley after this, 
 on Charlie's part. He grabbed the bag and shot 
 across the meadow, swift as an arrow ; the oth- 
 ers followed as rapidly, and the three hardly 
 drew breath till they were safe on the high road 
 again, and Colonel Schuyler's orchard far behind 
 their backs.
 
 VIOLET'S DILEMMA. 161 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 VIOLET'S DILEMMA. 
 
 > Bruno, old fellow, lie down. It's all 
 right, sir ; so you be quiet," Violet whis- 
 pered, with a final pat on the shaggy head as she 
 turned away from the kennel. 
 
 The dog lay down, obediently, and his young 
 mistress hurried back to the house, her heart 
 trembling, it must be confessed, with various 
 fears, in addition to the excitement of this mid- 
 night adventure. She had seen a sudden fight 
 shine out from one of the windows, and the first 
 frightened thought was, that her absence had been 
 discovered, by her grandfather perhaps, or her 
 governess. If that were so, she knew the alarm 
 it would excite, and how quickly everybody 
 would be roused to look for her ; and then, how 
 could she account for her leaving her room ? To 
 tell anything but the truth was, of course, not to 
 be thought of; but to tell that would not only 
 ii
 
 1 62 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 betray the boy, whom she had promised to pro- 
 tect, but bring herself into disgrace with her 
 grandfather. She knew his opinions about such 
 matters, and that he would not approve of her 
 conduct ; on the contrary, that he would be very 
 much annoyed by it altogether. 
 
 At her sitting up so late, in the first place, 
 which was always out of rule ; then at her rash- 
 ness in venturing out of the house alone at such 
 a time, and for such a reason ; and lastly at her 
 interference with Bruno in the proper discharge 
 of his duty. She had heard him utter stringent 
 sentiments against the weakness and wickedness 
 of those who encouraged wrong-doing by excus- 
 ing and shielding it. " Pity the criminal, but 
 punish the crime," was his motto ; and Violet 
 knew that his practice always agreed with his 
 theory. 
 
 So it is plain that she had reason to be un- 
 easy in view of an explanation with him. There 
 was nothing in the world that she dreaded so 
 much as to fall under his displeasure : it had hap- 
 pened once or twice in her life, and they were 
 wretched times indeed, though she had not had 
 to suffer any of the ordinary pains and penalties 
 by which children are punished for misdemeanors.
 
 VIOLET'S DILEMMA. 163 
 
 Colonel Schuyler had his own method of express- 
 ing his displeasure ; and Violet felt it exactly as 
 he meant that she should. But she feared it so, 
 that, to avoid it, she was very anxious to keep 
 this night's adventure entirely out of his knowl- 
 edge. 
 
 Whether this was right or wrong she did not 
 like to consider. In her own heart, which in- 
 clined to mercy rather than stern justice, she did 
 not feel very guilty for what she had done. Boys 
 always would rob orchards it was expected of 
 them ; and this was such a " nice boy " ! He 
 seemed so sorry, too, and ashamed ; it would have 
 been such a pity to let Bruno hurt him, or to have 
 grandp tpa " make an example of him " in some 
 terrible way. No, Violet could not help feeling 
 glad that he had got off in safety ; and though, 
 perhaps it was disobedient, and it was certainly 
 very uncomfortable, to keep a secret, yet still 
 
 " I mean to do it," was her unspoken deter- 
 mination. " If nobody saw me, there is no need 
 for me to tell at all. It would only vex grand- 
 papa, and get me a scolding ; and if I keep it to 
 myself, nobody will be the worse. I only wish 
 I knew whether I have been missed or not ! " 
 
 She trod lightly across the stone terrace, and
 
 164 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 listened cautiously at the window, which she had 
 left open, before she ventured to step inside. 
 Everything was silent and shadowy within ; only 
 the moonlight dividing the darkness on either 
 side of the window, and a solitary cricket chirp- 
 ing in a corner of the hall. Out of doors the 
 chattering katy-dids, and the rustling wind of the 
 oak trees, and fairy-like arabesques of light and 
 shade on the stone floor at her feet. Nothing at 
 all to prove that the whole household was not as 
 deep in slumber as the palace of the Sleeping 
 Beauty ; and with a lightened heart Violet stole in 
 .again, closed the window behind her, and crept, 
 cat-like, up the staircase. 
 
 At the first landing, where the stairs turned, 
 she stopped suddenly. A yellow light streamed 
 across the entry, and in the open doorway of her 
 room, a candle in her hand, and a dressing-gown 
 over her night-dress, stood Mrs. Weldon, Violet's 
 governess. There was an end, at once, to all her 
 hopes of getting back to her own room without 
 being seen ! 
 
 Mrs. Weldon stepped forward hastily as she 
 caught sight of the little figure on the landing. 
 
 " What a fright you have given me, Violet ! " 
 she exclaimed, nervously. " Why are you down
 
 VIOLET'S DILEMMA. 165 
 
 stairs at this hour of the night? What in the 
 worlcl have you been doing?" 
 
 " Nothing dreadful," Violet answered, trying 
 to appear unconcerned, though she trembled all 
 over at this unexpected encounter. " I sat up too 
 late to-night, and you will have to scold me, I 
 suppose. But I won't do it again." 
 
 " Do you mean to say you have never been to 
 bed at all?" asked Mrs. Weldon, sharply. " You 
 went up stairs at nine o'clock, and it is now 
 nearly one ! " 
 
 " Is it so late as that?" Violet hung her head 
 guiltily. u I didn't mean to do it, Mrs. Weldon, 
 indeed. I'm sorry, and I'll go to bed now di- 
 rectly." 
 
 " You'll come into my room first," said her 
 governess, " and tell me what all this means. 
 There's something here that I don't quite under- 
 stand ; " and taking Violet's hand, she led her, 
 unresisting, into the room, and closed the door. 
 
 " Now explain to me, please," she continued, 
 looking closely into her face, "why you sat up so 
 late, when you know it is not your grandfather's 
 wish ; and especially why you are down stairs 
 in the dark, instead of in your own room?" 
 v Viobt's face flushed with confusion and dis-
 
 1 66 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 tress ; Mrs. Weldon's look was severe, her tone 
 was cold and judicial ; it was plain that she sus- 
 pected something wrong, and that she meant to 
 investigate the matter fully. How could Violet 
 answer siich questions without betraying her 
 secret ? 
 
 " I have been reading," was all she could say, 
 with a rather faltering voice. " Grandpapa gave 
 me a new book to-day, and I was so interested in 
 it that I didn't see how late it was growing." 
 
 " You knew it was not right to read at all, 
 when you were sent up to go to bed," said Mrs. 
 Weldon, coldly. 
 
 " Grandpapa has never forbidden me," Violet 
 answered, timidly. 
 
 " That's an evasion of the truth. There should 
 be no need of an express command for something 
 that is always understood. I am surprised at 
 you, Violet ; " and Mrs. Weldon's look and tone 
 expressed severe disapproval. 
 
 " This is not all, however," she continued. 
 " You were reading up stairs ; I saw the book on 
 your table ; but what were you doing in the lower 
 part of the house ? " 
 
 " I was not doing anything wrong," said Violet,
 
 VIOLET'S DILEMMA. 167 
 
 in A low voice, and not very sure that she was 
 tekmg the strict truth. 
 
 ' Then you will not object to informing me, 
 
 I suppose," said her governess. " What took 
 
 you down stairs, pray? I am really curious to 
 know." 
 
 " I can't tell you," Violet answered, uneasily. 
 " Please don't ask me. I have promised not to 
 tell." 
 
 " Promised whom ? This is a very singular 
 affair ! " Mrs. Weldon exclaimed in amazement. 
 " Here you are, a young girl a child wander- 
 ing about the house in the dead of the night ; 
 and when I ask what you are doing, you have 
 promised not to tell I You surely cannot think, 
 Violet, that I shall suffer such a thing to pass 
 unexplained. I should be fulfilling my duty very 
 poorly if I did." 
 
 " I have not done anything to be ashamed of," 
 said Violet, twisting her fingers nervously. " I 
 heard Bruno growling, and I went down to see 
 what was the matter with him." 
 
 Mrs. Weldon gave her a look, incredulous, and 
 almost contemptuous. " I never knew you to 
 tell a 'ulsehood before, Violet ; but you cannot 
 expect .no to believe anything so absurd as that."
 
 l68 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 " It is true, all the same," Violet returned, her 
 face flushing indignantly at the scornful tone. " I 
 went down stairs because I heard Bruno ; that 
 was exactly the reason." 
 
 " And it \vns to Bruno, I suppose, that you 
 gave your promise not to tell." 
 
 " No, it wasn't," said Violet, angrily, her tem- 
 per giving way under so much repressed excite- 
 ment, and her self-love wounded by the charge 
 of falsehood. " But I will not tell you another 
 word. I have said the truth, and you think I am 
 telling wrong storfes. I never do tell wrong sto- 
 ries, and it is very unkind to speak to me in that 
 sarcastic way, as if you did not believe one word 
 I said." 
 
 She burst into tears, and sobbed passionately 
 for a minute or two, unable to bear longer the 
 strain upon her self-control. It was the natural 
 outlet for the nervous excitement of the past hour ; 
 but Mrs. Weldon, being ignorant of the real cause, 
 considered it a mere display of temper, and re- 
 garded her with surprise and displeasure. 
 
 " You will waken your grandfather if you do 
 not control yourself," .she said ; " and it is not 
 necessary to distress him, to-night at least, with 
 your incomprehensible behavior. Since you re-
 
 VIOLET'S DILEMMA. 169 
 
 fuse to explain it, I think you had better go to your 
 room now ; but to-morrow we shall have to dis- 
 cuss this matter again." 
 
 She opened the door, and Violet darted out 
 without answering, and ran to her own room at 
 the end of the corridor. There she threw herself 
 on the bed, and sobbed out her vexation and ex- 
 citement without interruption. It was so provok- 
 ing, it was so unfortunate, that her governess had 
 waked up ! Why couldn't she have slept one 
 half hour longer ? and then everything would have 
 been right. 
 
 It was rather singular that Violet blamed her 
 governess more for waking up than she did Syd- 
 ney for having been the cause of all the trouble. 
 She thought less of the fault which he had com- 
 mitted than of his handsome eyes, and the way 
 in which he had praised and thanked her, and 
 said she looked like an angel. A perfect stranger 
 as he was, she could not bear the thought of be- 
 traying his misdemeanor even to her governess ; 
 and she went to sleep finally, quite decided not to 
 tell her anything about the affair in the orchard. 
 
 Mrs. Welclon, on her part, went to sleep with 
 an equal determination to have the whole matter 
 explained in the morning. She was thoroughly
 
 170 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 astonished at Violet's behavior, so unlike any- 
 thing that had ever happened before, and not a 
 little indignant at what she considered her ob- 
 stinacy, and evasion of the truth. She had been 
 frightened at finding her absent from her room 
 at so late an hour, and was just about going down 
 stairs, in great anxiety, to look for her, when Vi- 
 olet suddenly made her appearance. The reac- 
 tion of feeling when she saw her quite safe, and 
 fully dressed, showing she had not yet been in 
 bed, gave a certain sharpness to her tone and 
 words that irritated Violet, and did not invite 
 confidence or confession. If she had spoken 
 more kindly less in the way of reproof, with 
 something wrong taken for granted there would 
 have been a different result. Violet loved her 
 governess, and was not so much afraid of her dis- 
 approval as she was of her grandfather's. With 
 more gentleness and forbearance, Mrs. Weldon 
 could have won the whole story from her ; but 
 now it was too late. 
 
 Violet was indignant at the charge of untruth- 
 fulness, and did not choose to remember that her 
 own conduct made the suspicion a very natural 
 one. She felt aggrieved by Mrs. Weldon's severe 
 tone, and it became a temptation to make a hero-
 
 VIOLET'S DILEMMA. 171 
 
 ine of herself, and submit to reproof, perhaps 
 punishment, for keeping silence, rather than tell 
 the truth, which would bring blame upon another. 
 
 So there was no inclination to yield, on either 
 side, when they met again the next day. Mrs. 
 Weldon gave Violet a cold and grave " good 
 morning," which was answered without any 
 warmth or cheerfulness ; and when breakfast was 
 over, and lessons began, there was the same un- 
 comfortable constraint upon everything. Violet 
 repeated her tasks with the sullen air of a person 
 who has been aggrieved, and her governess lis- 
 tened to them in cold and silent disapproval. 
 There was none of the comment and explanation, 
 none of the pleasant, discursive between-talk, 
 which had made lesson hours so interesting, and 
 taught her so much more than the mere books 
 had ever done. It was all formal and dreary, 
 and overshadowed with the anticipation of the 
 inevitable " lecture " that must follow. 
 
 When the study hour was over, after recita- 
 tions, Mrs. Weldon opened the subject. 
 
 " If you have anything to tell me, Violet, to 
 justify your behavior last night, I shall be very 
 glad to hear it," she said. " You have had time 
 enough to reflect upon it, and to see, I hope,
 
 172 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 that it is your duty to give me a candid expla- 
 nation." 
 
 Violet's reflections had not tended to that 
 conclusion, however. "I can't tell you anvtli.ng 
 more than I did last night," she answered, with 
 a determined expression. 
 
 "And you expect me to be. satisfied with 
 that? " asked her governess. " As a sensible girl, 
 can you honestly think that I should do my duty 
 to you if I did not try to find out the truth of this 
 matter ? " 
 
 "I think," Violet hung her* head in a mo- 
 ment's confusion, then lifted it up haughtily, with 
 red cheeks, " I think you might take my word 
 for the truth of the matter ! I never have told 
 you a falsehood, never ! " 
 
 " That isn't the question," Mrs. Weldon re- 
 turned calmly. " You may have spoken the 
 truth as far as it goes, I will allow that, but, 
 by your own showing, there is more that you will 
 not tell. I claim that as your governess, respon- 
 sible to your grandfather for your good behavior, 
 it is my right and duty to know the whole afiair. 
 You have only told me a part." 
 
 " I can't help it ; it's all I can tell," said Violet, 
 half pettishly, half sullenly. " I didn't go down
 
 VIOLET'S DILEMMA. 173 
 
 stairs for any wiong purpose, and when I say so, 
 you might believe me, and be satisfied." 
 
 " Excuse me, my dear." Mrs. Weldon smiled 
 rather sarcastically. " I am so far from being 
 satisfied that, if you persist in this secrecy, I shall 
 be forced to adopt a very unpleasant alternative." 
 
 Violet looked up with flashing eyes. " You 
 mean to tell grandpapa, I suppose ? " 
 
 " Exactly ; unless you choose to prevent it. I 
 should very much prefer not to have to appeal to 
 him." 
 
 " I think you are too unkind," Violet exclaimed, 
 the tears springing to her eyes. " You will 
 make grandpapa angry with me, and bring me 
 into trouble, when I have done nothing wrong, 
 nothing wrong." 
 
 " My dear, it lies with you to prove that, and 
 there is nothing I wish so much," said Mrs. Wel- 
 don, gently. 
 
 "You might believe what I say," sobbed 
 Violet. 
 
 " It is what you leave unsaid that makes the 
 mischief," returned her governess. " You must 
 have had a reason for being down stairs in the 
 dark, after midnight, when every one else w r as in 
 bed. If it was a good reason, it is natural to
 
 1 74 A WRONG -CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 suppose that you would not refuse to give it. If 
 it was a bad one, and your silence seems to 
 prove that, your grandfather ought to know of 
 the matter. It would be poor kindness in me to 
 let you persist in doing wrong, even help you 
 to deceive your grandfather ! " 
 
 " I am not deceiving him," Violet began an- 
 grily ; but checked herself abruptly. For con- 
 science cried out, Was it not deception, after all, 
 to hide something that he had a right to know, 
 and act as if nothing had happened, when some- 
 thing had been done that she knew would dis- 
 please him? It was impossible to justify herself, 
 and yet she could not bear to acknowledge Syd- 
 ney's transgression. 
 
 "I promised him I would not tell," she thought, 
 distressfully, " and if I do, how mean it will be ! 
 Grandpapa will never rest till he has the boy 
 punished : he will make me tell his name and 
 everything; and then suppose ! should ever see 
 him again. How he will despise me ! O, I can't, 
 I must not tell." 
 
 She hid her face in her hands and cried ; it was 
 the only expression she could make of the inward 
 struggle that so distressed her ; and Mrs. Weldon, 
 who had not the remotest idea of the real state
 
 VIOLET'S DILEMMA. 175 
 
 of the case, looked on at her emotion with pity 
 and amazement that were mingled with painful 
 doubts and suspicions.. There was no way of 
 even making a guess at what had really happened, 
 no single wrong thing that she could fix upon in 
 her mind as possible for Violet to -have been con- 
 cerned in. And yet all this desire for secrecy, 
 this obstinate refusal to explain, this passionate 
 distress at the thought of her grandfather being 
 told, how could they be accounted for if she 
 was perfectly innocent? 
 
 It was altogether a painful mystery, and to a 
 person both conscientious and kind-hearted, as 
 Mrs. Weldon was, loving her pupil tenderly, and 
 yet compelled by her sense of duty to be severe, 
 the situation was perplexing in the extreme. She 
 watched the sobbing girl sorrowfully for several 
 minutes, pondering what she might best say. ' 
 She went to her at last, and drew her hands away 
 from her face. 
 
 " You must not cry so, my dear," she said, res- 
 olutely. " All this sobbing is unnecessary if you 
 have done nothing wrong, and if you have it will 
 not mend it. Dry your tears now, and listen to 
 me. I must speak to you plainly." 
 
 But to bid Violet dry her tears was one thing,
 
 176 A WRONG CONFESSED IS IIAI.F REDRESSED. 
 
 to make her do it, another. In her short, happy 
 life, so filled with affection, and so sheltered from 
 trouble, she had seldom had occasion to shed 
 tears. But when they once began to flow, it was 
 no easy matter to check them, especially in a 
 dilemma that seemed so hopeless as the present. 
 So she continued to cry, uncontrollably : and Mrs. 
 Weldon grew more and more perplexed and un- 
 happy. 
 
 It was useless, she felt, to make any further 
 attempts now to compel an explanation, and she 
 was almost as unwilling as Violet herself to bring 
 the matter to Colonel Schuyler. 
 
 41 I will give you one more opportunity," she 
 said at last, after a few minutes' painful consider- 
 ation. " You know I do not wish to bring you 
 into trouble with your grandfather, and I will not 
 go to him now until you have had more time to 
 make up your mind. But if you do not tell me 
 everything that I ought to know before to-morrow 
 afternoon, I shall insist upon your going with me 
 to the library ; and there your grandfather will 
 have to decide upon your conduct." 
 
 She waited a few moments for an answer, but 
 none came. Then she opened her desk and be- 
 gan to write letters, and Violet, finding herself
 
 VIOLET'S DILEMMA. 177 
 
 tacitly dismissed, ran away to her own room, 
 where she cried herself sick, and was unable to 
 come down to dinner. Colonel Schuyler, as it 
 happened, dined away from home that day ; so 
 Mrs. Weldon took a solitary meal, with no cheer- 
 ful thoughts to atone for her lack of company. 
 12
 
 178 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE WRONG CONFESSED. 
 
 THE real culprits, meanwhile, had made 
 their way home without any difficulty. 
 When they had got a safe distance from Colonel 
 Schuyler's grounds, and discovered that there 
 was really no one in pursuit, Sydney gave an 
 account of his adventure, to the unbounded 
 amazement of his companions. 
 
 "Joe Bingham says that dog's a real blood- 
 hound," exclaimed Charlie. " I can't see why 
 he didn't tear you to pieces. If I had known 
 what was going on good Lord ! " 
 
 He stopped, quite overcome with the bare 
 idea. 
 
 " Don't swear," said Frank, coolly. " It's all 
 over now, and nobody's hurt. I say, what a bully 
 girl it was, though, and what luck that she hap- 
 ^ened to be around ! " 
 
 " You may say that," Sydney retor+ed. " I
 
 THE WRONG CONFESSED. 179 
 
 wonder what would have become of me if she 
 hadn't come when she did. I was half choked 
 with that great beast lying on me, though he 
 didn't bite, I'll say that for him. He only held 
 me down." 
 
 " It's just a miracle, nothing shorter," said 
 Charlie, unable to get over his astonishment. 
 " I don't know how it was, but I felt sure some- 
 thing was going to happen, when you kept 
 dawdling so. I was never so miserable in my 
 life ; and I can tell you what it's the last time 
 I shall go in for this sort of a lark. It don't 
 pay." 
 
 " Shake hands on that," Sydney responded, 
 promptly. " It's the first time with me, and it's 
 the last, you bet. I had a pretty good chance to 
 get ashamed of myself to-night, and I wouldn't 
 feel so cheap again for all the fruit that ever 
 grew. As to that bag of plums, you and Frank 
 can do what you like with my share. I don't 
 want 'em." 
 
 " O, pooh ! that's nonsense," Frank exclaimed. 
 " What's the use of making such a fuss over a 
 little bit of fun, when it's all over and done, and 
 nobody hurt? It's all stuil" about your not taking
 
 I So A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 your share of the plums. You will take 'em, 
 and eat 'em, too." 
 
 " Not if I know it," was Sydney's determined 
 answer. " I wish I could put 'em back on the 
 tree I'd almost risk the dog again for the sake 
 of doing it. But if I can't do that, I can keep 
 them out of my mouth,' at any rate ; and I will, 
 too. I wouldn't eat one of them for a horse and 
 saddle." 
 
 " That's all highfalutin nonsense," Frank re- 
 turned, in disgust. And Charlie protested equally 
 against such a ridiculous notion, as he called it. 
 But Sydney was not to be moved from his deter- 
 mination. The idea of eating any of the stolen 
 fruit although it was certainly stolen for that 
 purpose, and he himself had been the thief 
 was altogether disgusting to him now. He could 
 not forget the look and tone with which Violet 
 had said, 
 
 " It is not a gentlemanly thing, to say the least 
 of it, to be robbing orchards." 
 
 Neither could he forget the suffocating sense 
 of shame which he felt when he lay at the dog's 
 mercy ; the humiliation of owing his release to a 
 gill ; the miserable dread of being openly dis- 
 graced, from which she had delivered him. To
 
 THE WRONG CONFESSED. il 
 
 eat any of those plums now would have been a 
 meanness worse than the stealing of them, he 
 thought ; and he stuck to his resolution, in spite 
 of all that his companions could say. 
 
 It ended in their carrying off the bag, Frank 
 declaring that /ze was not " too virtuous for cakes 
 and ale," while Sydney stole into his father's 
 house again, empty-handed as he had left it, and 
 wishing with all his heart that he had never left 
 it at all. 
 
 He was more fortunate than Violet in his re- 
 turn, for no one had missed him, or dreamed of 
 his absence ; and, except for his own uncomfort- 
 able consciousness of what had happened, there 
 was nothing at all to disturb him. 
 
 His father and mother were just as kind as 
 usual at the breakfast tahle next morning ; Laura 
 rattled on without the slightest suspicion of his 
 having a secret ; and Archie, and Fan, and Flos- 
 sy all the little fry admired their big brother 
 as serenely as ever. 
 
 "Have a corn muffin for your lunch?" said 
 Laura, pushing away her breakfast plate, and 
 looking about the table to see what was most de- 
 sirable for a lunch basket. " I'll butter you some 
 while they're nice and hot shall I ? "
 
 1 82 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 " I can do it myself," he answered, rather un- 
 graciously, with the feeling that he didn't deserve 
 any special attention. " You needn't trouble." 
 
 " I don't intend to," she retorted, opening the 
 muffins, and shutting them up again with a lump 
 of butter to melt inside. " Flossy, run and fetch 
 me his lunch box, that's a darling." 
 
 And Flossy dropped her own muffin, half 
 eaten, while she ran willingly to do the errand ; 
 little Fan proffered contributions of bread and 
 butter and cold ham, and Mrs. Guilford suggested 
 apple pie and cheese from the pantry. x 
 
 " If they only knew," Sydney thought, remorse- 
 fully, " how little I deserve to be waited on and 
 coddled ! " 
 
 But they did not know, and he had to put up 
 with it, even to Archie's toddling off, and coming 
 back with a big purple plum squeezed up in his 
 little fat hand, which he insisted upon adding to 
 the lunch. 
 
 " Murphy give it to Archie boy ; Archie boy 
 keep it for buclder Tidney nice big p'um," he 
 announced with his little complacent air ; and it 
 was impossible to refuse it without hurting the 
 dear little fellow's feelings, though Sydney thought
 
 THE WRONG CONFESSED. 183 
 
 he had never felt so small in his life before as 
 when he accepted it. 
 
 The sense of shame haunted him all day long. 
 He had no means of knowing the trouble he had 
 made for Violet, and never dreamed, indeed, that 
 for the sake of shielding him she would subject 
 herself to blame. But he could not put aside his 
 uncomfortable remembrance of tile humiliating 
 position in which he had been placed. To have 
 to owe his release from actual bodily danger to a 
 girl, and, worse still, to have to accept her prom- 
 ise that she would hide his fault, and save him 
 from its consequences that stung his pride, and 
 made his face burn with shame twenty times 
 during the day. 
 
 Frank and Charlie could not enter into his feel- 
 ings, and were provoked with him, Frank es- 
 pecially, for " making such a fuss about nothing," 
 when he again, and angrily, refused the fruit 
 which they urged upon him at recess. 
 
 " What the dickens are we going to do with 
 the stuff? " Charlie said. " We can't use it up, 
 and it's a pity to have it spoil on our hands." 
 
 "Who cares?" answered Sydney, savagely; 
 " let it spoil ; pitch it into the river ; give it to 
 Micky Flinn's pig what do you come bother-
 
 184 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 i 
 
 ing me about it for, when I told you I never 
 wanted to hear of it again ? " 
 
 " You're a nice fellow to take all the fun out 
 of a thing," Frank grumbled. " What fools we 
 were, Charlie, to let him have anything to do 
 with it ! I'll know better next time, you bet I 
 will." 
 
 " And so will I," retorted Sydney. " You may 
 bet high on that." 
 
 And he stalked off, more than ever angry and 
 disgusted with himself, and gave away the best 
 part of the lunch which Laura had put up so 
 nicely, to a couple of tramps that happened to 
 be plodding past the play-ground just then. He 
 had no appetite for food, and no heart for play ; 
 and it was impossible to study with his thoughts 
 so distracted. So the day went by in a very 
 dismal and profitless fashion ; and he came home 
 again cross, tired, and generally " out of sorts." 
 
 Laura, on the contrary, was in the best of 
 spirits, for a piece of unexpected good fortune 
 had happened to " Ambo." Mrs. Delancy had 
 offered them the vise of the school-room for the 
 fair, and had promised several important con- 
 tributions, in addition to her personal help in 
 arrangements.
 
 THE WRONG CONFESSED. 185 
 
 ''All the ice-cream, for one thing," said Laura, 
 triumphantly. "Just think of that, Sydney! 
 You know what quantities of ice-cream people 
 always eat at fairs ; and then she says there is no 
 reason why we shouldn't have a floral temple, 
 and make a great deal of money by selling bou- 
 quets. She will fix it all beautifully for us, just 
 as they do in New York fairs." 
 
 "And who'll buy the flowers, I wonder?" 
 asked Sydney, contemptuously. " As if eve'ry- 
 body didn't have flowers of their own ! " 
 
 " No matter," Laura returned, merrily. " The 
 floral temple will be exceedingly ornamental, at 
 any rate, and we shall sell the bouquets cheap. 
 Lots of people will buy them, you'll see. And, 
 O, Syd, the nicest of all is, she says it's an ex- 
 cellent thing to use the money for Janie ; and 
 she thinks we will have enough to make a fair 
 start, and if Janie improves, and it turns out 
 well, she will help us to keep her at the institute 
 as long as it's necessary. Now isn't that splen- 
 did? I say, Syd, isn't it worth while to be 
 an honorary member of such a flourishing so- 
 ciety ? " 
 
 Laura was so brimming over with her happy 
 excitement, that she did not see at first how en-
 
 1 86 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 tirely unsympathetic Sydney was. She sci/:cd 
 him by the shoulders, and spun him. round in an 
 impromptu waltz, and did not discover until he 
 shook her off, more roughly than was necessary, 
 that he was not as pleased as she was with so 
 much good news. 
 
 " I wish you would let me alone ! " he snapped 
 out, so sharply that Laura opened her eyes with 
 amazement. 
 
 '"' Why, Sydney ! what have I done to you ? 
 How can you speak so crossly?" she exclaimed, 
 hurt and surprised. 
 
 " You are always so rude ! Do you suppose I 
 want to be pulled to pieces because you've lost 
 your wits about that ridiculous fair? I'm sick of 
 the whole concern. " 
 
 And -he slammed out of the room, leaving 
 Laura utterly confounded by such an uncalled-for 
 outburst. It Was so unlike him usually that she 
 was frightened for him, even more than hurt or 
 offended on her own account. 
 
 "Something has gone wrong; that is plain," 
 she thought. " He would never treat me so if 
 he had not been dreadfully put out, some way. 
 I wish I knew what was the matter." 
 
 It checked all her merriment, and made her
 
 THE WRONG CONFESSED. 187 
 
 cross in turn to Flossy, who was full of curiosity 
 about the floral temple, and asked questions until 
 Laura fairly drove her away with " short an- 
 swers." Whereupon she went to her mother and 
 complained that " everybody was cross ; " a whole- 
 sale statement, that Mrs. Guilford declined to 
 accept without further evidence. But she found 
 it borne out, to a certain extent, by the dull /aces 
 which Sydney and Laura brought, contrary to 
 custom, to the merry tea-table. 
 
 Sydney did not feel any happier for having 
 been rude and unkind to his sister, and Laura's 
 anxiety increased when she saw how silent and 
 sullen he was at the table. She had her little 
 sense of injury, too "/ haven't vexed him, and 
 
 he needn't treat me so ! " which made her de- 
 
 
 
 termine that she wouldn't speak first. 
 
 So, as far as they were concerned, the tea was 
 rather unsociable. The little ones chattered as 
 usual, however, and the doctor had a funny story 
 to tell about a Bobtown kitten, which had tor- 
 mented him for an hour, whining and mewing 
 somewhere near him, but utterly invisible. He 
 looked all about the carriage, under the seat, and 
 outside, to see if it had been tied on behind by 
 some of the mischievous Flinn tribe. But find
 
 l88 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 it he couldn't ; till at last a sudden inspiration 
 made him thrust his hand into his coat pocket, 
 and there was the kitten ! 
 
 ' Some of Katie Flinn's capers," laughed the 
 doctor. " I'm just as sure of it as she would 
 be of a whipping if her mother found it out. 
 She'll shake in her shoes the next time she 
 sees jne." 
 
 " You won't tell her mother, though," cried 
 Fan, confidently. 
 
 " Why not ? Don't you think she deserves a 
 whipping?" 
 
 " No, indeed," put in Flossy, saucily. " You 
 don't, either, papa. I heard you say yourself, 
 little girls oughtn't never to be whipped." 
 
 " I'll have to change my mind some da}', for 
 your especial benefit," her father retorted, " if 
 you don't take better care of your negatives." 
 
 "What's negatives?" Flossy queried, undis- 
 turbed by such a prospect. 
 
 " And where's the kitten? " Fan put in, eager 
 for the rest of the stoiy. " Why didn't you 
 bring it to me? " 
 
 Between correcting Flossy's grammar, and tell- 
 ing Fan of a little sick girl, who had been made 
 happy by the presentation of die kitten, the doc-
 
 THE WRONG CONFESSED. 189 
 
 tor had no time to notice how silent the two 
 older ones were. Mrs. Guilford was more ob- 
 servant ; and after tea she took occasion to speak 
 to Laura. 
 
 " Is anything wrong with you and Sydney? I 
 thought you did not either of you look very hap- 
 py to-night," she said, as they stood alone for a 
 minute in the dining-room. % 
 
 " I'm sure I don't know what ails Sydney," 
 Laura answered, promptly. " I was telling him 
 what Mrs. Delancy said, and, just for a frolic, I 
 took hold of him and wliii'led him round, as 
 we often play with each other, you know, mam- 
 ma, and he got angry all at once." 
 
 " Perhaps you hurt him," her mother sug- 
 gested. 
 
 " O, no, mamma ; that was impossible. I 
 couldn't have hurt him, and I had not said the 
 least thing to vex him, either. But he pushed 
 me off so roughly, and said I was rude, and I 
 had lost my senses about the fair, and he was 
 sick of it all. And so he went out of the room, 
 and he hasn't spoken to me since." 
 
 There was a little hurt tone in Laura's words, 
 but no temper, and no exaggeration. Mrs. Gull- 
 ford saw that she had stated the case fairly, and
 
 190 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 it puzzled her as much as it had surprised Laura. 
 Sydney was not apt to take offence at play, even 
 if it were a little rough ; and she could only ac- 
 count for his conduct by supposing that some- 
 thing had happened at school to arouse his tem- 
 per ; something which was no trifle, too, for he 
 was not naturally hot-tempered or quarrelsome. 
 
 She wajched him quietly through the evening, 
 without seeming to do so, and she grew more 
 convinced that something was amiss with him. 
 It was a chilly September evening, and a bright 
 little wood fire had been kindled in the parlor. 
 It crackled and blazed away in the cheeriest 
 fashion, and the rest gathered around it, admiring 
 the dancing flames, and enjoying the pleasant 
 warmth, as people always do with the first fire 
 of the season. But Sydney kept aloof, and bent 
 his head over a book at the other side of the 
 room. 
 
 " The fire was too hot, it made his head ache," 
 he said ; and by and by he slipped away, and 
 went up stairs to his own room, not because of 
 the heat or a headache, but because he felt so ill 
 at ease and unhappy, that he could not bear to 
 stay where the light, bright room and cheerful 
 talk were in such contrast with himself. He sat
 
 THE WRONG CONFKSSKD. 19! 
 
 down by the window and watched the moon 
 shining round and full above the trees : it shone 
 just so last night, when the dog flew at him 
 in the orchard ; and Sydney laid his head on 
 the window-sill and groaned as he thought 
 of it. 
 
 Some boys, reading this, will laugh at him, 
 perhaps, and wonder how he could worry him- 
 self so about such" a small matter. Frank Fisher, 
 though he was not a bad boy himself, as boys go, 
 considered him " a muff" for taking it to heart. 
 " It was a pretty rough scrape, but he got jolly 
 well out of it ; why does he make a muss about 
 it now?" he observed, philosophically. And 
 Frank himself would never have looked upon 
 it in any other light than as a good story to 
 tell by and by, when the risk of telling it was 
 over. 
 
 But Sydney had been brought up with differ- 
 ent ideas. There was no reservation in favor of 
 plum trees or pear trees in the eighth command- 
 ment ; and, though he had suffered himself for a 
 while to believe it was no stealing, he could not 
 help coining back now to his first convictions. 
 He had been a thief, sneaking through the dark 
 to take what did not belong to him, and what he
 
 192 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 would not have dared to meddle with in day- 
 light ; he had been caught in the act by a dog ; 
 he had been released by a girl, who, though she 
 pitied him, must of course despise him in her 
 heart ; and now he was at home again, acting 
 a lie to everybody, and taking kindness which he 
 didn't deserve, and wouldn't get, if the truth was 
 known. 
 
 These were the simple facts of the case ; and, 
 to a boy whose home training and influence had 
 all been based upon the principle of uncompro- 
 mising truth and honesty, they furnished reason 
 enough for shame and regret. He felt the bur- 
 den of a guilty secret, and it was a most unusual 
 and disagreeable burden. Nobody had secrets 
 at the brown cottage ; the whole atmosphere was 
 one of mutual confidence and sympathy ; and he 
 felt himself shut out from the rest by a conscious- 
 ness which they could not share. Confession of 
 the whole matter would have been a relief; but 
 that seemed hardly fair to Frank and Charlie ; 
 and, besides, what good would it do, now that 
 all was over, and no help for it, to make his 
 mother unhappy by telling her? No, it was bet- 
 ter to keep it to himself now, he thought ; and
 
 THE WRONG CONFESSED. 193 
 
 just as he reached this conclusion, the door opened 
 softly, and his mother came in. 
 
 She had left Laura playing chess with her 
 father in the parlor, and gone up to the nursery, 
 where Archie was already asleep, to give Faa 
 and Flossy the u kiss in bed," without which 
 they were never willing to shut their eyes. Syd- 
 ney's room lay across the hall ; and, having missed 
 him from the parlor, she went to look for him, 
 and to find out what had gone wrong with him. 
 For she was afraid that some trouble lay under 
 his rudeness to Laura, and his dejected attitude, 
 as she came into the room, convinced her that 
 she was not mistaken. 
 
 He did not hear the door open, and he gave 
 a nervous start as she laid her hand on his 
 shoulder. 
 
 " Don't be alarmed," with her loving smile. 
 " It is only mamma, come to look for a runaway. 
 Have you really a headache, dear ? " 
 
 " Yes, mamma and a heartache, too." 
 
 The words came out involuntarily. He had 
 not intended to say anything like that, and he 
 was frightened as soon as he had spoken. But 
 he could not take it back, for she answered at 
 once, 
 
 13
 
 194 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 " I was afraid of it, dear. I have seen in your 
 face all the evening that something was wrong. 
 What is it all about?" 
 
 " Don't ask me," he said, hastily. " I didn't 
 mean to tell you please don't ask me any 
 questions, mamma." 
 
 " But how can I help it? If you have a heart- 
 ache, as you say, your mother is the one to cure 
 it. I must ask you questions till I know what 
 the trouble is." 
 
 " I oughtn't to have said anything about it," 
 he replied, dejectedly. " If you insist upon it, I 
 shall have to tell you. But it will only make you 
 unhappy, mamma." 
 
 " I insist upon it, at all events. Whatever 
 makes my children unhappy, it is my right to 
 know," was her answer. And, in spite of every- 
 thing, Sydney felt glad that she would compel 
 him to tell. It was a relief already, and still 
 more so when the whole stoiy was poured out ; 
 he sitting on the floor at her feet, with his head 
 in her lap, and her gentle hand soothing with 
 its mere touch the throbbing pain in his temples. 
 
 She did not take it away, and her voice lost 
 none of its tenderness, even when she knew what 
 he had done, though Sydney knew very well that
 
 THE WRONG CONFESSED. 195 
 
 she was not indifferent, or inclined to make light 
 of the matter. 
 
 " I am very glad you have told me all this 
 yourself," was the first thing she said. " If I had 
 found it out in any other way, it would have been 
 a great deal harder to bear." 
 
 " And it's hard enough as it is, mamma isn't 
 it?" he put in, sorrowfully. 
 
 " Yes, it hurts me, Sydney ; I can't deny that. 
 I would never have supposed that you could let 
 yourself forget so easily things that you have been 
 taught from your cradle. You have often heard 
 your father say " 
 
 " O, mamma, I know," he interrupted, with 
 keen distress. " My father has said everything 
 so have you that ought to have made me know 
 better. And I did know better all the while 
 that's the worst of it ! " 
 
 He buried his face in her dress to hide the 
 tears that he could not control, and she drew him 
 closer to her, pitying and loving him the more 
 for the pain that she knew he ought to suffer. 
 It was hard to feel that he had deliberately 
 planned, and deceitfully carried out, such a piece 
 of folly and wickedness the boy she had felt 
 such pride and confidence in ! But it might have
 
 196 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 been worse so much worse ! and through and 
 above all the pain which his fault caused, her 
 heart swelled with thankfulness for his confession 
 and repentance. 
 
 It was a long, tender, earnest talk that they had 
 together, while the moonlight lay white on the 
 floor, and the shadows of the rustling leaves out- 
 side danced to and fro upon it. The game of 
 chess was finished, and the doctor took his new 
 magazine, while Laura went up to bed, wonder- 
 ing greatly what mamma and Sydney were doing 
 so long, and if anything dreadful really had hap- 
 pened. She longed to go into his room, where 
 she heard the murmur of their voices ; but she 
 was too well bred to intrude upon a private con- 
 versation, and she had to content herself to wait 
 till she should be taken into confidence. 
 
 Sydney, meanwhile, was trying to make up his 
 mind to do a very difficult thing. His mother 
 had told him that as Colonel Schuyler was the 
 person who had been injured, he was the one to 
 whom confession and apology were due. His own 
 conscience told him the same thing, but it was 
 no easy matter to accept the conclusion with its 
 consequences. Telling his mother, alone in the 
 moonlight, with her gentle hand upon his head,
 
 THE WRONG CONFESSED. 197 
 
 and her loving heart to pity and forgive, even 
 while it blamed him, was an easy matter by com- 
 parison. To walk up to Colonel Schuyler, whom 
 he only knew by Charlie's description, as a 
 u crusty old fellow, that looked cross as Ajax," 
 and say to him, "I've been robbing your orchard, 
 sir," that was a different thing. lie did not 
 know how to bring himself to it. 
 
 But one cannot escape the consequences of a 
 fault committed. They must be accepted in one 
 shape or another ; and so his mother told him. 
 
 " You have done wrong, and the consciousness 
 of it makes you unhappy. It always will do so 
 until you have made what amends you can by 
 confession. Remember that a fault confessed is 
 half redressed ; and the relief to your own mind, 
 from the sense of guilt, and the dread of discov- 
 ery, will more than balance the humiliation of 
 confession." 
 
 " I don't think there is any danger of my being 
 found out," said Sydney, evading the question. 
 " She promised the girl, you know not to 
 speak of it. Of course I didn't ask her. She 
 promised of her own accord." 
 
 " It was very generous of her," Mrs. Guilford 
 answered, " though I hardly think she had a
 
 198 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 right to keep such a secret. And it seems hardly 
 possible that she will be able to. Suppose she 
 was seen by some of the family when she went 
 back to the house, and it is very likely that she 
 was, how could she help betraying you? She 
 would have to account for being out of doors at 
 such an hour; and, with the best intentions to 
 protect you, I don't really see how she could. 
 You have told her your name, and if she is ques- 
 tioned about it, it will be the most natural thing 
 for her to tell the whole story. At this very mo- 
 ment Colonel Schuyler may know that his or- 
 chard was robbed, and that Sydney Guilford was 
 the boy who did it." 
 
 This was a new view of the case to Sydney, 
 and a new danger that he had not at all appre- 
 hended. He had only remembered, gratefully 
 and admiringly, Violet's generous kindness, and 
 it had never occurred to him that she might be 
 compelled, for her own sake, to tell what she had 
 done. It suggested a possibility that, more than 
 any other consideration, helped him to accept his 
 mother's unpalatable advice. Violet might be in 
 trouble on his account ; her grandfather might 
 have seen her, and been angry ; perhaps she had 
 refused, in spite of all, to tell his name, and at
 
 THE WRONG CONFESSED. 199 
 
 this very time she might be in disgrace for keep- 
 ing her promise. 
 
 He could not tell how near the truth this ran- 
 dom supposition was, but the mere thought of it 
 sent the blood to his cheeks, and made his heart 
 beat faster. Whatever happened to him, if there 
 was the shadow of a possibility that Violet would 
 be blamed, he must prevent that at once. 
 
 " I will go to-morrow and tell him all about 
 it," he decided, without a moment's hesitation. 
 " You are always right, mamma, and I will do 
 just what you tell me. I only wish I had come 
 to you a little sooner." 
 
 " I wish you had ; " and she kissed him, com- 
 passionately. " It will be hard for you, my boy, 
 but the lesson will do you good. You will not 
 be so easily persuaded, against your conscience, 
 another time." 
 
 " No, that I won't ! " he exclaimed, promptly. 
 " I shall know how to ' say no ' the next time. 
 But, mamma," with a sudden recollection, " ought 
 I to let it out that Frank and Charlie were in it? 
 That seems a sort of mean thing to do." 
 
 "Did you tell 'Violet' that they were with 
 you?" 
 
 " O, no ; and she didn't seem to suspect there
 
 2OO A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 was any one else. They were not in the orchard 
 at all, you know." 
 
 " Then there will be no occasion to speak of 
 them, I suppose ; though it is hardly fair, either, 
 that you should bear all the blame." 
 
 " It doesn't make much difference," he said, 
 with a sigh of resignation. " If I've got to face 
 the music at all, I'd just as soon do it alone. 
 They'd make a great row about it if they knew, 
 and they wouldn't consent ; so I think I had bet- 
 ter not tell them that I mean to see the colonel." 
 
 " Are you sure you could not persuade them 
 to go with you ? " 
 
 Sydney shook his head. " Not much. You 
 see, mamma, they don't think it's any harm, and 
 they would laugh at the notion of going up there 
 to get blown up by the old colonel, and then do- 
 ing the same sort of thing again when they got a 
 good chance. You don't know how boys talk." 
 
 " I am glad there is one boy, at least, who 
 knows the difference between right and wrong," 
 said Mrs. Guilford. " It would make me unhap- 
 py, more unhappy than I can tell you, Sydney, 
 if I could think you would ever come to make 
 light of any dishonesty. It is the only comfort
 
 THE WRONG CONFESSED. 2OI 
 
 I have in this affair, that you are really ashamed 
 and sorry." 
 
 " I'm glad you can find any comfort r.t all in 
 it, mamma," was Sydney's penitent answer ; 
 "I'm certainly ashamed and sorry enough, if that 
 gives you an}', but I wish it was only I that had 
 to be ashamed." 
 
 " Well, we will not talk of it any more," she 
 said, gently. " There is just one thing I want to 
 remind you of you can guess what I mean?" 
 
 He knew, by her reverent, earnest tone, and 
 bent his head, silently consenting. 
 
 " Every fault that has to seek forgiveness from 
 men, needs it still more from God. It is 1 1 is 
 laws that have first been broken, and only His 
 pardon that can really free us from the sin." 
 
 u Yes, mamma, I know that," very low, and 
 sorrowfully, as she paused for a moment. 
 
 "Well, then, we will say our prayers together, 
 and ask for this forgiveness first." 
 
 And her tender tone and touch drew him to 
 his knees beside her, while she prayed for him 
 earnestly, fervently, out of the very depths of her 
 loving, mother's heart. She asked pardon and 
 peace for this transgression, that he might be 
 " cleansed from all sin," and grow wise and
 
 2O2 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 strong to resist temptation ; wise through seeking 
 help and guidance from the One whose helping 
 hand is always ready if we will but see it, and 
 strong through knowing his own weakness to do 
 anything good, or escape anything evil, without 
 His grace. She asked for the sons of other 
 mothers, that they might not be left in tempta- 
 tion, but taught to choose good instead of evil ; 
 and she thanked God that He had kept her son, 
 " that was so dear," from the worse sin of deceit 
 and falsehood, and led him to confession and 
 repentance. 
 
 Her voice trembled with tears through the 
 whispered pleading, and Sydney was utterly 
 broken down. He could not answer her good- 
 night kiss and " God bless you," for his heart 
 was too full. But his mother knew that he would 
 not soon forget the impression of this hour.
 
 THE WRONG REDRESSED. 203 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE WRONG REDRESSED. 
 
 IT was afternoon the next day before Colonel 
 Schuyler came home. He had gone to New 
 York, and been detained unexpectedly over night. 
 For the first time in her life, Violet was glad of 
 his absence, and for the first time in her life, when 
 she came to meet him after a journey, her step 
 was slow, and her face had no welcome in it. 
 
 She tried to smile and look glad, but her heavy 
 eyes and pale cheeks spoiled the effort ; and her 
 grandfather, knowing the little face so well in all 
 its changes, saw at a glance that something was 
 wrong. 
 
 " You're not looking well ; what's the matter?" 
 he asked, with prompt anxiety ; and Violet's 
 heart sank, for she knew now that there was no 
 escape for her. Once he began to question her, 
 what could she do ? And what could she do in
 
 204 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 any case ? alas ! for her governess would surely 
 keep her word. She could only falter out, 
 
 " I had a headache, grandpapa, and I haven't 
 quite got rid of it." 
 
 " Young heads have no business with head- 
 aches," he returned. " Come into the library 
 after I am dressed, and tell me what you have 
 been doing to get a headache. Perhaps I have 
 something to show you that will drive it away." 
 
 He kissed her, and went up stairs to change his 
 dress, that was dusty with railroad travel. Violet 
 looked after him till he was out of sight, then 
 turned to Mrs. Welclon with an imploring look. 
 But that lady shook her head. 
 
 " There are three questions that must be an- 
 swered to me or to your grandfather," she 
 said, decidedly. " Where did you go that night?. 
 What did you do? Whom did you promise not 
 to tell ? You can still take your choice whether 
 you will answer them to me or to him. There is 
 time enough before he comes down." 
 
 " But will you promise not to tell him ? " ex- 
 claimed Violet, desperately. " If I answer to you, 
 will you promise never to let anybody know? " 
 
 " No, my dear. I cannot consent to make any 
 such promise. What I do afterwards must depend
 
 THE WRONG REDRESSED. 205 
 
 altogether upon the nature of the thing you have 
 done. If I find it something that your grand- 
 father ought to know, I shall surely tell him." 
 
 Mrs. Weldon spoke coldly, perhaps rather 
 1 arshly ; tut she was surprised and displeased 
 at Violet's obstinacy, and had brought herself to 
 the belief that there must be some serious fault 
 at the bottom of it something, indeed, which 
 ought not to be concealed from her grandfather ; 
 and therefore she was not willing to make the 
 slightest compromise. 
 
 Violet turned away from her in a sort of sullen 
 despair, half angry, half hurt, and "wholly hope- 
 less. "What is the use of telling it twice?" she 
 said to herself; and without answering her gov- 
 erness, she went past her into the library, to wait 
 for her grandfather. Mrs. Weldon followed her, 
 fully determined* now to speak to Colonel Schuy- 
 ler ; and so the two sat there silently until he 
 came down. 
 
 He had a large book in his hand, which he 
 opened as he laid it on the study table. " Come 
 here, Puss," taking a seat in his arm-chair, and 
 drawing her to his knee. " See what these pic- 
 tures will do for your headache." 
 
 It was a collection of charming "studies" for
 
 2O6 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 crayon drawings : the " Undine," " L'Indigence," 
 " Evangeline," the " Mater Dolorosa," the " Dead 
 Christ ; " twenty more beautiful and familiar 
 " heads," with a number of lovely sketches be- 
 sides ; bits of landscape ; groups of children, 
 playing, reading, sleeping; studies of flowers 
 and fruit ; and bewitching images of fairies, pix- 
 ies, and " water-babies," with all their fanciful 
 surroundings. A book of treasures to Violet, 
 who so delighted in everything picturesque and 
 artistic ; but alas ! spoiled for her now. She 
 turned over the leaves listlessly ; there was none 
 of the animation, the sparkling delight, which 
 her grandfather had expected ; and he watched 
 her with a surprised and disappointed expression. 
 
 " There is something more than a headache 
 here," he said, presently, pushing the book away, 
 and looking straight into Violet's eyes. " What 
 is the reason, Puss, that you are so pale and 
 dull, not pleased with what always made you 
 happy before, not even glad to see me at home 
 again ? Come ! let us have the whole story." 
 
 But Violet dropped her eyelids, and had not a 
 word to say. Her heart sank down like a leaden 
 weight. Her grandfather looked at Mrs. Weldon. 
 
 " Is she in disgrace ? " he asked, a little sharply.
 
 THE WRONG REDRESSED. 2Oj 
 
 " What has she been doing, that she can't speak 
 for herself? " 
 
 " That is what I have been trying for two days 
 to find out," Mrs. Weldon answered, gravely. 
 
 " Two days ! There was nothing amiss when I 
 went away yesterday morning?" he questioned. 
 
 " Only that at one o'clock in the morning Vio- 
 let had not yet been in bed. And when I found 
 her coming up from below stairs, she refused ab- 
 solutely to tell me where she had been, or what 
 she had been doing, away from her room at that 
 hour of night. I did not think it best to bring 
 the matter to you immediately : I waited, hoping 
 that I could induce her to explain her conduct ; 
 but I have to confess that I have entirely failed. 
 She has given her promise to some one I have 
 no means of knowing who it is not to tell ; 
 and this is all I can discover about it. I am very 
 sorry," Mrs. Weldon added, regretfully, " to bring 
 Violet into trouble, or to give you the impression 
 that she has been doing wrong. But I could not 
 feel justified in keeping silence." 
 
 " Certainly not : you have done quite right." 
 
 Violet felt, though she did not see, the stern 
 look that came over his face as he said this. She 
 knew the close-set lips, the cold, determined eyes ;
 
 208 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HAH- REDRESSED. 
 
 and her own drooped lower, till the long eye- 
 lashes almost touched her cheek. But her grand- 
 father did not choose to let them stay hidden so. 
 
 " Look up," he said, in a tone that compelled 
 obedience ; and Violet had to lift the blue eyes, 
 full of pitiful perplexity and distress, to the judge 
 before her. 
 
 " Now, then, I want to understand this very 
 singular story. You did not go to bed night 
 before last, was it? till after midnight. Why 
 was that, to begin with ? " 
 
 Violet explained it, tremulously ; the new book, 
 the moonlight ; she was not sleepy ; she did not 
 think grandpapa would be angry. 
 
 " Very well ; but why did you go down stairs ? " 
 
 " I heard a noise, and I wanted to see what it 
 was." 
 
 " Bruno growling, she told me," Mrs. Weldon 
 interposed. 
 
 " Did you see ? " disregarding the interruption. 
 "What was the noise? Who made it?" 
 
 " Bruno, grandpapa, partly," Violet faltered, 
 her eyelids drooping again. 
 
 "Look at me! Bruno partly, well, what 
 else?" 
 
 " O, please, grandpapa " Violet clasped her
 
 THE WRONG REDRESSED. 209 
 
 hands in distress, " don't ask me any more 
 questions ; don't make me tell you. I promised 
 I wouldn't ! " 
 
 " There ! " exclaimed Mrs. Weldon. " It is just 
 as I said, you see. Now do you wonder at my 
 anxiety, when she confesses to so much as this, 
 and refuses to explain anything more ? " 
 
 " She will not refuse to explain it. to me," said 
 Colonel Schuyler, with a quiet emphasis. " Go 
 on, Violet. What else did you hear? " 
 
 " O, grandpapa, please !" she repeated, with 
 still more pitiful pleading in her eyes and voice ; 
 but he was unmoved by it. 
 
 " You only convince me that I ought to make 
 you speak," he said. " All this distress and re- 
 luctance proves that there is something which 
 needs to be investigated. I insist upon your an- 
 swering, unless you wish me to believe that you 
 have been committing some fault that is very 
 grave indeed," he added, with a searching look. 
 
 Violet's pale face flushed under it. " I have 
 not done anything wicked," she said, proudly. 
 " I wonder how you can think so. " 
 
 " Because you compel me to think everything. 
 Why do you make such a mystery of it, if there 
 is nothing wrong? " 
 
 H
 
 2IO A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 | 
 
 "I said I wouldn't tell," she murmured. 
 
 "And / say you must tell," he exclaimed, 
 sternly. " First of all, I want to know who was 
 the person you promised, and then what the 
 thing was that was not to be told. It is folly to 
 think that I will allow such things to go unac- 
 counted for. I insist upon your answering me 
 fully, and at once ; you have trifled with the 
 matter long enough." 
 
 Poor Violet ! There was no resisting any 
 longer when he took this severe tone. She cow- 
 ered down, frightened and miserable, not daring 
 to disobey the stern command, and yet dreading, 
 with an exaggerated terror, the consequences of 
 her revelation. She had been kept in such a 
 state of worry and excitement, that the whole 
 thing had assumed a magnified importance to 
 her. Her own share in it would be severely 
 condemned and punished, she felt sure ; and as 
 for the poor boy, something dreadful would Imp- 
 pen, of necessity. If grandpapa was so angry 
 already, what would he be when she had told him 
 everything ! 
 
 It seemed almost impossible to shape her 
 frightened, confused ideas into any intelligent 
 speech. She began nervously, and her lips trem-
 
 THE WRONG REDRESSED. 211 
 
 bled so that the words would not come ; the tears 
 sprang to her eyes ; her hands shook with the 
 repressed excitement. 
 
 Colonel Schuyler could not but pity her dis- 
 tress, but he was inexorable in 'his purpose. 
 "You need not tremble so," he said, more gently. 
 " There can surely be no reason for you to dread 
 telling me the truth, Violet. Compose yourself 
 now, and speak out honestly. I want to be satis- 
 fied I dare say I shall be that it is nothing 
 very terrible, after all." 
 
 The kind tone gave her a little courage, and 
 she opened her lips again ; but before the words 
 could pass there was a sudden knock at the door. 
 Colonel Schuyler made an impatient exclama- 
 tion, but he answered, " Come in ! " and Owen, 
 the waiter, made his appearance. 
 
 " If you please, sir, there's a young gentleman 
 wants to see you, sir." 
 
 "Who is it? What's his name?" asked the 
 colonel, shortly. 
 
 " Didn't give it to me, sir ; looks like one of 
 the young gentlemen from the military." 
 
 " Go and ask him for his name ; and tell him 
 that I am very much engaged just at present." 
 
 Owen went away, leaving the door half open,
 
 212 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 so that they heard his voice in parley with the 
 visitor at the hall door. 
 
 " Tell Colonel Schuyler," was the response to 
 his message, in boyish accents, " that my name is 
 Sydney Guilford ; and if he is engaged I can 
 wait as long as he likes. But I want to see him 
 this afternoon very much indeed." 
 
 " I wonder why," the colonel muttered, in an 
 undertone. " I have no acquaintance with Mr. 
 Sydney Guilford ; but I suppose I must give him 
 a hearing." And he put Violet off his knee, 
 where she had sat so uneasily all this time, and 
 went to the door just as Owen returned to re- 
 port the message. 
 
 " Stay here till I come back, and be ready to 
 speak to me when I do come," he said to her, 
 and left the room, leaving Violet thrilling all over 
 with a new excitement. Sydney Guilford ! That 
 was the boy who had robbed the orchard ! What 
 could bring him here now, unless unless and 
 the poor little heart throbbed with a sudden sense 
 of relief he had come to confess, himself, what 
 he had done? That would be good news in- 
 deed ; too good, entirely, to be true, the poor 
 child thought, with a sigh. And yet, what else 
 could it be ? She sat in a tremble of hope and
 
 THE WRONG REDRESSED. 213 
 
 fear, straining her ears to catch a chance word ; 
 but her' grandfather had shut the door, and no 
 sound penetrated. 
 
 Sydney, on the other side of it, was trying to 
 screw his courage up to meet his fate bravely ; 
 but he felt a very sick sensation when he saw the 
 colonel advancing to meet him. He did not see 
 the " goggles " that Charlie Cox had described, 
 nor the " knobby cane ; " but the tall, white-haired, 
 dignified old gentleman was much more impos- 
 ing even than the " crusty old fellow, cross as 
 Ajax," that he had expected to encounter. He was 
 not reassured by the rather curt tone in which the 
 colonel greeted him, and inquired his business ; 
 but, " sink or swim," he had made up his mind 
 to do it, and so he plunged at once in medlas res. 
 Owen had gone away, and there was no one 
 else in sight ; the stone terrace was as good a 
 place as any other for the confession, and, stand- 
 ing there in the warm autumn sunshine, he stam- 
 mered out, in some confused, shame-faced fash- 
 ion, what had happened close by, in the moon- 
 light, two nights ago. 
 
 If it had not been for what had passed before, 
 the colonel would have found it difficult to un- 
 derstand the jumble that Sydney made of the
 
 214 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 orchard, and the dog, the moonlight, and Violet ; 
 but the previous scene was a key to this, as this 
 was an unlooked-for commentary and explanation 
 to that. In a flash poor little Violet's mystery 
 was revealed, and her grandfather understood 
 now completely her double perplexity and trouble. 
 It was all clear to him how her generous im- 
 pulse had led her to help the boy's escape, and 
 her sense of honor had constrained her to keep 
 his secret, even while it subjected her to such 
 painful doubts and questionings. 
 
 It was so great a relief to him to discover, at 
 such an opportune moment, her innocence of any 
 real fault, that his first impulse was actually to 
 say, " Thank you," to the culprit, who stood be- 
 fore him with downcast looks, awaiting the ex- 
 pected sharp rebuke. But he recollected him- 
 self in time, and bent his brows to a sterner 
 expression. 
 
 " This is a nice story you bring me, sir ; what 
 am I to think of it? " was the first comment. 
 
 " I don't know, sir, except that it's true," was 
 Sydney's dejected answer. 
 
 " Good character you give of yourself, prowl- 
 ing round people's houses in the night." 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Sydney, more downcast still.
 
 THE WRONG REDRESSED. 2 15 
 
 " And no more sense of shame than to come 
 here in open daylight, and tell me of it to my 
 face ! " 
 
 " It wasn't that it's I think you are mis- 
 taken, sir," stammered Sydney, flushing up to 
 his forehead, and thinking this "a little too rough 
 on a fellow." 
 
 " Mistaken, am I? Well, what do you expect 
 me to think, when a boy walks up to me, auda- 
 ciously, and tells me he has robbed my orchard, 
 and my dog has caught him in the act, and my 
 granddaughter has let him go free, when by good 
 right he deserved a flogging ? " 
 
 " You can think he has come back to get it, 
 sir," returned the boy, drawing himself up 
 proudly. " I know I deserve to be punished, 
 and I shan't shirk it. You can do what you like 
 to me." 
 
 " You would rather be flogged than not, I sup- 
 pose ; " and the colonel's frown relaxed, while a 
 smile lurked in the corner of his mouth. " You 
 have really come here, then, on purpose to con- 
 fess a fault, and tell me you are sorry for it? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, that's what I'm trying to do." 
 
 " The curious part of it is, what makes you
 
 2l6 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 sorry ? I suppose you've done the same thing a 
 dozen times before." 
 
 " No, sir ; I never did anything of the sort 
 before ; never in my life," Sydney replied, 
 promptly. 
 
 " Ah ! and why have you done it now, then ? " 
 
 " Because," Sydney began, and stopped, con- 
 fusedly. 
 
 " Some other fellows, were going to have a 
 lark, and invited you to join them ? " said the 
 colonel, with a shrewd interrogation. " You 
 didn't know how to say no ? " 
 
 " I didn't say that, sir," exclaimed Sydney, 
 quickly. 
 
 " No, but I observe that you don't deny it," 
 the colonel rejoined. " You need not be afraid ; 
 I shan't ask you to tell tales on your friends, but 
 I would like to know simply for my own satis- 
 faction if I have guessed right. Were you the 
 only boy in the orchard that night ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, I was the only one in the orchard," 
 Sydney answered, but with a certain reserva- 
 tion in his tone that the colonel at once de- 
 tected. 
 
 " You are not answering me frankly ; and if 
 you try to deceive me with half truths, your con-
 
 THE WRONG REDRESSED. 217 
 
 fession is not worth much. It might as well have 
 been left unmade," he said, with dignity : and 
 Sydney was obliged, in self-defence, to acknowl- 
 edge that he was not alone. 
 
 " There were two boys -outside of the fence, 
 sir. I didn't want to say anything about them, 
 at all, and I hope you won't ask me their names. 
 If you do, I can't tell them to you." 
 
 " Don't be afraid ; I have no use for their 
 names," the colonel answered ; " and no opinion 
 of a boy who betrays his mates. You have told 
 me all I want to know about them this time. If 
 they try the same trick again, I shall know how 
 to find them out for myself. The question is 
 now, What is to be done with you ? " 
 
 It was just the question that Sydney had spec- 
 ulated and pondered upon all day long ; he was 
 very anxious to have it answered, but had no sug- 
 gestions of his own to offer. 
 
 " You are quite aware, I suppose," the colonel 
 continued, coolly, " that I could do several very 
 disagreeable things. I could have you arrested, 
 if I chose to take law on my side ; or I could 
 make complaint to the principal of your acad- 
 emy ; or I could take lynch law, and make Owen 
 thrash you on the spot. I was thrashed myself,
 
 2l8 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 when I was a boy, for something of the same 
 sort ; and it was the best thing that could have 
 happened to me." 
 
 " Very well, sir," said Sydney, with an effort, 
 choking down the bitter pill to his pride. " If 
 you choose to have me flogged, I've got nothing 
 to say." 
 
 He did not believe the colonel had any such 
 intention, but it was no less humiliating to have 
 the prospect set before him. The flogging itself 
 would have been less painful than the keen shame 
 which he felt, and which pictured itself so plain- 
 ly on his countenance, that Colonel Schuyler 
 could but pity him at last. He watched the 
 downcast eyes, the flushed face, and quivering 
 lips, that betrayed the struggle within, and he 
 could not help a feeling of respect for the. boy's 
 manly self-control, and an admiration for the hon- 
 est principle which had evidently influenced him 
 to make the confession, and now kept him patient 
 under its unpleasant consequences. " He has 
 been punished enough already," was his mental 
 conclusion, and he put it into words without 
 keeping the boy longer in suspense. 
 
 " I think you are really sorry for your fault, 
 my boy," he said, so kindly that Sydney looked
 
 THE WRONG REDRESSED. 219 
 
 up with quick surprise ; " and you have proved 
 your willingness to make amends for it. I hold 
 by the old adage, that ' a wrong confessed is half 
 redressed,' and so we'll consider the matter set- 
 tled. I don't believe you will put yourself in 
 such an uncomfortable position again." 
 
 " No, sir ! that I never will," was the eager 
 response, full of grateful relief. " I don't know 
 how to thank you for being so kind " 
 
 " I'll take it for granted," interrupted the 
 colonel, cheerfully. " Don't say any more about 
 it, but go home and tell your mother. And the 
 next time anybody wants you to do a thing that 
 you suspect to be wrong, say, NO, in capital 
 letters." 
 
 Sydney's heart was as light as a feather as he 
 ran down the stone steps, and crossed the broad 
 lawn again. He was so happy that he whistled 
 a tune as he went, and Bruno growled at him in 
 the distance. But what did he care for Bruno 
 now ? The burden was lifted from his heart, and 
 he had no longer anything to be afraid or 
 ashamed of. The world seemed full of sunshine 
 and gladness all at once, now that this dreaded 
 interview was so happily over. Thci-e was only 
 one thing to regret that lie had not caught a
 
 22O A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 glimpse of Violet. Her handkerchief was in his 
 pocket, in a neat little parcel ; and he had in- 
 tended to give it to her if he could have seen her. 
 But he had not ventured to ask for her, and he 
 did not choose to give the handkerchief to her 
 grandfather. No matter ; it would be an excuse 
 for going again, when there was no such dis- 
 agreeable errand ; and then he could thank her 
 for having kept his secret so bravely. So he ran 
 home, and whistled as he ran, to tell his mother 
 how beautifully things had ended, and how glad 
 he was that he had taken her advice, and how he 
 pitied every other boy that hadn't, like him, the 
 best, and sweetest, and dearest mother in all the 
 world ! 
 
 Colonel Schuyler went back to the library with 
 a sense of relief quite as decided, if not as ex- 
 uberant. The most painful thing possible to him 
 was to find any fault in Violet. He loved her so 
 dearly that he wanted her to be simply perfect, 
 and her fear of his displeasure was not equal to 
 his pain in having to express it. So his happi- 
 ness may be imagined when he discovered how 
 little there was to blame, how much more to 
 praise, in her mysterious midnight adventure. 
 
 Her heart leaped up, " as a flower to the
 
 THE WRONG REDRESSED. 221 
 
 light," when she caught the first glance at his 
 eyes, for the old loving look was in them, and a 
 satisfied smile played about his lips. 
 
 " Come here, Puss ; " and she sprang to his 
 arms, knowing instantly that all was right now. 
 
 " The next time you hear Bruno growling," 
 he said, drawing her close to his breast, " and 
 it happens to be after midnight, please come and 
 consult me before you go to the rescue. That's 
 all I have to say."
 
 222 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE FAIR. 
 
 THE society had tried very hard to finish its 
 arrangements for the fair before the school 
 vacation closed. Mrs. Guilford and the other 
 mothers were of opinion that it would be advi- 
 sable to get the thing ovef, and have it off the 
 hands and out of the heads of the girls before 
 the fall term began. But accidents will happen 
 in the best regulated families, and even the doc- 
 tor's children get sick sometimes. Flossy had 
 taken the measles most inconveniently, and of 
 course Fan and Archie had to follow the bad ex- 
 ample. They were not very ill, but it hindered 
 things, prevented any society meetings at the 
 brown cottage for several weeks, and put back 
 Laura's woi - k in particular. 
 
 So the fair had to be delayed accordingly, and 
 lessons coming in again to hinder, the last of the 
 work was not done until the very end of Sep-
 
 THE FAIR. 223 
 
 tember. It would hardly have been, even then, 
 if Mrs. Delancy had not hastened matters by her 
 energetic assistance. She perceived that it was 
 useless to expect an undivided attention to studies, 
 while the excitement of the fair was in antici- 
 pation ; and her generosity, over which Laura 
 was so enthusiastic, had a touch of policy in it. 
 She gave them the use of the school-room, and 
 two days' holiday ; Thursday to arrange the 
 room, and Friday for the important event ; leav- 
 ing Saturday for a general rest and clearing up, 
 before Monday brought school again ; after 
 which they were expected to do wonders in the 
 way of study for the rest of -the term, she in- 
 formed them. 
 
 All the forces were brought to bear on Thurs- 
 day, and " Ambo " came up to the point bravely. 
 Not a single " honorary," even, shirked the work 
 of the day, and before nightfall there were bril- 
 liant results to prove their industry. Loads of 
 evergreen had been brought from the woods ; and 
 the mountain ash trees from half a dozen lawns 
 had been ruthlessly stripped of their beautiful 
 scarlet clusters to brighten the green decorations. 
 Mrs. Delancy lent a superb flag, and two or 
 three additional varieties of the stars and stripes
 
 224 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 were contributed by patriotic parents ; so that the 
 walls were quite covered with the brilliant dra- 
 peries and branching evergreens. 
 
 Long tables, with spotless white covers, were 
 ranged under them, and little fir trees, bristling 
 with tiny candles, stood in the centre of each. 
 The floral temple occupied Mrs. Delancy's plat- 
 form, and her desk was converted into an altar 
 for the charming goddess. Folds of classic dra- 
 pery concealed the fact that it had legs ; and 
 wreaths of trailing ivy, moss baskets full of dewy 
 bloom and sweetness, brilliant bouquets, and all 
 manner of fascinating posies made the shrine 
 irresistible to all true lovers of Flora. Nobody 
 would have guessed that the charming canopy 
 overhead was merely an old mosquito frame, or 
 that the slender, vine-wreathed pillars, which 
 supported it, had originally upheld a vulgar 
 clothes-line. These were secrets known only to 
 " Ambo," and carefully kept from the general 
 public, which had only to admire effects, and not 
 to investigate first causes. 
 
 The " elTect " was certainly pretty enough to 
 have satisfied a more critical public than that of 
 Englewood, when the doors were finally thrown 
 open. The room was large and lofty, and the
 
 THE FAIR. 225 
 
 bright afternoon sunshine, streaming through the ' 
 green boughs that arched above each window, 
 sparkled upon an array of pretty things that did 
 full credit to their makers. 
 
 One table was filled entirely with the boys' 
 work. There were boxes of wooden blocks, in 
 various shapes ; sets of jack-straws, carved with 
 most surprising devices ; Loto counters, checkers, 
 wooden dominos, whistles, whips, toy boats, 
 miniature ships, full rigged ; little go-carts and 
 windmills, by way of toys. Then there were 
 more ambitious articles, in the shape of book- 
 racks, brackets, and picture-frames, some of 
 which were exceedingly pretty and well made. 
 The twigs and stems, the moss, and lichens, and 
 acorns, that came from the woods, were fash- 
 ioned into a variety of pretty frames for photo- 
 graphs and tiny engravings ; and in some of the 
 prettiest Laura had inserted two or three of Janie 
 Russell's nicest drawings. Altogether the boys' 
 table made a very good appearance, and won 
 compliments in plenty for the young artisans. 
 
 There was more color and glitter, of course, 
 about the feminine manufactures. Marvellous 
 pin-cushions, all frills and embroidery, " catch- 
 alls," glistening with beads and bright ribbons, 
 15
 
 226 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 baby sacques, soft and fleecy, with lovely blue 
 and rose-colored borders, little frilled and pock- 
 eted aprons, crocheted mittens and socks, and all 
 the rest of the tilings that little women (and big 
 ones) delight in, were there. There were "fancy" 
 vases, and boxes, and pen-trays, and the like, 
 that had been contributed by various grown-up 
 friends ; there was a gorgeous afghan, made and 
 presented by Mrs. Delancy, a sofa-cushion from 
 Mrs. Barnard, and some handsome lamp-mats 
 from Mrs. Raymond. Dolls in abundance were 
 there, of course ; and the " old woman that lived 
 in a shoe " had a representative in Flossy, who 
 sat up in a mammoth shoe (hired for the occa- 
 sion from a New York toy shop), and sold dolls 
 by the dozen. Sydney stood by and helped her 
 to make change and keep her accounts straight ; 
 and Miss Flossy made pert little speeches, and 
 quoted Mother Goose so fluently to her custom- 
 ers, that her shoe was a centre of resort until her 
 children were all sold. 
 
 It was pleasanter still in the evening,- when the 
 lamps were lighted, and all the little candles were 
 glittering in the fir trees, and the side lights spar- 
 kled through overhanging green boughs. The 
 floral temple was a wonder of brilliant color then,
 
 THE FAIR. 227 
 
 and the pretty, rosy girls who sold bouquets, and 
 charged atrocious prices with such smiling assur- 
 ance, were as bright and charming as the flowers 
 themselves. Nobody could refuse to buy when 
 such cherry lips and sparkling eyes tempted 
 them ; and so, in spite of Sydney's contempt of 
 the floral temple, it proved a most important 
 source of revenue. 
 
 Laura was the chief saleswoman here, with 
 Susie Franer, and Alice Havilund, and May Bar- 
 nard, for assistants. They were all dressed in 
 white, with one special flower to distinguish 
 them. Laura had ivy leaves and sprays of scar- 
 let salvia clustered at her throat, and wreathing 
 her dark hair; May had tea roses, with their 
 bright, glossy leaves ; Susie was crowned with 
 geraniums ; and Alice's long tresses floated free 
 under the drooping fuchsias, whose rich crimson 
 contrasted so charmingly with their gold. 
 
 Nothing could have been prettier than the pic- 
 ture ' they presented, grouped together under the 
 trailing vines and greenery ; and Violet squeezed 
 her grandfather's arm, with a little cry of delight, 
 as she drew near the temple. She had heard of 
 the fair, and coaxed the colonel to take her to it ; 
 and though she had certainly no Lick of flowers
 
 228 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 at home, nothing would satisfy her now but to 
 buy some bouquets of " those pretty, pretty 
 girls." 
 
 "Aren't they lovely, grandpapa?" she whis- 
 pered, enthusiastically ; " and I do believe they 
 are some of the very girls I saw in the woods 
 that day. There's one of them, I know, the tall 
 one with the scarlet flowers in her hair ; I never 
 forgot her face ! " 
 
 " What an impression that day in the woods 
 seems to have made upon you ! " her grandfather 
 said. u It appears to be your golden era, that 
 you date from." 
 
 " Now, gi-andpapa ! " Violet pouted, prettily. 
 " You always laugh at me when I say anything 
 about it; but I don't care. I couldn't help re- 
 membering something so nice ; and I have just 
 got an idea ! " 
 
 " What a marvel ! " teased her grandfather. 
 " I never knew it to happen before." 
 
 " Then I'll tell it quick, because it might never 
 happen again," she retorted, merrily. " I do be- 
 lieve they were making things then for this very 
 fair. They had gathered all sorts of stuff'; and 
 the boys were whittling with their knives and 
 over on that table there are so many funny little
 
 
 VIOLET AT THE FAIR. Pa<?e 228.
 
 THE FAIR. 229 
 
 things, that look as if boys had whittled them ! 
 Don't you know, Mrs. Bunn told us that this was 
 a children's fair, and most everything had been 
 made by the boys and girls themselves ? I think 
 it's quite wonderful how they could do so much 
 don't you? " she chattered on. 
 
 But her grandfather did not answer her ; he 
 had suddenly caught sight of a face in the crowd 
 that he remembered a lady's face, a little worn 
 with time, yet still keeping the sweet, bright 
 look that had made it more charming than mere 
 beauty when she was young. She was standing 
 near a mammoth shoe, in which a laughing child 
 sat perched, her golden curls surmounted with a 
 huge frilled cap, and her lap filled with dolls ; 
 and close beside her stood a boy in the school 
 uniform, whose face the colonel recognized at 
 once. It was the boy who had robbed his or- 
 chard, and come afterwards to confess it, and, 
 from the strong resemblance visible as the two 
 stood side by side, he was evidently the lady's 
 son. 
 
 Colonel Schuyler moved towards them invol- 
 untarily, as this conviction flashed into his mind, 
 but Violet hung: back.
 
 230 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 " Don't go yet ; I want to buy some flowers," 
 she pleaded. 
 
 " Wait a little ; I want to speak to a lady across 
 the room," was his answer ; and she -went with 
 him, wondering who the lady could be? and 
 flushing up all at once with a shy blending of 
 pleasure and confusion, when they stopped by 
 the old woman in her shoe, and she came face to 
 face with Sydney. They had not seen> each other 
 since that moonlight night, but the recognition 
 was quick as a flash on both sides. He had been 
 thinking of her all the evening, hoping vaguely 
 that she might come to the fair, and searching 
 the crowd, as it swayed to and fro, for her well- 
 remembered face. But he had not found it, and 
 now, suddenly, here she was ! and here was her 
 grandfather, speaking to his mother like an old 
 acquaintance, and actually calling her " Laura" ! 
 
 Sydney felt for a moment as if he were dream- 
 ing ; so did Violet, equally astonished, and thrill- 
 ing with a sudden happy hope through her won- 
 der. If her grandfather knew this lady so well, 
 and what a lovely lady ! Violet thought, 
 why, then she might be allowed to know her chil- 
 dren ; and quick, delightful visions of future 
 friends and companions rose before her fancy.
 
 THE FAIR. 231 
 
 The warm, young heart had felt its loneliness 
 keenly to-night, for all her smiles and merry 
 words. She was the only one there who knew 
 nobody ; groups of laughing, chattering children 
 went past her, their arms linked, their names 
 free upon each other's tongues ; young girls bent 
 their heads together over the tables, consulting 
 about their purchases, or comparing notes of 
 their sales ; manly-looking *boys laughed and 
 talked familiarly with them, brought them flow- 
 ers, took them away to eat ice-cream ; everybody 
 knew everybody else, and seemed so happy and 
 sociable ! Only she had no one to speak to, no 
 young voice to call her by name, no girl friend to 
 look glad at her coming. 
 
 Through all the brightness and pleasantness 
 of the pretty scene, which she was truly enjoy- 
 ing, this consciousness brought a wistful lo>k to 
 Violet's eyes, a sorrowful longing to her heart. 
 Perhaps her grandfather guessed it, and made up 
 his mind that he had kept her in needlessly strict 
 seclusion ; that as she had to live in the world, 
 and meet men and women eventually, she might 
 begin to meet girls and boys now ; that the re- 
 sults of education and the permanence of princi- 
 ple must be tested, after all, by outside associa-
 
 232 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 tion, before one could confidently rely upon 
 them. 
 
 At any rate, Violet's unspoken hope was won- 
 derfully realized. She listened in actual amaze- 
 ment when her grandfather introduced her to 
 Mrs. Guilford, saying, 
 
 " This is my granddaughter, Evelyn's child, 
 you know. She is a lonesome little thing, and 
 would be very glid to make friends with your 
 children, if you have no objection. By the way, 
 she has arready made acquaintance with this 
 young gentleman," turning to Sydney, " in quite 
 romantic circumstances." 
 
 " I know it." Mrs. Guilford smiled, though 
 her color deepened a little. " So this is the little 
 Violet, who was so brave and so kind to a 
 naughty boy ? My dear, you must let me give 
 you a kiss for thanks ; " and she bent over Violet 
 and kissed the blooming cheek that was lifted 
 willingly for the caress. She was not lavish 
 with her kisses as a general thing ; they meant 
 something when she gave them, and Violet's 
 heart thrilled with a shy delight at the tender 
 touch. She could not say a word, but Mrs. Guil- 
 ford did not wait for her to speak. 
 
 " This is one of my children," she went on,
 
 THE FAIR. 233 
 
 laying her hand on Flossy's ridiculous cap ; "and 
 there is another, over amongst the flower-girls. 
 Laura must be near your own age, my dear ; I 
 shall be glad to have you good friends." 
 
 " Is it the one with the dark braided hair and 
 the scarlet flowers that tall, pretty girl? " Vio- 
 let asked, eagerly. " I've seen her before I 
 know I should like her." 
 
 " Yes, that is Laura," Mrs. Guilford answered, 
 with a pleased smile. " But when did you see 
 her before ? " 
 
 " Ah, that's a long story," Colonel Schuyler 
 interposed, laughingly. " It's another one of Vi- 
 olet's romances ; she shall give you the history 
 of it some other time. Suppose you take her to 
 Miss Laura now, and let the young people get 
 acquainted, while you and I have a chat about 
 old times. It is hard to believe you are the 
 mother of this tall fellow ! " 
 
 Violet gave her arm a little pinch to convince 
 herself that she was not dreaming. It was really 
 hard to believe that all this was true, that it was 
 her grandfather who was behaving in this unu- 
 sual manner, and that the thing she had wished 
 for so hopelessly was actually going to happen to 
 her. There was no time for doubt or wonder,
 
 234 A WR NG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 however, for the next minute they were stand- 
 ing by the pretty green bower, and Mrs. Guilford 
 was saying, 
 
 " Laura, dear, I want to introduce }'ou to my 
 old friend, Colonel Schuyler ; and this is his 
 granddaughter, Miss Violet. You will be very 
 glad to know her, after what you have heard 
 of her." 
 
 And then the dark-haired girl, with the bright, 
 sensible face, the very same that Violet had 
 admired and remembered so long, came out 
 promptly from the bower, and held out both 
 hands, one to Violet, one to her grandfather. 
 
 " I have been wishing to know you, more than 
 anybody in the world," said Laura, in Laura's 
 own enthusiastic, hearty way. " I'm so glad you 
 came to our fair to-night ! " 
 
 ' " So am I," responded Violet, with so much 
 earnestness that her grandfather laughed out- 
 right. 
 
 " There is no doubt of your gladness ; it 
 sparkles all over you," he said. " And I sup- 
 pose you would be quite as miserable if I told 
 you it was time to go home." 
 
 " O, but it isn't ! " exclaimed Laura ; " the
 
 THE FAIR. 235 
 
 evening has only begun yet. You won't take her 
 home now ? " 
 
 " Not if you will agree to take charge of her 
 for half an hour," said the colonel, good-hu- 
 moredly, " while I have a chat with your mother. 
 I have not seen her, Miss Laura, since she was 
 a young lady, but a few years older than your- 
 self. She used to admire me very much in those 
 days, let me tell you." 
 
 " Yes, indeed I did," Mrs. Guilford assented, 
 laughingly. " Perhaps I shall do it again ; who 
 knows ? " 
 
 And so they went away to the refreshment 
 table, to find a seat, and eat some fruit, and talk 
 over the old time of her girlhood, which had 
 been so unexpectedly revived for Mrs. Guilford. 
 Long ago, her dearest school-girl friend had been 
 Evelyn Jay, Colonel Schuyler's niece, who had 
 aftervrarda married his only son. Evelyn was an 
 orphan, and lived with her uncle ; and Mrs. 
 Guilford (who was Laura Wentworth then) had 
 spent many a bright holiday week with her friend 
 at the old Schuyler mansion. The colonel 
 who was not a colonel then, by the way, for it 
 was before the Mexican war had given him the 
 opportunity to distinguish himself ha J always
 
 236 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 made a pet of Evelyn's friend, who, in return, 
 had admired him very heartily. When Evelyn 
 was married, Laura was the first bride's maid, 
 and for several years a close intimacy was con- 
 tinued between the families. But Evelyn's health 
 grew delicate finally, and the Schuylers went to 
 Europe ; and after that the intercourse died out, 
 of necessity. 
 
 Laura Wentworth became the doctor's wife, 
 and found her hands full of many cares and du- 
 ties. Evelyn Schuyler lived abroad, always an 
 invalid, but her life prolonged by the soft climates 
 of Southern Europe. Two or three children were 
 born to her, and died early. At last Violet was 
 born, and then the frail mother sank into her 
 grave. The father died suddenly soon after, and 
 Colonel Schuyler, bereaved and alone except for 
 his little orphan grandchild, came back to his 
 own country, where he lived a recluse life 
 throughout her childhood. He did not seek 
 out old friends, or make new ones ; and so it 
 happened that when he came to Englewood, 
 he did not dream of finding there Evelyn's girl- 
 friend whom he had once loved so well. He 
 had never seen her husband, and had even for- 
 gotten her married name, so that his interview
 
 THE FAIR. 237 
 
 with Sydney had not reminded him of her. But 
 coming face to face with her to-night, the old 
 memories rushed back, and he knew her in spite 
 of time and all its changes. 
 
 They talked over these things, sitting comfort- 
 ably together, while the busy crowd moved to 
 and fro, and the trifles of the fair were bought 
 and sold. Violet, meanwhile, was very happy, 
 though rather shy at finding herself alone amongst 
 strangers for the first time in her life. Laura 
 brought her into the fragrant bower, and intro- 
 duced her to Susie, and May, and Alice, who were 
 all very willing to be agreeable to her, rather 
 proud, in fact, of their distinguished guest. Vil- 
 lage gossip had been afloat about the colonel and 
 his exclusiveness, and it was something of an 
 honor to be the first who were allowed to pay 
 attention to his beautiful little granddaughter. 
 
 So the girls were very sociable and cordial, 
 and Violet was soon put at ease. She begged 
 them to let her help, and they gave her flowers 
 to tie into bouquets, and then she had customei's 
 who came to buy of her, and was quite astonished 
 at herself, to find how easily she fell into the ways 
 of the rest, and quite delighted at actually bring- 
 ing money into the treasury. They told her
 
 238 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 about the society, and how the boys and girls 
 had worked together, and what they wanted to 
 do for Janie Russell ; and Violet told them how 
 she had seen them at the picnic, and wondered 
 what they were doing ; and then they remem- 
 bered the little handkerchief, and asked if it was 
 really hers ; and Sydney came up with Jack 
 Holbrook and Frank Fisher, each carrying two 
 plates of ice-cream in the most anxious manner ; 
 and they all ate cream, and laughed and chattered 
 over all these important matters, as merrily as a 
 whole nest of magpies. 
 
 Charlie Cox loo"ked at them from a little dis- 
 tance with wistful eyes : he longed to be there, 
 to have his share of the fun, and to make ac- 
 quaintance with the lovely girl who won so many 
 admiring glances from the other boys. But he 
 was not quite so cool a hand as Frank, and his 
 uncomfortable remembrance of the orchard affair 
 made him shy of coming near. He knew of 
 Sydney's interview with the colonel, for he had 
 guessed that something of the sort was in the 
 wind, and Sydney had finally owned it. It made 
 Charlie feel a good deal ashamed of himself, and 
 stirred a hesitating impulse to " go and do like- 
 wise" an impulse which, I am happy to record
 
 THE FAIR. 239 
 
 to Charlie's credit, was, in process of time, obeyed ; 
 and not only so, but imitated by Frank, who 
 found himself unable to resist the combination. 
 
 This was afterwards, however. There was no 
 allusion made to anything unpleasant while the 
 delightful excitement of the fair kept eyes and 
 tongues so busy. Only Laura, with a word and 
 a look that told nothing to any one else, gave 
 Violet to understand that she knew the whole 
 story, and that henceforth she, Laura, was her, 
 Violet's, sworn friend and champion. It was 
 quite enough, indeed, for Laura to know that 
 any body had done Sydney a favor : her good 
 will was bespoken at once, and if Violet had 
 been an ugly, stupid little thing, even, instead of 
 a really lovable girl, it would have been all the 
 same. Laura would have stood by her through 
 thick and thin, never forgetting her obligation. 
 
 It was all the easier in this case, for no one 
 could help loving Violet. She was so gentle, yet 
 so bright ; so winsome, yet so unaffected ; so pretty 
 and stylish, yet so utterly unpretending, that they 
 all lost their hearts to her without reserve. She 
 was elected a member of " Ambo " unanimously, 
 and the three boys snatched ofF their badges, and 
 quarrelled for the honor of presenting her with
 
 240 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 the bit of blue ribbon. She settled the difficulty 
 by choosing Sydney's, to his triumphant delight 
 and Laura's complacent satisfaction ; and Violet 
 was as pleased and happy with her decoration 
 as a Frenchman with his stars and orders. 
 
 She was only a little afraid that her grandfather 
 might not allow her really to join the society, it 
 was so different from all former regulations and 
 opinions ; but then, why had he left her to make 
 friends with these people, if he had not meant 
 her to go on with it afterwards? She could not 
 help a hopeful faith that he did mean it, and her 
 faith was turned to a happy certainty by and by, 
 when he came back to look for her. 
 
 One glance at her glowing, eager face showed 
 him that she had spent no dull time since he left 
 her ; and when she held up her blue badge to 
 him, with the pleading look that he seldom had 
 the heart to resist, he gave his consent at once. 
 
 " Wear it? Yes, my dear, with all my heart, 
 and become an honorary Ambo. I know all 
 about it, you see, and I was quite sure that your 
 ambition would be fired by such an example. I 
 give you my full -consent." 
 
 " And may I really go to the meetings and sew, 
 and have ' society ' at home, when my turn
 
 THE FAIR. 241 
 
 comes, like the rest? " she asked, breathless with 
 delight. 
 
 " Yes, you really may," he returned, laugh- 
 ingly, mimicking her eager accents. "And just 
 to convince you, I will take the liberty of ap- 
 pointing the next meeting myself, and inviting the 
 whole society to come to my house to-morrow 
 afternoon. I hope you will all come," he added, 
 turning to the little crowd of listeners, " and bring 
 with you an account of your proceeds to-night. 
 Perhaps I can give you a little advice about in- 
 vesting them." 
 
 There was a good-natured twinkle in his eye, 
 a significant smile about his lips, that Violet un- 
 derstood very well. She knew that the " little 
 advice" would end in a liberal contribution, and 
 tiie others had a shrewd suspicion of the same 
 thing. They accepted the invitation with prompt 
 s.itis faction, and the pleasant tidings flew about 
 from tongue to tongue, till all " Ambo " knew 
 presently the new treat that was in store for to- 
 morrow. 
 
 Violet and her grandfather took a turn through 
 the room, meanwhile, to make some purchases at 
 the tables, whose contents were rapidly disap- 
 pearing. The shoe was vacated, and the little
 
 242 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 old woman was fluttering about the room, hold- 
 ing proudly in her arms the last and handsomest 
 doll of her collection, which Mrs. Delancy her- 
 self had bought, and presented to Miss Flossy. 
 It was a marvellous creature, all pink silk and 
 blonde lace, buttoned boots and flaxen hair, " the 
 beautifulest doll that ever was seen ; " and Flossy 
 had held it, with longing desire to own it, all 
 the evening. She could not bear to tell its 
 price to customers, or have any one look at it as 
 if they meant to buy ; and when it actually came 
 to her, as Mrs. Delancy (who had bought it in 
 advance, unknown to Flossy) had all along in- 
 tended it should, she did not know how to contain 
 her happiness. The world was certainly not 
 empty to her in that felicitous moment, whether 
 the doll was stufied with sawdust or not ! 
 
 Violet fell in love with a portfolio of little Olive 
 Raymond's leaf-impi'essions, and paid a price for 
 it that astonished Elsie as much as it delighted 
 her. She bought the rustic frames, too, that 
 held Janie Russell's drawings, and of course the 
 drawings with them ; and she won Gertie Fisher's 
 gratitude by taking possession of a hopelessly 
 ugly pin-cushion, that everybody else had re- 
 jected. It was Gertie's own work, and she was
 
 THE FAIR. 243 
 
 dismally afraid of having it left upon her hands 
 a fear which Violet's sweet intuitions had de- 
 tected ; and hence the purchase. But Gertie was 
 never allowed to guess the truth. 
 
 Mrs. Deluncy's afghan was another of the 
 unsalable articles ; not because it was ugly, but 
 too handsome and costly for most purchasers. 
 The colonel's eye was attracted by it : it was 
 just the thing for a pony phaeton that was to be 
 Violet's next birthday gift ; and he appropriated it 
 promptly, enriching Elsie's cash-box with a crisp 
 fifty dollar note, and making her glad in propor- 
 tion. She did not want Mrs. Dclancy's gift, of 
 all others, to be unavailable, and her face was 
 bright when she ran to tell the good news to her 
 dearly-loved teacher. 
 
 Mrs. Guilford came up to them while Elsie 
 was describing the colonel's munificence, and 
 considered it a good opportunity to bring the 
 colonel and Violet to be introduced to Mrs. Dc- 
 lancy. There was some more pleasant talk then, 
 shared by the doctor, who had just "looked in" 
 to bring his wife and children home ; and Violet 
 recognized another of her picnic memories in 
 " the Easter lily face." Llbie felt sure that the new 
 comer was no second edition, of Maddy Shaw,
 
 244 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 and was as pleased as the rest to see the blue 
 badge on her shoulder ; and Violet, for her part, 
 thought she had fallen into a sort of paradise of 
 " nice " girls. 
 
 It would be very pleasant only one must not 
 make too long a story to describe the colonel's re- 
 ception of his guests the next afternoon. The whole 
 society was there, and " Ambo " certainly never 
 had had so " festive a time " before, nor had Violet 
 ever in her life been quite so happy. The love 
 of hospitality was born in her, and now for the 
 first time she was at liberty to exercise it fully. 
 Nowhere could have been found a more delighted, 
 as well as delightful, little hostess ; she was so 
 happy to have guests to entertain, that they could 
 not help being happy in their entertainment. 
 
 The colonel, besides, had given munificent 
 orders, and the whole house was thrown open to 
 the visitors. They could go to and fro as they 
 would, and help themselves to all the treasures 
 of garden, and orchard, and hot-house. Refresh- 
 ment tables were laid on the lawn, it was so 
 summer-like a day ; and all about in the trees 
 and shrubbery there were colored lamps and 
 transparencies, like magnified fireflies.
 
 THE FAIR. 245 
 
 This was in the evening ; but before that, some 
 important matters hail been settled. They had 
 brought up, as the colonel had requested, their 
 account of sales from each table, and in the ag- 
 gregate they amounted to an unexpectedly large 
 sum. The boys' table had netted seventy-five 
 dollars ; the refreshment table one hundred, the 
 girls' table two hundred, and Flora's Temple 
 fifty. Besides which they had taken in twenty- 
 five dollars for admission tickets, and ten dollars 
 at " the wheel of fortune ; " making, in all, four 
 hundred and sixty dollars. 
 
 This amazing sum, in a bewildering variety 
 of currency, had been handed to Mrs. Guilford 
 for safe keeping ; and Laura had gained her 
 heart's desire for Janie. Both her mother and 
 Mrs. Delancy had decided that they could safely 
 undertake to give Janie one year, at least, at 
 the School of Design ; and all the members of 
 the society had agreed to this disposition of the 
 money, as the best use it could be put to. 
 
 Some of them lamented a little over poor Mrs. 
 Riley and her sewing machine ; and Laura her- 
 self sighed inwardly as she thought of the pale, 
 patient woman, stitching away so wearily day
 
 246 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 after day, and spending so much of her hard 
 earnings to pay for the hired machine. 
 
 " If we could only do both ! " she said to Elsie ; 
 " but it's quite impossible isn't it ? With Janie's 
 board to pay in New York, and all the other ex- 
 penses, she needs so many clothes, you know, 
 I don't see how we can venture to take out the 
 money for a sewing machine. Do you ? " 
 
 " No," Elsie sighed. " I wish we could, but 
 I'm afraid we ought not. One thing we can do, 
 at all events ; there are some of those little petti- 
 coats and aprons that didn't get sold, and they 
 will just fit little Johnny. We can give her those ; 
 and then I think we might take that odd ten dol- 
 lars, the wheel of fortune money, and pay 
 two months' rent of her machine. It will not 
 make so much difference in Janie's outfit, and it 
 will help Mrs. Riley a good deal. Do you think 
 the girls will mind?" 
 
 " No, indeed ; I think they will be glad, and / 
 am glad you thought of it, Elsie," Laura an- 
 swered, warmly. 
 
 So when they all met at the Manor-house on 
 Saturday, it was proposed, and consented to 
 unanimously, and then submitted laughingly to the 
 colonel for approval, since he had volunteered
 
 THE FA1II. 247 
 
 his advice concerning " investment." But the 
 colonel wrinkled his brows, and declined to ap- 
 prove. 
 
 " I object, decidedly," he stated, with a grandly 
 stern air. " You have collected a certain sum 
 for a certain object ; a very praiseworthy object, 
 too, allow me to say, and one that meets my cor- 
 dial sympathy. If my advice is taken, this sum 
 will not be frittered away in any minor char- 
 ities, however excellent in themselves." 
 
 " But poor Mrs. Riley ! " Laura exclaimed, 
 with a half-indignant pity. " Must nothing be 
 clone for her at all ? " 
 
 "Yes, Miss Laura, something must certainly 
 bo done ; but we must not rob Peter to give to 
 Paul." 
 
 " It is taking very little from Janie," Elsie ven- 
 tured to suggest. u I think it would not really be 
 missed for her, and it would be a help to Mrs. 
 Riley. She has three children to work for, and 
 her machine to hire." 
 
 " It would be more economical for her to buy 
 a machine," said the colonel, coolly. " It is a 
 great waste to hire." 
 
 " That's easy to say," Laura returned, trying 
 not to look as vexed as she felt. " But we might
 
 248 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 just as well tell Mrs. Riley to buy a farm, just 
 as 'well." 
 
 " I dare say you are right," said the colonel ; 
 " and that being the case, Miss Laura, I have a 
 little proposition to make. If you and these 
 other young ladies will select the sewing machine 
 for Mrs. Riley, I will agree to pay the bills. How 
 will that suit the case ? " 
 
 It suited it perfectly, apparently, if one could 
 judge from the general demonstration which fol- 
 lowed. The girls went into a rapture of excla- 
 mations and thanks, and the boys proposed u three 
 cheers for the colonel," as "their expression of 
 opinion. And so it was settled, and the two 
 great things were as good as accomplished, be- 
 yond everybody's wildest anticipations. 
 
 It was a clay to be remembered, that sunshiny, 
 beautiful Saturday, a week later, .when Laura and 
 Violet, escorted by the colonel, took a trip to New 
 York to buy the sewing machine, and to make 
 arrangements for Janie's admission to the School 
 of Design. Laura could count the number of 
 times she had been upon Broadway in her life ; 
 and the mere visit to the great city was a novelty 
 and a delight, to say nothing of the charm in her 
 errands.
 
 THE FAIR. 249 
 
 The long, stately saloon, where the sewing ma- 
 chines stood in glittering rows of polished woods 
 and shining metals, was their first destination ; 
 and Laura, who was born for a busy bee, was much 
 interested in all she- saw there. There was a 
 gentleman who took them all over the establish- 
 .ment, seeing the interest which the girls mani- 
 fested, and showed them a great many curious 
 and pretty things ; amongst others an exquisite 
 little model of a sewing machine, only twelve 
 inches high, with a case of carved tortoise-shell, 
 which had been wrought with care and patient 
 skill by a blind man. 
 
 He took them into the large, airy work-room, 
 where rows of neat, cheerful-looking girls were 
 doing marvels of dainty stitching with their 
 flying machines ; then up into the elegant instruc- 
 tion-rooms, where ladies were learning the mys- 
 teries of shuttle and treadle ; then to see the but- 
 ton-hole machine, and wonder at the fairy-like ease 
 and rapidity with which those troublesome little 
 affairs could be perfected ; and at last won Laura's 
 heart completely by adding, free of charge, a 
 " corder," and " binder," and " hemmer," to the 
 machine which was selected for Mrs. Riley. 
 
 A contribution from 'the company' to a
 
 250 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 charitable object," he said ; for Laura had ex- 
 plained, 'a little to the colonel's annoyance, that 
 the machine was to be his gift to a poor woman. 
 She knew the value of such additions to a skilful 
 seamstress, and it was the finishing touch to her 
 satisfaction. 
 
 From Wheeler & Wilson's they went up town 
 and across to the Cooper Institute. There were 
 still more interesting things to be seen ; and both 
 the girls were fascinated with their tour of in- 
 spection through the cheerful suite of rooms 
 appropriated to the School of Design. Violet 
 could have lingered all day long amongst the 
 sketches, and models, and studies, watching the 
 girls at their delicate work. Some were shading 
 crayon portraits with cautious touches ; some 
 modelling in clay, with bold, skilful fingers ; 
 others elaborating miniature scenes on square, tiny 
 wooden blocks ; others again, with the gravers' 
 tools, cutting them into dainty relief for transfer 
 upon paper. 
 
 There was enough to see and hear, especially 
 for such a little art-lover as Violet, to have mo- 
 nopolized the whole day. But. Colonel Schuyler 
 was not so enthusiastic on the subject, and there 
 was luncheon to be considered, to say nothing of
 
 THE FAIR. 251 
 
 being in time for the afternoon boat, to go up the 
 river again. So he had to cut short her raptures, 
 and take her away, when the business which had 
 brought them was settled. 
 
 O 
 
 He obtained the promise of Janie's free ad- 
 mission to all the advantages of the school, cer- 
 tain conditions being complied with ; all of which, 
 fortunately, were within Janie's reach. And 
 they went away, well content with the morning's 
 work. 
 
 Mrs. Delancy had undertaken to make arrange- 
 ments for a suitable home for their protegee in 
 the great city, and Mrs. Guilford had promised 
 to superintend other needful preparations. So 
 there was no more business to attend to now, and 
 nothing certainly to interfere with their enjoyment 
 of a marvellous luncheon at Delmonico's, and a 
 swift little drive in the Park afterwards, before 
 it was time to take the homeward boat. 
 
 How pleasant all this might have been, one 
 does not need be told. And one can imagine 
 the pleasantness that followed afterwards, too ; in 
 taking Janie Russell's breath away with the won- 
 derful news, no hint of which had been al- 
 lowed to reach her before, and in seeing poor, 
 patient Mrs. Riley's speechless delight over her
 
 252 A WRONG CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED. 
 
 beautiful sewing machine. All such scenes peo- 
 ple realize, after their own " way of putting 
 things." There is no describing them. 
 
 Some day, we may hear more of Janie, and 
 what she is doing in her new life. Meanwhile 
 let us remember, in whatever faults and follies 
 we unwisely commit, whatever " scrapes " we 
 unluckily tumble into, that 
 
 " A FAULT CONFESSED IS HALF REDRESSED."
 
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 This book is DUE on the last 
 date stamped below 
 
 lOm-ll, '50(2555)470 
 
 THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY Or CALIFORNIA 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 PZ6 
 
 B?2?w A wrong confess- 
 ed is half 
 
 redressed. 
 
 B727*