Chronicles of Avonlea
L >>
Lucy Maud Montgomery >> Chronicles of Avonlea
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 | 11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15
I did not. The hall below was empty and dusty. I opened the
first door I came to and walked boldly in. A man was sitting
by the window, looking moodily out. I should have known him
for Alexander Abraham anywhere. He had just the same uncared-
for, ragged appearance that the house had; and yet, like the
house, it seemed that he would not be bad looking if he were
trimmed up a little. His hair looked as if it had never been
combed, and his whiskers were wild in the extreme.
He looked at me with blank amazement in his countenance.
"Where is Jimmy Spencer?" I demanded. "I have come to see
him."
"How did he ever let you in?" asked the man, staring at me.
"He didn't let me in," I retorted. "He chased me all over the
lawn, and I only saved myself from being torn piecemeal by
scrambling up a tree. You ought to be prosecuted for keeping
such a dog! Where is Jimmy?"
Instead of answering Alexander Abraham began to laugh in a
most unpleasant fashion.
"Trust a woman for getting into a man's house if she has made
up her mind to," he said disagreeably.
Seeing that it was his intention to vex me I remained cool and
collected.
"Oh, I wasn't particular about getting into your house, Mr.
Bennett," I said calmly. "I had but little choice in the
matter. It was get in lest a worse fate befall me. It was not
you or your house I wanted to see--although I admit that it is
worth seeing if a person is anxious to find out how dirty a
place CAN be. It was Jimmy. For the third and last time--
where is Jimmy?"
"Jimmy is not here," said Mr. Bennett gruffly--but not quite
so assuredly. "He left last week and hired with a man over at
Newbridge."
"In that case," I said, picking up William Adolphus, who had
been exploring the room with a disdainful air, "I won't
disturb you any longer. I shall go."
"Yes, I think it would be the wisest thing," said Alexander
Abraham--not disagreeably this time, but reflectively, as if
there was some doubt about the matter. "I'll let you out by
the back door. Then the--ahem!--the dog will not interfere
with you. Please go away quietly and quickly."
I wondered if Alexander Abraham thought I would go away with a
whoop. But I said nothing, thinking this the most dignified
course of conduct, and I followed him out to the kitchen as
quickly and quietly as he could have wished. Such a kitchen!
Alexander Abraham opened the door--which was locked--just as a
buggy containing two men drove into the yard.
"Too late!" he exclaimed in a tragic tone. I understood that
something dreadful must have happened, but I did not care,
since, as I fondly supposed, it did not concern me. I pushed
out past Alexander Abraham--who was looking as guilty as if he
had been caught burglarizing--and came face to face with the
man who had sprung from the buggy. It was old Dr. Blair, from
Carmody, and he was looking at me as if he had found me
shoplifting.
"My dear Peter," he said gravely, "I am VERY sorry to see
you here--very sorry indeed."
I admit that this exasperated me. Besides, no man on earth,
not even my own family doctor, has any right to "My dear
Peter" me!
"There is no loud call for sorrow, doctor," I said loftily.
"If a woman, forty-eight years of age, a member of the
Presbyterian church in good and regular standing, cannot call
upon one of her Sunday School scholars without wrecking all
the proprieties, how old must she be before she can?"
The doctor did not answer my question. Instead, he looked
reproachfully at Alexander Abraham.
"Is this how you keep your word, Mr. Bennett?" he said. "I
thought that you promised me that you would not let anyone
into the house."
"I didn't let her in," growled Mr. Bennett. "Good heavens,
man, she climbed in at an upstairs window, despite the
presence on my grounds of a policeman and a dog! What is to be
done with a woman like that?"
"I do not understand what all this means," I said addressing
myself to the doctor and ignoring Alexander Abraham entirely,
"but if my presence here is so extremely inconvenient to all
concerned, you can soon be relieved of it. I am going at
once."
"I am very sorry, my dear Peter," said the doctor
impressively, "but that is just what I cannot allow you to do.
This house is under quarantine for smallpox. You will have to
stay here."
Smallpox! For the first and last time in my life, I openly
lost my temper with a man. I wheeled furiously upon Alexander
Abraham.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I cried.
"Tell you!" he said, glaring at me. "When I first saw you it
was too late to tell you. I thought the kindest thing I could
do was to hold my tongue and let you get away in happy
ignorance. This will teach you to take a man's house by storm,
madam!"
"Now, now, don't quarrel, my good people," interposed the
doctor seriously--but I saw a twinkle in his eye. "You'll have
to spend some time together under the same roof and you won't
improve the situation by disagreeing. You see, Peter, it was
this way. Mr. Bennett was in town yesterday--where, as you are
aware, there is a bad outbreak of smallpox--and took dinner in
a boarding-house where one of the maids was ill. Last night
she developed unmistakable symptoms of smallpox. The Board of
Health at once got after all the people who were in the house
yesterday, so far as they could locate them, and put them
under quarantine. I came down here this morning and explained
the matter to Mr. Bennett. I brought Jeremiah Jeffries to
guard the front of the house and Mr. Bennett gave me his word
of honour that he would not let anyone in by the back way
while I went to get another policeman and make all the
necessary arrangements. I have brought Thomas Wright and have
secured the services of another man to attend to Mr. Bennett's
barn work and bring provisions to the house. Jacob Green and
Cleophas Lee will watch at night. I don't think there is much
danger of Mr. Bennett's taking the smallpox, but until we are
sure you must remain here, Peter."
While listening to the doctor I had been thinking. It was the
most distressing predicament I had ever got into in my life,
but there was no sense in making it worse.
"Very well, doctor," I said calmly. "Yes, I was vaccinated a
month ago, when the news of the smallpox first came. When you
go back through Avonlea kindly go to Sarah Pye and ask her to
live in my house during my absence and look after things,
especially the cats. Tell her to give them new milk twice a
day and a square inch of butter apiece once a week. Get her to
put my two dark print wrappers, some aprons, and some changes
of underclothing in my third best valise and have it sent down
to me. My pony is tied out there to the fence. Please take him
home. That is all, I think."
"No, it isn't all," said Alexander Abraham grumpily. "Send
that cat home, too. I won't have a cat around the place--I'd
rather have smallpox."
I looked Alexander Abraham over gradually, in a way I have,
beginning at his feet and traveling up to his head. I took my
time over it; and then I said, very quietly.
"You may have both. Anyway, you'll have to have William
Adolphus. He is under quarantine as well as you and I. Do you
suppose I am going to have my cat ranging at large through
Avonlea, scattering smallpox germs among innocent people? I'll
have to put up with that dog of yours. You will have to endure
William Adolphus."
Alexander Abraham groaned, but I could see that the way I had
looked him over had chastened him considerably.
The doctor drove away, and I went into the house, not choosing
to linger outside and be grinned at by Thomas Wright. I hung
my coat up in the hall and laid my bonnet carefully on the
sitting-room table, having first dusted a clean place for it
with my handkerchief. I longed to fall upon that house at once
and clean it up, but I had to wait until the doctor came back
with my wrapper. I could not clean house in my new suit and a
silk shirtwaist.
Alexander Abraham was sitting on a chair looking at me.
Presently he said,
"I am NOT curious--but will you kindly tell me why the
doctor called you Peter?"
"Because that is my name, I suppose," I answered, shaking up a
cushion for William Adolphus and thereby disturbing the dust
of years.
Alexander Abraham coughed gently.
"Isn't that--ahem!--rather a peculiar name for a woman?"
"It is," I said, wondering how much soap, if any, there was in
the house.
"I am NOT curious," said Alexander Abraham, "but would you
mind telling me how you came to be called Peter?"
"If I had been a boy my parents intended to call me Peter in
honour of a rich uncle. When I--fortunately--turned out to be
a girl my mother insisted that I should be called Angelina.
They gave me both names and called me Angelina, but as soon as
I grew old enough I decided to be called Peter. It was bad
enough, but not so bad as Angelina."
"I should say it was more appropriate," said Alexander
Abraham, intending, as I perceived, to be disagreeable.
"Precisely," I agreed calmly. "My last name is MacPherson, and
I live in Avonlea. As you are NOT curious, that will be all
the information you will need about me."
"Oh!" Alexander Abraham looked as if a light had broken in on
him. "I've heard of you. You--ah--pretend to dislike men."
Pretend! Goodness only knows what would have happened to
Alexander Abraham just then if a diversion had not taken
place. But the door opened and a dog came in--THE dog. I
suppose he had got tired waiting under the cherry tree for
William Adolphus and me to come down. He was even uglier
indoors than out.
"Oh, Mr. Riley, Mr. Riley, see what you have let me in for,"
said Alexander Abraham reproachfully.
But Mr. Riley--since that was the brute's name--paid no
attention to Alexander Abraham. He had caught sight of William
Adolphus curled up on the cushion, and he started across the
room to investigate him. William Adolphus sat up and began to
take notice.
"Call off that dog," I said warningly to Alexander Abraham.
"Call him off yourself," he retorted. "Since you've brought
that cat here you can protect him."
"Oh, it wasn't for William Adolphus' sake I spoke," I said
pleasantly. "William Adolphus can protect himself."
William Adolphus could and did. He humped his back, flattened
his ears, swore once, and then made a flying leap for Mr.
Riley. William Adolphus landed squarely on Mr. Riley's
brindled back and promptly took fast hold, spitting and
clawing and caterwauling.
You never saw a more astonished dog than Mr. Riley. With a
yell of terror he bolted out to the kitchen, out of the
kitchen into the hall, through the hall into the room, and so
into the kitchen and round again. With each circuit he went
faster and faster, until he looked like a brindled streak with
a dash of black and white on top. Such a racket and commotion
I never heard, and I laughed until the tears came into my
eyes. Mr. Riley flew around and around, and William Adolphus
held on grimly and clawed. Alexander Abraham turned purple
with rage.
"Woman, call off that infernal cat before he kills my dog," he
shouted above the din of yelps and yowls.
"Oh, he won't kill min," I said reassuringly, "and he's going
too fast to hear me if I did call him. If you can stop the
dog, Mr. Bennett, I'll guarantee to make William Adolphus
listen to reason, but there's no use trying to argue with a
lightning flash."
Alexander Abraham made a frantic lunge at the brindled streak
as it whirled past him, with the result that he overbalanced
himself and went sprawling on the floor with a crash. I ran to
help him up, which only seemed to enrage him further.
"Woman," he spluttered viciously, "I wish you and your fiend
of a cat were in--in--"
"In Avonlea," I finished quickly, to save Alexander Abraham
from committing profanity. "So do I, Mr. Bennett, with all my
heart. But since we are not, let us make the best of it like
sensible people. And in future you will kindly remember that
my name is Miss MacPherson, NOT Woman!"
With this the end came and I was thankful, for the noise those
two animals made was so terrific that I expected the policeman
would be rushing in, smallpox or no smallpox, to see if
Alexander Abraham and I were trying to murder each other. Mr.
Riley suddenly veered in his mad career and bolted into a dark
corner between the stove and the wood-box, William Adolphus
let go just in time.
There never was any more trouble with Mr. Riley after that. A
meeker, more thoroughly chastened dog you could not find.
William Adolphus had the best of it and he kept it.
Seeing that things had calmed down and that it was five
o'clock I decided to get tea. I told Alexander Abraham that I
would prepare it, if he would show me where the eatables were.
"You needn't mind," said Alexander Abraham. "I've been in the
habit of getting my own tea for twenty years."
"I daresay. But you haven't been in the habit of getting
mine," I said firmly. "I wouldn't eat anything you cooked if I
starved to death. If you want some occupation, you'd better
get some salve and anoint the scratches on that poor dog's
back."
Alexander Abraham said something that I prudently did not
hear. Seeing that he had no information to hand out I went on
an exploring expedition into the pantry. The place was awful
beyond description, and for the first time a vague sentiment
of pity for Alexander Abraham glimmered in my breast. When a
man had to live in such surroundings the wonder was, not that
he hated women, but that he didn't hate the whole human race.
But I got up a supper somehow. I am noted for getting up
suppers. The bread was from the Carmody bakery and I made good
tea and excellent toast; besides, I found a can of peaches in
the pantry which, as they were bought, I wasn't afraid to eat.
That tea and toast mellowed Alexander Abraham in spite of
himself. He ate the last crust, and didn't growl when I gave
William Adolphus all the cream that was left. Mr. Riley did
not seem to want anything. He had no appetite.
By this time the doctor's boy had arrived with my valise.
Alexander Abraham gave me quite civilly to understand that
there was a spare room across the hall and that I might take
possession of it. I went to it and put on a wrapper. There was
a set of fine furniture in the room, and a comfortable bed.
But the dust! William Adolphus had followed me in and his paws
left marks everywhere he walked.
"Now," I said briskly, returning to the kitchen, "I'm going to
clean up and I shall begin with this kitchen. You'd better
betake yourself to the sitting-room, Mr. Bennett, so as to be
out of the way."
Alexander Abraham glared at me.
"I'm not going to have my house meddled with," he snapped. "It
suits me. If you don't like it you can leave it."
"No, I can't. That is just the trouble," I said pleasantly.
"If I could leave it I shouldn't be here for a minute. Since I
can't, it simply has to be cleaned. I can tolerate men and
dogs when I am compelled to, but I cannot and will not
tolerate dirt and disorder. Go into the sitting-room."
Alexander Abraham went. As he closed the door, I heard him
say, in capitals, "WHAT AN AWFUL WOMAN!"
I cleared that kitchen and the pantry adjoining. It was ten
o'clock when I got through, and Alexander Abraham had gone to
bed without deigning further speech. I locked Mr. Riley in one
room and William Adolphus in another and went to bed, too. I
had never felt so dead tired in my life before. It had been a
hard day.
But I got up bright and early the next morning and got a
tiptop breakfast, which Alexander Abraham condescended to eat.
When the provision man came into the yard I called to him from
the window to bring me a box of soap in the afternoon, and
then I tackled the sitting-room.
It took me the best part of a week to get that house in order,
but I did it thoroughly. I am noted for doing things
thoroughly. At the end of the time it was clean from garret to
cellar. Alexander Abraham made no comments on my operations,
though he groaned loud and often, and said caustic things to
poor Mr. Riley, who hadn't the spirit to answer back after his
drubbing by William Adolphus. I made allowances for Alexander
Abraham because his vaccination had taken and his arm was real
sore; and I cooked elegant meals, not having much else to do,
once I had got things scoured up. The house was full of
provisions--Alexander Abraham wasn't mean about such things, I
will say that for him. Altogether, I was more comfortable than
I had expected to be. When Alexander Abraham wouldn't talk I
let him alone; and when he would I just said as sarcastic
things as he did, only I said them smiling and pleasant. I
could see he had a wholesome awe for me. But now and then he
seemed to forget his disposition and talked like a human
being. We had one or two real interesting conversations.
Alexander Abraham was an intelligent man, though he had got
terribly warped. I told him once I thought he must have been
nice when he was a boy.
One day he astonished me by appearing at the dinner table with
his hair brushed and a white collar on. We had a tiptop dinner
that day, and I had made a pudding that was far too good for a
woman hater. When Alexander Abraham had disposed of two large
platefuls of it, he sighed and said,
"You can certainly cook. It's a pity you are such a detestable
crank in other respects."
"It's kind of convenient being a crank," I said. "People are
careful how they meddle with you. Haven't you found that out
in your own experience?"
"I am NOT a crank," growled Alexander Abraham resentfully.
"All I ask is to be let alone."
"That's the very crankiest kind of crank," I said. "A person
who wants to be let alone flies in the face of Providence, who
decreed that folks for their own good were not to be let
alone. But cheer up, Mr. Bennett. The quarantine will be up on
Tuesday and then you'll certainly be let alone for the rest of
your natural life, as far as William Adolphus and I are
concerned. You may then return to your wallowing in the mire
and be as dirty and comfortable as of yore."
Alexander Abraham growled again. The prospect didn't seem to
cheer him up as much as I should have expected. Then he did an
amazing thing. He poured some cream into a saucer and set it
down before William Adolphus. William Adolphus lapped it up,
keeping one eye on Alexander Abraham lest the latter should
change his mind. Not to be outdone, I handed Mr. Riley a bone.
Neither Alexander Abraham nor I had worried much about the
smallpox. We didn't believe he would take it, for he hadn't
even seen the girl who was sick. But the very next morning I
heard him calling me from the upstairs landing.
"Miss MacPherson," he said in a voice so uncommonly mild that
it gave me an uncanny feeling, "what are the symptoms of
smallpox?"
"Chills and flushes, pain in the limbs and back, nausea and
vomiting," I answered promptly, for I had been reading them up
in a patent medicine almanac.
"I've got them all," said Alexander Abraham hollowly.
I didn't feel as much scared as I should have expected. After
enduring a woman hater and a brindled dog and the early
disorder of that house--and coming off best with all three--
smallpox seemed rather insignificant. I went to the window and
called to Thomas Wright to send for the doctor.
The doctor came down from Alexander Abraham's room looking
grave.
"It's impossible to pronounce on the disease yet," he said.
"There is no certainty until the eruption appears. But, of
course, there is every likelihood that it is the smallpox. It
is very unfortunate. I am afraid that it will be difficult to
get a nurse. All the nurses in town who will take smallpox
cases are overbusy now, for the epidemic is still raging
there. However, I'll go into town to-night and do my best.
Meanwhile, at present, you must not go near him, Peter."
I wasn't going to take orders from any man, and as soon as the
doctor had gone I marched straight up to Alexander Abraham's
room with some dinner for him on a tray. There was a lemon
cream I thought he could eat even if he had the smallpox.
"You shouldn't come near me," he growled. "You are risking
your life."
"I am not going to see a fellow creature starve to death, even
if he is a man," I retorted.
"The worst of it all," groaned Alexander Abraham, between
mouthfuls of lemon cream, "is that the doctor says I've got to
have a nurse. I've got so kind of used to you being in the
house that I don't mind you, but the thought of another woman
coming here is too much. Did you give my poor dog anything to
eat?"
"He has had a better dinner than many a Christian," I said
severely.
Alexander Abraham need not have worried about another woman
coming in. The doctor came back that night with care on his
brow.
"I don't know what is to be done," he said. "I can't get a
soul to come here."
"_I_ shall nurse Mr. Bennett," I said with dignity. "It is my
duty and I never shirk my duty. I am noted for that. He is a
man, and he has smallpox, and he keeps a vile dog; but I am
not going to see him die for lack of care for all that."
"You're a good soul, Peter," said the doctor, looking
relieved, manlike, as soon as he found a woman to shoulder the
responsibility.
I nursed Alexander Abraham through the smallpox, and I didn't
mind it much. He was much more amiable sick than well, and he
had the disease in a very mild form. Below stairs I reigned
supreme and Mr. Riley and William Adolphus lay down together
like the lion and the lamb. I fed Mr. Riley regularly, and
once, seeing him looking lonesome, I patted him gingerly. It
was nicer than I thought it would be. Mr. Riley lifted his
head and looked at me with an expression in his eyes which
cured me of wondering why on earth Alexander Abraham was so
fond of the beast.
When Alexander Abraham was able to sit up, he began to make up
for the time he'd lost being pleasant. Anything more sarcastic
than that man in his convalescence you couldn't imagine. I
just laughed at him, having found out that that could be
depended on to irritate him. To irritate him still further I
cleaned the house all over again. But what vexed him most of
all was that Mr. Riley took to following me about and wagging
what he had of a tail at me.
"It wasn't enough that you should come into my peaceful home
and turn it upside down, but you have to alienate the
affections of my dog," complained Alexander Abraham.
"He'll get fond of you again when I go home," I said
comfortingly. "Dogs aren't very particular that way. What they
want is bones. Cats now, they love disinterestedly. William
Adolphus has never swerved in his allegiance to me, although
you do give him cream in the pantry on the sly."
Alexander Abraham looked foolish. He hadn't thought I knew
that.
I didn't take the smallpox and in another week the doctor came
out and sent the policeman home. I was disinfected and William
Adolphus was fumigated, and then we were free to go.
"Good-bye, Mr. Bennett," I said, offering to shake hands in a
forgiving spirit. "I've no doubt that you are glad to be rid
of me, but you are no gladder than I am to go. I suppose this
house will be dirtier than ever in a month's time, and Mr.
Riley will have discarded the little polish his manners have
taken on. Reformation with men and dogs never goes very deep."
With this Parthian shaft I walked out of the house, supposing
that I had seen the last of it and Alexander Abraham.
I was glad to get back home, of course; but it did seem queer
and lonesome. The cats hardly knew me, and William Adolphus
roamed about forlornly and appeared to feel like an exile. I
didn't take as much pleasure in cooking as usual, for it
seemed kind of foolish to be fussing over oneself. The sight
of a bone made me think of poor Mr. Riley. The neighbours
avoided me pointedly, for they couldn't get rid of the fear
that I might erupt into smallpox at any moment. My Sunday
School class had been given to another woman, and altogether I
felt as if I didn't belong anywhere.
I had existed like this for a fortnight when Alexander Abraham
suddenly appeared. He walked in one evening at dusk, but at
first sight I didn't know him he was so spruced and barbered
up. But William Adolphus knew him. Will you believe it,
William Adolphus, my own William Adolphus, rubbed up against
that man's trouser leg with an undisguised purr of
satisfaction.
"I had to come, Angelina," said Alexander Abraham. "I couldn't
stand it any longer."
"My name is Peter," I said coldly, although I was feeling
ridiculously glad about something.
"It isn't," said Alexander Abraham stubbornly. "It is Angelina
for me, and always will be. I shall never call you Peter.
Angelina just suits you exactly; and Angelina Bennett would
suit you still better. You must come back, Angelina. Mr. Riley
is moping for you, and I can't get along without somebody to
appreciate my sarcasms, now that you have accustomed me to the
luxury."
"What about the other five cats?" I demanded.
Alexander Abraham sighed.
"I suppose they'll have to come too," he sighed, "though no
doubt they'll chase poor Mr. Riley clean off the premises. But
I can live without him, and I can't without you. How soon can
you be ready to marry me?"
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 | 11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15