Meade L. T. - Girls New and Old стр 27.

"No less a person," continued Cecil, "than your eccentric master, Mr. Danvers. He came in here, and stood bolt upright on that spot on the carpet, and looked as fierce as ever he could at me, and addressed me as madam."

"Oh, nevermind!" said Maurice. "Danvers is the best old brick in existence. The fact is, I thought he might call. What did he say, Cecil? He came about something, of course?"

"I should rather think he did. Maurice, you wicked boy, there is a mystery at the back of this, and you are in it. Oh, you bad, bad, wicked boy, what does this mean?"

The other lads had not yet put in an appearance. Cecil and Maurice had the parlor to themselves.

Maurice came up close to his sister, and put one of his big schoolboy hands on her shoulder.

"Go on, Cecil," he remarked; "tell me what Danvers said."

"Why, this," said Cecil, "he told me that he would house you all. 'I'll give them house-room,' he said, his language was so abrupt, Maurice, 'beds to sleep in; plenty to eat and drink.' He repeated twice that he was a dragon on boys, and that I'd be quit of you; he said that I was to fix up things with you, and that you could all go to him to-morrow. Now, what does this mean?"

"Exactly what he said," replied Maurice, "and didn't I tell you he was a brick? Now it will be all right for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Why, of course, you can go to Redgarth."

"Maurice, did you know of this? Had you anything to do with it?"

"Had I anything to do with it?" repeated Maurice slowly. "Rather. Do you think old Danvers likes to have boys in his house, and that this sort of offer was spontaneous? No, I put the screw on. I scrooged him into a corner last night, and he had no help for it. He wriggled a good bit, I can tell you, Ceci, but I had him on toast, and kept him there until I knew he'd do what he did do. Now, it's all right, and you can go to Redgarth."

"But, Maurice, dear, I don't understand."

"Well, you will understand in a minute. I'll put it to you straight enough. You know we can't stay here, because of that blessed Mrs. Rogers and her sleep; and you can't stay here, because you are wanted at Redgarth. You are the future

ornament of that place of learning, and they can't do without you another day, so we fellows have to put up somewhere, and Danvers' is the place. Danvers lives in a house six times too big for him. The house was left to him by his old uncle, the miser. Danvers is our classical master: he lives within a stone's-throw of the Grammar School. As he says, he is a dragon, and we could not be safer anywhere than with him. We can go to-morrow or the next day, or any day you fancy. We'll be in the very lap of learning in Danvers' house, and if we don't all turn out classical prodigies, it won't be his fault. Now, Cecil, I see yielding on your face. I'm not going to have it said that I bearded old Danvers in his den for nothing."

Cecil's heart was yielding already, but several questions were yet to be asked and answered. Would Mr. Danvers see to the health of her boys? Maurice assured her that her boys were in such a robust state of existence that no seeing to was necessary. Would he feed her boys, and make and mend for them? Maurice said that they must be great asses if they could not manage that for themselves.

"In short, we're going," he said; "you can heap up obstacles as much as you like in your own mind, Cecil; but we're going. Danvers has yielded; that's the main point. He'll like us after a bit; he doesn't think so, but I fancy we can do a good lot for the poor old chap. I know his ways, I always could manage him, and I mean to go on doing so. What about that letter you've got to write to Mrs. Lavender?"

"I have written it; it's there. I want you to post it when you go out."

"What have you said?"

"That I Maurice, dear, I could not leave you."

"Where's the letter?" said Maurice.

"There," said Cecil, hesitation in her tone.

Maurice strode across the room, took the letter, and threw it into the flames.

"You write over again, the minute you've finished your tea, and tell her you're very much obliged, and accept like a good, grateful, little girl," he said. "That letter has got to get into the post to-night, and another to Miss Forester, asking her when she can have you, and your darling Molly might have a line also. Now, then, I'm ravenous. Oh, I say, cress and shrimps for tea!"

While Maurice had been making these rapid arrangements with regard to his own and Cecil's future, mysterious noises of a muffled character had been heard outside the door; the handle had been tried several times in vain, for Maurice had long ago taken the precaution to lock himself in with his sister. Now he abruptly turned the key.

"Come in, you fellows," he said; "grace first, and then fall to."

The three boys entered with a certain amount of demureness, but the sight of shrimps and water-cress was too much for their gravity. Cecil's face was very pale; she was feeling too excited to eat. The four boys rapidly cleared the board. When they had finished, Maurice looked at his sister and spoke.