The Dorrance Domain

by Carolyn Wells

  CHAPTER III

  DOROTHY'S PLAN

  One afternoon, about a week later, the children were again in theirgrandmother's room waiting for dinner-time.

  To be exact, they weren't in the room, but were literally half in andhalf out. For Mrs. Dorrance's room had two front windows, and twochildren were hanging out of each, in a precarious and really dangerousway.

  The twins, in one window, were vying with each other as to which couldlean out farthest, without falling out; and in the other window Dorothywas leaning out as far as possible, and at the same time trying to keepa very excited Fairy from pitching headlong to the street.

  The simple explanation of this acrobatic performance is, that they werelooking for the postman. Not that they really thought he would come anysooner for their endangering their lives, but each young Dorranceconsidered it of the highest importance to catch the first glimpse ofhim.

  "Oh, dear, do you suppose the house is sold?" said Lilian, for thedozenth time.

  "Hi!" screamed Dorothy; "there he is! we'll soon know now."

  Dorothy having won the game, they all tumbled into the room again, andLeicester started down-stairs for the mail.

  "Gently, my boy, gently," warned his grandmother. "Don't go downwhooping like a wild Indian."

  Leicester assumed a sudden air of decorum, and disappeared; while thegirls clustered around their grandmother, all talking at once.

  "What do you think, grandmother?" cried Dorothy, "guess,--which way doyou guess?"

  "I guess, no," said Mrs. Dorrance, who was used to guessing games.

  "I guess, _yes_!" shouted Lilian; "of course it's sold! and we'll havelots of money and we'll go to Europe, and Africa, and Chicago, andeverywhere!"

  "And over to Brooklyn," chimed in Fairy; "I do want to go to Brooklyn,'cause I've never been there and Gladys Miller says it's awful funny,and besides----"

  "A letter! here's a letter," cried Leicester, bouncing into the room;"open it, open it quick, granny dear!"

  "I can't," said the old lady, helplessly; "you children make such anoise, I'm all bewildered. Open it, Dorothy, and read it aloud; and therest of you, do try to keep still."

  Eagerly, Dorothy tore open the letter, and began to read it:

  MRS. ELIZABETH DORRANCE:

  _Dear Madam_:--I had a final interview to-day with Mr. Ware. As you know, he had about concluded to buy your hotel, but he has been making inquiries concerning it, and has learned that it has not been occupied for several years. He fears that he cannot make it pay as a business venture, and has therefore definitely decided not to buy it.

  I do not wish to discourage you, my dear madam, but it looks to me as if it would not be possible to sell the hotel this season, and indeed, I doubt if you can ever dispose of it to your satisfaction. The next best course, in my opinion, would be for you to allow it to be sold at auction. This plan would enable you to pay the back taxes now due, and relieve you of further obligations of the same sort,--though I fear there would be little or no margin of profit for you in this arrangement.

  However, should you think best to adopt this course, please advise me promptly, and I will take the necessary steps in the matter.

  I am, my dear madam, Respectfully yours, LEWIS H. LLOYD.

  At the conclusion of this letter the four Dorrance children groaned inconcert. Their concerted groan was an old-established affair, and byreason of much practice they had brought it to a high state ofperfection. It began with a low wail which deepened and strengthenedthrough several bass notes, and then slid up to high C with a wild,final shriek. It was most effective as an expression of utterexasperation, but Mrs. Dorrance, though accustomed to it, lived in astate of fear lest it might cause the landlady to request them to giveup their rooms.

  "Oh, dear," said Lilian, after the groan had subsided, "I felt sure thatWare man was going to take the old place. I think he's mean!"

  "I think Mr. Lloyd is mean," broke in Dorothy. "I don't like him!"

  "It isn't his fault, my dear," said her grandmother. "He has done all inhis power to sell the place, but it seems to be unsalable, except atauction. And that would probably mean that our financial affairs wouldbe in no better state than they are now."

  "I'd like to see Our Domain," said Leicester, thoughtfully; "what's itlike, grandmother?"

  "I don't know, dear; I've never seen it. Your grandfather never saw iteither. He bought the property through an agent, merely as aspeculation."

  "Ho!" cried Leicester, "the idea of owning a Domain that nobody has everseen! why, perhaps there is nothing there at all, and so of coursenobody will buy it."

  "People!" exclaimed Dorothy, suddenly, her eyes shining, and her wholeair expressive of a wonderful discovery. And, too, when Dorothy said,"People!" in that tone of voice, the others had learned that she meantto announce one of her plans. As a rule, her plans were wild andimpracticable schemes, but they were always interesting to listen to.

  "People, I'll tell you exactly what we'll do. Grandma says we can'tafford any extra expense this summer. So,--we'll go and live in ourDomain!"

  "Well, of all crazy things," said Lilian, in a disappointed tone. "Ithought you were going to say something nice."

  "It _is_ nice," said Dorothy; "you think it isn't, because you don'tknow anything about it. I know all about it. Now listen and I'll tellyou."

  "Know all about it!" said Leicester; "you don't even know where it is!"

  "Anybody can find that out," went on Dorothy; "and then when we findout, all we have to do is to go there. And then we'll live in the house,no matter what it is. It's ours, and so we won't have to pay any rent,and we girls will do all the housework and cooking, and so it won'tcost near as much as boarding. And the difference will pay our travelingexpenses to the Domain, wherever it is. And we won't need any newclothes to go to a place like that, and it will be perfectly lovely, asgood as a prairie or a Texas, or anything! Now then!"

  "Whew!" exclaimed Leicester; "I do believe you've struck it right thistime. It will be great! I'll do my share of the work,--it will be justlike camping out. What do you suppose the house is like?"

  "Isn't it lovely not to know!" cried Lilian; "everything about it willbe such a surprise. When can we go, grandmother?"

  "Oh, my dears, how you rattle on," said Mrs. Dorrance, half-laughing,and yet beginning to take an interest in Dorothy's plan.

  Fairy was keeping up a running fire of conversation, but nobody paid anyattention to her.

  "Where is the place, grandmother?" asked Dorothy, who was taking it alla little more seriously than the others; "you must know at least whatstate it's in."

  "Oh, yes, I know that. It's on the shore of Lake Ponetcong,--in thenorthern part of New Jersey."

  "What a fearful name!" cried Leicester; "but I don't care if it's calledAlibazan, so long as there's a lake there. You never told us about thelake before."

  "A lake!" said Lilian, with an ecstatic air; "I shall just stay on thatall the time. I shall have a rowboat and a sailboat and a canoe----"

  "And a cataraman," supplemented her brother; "you can use the hotel fora boathouse, Lilian, and we'll build a little cabin to live in."

  "Don't go so fast, children," said Mrs. Dorrance; "if you'll give me aminute to think, I'm not sure but I could see some sense in thisarrangement."

  "Oh, granny, dear," cried Dorothy, clasping her hands beseechingly; "dotake a minute to think. Take several minutes, and think hard, and see ifyou can't think some sense into it."

  "As you say," began Mrs. Dorrance, while the children were breathlesslyquiet in their anxiety, "the living expenses would be very much lessthan in any boarding-house. And in a country-place like that, you wouldnot need elaborate clothes. But there are many things to be considered;you see, I've no idea what the house is like, or in what condition wewould find it."

  "Oh, never mind that," pleaded Dorothy; "let's take our chances. Thatwill be the fun of it, to
go there, not knowing what we're going to. Andanyway, we'll have room enough."

  "Yes," said Mrs. Dorrance, smiling; "in a hotel you will probably haveroom enough. But what do you mean by saying you can do the housework? Inthe first place you're not strong enough, and secondly, you don't knowhow."

  "I'll do the work," said Fairy. "I don't care if I am only twelve, I cancook; 'cause when I went to Gladys Miller's one day, she had a littlestove and she showed me how. I'll do all the cooking, and you othergirls can do the domesticker work. Leicester can do all the man's work,and grannymother can be a Princess of high degree, and just sit and lookon. And then on some days----"

  "Oh, yes, we know how to work," interrupted Dorothy. It was alwaysnecessary to interrupt Fairy if anybody wanted to say anything.

  "And I won't mind how much I have to do, if we have some outdoors aroundus. Only think, it's May out of doors now, and here we have to stay shutup in this old boarding-house, same as in December."

  "You may go out for a while if you care to, little girl," saidLeicester, assuming a grown-up air.

  "I don't want to go out on paved streets," said Dorothy; "I want greenfields and trees and cows."

  "I want free life and I want fresh air," sang Leicester, "and I dobelieve we are going to get it. Come, granny, speak the word,--say wemay go."

  "I can't say, positively," said Mrs. Dorrance, "until I write to Mr.Lloyd and see what he thinks of it. If he agrees to the plan, I supposewe might try it. But it is all so uncertain."

  "Never mind the uncertainty," said Dorothy; "just leave it all to me.Now see here, grandmother, for twelve years you've looked after uschildren, and taken care of us, and now, I think we're getting oldenough to look after ourselves. Anyway, let us try it. Let us all go upto the Domain, and spend the summer there. We'll do the best we can, andif we fail it will be our own fault. You're not to have anyresponsibility, you're just to be there as a kind of guardian angel andgeneral adviser. Nothing very dreadful can happen to us,--at least,nothing half so dreadful as staying in the city all summer. Now justwrite to Mr. Lloyd, and don't ask his opinion, but tell him you'vedecided to do this, and just ask him how to get there."

  "We can tell how to get there, ourselves," said Leicester; "let's lookit up on the map. Fairy, get the big atlas, will you?"

  Though Fairy was always called upon to wait on the other children, itwas by no means an imposition, for the child was always dancing aroundthe room anyway, and dearly loved to do things for people.

  Soon three of the Dorrance children were gathered around the tablestudying the map. Fairy, in order to see better, had climbed up on thetable, and was eagerly following with her tiny forefinger the track ofLeicester's pencil.

  "It isn't so very far, after all," he announced. "It's just across theferry, and then up on the railroad till you get to it. It looks awfullynear. Oh, I wish we were going to start to-morrow."

  "Why can't we?" said Lilian, who always favored quick action.

  "There's _no_ reason," said Mrs. Dorrance, smiling at the impetuouschildren; "of course we can _just_ as well take the seven o'clock trainto-morrow morning as not!"

  "Now you're teasing, grandma," said Lilian; "truly, when can we go?"

  "Just the minute school closes," answered Dorothy. "I suppose we muststay for that,--I must, anyway; but we could get off the last week inMay."

  Here the announcement of dinner put an end to their planning for thepresent, but so gay of heart were they over their happy anticipations,that for once they didn't mind the gloomy dining-room and theirirritating fellow boarders.