The Dorrance Domain

by Carolyn Wells

  CHAPTER XVI

  A DARING SCHEME

  The more they talked over the matter the more it seemed a sensible andfeasible plan for all concerned. Mrs. Dorrance felt sure that with theirtwo capable servants, and Mr. Hickox's varied usefulness, two boarderswould make no more responsibility for Dorothy than her five guests had.

  It was therefore decided to try the plan for a week, and if both sideswere satisfied, to continue for the season.

  Then Dorothy took the strangers up to select their rooms, and Mrs.Faulkner was as delighted at the idea of choosing from so many emptyrooms, as the Dorrances had been on the night of their own arrival.

  Agreeing to return the next day with their luggage, the Faulkners droveaway, leaving the Dorrances in a high state of delighted excitement.

  "You see," said Dorothy to her grandmother, "something _has_ happened. Ifelt sure it would, though of course, I had no idea it would be theFaulkners. But thirty dollars a week will help a lot, and I'm sure wecan make them have a good time. They're lovely people,--you can see thatat a glance. Mrs. Faulkner is so sweet, I think I'd be willing to payher just to sit around and smile at me."

  "Instead of her paying you to let her do it," said grandma. "But it is agood plan, Dorothy; for now we can afford to keep Kathleen, and pay herfair wages, which I did not otherwise feel justified in doing."

  "And Kathleen is a whole army of servants, all in one," said Dorothy."She'll be delighted at the idea of staying with us. I'll go and tellher about it now."

  "I'll go, too," cried Fairy. "I want to hear her talk."

  Out to the kitchen the two girls ran and noisily burst in upon Tessieand her mother.

  The two Irish women were feeling rather blue, for Mrs. Dorrance had toldthem that she could not afford to let them both stay with her, and shewas not sure that she ought to keep even Tessie.

  "Arrah thin, darlints, yez'll be afther breakin' down the dures! Whymusht ye always come so shlam-bang?"

  "We can't help it, Kathleen," cried Dorothy; "we're just made so, Iguess. But this time we've something to tell you,--something important."

  "Im-porrtant, is it? Sorra a good thing cud yez tell me, ixcipt that yerlady grandmother wud be afther lettin' me shtay here wid yez. Me an'Tessie is afther grievin' sore at thoughts of lavin' yez."

  "That's just it, Kathleen," screamed Fairy, who in her excitement andenthusiasm was scrambling up Kathleen's broad back. It was a favoritetrick of Fairy's to clamber up and perch herself on the big woman'sshoulder, and the good-natured giantess assisted her with sundrypushings and pullings.

  "That's jist it, is it? Well thin yez naden't be afther tellin' me annymore. Yez can kape the rist of yer importance to yersilves. If we canshtay up here, me and Tessie, we'll wurruk our finger ends off fer ye,wid no wages but a bite an' a sup."

  "No, that won't do, Kathleen. Now just listen; we want to engage you ascook, and Tessie as waitress for the Dorrance Domain. It has become ahotel,--a regular summer hotel, and the boarders will arrive to-morrow."

  "For the love of all the saints, miss! Is it boorders yez'll be afthertakin'? Shure, an' that's foine. And it's Kathleen as 'll cook fer yez.An' Tessie, you young rascal, see to it that you wait on the table jistgrand! Do there be manny a-comin', miss?"

  "Two," replied Dorothy; "and they're lovely people."

  "Yes, lovely people," cried Fairy, who, still on Kathleen's shoulder,was emphasizing her remarks by pounding Kathleen with her little fists;"one is a great, big, lovely gentleman, with big, blue eyes, andgrayish-blackish hair. That's Mr. Faulkner. And his wife's a beautifullittle lady, who smiles, and smiles, and smiles. Oh, they're scrumptiouspeople, and I expect they will stay all summer. Oh, Dorothy, the twinsare coming! let's go and tell them!"

  Fairy sprang from Kathleen's shoulder to the table, and from therebounded to the floor, and grasping Dorothy's hand, the two ran away totell the news, and met the twins on the veranda.

  Lilian and Leicester were as glad as the rest to learn of the advent ofthe Faulkners, and at once began to make plans for the comfort andentertainment of their boarders.

  "I shall take Mr. Faulkner out fishing," said Leicester, "and show himall the best spots to fish."

  "I don't believe he'll care much for fishing," said Mrs. Dorrance. "Heseems to me to be so interested in his scientific work, that I imaginehe spends little time in recreation. I think that you'll all have to tryto be a little quieter than usual, especially in the house."

  "We will, granny dear," said Lilian; "if we're going to keep boarders,we're going to do it properly; I guess the Dorrances know when they cancut up jinks, and when they can't."

  "Isn't it funny, though," said Leicester, "to think of our living inthis hotel because nobody would rent it _as_ a hotel, and now here weare, running a hotel ourselves. I'm going to get out the big register,and clean up that inkstand thing, and have the office all inworking-order for them to register when they come to-morrow. Dorothy,you can be proprietor, but I'll be the clerk; and then after theyregister, I'll ring the bell for a bell-boy. And then I'll be thebell-boy. And then I'll send myself for a porter, and Mr. Hickox'll bethe porter. Oh, it'll be great!"

  "Shall we eat in the big dining-room?" asked Lilian. "It seems as if itwould be more like a hotel."

  "I don't know," said grandma; "that immense room is too large for sevenpeople. The Faulkners seem very congenial, and I can't help thinkingthey would prefer to sit at the round table with us. However, theymight prefer a table to themselves; so I think the best plan is to waituntil they arrive, and ask them. In such matters we should be glad tomeet their wishes."

  "I shall keep most systematic accounts," said Dorothy; "and then I cantell just how much we make by having boarders. There are lots of blankbooks in the office, and I shall keep exact lists of everything I buythis week, and then see how it balances up at the end of seven days."

  "If you expect to make any money out of this scheme," said Leicester,"you mustn't feed us all on the fat of the land, as you did when thosepeople were visiting here."

  "No," said grandma; "you can't do it, Dorothy. It is very pleasant toset dainty and tempting dishes before one's guests; but when it comes toa practical business arrangement it is necessary to be careful in suchmatters. I don't want you to be over-economical, but on the other handyou cannot afford to be extravagant."

  "If you're going to be a boarding-house keeper, Dot," said Lilian, "youmust set a table exactly like Mrs. Cooper's!"

  At this speech, Leicester started the famous Dorrance groan, and itswails reached the ears of Mr. Hickox, who was sauntering near by in hisaimless, wandering fashion.

  "Thought I'd just come over and see what you're yowling about," he saidpleasantly; "those screeches are enough to kill all the fish in thelake!"

  "Come in, Mr. Hickox," cried Leicester; "we have a grand plan on hand,and as usual we shall want your help."

  "Oh, yes," said Mr. Hickox, "as usual. Hickox'll make it all right.What's up now?"

  "We expect boarders to-morrow; and when they come, we want you to be onhand to look after their trunks and things. The Dorrance Domain hassuddenly turned back into a hotel. Dorothy is proprietor, I'm clerk, andyou're to be the porter."

  "What am I?" said Lilian; "I want a regular position."

  "Oh, you can be the elevator boy, or the carriage-door opener,whichever you like," said her brother.

  "As we haven't any elevator, and our carriage hasn't any door, I won'tbe over-worked."

  "We girls will all have to be upper servants," said Dorothy; "with somuch extra work in the kitchen, we'll have to help a great deal asparlor-maids, and chambermaids, and dining-room maids."

  "I'll sweep all the verandas every day," announced Fairy; "I do justlove to fly around with that funny big broom-brush."

  "Well, Hickox is yours to command," declared that genial gentleman;"whatever you want Hickory Hickox to do, that's as good as done!Excepting, of course, such various times as I might be otherwiseemployed. But I'll be porter all right, and
I'll port them people'strunks right up to their rooms so fast, they'll think I'm an elevator.My! Mrs. Hickox, she'll be surprised to hear you people are going tohave boarders! I must say, I'm some surprised myself. Well I mustshuffle along now, and I'll be on deck when you want me to-morrow.Hickox will look after things. It'll be all right."

  After the ungainly figure had shuffled away, the children stillcontinued to make plans and offer suggestions for the new arrangement.

  "We must be very methodical," said Dorothy, who was much in earnest inthe matter, and who wanted to start out just right. "Mrs. Faulkner is sonice and sweet, I want to please her; and, too, if the Dorrances run ahotel, I want it to be run on the most approved plan."

  "We'll each have an account book," said Fairy; "and I'll put down inmine, how many times I sweep the verandas each day."

  "If you get around them all in one day, baby," said Leicester, "you'lldo mighty well; and to do that, you'll have to get to work at daybreakand stick to it till sundown. There's an awful big number of square feetof veranda attached to this palatial mansion, I can tell you."

  "Oh, pooh!" cried Fairy. "It won't take me all day, at all. I can flyaround it in a minute. I'll work like a centripepede!"

  "We'll keep the horse for this week, anyway," went on Dorothy; "for Ishall have to go to market every morning, and it's so much quicker to goin the carriage than the boat. Sometimes you can go for me, Less, if Imake out an exact list of what I want."

  "All right," said her brother; "I don't think this keeping boarders isgoing to be such hard work after all. I wonder we didn't think of itsooner."

  "I'm glad we didn't," said Dorothy; "I think it was nicer to have a fewweeks all by ourselves, first. We've got to behave when the Faulknersget here. It will be just like it was at Mrs. Cooper's, you know."

  This time Fairy started the groan, and again they all chimed in withthose deep growling wails that always made Mrs. Dorrance clap her handsto her ears.

  "For pity's sake!" exclaimed the long-suffering old lady; "don't makeany reference to Mrs. Cooper while the Faulkners are here; for if theyheard those fearful groans of yours, they'd leave at once."

  "What's Mr. Faulkner like?" asked Leicester; "will he say, 'well, mylittle man,' to me?"

  "No," said Dorothy, laughing at the remembrance; "Mr. Faulkner is anawful nice man. Not very young, and not very old."

  "Like Jack Sprat's pig?" asked Leicester; "not very little and not verybig."

  "He isn't like anybody's pig!" said Fairy, indignantly. "He's agentiliferous gentleman. I'm going to ask him to go to Mrs. Hickox'swith me. He's scientiferic, and I know he'd like to read her newspaperclippings."

  "I wouldn't ask him to go just at first, Fairy," said grandma; "waituntil you get better acquainted."

  "Well, anyhow? I'll take him to see the rabbits; he's sure to love them,they're such cunning, pudgy-wudgy little things."

  "And I'm sure he will like Dare," said Lilian, patting the head of thebig dog who lay at her feet.

  "Such nice people as they seem to be, will surely like animals," saidgrandma; "but if they should not, then you must be very careful thatthey are not annoyed by them. Dare will learn for himself whether he isliked or not; but if Mrs. Faulkner doesn't care for kittens you mustkeep Mike out from under foot."

  "I don't believe she'll care for kittens, so I'll take this one anddrown it now," said Leicester, picking up the ball of fluffy Maltesefur, and starting towards the lake.

  Fairy ran after him, screaming in pretended anguish, though she wellknew her brother was only joking, being almost as fond of the kitten asshe was herself.

  The other two girls followed, and Dare followed them, and a general gameof romps ensued.

  Grandma Dorrance watched them from the veranda, feeling glad for thethousandth time that her dear ones were in their own home, where theycould follow their own sweet will, without causing annoyance to anyone.