Peggy Raymond's Way; Or, Blossom Time at Friendly Terrace

by Harriet L. Smith

  CHAPTER XII

  GOOD-BY

  COLLEGE had opened; but they had slipped into it so quietly that therehardly seemed to be a break. For Peggy and Priscilla, perhaps, therewas a bit of a pang at the realization that this was the last year ofwhat would probably be one of the sweetest periods in their lives tolook back on; and they privately vowed to make it rich in experienceand the beauty of living. Ruth and Amy, like Southey's brother who saidthat "no young man believes that he will ever die," felt that collegelife would never, could never, end. So a week after the beginning ofclasses found the four girls trying conscientiously to live in thepresent, and stifling vague, tantalizing memories of the past threemonths.

  A number of letters passed between Nelson Hallowell and his friend inOklahoma before the great step was decided on. And it must be confessedthat in the meantime Ruth's college work suffered. Nelson came almostevery evening to pour into her attentive ears the story of his hopesand ambitions, and Ruth listened with the happy confidence that herapproval meant more to him than to any one in the world.

  Ruth and Nelson were living in an enchanted world, where perfectunderstanding took the place of speech. Nelson did not feel himself atliberty to say to her the thing that was constantly in his thoughts.The salary Mr. Flynn had paid him had not enabled him to save anymoney, and his venture in Oklahoma, promising as he believed it, was,after all, only a venture, with a possibility of failure. Nelson knewthat he himself was bound fast and irrevocably, but he wanted to leaveRuth free as air. Yet he talked to her with the assurance that she knewall he was in honor bound not to say, and her look, as she listened,confirmed that certainty.

  Those weeks during which the matter was being settled were a happytime for both of them. Youth has a way of making the most of a presentjoy, regardless of what the future has in store, and while this seemsvery short-sighted to some older people, who can always look aheadfar enough to be miserable, the young will probably continue toenjoy to-day's sunshine--regardless of the weather prognosticator,who assures them of a storm in the middle of the week with a dropin temperature. Nelson and Ruth saw as much of each other as theycould, and looked no further than a happiness born of a confidence andunderstanding.

  But the thing was settled at last, and the generous offer of Nelson'ssoldier friend definitely accepted. Nelson gave Mr. Flynn notice, andthat irritable gentleman promptly lost his temper, and accused hisreliable clerk of folly and ingratitude. Later he realized his mistake,and offered to raise his salary. But Nelson was as little moved by Mr.Flynn's smiles as he had been by his frowns, and Mr. Flynn promptlyrelapsed into his former irascibility.

  "The war spoiled a lot of you young fellows. You're sick of hard work.Loafing is the only thing that appeals to you."

  "I never heard," laughed Nelson, "that life on a cattle ranch wasconsidered a soft snap."

  "Well, if it isn't, you'll soon give it up," said Mr. Flynndisagreeably. "An easy berth is what you're looking for, and it's myopinion that you'll look some time before you find it."

  The next two weeks fairly flew. Nelson was getting his necessaryoutfit, and every afternoon, on the way home, he stopped to exhibit toRuth his latest purchases. And now the time had come when it was hardfor Ruth to smile and show the proper interest. Sometimes when sheremembered that the decision had been left to her, and that she hadbrought this on herself, her heart almost failed her. It would havebeen so much easier to have gone on in the old way. The thought of thethousands of miles that would soon stretch between Nelson and herselfgave her a weak feeling in the knees. They had a great deal to say inthose days about letters but each realized, only two well, that thebest letter ever penned is a poor substitute for the exchange of speechand of smiles.

  The day of Nelson's departure Ruth went through the customary routinewith a curious sense of unreality. She had suggested Nelson's comingto dinner, but he had declined, and she would never know what thatrefusal cost him.

  "I'd love to, Ruth. You don't know how I'd love to. But I think Ishould take my last meal with mother."

  "Yes, Nelson, I think so, too."

  "She says she won't go down to the station to see me off," Nelson wenton. "She's been keen about my going from the start, but now that it'scome to the point, it's harder than she thought."

  Ruth reflected that she could sympathize with Mrs. Hallowell perfectly.

  "The train goes at ten," Nelson continued with a sprightly air thatwould not have deceived the most gullible, "so I'll have plenty of timeto bore you stiff before you see the last of me."

  Ruth forced the smile his jest demanded. "You know we're all going tothe station with you," she said. "Even Bob Carey's coming."

  "I hope that Hitchcock won't show up," exclaimed Nelson apprehensively.

  Ruth laughed. "No, I don't think Horace expects to honor us. Isn't itthe queerest thing," she added, "what Priscilla can see in him?"

  "I should say so. Priscilla's one of the finest girls you'd meet ina day's journey, and Hitchcock is a nut. I shouldn't think she couldstand it to have him around. Though I suppose," concluded Nelson withcustomary modesty, "that Priscilla thinks just the same about you andme."

  "Priscilla! She wouldn't dare." Ruth's indignation was so intense thatNelson shouted with laughter, but it warmed his heart, nevertheless.

  In that last quick-moving Saturday, Ruth saw Nelson for a few momentsin the morning, and again about three in the afternoon. His stay wasshort and rather unsatisfactory for he had some last errands to attendto, and his mind was so full of them that his thoughts wandered fromwhat he was saying, and he left his sentences unfinished in the mostirritating fashion.

  After he had answered a question of Ruth's in a way which showed he hadhardly heard what she had said, he looked up quickly at her half-vexedexclamation, laughed, and jumped to his feet.

  "It's no use, Ruth," he said. "I'm one of the fellows who's goodfor only one thing at a time. I'll attend to these thousand-and-onethings that have been left over, and I'll see you about eight o 'clockto-night. That will give us time for a nice little visit."

  Up till that time the hours had fairly flown. Now they dragged. Ruthwatched the clock and waited for the tiresome, leisurely hour hand topoint to eight. The clan was to gather at a little after nine, and shewas thankful when Graham departed for Peggy's shortly after finishingdinner. Peggy would keep him till the last minute. Peggy wouldunderstand. Ruth had taken great pains in dusting the living-room thatmorning, and she looked around it thinking that it made a picture ofcosy comfort Nelson might be glad to carry with him.

  It was eight o'clock at last. Ruth straightened a book on the table,brushed a speck of dust from her gown, and sat down facing the door.There were quick steps on the side walk, and she never doubted thatthey would come on up the walk, and then up the steps, and she meant tohave the door open before he had time to ring. But the footsteps wenton and the minute hand of the clock was also moving.

  At quarter past eight Ruth was nervous. She got up and down, adjustedthe window shades, changed the arrangement of the chairs, fussed withthe flowers on the mantel, looked at herself in the mirror, and didsomething to her hair. At half past eight she sat very still, frowningslightly and biting her lip. At quarter of nine her cheeks had reddenedand she tapped the carpet with the toe of her shoe. And at nine o'clockher heart gave a jump and she forgot how near she had come to beingangry. For the footsteps for which she had waited were coming up thewalk.

  "Hello!" It was Priscilla's voice. "Don't tell me I'm the first one."

  "The others will be here in a minute," Ruth replied in an even voice."Come right in and take off your coat, Priscilla, for this room'sawfully warm."

  Priscilla complied with her friend's suggestion, and glanced at heradmiringly. She thought she had never seen Ruth look so pretty. "You'vegot a lovely color to-night," she exclaimed.

  "It's just because it's so hot here. I always get flushed when I'mwarm."

  Priscilla was looking around the room as if in search of something."Why,
where's Nelson?"

  "He'll be here right away. You know there are always so many thingsto be attended to in the last few minutes." But though Ruth gave thisexplanation with a matter-of-fact cheerfulness that deceived evenPriscilla who knew her so well, she was seething inwardly. So this wasall he cared. He had sacrificed their quiet hour together. Now therewould be a crush and a crowd and everybody talking at once, and nochance to say any of the things she had saved up for their last evening.

  Not that she cared. Ruth flung up her head and laughed gaily atsomething Priscilla was telling. Her hands were cold and her mouthfelt very dry, and her heart was pounding furiously. Nelson could comewhen he was ready, and so that he didn't miss the train, it made nodifference to her.

  Amy and Bob were next to arrive. Then came Peggy and Graham. "Nelson'slate, isn't he?" said Peggy with an uneasy glance at the clock. "Hehasn't any time to spare."

  "I'll put on my things so we'll all be ready to start when he getshere," Ruth returned casually. She had put on a little blue frock, ofwhich Nelson was especially fond, for the last evening, and she wasglad to conceal it by a long coat. Her hand trembled as she pinned herhat in place. She hoped Nelson Hallowell wasn't conceited enough tosuppose she cared whether he came at one hour or another.

  It was twenty minutes past nine when Nelson arrived, and he lookedrather white and shaken. As he had left for camp two years before, hismother had stood smiling in the doorway to watch him go. When it waswhispered that they were going across, and he had told her she was notlikely to see him again till the war was over, she had kissed him withlips that did not tremble. But then she had been lifted above herselfby the exalted spirits of the times. Now she had no sense of patrioticservice to sustain her. She realized that she was no longer a youngwoman, that life was uncertain, and that her boy was going very faraway. Over their last meal together she had broken down, and wept asNelson had never seen his mother weep in all his life.

  It is not to Nelson's discredit that he had forgotten Ruth. Or if thatis saying too much, his thought of her was vague and shadowy. Nelson'sfather had died when he was a little boy, and through the years thathe was growing to manhood, his mother and he had been everything toeach other. The sight of her grief was torturing. He had put his armsabout her, and comforted her as best he could. He had offered to giveup the whole thing, and had started to go out to telegraph his friendin Oklahoma that he was not coming. That, more than anything else,had helped her to regain her self-control. As mothers have been doingfrom time immemorial she wiped her wet eyes and tried to smile, thathe might go on his great adventure without a shadow on his heart.Throughout that distressing, solemn, sacred time, it had neveroccurred to Nelson to look at the clock. The thought of Ruth had hardlycrossed his mind. Even on his way to her homo, he was still thinking ofthe mother he had left.

  It was Graham who, hearing Nelson's step outside, rushed to admit him.Nelson entered, blinking a little in the bright light of the room,and speaking first to one and then another. Ruth in the corner by thefireplace was talking to Bob Carey, and was so interested that she onlyglanced in Nelson's direction, to toss him a smiling nod, and thenresume her conversation with Bob. Nelson gave a little start as ifsome one had pinched him in the middle of a dream and he had suddenlyawakened.

  "Well, old man," remarked Graham cheerfully, "you haven't left yourselfmuch leeway. It's just about time to start."

  "I--yes, I suppose it is." Nelson looked in Ruth's direction and thenlooked quickly away. As for Ruth, she was so absorbed by what Bob Careywas saying, that her brother had to repeat his remark for her benefit."Come, Ruth. Better get a move on. We haven't any time to waste."

  "Oh, is it really time to start?" Ruth asked carelessly. "I hadn'tnoticed." And with that fib on her conscience, she rose and joined theothers.

  Fond as Peggy was of Ruth, that evening she could have shaken her inher exasperation. For on the walk to the street-car, Ruth clung to herarm and chattered unceasingly. As Graham stuck doggedly to Peggy'sother side and Bob was with Amy, Nelson and Priscilla found themselveswalking together. But since Nelson was too dazed for speech, andPriscilla was wondering what Horace would say to this juxtaposition,they walked in an almost unbroken silence.

  It was no better on the street car. Peggy maneuvered shamelessly toput Nelson and Ruth into the one vacant seat, but Ruth slipped pastand took her seat beside a fat woman, who left so little space thatRuth was in imminent danger of falling into the aisle, whenever thecar turned the corner. In Peggy's opinion such a catastrophe wouldhave been no more than she deserved. Peggy had to take the place shehad designed for Ruth, and did her best to be agreeable, but Nelson'swandering replies showed the futility of her efforts.

  A slight delay on the way brought them to the station less than tenminutes before train time. Nelson's tickets were bought, of course,and his reservations made. They stood in a group in the stationwaiting-room and said the aimless things people generally say fiveminutes before train-time. All but Ruth, that is. When Nelson looked ather he found her attention absorbed by an Italian family, whose bundlesand babies occupied the nearest row of seats.

  It was Graham who again took on himself the ungracious duty of callingNelson's attention to the flight of time. "I guess you'd better goaboard, Nelson. You don't want to stand right here in the station, andmiss the train."

  Nelson started violently. "Oh, no," he replied, "certainly not." Heturned to Bob Carey and shook hands with him, murmuring a mechanicalgood-by. Amy stood at Bob's side and Nelson held out his hand to her.

  Amy had shared Peggy's feeling of vexation with Ruth, and like Peggyhad resented her sense of impotence. Neither one of them would havehesitated to take Ruth roundly to task for her conduct, but it wasimpossible to scold her in Nelson's presence, and after he had startedon his long journey westward it would be too late. But as Amy lookedinto the young fellow's down-cast face, a brilliant inspiration came toher aid. She grasped his hand, pulled herself up on tiptoes, and kissedthe astonished youth squarely on the lips. "Good-by, Nelson, and goodluck."

  Peggy, the next in line, saw her friend's ruse, and seconded heradmirably. It was impossible to tell whether Nelson blushed at thesecond kiss, for the flaming color due to Amy's salute still dyed himcrimson. Priscilla pushed aside the obtrusive thought of Horace, andbacked up the others. And then Nelson came to Ruth.

  For a moment Ruth had been in a quandary. After their warm friendship,to part with Nelson with a formal handshake when the other girls hadkissed him, would be to proclaim publicly that she was angry, andRuth did not wish to seem angry, but only indifferent. And yet if shekissed Nelson good-by, she had a suspicion that the barrier her pridehad built between them would melt like mist in the sun. She raised hereyes and met his, those honest eyes in which she read bewilderment andgrief and appeal and something greater than all. And then, all at once,her resentment seemed incomprehensibly petty. Whatever the reason thatNelson had come late, it was not because he did not care. And so theirfirst kiss was exchanged in the garish light of a railway waiting-room,with the calls of the trainmen blending with the unmelodious crying ofbabies, with travelers coming and going, and a little circle of friendsstanding by and taking everything in. But there are some experiences itis impossible to spoil.

  "SHE RAISED HER EYES AND MET HIS"]

  "All aboard," cried Graham, and carried Nelson away. Ruth slipped herarms through Peggy's, and turned toward the door, swallowing hard atsomething that refused to be swallowed.

  "If ever a girl deserved a scolding!" said Peggy in the tenderesttones imaginable. "But I'm not going to do it now, because at the lastminute you redeemed yourself--thanks to Amy."