by Oliver Optic
XII
CONCERNING JULIA
In the meantime the Four Club held regular meetings, and every Thursdayafternoon Julia heard Edith and Nora and Belle rushing up past her doorto Brenda's room on the floor above. Of course in a general way she knewwhat was going on, for the affairs of the Four Club were no secret. Yetalthough from time to time Brenda and her friends dropped a word or tworegarding their doings, they never talked very freely about the club.
Nora and Edith were silent because they were sorry that they could notpersuade Brenda to let them invite Julia to the meetings. Brenda saidlittle about the club, because possibly she was ashamed of her ownindifference. As to Belle, she never had had much to say to Julia, andin this case although she felt pleased that her influence chiefly hadkept Brenda from counting her cousin in the club group, she hardlyventured to express this feeling in words. There might as well have beenfive girls as four in the group working for the Bazaar and no one knewthis better than Brenda and Belle themselves.
Although Julia had a pretty correct idea of what was going on, she triedto show no feeling in the matter. Her studies, her music, and herexercise occupied almost all her afternoons, and she reasoned withherself that even if she had been invited, it would have been only awaste of time for her to spend hours at fancy-work, which mightotherwise have been more profitably employed. But after a while, whenthrough the half-open door she heard her friends running upstairs, shesometimes felt a thrill of disappointment that they did not care enoughfor her to stop on their way to ask her to join them. Now Julia meantalways to be fair in her thoughts, as well as in her actions towardsothers. So at first when she found that she was left out of the plans ofher cousin and her friends, she reasoned with herself somewhat in thisfashion.
"Now, Julia, you know that you are a newcomer, and you cannot expectthat you will be taken in all at once, just wait."
But after she had waited a good while, she began to feel a little hurt,although she did her best to conceal her feeling from Nora and Edith. Inthe meantime the latter two girls argued warmly with Brenda, and triedto make her see that it was mean to keep Julia out of the Four Club.
"Nonsense," said Belle, who happened to overhear them, "Julia herselfwould say that it was awfully stupid to sit for a whole afternoon,sewing."
"Well, if she did not work harder than--well than Brenda does, she wouldnot be very much bored; besides she could look out of the window part ofthe time, the view there is perfectly fine," responded the lively Nora.
Brenda had tried to speak when Nora had made this very unflatteringallusion to her own lack of industry, and when Nora finished she said,holding up a square of linen on which a wreath of yellow flowers washalf embroidered,
"There, I've done all this this month."
"That's very good for you," said Belle, patronizingly, "but I'd bewilling to bet----"
"Don't say 'bet,'" murmured Edith.
"I'd be willing to bet anything," continued Belle, "that you'll neverfinish it."
"Why, Belle," continued the others.
"No, you won't," repeated Belle, "you never could, you'll get tired ofthe pattern or of the color, or you will spoil it in some way, and throwit into the fire, or worse into that bottom drawer of yours with allthose other specimens."
Brenda, instead of growing angry at this, only laughed.
"Well if I don't wish to finish it, I certainly won't," she replied."But it happens that I have made up my mind to finish it this Autumn,before Christmas, in fact, so you can make your bet as large as youplease, and pay the money into the fund for Manuel's benefit, for Ishall win."
The girls were all a little surprised at Brenda's reply. She was moreready usually to answer pettishly any criticism made by Belle.
"Very well," said Belle, "Edith and Nora are my witnesses, and we shallwatch to see when you finish that centrepiece."
"Yes, indeed, Brenda," laughed Nora, "indeed we shall follow the careerof this wreath with great interest, and now since you seem to be in anamiable frame of mind, let us go back to Julia. It seems terribly meannot to ask her to join us."
The pleasant expression on Brenda's face changed to a frown.
"I've told you often that Julia would not enjoy working with us, and itwould just spoil everything to have her come."
"Of course it's your house, Brenda, and you started the club, and Juliais your cousin, so Edith and I have not the same right to say anything,but it seems to me very unkind to leave her out."
"There, I don't want to hear anything more about it," cried Brenda,"haven't Belle and I both said that Julia would not enjoy herself,sewing with us, and it would not be a 'four club,' and I don't want tohear anything more about it."
By this time Brenda's voice was positively snappish, and Edith looked upin alarm. But Nora was undismayed.
"Nonsense, Brenda," she cried, "Belle said that Julia would not enjoythe cooking class, though I'm perfectly sure that no one there had abetter time, and the boys thought that she was splendid, didn't they,Edith?"
"Yes," returned Edith, "Philip was surprised; he said she was fine, healways supposed that she was a kind of blue-stocking with glasses,and----"
Here Brenda interrupted, "Well, I'm sure that I never said anything likethat to him, and I shouldn't think that you would, Edith."
"Of course, I didn't," responded Edith, indignantly, "it was somethingFrances Pounder said, and well--Belle----"
"Now, Belle, I do wish that you would not say things about my cousin,"broke in Brenda.
"Oh," cried Belle, "you wish to have the privilege of saying everythingyourself; but you might as well let other people have a chance."
"Philip did not mean that anybody said anything particularlydisagreeable about Julia, only he had a sort of an idea that she did notlike people, and that she would not join much in any fun that we mightplan."
"Oh, what nonsense, Edith!" exclaimed Nora, "she likes fun as well asany of us, only she is just a little quiet herself. She wants somebodyelse to start the fun for her."
"Well, she does not dance," said Belle, "and a girl can't have much funif she does not dance."
"I know that she does not care for round dances, at least her fatherwould not let her learn, but I'm sure that she does the Virginia Reel aswell as anybody, and the Portland Fancy. Why she was as graceful as, asanything the other evening," concluded Nora.
But all the conversation at the meetings of the Four Club did notconcern Julia and her absence from the club. The girls had many otherthings to discuss, and their tongues were often more active than theirneedles. Sometimes as their merry voices floated down to Julia, theyoung girl sighed. It is never pleasant for any one to think that she isnot wanted in any gathering of her friends, although in this specialcase Julia had no great desire to devote even one of her afternoons toneedlework. Nevertheless she could not repress a sigh that she was of solittle consequence to Brenda and her friends.
Before Thanksgiving came, the club really seemed in a fair way ofrealizing its plans for a sale. Edith had finished two or three daintysets of doilies, for she worked out of club hours. Nora's afghan was atleast a quarter made, a great accomplishment for Nora. Belle had severalarticles to show, and even Brenda had persevered with her centrepieceuntil hardly more than a quarter of the embroidery remained unfinished.Moreover several of the girls at school had promised to help, oncondition that nothing should be expected of them until after Christmas.
"That will be time enough," the Four always answered, "for we shall nothave the sale until Easter week."
The girls at school were especially interested when they heard that theBazaar was to be for the benefit of Manuel, not that any one of them hada clear idea of his needs. But they felt an interest in him because theybelieved that his life had been saved by one of their number. Therewere, to be sure, one or two sceptics, like Frances Pounder, who saidthat of course the child had been in no great danger, for in his ownpart of the city children are in the habit of playing most of the timeunder the very feet o
f the horses passing that way. "And who," the wiseFrances had added, "ever heard of a child like that having so much as aleg broken?"
But Frances was not infallible, and many of the girls had heard ofaccidents to poor children. If they had not, the fact remained, whichNora and Brenda and half a dozen others were ready to testify to thatManuel had been in great danger on the memorable day of his rescue. Withhis danger granted, it was plain enough that caring for him became aduty imposed on his rescuers.
With little opportunity to show it, Julia had as much interest in Manuelas the other girls. Strange though it may seem, he was the first verypoor person with whom she had been brought in contact. For in thesecluded life which she had led with her father, she had not seen agreat variety of people. It is true that in traveling she had often comeacross miserable looking and ill-clad women and children, and she knewvery well that there were many like them in the world. With her ownallowance she subscribed to a number of charities, but her father hadnot encouraged her greatly in this kind of thing. His own ill health hadhad the rather unusual effect of making him unsympathetic towards formsof misery unlike the kind which had been sent to him. He thought, too,that young people should be as closely sheltered as possible from theknowledge of the dark side of life. He gave liberally to hospitals, butpoverty in itself did not appeal to him. On that account Julia was notpermitted to hear or to see much of actual poverty.
But Julia, on the other hand, had always had the greatest desire to helpthe less fortunate, and to know more about the conditions of theirlives. She was therefore greatly pleased when one day in a book-shop shefound a copy of "How The Other Half Lives." It was very suggestive toher, and buying it she had read it at home eagerly from cover to cover.
Now she knew that in Boston she was not likely to see any cases ofmisery as extreme as those described in that famous book, and yet in themidst of the luxury of her uncle's house she often wished that she coulddo something to help the poor. But Julia, in spite of her self-reliancein practical matters, was rather shy, and whenever she thought ofspeaking to her aunt on the subject, she hesitated in fear lest sheshould be thought presumptuous. Manuel and his wants, when Brenda andNora came home full of what they had seen at the North End, seemed toher an opportunity. She hoped, indeed she almost expected that she wouldbe invited to go with them on a second visit. Her disappointment in thismatter was even greater than that which came from being left out of the"Four Club." There were things she knew that she could have done forManuel and his mother, and even if Brenda and her friends were able toprovide for all his wants, there must be others in the same neighborhoodas poor as he. Yet week after week passed away, and no chance seemed toopen for her to tell Brenda what she would like to do. At school Juliawas left much to herself. The girls near her own age were so absorbed intheir own affairs that they seldom had a thought for the lonelystranger. They had so many things to talk about in which Julia had nopart,--the dancing class, the bowling club--and a thousand and oneharmless bits of gossip harmless for the most part, though sometimescarrying with them a little sting. When Julia sat or walked with one ofthese chattering groups she felt that she was only tolerated, and shecould seldom join intelligently in what was said, and often a droppingof the voice, or an only half-intentional glance of significance madeher feel herself in the way. To be sure there were Edith and Nora, ofthe set a little younger than the girls with whom she recited. They wereundeniably her friends, and yet Brenda and Belle had a fashion ofdragging them off at recess without giving Julia an invitation tofollow, and the latter had too much sense to care to bring herself toooften within the reach of Belle's sharp tongue. So though she sat orwalked by herself, the older girls who noticed her excused themselveswith "Oh, if she cared to go with any one she would walk with Brenda andNora and the others of the 'Four,'" for in school, as in the club the"Four" had come to have a special meaning. On the other hand Brenda andBelle would usually say to the remonstrating Edith and Nora:
"What is the use of talking, Julia is in the classes with the oldergirls, and she ought to make friends with them. She really doesn'tbelong with us, and there is not the least reason why we should have heron our minds all the time." Now there is hardly any classification ofpersons more definite and rigid than that which separates the girls ofone age at school from those who are a year or two older, or a year ortwo younger. Nor did Julia generally repine at her own situation. Shethought it perfectly natural that the other girls should be slow inadmitting her to intimacy. If she had any feeling it was regret that herown cousin seemed so indifferent to her.