CHAPTER V

Billy and The Doll

MISS HESTER did her best to comfort the grieving Ruth, and, if the truth were told, felt nearly as badly as the child herself at the destruction of the doll which had belonged to her twin sister. She took the broken doll in her hands and looked at it tenderly.

"We had them exactly alike," she told Ruth, "only mine was dressed in blue and Henrietta's in pink; we always dressed them so to tell them apart. My father brought them to us once when he had been to New York, and we thought there never were dolls like them."

"What became of yours?" asked Ruth interested. "Did you break it?"

Miss Hester smiled a little wistfully. "No, I didn't break it. I gave it to some one. Some one who used to play with me when I was a little girl."

"Did you give it away after your little sister died?"

"Yes, many years after; when I was a woman grown."

"And has the somebody you gave it to—has that somebody the doll now?"

"I think so. Don't you think, Ruth, we would best take this poor broken Henrietta and put her back in the chest from which we took her?"

"Yes," Ruth answered soberly, "I should like to know that she was laid away with Henrietta's things, the broken cup and saucer and the mittens with the thumbs worn out and all the rest of the things she used to have."

"And some day when I can afford it, I will get you a new doll."

"Lucia offered to give me any one of hers that I would choose if I ever wanted another one, but I don't feel now that I ever shall."

Ruth drew a long sigh. "I loved Henrietta so." Her chin quivered and then the tears flowed again as they did at intervals all the evening.

And at bedtime, when there was no Henrietta sitting in her little wooden chair smiling into the dimness, came the most piteous weeping of all, till Ruth's pillow was wet with tears, and when Miss Hester peeped in at midnight—so many buttonholes had there been that day—she found the child wide awake, the drops still burdening her long lashes.

"Poor baby," she said bending over to give her one of her gentle kisses, "would you like to come in and sleep with me?"

"It wouldn't seem so lonely," said Ruth, sitting up, "but you don't like any one to sleep with you, Aunt Hester."

"I'd like it to-night." So Ruth found her comfort in the clasp of Miss Hester's arm and went to sleep cuddled close.

Billy had listened with kindling eyes and with angry exclamations, to Ruth's account of the disaster, and the next day, on their way to the store, he confided to Ruth that he meant to "do up" that Nora Petty. Just what the process of doing up might mean, Ruth didn't know, but she believed in Billy's prowess and was sure it was something too dreadful for any girl to endure. If it had been a boy, now, who had done this thing, she would willingly have allowed Billy to punish him as he might see fit, but a girl battered and banged by Billy's tough little fists was something altogether too awful to be thought of, so she tried to make him promise that he would let Nora alone, saying, rather grandly, that boys ought not to fight girls.

"Ah, look a-here, I didn't mean to knock her down and pommel her," said Billy, "but I'll tell all the fellows how mean she is and if Frank Crane gives her any more apples, I'm mistaken. They won't, any of the other fellows, you can bet your boots. I guess we can find a way to give her a dose without our fists."

"Well, it won't do any good now," returned Ruth, resignedly. "Billy, I wonder who has that other doll that was Aunt Hester's."

"You can search me," replied Billy.

"Just think of it, she's the only one in the world like my Henrietta, and I do wish I could have her. Do you suppose the person loves her very much, as much as I would?"

"Ask me somethin' easy. Maybe there are some others somewhere like that one." Billy was thoughtful.

"Where? You know Aunt Hester said they didn't make that kind nowadays."

"Oh, I don't know just where. There might be some left over."

"I never saw one."

"That's not sayin' there ain't any. Some old person might know where one could be had."

"Oh, do you really think so?"

"Might. Can't say for sure, but somebody might happen to know."

"But Aunt Hester didn't know. Do you mean some one as old as she is?"

"Yes, or older."

"How old do you suppose she is?"

"About forty-four, I guess. Ye know on the headstone over the twin sister's grave it says: 'Born February 10, 1860, died March 21, 1868.' Now ye know they were twins, and if she was born in 1860, that's forty-four years ago."

"Oh, how smart you are about figures, Billy. I never could have thought of that. Forty-four is quite old, of course."

The two trudged along without saying anything for some minutes. Each one was busily thinking. Billy had a scheme he was pondering over, and Ruth was supposing. She did a great deal of supposing, "what if-ing" she and Lucia called it. What if some one knew where a doll like Henrietta could be bought, and what if some day as she was going to the store she should look down and find a silver dollar, a doll couldn't cost more than a dollar.

She stopped short and looked at the ground searchingly; it might be there at that very moment, and this might be the day when she would find it.

"What ye lookin' for?" asked Billy.

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking what if I should find a silver dollar in the road."

"Pshaw!" exclaimed Billy. "That's foolishness."

"But people do find money sometimes."

"They don't so often when they're lookin' for it. I've often looked and I never found but a nickel in my life. No, sir, the only way you're sure of gettin' money is to work for it."

"I can't do that very well, and besides it would be much nicer to find it."

Billy did not answer; he seemed preoccupied. "There ain't much to carry home," he said. "I'll take it as far as the gate and then you can take it in. I want to see somebody before dark."

"One of the boys?" asked Ruth.

But there was no reply for by that time the store was reached.

This place was about a quarter of a mile from Miss Hester's small house which stood on the edge of the town upon a street which became a road just beyond. The town was not a large one. The houses stood far apart and many of them were surrounded by pretty gardens. In the centre of the town, just opposite the store and the post-office, stood Dr. Peaslee's house, a square brick building with as square a porch before the front door. The doctor was not married, and his mother, an invalid, was so rarely seen that most persons had forgotten her existence, and thought that a housekeeper held sway.

After leaving Ruth at the gate of their home, Billy retraced his steps, and, crossing the street when he came to the store, he went directly to Dr. Peaslee's door. The good doctor's mud-spattered buggy stood before the gate, so Billy knew that he should find the doctor at home, and he was not mistaken for he was in his office.

"Well, Billy boy," he exclaimed, looking up over his glasses, "what brings you here? Any one ill up your way? Not Miss Hester, I hope."

There was a little anxious ring in his tone.

"Nobody's sick," returned Billy. "I came over to consult you."

"About yourself? What's your particular indisposition, Mr. Beatty?"

The doctor and Billy had been good friends ever since that day when Billy had been picked up in the streets of the city and had wakened to consciousness to see the doctor's kind face bending over him.

"'Tain't nothin' the matter with me," returned Billy, grinning. "I'm all right."

"Don't want to be fashionable and part with your appendix?" asked the doctor fingering some sharp instruments which lay on the table before him.

Billy gave a little squirm but faced the doctor's glance sturdily. "I ain't achin' to be no subjick at a 'orspital," he returned. "I reckon the doctors kin learn their trade without foolin' with my in'ards."

The doctor laughed. "Well then, proceed to business. What's troubling you, governor?"

Billy looked down at the stubby toes of his shoes. He was thinking just how he would best conduct his system of inquiries. Presently he looked up and said: "You've known Aunt Hester a long time, haven't you, doctor?"

"Ever since we were smaller kids than you and Ruth."

Billy nodded. "Did you ever see them dolls her and her sister used to have, waxy ones, dressed in pink and blue?"

The doctor looked at him sharply and answered in a more reserved manner, "Yes, I remember them."

"Well, have you any idea who Miss Hester gave hers to? She said she didn't give it away till she was grown-up, and I thought maybe you might know."

The doctor drummed thoughtfully upon the arm of the desk chair which he had swung partly around toward Billy. "Why do you want to know?" he asked presently. "And why do you ask me?"

"Well, I knew you were an old friend; you've got the major's cane, you know, and I didn't know but you could tell something about the doll. This is why I want to know." And he launched forth into a tale of Ruth's trouble.

The doctor did not interrupt him, but at the close of the story, he muttered under his breath:

"Humph! That's just like a Petty." He looked Billy over with a smile. "See here, youngster," he said, "you were a wise little owl to come to me with that tale, for the fact is that I do know to whom Miss Hester gave that doll and I also happen to know that it is still in existence."

"Do you think the person that has it would sell it? I'd work all day Saturdays, all the time I mean from my regular chores, to pay for it. You haven't got any odd jobs to be done, have you, doctor? I'm real strong. Feel my muscle."

He spoke eagerly and stretched out an arm which in truth showed more muscle than flesh.

The doctor gravely responded to the invitation and nodded assent. "You'll do," he said. "Well, sir, I'll tell you what I'll do: I'll try to arrange the matter for you. I'll see about bargaining for the doll; I can probably make a better deal than you, and I'll have some jobs ready for you, if not here, somewhere. Now mind, I'm not sure that we can make the trade, but I'll see how the land lies, and if the doll can be given up without any hurt feelings or anything of that kind, we'll get it."

Billy's face beamed. "Thank you, sir," he said, getting up from his chair. "I just felt sure you could help a fellow out. Say," he paused after picking up his hat, "I heard the other day that it was one of them Pettys that's keepin' Miss Hester out of her house."

"See here, youngster," returned the doctor rising, "you see and hear too much. Such an old head as yours must have broader shoulders to carry it before you tackle such matters as that."

Billy stood still. "I guess maybe I have got an old head," he replied soberly. "I don't guess I ever was a baby. I don't remember any time when I didn't have to look after myself, and it's come kind of natural, so now it seems as if I ought to be lookin' after her when she's so good to me."

The doctor softly pinched the boy's ear. "That's all right, governor, but I reckon she has one or two friends that are not so old yet but that they can give an eye to Hester Brackenbury's affairs. You think about your lessons and your little chores and things, so that when the time comes for we old fellows to step out, you can step in. Oh, yes, when shall you come again? Let me see, this is Saturday. Come in Tuesday and I'll tell you if we're on the track of the doll."

Billy departed in high spirits.

The doctor looking after him said to himself, "Smart little rascal, keen as a razor, and, if I'm not mistaken, he's going to turn out to be Hester's right hand man. She'll make a good boy out of him if any one can."

And the doctor turned back to his desk.

Billy trotted home well satisfied with his call. He would not tell Ruth yet, but he chuckled as he thought of what a joyful surprise it would be to her if such a thing were to happen as that he could produce the doll in a blue frock. It must be confessed that there was a measure of feeling against Nora Petty which prompted him in being most energetic in trying to find the doll.

He had heard whispers of Miss Hester's transactions with the Pettys. It had been told him that old Mr. Petty had been the one to press his claim against Major Brackenbury's estate and that there were suspicions of there having been some sharp practice. It was known that the major, in his last years, was very forgetful, and, moreover, being an honest man himself, was too ready to trust others, so that he had not been as careful as he should have been in business matters.

The result of this was that after his death there were outlying debts which Miss Hester believed to have been paid, but for which no receipts could be found. Among these debts was a sum of money claimed by old Simon Petty. Miss Hester was sure her father had paid it, for it was a large amount, and she remembered hearing the major say one day that he would be clear of that debt before twenty-four hours were over.

Yet, when they came to look for the receipt, it could not be found, neither was any amount of money corresponding to that due, to be discovered remaining to the major's credit in bank or elsewhere. Every one felt that there was a fraud somewhere, but it could not be ferreted out, and, therefore, the old home passed into Simon Petty's hands and Miss Hester went to live in the little brown house.

It was the Sunday after Billy's call upon the doctor, that this gentleman overtook Miss Hester and the children on their way home from church.

The doctor was in his buggy. He checked his horse and called: "Jump in here, Hetty, and I'll take you home."

Miss Hester hesitated, but the doctor insisted saying, "I've something very important to talk to you about, and I don't know when I'll get another chance."

So Miss Hester left the children to go home together while she and the doctor drove off.

They must have taken a long way around, however, for the children had reached the house and were setting the table for dinner when the buggy stopped at the door. There was a little wistful smile on Miss Hester's face all during dinner, and she was evidently thinking of something besides the food upon her plate. The children thought it must be the sermon of which she thought and would have been rather surprised if they could have known that her old doll occupied her mind, and that the doll at that moment lay in a drawer in the doctor's desk.

It had been there many a year, and the doctor valued it highly, for had it not taken part in the adventures of little Hester Brackenbury and Tommy Peaslee, years before? Had it not often been taken a-nutting in the woods with the two, and once rescued from a watery grave by Tommy who could not stand Hester's tears and who got himself wet to the skin in his valiant effort to save the sinking doll? At another time had it not proved a benefactor when they had lost their way and a stream of sawdust from the doll's body served as a clue to lead them back to the right path? Hester's mother had restored the sawdust and had mended the leak so that this particular thinning out did not happen again. These and many more incidents came to Miss Hester's mind as she ate her dinner.

The last time she had seen her childhood's treasure was when Tommy went to college and had begged the doll as a mascot. "It will help to keep me straight, Hetty," he said, and she had given it to him laughing at his whim.

On his visits home, he had told her of the doll's honored place in his room, of the jokes of his fellow students concerning it, of how he had nearly fought some one because of it, and of how the scoffer had been made to offer an humble apology to Miss Doll as satisfaction.

She had never asked it back again. So many things had happened since; trouble had come to them both, and these two had never married because of them. So, on this Sunday morning, Dr. Tom Peaslee told Miss Hester of Billy's quest for her old doll and asked her if it would please her were he to give the doll to Billy for Ruth.

"It was dear of Billy to think of getting it," said Miss Hester. "Yes, Tom, if you can spare your mascot, it will give great happiness to little Ruth."

"I must confess that I still want it, old idiot that I am," he answered, "but Hester, the good luck I hoped it would bring seems never to be mine and so—"

"But you are greatly blessed, Tom," Miss Hester interrupted quickly. "You have a good practice and are so well beloved. Yes, you are greatly blessed."

"In all things but in a wife, Hester," said the doctor, sighing.

"Your mother is just the same?"

"Just the same; exacting, querulous, domineering, yet clinging to me and dependent upon me for all that makes life at all worthwhile to her. She is my mother, and we love each other."

"She needs you, Tom, just as my father needed me, and we have neither of us failed in our life-work. My two children are a great comfort to me."

"They are uncommonly nice little youngsters, considering how you happened to find them. I shall keep an eye on that boy," said the doctor. "He has a future before him, or I'm mistaken. I think it will be as well, perhaps, if I let him earn the doll."

Miss Hester agreed. "I want him to learn to be self-respecting. He has good instincts, is shrewd and ambitious; he continually astonishes me by exhibiting some new and very hopeful trait. I liked the way, at the first, that he was willing to go to school and be placed in the class with boys so much smaller, for he knew very little. He had learned to read, and is quick as lightning at figures, so he is fast pushing his way up into the higher classes."

"He's all right," commented the doctor. "I hope you will have as great satisfaction from that little mouse of a girl."

"Ruth, once her love is won, is the dearest child in the world," Miss Hester hastened to say. "I think she will be like a real daughter to me. Oh, yes, Tom, I shall be very happy to see her joy over the doll, and it is good of you to be willing to give it up, though we are too old now to be sentimental over such things."

The doctor sighed. "I have other treasures and memories, Hester, and most precious of all are the memories. I wish I could save you that everlasting needlework. I remember you always did hate buttonholes."

"They are a good discipline," returned Miss Hester, smiling. "I probably need them for my development. Won't you come in?"

The doctor declined. "God bless her," he murmured, as he drove away.