David Fleming's Forgiveness Part 23

"Jacob and his wife, you mean," said Katie, laughing. "Oh, I shall have nothing in the world to do with them."

"I mean Jacob and his wife and all the rest of them. However, there will be so many there to-day for Clif to show his fine clothes and his fine manners to, that he'll have no time for the like of you."

"But I'll see his fine clothes and his fine manners too, as well as the rest. And there are some things that look best a little way off, you know."

"That's so. And if it's Holts you want, you'd better stick to Betsey."

"Yes, and Ben," said Katie, laughing.

"Bairns," said grannie gravely, "you're no quarrelling, I hope. Are you ready, Katie? And, Davie lad, are you sure it's quite safe for your sister to go over the river on your raft? And will she no' be in danger of wetting her clean frock? It would save her a long walk, and the day is warm, if you are sure it's safe."

"It has carried me safe enough, grannie dear, and Ben Holt and more of us. I ken Katie's precious gear beside me, to say nothing of her frock.

But it's safe enough."

"Well, go away, like good bairns, and dinna be late in coming home."

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.

A TEMPERANCE SPEECH.

Both Katie and her frock got safely over the river on Davie's raft, which was a very primitive affair. They had a field or two to cross from the landing-place, and at the opening made in the fence for the people from the village to pa.s.s through on their way to the Grove, she found the squire and Miss Elizabeth. They were sitting in Miss Elizabeth's low carriage, at a loss what to do, because they had been told that the committee had decided that no carriage was to be admitted within the grounds, and Miss Elizabeth did not like to set rules and regulations at defiance, but neither did she like that her father should have to walk up the hill to the Grove. In this dilemma she appealed to Davie.

"Oh, never mind the committee, Miss Elizabeth. Go ahead up the hill; and, besides, I'm on that committee, and I'll give you a pa.s.s," said Davie, appreciating the situation.

Miss Elizabeth laughed, and so did Katie; but when Miss Elizabeth proposed that he should take her place in the carriage and drive her father up to the stand where he was to sit, Katie laughed more than the occasion required, Davie thought. Of course he could not refuse, and yielded with a good grace.

The field was none of the smallest, and the carriage moved slowly, so that Elizabeth and Katie reached the neighbourhood of the speakers'

stand almost as soon as the squire. They were in time to see Clifton help his father up the steps to his place on the stand, where a good many other gentlemen were seated. Then they saw him hand into the carriage a very pretty young lady, a stranger, and drive away with her.

Davie looked after them with a grimace.

"That is cool! Holts indeed."

"I hope my brother is not committing an indiscretion," said Miss Elizabeth gravely.

"Oh, I guess she likes it. And he is one of the managers; he may do as he likes."

"I am not so sure of that," said Miss Elizabeth.

"But who is she?" asked Katie; "I think she is the prettiest girl I ever saw--and such a pretty dress!"

"Yes, she is very pretty. She is Miss Langden. She and her father came last night. They are staying at my brother's. They are friends of Mr Maxwell's, I hope Clifton has not done a foolish thing in taking her away."

The little carriage was making slow progress round the grounds, with many eyes fixed upon it, and certainly the handsome young couple sitting in it were a pleasant sight to see. Many a remark was pa.s.sed upon them by friends and strangers alike; admiring remarks generally they were, and though they did not reach the ears of the young people, Clifton could very easily imagine them. He enjoyed the situation, and if his companion did not, as one observing lady remarked, "her looks belied her." By and by they came round to the stand again and stopped to speak with Elizabeth.

"I am glad you brought the carriage, Lizzie," said her brother. "It is a sight well worth seeing, and one gets the best view in going all the way round."

It was a sight worth seeing. There were already many hundreds of people on the ground. It was a large gra.s.sy field, sloping down gradually nearly to the river. The Grove, where the speakers' stand had been placed, and where many long tables were spread, was toward the upper part of it, but there were trees scattered through all the field, and groups of people were sitting and walking about here and there through the whole of it, and more were arriving every moment.

There was a good deal of bright colour about the "meeting-clothes" of some of them, and the effect at a distance was pleasing. In the lower part of the field toward the right, where there were trees enough for shade, but an open s.p.a.ce also, many children were running about, and their voices, possibly too noisy for the pleasure of those close beside them, came up the hill with only a cheerful murmur that heightened the effect of the scene.

"I consider myself fortunate in being permitted to witness such a gathering," said the young lady in the carriage. "You must feel it to be very encouraging to see so many people showing themselves to be on the right side."

"Yes, there is a very respectable gathering. There are a great many from neighbouring towns," said Elizabeth; "I am very glad we have so fine a day."

"We can make room for you, Miss Holt," said Miss Langden.

"Yes, Lizzie, come; we will drive round again. You can have a far better idea of the numbers when you see the whole field."

But Elizabeth declined. Indeed, she ventured to express a doubt whether it were the right thing to do. But Clifton only laughed, and asked her who she supposed would be likely to object.

"All the same; I would rather not do what others are not permitted to do," said Elizabeth gravely.

"All right, Lizzie," said her brother.

The young lady at his side made no movement.

"Shall we take another turn round the field?" said Clifton. "Oh, yes, Lizzie, we shall be back before the speech-making begins. We would not lose a word of that for a great deal," said Clifton, laughing.

Elizabeth stood looking after them, with a feeling of some discomfort.

It was very foolish for Clifton to make himself so conspicuous, she thought, and then she turned at somebody's suggestion to go and look at the tables before they were disturbed. Here she fell in with Katie again, and with her cousin Betsey, and they all went together round the tables.

They were twelve in number, and were capable of seating not quite five hundred, but a great many people, and they were loaded with good things of all sorts. The speakers' table was splendid with flowers and gla.s.s and silver. The good and beautiful from all baskets, or a part of whatever was best and most beautiful, had been reserved for it, and Katie hoped that the stranger young lady had got a good view of it. The other tables were leaded also. There did not seem to be a full supply of plates and knives and things on some of them, but that would doubtless be considered a secondary matter as long as the good things lasted; and there seemed little chance of their failing.

The supply reserved for the second tables, and even for the third and fourth tables, seemed to Miss Elizabeth to be inexhaustible. Baskets of cookies and doughnuts, and little cakes of all kinds; great trays of tartlets and crullers, boxes of biscuits, and buns and rolls of all shapes and sizes, fruit-pies, and crackers, and loaves of bread: there seemed to be no end of them.

"End of them! If they hold out, we may be glad," said Miss Betsey.

"Every child on the field is good for one of each thing, at least, biscuits and cookies and all the rest, and there are hundreds of children, to say nothing of the grown-up folks. They've been all calculating to have the children come in at the last, but two or three of us have concluded to fix it different."

The speaking was to come before the eating, and as the crowd who would wish to hear would leave no room for the children, Miss Betsey's plan was that they should have their good things while the speaking was going on, at a sufficient distance to prevent their voices from being troublesome, and that the tables should be left undisturbed. Some dozens of young people were detailed to carry out this arrangement, and Davie and Katie were among them. Miss Elizabeth would have liked to go with them; but she was a little anxious about her father, who had been made the chairman of the occasion, and did not wish to be far away from him.

The children's tea was the best part of the entertainment, David said afterward. There was some danger that the third, or even the second tables would have little to show, for it had been agreed by those who served the children that while any of them could eat a morsel, it should be supplied. And it was a good deal more than Miss Betsey's "one apiece all round" of everything. The quant.i.ty that disappeared was amazing.

Miss Betsey came out wonderfully in her efforts in behalf of the young people. Miss Elizabeth had been rather surprised to find her in the Grove at all, and had quite unintentionally allowed her surprise to appear. It was not like her cousin Betsey to take part in this sort of thing, on pretence of its being a duty, and her thought was answered as if she had spoken it.

"I told mother I wasn't going to set up to be any wiser than the rest of the folks this time. It's a good cause, and if we don't help it much, we can't do much harm. I mean the children shall have a good time as far as victuals are concerned." And so they did.

Betsey sacrificed her chance of hearing some good speaking, which was a greater disappointment to her than it would have been to some others, and Katie stayed with her. But when the children were at last satisfied, they turned their faces toward the stand, still hoping to hear something. They pa.s.sed along slowly, for there was a great crowd of people, not half of whom were listening to what was said. At one side of the stand, a little removed from it, but yet near enough to hear if they cared to listen, they saw Miss Elizabeth and her brother, and Miss Langden. Katie pointed her out to Miss Betsey.

"How pretty she is, and such a pretty dress, and everything to match!

Look, Miss Betsey. Did you ever see anything prettier?"

"Why, yes. I don't know but I have. The dress is well enough," said Betsey.

Which was faint praise. The dress was a marvel of elegant simplicity in some light material of soft dim grey, with just enough of colour in flowers and ribbons to make the effect perfect. It was worth while coming a long way just to see it, more than one young person acknowledged. The dress and the wearer made a very pretty picture to many eyes. She was very modest and gentle in manner, and listened, or seemed to listen, like the rest, but Clifton Holt claimed much of her attention, smiling and whispering now and then in a way that made his sister uncomfortable, she scarcely knew why, for the young lady herself did not seem to resent it.

Betsey had not lost much, it was several times intimated to her during her progress up the hill. "The speakers from a distance" had all failed to appear except two. The forte of one of these seemed to be statistics. He astonished his audience if he did not edify them, putting into round numbers every fact connected with the temperance cause that could possibly be expressed by figures--the quant.i.ty of spirits consumed in Canada, the money paid for it, the quant.i.ty of grain employed in its manufacture, the loss in flour and meal to the country, the money received for licences, the number of crimes caused by its use, and the cost of these to the country. The other "went in" for "wit and humour," and there was much clapping of hands and laughter from such of the audience as had not heard his funny stories before, and his was generally p.r.o.nounced a first-rate speech.