Hammond, sat close by; and this rosy lady, who had been a
physician, cheered her up by predicting that Jill would soon be
running about as well as ever.
But the best of all was in the evening, when the elder people
gathered in the parlors and played Twenty Questions, while the
children looked on for an hour before going to bed, much amused
at the sight of grown people laughing, squabbling, dodging, and
joking as if they had all become young again; for, as everyone
knows, it is impossible to help lively skirmishes when that game is
played. Jill lay in the sofa corner enjoying it all immensely; for she
never saw anything so droll, and found it capital fun to help guess
the thing, or try to puzzle the opposite side. Her quick wits and
bright face attracted people, and in the pauses of the sport she held
quite a levee, for everybody was interested in the little invalid. The
girls shyly made friends in their own way, the mammas told
thrilling tales of the accidents their darlings had survived, several
gentlemen kindly offered their boats, and the boys, with the best
intentions in life, suggested strolls of two or three miles to Rafe’s
Chasm and Norman’s Woe, or invited her to tennis and archery, as
if violent exercise was the cure for all human ills. She was very
grateful, and reluctantly went away to bed, declaring, when she got
upstairs, that these new friends were the dearest people she ever
met, and the Willows the most delightful place in the whole world.
Next day a new life began for the young folks–a very healthy,
happy life; and all threw themselves into it so heartily, that it was
impossible to help getting great good from it, for these summer
weeks, if well spent, work miracles in tired bodies and souls.
Frank took a fancy to the bicycle boy, and, being able to hire one
of the breakneck articles, soon learned to ride it; and the two might
be seen wildly working their long legs on certain smooth stretches
of road, or getting up their muscle rowing about the bay till they
were almost as brown and nautical in appearance and language as
the fishermen who lived in nooks and corners along the shore.
Jack struck up a great friendship with the sturdy Bacon and the
agreeable Cox: the latter, being about his own age, was his
especial favorite; and they soon were called Box and Cox by the
other fellows, which did not annoy them a bit, as both had played
parts in that immortal farce. They had capital times fishing,
scrambling over the rocks, playing ball and tennis, and rainy days
they took possession of the studio opposite, drew up the portcullis,
and gallantly defended the castle, which some of the others
besieged with old umbrellas for shields, bats for battering-rams,
and bunches of burrs for cannon-balls. Great larks went on over
there, while the girls applauded from the piazza or
chamber-windows, and made a gay flag for the victors to display
from the tower when the fight was over.
But Jill had the best time of all, for each day brought increasing
strength and spirits, and she improved so fast it was hard to believe
that she was the same girl who lay so long almost helpless in the
Bird Room at home. Such lively letters as she sent her W1o~he~,
all aboul her new friends, her fine sails, drives, and little walks;
the good times she had in the evening, the lovely things people
gave her, and she was learning to make with shells and sea-weed,
and what splendid fun it was to keep house in a boat.
This last amusement soon grew quite absorbing, and her “cubby,”
as she called it, rapidly became a pretty grotto, where she lived
like a little mermaid, daily loving more and more the beauty of the
wonderful sea, Finding the boat too sunny at times, the boys cut
long willow boughs and arched them over the seats, laying
hemlock branches across till a green roof made it cool and shady
inside. There Jill sat or lay among her cushions reading, trying to