sliding down the banisters, to the great detriment of their clothes
and danger to their limbs.
So absorbed did Nat become in this exciting race, that he ventured
farther and farther out of his corner; and when one very lively boy
came down so swiftly that he could not stop himself, but fell off
the banisters, with a crash that would have broken any head but
one rendered nearly as hard as a cannon-ball by eleven years of
constant bumping, Nat forgot himself, and ran up to the fallen
rider, expecting to find him half-dead. The boy, however, only
winked rapidly for a second, then lay calmly looking up at the new
face with a surprised, “Hullo!”
“Hullo!” returned Nat, not knowing what else to say, and thinking
that form of reply both brief and easy.
“Are you a new boy?” asked the recumbent youth, without stirring.
“Don’t know yet.”
“What’s your name?”
“Nat Blake.”
“Mine’s Tommy Bangs. Come up and have a go, will you?” and
Tommy got upon his legs like one suddenly remembering the
duties of hospitality.
“Guess I won’t, till I see whether I’m going to stay or not,” returned
Nat, feeling the desire to stay increase every moment.
“I say, Demi, here’s a new one. Come and see to him;” and the
lively Thomas returned to his sport with unabated relish.
At his call, the boy reading on the stairs looked up with a pair of
big brown eyes, and after an instant’s pause, as if a little shy, he put
the book under his arm, and came soberly down to greet the
new-comer, who found something very attractive in the pleasant
face of this slender, mild-eyed boy.
“Have you seen Aunt Jo?” he asked, as if that was some sort of
important ceremony.
“I haven’t seen anybody yet but you boys; I’m waiting,” answered
Nat.
“Did Uncle Laurie send you?” proceeded Demi, politely, but
gravely.
“Mr. Laurence did.”
“He is Uncle Laurie; and he always sends nice boys.”
Nat looked gratified at the remark, and smiled, in a way that made
his thin face very pleasant. He did not know what to say next, so
the two stood staring at one another in friendly silence, till the
little girl came up with her doll in her arms. She was very like
Demi, only not so tall, and had a rounder, rosier face, and blue
eyes.
“This is my sister, Daisy,” announced Demi, as if presenting a rare
and precious creature.
The children nodded to one another; and the little girl’s face
dimpled with pleasure, as she said affably:
“I hope you’ll stay. We have such good times here; don’t we,
Demi?”
“Of course, we do: that’s what Aunt Jo has Plumfield for.”
“It seems a very nice place indeed,” observed Nat, feeling that he
must respond to these amiable young persons.
“It’s the nicest place in the world, isn’t it, Demi?” said Daisy, who
evidently regarded her brother as authority on all subjects.
“No, I think Greenland, where the icebergs and seals are, is more
interesting. But I’m fond of Plumfield, and it is a very nice place to
be in,” returned Demi, who was interested just now in a book on
Greenland. He was about to offer to show Nat the pictures and
explain them, when the servant returned, saying with a nod toward
the parlor-door:
“All right; you are to stop.”
“I’m glad; now come to Aunt Jo.” And Daisy took him by the hand
with a pretty protecting air, which made Nat feel at home at once.
Demi returned to his beloved book, while his sister led the
new-comer into a back room, where a stout gentleman was
frolicking with two little boys on the sofa, and a thin lady was just
finishing the letter which she seemed to have been re-reading.
“Here he is, aunty!” cried Daisy.
“So this is my new boy? I am glad to see you, my dear, and hope
you’ll be happy here,” said the lady, drawing him to her, and
stroking back the hair from his forehead with a kind hand and a
motherly look, which made Nat’s lonely little heart yearn toward
her.
She was not at all handsome, but she had a merry sort of face that