A Journey
ALTHOUGH Ruth had still a very vague idea of the meaning of a receipt, she was still sufficiently impressed with its importance to hold to it very tenaciously and she carried it securely folded in a little old-fashioned bead bag which had belonged to Henrietta and which, in imitation of her Aunt Lillie, she had asked Katie to fasten securely to her belt.
It was a clear, cold winter's day. Katie had at first insisted upon dressing the child in her newer and more fashionable clothes which Mrs. Mayfield had provided for her, but Ruth begged so earnestly to be allowed to wear the red coat and plaid poplin dress that Katie yielded, compromising by placing upon the little girl's head a pretty beaver hat with its plumes which, as she said, gave her a bit of style.
Martin, shorn of his livery and in every-day clothes, lost some of his stateliness and looked an ordinary somebody. He rode on the box of the carriage with the coachman while Ruth, inside, was driven to the railway station, her heart beating fast and her eyes bright with excitement.
She put her hand confidently in Martin's when she was lifted from the carriage and possessing himself of the valise in which Katie had packed Ruth's clothing, the butler took his way to the cars, smiling down at the child as he seated himself by her side.
"Now, ain't this a frolic?" he said. "I don't know when I would have got to see John Fox if it hadn't been for you, and now here I'm travelin' off to Springdale with a young lady."
The hours seemed long but, as she drew nearer and nearer to her destination and certain points along the way began to look familiar, Ruth could scarcely restrain herself. She bobbed up and down in her seat, chattered like a magpie to Martin and once in a while gave a little squeak of pleasure as some well-known landmark caught her attention.
At the last stop before reaching Springdale, a portly gentleman entered the car where Ruth and her escort sat. As she caught sight of him Ruth sprang to her feet with an exclamation of surprise and pleasure.
"Dr. Peaslee," she cried in such shrill excited tones that persons turned their heads to see, and smiled when a little red-coated figure darted into the aisle and precipitated herself against the portly man with the humorous eyes and kind smile.
"Why, Ruth, little Ruth!" exclaimed the doctor, "Where under canopy did you come from and where are you going?"