The next day Mother said: “Father and I have decided, John, that you shall go away for a while this vacation. You shall go to visit Mrs. Beck at Ballerud. That will be pleasant for you, and as it is an inland country place, I shan’t have to be in constant anxiety about your falling into the sea.”
CHAPTER XIII
The Birthday Party
THE first of September was Johnny Blossom’s birthday, and Father and Mother had decided that he should have a party and that the party should be held at Kingthorpe. How delightful that would be!
He was to be allowed to invite just exactly whom he pleased, especially those who had been kind to him, Mother said. My, oh, my! but that would mean a good many!
Soon after this plan was made, all the household went out to Kingthorpe one day—Father, Mother, Asta, Andrea, Dagny, and Johnny Blossom, of course, and the two maids.
Wide open stood the park gates, wide open the heavy, richly wrought gates to the courtyard, where the fountain was splashing musically; wide open, too, the great entrance doors and all the doors between the rooms, so that light and air streamed once more through the long-closed mansion. Very big and beautiful it looked in the bright sunshine, and its curtains fluttering in the summer wind seemed to be waving a welcome from the windows.
In the lofty, echoing rooms everything had been left undisturbed: the furniture with its silken upholstery, the mirrors reaching from floor to ceiling, the great paintings that filled the walls, and the art treasures, gathered from every corner of the world. Many of these tapestries and vases and statues were extremely rare, but to Johnny Blossom they were only queer, especially a certain Indian idol with an ugly face made of gold. Why should any one want that?
Mother went about, uncovering mirrors and furniture until the room which was called the white salon showed all white and yellow, with its gilding and its silken damask cushions gleaming in the strong September sunlight.