Consequently he was all the more surprised when he opened the deed of the place, and found it was located a few miles west of White Plains, and a mile east of the Hudson Division of the New York Central Railroad. As he read down the printed page of the legal paper and found there were thirty acres of good land,—ten tillable, ten woodland, and ten pasturage,—with a substantial dwelling and some out-houses on it, he heaved a deep sigh of relief.
He telephoned Mrs. James at once, and explained the finding of the deed and what it meant for Natalie’s future. He also invited the chaperone and Natalie to go out with him and inspect the property that he might get an idea of the rent he should ask for it—or what price to value it in case he could find a purchaser.
Natalie would not go when the time came, so she knew not what the place looked like. It was enough for her that her dear mother had never wanted to live there and Daddy hardly ever mentioned it. Mr. Marvin could rent or sell it as he liked—but she would not take an interest in it.
To her utter disgust, Natalie found both Mrs. James and Mr. Marvin so delighted with the old farm that neither spoke of a sale, or of renting it. It seemed to be a settled fact that Natalie and her chaperone would move out and live there for the summer.
When the girl heard the verdict, she stormed away from the room and fled to the refuge she had always sought when she had been thwarted in anything in the past. That was Rachel’s big brown arms. Rachel had been housekeeper, cook, and nurse, alternately, in the Averill family. And the kind-hearted old colored mammy never failed “her li’l’ chile.”
But this time, when Natalie wept tears of misery over the idea of going to live on a farm, Rachel explained how much better that would be than to be adopted by a stranger, or have to live in a cheap boarding-school somewhere in the country.
Natalie had not dreamed of such an alternative, and as her old confidante described the hardships of being a poor scholar in a cheap boarding-school, or a handy-help in form of an adopted child in a working family, her tears vanished and a feeling of dread of such experiences caused her to consider the farm with a better grace. But it was not with enthusiasm or cheerfulness that she told her school friends her plans for the future.
So Miss Mason left the girls to enjoy the evening, while she hurried across town until she reached the address on Riverside Drive, where she hoped to find Mrs. James at home.
CHAPTER II—A SECRET CONCLAVE
“Good-afternoon, Mrs. James,” said Miss Mason cheerily, as she entered the hall of the apartment belonging to the Averills.