When one Saturday morning Martin, who lived at the Hilltop Farm, came with a note saying that Miss Letty and Hamlet had arrived, and that Miss Jule would be happy to have Anne and Tommy come up to dinner, Tommy forgot his poor opinion of girls in general and was as eager as Anne herself.
Miss Jule kept to the country habit of a one o’clock dinner, and had a hearty but movable tea at the end of day, when for six months of the year one begrudges spending much time indoors. As the note came before nine o’clock, it was too much to expect that the children should wait until nearly dinner time before accepting the invitation.
“Of course,” said Anne, in explanation of starting at ten o’clock, “at most places it doesn’t do to go until a few minutes before you are asked, because the people may be busy, or making the dessert, or not dressed; but Miss Jule is always busy, has fruit for dessert, and is never dressed, so she’s quite as ready one time as another,” which somewhat startling statement of Anne’s did not mean that Miss Jule was a clothesless savage, but simply that, without the useless state of fuss and feathers known as “being dressed,” she was always ready to have her friends come and take her as they found her, which was usually doing something interesting.
Waddles had an extra brushing in honour of going out to dine, for he also had several friends at the Hilltop Kennels with whom he exchanged very pleasant calls. In fact, they belonged to his particular hunting-club, that admitted only the most discreet citizens of Dogtown, and had a limited membership.
With the regular kennel dogs Waddles had only a sniffing acquaintance, which is the same as a mere bowing acquaintance among house people. But besides these dogs that were bought and sold, trained for hunting and sent travelling about to shows and held trials, Miss Jule had four who were pets and house fourfoots, even though two were rather large for this purpose.
These were Mr. Wolf, whose registered name was Ben Uncas, a long-coated St. Bernard, with beautiful silky hair, and a very gentle face that belied the fact that he was a mighty hunter, who seemed to have a little wolf blood in his veins; Quick, the most agile and impertinent of fox terriers; Tip, a retrieving spaniel, in size between a field and a cocker, who wore a coat of wavy golden red hair, and rivalled even Waddles in wisdom; and Colin, an Irish setter, big for his breed, and as clumsy and affectionate as a well-bred dog could be.
Colin could boast a Dogtown record almost as free from fighting as Waddles, but for a different reason. He was handsome, but not over valiant, and when some indiscretion of his aroused the ire of another dog, Colin would immediately roll over on his back and kick his four legs so fast that his confused opponent could get no grip whatever, and usually found that he had urgent business on the other side of the street.
Anne and Tommy rode up the long hill very slowly, partly because it was rather early, and partly because they had on fresh wash suits for the first time that season, and wash suits look best before they are withered. At least Anne thought of this, for she had heard that Miss Letty had money enough to buy all the pretty clothes she wished, and likely as not she might wear muslin shirt waists and lots of pretty ribbons. Though Anne did not bother much about her dresses, and had not worn her best frock, lest she might wish to play, she felt more comfortable to know that her cambric gown with its plain, turnover collar was clean, and that her cherry-coloured hair ribbons were new and had not been “retrieved” by the whole Waddles family in turn.
“I know it’s rather early,” said Anne, after greeting Miss Jule, who for a wonder was sitting in idleness amid an unusual number of vases that waited for flowers on the side porch that overlooked the prim, old-fashioned garden; “but I thought we could see the new setter pups if Miss Letty was busy or tired or anything; and if she wasn’t, we could play hide-and-seek with her and Mr. Wolf and Waddles up in the corn-field. Some of the last year’s stacks are there yet, and we can creep into them finely. Her dog may not know how to play, and we can teach him.”
Miss Jule gave a queer little short laugh, started to say something, stopped with a very funny expression on her plain, jolly face, and said: “It’s not at all too early. Letty is over there in the garden beyond the hedge, getting me some flowers for these big jars. You can introduce yourselves, and ask her to play hide-and-seek, only I’m afraid that Waddles will not like Hamlet. Tip was so rude that I’ve had to tie him up.”