“Oh, Nathalie, you are a dear girl,” exclaimed Helen, putting her arm around her friend and giving her a hug. “I wish we were all as careful about keeping the Pioneer laws as you, but gracious, child, don’t repent with such dire woe, for none of us are saints, and the Sport is trying, the Lord knows. But explain to Grace about your friend.”
“No,” said Nathalie determinedly. “I am not going to say another thing, only that Nita is not a monster, only a humpback, and—but there, if you want to know about her, come and see her.”
“Well,” spoke up Helen, “if we are going to see the Princess in the tower—how fairylike that sounds—we had better go. And then, as seeing is believing, we’ll go and tell the Sport all about it, and stop that funny little tongue of hers that creates so much trouble at times.”
“Oh, that will be just the thing; Helen, you are a dear!” cried Nathalie. Then the three girls hurried to the ice-cream table for the tray. Hastily taking it they pushed their way through the crowd, coming and going about the tables, to the porch, where Ellen relieved them of their burden and then conducted them to the sun parlor, where Mrs. Van Vorst and Nita sat waiting to receive them.
“Oh, Mrs. Van Vorst,” cried Nathalie as she greeted that lady and her daughter, “it was lovely of you to allow me to bring my two friends to meet Nita. This is Miss Helen Dame,” she continued drawing Helen to her, “and this is another Pioneer friend, Miss Grace Tyson.”
“I am very glad to meet you, Mrs. Van Vorst,” broke in Helen, “for I feel that we are very much indebted to you for allowing us to use your lawn.”
“Yes,” chimed Grace, as she shook the lady’s hand, “we all feel that you have given us a lovely afternoon.”
“I think the indebtedness is on my side,” smiled the lady, looking down with pleased eyes at the two girls, as they stood glancing shyly at her, their white dresses and red caps making them appear unusually pretty. “But let me make you acquainted with my daughter,” she added, leading them to where Nita sat, her blue eyes almost black with the excitement of meeting these two new Pioneers, while her cheeks, usually so pale, were flushed with a delicate pinkness.
After the general hand-shaking was over and the little party had gathered closer to the window to admire the gay-colored flags that fluttered, one from each table, showing with unusual vividness between the green foliage and light dresses of strollers across the lawn, Nathalie asked Nita how she had liked the drill.
“Oh, Nathalie,” rejoined the princess enthusiastically, “it was just the prettiest sight, and I told Ellen and Mamma every flag story, didn’t I?” Then suddenly remembering the two strangers, she relapsed into a shy silence and crouched back in the friendly shelter of her chair as if with the sudden thought of her deformity and the fear that the girls would see it.