“Oh, but I am,” persisted the girl in a resigned voice. “But then, do tell me about the Pioneers!” Then noting Nathalie’s reluctance, she called out in a high, shrill voice, “Mamma, come here, I want you!”
“What is it, darling?” answered her mother coming hastily from the adjoining room, where she had been conversing with the doctor. “What does my princess want?” remembering the rôle the girl had assumed.
“The princess wants to be obeyed,” answered that personage imperiously. “Miss Page refuses to talk about herself or to tell me anything, because she says you ordered her to tell me only stories.”
Nathalie’s face reddened under her black mask, “Oh, no,” she interposed swiftly, “I did not say it that way. I said the doctor had asked me to come here and tell you stories, but then I supposed you were a little girl.”
“No, I am not a little girl,” replied the princess, “I am fourteen.”
“Miss Page, if you do not mind I shall be glad if you will do as Ni—as—the princess desires,” said her mother pleadingly. “She is an invalid, you know, and, I am afraid, sadly spoiled.”
“Very well,” rejoined Nathalie briefly, feeling somewhat relieved to think she could talk about the Pioneers and not to have to think up a story. Yet it did seem strange to ask her to come there and tell stories and then ask her not to do so.
“Now that you have permission, please go right ahead and tell me everything you know about the Pioneers!”
“That will be delightfully easy, I can assure you,” exclaimed Nathalie. “Although I am a new Pioneer, I am beginning to be very enthusiastic. I can’t tell you much about the hikes for I have never been on a long hike yet. We were going on a bird hike the other day—” then she remembered the search party and its results, and in a few words told about Rosebud and the morning spent in searching for her.
“Oh, that was just fine of you,” cried the princess as Nathalie came to the part where the Pioneers had acted as if they did not want to hunt for the little girl. “And those girls! I think they were very selfish, but go on and tell me some more about the Pioneers!”