Natalie laughed unrestrainedly at the funny scene, but the driver was again crossing the bridge, leading the balky Cherub, so she managed to cover her face to hide her amus.e.m.e.nt. While Amity tried to tie up the damaged portions of the harness so that the trip might be completed, Rachel came over and glared down at him.

"Say, yoh pore mis'able chunk of cotton-haid! Don' yoh know I kin kerleck damages f'om yoh foh whad happened t' me on dis premises of yourn?"

Amity looked up and returned her glare. "Say, you old black mammy, don't you know I kin make you pay handsome fer smashin' my buckboard? Even the harness would have held if you hadn't been so heavy as to make Cherub break away from the load."

That was too much for Rachel. She straightened up with family pride and planted her hands on her ample hips as she declared: "See heah, ig'nant clod-hoppeh! Don' yoh go an' fool yohse'f wid t'inkin' I'se as easy-goin' as dat harness ob yourn-'cus I ain't! I'm an out-an'-out Noo Yorker, I am, an' yoh kin ast Mis' James! I made one on dem fresh condoctors in Noo York pay me fohty dollahs onct, when he started his trolley an' dumped me down flat in th' road an' druv away a-laffin at me. An' I wasn't damaged half as much dat time, as you done."

Amity had finished tying up the harness and was backing Cherub into the shafts as he listened to this warning. He now half-closed his squinty eyes and switched the quid of chewing tobacco from one cheek to the other before he replied to Rachel. Then he drawled out tantalizingly: "You big blackberry, you! Puttin' on such airs about what you did to car-conductors! But I ain't no easy mark like 'em,-see?"

Rachel gasped at his insolence and turned to Mrs. James for succor.

Words failed her.

"Amity Ketchum," commanded Mrs. James sternly, "drive us to our destination without further delay, or any more words!"

This gave Rachel courage to add: "Da's whad I say, too! Whad'he wanta bring us all outen our way, anyway, when we hired him to drive us t'

Green Hill Fahm, an' da's all!"

"Ef someone here don't make her shet up sa.s.sin' me so I'll dump all your baggidge out an' you kin all walk to Green Hill, es far es I care!"

threatened Amity, standing up defiantly and refusing to get into the buckboard and start on the way.

Natalie turned to see how far the main road might be, and Mrs. James glanced fearfully at the number of heavy suit-cases and bags to be delivered at the farmhouse, but Rachel was the one to call his dare.

"Ef yoh hain't in dat seat an' drivin' dat bony nag along in jus' two sec.u.n.ts,-den yoh go haid-fust down in dat water-unnerstan' me?" She rolled up her loose sleeves and showed a pair of powerful arms that looked like business.

Amity was a thin little man, and this Amazon apparently meant what she said, for she came for him with dire purpose expressed in her face. So he jumped into the buckboard and started the horse across the bridge without waiting for Rachel to get in.

Mrs. James rapped him on the shoulder to stop, and Natalie called to Rachel to hurry and get in, but Amity seemed unable to make Cherub halt and Rachel tossed her head and scorned to ask the man to let her ride.

To Natalie's coaxings, she shouted back: "Don' worry, Honey! Rachel ain't goin' t' contamerate herse'f by sittin' nex' to sech white trash."

But the road was bad and walking was irksome for Rachel who was accustomed to stone walks and trolleys in the city when she felt tired.

She had to jump mud-puddles that reached across the road, or plough through the sandy deep when the way ran alongside a sand-pit and sand lay heavy on the road.

Finally Amity drove up the hill that ascended from the river, and stopped beside the piazza steps. The driver felt that he had finished a hard day's work, and now sat back resting, allowing the ladies to get down as best they could.

Mrs. James took her purse from the hand-bag to pay for the trip, when Rachel puffed up beside them. She saw the luggage still in the vehicle, and turned to order Amity.

"Carry dat baggidge t' th' doah, yoh lazy-bones!"

"I was hired to drive three pa.s.sengers to Green Hill. I done it, an'

that's all I have to do!" retorted he.

"Mis' James, don' yoh dare pay him a cent till he min's what I tell him," commanded Rachel, stern because she was on her own soil at last.

Amity remembered he had not been paid, so he grumblingly transferred the bags from the buckboard to the steps, then held out his hand for his payment. "Dollar an' a half," said he.

"Mis' James, don't you go an' pay him no moh den one dollah, I tells yoh! He cain't make me pay nottin' cuz he made me walk half th' way. Dat don't stan' in any United States Co'ht, no-how!" shrilled Rachel, furiously.

Mrs. James had opened her purse and hesitated between two fires-"to pay, or not to pay" the full price asked.

"Don't fergit my dashboard is smashed, an' I ain't sayin' a word 'bout payin' fer dat!" snapped Amity. "An' don' yoh fergit my se'f respeck an'

modesty what was smashed when yoh made me stan' on m' haid in dose shaffs! I sh.o.r.e will git Mr. Marwin to sue yoh, ef yoh don't go 'long 'bout yoh bis'nis!" exclaimed Rachel.

Mrs. James placed a dollar bill on the front seat, and turned to Natalie and said: "Open the side-door, dear, so we can go in."

Amity got up in the buckboard, took the dollar and drove away without saying another word. Rachel waited and watched him drive to the front gate, where he turned to call back to her: "When you want a job in a circus as a giant huckleberry, come to me fer references. 'I'll tell th'

worl'' what a fighter you are!"

And Rachel shouted back at him: "Yoh got th' fust an' last cent outen dis fam'ly foh joy-ridin'! I'm goin' to start a hack-line an' put yoh outen bis'nis, ef I has t' take all m' life-insuhance money to do it, I am. I got a nephew what'll be glad t' he'p me do a good turn to th'

country, as puttin' yoh back whar yoh b'long!" Then she turned to her companions for their approval.

CHAPTER V-INVESTIGATING GREEN HILL FARM

As Rachel labored breathlessly with the baggage, she failed to notice any changes in the appearance of the house or grounds, but Natalie saw an improvement.

"What has been done, Jimmy, to make everything look so trim and nice?"

"I hadn't really noticed, Natalie, but now that you draw attention to the fact, I see they have trimmed the box-hedges along all the paths, and the gra.s.s has been mowed. Even the shade-trees have been pruned and cleaned out. How well it looks."

"Laws'ee, Mis' James! Ef dey hain't gone an' nailed a bra.s.s knock on dis doah!" exclaimed Rachel, dropping her burdens on the mat and staring up at the quaint old knocker that had been fastened to the Colonial door since their last visit.

When the door was thrown open, Natalie had a glimpse of the inside-now furnished and most attractive. She followed Mrs. James and Rachel indoors and clapped her hands in pleasure.

"How perfectly lovely, Jimmy! Who would have dreamed that the dusty old place would look like this with a few pieces of furniture and a good clean-up of the rooms."

"I swan!" breathed Rachel, in admiration, as she noted the braided rag rugs on the hall floor, the Colonial mirror on the wall, and the hall-table with drop-leaves flanked on either side by two straight backed rush-bottom chairs.

"It's almos' as fine as dem ole manor houses in Norf Car'liny. I ust to be nuss-maid in one on 'em befoh I come Norf," was her final appraisal of the inside of the house.

Every nook and corner had been scoured until the entire house smelled of cleanliness. Then the antique furniture that had been discovered in the attic had been cleaned and polished until no one would have said they were the same old objects.

Mr. Marvin had selected enough braided and carpet-rag rugs for the floors as would look artistic without covering up much of the fine old oak-flooring of great wide boards. Simple cottage draperies hung at the old-fashioned windows, and the personal effects belonging to Natalie were so arranged as to give the entire interior a homey look. It was a cheerful home for a forlorn little orphan, and she felt the atmosphere of the place instantly.

Rachel had gone directly to the kitchen after she left the others in the hall, and now she was heard exclaiming delightedly: "Oh, Mis' James-an'

Honey darlin'! Come right out to my place an' see how fine I am!"

They hurried out through the pantry and were surprised to find what a great improvement had been made in the large kitchen, with plenty of white enamel paint, new porcelain sink and table, and a fine modern range. Even the chairs and cupboards were glistening white, and white dotted swiss sash curtains hung at the four large windows.

"Ain't it jus' too gran' fer anythin'!" giggled Rachel, as pleased as a child with a new toy.

"It certainly is! We will all want to live in the kitchen, I fear, Rachel," said Mrs. James.

"Who ever straightened up dis house fer us, suttinly knew her bis'nis!"

declared Rachel. "Jus' look at my closets-not one thing outen place.

Pans, pots, an' dishes-jus' whar I'd 'a' put them myse'f."