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Page 25
"Across the grass,
I saw her pass,
She comes with tripping pace;
A maid I know,
And March winds blow
Her hair across her face.
Hey! Dolly! Ho! Dolly!
Dolly shall be mine,
Before the spray is white with May
Or blooms the eglantine."
By this time the bandage had come off the burned wrist, and Edgar must
bind it on again, and Polly shrieked and started when he pinned the end
over, and Edgar turned pale at the thought of his brutal awkwardness,
and Polly burst into a ringing peal of laughter and confessed that the
pin had n't touched her, and Edgar called her a deceitful little
wretch. This naturally occupied some time, and then there was the
second verse:--
"The March winds blow,
I watch her go,
Her eye is blue and clear;
Her cheek is brown
And soft as down
To those who see it near.
Hey! Dolly! Ho! Dolly!
Dolly shall be mine,
Before the spray is white with May
Or blooms the eglantine."
After this singing-lesson was over it was nearly eleven o'clock, but up
to this time Edgar had shown no realizing sense of his engagements.
"The dinner is over, and the theatre party is safe," thought Polly.
"Now comes the 'tug of war,' that mysterious game of billiards."
But Mrs. Oliver was equal to the occasion. When Edgar looked at his
watch, she said: "Polly, run and get Mrs. Noble's last letter, dear;"
and then, when she was alone with Edgar, "My dear boy, I have a favor
to ask of you, and you must be quite frank if it is not convenient for
you to grant it. As to-morrow will be Saturday, perhaps you have no
recitations, and if not, would it trouble you too much to stay here all
night and attend to something for me in the morning? I will explain the
matter, and then you can answer me more decidedly. I have received a
letter from a Washington friend who seems to think it possible that a
pension may be granted to me. He sends a letter of introduction to
General M------, at the Presidio, who, he says, knew Colonel Oliver,
and will be able to advise me in the matter. I am not well enough to
go there for some days, and of course I do not like to send Polly
alone. If you could go out with her, give him the letter of
introduction, and ask him kindly to call upon us at his leisure, and
find out also if there is any danger in a little delay just now while I
am ill, it would be a very great favor."
"Of course I will, with all the pleasure in life, Mrs. Oliver," replied
Edgar, with the unspoken thought, "Confound it! There goes my game; I
promised the fellows to be there, and they 'll guy me for staying away!
However, there 's nothing else to do. I should n't have the face to go
out now and come in at one or two o'clock in the morning."
Polly entered just then with the letter.
"Edgar is kind enough to stay all night with us, dear, and take you to
the Presidio on the pension business in the morning. If you will see
that his room is all right, I will say good-night now. Our
guest-chamber is downstairs, Edgar; I hope you will be very
comfortable. Breakfast at half past eight, please."
When the door of Mrs. Howe's bedroom closed on Edgar, Polly ran
upstairs, and sank exhausted on her own bed.
"Now, mamma, 'listen to my tale of woe!' I got off at the wrong
station,--yes, it was stupid; but wait: perhaps I was led to be stupid.
I lost my way, could n't find Professor Salazar's house, could n't find
anything else. As I was wandering about in a woodsy road, trying to
find a house of some kind, I heard a crowd of boys singing vociferously
as they came through the trees. I did n 't care to meet them, all
alone as I was, though of course there was nothing to be afraid of, so
I stepped off the road behind some trees and bushes until they should
pass. It turned out to be half a dozen university students, and at
first I did n't know that Edgar was among them. They were teasing
somebody to go over to San Francisco for a dinner, then to the
minstrels, and then to wind up with a game of billiards, and other
gayeties which were to be prolonged indefinitely. What dreadful things
may have been included I don't know. A wretch named 'Tony' did most of
the teasing, and he looked equal to planning any sort of mischief. All
at once I thought I recognized a familiar voice. I peeped out, and
sure enough it was Edgar Noble whom they were coaxing. He did n't want
to go a bit,--I 'll say that for him,--but they were determined that he
should. I didn't mind his going to dinners and minstrels, of course,
but when they spoke of being out until after midnight, or to-morrow
morning, and when one beetle-browed, vulgar-looking creature offered to
lend him a 'tenner,' I thought of the mortgage on the Noble ranch, and
the trouble there would be if Edgar should get into debt, and I felt I
must do something to stop him, especially as he said himself that
everything depended on his next examinations."
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