"I fancied it would be for Master Jack,"said her mother,wishing the excursion to be a cheerful one.
"I've another for him,but she must have the prettiest.He is going to hang it for me,and ring and run away,and she won't know who it's from till she sees this.She will remember it,for I've been turning and tending it ever so long,to make it bloom to-day.Isn't it a beauty?"and Jill held up her finest hyacinth,which seemed to ring its pale pink bells as if glad to carry its sweet message from a grateful little heart.
"Indeed it is;and you are right to give your best to her.Come away now,you must not stand any longer.Come and rest while I fetch a dish to put the flowers in till you want them";and Mrs.Pecq turned her round with her small Maying safely done.
"I didn't think I'd ever be able to do even so much,and here I am walking and sitting up,and going to drive some day.Isn't it nice that I'm not to be a poor Lucinda after all?"and Jill drew a long sigh of relief that six months instead of twenty years would probably be the end of her captivity.
"Yes,thank Heaven!I don't think I could have borne that";and the mother took Jill in her arms as if she were a baby,holding her close for a minute,and laying her down with a tender kiss that made the arms cling about her neck as her little girl returned it heartily,for all sorts of new,sweet feelings seemed to be budding in both,born of great joy and thankfulness.
Then Mrs.Pecq hurried away to see about tea for the hungry boys,and Jill watched the pleasant twilight deepen as she lay singing to herself one of the songs her friend taught her because it fitted her so well.
"A little bird I am,Shut from the fields of air,And in my cage I sit and sing To Him who placed me there:
Well pleased a prisoner to be,Because,my God,it pleases Thee!
"Naught have I else to do;
I sing the whole day long;
And He whom most I love to please Doth listen to my song,He caught and bound my wandering wing,But still He bends to hear me sing.""Now we are ready for you,so bring on your flowers,"said Molly to the boys,as she and Merry added their store of baskets to the gay show Jill had set forth on the long table ready for the evening's work.
"They wouldn't let me see one,but I guess they have had good luck,they look so jolly,"answered Jill,looking at Gus,Frank,and Jack,who stood laughing,each with a large basket in his hands.
"Fair to middling.Just look in and see";with which cheerful remark Gus tipped up his basket and displayed a few bits of green at the bottom.
"I'd id better.Now,don't all scream at once over these beauties";and Frank shook out some evergreen sprigs,half a dozen saxifrages,and two or three forlorn violets with hardly any stems.
"I don't brag,but here's the best of all the three,"chuckled Jack,producing a bunch of feathery carrot-tops,with a few half-shut dandelions trying to look brave and gay.
"Oh,boys,is that all?"
"What shall we do?"
"We've only a few house-flowers,and all those baskets to fill,"cried the girls,in despair;for Merry's contribution had been small,and Molly had only a handful of artificial flowers "to fill up,"she said.
"It isn't our fault:it is the late spring.We can't make flowers,can we?"asked Frank,in a tone of calm resignation.
"Couldn't you buy some,then?"said Molly,smoothing her crumpled morning-glories,with a sigh.
'Who ever heard of a fellow having any money left the last day of the month?"demanded Gus,severely.
"Or girls either.I spent all mine in ribbon and paper for my baskets,and now they are of no use.It's a shame!"lamented Jill,while Merry began to thin out her full baskets to fill the empty ones.
"Hold on!"cried Frank,relenting."Now,Jack,make their minds easy before they begin to weep and wail.""Left the box outside.You tell while I go for it";and Jack bolted,as if afraid the young ladies might be too demonstrative when the tale was told.
"Tell away,"said Frank,modestly passing the story along to Gus,who made short work of it.
"We rampaged all over the country,and got only that small mess of greens.Knew you'd be disgusted,and sat down to see what we could do.Then Jack piped up,and said he'd show us a place where we could get a plenty.'Come on,'said we,and after leading us a nice tramp,he brought us out at Morse's greenhouse.
So we got a few on tick,as we had but four cents among us,and there you are.Pretty clever of the little chap,wasn't it?"A chorus of delight greeted Jack as he popped his head in,was promptly seized by his elders and walked up to the table,where the box was opened,displaying gay posies enough to fill most of the baskets if distributed with great economy and much green.
"You are the dearest boy that ever was!"began Jill,with her nose luxuriously buried in the box,though the flowers were more remarkable for color than perfume.
"No,I'm not;there's a much dearer one coming upstairs now,and he's got something that will make you howl for joy,"said Jack,ignoring his own prowess as Ed came in with a bigger box,looking as if he had done nothing but go a Maying all his days.
"Don't believe it!"cried Jill,hugging her own treasure jealously.
"It's oniy another joke.I won't look,"said Molly,still struggling to make her cambric roses bloom again.
"I know what it is!Oh,how sweet!"added Merry,sniffing,as Ed set the box before her,saying pleasantly,"You shall see first,because you had faith."Up went the cover,and a whiff of the freshest fragrance regaled the seven eager noses bent to inhale it,as a general murmur of pleasure greeted the nest of great,rosy mayflowers that lay before them.
"The dear things,how lovely they are!"and Merry looked as if greeting her cousins,so blooming and sweet was her own face.