Cousin Tracy, as on that other memorable visit, had proved an ideal
host. To be sure, a motor car had been substituted for the sightseeing
bus so dear to Blue Bonnet's heart, but she found it, on the whole,
quite as enjoyable, and confided to Cousin Tracy as they sped through
the crooked little streets or walked through the beloved Common, that
she liked Boston ever so much better than New York, it seemed so nice
and countrified. There was a second visit to Bunker Hill and the
Library, to which Blue Bonnet brought fresh enthusiasm, more stories of
Cousin Tracy's coins and medals, and so the days passed all too swiftly.
"Well, at last!" Blue Bonnet exclaimed, as the train began to slacken
speed and the familiar "Next stop Woodford" echoed through the car.
"Here we are, Grandmother, home again!" She was at the door before the
car came to a standstill.
"Doesn't look as exciting as it did when Uncle Cliff and I arrived in
the Wanderer, does it?" Blue Bonnet's eyes swept the almost deserted
station.
Miss Clyde stood at the end of the long platform, her eyes turned
expectantly toward the rear Pullman, with Denham, the coachman, at a
respectful distance.
Blue Bonnet sprang from the car steps, greeted Aunt Lucinda
affectionately, shook hands with Denham and rushed for the baggage-car
to release Solomon.
"He's perfectly wild to see you, Aunt Lucinda," she called back, as she
ran toward the car--a compliment which Solomon himself verified a moment
later with joyful leaps and yelps and much wagging of tail.
"My, but it seems nice to get home," Blue Bonnet said as she sank back
cosily in the carriage and heaved a sigh of content. The sigh shamed her
a little. It seemed, somehow, disloyal to Uncle Cliff and Texas. She sat
up straight and turned her head away from the houses with their trim
orderly dooryards and well-kept hedges, and, for a moment, fixed her
mind with passionate loyalty on the lonely wind-swept stretches of her
native state; the battered and weatherbeaten ranch-house, Benita--But
only for a moment. The green rolling hills, the giant arching elms,
Grandmother's stately house just coming into view, proved too alluring,
and salving her conscience with the thought that it was her own dear
mother's country she had at last learned to love, gave herself up to the
full enjoyment of her surroundings.
Katie and faithful Delia were awaiting the arrival of the family on the
veranda, their joy at the reunion showing in every line of their happy
faces. Blue Bonnet shook hands with them cordially, deposited a load of
magazines and wraps in Delia's willing arms and ran in to the house.
In the sitting-room tea was ready to be served. Blue Bonnet curled up in
one of the deep armchairs and eyed the table appreciatively. How good it
looked--the thin slices of bread and butter, the fresh marmalade, the
wonderful Clyde cookies. She leaned back and smiled contentedly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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