The following week, Jeanne and two of the kittens went to live with Mrs.
Fairchild. The other two were to stay with Old Captain, who, it seemed,
was fond of kittens. Jeanne was spared the necessity of dividing the
snail. Bayard Taylor had run away! As snails aren't exactly built for
running, Old Captain and Barney considered this a huge joke. Whether
Bayard Taylor crawled over the edge of the dock and fell in, or whether
one of the playful kittens batted him overboard, or whether he was
hidden in some crevice among the cinders, nobody ever knew. Though
diligently sought for, the great American traveler never turned up.
Mr. Fairchild warmly welcomed both Jeanne and the kittens and declared
that he was delighted to have somebody to make the table come out even
at meal times.
"With three people," said he, "there's always somebody left out in the
cold. Now we can talk in pairs."
Mrs. Fairchild was like a child with a new toy. Jeanne's room was newly
decorated and even refurnished for her. It was the very girliest of
girl's rooms and the windows overlooked the lake. Jeanne was glad of
that. It made it seem like home.
Next, her wardrobe was replenished. Mrs. Huntington had replenished
Jeanne's wardrobe more than once; but this was different. Loving care
went into the selecting of every garment, and it made a surprising
difference. Jeanne _loved_ her new clothes, her pretty, yet suitable
trinkets; for Mrs. Fairchild's taste was better than Mrs. Huntington's
and she took keen pleasure in choosing shades and colors that were
becoming to Jeanne's gypsy-like skin. The Fairchilds were delighted with
her appearance.
Roger proved a comfortable housemate. He wasn't a tease, like Harold.
Jeanne neither liked nor disliked him. She merely regarded him as part
of the Fairchilds' furniture--the dining-room furniture, because she saw
him mostly at meals. Roger certainly liked to eat. When he discovered
that the visitor showed no inclination to talk about his undignified
tumble into the lake, he found her presence rather agreeable than
otherwise. With Jeanne to consider, his mother hadn't quite so much time
to fuss over _him_. He hated to be fussed over. Moreover, she couldn't
look at Jeanne and the marmalade at the same time. Roger, who loved
marmalade, was glad of that.
One morning the express wagon stopped in front of Mrs. Fairchild's
house. The express-man delivered a large wooden box addressed to "Miss
J.H. Duval."
"This must be for you, Jeanne," said Mrs. Fairchild.
"Why, yes," said Jeanne, eying the address. "I suppose I _am_ Miss J.H.
Duval. I wonder who sent it."
"Let's look inside," said Mrs. Fairchild. "We'll get Roger to open it."
The box proved, when opened, to contain every garment and every article
that Jeanne had left at the Huntingtons'. The things had not been nicely
packed and were pretty well jumbled together.
"I guess," said Mrs. Fairchild, shrewdly, "they were just _dumped_ in.
What _are_ they, anyway?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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