Mary Ware's Promised Land

Annie F. (Annie Fellows) Johnston

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• Publié par: thuin
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 22
• Langue: English

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Project Gutenberg's Mary Ware's Promised Land, by Annie Fellows Johnston This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Mary Ware's Promised Land Author: Annie Fellows Johnston Illustrator: John Goss Release Date: January 10, 2008 [EBook #24235] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARY WARE'S PROMISED LAND *** Produced by David Edwards, Emmy and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from scans of public domain material produced by Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.)Music by Linda Cantoni. By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON Author of "The Little Colonel Series," "Big Brother," "Ole Mammy's Torment," "Joel: A Boy of Galilee," "Asa Holmes," "Travelers Five on Life's Highway," etc. Illustrated by JOHN GOSS BOSTON · L. C. PAGE & COMPANY · MDCCCCXII Works of ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON ——————— The Little Colonel Series (Trade Mark, Reg. U. S. Pat. Of.) Each one vol., large 12mo, cloth, illustrated The Little Colonel Stories $1.50 (Containing in one volume the three stories, "The Little Colonel," "The Giant Scissors," and "Two Little Knights of Kentucky.") The Little Colonel's House Party 1.50 The Little Colonel's Holidays 1.50 The Little Colonel's Hero The Little Colonel at Boarding-School The Little Colonel in Arizona The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor The Little Colonel's Knight Comes Riding Mary Ware: The Little Colonel's Chum Mary Ware in Texas Mary Ware's Promised Land The above 12 vols., boxed, as a set ——————— The Little Colonel Good Times Book The Little Colonel Doll Book 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.50 18.00 1.50 1.50 Illustrated Holiday Editions Each one vol. small quarto, cloth, illustrated, and printed in colour The Little Colonel $1.25 The Giant Scissors 1.25 Two Little Knights of Kentucky 1.25 Big Brother 1.25 Cosy Corner Series Each one vol., thin 12mo, cloth, illustrated The Little Colonel $.50 The Giant Scissors .50 Two Little Knights of Kentucky .50 Big Brother .50 Ole Mammy's Torment .50 The Story of Dago .50 Cicely .50 Aunt 'Liza's Hero .50 The Quilt that Jack Built .50 Flip's "Islands of Providence" .50 Mildred's Inheritance .50 Other Books Joel: A Boy of Galilee $1.50 In the Desert of Waiting .50 The Three Weavers .50 Keeping Tryst .50 The Legend of the Bleeding Heart .50 The Rescue of the Princess Winsome .50 The Jester's Sword .50 Asa Holmes 1.00 Travelers Five Along Life's 1.25 Highway 1.25 ——————— L. C. PAGE & COMPANY 53 Beacon Street Boston, Mass. "'I DON'T WANT TO BE JUST AN OLD MAID SISTER IN SOMEBODY ELSE'S HOME.'" (See page 34.) Copyright , 1912, B Y L. C. P AGE & COMPANY . (INCORPORATED) ———— Entered at Stationers' Hall, London ———— All rights reserved First Impression, October, 1912 THE COLONIAL PRESS C. H. SIMONDS & CO., BOSTON, U. S. A. TO MISS FANNY CRAIG THE "MISS ALLISON" OF THESE STORIES, WHOSE "ROAD OF THE LOVING HEART" RUNS WIDE AND FAR THROUGH ALL THIS HAPPY VALLEY CONTENTS PART I CHAPTER PAGE I.A SEEKER OF N EW TRAILS II.BACK AT LONE-R OCK III.A N EW FRIEND IV.THE WITCH WITH A WAND V.P STANDS FOR PINK VI.TOLD IN LETTERS VII.A D ESERT OF WAITING VIII.A GREAT SORROW PART II I.BETTY'S WEDDING II.TOWARDS THE C ANAAN OF H ER D ESIRE III.THE SUPREME C ALL IV."PINK" OR D IAMOND R OW V.MARY AND THE "BIG OPPORTUNITY" VI.PHIL WALKS IN VII.H ER GREAT R ENUNCIATION VIII.H OW IT ALL ENDED 1 24 51 68 91 111 126 144 161 183 204 227 244 266 278 300 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE "'I DON'T WANT TO BE JUST AN OLD MAID SISTER IN SOMEBODY ELSE'S HOME '" Frontispiece (see page 34) "THERE WAS ONLY TIME TO . . . HASTILY CLASP THE LITTLE GLOVED HAND HELD 4 OUT TO HIM" "'I'LL SLEEP BETTER IF THEY ARE ON THEIR POLES INSTEAD OF ON MY MIND '" 26 "'I WISH WE COULD SETTLE THINGS BY A FEATHER, AS THEY USED TO IN THE OLD 77 FAIRY TALES'" "SEVERAL TIMES SHE STOPPED JACK IN PASSING TO ASK HIM A QUESTION " 118 "'D O YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME YOU EVER SAW THIS?'" 167 "GAZING INTO THE SWEET FACE THAT SEEMED TO SMILE HELPFULLY BACK AT HER" "'IT WAS AS IF WE HAD REACHED THAT LAND THAT WE USED TO SING ABOUT'" 240 310 PART I MARY WARE'S PROMISED LAND [1] PART I CHAPTER I A SEEKER OF NEW TRAILS When the Ware family boarded the train in San Antonio that September morning for their long journey back to Lone-Rock, every passenger on the Pullman straightened up with an appearance of interest. Somehow their arrival had the effect of a breath of fresh air blowing through the stuffy car. Even before their entrance some curiosity had been awakened by remarks which floated in from the rear platform, where they were bidding farewell to some friends who had come to see them off. "Do write and tell us what your next adventures are, Mary," exclaimed one clear voice. "Your family ought to be named Gulliver instead of Ware, for you are always travelling around to such queer, out-of-the-way places. I suppose you haven't the faintest idea where you'll be six months from now." "No, nor where I'll be in even six weeks," came the answer, in a laughing girlish treble. "As I told the Mallory twins when we left Bauer, I'm like 'Gray Brother' now, snuffing at the dawn wind and asking where shall we lair to-day. From now I follow new trails. And, girls, I wish you could have heard Brud's mournful little voice piping after me down the track, as the train pulled out, 'Good hunting, Miss Mayry! Good hunting!'" "Oh, you'll have that, no matter where you go," was the confident answer. "And don't forget to write and tell us about it." A chorus of good-byes and farewell injunctions followed this seeker of new [2] trails into the car, and the passengers glanced up to find that she was a bright, happy-looking girl in her teens. She carried a sheaf of roses on one arm, and some new magazines under the other. One noticed first the alertness of the face under the stylish hat with its bronze quills, and then the girlish simplicity of dress and manner which showed at a glance that she was a thorough little gentlewoman. Her mother, who followed, gave the same impression; graygowned, gray-gloved, bearing a parting gift of sweet violets, all that she could carry, in both hands. One literal minded woman who had overheard Mary's remarks about lairs and new trails, and who had been on the watch for something wild all across the state of Texas, looked up in disappointment. There was nothing whatever in their appearance to suggest that they had lived in queer places or that they were on their way to one now. The fifteen year old boy who followed them was like any other big boy in short trousers, and the young man who brought up the rear and was undeniably good to look at, gave not the slightest evidence of being on a quest for adventure. The only reason the woman could see for the name of Gulliver being applied to the family, was that they settled themselves with the ease and dispatch of old travellers. While Jack was hanging up his mother's coat, and Norman storing their suitcases away in one section, Mary, in the seat across the aisle, was pressing her face against the window-pane, watching for a parting glimpse of the friends, when they should pass through the station gate. A sudden tapping on the glass outside startled her, and the next instant she was exclaiming excitedly to her elder brother, "Oh, quick, Jack! Put up the window, please. It's Gay and Roberta! They're still waiting out there!" As the window flew up, and Mary's head was thrust out, passengers on that side of the car saw two young girls standing on tiptoe to speak to her. The one with beautiful auburn hair called out breathlessly, "Oh, Mary! Bogey's coming! Pray that the train will stand one more minute!" And the other, the one with curly lashes and mischievous mouth, chimed in, "He's bringing an enormous box of candy! Mean thing, to come so late that we can't have even a nibble!" Then those looking out saw a young fellow in lieutenant's uniform sprint through the gate, down the long station and across half a dozen tracks to reach the place where Roberta and Gay stood like excited guide-posts, wildly pointing out the window, and beckoning him to hurry. Red-faced and panting, he brought up beside them with a hasty salute, just as the wheels began turning and the long train started to puff slowly out of the station. There was only time to thrust the box through the window and hastily clasp the little gloved hand held out to him. "Say good-bye to the others for me," he called, trotting along beside the moving train. "Sorry I was late. I had a lot of things to tell you. I'll have to write them." "Do," called Mary, "and let me know—" But he was no longer in hearing distance and the sentence was [3] [4] [5] left unfinished. When she drew in her head there was a deeper color in her face and such shining pleasure in her eyes, that every fellow traveller who had seen the little byplay, knew just what delight the lieutenant's parting attention had given her. More than one watched furtively with a sort of inward smiling as she opened the box and passed it around for the family to share and admire. One person, especially, found entertainment in watching her. He was the elderly, spectacled gentleman in the section behind her. He was an illustrator for a well-known publishing house, and Mary would have counted her adventures well begun, could she have known who was sitting behind her, and that one of his famous cover designs was on the very magazine which lay open on her lap. Well for her peace of mind that she did not know what he proceeded to do soon after her arrival. Producing a pencil and drawing pad from his satchel, he made a quick sketch of her, as she sat sideways in her seat, carrying on an