Arabella | Page 5

her parlor, rushed breathlessly back to the culinary tasks which their arrival had evidently interrupted.
Arabella, as she followed Mrs. Christie's example and removed her hat, coat and gloves, surveyed the apartment. It was so small that, after the barn-like spaciousness of the Christie homestead, it resembled a toy, or a box from which had just popped out the kind little woman. Tiny as was the room, however, it contained a sofa and two big arm-chairs, the latter before a miniature fire-place, full, just then, of glowing coals. Curtains of some heavy, but bright-colored material shut out the darkness. A drugget of warm red, which appeared superfine to Arabella, but which was in fact of the coarsest and most ordinary description, covered the floor. A few prints, likewise of the most cheerful hue, adorned the walls. An air of cosy comfort pervaded everything. Then, for the first time, the impression of home was borne in upon her mind. The cat came rubbing against them as they warmed themselves at the fire, and looked up at them with big eyes that gleamed like amber in the fire-light. It almost seemed to the girl's excited fancy as if this animal were the genius of the place.
After a brief interval the voice of the little woman summoned them into the adjoining apartment. She inquired if they would like to "wash some first" before seating themselves at the table.
"I guess we would like to wash our faces and hands," agreed Mrs. Christie, "to get some of that train soot off."
She looked at Arabella as she spoke, and added, laughing:
"That child's most as black as a nigger."
Miss Norris ushered them into a pair of tiny little rooms, not much bigger than the cabin of a ship, but with that all-pervading air of comfort and cleanliness which penetrated Arabella with a new delight.
"This is your room, my dear," said the little woman, leading her thither and giving her a kindly pressure of the hand. "I hope you'll be able to fit in the bed. It's so very small."
Their ablutions being speedily made, the two were presently summoned to supper. The daintiest little table, that might have come up from fairyland, stood in the center of this second room, with its carpet of bright green, wherein flowers of various sorts grew at random. The tablecloth was of snowy white; in its center was a New Jerusalem cherry, with its festive-looking berries. A Japanese tea-service arranged upon a silver tray appeared to Arabella very much like those things of which she had read in her fairy book. The cutlery and plated spoons were immaculately clean and polished.
At the end of the table was a dish of deliciously browned and still frizzling sausages. Arabella did not know what they were, the food at home being all of the more solid and heavy variety, suited to Silas Christie's appetite. Hence this homely, but appetizing dish was quite new to her, and the more relished in her present hungry condition. They were supplemented by fried potatoes and a few slices of cold tongue, purchased from a neighboring delicatessen. Arabella, with the healthy appetite of thirteen, sharpened by the journey, presently overcame all shyness and did justice to those crisp and delicious morsels, which Miss Norris had cooked to perfection. After these were removed the hospitable hostess produced a steaming dish of pancakes, fresh from the griddle, with plenty of syrup and hot coffee. This last was a beverage which Arabella had never before tasted. With abundance of boiled milk and sugar, it tasted to her like the nectar of the gods. Mrs. Christie was in no way behind her young companion in doing justice to the viands. When her sister apologized for the want of variety, the worthy woman interrupted with her habitual truthfulness.
"It's many a year, Alicia, since I tasted anything so good, and I don't believe Arabella ever did in her whole life. So there!"
Supper over, the dishes were washed up, a function in which both guests, being well accustomed to work, took a share, despite the remonstrances of their hostess. There was a brief interval after that, during which Arabella was ensconced in one of the big arm-chairs near the parlor fire, listening to her elders talk. The cat, after reconnoitering cautiously, leaped into Arabella's lap and coiled herself up luxuriously. Mrs. Christie sent her companion to bed early, however, declaring that she must be tired out, and wouldn't be good for anything next day. It was when Arabella was alone in her little room that she fully realized the strangeness of her surroundings.
She lay quite still in that little bed, which fitted her as closely, almost, as if she had been in a box, and which was snowy white and soft as down, and into which Miss Norris