Tabithas Vacation | Page 2

I never
could get you to admit it last winter."
"I haven't admitted it yet," Gloriana retorted spiritedly. "It looks so
much different in the summer time, but still seems queer to me with its
heaps of rocks and no trees except the stiff old Joshuas. I wonder why
they are called that. Even they don't seem like trees to me. They look
like giant cactus plants, and just as cruel."
"They have beautiful blossoms," Tabitha interrupted. "We are a little
too late to see them, though many of the other desert flowers are still in
bloom. Look across that stretch beyond the river road. Isn't it pretty

with its red and yellow carpet? May is the month to see the desert in its
glory, though. Then it is truly beautiful. No one could think it ugly. But
come, let's run over to Mercy's house. We have swept and dusted, and
you have finished unpacking. This is our second day at home and I
haven't been near to inquire how Mr. McKittrick is. He was hurt before
Christmas, so we never went there during the holidays, you remember."
"Where do they live?"
"Why, I showed you the place--that queer brown house perched
up-----"
"Oh, yes, on that great shelf of rock, overlooking the railway station."
"The first house we see on our way up here from the depot. Mr.
McKittrick always called it the Eagles' Nest, and his children the
eaglets."
"What a pretty idea! How many eaglets are there besides Mercedes and
the little boy you named?"
"Four other girls. Mercy is the oldest of the family. Then come Susanne,
or Susie, as they call her; the twins, Inez and Irene; Rosslyn and the
baby, Janie."
"That's quite a family. What nice times they must have together!"
sighed Gloriana wistfully, thinking of her own orphaned life with no
brothers or sisters with whom to make merry.
"Yes, I reckon they are a pretty lively bunch sometimes, for Susie is as
wild as Mercedes is quiet; and Inez should have been her twin instead
of Irene's. Janie is a regular little mischief, too, but such a darling! You
are sure to love her, though Rosslyn is my favorite. Put on your hat and
let's go down before dinner. Daddy won't be home until evening, and
there is nothing to keep us here."
Seizing her sunbonnet from its peg by the door, Tabitha started up the
path toward town with Gloriana hobbling along at her side, when they

saw Mercedes, with roguish Janie and chubby Rosslyn in tow, coming
down the slope toward them. Her round, serious eyes looked heavy and
worried, her childish face pale and frightened; but at sight of the two
approaching figures, a smile of relief suddenly curved the drooping lips,
and she exclaimed eagerly, "Oh, girls, I was just going for you! Are
you on the way to our house? Oh, please say yes! Something dreadful
has happened, I'm sure, for mamma has sent us all out-doors, and is in
the kitchen crying fit to kill. She won't say what's the matter, and I'm
horribly scared. I never saw her cry before."
Tabitha's face paled instantly. "I wonder--" she began, then stopped.
How could she put her thought into words when Mercedes was already
so dreadfully frightened? "Has the doctor been to see your father this
morning?" she asked.
"Yes. He stayed ever so long and talked to mamma in the kitchen. I am
afraid papa is worse, for 'twas right after the doctor was gone that she
began to cry so hard."
Tabitha turned to Gloriana. "I'll run on ahead," she said, "if you don't
mind. You can follow more slowly with Mercedes. I--perhaps it would
be better if I saw Mrs. McKittrick alone first."
"All right," agreed Glory, who, like Tabitha, was wondering if the
message the doctor had delivered in the Eagles' Nest that morning had
left the little mother without a ray of hope; and so she fell in step beside
the anxious Mercedes, and began to chat in spritely, diverting tones
while Tabitha sped swiftly up the narrow, winding path to the
lonely-looking, little, brown house perched on the steep mountainside.
Arriving at the door breathless and panting, she hesitated a moment
before knocking, suddenly aware that she had not the slightest idea of
what she intended to say or do. A glimpse through the screen of a
huddled figure bowed despairingly over the kitchen table drove every
other thought from her mind, however, and flinging open the door, she
ran lightly across the room and impulsively laid her hand upon the
quivering shoulders.

"Mercedes, must I tell you again--" began the muffled voice of the
distracted woman, as she impatiently shook off the hand resting on her
arm.
"It isn't Mercedes," Tabitha interrupted.