Speaker 1: Chapter twenty three of Cloudy Jewel. This is a LibriVox recording.
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Speaker 1: Jewel by Grace livingstone Hill, Chapter twenty three. It happened
Speaker 1: that Miss Myrtle Villars had not confined her affections to
Speaker 1: mister Bartram laws. She had been seen wandering about the
Speaker 1: campus with other youths at odd hours of the evening,
Speaker 1: when young lady students were supposed to be safely within
Speaker 1: college halls or properly chaperoned at some public gathering. The
Speaker 1: student exec had had her in tow for several weeks,
Speaker 1: and she had already received a number of her proofs
Speaker 1: and warnings. A daring escapade the evening before had brought
Speaker 1: matters to a head, and it was very possibly because
Speaker 1: of some suspicion that they might have found her out,
Speaker 1: that Myrtle had made of plans to be absent on
Speaker 1: that afternoon. However, that was when the executive body, and
Speaker 1: consultation with the Dean, sent for her. They traced her
Speaker 1: to the Cloud's house. At least they came there about
Speaker 1: seven o'clock to inquire and hoping to take her Unaware,
Speaker 1: they had found Allison in a great state of excitement,
Speaker 1: telephoning hither and Yon to try to get some clue
Speaker 1: to his sister's whereabouts. They had remained to advise and suggest,
Speaker 1: greatly worried at the whole situation, the more so because
Speaker 1: it involved Leslie Cloud, whose bright presence had taken great
Speaker 1: hold upon everybody, And now, without knowing it, Leslie Cloud
Speaker 1: had taken the one way to put the whole matter
Speaker 1: into the right hands and to exonerate herself. If she
Speaker 1: had known that any member of the faculty was in
Speaker 1: that room listening, if she had dreamed that even her
Speaker 1: brother was there, she would not have thought it right
Speaker 1: or honorable to put even an enemy in such a position,
Speaker 1: either for her own sake or for the girls. She
Speaker 1: had only wanted some wise true adviser to know the truth,
Speaker 1: so that the girl might learn what was right and
Speaker 1: have the responsibility taken from her own shoulders. She thought too,
Speaker 1: that she had a right to be exonerated before her aunt.
Speaker 1: So now while she wept out her contrition in Julia
Speaker 1: Cloud's arms, retribution was coming swiftly to Myrtle Villers, and
Speaker 1: her career in that college was sealed with finality. It
Speaker 1: was only too plain that such a girl was a
Speaker 1: menace to the other students and needed to be removed. Presently, Leslie,
Speaker 1: feeling something strange in the atmosphere, lifted frightened tear filled
Speaker 1: eyes and saw the grave faces of the Dean and
Speaker 1: his companions. She held her breath with suspense. How terrible,
Speaker 1: how public and unseemly she had brought all this upon
Speaker 1: herself and her family by her persistent friendship with this
Speaker 1: silly girl. And she fell to trembling and shuddering. All
Speaker 1: her fine, sweet nerve gone. Now that the strain was over,
Speaker 1: Julia Cloud drew her down upon the couch and soothed her,
Speaker 1: covering her with an afghan and trying to comfort her.
Speaker 1: Then the Dean stepped over to the couch and spoke
Speaker 1: to Leslie, miss Cloud, you must not feel so bad,
Speaker 1: he said, gently, as if she had been his own child.
Speaker 1: You have acted nobly and no one will blame you. You
Speaker 1: have perhaps saved Miss Fillers from great shame and sorrow,
Speaker 1: and you certainly have been brave and true. Don't worry, child,
Speaker 1: and he patted Leslie's heaving shoulder kindly. Presently, the Dean
Speaker 1: and his committee were gone, taking the cowering myrtle with them,
Speaker 1: and Leslie lay snuggled up on the couch with Alice
Speaker 1: in building up the fire, and Cherry bringing a tray
Speaker 1: with a nice supper. Julia Cloud fixed a hot water
Speaker 1: bag to warm the chilled hands and feet. It was
Speaker 1: so good to be at home. The tears rushed into
Speaker 1: her eyes again, and her throat filled with sobs. Oh Cloudy,
Speaker 1: She caught her aunt's hands. I'll never never do anything again.
Speaker 1: You don't want me to, she sobbed out, and then
Speaker 1: burst into another paroxysm of tears. There now, kid, don't
Speaker 1: cry any more, pleaded Alison, springing to her side and
Speaker 1: kneeling by her, smoothing her hair. Roughly. You were a
Speaker 1: little winner. You had every bit of your nerve with you.
Speaker 1: Why you did a great thing, kid, outwitting those two
Speaker 1: brutes and bringing that girl back in spite of herself.
Speaker 1: But the greatest thing of all was your making her confess.
Speaker 1: Now they've got something to go on. If you hadn't
Speaker 1: done that, it would have been her word against yours,
Speaker 1: and I imagine she's always managed to keep things where
Speaker 1: she could get a round people with her wiles. Now
Speaker 1: she's got to face facts, and believe me, kid, it'll
Speaker 1: be better for her. In the end. She was headed
Speaker 1: straight for a bad end, and no mistake. All the
Speaker 1: fellows knew it, and the faculty suspected it, and it
Speaker 1: was making no end of trouble. But now the girl
Speaker 1: may be saved for that. Dean never lets a student
Speaker 1: go to destruction, they say, if he can help it. Oh,
Speaker 1: of course he'll fire her. She isn't fit to be
Speaker 1: around here. But he'll keep an eye on her, and
Speaker 1: he'll fire her in such a way that she'll have
Speaker 1: another chance to make good if she's willing to take it.
Speaker 1: Don't you worry about spoiling her life. She'd set out
Speaker 1: to spoil it in the first place, and the best
Speaker 1: thing that could possibly happen to her was to get
Speaker 1: stopped before she went too far from all you say,
Speaker 1: I shouldn't think a marriage with that fellow would have
Speaker 1: been any advantage to her. Oh he was awful, Allison shuddered, Leslie.
Speaker 1: He smelled of liquor, and he had great coarse lips
Speaker 1: and eyes, and he put his arms around her and
Speaker 1: kissed her right there before us all. And they acted
Speaker 1: perfectly disgusting. I'm almost sure from things I heard them
Speaker 1: say that she hadn't been engaged to him at all,
Speaker 1: She hadn't even known him till last week. She met
Speaker 1: him in town, just picked him up on the street.
Speaker 1: And that Fred Hicks, I don't believe now he was
Speaker 1: her cousin at all. Probably not, but leave that all
Speaker 1: to the Dean. He'll ferret it out. He went in
Speaker 1: there to the telephone before he left, and from what
Speaker 1: I heard, I imagine he's got detectives out after those
Speaker 1: two guys. And they may sleep in the lock up
Speaker 1: to night. They certainly deserved to, and I shall have
Speaker 1: a hand in settling with them too. I can't my
Speaker 1: sister treated that way and let it go easily. They've
Speaker 1: got to answer to me, there, kid. He stooped down
Speaker 1: and kissed her gently on her hot, wet forehead, and
Speaker 1: Leslie caught his hand and nestled her own in it. Oh, Allison,
Speaker 1: it's so good to be home, squeezing his hand appreciatively.
Speaker 1: I'll never, never, never go with a girl again that
Speaker 1: you don't like. I'm just going to stick to Jane.
Speaker 1: She's the only one up there I really love anyway.
Speaker 1: Allison seemed quite satisfied with these sentiments, and they had
Speaker 1: a beautiful time eating their supper before the fire, for
Speaker 1: no one had had any appetite before, and Cherry was
Speaker 1: as pleased to have the anxiety over and waited upon
Speaker 1: them all as if Leslie had been her own sister.
Speaker 1: Into the midst of their little family group broke a hurried,
Speaker 1: excited knock on the door, and there stood Howard Lutchworth
Speaker 1: with anxious face. I heard that your sister and one
Speaker 1: of the college girls had gone off in a car
Speaker 1: and got lost. Is it true? I came right around
Speaker 1: to see if I could help. Leslie sat up, with
Speaker 1: her teary eyes bright and eager, and her cheeks rosy
Speaker 1: with pleasure, all her pretty hair in a tumble about
Speaker 1: her face, and the firelight playing over her features in
Speaker 1: a most charming way. Oh it's awfully good of you,
Speaker 1: she called eagerly. But I'm perfectly all right and safe.
Speaker 1: He came over to the couch and took her offered hand,
Speaker 1: most eagerly, expressing his delight and saying he had been
Speaker 1: almost sure it was some town gossip, but he could
Speaker 1: not rest satisfied until he was positive. But Allison would
Speaker 1: not let it go at that. I'm going to tell him, Leslie,
Speaker 1: he said. He won't let any one be the wiser,
Speaker 1: and if people are saying anything like that, he can
Speaker 1: help stop their mouths. So Allison told the whole story.
Speaker 1: When it came to the part about Fred Hicks and
Speaker 1: Bartram Laws, Howard's face grew dark and he flashed a
Speaker 1: look that boded no good to the two young Ruffians.
Speaker 1: I know who that Law's fellow is, he said gravely.
Speaker 1: He's rotten, and I shouldn't wonder if I could locate friend.
Speaker 1: I get around quite a bit on my motorcycle. May
Speaker 1: I use your phone a minute? I have a friend
Speaker 1: who is a detective. They ought to be rounded up,
Speaker 1: miss Leslie. Would you tell me carefully just what roads
Speaker 1: you took, as nearly as you know, so, Leslie told
Speaker 1: in detail of the wild ride once more. Julia Cloud
Speaker 1: watched the young man's face as he listened, and knew
Speaker 1: that Leslie had a faithful friend and champion. Knew also
Speaker 1: that here was one whose friendship was well worth cultivating.
Speaker 1: A clean, fine, strong, young soul, and was glad for
Speaker 1: her little girl. Something stirred in her memory as she
Speaker 1: watched his look, and she went back to her childish
Speaker 1: days and the boy friend who had kissed her when
Speaker 1: he went away, never to return. There was the same
Speaker 1: look in Howard Letchworth's eyes when he looked at Leslie,
Speaker 1: the age old beauty of a man's clean devotion to
Speaker 1: a sweet, pure woman's soul. Of course, Leslie was a
Speaker 1: mere child yet and was not thinking of such things.
Speaker 1: But there need be no fear that that fine, strong
Speaker 1: young man would be unwise enough to let the child
Speaker 1: in her be frightened away prematurely. They were friends, now,
Speaker 1: beautiful friends, and that would be enough for them both
Speaker 1: for a long time. She was content. She watched them
Speaker 1: all evening and listened to their talk about the Christian
Speaker 1: Endeavor society. How beautiful it was that Leslie had been
Speaker 1: able to bring the boy to a degree of interest
Speaker 1: in that. Of course, it was for her sake, but
Speaker 1: he was man enough to be interested on his own
Speaker 1: account now, and from their talk she could see that
Speaker 1: he had gone heart and soul with Allison into the
Speaker 1: plans for the winter work. He had a fine voice
Speaker 1: and was to sing a solo at the next meeting. Presently,
Speaker 1: Leslie so far recovered her nerves as to smooth out
Speaker 1: her hair and go to the piano to practice with him.
Speaker 2: Oh jee, he's a stuwwastandy outside the fast closed door.
Speaker 1: Rang out the rich, sweet notes, and the tender, sympathetic
Speaker 1: voice brought out each word with an appeal. The boy
Speaker 1: could not sing like that and not feel it himself.
Speaker 1: Some time, Julia Cloud found herself praying, praying, as if
Speaker 1: she whispered to a dear companion sitting close beside her
Speaker 1: at the hearth side. Dear Christ, show this boy, teach
Speaker 1: him what thou art make him thy true disciple. Suddenly,
Speaker 1: the young fellow turned to Allison with a smile. I
Speaker 1: like the way you take your religion with you into college, Cloud,
Speaker 1: It makes it seem real. I haven't met many fellows
Speaker 1: that had any before, or perhaps I shouldn't have been
Speaker 1: such a heathen as I am. But I say, why
Speaker 1: don't you try to get some of your frat brothers
Speaker 1: to come down to the meeting. They ought to be
Speaker 1: willing to do that for you, and it would be
Speaker 1: great to have them sing. You've got a lot of
Speaker 1: the glee club in your crowd. That's so, said Allison.
Speaker 1: I don't know, but I'll try it. I'd like to
Speaker 1: have them come the night you sing. Guess I'll have
Speaker 1: to hunt around and get a speaker. No, I won't either.
Speaker 1: Just the meeting itself is good enough now for anybody.
Speaker 1: They're a pretty good little bunch down there. They've been
Speaker 1: working like beavers. Jane Bristol gets the girls together and
Speaker 1: coaches them for every meeting. She's some girl, d'y know it.
Speaker 1: Howard Letchworth agreed that she was, but he cast a
Speaker 1: side glance down at the bright head of the girl
Speaker 1: who was playing his accompaniment, as if he felt there
Speaker 1: were others. Julia Cloud was watching her darling girl, wondering, hoping,
Speaker 1: praying that she might always stay so sweet and unspoiled.
Speaker 1: But when the young man was gone home and Leslie
Speaker 1: came back to the couch again, she suddenly drooped cloudy jewel.
Speaker 1: She said, wearily, it isn't right. I don't deserve people
Speaker 1: to be so nice to me, the Dean and you all,
Speaker 1: and Howard and everybody. It was a lot my fault
Speaker 1: that all this happened. I thought I could make that
Speaker 1: girl over if I'd just stuck to her. She had
Speaker 1: promised me she would come to Christian endeavor and join,
Speaker 1: and I wanted to show you all what a power
Speaker 1: I had over her. I was just conceited, that was
Speaker 1: all there was about it. Now I see that she
Speaker 1: was only fooling me. I couldn't have done anything at
Speaker 1: all alone. I needed God. I didn't ask him to help.
Speaker 1: You've talked a lot about that in our Sunday meetings,
Speaker 1: but it never went down into my heart until I
Speaker 1: was driving past that old crematory and I felt as
Speaker 1: if I was all alone, and death, all in black
Speaker 1: trailing robes, was going along fast beside me. Then I
Speaker 1: knew God was the only one who could help, and
Speaker 1: I began to pray. I hope maybe I've learned my
Speaker 1: lesson and I'll not be so swelled headed next time.
Speaker 1: But you oughtn't to forgive me, Cloudy. Not so easy, Cloudy,
Speaker 1: You're just like God. It was several days before Leslie
Speaker 1: recovered fully from the nervous strain she had been under.
Speaker 1: She slept long the next day, and Julia Cloud would
Speaker 1: not awaken her for a week. There were dark circles
Speaker 1: under the bright eyes, and the rose of her cheek
Speaker 1: was pale. She went about meekly with downcast eyes, and
Speaker 1: the bright fervor of her spirit seemed dimmed. It was
Speaker 1: not until one afternoon, when Allison suggested that they get
Speaker 1: Jane Bristol and Howard Ledchworth and go for bitter sweet
Speaker 1: berry vines and hemlock branches to decorate for the Christian
Speaker 1: endeavor social that her spirits seemed to return, and the
Speaker 1: unwholesome experience was put away in the past. At last.
Speaker 1: Howard Letchworth had been most thoughtful about the matter in
Speaker 1: the village, and had managed so that the tragic had
Speaker 1: been taken out of the story that had started to
Speaker 1: roll about, and Leslie could go round and not feel
Speaker 1: that all eyes were upon her wondering about her escapade.
Speaker 1: Gradually the remembrance of it died out of her thoughts,
Speaker 1: although the wholesome lesson she had learned never faded. More
Speaker 1: and more popular in the college grew the gatherings down
Speaker 1: at Cloudy Villa. Sometimes Leslie brought home three or four
Speaker 1: girls for Friday and Saturday, not often any on Sunday
Speaker 1: unless it was Jane, For Sundays were their very own
Speaker 1: day for the little family, and they dreaded any who
Speaker 1: might seem like intruders. It is our time when we
Speaker 1: catch up in our loving for all the week, Leslie
Speaker 1: explained with a quaint smile to one girl, who broadly
Speaker 1: hinted that she would not mind being asked for over Sunday.
Speaker 1: And besides, you mightn't like the way we keep Sunday.
Speaker 1: Everybody who comes has to go to church and Christian
Speaker 1: endeavor with us and enjoy our Bible reading, singing our
Speaker 1: round the fire. And I didn't think you would. Well,
Speaker 1: I like your nerve, answered the girl, But she sat
Speaker 1: studying Leslie afterwards with a thoughtful gaze and began to
Speaker 1: wonder whether, after all, a Sunday spent in that way
Speaker 1: might not be really interesting. She's a kind of a nut,
Speaker 1: isn't she, she remarked to another friend of Leslie's. She's
Speaker 1: a pretty nice kind of a nut. Then esther was
Speaker 1: the response. If that's a nut, we'd better grow a
Speaker 1: whole tree of them. I'm going down there all I can.
Speaker 1: I like em. Julia Cloud seemed to have a fertile
Speaker 1: brain for all kinds of lovely ways to while away
Speaker 1: a holiday, as the cold weather came on, winter picnics
Speaker 1: became the glory of the hour long walks with heavy
Speaker 1: shoes and warm sweaters and mittens were inaugurated. A kettle
Speaker 1: of hot soup straight from the fire, wrapped in a
Speaker 1: blanket and carried in a big basket, was a feature
Speaker 1: of the lunch. When the party reached a camping spot,
Speaker 1: a fire would be built and the soup kettle hung
Speaker 1: over an improvised crane to put on its finishing touches,
Speaker 1: while the rest of the eatables were set forth in
Speaker 1: paper plates, each portion neatly wrapped in waxed paper, ready
Speaker 1: for easy handling. Sometimes big mince pies came along and
Speaker 1: were stood on edge near the fire to get thawed out.
Speaker 1: Bean soup, corned beef sandwiches, and hot mince pie made
Speaker 1: a hearty meal for people who had tramped ten or
Speaker 1: fifteen miles since breakfast. Oh how those college fed boys
Speaker 1: and girls enjoyed these picnics with Julia Cloud as a
Speaker 1: kind of hovering angel to minister with word or smile,
Speaker 1: or in some more practical way wherever there was need.
Speaker 1: They all called her Cloudy Jewel. Now whenever they dared
Speaker 1: and envied those who got closest to her and told
Speaker 1: her their troubles. Many a lad or lassie brought her
Speaker 1: his or her perplexities, and often as they sat around
Speaker 1: the winter camp, perhaps on a rock brushed free from snow,
Speaker 1: she gave them sage advice, wrapped up in pleasant stories
Speaker 1: that were brought in ever so incidentally. There was nothing
Speaker 1: ever like preaching about Julia Cloud. She did not feel
Speaker 1: that she knew enough to preach. And sometimes as they
Speaker 1: walked homeward through the twilight of a long, happy afternoon
Speaker 1: and the streaks of Crimson were beginning to glow in
Speaker 1: the gray of the horizon, some one or two would
Speaker 1: lag behind and ask her deep, sweet questions about life
Speaker 1: and its meaning and its hereafter. Often they showed her
Speaker 1: their hearts as they had never shown them, even to
Speaker 1: their own people. And often a word with her sent
Speaker 1: some student back to work harder and fight stronger against
Speaker 1: some subtle temptation. She became a wholesome antidote to the
Speaker 1: spirit of doubt and atheism that it crept stealthily into
Speaker 1: the college and was attacking so many and undermining what
Speaker 1: little faith and religion they had when they came there,
Speaker 1: it came to be a great delight to many of
Speaker 1: the young college people to spend an evening around the
Speaker 1: hearth at Cloudy Villa. There never had been any trouble
Speaker 1: about that question of dancing, because they just did not
Speaker 1: do it, and there was always something else going on,
Speaker 1: some lively games, sometimes almost a rough house, as the
Speaker 1: boys called it, but never anything really unpleasant. Julia cloud
Speaker 1: was a good sport, the boys said, and the girls
Speaker 1: delighted in her. The evenings were filled with impromptu programs,
Speaker 1: thought out carefully by Cloudy Jewel, but proposed and exploited
Speaker 1: in the most casual manner. Allison, why wouldn't it be
Speaker 1: a good idea for you to act out that story
Speaker 1: we were reading the other day the next time you
Speaker 1: have some of the young people down, You and Leslie
Speaker 1: and Jane, with the help of one or two others
Speaker 1: could do it and there wouldn't be much to learn.
Speaker 1: If you all read it over once or twice more,
Speaker 1: you'd have it so you could easily extemporize. Do you know,
Speaker 1: I think there's a hidden lesson in that story that
Speaker 1: would do some of the boys and girls good if
Speaker 1: they could see it lived out and perhaps set them
Speaker 1: to reading the book again. They would be asked suddenly
Speaker 1: soon after their arrival, each one to represent his favorite
Speaker 1: character in Shakespeare, or to reproduce some great public man
Speaker 1: so that they all could recognize him, and they would
Speaker 1: be sent upstairs to select from a great pile of shawls, wraps,
Speaker 1: and all sorts of garments any which they needed for
Speaker 1: an improvised costume. Another evening, there would be brought forth
Speaker 1: a new game which nobody had seen, and which absorbed
Speaker 1: them all for perhaps two hours, until some delicious and
Speaker 1: unique refreshments would be produced to conclude the festivities. At
Speaker 1: another time, the round dining table would be stretched to
Speaker 1: take in all its leaves, and the entire company would
Speaker 1: gather around it, with uplifted thumbs and eager faces, uproariously
Speaker 1: playing up jenkins for an hour or two. Any little
Speaker 1: old game went well under that roof, though Julia Cloud
Speaker 1: kept a controlling mind on things, and always managed to
Speaker 1: change the game before anybody was weary of it. Also,
Speaker 1: there was much music in the little house. Allison played
Speaker 1: the violin well, two or three others who played a
Speaker 1: little at stringed and wind instruments were discovered, and often
Speaker 1: the whole company would break loose into song until people
Speaker 1: on the street halted and walked back and forth in
Speaker 1: front of the house to listen to the wild, sweet
Speaker 1: harmonies of the fresh young voices. At the close of
Speaker 1: such an evening, it was not an uncommon happening for
Speaker 1: a crowd of the frat boys to gather in a
Speaker 1: knot in front of the house and give the College yell,
Speaker 1: with the tiger at the end, and then Cloud, Cloud Cloud.
Speaker 1: The people living on that street got used to it
Speaker 1: and opened their windows to listen, with eyes tender and
Speaker 1: thoughtful as they pondered on how easily this little family
Speaker 1: had caught the hearts of those cars college people and
Speaker 1: were helping them to have a good time. Perhaps it
Speaker 1: entered into their minds that other people might do the
Speaker 1: same thing if they would only half try. In return
Speaker 1: for all her kindness, a number of the young people
Speaker 1: would often respond to Julia Cloud's wistful invitation to go
Speaker 1: to church, and more and more they were being drawn
Speaker 1: by twos and threes to come to the Christian endeavor
Speaker 1: meetings in the village. It seemed as if they had
Speaker 1: but just discovered that there was such a thing to
Speaker 1: the equal amazement of themselves and the original members of
Speaker 1: the Christian Endeavor Society, who had always responded to any
Speaker 1: such suggestions on the part of their pastor or elders
Speaker 1: with a hopeless Oh, you can't get those college guys
Speaker 1: to do anything they think they're it. The feeling was
Speaker 1: gradually melting away, and a new brotherhood and sisterhood was
Speaker 1: springing up between them. It was not infrequent now for
Speaker 1: a college maiden to greet some village girl with a frank,
Speaker 1: pleasant smile and accept invitations to lunch and dinner, and
Speaker 1: college boys were friendly and chummy with the village boys
Speaker 1: who were not fellow students, and often took them up
Speaker 1: to their frat rooms to visit. So the two elements
Speaker 1: of locality were coming nearer to each other, and their
Speaker 1: bond was the Village Christian Endeavor Society. So passed the
Speaker 1: first winter and spring in the little Pink and White house,
Speaker 1: and with the first week of vacation there came visitors.
Speaker 1: End of Chapter twenty three, recorded by Terra Mendoza, Phoenix, Arizona,
Speaker 1: March two thousand eleven.