Blue Robin, the Girl Pioneer — Part 150

“Oh, Mumsie, you are a dear,” cried elated Nathalie. “That is just the thing, how stupid I was not to think of it! I will stop at the library on my way home this afternoon. What a help it will be to me, too, for we are going to have a fagot party, sort of a good-by to Louise Gaynor. Gloriana! I won’t have any reading to do for that, for I’ll be posted from my talks with Nita.” Then she was off down the walk on her “way to business,” as she laughingly told her mother.

“Oh, tell me all about the Pioneer Stunts!” exclaimed the princess as Nathalie settled herself for a cozy chat after her cheery greeting to her new pupil. Nita’s eyes were sparkling expectantly, and the anticipated chat with her new friend had brought a tinge of color to her usually pale face.

“We have not had that as yet; it is to take place to-morrow night—oh, I’ll tell you all about it,” was the reply. And then, as Mrs. Van Vorst entered the room with a pleasant good morning, Nathalie demanded, “Do you not want me to tell stories to Nita?”

“That is for Nita to decide,” was the careless rejoinder. “I have asked you here to please my daughter, and if she wants you here just to talk, why, talk away.”

“But I feel as if I ought to instruct her in some way,” demurred Nathalie.

“Do not worry,” returned Mrs. Van Vorst. “You will be worth all you earn if you only succeed in making Nita happy for two hours, and give her something to look forward to when you are not here. Of course, if you could get something informative in once in a while, it would do good, no doubt.”

“I don’t want any stories,” interrupted Miss Nita petulantly. “Miss Stitt used to tell me stories by the yard and I have hated them ever since.”

Nathalie made no reply; she was thinking how she could slip in a bit of information without Nita’s realizing it. “Oh, I will tell you about the flag drill!” she cried with sudden thought.

“Yes, do,” acquiesced Nita, readily falling into the trap. “I want to know just everything about it.”

“Well, you shall,” promptly returned her delighted teacher, and forthwith she set to define the meaning of the word liberty. “You know, Nita, when the Pilgrims and Puritans settled America they came here to build homes where they could have liberty of conscience, speech, and action. Of course, you know all about how these first little settlements grew, until there were thirteen of them that bade fair to become very populous and wealthy. Well, the King of England, fearing perhaps that they would grow into a great nation and take power from him, began to deprive them of some of their rights and privileges.