Chapter III The Sky-room
Johnny felt so badly about the coming of Felix, and begged so hard to be allowed some place of refuge during the stay of this wild guest, that his father said he might have the large back-room in the French roof, if his mother was willing. Mrs. Le Bras said she had no objection, if Johnny did not mind having all the things about that were stored in that room, since there was no other place to put them in. Johnny said all he wanted was somewhere to go when Felix got too rude, where he could be sure Felix would not follow him: he said, too, that he should like to keep the chemicals be was using in the same place; because, if they were not out of the way, Felix would be meddling with them.
“I will have a lock put on the door of the room, and give you the key,” said his father; “and then if you let in any one you don’t want, it will be your own fault. You can carry the things from your laboratory into this private domicile, and whatever else you wish.”
“I will carry most of my books, then,” said Johnny; “for I haven’t a single book that Felix will want to read.”
“But you must not put your mother or me to any trouble about fixing up the room,” added his father; “you must be contented with the bare floor; and if you want the things which are stored there put up out of the way, you must re-arrange them yourself, and be sure they are as neatly and safely placed as they were before.”
“I am perfectly willing to agree to that,” returned Johnny, looking brighter than he had before since the announcement that Felix was to spend the summer with them. “Can I begin to get the room ready to-day?”
“Yes,” replied his mother. “I have no objection, since I am not to do any thing about it, and can trust you not to put any thing out of order in moving the articles about.”
Johnny went up into “the attic,” as it was called, immediately, followed by Sue. There was only one finished room in the French roof: this was in front, and was occupied by Kate. The remaining space was not plastered, and had great beams overhead: it was called “the storeroom,” and was separated from Kate’s room by a narrow hall formed by the placing of a light board partition about four feet distant from the finished room in front. A thin plank door, without lock and key, was in the end of the partition, near the head of the stairs. There were four large windows in the room,—one at each side, and two in front.
“It’s a real pleasant room, isn’t it?” said Johnny, looking about with interest for the first time; for he had never entered the room before except for the purpose of storing something there, or getting something which had been put away in some of the trunks or boxes. These trunks and boxes, some old furniture, and a large cedar chest in which his mother kept furs and other expensive articles liable to be disturbed by moths, were scattered about rather promiscuously, without regard to any particular order.
“I’ll tell you what I’ve a mind to do,” said Johnny. “I think I will put all the things that are stored here at the back part of the room, and then I’ll take the old clothes-line, and draw it across in front of them, and hang some of mother’s old drapery curtains on it: I don’t believe but that she has enough to go clear across the room; only I shall leave an opening in front of the door to get through.”
“Mamma’s got a set of old cretonne, real pretty, too, with bright red flowers on them; and I know she’ll let you have them,” said Sue.
“And she’s got another set, of cheese-cloth, that she won’t use again,” said Johnny. “There’s four more: I’ll alternate them,—that will be prettiest. I guess they’ll go clear across, and be a little full too. And then see what a monstrous room we shall have left all to ourselves!”
“But you won’t let me come in, will you? I thought you wanted it all to yourself.”
“Oh! I shall let you come in sometimes, when you don’t want to romp; and perhaps I will let Felix in once in a great while, when I am sure he won’t stay long: but, as I shall have a lock and key, I can keep folks out when I am reading or busy.
“How far off you can see at these front windows!” said Sue. “I can see way up the river, and all those blue hills, and over hundreds and hundreds of houses, and lots of sky!”
Johnny came and stood by her side, and looked out at the landscape.
“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” said he. “Why, I do believe it’s the very handsomest view I ever saw! It is queer I never noticed before how fine it was. I wonder if father and mother know we’ve got such an observatory!”
“Wouldn’t it be a pretty picture?” said Sue. “I wish it was a picture instead of real; for then I could carry it down in my room, and hang it up.”
“Oh, no! it wouldn’t be half as nice as it is now it is real. Just think how many changes we can see on all that great sweep of sky, how many clouds altering their shapes and colors every minute, and what glorious sunsets! We must come up here after supper to-night, and see the sunset. Let’s surprise father and mother, Sue. If we can get the curtains, I’ll have them up by that time, if you’ll help me.”
“Won’t that be nice!” exclaimed Sue, dancing about. “And just see, Johnny! here’s furniture enough to furnish your room right off: there’s that red plush chair that isn’t faded very badly; and that great, comfortable old wicker rocker that we used to like so much, because it would hold both of us easy,—and all that ails it is that it looks kind of old; and there’s mamma’s old toilet-table and a big ottoman;—and, O Johnny! there’s our lounge in the corner that I’ve missed so much, because the new sofa isn’t half so big.”
“Yes, that’s an idea!” replied Johnny. “There is quite a lot of furniture here; and that sofa looks like an old friend, if there is a hole in the cover that you kicked through. I guess mamma can find me a piece of cretonne that I can spread all over the bottom to hide the holes. And then, don’t you remember, Sue, what a lot of old pictures there are in that big trunk, which were put up here when father bought so many new pictures at that sale? and some of those old ones are real pretty too, especially the engravings.”
“And don’t you remember the chromo with the winter in it, Johnny?”
“Oh, yes! that winter scene was pretty good: it represented the poet Whittier when he was a little boy, going to a country school.”
“Oh, yes! I remember now,” replied Sue; “and Mr. Whittier was in the picture, when he was a little boy, and his little girl that loved him was there with a blue apron on. Let’s get ’em right out, and look ’em over, and see which you will hang up.”
“No,” replied Johnny: “we’ll go down and tell mamma our plans first, and ask her if we may have the curtains, and hang up the pictures.”
Mrs. Le Bras was very much pleased when Johnny came down looking so animated and happy: she had begun to feel as if his pleasure was to be spoiled for the summer by the advent upon the scene of such a thoughtless and rude boy as Felix. She assented very willingly to all his plans, and said he could take any of the discarded things in the attic to furnish his room, and might select and arrange them without her superintendence; only stipulating that Sue was not to be allowed to touch any thing without his orders or permission. She said all the old curtains were in the lower drawer of the bureau in the attic, and Johnny could select which he pleased. As for a covering for the lounge, she would give him a piece of very pretty new cretonne which had been left over of some she got for curtains to Kate’s room.
As it was Saturday morning, there was plenty of time for Johnny to get his room in order before the time for the sunset exhibition. Having charged Sue, again and again, not to ask his mother to come up until all was in readiness, and to give him warning if there was any danger of her making her appearance, he went to work with a will, allowing Sue to help him all she could, for the sake of her company, and because he saw that this kind of business pleased her greatly. By four in the afternoon, the room was finished; and a very attractive place it was. Johnny had opened all the windows, and thrown back the blinds, so that the great space was flooded with light, and as pleasant as out of doors. The breeze was so strong, however, since there was nothing to intercept it at that height, that Johnny was obliged to close all but the front windows.
“I know it will be cool here on the warmest day in summer,” said Johnny, “because it is ever so much cooler here to-day than it is in any other part of the house. That isn’t generally the way with attics: but then, this is different from an attic; it is larger, and has more windows, and the roof is different.”
“If there is a very, very warm day, you can go out at the scuttle,” remarked Sue.
“Oh! I’ll tell you what the scuttle will be good for,” replied Johnny: “we can go up there evenings, and see the stars splendidly. I shall call that my observatory. We will try it this evening.”
The scuttle was in the little hall between the storeroom and Kate’s room, and was reached by a kind of stair-ladder: there were several large panes of glass in it, which afforded sufficient light for the little hall-way.
“Now we will go down and get all the books I shall need,” said Johnny.
Johnny’s books were in one corner of Mr. Le Bras’ large bookcase, which nearly filled one side of the sitting-room. When they reached the sitting-room, they found their father had returned from his office.
“I’m going to carry some of my books into my sky-room,” said Johnny, “but I don’t know what to keep them in: my table isn’t large enough to hold any thing but my inkstand, pens, and pencils, and some paper for writing and drawing.”
“Are there not some empty packing-boxes in the storeroom which we used when we moved here?” remarked his father.
“Yes.”
“Take several of those which are of about the same size, and place them one above the other. If they are not quite firm enough, drive in a few nails. That will give you shelves for books and other things. Put some white paper on the bottom of the shelves, and a little light fancy paint in front, and on the top and sides, if you like.”
“I wonder I did not think of that,” replied Johnny; “for I have seen a very pretty bookcase which Dick Scott made out of boxes.”
Johnny then began to take down some books from the shelves. First he took down four volumes of Jacob Abbott’s “Science for the Young.”
“I thought you had got through with those books long ago,” remarked his father.
“No. I forget something in them sometimes, and then I want to look it up again; besides, I like to read parts of them over once in a while; and when I don’t want to study, they are more interesting than my chemistries and philosophies, because there is a little story mixed in. I wish I could get some more just such books telling of things I haven’t learned about.”
“It is a pity there is no Mr. Abbott here now to write more books,” said his father. “I’ll tell you what you must do, Johnny: when you get old enough, you must write some similar books for young folks yourself, to cover the subjects Mr. Abbott left.”
“But I sha’n’t be a boy to be interested in such books then.”
“Never mind,” said his mother: “there will be ever so many more Johnnys to be interested, and it is pleasanter to give than to receive, you remember.”
Johnny looked rather doubtful about that, but he said nothing. He took down his books upon chemistry, and philosophy, which were such as are used in high schools and academies, and a number of books upon other solid subjects, also a few story-books and a dictionary.
“What do you want of a dictionary in vacation?” asked his mother.
“When I am reading, I often come across a word which I do not understand: and then, I shall write considerably this vacation, and the dictionary will help my spelling; I intend to write a good many compositions, some of which I shall use in school next year, which will save my time.”
“But I don’t think you ought to do schoolwork in vacation: you ought simply to enjoy yourself, or do manual labor, which will not tax your mind,” said Mrs. Le Bras.
“But writing compositions don’t tax my mind, unless I am in a hurry about something else: I shall just write the compositions in vacation for the fun of it, and then, in school-time, I can let them take the place of real work.”
“That is a good idea,” said Mr. Le Bras. “A little providence like that saves a good deal of the friction of working-time.”
“Yes,” said Johnny, “and friction is apt to produce fire.”
His mother laughed.
“You mean by that,” she said, “it is likely to make folks lose their patience and temper.”
“Come, Sue, I guess I’ve got enough now,” said Johnny: “if I haven’t, I shall think of the others by degrees.”
Sue held out her apron: Johnny put as many books in it as he thought she could carry easily, and piled up the remainder, and took them in his arms, with some assistance from his father in getting them well balanced.
“I think I will go up with you to see how your ‘sky-room’ looks,” remarked Mr. Le Bras.
“Oh, no! don’t!” said Johnny. “We’re not ready to have you and mother come up yet. I’ll tell you when we are ready.”
“You mustn’t come up till after supper,” added Sue,—“not till sundown.”
“You look out, Sue,” said Johnny warningly, “or you’ll let it all out before you know it!”
Sue looked back and laughed, as she walked off with her bulged-out apron.
The boxes were speedily arranged, the bottom of the shelves covered with white paper, and the books deposited upon them.
“When I get time, I will fasten and stain the boxes; but this will do at present,” said Johnny, standing back to observe the effect.—“That looks quite like a bookcase, don’t it?”
“It’s just splendid,” replied Sue. “And what shall we do now?”
“We will arrange the lounge and table and chairs, here near the front windows, in a space about as large as our sitting-room: we can have that for the in-doors, and then we can make believe that all outside of that square is out of doors, and have it to exercise in. I think I will call that the promenade.”
“Then, let’s get some chalk, and mark off the room, so that we can tell exactly where the room ends, and the promenade begins.”
“Very well,” replied Johnny, laughing: “that wouldn’t be a bad plan. If you will run down and get one of my crayons, I will mark it off now. You can get the yardstick too. While you are gone, I will be moving the furniture into the front part of the room.”
The bookcase stood between the two front windows. Johnny moved the table up near the bookcase, and placed the sofa a little to the left of the left-hand window, with one end toward the front wall of the room. He then arranged the chairs and ottoman.
When Sue came back, she said a lounge ought to be against the wall, instead of extending out into the room.
“It is against the wall,” replied Johnny: “it is against the crayon-wall we are to make for this side of our room.”
“Why, that’s so!” replied Sue, half laughingly and half wonderingly. “I forgot that three of the walls of the room were to be crayon-marks.”
The room was soon chalked off very distinctly.
“That seems a good deal more like a room and a promenade than it did, don’t it?” said Johnny.
“Yes,” replied Sue: “I think I like walls that you can see right through, very well. I wish some of the walls down-stairs were like that, so we could see out into the back-yard.”
“Let us go down in the yard now, and stay till supper-time,” said Johnny: “we have been working hard all the afternoon, and I think I will romp with you now a while, if you want to; since you have been so good-natured about helping me, and keeping me company, in getting the room ready.”
“Come, then! let’s go right off!” exclaimed Sue, with delight.—“I’ll be down in the yard before you!” and she ran off as fast as she could go, while Johnny followed more leisurely, meditating upon the pleasant respites he could take from Felix’s society in his beautiful and commodious sky-room.
There chanced to be an unusually beautiful sunset that evening; and, when it was in its glory, Johnny invited his father and mother to come up and see the new apartment.
“There’s going to be a free show for you,” said Sue.
“Yes,” said Johnny; “and it didn’t cost any thing to get it up, either.”
“No,” added Sue: “it got itself up, and it’ll do it almost every day this summer, without even being asked.”
“O Sue!” whispered Johnny in her ear, “you’ll let it out before we get up there, if you’re not more careful.”
When they entered the transformed attic, a beautiful scene was presented. The four large dormer windows were all open, and a flood of soft sunset-light filled the apartment. But best of all was the beautiful sky on all sides; for the room faced the west, and the sky all around was full of variously colored clouds, of various shades and degrees of brightness, from brilliant red and gold to delicate shades of pearl, yellow, and violet, with the blue sky for a background.
“Well! this is glorious!” exclaimed Mr. Le Bras. “I did not know we had such a room in the house! Why! it is like discovering a gold-mine!”
“Don’t you remember,” replied Mrs. Le Bras, “that I said, when we first came here, and were putting away some things in the attic, that there was a beautiful view up here, and it was a great pity it could not be down-stairs?”
“I don’t remember it,” replied Mr. Le Bras. “I think, whenever I have been here, the blinds have been closed; and as I have always been to get something, or put something away, I never have thought of looking out of the windows.”
“I have opened one of the blinds sometimes,” replied Mrs. Le Bras, sitting down in the rocking-chair by one of the front windows, “and noticed how far the prospect extended; but I have never been here before at sunset-time. How very, very beautiful!”
“Why, yes! this is perfect fairyland!” said Mr. Le Bras, sitting down by the other front window, in the arm-chair, and looking out at the brilliant scene produced by the green landscape, with its blue river and purple hills and flaming sky.
Mr. and Mrs. Le Bras, upon looking around the interior, praised Johnny and his assistant very much for the neat and tasteful arrangement of the curtains, furniture, etc., and were greatly amused at the chalk-line dividing the room from the promenade. They remained until the stars began to come out, declaring it was too pleasant a place to leave, as long as any of the scenery was visible.
“You see, this house is on a hill, and above the houses about here, which are only two stories,” said Mr. Le Bras, “and also above the trees in the park. You are a lucky boy, Johnny, to own a room like this for the summer, which you can have all to yourself: so I think we will say it is a pretty good offset for all the annoyance you are likely to experience from Felix.”
“And I suppose you will let me in here once in a while, if I get too tired of Felix’s nonsense?” remarked Mrs. Le Bras.
“Oh, yes! I will let any one in except Felix himself; and I will let him in for a little while, sometimes, if he will promise not to touch any of my things, or race about.”
“You had better not give him much encouragement to come here,” said Mr. Le Bras, “or he may tease you too often to let him in. I would not have him know any thing about the room, until he finds it out in some way himself.”
“Yes, that will be the best plan,” added Mrs. Le Bras: “it will save considerable questioning and wonderment, to say the least.”