It completed what the fragrances, those first minutes in the quiet and twilight had done for her. It gave her a sense of having come to haven after a tempestuous journey on the high seas beyond the reef of the Ridge, and of having cast anchor in the lee of a kindly and sheltering land.
CHAPTER VII
Michael had lit the lamp in Rouminof's kitchen; innumerable tiny-winged insects, moths, mosquitoes, midges, and golden-winged flying ants hung in a cloud about it. Martha M'Cready, Pony-Fence Inglewood, and George Woods were there talking to Paul and Michael when Sophie went into the kitchen.
"Here she is," Paul said.
Martha rose from her place on the sofa and trundled cross to her.
"Dearie!" she cried, as George and Pony-Fence called:
"H'llo, Sophie!"
And Sophie said: "Hullo, George! Hullo, Pony-Fence!"
Martha's embrace cut short what else she may have had to say. Sophie warmed to her as she had when she was a child. Martha had been so plump and soft to rub against, and a sensation of sheer animal comfort and rejoicing ran through Sophie as she felt herself against Martha again.
The slight briny smell of her skin was sweet to her with associations of so many old loving and impulsive hugs, so much loving kindness.
"Oh, Mother M'Cready," she cried, a more joyous note in her voice than Michael had yet heard, "it is nice to see you again!"
"Lord, lovey," Martha replied, disengaging her arms, "and they'd got me that scared of you--saying what a toff you were. I thought you'd be tellin' me my place if I tried this sort of thing. But when I saw you a minute ago, I clean forgot all about it. I saw you were just my own little Sophie back again ... and I couldn't 've helped throwing me arms round you--not for the life of me."
She was winking and blinking her little blue eyes to keep the tears in them, and Sophie laughed the tears back from her eyes too.
"There she is!" a great, hearty voice exclaimed in the doorway.
And Bully Bryant, carrying the baby, with Ella beside him, came into the room.
"Bully!" Sophie cried, as she went towards them, "And Ella!"
Ella threw out her arms and clung to Sophie.
"She's been that excited, Sophie," Bully said, "I couldn't hardly get her to wait till this evening to come along."
"Oh, Bully!" Ella protested shyly.
"And the baby?" Sophie cried, taking his son from Bull. "Just fancy you and Ella being married, Bully, and having a baby, and me not knowing a word about it!"
The baby roared lustily, and Bully took him from Sophie as Watty Frost, the Crosses, and Roy O'Mara came through the door.
"Hullo, Watty, Archie, Tom, Roy!" Sophie exclaimed with a little gasp of pleasure and excitement, shaking hands with each one of them as they came to her.
She had not expected people to come to see her like this, and was surprised by the genial warmth and real affection of the greetings they had given her. Everybody was laughing and talking, the little room was full to brimming when Bill Grant appeared in the doorway, and beside him the tall, gaunt figure of the woman Sophie loved more than any other woman on the Ridge--Maggie Grant, looking not a day older, and wearing a blue print dress with a pin-spot washed almost out of it, as she had done as long as Sophie could remember.
Sophie went to the long, straight glance of her eyes as to a call.
Maggie kissed her. She did not speak; but her beautiful, deep-set eyes spoke for her. Sophie shook hands with Bill Grant.
"Glad to see you back again, Sophie," he said simply.
"Thank you, Bill," she replied.
Then Potch came in; and behind him, slowly, from out of the night, Snow-Shoes. The Grants had moved from the door to give him passage; but he stood outside a moment, his tall, white figure and old sugar-loaf hat outlined against the blue-dark wall of the night sky, as though he did not know whether he would go into the room or not.
Then he crossed the threshold, took off his hat, and stood in a stiff, gallant attitude until Sophie saw him. He had a fistful of yellow flowers in one hand. Everybody knew Sophie had been fond of punti. But there were only a few bushes scattered about the Ridge, and they had done flowering a month ago, so Snow-Shoes' bouquet was something of a triumph. He must have walked miles, to the swamp, perhaps, to find it, those who saw him knew.
"Oh, Mr. Riley!" Sophie cried, as she went to shake hands with him.
"They still call me Snow-Shoes, Sophie," the old man said.
The men laughed, and Sophie joined them. She knew, as they all did, that although anyone of them was called by the name the Ridge gave him, no one ever addressed Snow-Shoes as anything but Mr. Riley.
He held the flowers out to her.
"Punti!" she exclaimed delightedly, holding the yellow blossoms to her nose. "Isn't it lovely? ... No flower in the world's got such a perfume!"
Michael had explained to the guests that Sophie was not to be asked to sing, and that nothing was to be said about her singing. Something had gone wrong with her voice, he told two or three of the men.
He thought he had put the fear of God into Paul, and had managed to make him understand that it distressed Sophie to talk about her singing, and he must not bother her with questions about it. But in a lull of the talk Paul's voice was raised querulously:
"What I can't make out, Sophie," he said, "is why you can't sing? What's happened to your voice? Have you been singing too much? Or have you caught cold? I always told you you'd have to be careful, or your voice'd go like your mother's did. If you'd listened to me, now, or I'd been with you...."
Bully Bryant, catching Michael's eye, burst across Paul's drivelling with a hearty guffaw.
"Well," he said, "Sophie's already had a sample of the fine lungs of this family, and I don't mind givin' her another, and then Ella and me'll have to be takin' Buffalo Bill home to bed. Now then, old son, just let 'em see what we can do." He raised his voice to singing pitch:
"For-er she's a jolly good fellow, for-er-"
All the men and women in the hut joined in Bully's roar, singing in a way which meant much more than the words--singing from their hearts, every man and woman of them.
Then Bully put his baby under his arm as though it were a bundle of washing, Ella protesting anxiously, and the pair of them said good-night to Sophie. Snow-Shoes went out before them; and Martha said she would walk down to the town with Bully and Ella. Bill Grant and Maggie said good-night.
"Sophie looks as if she'd sleep without rocking to-night," Maggie Grant said by way of indicating that everybody ought to go home soon and let Sophie get to bed early.
"I will," Sophie replied.
Pony-Fence and the Crosses were getting towards the door, Watty and George followed them.
"It's about time you was back, that's what I say, Sophie," George Woods said, gripping her hand as he passed. "There's been no luck on this field since you went away."
Sophie smiled into his kindly brown eyes.
"That's right," Watty backed up his mate heartily.
"But," Sophie said, "they tell me Potch has had all the luck."