Produced by Juliet Sutherland Charles Franksand the Online Distributed Proofreading TeamPEGGY STEWARTNAVY GIRLAT HOMEBYGABRIELLE E JACKSONAUTHOR OF SILVER HEELS THREE GRACESSERIES CAPT POLLY SERIES ETCWITH FRONTISPIECE BYNORMAN ROCKWELL1920THIS LITTLE STORY OF ANNAPOLIS ISMOST AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED TOHWHWHOSE SUNNY SOUL AND CHEERYVOICE HELPED TO MAKE MANY ANHOUR HAPPY FOR THE ONE HE CALLEDLITTLE MOTHERCONTENTSCHAPTER    I  SPRINGTIDE   II  THE EMPRESS  III  DADDY NEIL   IV  IN OCTOBERS DAYS    V  POLLY HOWLAND   VI  A FRIENDSHIP BEGINS  VII  PEGGY STEWART CHATELAINE VIII  A SHOCKING DEMONSTRATION OF INTEMPERANCE   IX  DUNMORES LAST CHRISTMAS    X  A DOMESTIC EPISODE   XI  PLAYING GOOD SAMARITAN  XII  THE SPICE OF PEPPER AND SALT XIII  THE MASQUERADERS SHOW  XIV  OFF FOR NEW LONDON   XV  REGATTA DAY  XVI  THE RACE XVII  SHADOWS CAST BEFOREXVIII  YOUVE SPOILED THEIR TEA PARTY  XIX  BACK AT SEVERNDALECHAPTER ISPRINGTIDEPeggy Maggie Mag Margaret Marguerite Muggins Hum Half a dozen ofthem Wonder if there are any more Yes theres Peggoty and Peg to saynothing of Margaretta Gretchen Meta Margarita Keta Madge Mygoodness Is there any end to my nicknames I mistrust Im a verycommonplace mortal I wonder if other girls names can be twisted aroundinto as many picture puzzles as mine can What do YOU think about itShashai Footnote Shashai Hebrew for noble pronounced Shashaaiand the girl reached up both arms to draw down into their embrace thesilky head of a superb young colt which stood close beside her acreature which would have made any horselover stop stockstill andexclaim at sight of him He was a magnificent twoyearold Kentuckianfaultless as to his points with a head to set an artist rhapsodizingand atingle to put it upon his canvas His coat mane and tail wereblack as midnight and glossy as satin The great lustrous eyes held aliving fire the delicate nostrils were aquiver every moment thefaultlessly curved ears alert as a wild creatures And he WAS halfwild for never had saddle rested upon his back girth encircled him orbit fretted the sensitive mouth A halter thus far in his career hadbeen his only badge of bondage and the girl caressing him had been theone to put it upon him It would have been a bad quarter of an hour forany other person attempting it But she was his familiar though farfrom being his evil genius On the contrary she was his presidingspirit of goodJust now as the splendid head nestled confidingly in her circling armsshe was whispering softly into one velvety ear oh so velvety as itrested against her ripe red lips so soft so perfect in their moldingThe ear moved slightly back and forth speaking its silent language Thenostrils emitted the faintest bubbling acknowledgment of the whisperedwords The beautiful eyes were so expressive in their intelligentcomprehensionToo many cooks spoil the broth Shashai Too many grooms can spoil acolt Too many mistresses turn a household topsyturvy How about toomany names old boy Can they spoil a girl But maybe Im spoiledalready How about it and a musical laugh floated out from between thepretty lipsThe colt raised his head whinnied aloud as though in denial and stampedone deerlike unshod forehoof as though to emphasize his protest thenhe again slid his head back into the arms as if their slender roundnessencompassed all his little worldYou old dear exclaimed the girl softly adding Eh but its abeautiful world A wonderful world and broke into the lilting refrainof Wonderful world and sang it through in a voice of singularlyhaunting sweetness But the words were not those of the popular songThey had been written and set to its air by Peggys tutorShe seemed to forget everything else though she continued tomechanically run light sensitive fingers down the velvety muzzle soclose to her face and semiconsciously reach forth the other hand tocaress the head of a superb wolfhound which upon the first sweet noteshad risen from where she lay not far off to listen thrusting aninsinuating nose under her arm She seemed to float away with her songoff off across the sloping greening fields to the broad blue reachesof Bound Bay all aglitter in the morning sunlightShe was seated in the crotch of a snakefence running parallel with theroad which ended in a curve toward the east and vanished in a thindrawnperspective toward the west There was no habitation or sign of humanbeing near The soft March wind with its thousand earthy odors andpromises of a Maryland springtide swept across the bay stirring herdark hair brushed up from her forehead in a natural wavy pompadourand secured by a barrette and a big bow of dark red ribbon the longbraid falling down her back tied by another bow of the same color Theforehead was broad and exceptionally intellectual The eyebrowsmatching the dark hair perfectly penciled The nose straight and cleancut as a Greek statues The chin resolute as a boys The teeth whiteand faultless And the eyes Well Peggy Stewarts eyes sometimes madepeople smile sometimes almost weep and invariably brought a puzzledfrown to their foreheads They were the oddest eyes ever seen Peggyherself often laughed and saidMy eyes seem to perplex people worse than the elephant perplexed thesix blind men of Hindustan who went to SEE him No two people everpronounce them the same color yet each individual is perfectly honestin his belief that they are black or dark brown or dark blue or deepgray or SEA green Maybe Nature designed me for a chameleon but changedher mind when she had completed my eyesPeggy Stewart would hardly have been called a beautiful girl gauged byconventional standards Her features were not regular enough forperfection the mouth perhaps a trifle too large but she was mightilypleasin fer to study bout old Mammy insisted when the other servantswere talking about her babyOh yes conceded Martha Harrison the only white woman besides Peggyherself upon the plantation Oh yes