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diff --git a/30993.txt b/30993.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..121366a --- /dev/null +++ b/30993.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5164 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Spectacle Man, by Mary F. Leonard + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Spectacle Man + A Story of the Missing Bridge + +Author: Mary F. Leonard + +Release Date: January 16, 2010 [EBook #30993] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SPECTACLE MAN *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire + + + + + + + + +THE SPECTACLE MAN + + + Out of a song the story grew; + Just how it happened nobody knew, + But, song and story, it all came true. + + + + +BOOKS BY MARY F. LEONARD. + + * * * * * + +=THE SPECTACLE MAN=. A STORY OF THE MISSING BRIDGE. 266 pages. Cloth. +$1.00. + +=MR. PAT'S LITTLE GIRL=. A STORY OF THE ARDEN FORESTERS. 322 pages. +Cloth. $1.50. + +=THE PLEASANT STREET PARTNERSHIP=. A NEIGHBORHOOD STORY. 269 pages. +Cloth. $.75, _net_. + + + + +[Illustration: "The Spectacle Man, leaning his elbows on the +show-case"] + + + + +The Spectacle Man + +_A Story of the Missing Bridge_ + + * * * * * + +By +Mary F. Leonard + +AUTHOR OF +"THE BIG FRONT DOOR" + + +_Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill_ + + +W. A. WILDE COMPANY +BOSTON AND CHICAGO + + +_Copyright, 1901,_ +BY W. A. WILDE COMPANY. +_All rights reserved_. + + + + +_TO THE ONE +Whose Love has been from Childhood +An Unfailing Inspiration +Whose Friendship has made Dark Paths Light +This Little Book is Dedicated +In Memory of "Remembered Hours"_ + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER FIRST. Page + + Frances meets the Spectacle Man 11 + + CHAPTER SECOND. + + A Certain Person 22 + + CHAPTER THIRD. + + Gladys 32 + + CHAPTER FOURTH. + + They look at a Flat 40 + + CHAPTER FIFTH. + + Some New Acquaintances 50 + + CHAPTER SIXTH. + + An Informal Affair 61 + + CHAPTER SEVENTH. + + A Portrait 77 + + CHAPTER EIGHTH. + + The Story of the Bridge 86 + + CHAPTER NINTH. + + Finding a Moral 106 + + CHAPTER TENTH. + + The Portrait Again 118 + + CHAPTER ELEVENTH. + + Mrs. Marvin is perplexed 128 + + CHAPTER TWELFTH. + + At Christmas Time 134 + + CHAPTER THIRTEENTH. + + One Sunday Afternoon 151 + + CHAPTER FOURTEENTH. + + Three of a Name 164 + + CHAPTER FIFTEENTH. + + A Confidence 177 + + CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. + + Hard Times 186 + + CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH. + + At the Loan Exhibit 198 + + CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. + + The March Number of _The Young People's Journal_ 207 + + CHAPTER NINETEENTH. + + Surprises 215 + + CHAPTER TWENTIETH. + + Caroline's Story 231 + + CHAPTER TWENTY-FIRST. + + Overheard by Peterkin 240 + + CHAPTER TWENTY-SECOND. + + The Little Girl in the Golden Doorway 249 + + CHAPTER TWENTY-THIRD. + + "The Ducks and the Geese they All swim over" 257 + + + + +Illustrations. + + + Page + + "The Spectacle Man, leaning his elbows on the + show-case" _Frontispiece_ 11 + + "'What is your name, baby?'" 54 + + "'Little girl, I wish I knew you'" 120 + + "She pointed out a picture, set in diamonds" 200 + + + + +The Spectacle Man. + + * * * * * + +CHAPTER FIRST. + +FRANCES MEETS THE SPECTACLE MAN. + + "The bridge is broke, and I have to mend it, + Fol de rol de ri do, fol de rol de ri do--" + + +sang the Spectacle Man, leaning his elbows on the show-case, with his +hands outspread, and the glasses between a thumb and finger, as he +nodded merrily at Frances. + +Such an odd-looking person as he was! Instead of an ordinary coat he +wore a velvet smoking-jacket; the top of his bald head was protected by +a Scotch cap, and his fringe of hair, white like his pointed beard, was +parted behind and brushed into a tuft over each ear, the ribbon ends of +his cap hanging down between in the jauntiest way. It was really +difficult to decide whether the back or front view of him was most +cheerful. + +"Will it take long?" Frances asked, with dignity, although a certain +dimple refused to be repressed. + +"Well, at least half an hour, if I am not interrupted; but as my clerk +is out, I may have to stop to wait on a customer. Perhaps if you have +other shopping to do you might call for them on your way home." If there +was a twinkle in the eye of the Spectacle Man, nobody saw it except the +gray cat who sat near by on the directory. + +"Thank you, I think I'd better wait," replied Frances, politely, much +pleased to have it supposed she was out shopping. + +At this the optician hastened to give her a chair at the window, +motioning her to it with a wave of the hand and a funny little bow; then +he trotted into the next room and returned with a _St. Nicholas_, which +he presented with another bow, and retired to his table in the corner. +As he set to work he hummed his tune, glancing now and then over his +shoulder in the direction of his small customer. + +Perched on the high-backed chair, in her scarlet coat and cap, her hands +clasped over the book, her bright eyes fixed on the busy street, it was +as if a stray red bird had fluttered in, bringing a touch of color to +the gray-tinted room. From her waving brown locks to the tips of her +toes she was a dainty little maid, and carried herself with the air of a +person of some importance. + +If the Spectacle Man was interested in Frances, she was no less +interested in him; neither the street nor the magazine attracted her +half so much as the queer shop and its proprietor. It had once been the +front parlor of the old dwelling which, with its veranda and grass-plat, +still held its own in the midst of the tall business houses that closed +it in on either side. Here were the show-cases, queer instruments, and +cabalistic looking charts for trying the sight; over the high mantel +hung a large clock, and in the grate below a coal fire nickered and +purred in a lazy fashion; and through the half-open folding doors +Francis had a glimpse into what seemed to be a study or library. + +At least a dozen questions were on the tip of her tongue, but didn't get +any further. For instance, she longed to ask if those cunning little +spectacles on the doll's head in the case near her, were for sale, and +if the Spectacle Man had any children who read the _St. Nicholas_ and +what the gray cat's name was, for that he had a name she didn't doubt, +he was so evidently an important part of the establishment. + +He had descended from the directory, which was rather circumscribed for +one of his size, and curled himself comfortably on the counter; but +instead of going to sleep he gently fanned his nose with the tip of his +tail, and kept his yellow eyes fixed on Frances as if he too felt some +curiosity about her. She was thinking how much she would like to have +him in her lap when the Spectacle Man looked around and said, "The next +time your grandmother breaks these frames she will have to have some new +ones." + +"They aren't my grandmother's, they are Mrs. Gray's. I haven't any +grandmother," she answered. + +"You haven't? Why, that's a coincidence; neither have I!" + +Frances laughed but didn't think of anything else to say, so the +conversation dropped, and the optician fell to humming:-- + + "The bridge is broke." + +They might never have become really acquainted if, just as he was giving +a final polish to the glasses, it had not begun to rain. + +"What shall I do?" Frances exclaimed, rising hurriedly. "I haven't any +umbrella." + +The Spectacle Man walked to the window, the glasses in one hand, a piece +of chamois in the other. "It may be only a shower," he said, peering +out; "but it is time for the equinoctial." Then, seeing the little girl +was worried, he asked how far she had to go. + +"Only two blocks; we are staying at the Wentworth, but mother and father +were out when I left and won't know where I am." + +"Well, now, don't you worry; Dick will be in presently and I'll send him +right over to the hotel to let them know where you are, and get a +waterproof for you." + +This made Frances feel more comfortable; and when, after putting the +glasses in their case and giving her the change from Mrs. Gray's dollar, +he lit the gas in the back parlor and invited her in, she almost forgot +the storm. + +The room was quite different from any she had ever been in, and she at +once decided she liked it. Around the walls were low cases, some filled +with books and papers, others with china and pottery; from the top of an +ancient looking chest in one corner a large stuffed owl gazed solemnly +at her; the mantel-shelf was full of books, and above it hung a portrait +of Washington. There were some plaster casts and a few engravings, and +beside the study table in the middle of the room was an arm-chair which, +judging from its worn cover, was a favorite resting-place of the +Spectacle Man. + +"I have a little writing to do before Dick comes in; can't I give you a +book while I am busy? I have a number of story-books," her host asked. + +Frances thanked him, but thought she'd rather look about. "You seem to +have so many interesting things," she said. + +While she walked slowly around the room the optician sat down at the +table and wrote rapidly. "How does this sound," he presently asked. + +"'WANTED: Occupants for a small, partially furnished flat. All +conveniences; rent reasonable. Apply 432 Walnut Street.' You don't +happen to know any one who wants a flat, I suppose?" + +Frances said she did not. + +"The lady who had my second story rooms was called away by her mother's +death, and now she is not coming back. With Mark away at school it is +really very important to have them rented." The Spectacle Man tapped the +end of his nose with his pen and began to hum absent-mindedly:-- + + "The bridge is broke and I have to mend it." + +At this moment a boy with a dripping umbrella appeared at the door. He +proved to be Dick, and was at once despatched to the Wentworth with +instructions to ask for Mr. John Morrison, and let him know his daughter +was safe and only waiting till the storm was over; and on his way back +to stop at the newspaper office and leave the advertisement. + +"Dear me!" said Frances, after he had gone, "we might have sent Mrs. +Gray's glasses; I am afraid she will be tired waiting for them. She +can't see to do anything without them, and she is lame too." + +"Well, she is fortunate in having a friend to get them mended for her. +And now I wonder if you wouldn't like to see old Toby," said the +optician, taking down a funny looking jug in the shape of a very fat old +gentleman. "When my grandfather died he left me this jug and the song +about the bridge. Did you ever hear it before?" + +Frances said she never had. + +"Grandfather used to sing it to me when I was a little boy, and I find +it still a very good song. When I get into a tight place and can't see +how I am to get through, why--" here he waved his hands and nodded his +head-- + + "'The bridge is broke, and I have to mend it,' + +"and I go to work and try. Sometimes it is for other people, sometimes +for myself. Bridges are always getting broken,--'tisn't only +spectacles." + +Frances smiled, for though she did not quite understand, it sounded +interesting; but before she had time to ask any questions a tall young +man entered. "Why, Wink! what in the world are you doing here?" he +exclaimed. + +"Oh, daddy dear, I hope you haven't worried!" she cried, running to him; +"Mrs. Gray broke her glasses and couldn't read or sew, and I thought I +ought to have them mended for her,--it wasn't far you know--and then it +began to rain so I couldn't get back." + +"And this is Mr. Clark, I suppose," said Mr. Morrison; "let me thank you +for taking care of my little daughter. And now, Wink, put on this coat +and your rubbers, and let us hurry before mother quite loses her mind." + +When she was enveloped in the waterproof, Frances held out her hand. + +"Thank you, Mr. Clark," she said; "I hope you will find some nice person +to rent your flat. Good-by." + +The Spectacle Man stood in his door and watched the two figures till +they disappeared in the misty twilight, then he returned to the shop. +"Peterkin," he said, addressing the cat, "I like that little girl, and I +suppose I'll never see her again." + +Peterkin uncurled himself, stood up on the counter, arched his back, and +yawned three times. + + + + +CHAPTER SECOND. + +A CERTAIN PERSON. + + +A day or two after her visit to the optician's, Frances lay curled up on +the broad window-sill, a thoughtful little pucker between her eyes. +About fifteen minutes earlier she had entered the room where her father +and mother were talking, just as the former said, "As a certain person +is abroad I see no objection to your spending the winter here if you +wish." + +Before she could ask a single question a caller was announced, and she +had taken refuge behind the curtains. + +It was quite by accident that they happened to be staying for a few +weeks in this pleasant town where the Spectacle Man lived. They were +returning from North Carolina, where they had spent the summer, when a +slight illness of Mrs. Morrison's made it seem wise to stop for a while +on the way; and before she was quite well, Mr. Morrison was summoned to +New York on business, so his wife and daughter stayed where they were, +waiting for him, and enjoying the lovely fall weather. + +They liked it so well they were beginning to think with regret of the +time when they must leave, for though really a city in size, the place +had many of the attractions of a village. The gardens around the houses, +the flowers and vines, the wide shady streets, combined to make an +atmosphere of homelikeness; but to Frances' mind its greatest charm lay +in the fact that once, long ago, her father had lived here. At least she +felt sure it must have been long ago, for it was in that strange time +before there was any Frances Morrison. + +She had never heard as much as she wanted to hear about these years, +although she had heard a good deal. There were some things her father +evidently did not care to talk about, and one of these was a mysterious +individual known as a Certain Person. The first time she had heard this +Certain Person mentioned she had questioned her mother, who had replied, +"It is some one who was once a friend of father's, but is not now. I +think he does not care to mention the name, dear." + +After this Frances asked no more questions, but she thought a great +deal, and her imagination began to picture a tall, fierce looking man +who lurked in dark corners ready to spring out at her. Sometimes when +she was on the street at night she would see him skulking along in the +shadows, and would clasp her father's hand more closely. Altogether this +person had grown and flourished in her mind in a wonderful way. + +And, she couldn't tell how, a Certain Person was connected in her +thoughts with "The Girl in the Golden Doorway." This was a story in her +very own story-book, a collection of tales known only to her father and +herself, which had all been told in the firelight on winter evenings and +afterward written out in Mr. Morrison's clear hand in a book bought for +the purpose, so that not even a printer knew anything about them. + +This particular story, which she had heard many times, was of a boy who +lived in a great old-fashioned house in the country, where there were +beautiful things all about, both indoors and out. The only other child +in the house was a little girl who looked down from a heavy gilt frame +above the library mantel. The boy, who was just six years old, used to +lie on the hearth rug, gazing up at her, and sometimes she would smile +and beckon to him as if she wanted to be friends. + +This happened only at nightfall when the shadows lay dark in the corners +of the room and the fire blazed brightly; at such times things that had +before been a puzzle to him became quite clear. For instance, he +discovered one evening that what looked like the frame of a picture was +really a doorway belonging to the house where the little girl lived, and +it was plain that if he could only get up there he could find out all +about her. Once there, he felt sure she would take him by the hand and +together they would go away--away--somewhere! But the mantel was very +high, and polished like glass. + +One afternoon when he had come in from a long drive, and feeling tired +was lying very still in his usual place, looking up at the little girl +and the long passage that seemed to stretch away behind her, a strange +thing happened. So unexpectedly it sent his heart into his mouth, the +girl stepped out of the doorway; and then, wonder of wonders! he saw a +stairway at one side of the chimney-piece where he had never noticed one +before. + +Daintily holding up her silken skirt, the little maid descended and +stood beside him. Astonished and bewildered, he put out his hand to +touch her, but with a laugh she flitted across the room. + +Seized with the fear that she would escape him altogether, the boy +started in pursuit. In and out among the massive chairs and tables they +ran, the girl always just out of reach, the boy breathless with anxiety. +His heart quite failed him when she darted toward the mantel. Then he +remembered he could follow; and indeed she seemed to expect it, for she +stood still at the top of what had grown to be a very long flight of +steps, and beckoned. He hurried on, but the steps were very steep and +slippery, and try as he would he could not reach the top. + +Suddenly some one opened the library door, there was a crash and a +clatter, the girl disappeared, and the boy heard his mother's voice +asking, "Jack, what in the world are you doing?" + +"I fell down the steps," he replied, picking himself up from among the +fire irons that had tumbled in a heap on the hearth. + +"What steps?" asked his mother. + +He rubbed his eyes: they were not to be seen, and the little girl--yes, +there she was, looking out of the golden doorway, and he was sure she +shook her finger and laughed. He gave up trying to explain--grown people +are hopelessly stupid at times--but he always felt certain that if the +library door had not opened just when it did, he could have caught the +little girl. + +"Wasn't it a pity!" Frances always exclaimed at this point. + +"Yes," her father would reply, "the little boy lost the chance of a +lifetime, for there is no knowing what he might not have discovered in +the house of the golden doorway." + +"And she never came down again?" + +"No, for the boy went away to live not long after this, and everything +was changed." + +"And is the little girl still over the library mantel?" + +"No, Wink, she was taken away long ago." + +When the caller left, Frances came out of her hiding-place behind the +curtains. "Are we going to stay here all winter?" she asked. + +Mrs. Morrison drew her daughter down beside her on the couch where she +sat. It was hard to believe such a small person the mother of this great +girl. "You shall hear all about it, dearie, and then help us to decide," +she said. "Father has had an offer from the _Eastern Review_. They want +him to go to Hawaii, and besides paying him well it will be an +advantage to him in other ways." + +"But can't we go with you, father?" + +"No, Wink, I am afraid not, for several reasons." + +"Of course it will be hard for us all, but if it seems to be the best +thing I am sure you and I will be brave and let him go;" Mrs. Morrison's +voice trembled a little, and for a moment she hid her face on Frances' +shoulder. + +"Will you be gone very long?" asked the little girl. + +"Several months, if I go. The matter is not decided by any means. I do +not see how I can leave you," answered Mr. Morrison. + +"You must go, Jack; it will be the very thing for you. It isn't only the +money, dear, or even the opportunity for getting on in your work, but +you need a change, for you haven't been yourself lately. Frances and I +will stay here and be very comfortable, and when you come home we'll +have a jubilee." + +"And not go back to Chicago?" Frances asked. + +"The winters there are too cold for you. No, I think we'd better stay +here, but not in this house," said her mother. + +"It will be difficult to find the kind of place I shall be willing to +leave you in," replied Mr. Morrison. "What is it you are always singing, +Frances?" he added, for as she turned the leaves of a magazine she was +humming softly to herself. + +"I don't know," she answered laughing, then--"Why, yes, I do--it is the +song of the Spectacle Man, + + "'The bridge is broke, and I have to mend it,' + +"that is all I know of it. He was telling me about it when you came for +me. I wish I could go to see him again." + + + + +CHAPTER THIRD. + +GLADYS. + + +While they were still talking matters over, Gladys Bowen, a little girl +who lived in the house, came to ask if Frances might play with her; and +Frances, who had not had a playmate of her own age for some time, was +very ready to go. They had once or twice spoken rather shyly to each +other, and she thought Gladys's golden curls perfectly beautiful. + +"Would you like to come upstairs and see my dolls, or shall we go down +to the reception room?" Gladys asked, adding, "My Uncle Jo owns this +house, and he lets me go where I please." + +"I'd like to see the dolls," Frances said, much impressed by the uncle +who owned a hotel. + +Her companion led the way to a room where a lady in an elaborate +house-gown sat in an arm-chair reading. "Mamma, I have brought Frances +to see my dolls," she announced. + +"How do you do, Frances.-- Very well, Gladys, but I don't want you to +worry me. You must play in the other room." Mrs. Bowen spoke in a +languid tone, and returned to her book, but she looked up again to say, +"That is a pretty dress you have on, Frances." + +The child looked down at the red challis she wore, not knowing what +reply to make. + +"But you are stylish, as Gladys is, I am thankful to say," the lady +continued. "You look well together, you are dark and she so fair." + +"Come on," Gladys called impatiently from the door, and Frances +followed, feeling that she ought to have said something to Mrs. Bowen. + +"I'll show you Marguerite first; she's my handsomest doll. Uncle Jo gave +her to me, and she cost twenty-five dollars." + +Frances caught her breath at the idea of such a doll, but was a little +disappointed when her hostess took from a drawer a fine lady, whose hair +was done up in a French twist, and whose silk gown was made with a +train. She was certainly very elegant, however, and her muff and collar +were _sure enough_ sealskin, as Gladys explained. + +"She is beautiful, but I believe I like little girl dolls best," Frances +said. + +Gladys brought out others of all varieties and sizes, and while her +visitor examined them, she herself talked on without a pause. + +"Where did you get your name?" she asked. + +Frances, who was adjusting a baby's cap, replied that she was named for +her great-grandmother. + +"Are you? How funny! Mamma named me for a lady in a book--Gladys +Isabel. She doesn't like common names." + +Frances wondered if Gladys thought her name common, and for a moment she +wished she had been called something more romantic. + +"There is a girl who lives here in the winter," continued the +chatterbox, "whose name is Mathilde. Isn't that funny? It's French--and +she has the loveliest clothes! I wish you could see her--she hasn't come +yet. And just think! she has diamond earrings. Have you any diamonds?" + +Frances shook her head, feeling very insignificant beside a girl with a +French name and diamond earrings. + +"I have a diamond ring, but mamma won't let me wear it all the time for +fear I'll lose it," said Gladys. "Haven't you any rings?" and she +glanced at the plump little hands of her guest. + +"I have one, but it is too small for me now. I don't care very much for +rings," was the reply. + +"Don't you? I do. Mamma has ever so many. If you won't tell I'll tell +you something," Gladys went on; "Uncle Jo is going to give me a party at +Christmas, and if you are here I'll invite you. It is to be just like a +grown-up party." + +"Do you go to school?" Frances asked. + +"Everyday school? Yes; but I don't like it. I haven't started yet." + +"I think I'll have to go now," said Frances, rising; "I hope you will +come to see me, Gladys. I have only one doll with me, but I have some +games and books." + +"I don't care for books, but I'll come; and if Mathilde is here maybe +I'll bring her." + +Frances went downstairs with a sober face. She had intended to tell +Gladys the story of The Golden Doorway, and about the Spectacle Man, but +she had not had a chance, and now she felt that these things would +probably seem tame and uninteresting to a young person of such varied +experience. + +"Has my little girl had a good time?" Mrs. Morrison asked. + +"Y-es, mother, Gladys has some of the prettiest dolls you ever saw, but +they are too dressed up to have much fun with, and she didn't seem to +want to play." + +"Perhaps she doesn't know how to have a really good time, Wink; some +persons don't." + +"I know one thing; she hasn't a darling mother like you!" and Frances +emphasized her words with an ardent hug. + +"Very few have, Wink," remarked her father, coming in with his hands +full of papers. + +"Thank you both for your kind appreciation," said Mrs. Morrison, +laughing. "What do you expect to find in those papers, Jack?" + +"I am going to look up advertisements." + +"What for, daddy?" Frances asked, dancing about on tiptoe. + +"A place for you and mother while I run off and leave you. Listen to +this: 'Wanted: Occupants for a small, partially furnished flat. All +conveniences, terms reasonable. Apply at 432 Walnut Street.'" + +"The Spectacle Man's! the Spectacle Man's!" cried Frances, clapping her +hands. "Let's go there, it's lovely!" + +"How do you know?" asked her father and mother in the same breath, and +then she explained how he had written the advertisement while she was +waiting for the storm to be over. + +"Partially furnished--it might do. I mean, of course, if it is nice," +said Mrs. Morrison. + +"It is too far down town," objected her husband. + +"Oh, father, no, it isn't! It is just a beautiful place, and the +Spectacle Man will show me his Toby jugs and things, and there's the +cat,--please let's go!" + +"Of course if there is a Toby jug and a cat, there's nothing else to be +desired," said Mr. Morrison, gravely, pinching the cheek of his +enthusiastic daughter. However, he promised that bright and early next +day they would go to look at this flat. + + + + +CHAPTER FOURTH + +THEY LOOK AT A FLAT. + + +The house occupied by Mr. Clark the optician was old-fashioned and +roomy; built in the days when ground was cheap and space need not be +economized. It belonged to his nephew, whose guardian he was, and some +day, when the hard times were over, it was likely to be a valuable piece +of property. At present it could be rented for little or nothing as a +residence, and for this reason he had decided to live in it himself, +taking the first floor and turning the second and third into flats. + +The dignified old mansion had the air of having stepped back in disdain +from the hurry and bustle of the street, preserving in its seclusion +between the tall buildings on either side something of the leisurely +atmosphere of other days. + +The optician himself was quite in keeping with the house. He loved old +things and old ways; his business methods were those of thirty years +ago, and so perhaps were most of his patrons. There were still many +persons who could remember the time when he had been joint proprietor of +the largest jewellery store in the city, but times had changed. In some +way he had been crowded out and half forgotten, much as the old house +had been. + +He kept the place in the best of order; the bit of lawn that lay between +the house and the street was as thrifty and green as care could make it, +and was a pleasant surprise when one came upon it unexpectedly, an oasis +in the desert of brick pavement. + +Frances' bright eyes had noticed, in passing, the mammoth pair of +spectacles swinging above the veranda, and so when she found Mrs. Gray, +an old lady who had a room near theirs in the hotel, lamenting over her +broken glasses, she had known where to take them. + +The clock struck eleven as the Morrisons entered the shop next morning. +The sun shone cheerily in on the Spectacle Man, who was waiting upon a +customer; and Peterkin, who had selected the brightest spot to be found, +was making his toilet in an absorbed manner. + +Mr. Clark bowed and smiled and asked them to be seated for a few +minutes; but Frances, all impatience, could not think of keeping still, +and, seeing the cat, was presently down on the floor beside him. + +"Do you know, puss," she whispered, stroking him gently, "that maybe we +are coming here to live?" + +The news evidently tickled him, so much so that he sneezed and shook +his head vigorously; then, as if fearing to be misunderstood, he began +to purr softly. + +"Come, Frances, Mr. Clark is ready to show us the rooms," her father +called; and it is to be hoped Peterkin was not hurt by the sudden manner +in which he was dropped. + +"This is a nice old place, Jack," whispered Mrs. Morrison as they +followed Frances and the Spectacle Man up the stairs. The former was +explaining with great animation how they had seen the advertisement in +the paper and she had recognized it. "You see, father is going away and +can't take us, and mother and I think we'd like to come here, perhaps," +she said. + +"Well, I had a presentiment I was going to find a good tenant, but I did +not think it would be you," was his reply. + +The rooms proved to be large and light; the paper and paint were fresh +and clean, and what furniture there was was simple and new. + +"I believe it is the very place for us," Mrs. Morrison said, her +housewifely eyes taking in all the possibilities of cosey comfort. "It +will be a new and charming experience; and as for the Spectacle Man, he +is simply delightful!" + +After showing them through, Mr. Clark had left them, and they could hear +him singing as he went, + + "The bridge is broke, and I have to mend it." + +"Yes, this will be a nice sitting room, with its windows where,--to +quote Frances--'The little sun comes peeping in at morn!'" said Mr. +Morrison. + +"And this bedchamber is lovely, and the little kitchen--" + +"We can make candy sometimes, can't we, mother?" Frances interrupted, +dancing wildly about. + +"O Jack! if only you were going to be here;" Mrs. Morrison turned +suddenly to the sunny window. + +"You know I'll not go one step unless you are willing, Kate," her +husband said, coming to her side. + +"Don't be a goose, dear, of course you are going." Her face was hidden +against his shoulder for a moment, then she turned brightly to Frances, +who was anxiously inquiring where she was to sleep. + +"And mother," she exclaimed, "such a pretty young lady passed through +the hall just now." + +"That is something we must ask about,--what other persons are in the +house," said her father. + +Frances was not a little surprised and indignant when, after carrying on +what seemed to her a long conversation with Mr. Clark upon various +unimportant subjects, her father left with nothing more definite than +that they were pleased with the rooms and would let him know their +decision next day. + +"Aren't we going to take them? I thought it was all settled; I don't +understand," she said when they were on the street. + +"Now, Wink, let me ask you something. Don't you honestly think that two +persons who have lived more than thirty years ought to have a little +better judgment about some things than one who has lived only ten?" + +"But I'll be eleven in February, and--well, father, I suppose so, but +grown people do take so long to think!" + +"It is an interesting old house, and do you know, I think that is a +Gilbert Stuart over the mantel in the back room," remarked Mr. Morrison. + +"Why, father, it is a George Washington! I'm sure it is," cried Frances, +and couldn't understand why they laughed, till her mother explained that +they were probably both right, as Gilbert Stuart had painted a number +of portraits of Washington. + +It spoke well for the Spectacle Man's flat that they looked no farther +that day, but there were many things to be taken into consideration that +Frances did not dream of. After she was snugly tucked in bed that night, +her father and mother sat long talking over their plans. + +"I do not like the idea of leaving you here without looking up any of my +old friends," said Mr. Morrison. + +"But that is just what we want to avoid. I don't care to meet your +friends till you are with me. We shall be perfectly comfortable, and +shall enjoy the experience, and Mr. Clark, I know, will be kindness +itself," replied his wife. + +"You are as infatuated as Frances; you are just two little girls with a +new playhouse. But if anything should happen--I don't know what--it +might be awkward." + +"I suppose I know what you mean, Jack; but we could not be suspected of +any motive in coming here, a certain person being abroad, and nothing is +going to happen. Who is likely to find us out? Morrison is a +sufficiently common name, and the Spectacle Man's apartment house is, to +say the least, not conspicuous. You forget we are not so important to +other people as we are to you. The months will soon pass, and we shall +be together again in some delightful place, and you will write your +novel and become famous, and then--" + +Her husband lifted to his lips the hand he held, just as he used to do +when he was her gallant young lover, a dozen years ago. "For your sake I +wish I might. If only I had half your cheerful courage," he said, +adding, "I hope Frances will grow up to be exactly like you." + +"She is exactly like you, Jack, I am happy to say." + +As they sat in silence the song of the Spectacle Man kept repeating +itself in Mrs. Morrison's mind, and it suggested to her the broken +bridge which separated Jack from so much that might have been his. Would +it ever be mended? + + + + +CHAPTER FIFTH. + +SOME NEW ACQUAINTANCES. + + +"I am as sorry as I can be that you are going away, I shall miss you so +much;" said Mrs. Gray to Frances and her mother when they came in to +tell her about their plans for the winter. + +Their rooms were across the hall from hers, and the acquaintance had +begun in the elevator, where they often met on the way to the dining +room. The old lady was somewhat crippled with rheumatism and moved about +with difficulty, so her life was rather a lonely one; and it had given +her a great deal of pleasure to have Mrs. Morrison and her little girl +drop in every now and then to chat with her and bring her books and +papers. Then she could never sufficiently express her gratitude to +Frances for taking her glasses to be mended. + +"If I hadn't, I might never have known the Spectacle Man, and we +shouldn't have found our flat, so I am much obliged to _you_," Frances +said, laughing, when Mrs. Gray went over it all for the tenth time, more +or less. + +"Then perhaps you would have stayed here for the winter. I am sorry I +let you go," was her answer. + +"We'll often run in to see you, Mrs. Gray, and sometime you may be able +to come to see us," said Mrs. Morrison; adding, "we haven't many +friends, you know." + +Mrs. Gray shook her head. "I can't get out any more; but as for friends, +you'll find them wherever you go." + +Gladys did not approve of the move, and frankly expressed her opinion. +"It is such a funny old house, in between the stores. I shouldn't think +you would want to live there," she said. + +"But you don't know how nice it is inside," Frances urged. "It is going +to be such fun; and Mr. Clark has some lovely things and the dearest +cat!" + +"It seems to me you like very funny things," Gladys remarked. She +announced, however, that she intended to call. + +What with getting the traveller ready to start and moving into their new +quarters, those were busy days. They were all three very cheerful +indeed, making a great many jokes and talking about next summer, when +they should be together again, saying nothing of the long winter that +stretched between. + +It was a mistake to think of Hawaii as so far away. Had it not been +annexed? Two thousand miles from California was simply no distance at +all in these days. When it came to saying good-by it was hard indeed to +remember all this, but it was gone through with somehow, and one bright +October day Frances and her mother found themselves alone in their new +sitting room. + +"Oh, mother, I wish you wouldn't cry!" sobbed Frances. + +"But you are crying yourself," said Mrs. Morrison, half laughing. At +this tearful moment there came a knock at the door, and a long heavy +package was handed in. + +"There must be some mistake," Mrs. Morrison said, drying her eyes and +reading the address, which was, however, unmistakable. + +They made haste to cut the twine, and behold, a beautiful rug! "Isn't +this like that dear, extravagant Jack?" she cried. "Isn't it pretty, +Wink? He thought we'd need cheering up!" + +Chairs and tables must be pushed aside at once and the rug put in place. +Frances had just sat down in the middle of it with great satisfaction, +when through the half-open door walked the fattest, rosiest baby +imaginable, wearing a very clean blue check apron and an affable smile. + +"Why, where did you come from?" they both exclaimed. + +This was evidently something he did not care to reveal, for, although he +continued to smile and gaze about him with interest, he made no reply. + +[Illustration: "'What is your name, baby?'"] + +"What is your name, baby?" Frances asked, holding out her hands. +"Dennyleebon,"--or so it sounded. + +"Do you suppose that is intended for English?" said Mrs. Morrison. + +"I don't know. Make him say something else. Baby, can you talk?" + +"Tock," repeated the infant, pointing to the mantel. + +"Yes," cried Frances, delighted, "it is a clock. You see, mother, he +thought I said clock. That is English." + +"You don't mean it! But let him alone, Wink, and see what he will do." + +The visitor showed plainly that he had a mind of his own. He did not +wish to be petted and kissed, but preferred to walk around the room on a +tour of investigation. Presently he paused before a table and remarked +earnestly, "Book." + +"Can't you find a picture-book for him?" asked Mrs. Morrison. + +There happened to be an old animal book in the box they were unpacking, +and, getting it out, Frances and the baby sat together on the new rug +and turned the leaves, the latter never failing to say, "ion," "effunt," +"tiger," as the case might be, with unvarying correctness and great +enthusiasm. + +In the midst of this there came a modest little tap at the door, and +when Mrs. Morrison opened it, there stood a girl of about Frances' age. +Her red calico dress was very fresh, her cheeks as rosy as the +infant's, and her flaxen hair was drawn tightly back and braided in a +long tail. + +"Is the baby here?" she asked. + +"No, no," came in decided tones from the visitor. + +This made them all laugh, even the baby himself seeming to think it a +good joke. + +"Can't he stay for a while? He is good, and we like to have him," said +Mrs. Morrison. + +The girl hesitated; plainly the baby had no thought of leaving. "The +lady who used to have these rooms made a pet of him, and he is always +running off up here," she explained. + +"I am glad he came, for my daughter and I were feeling lonely. Won't you +come in and sit down? Do you live in the house?" + +The newcomer accepted Mrs. Morrison's invitation rather shyly, looking +as if she had a mind to carry the baby off by main force. Her name, she +said, was Emma Bond, and she and her two-year-old brother lived in the +back part of the house with their mother, who took care of Mr. Clark's +rooms. The baby's name was Robert Lee, but he was commonly known as the +General, a nickname given him by the Spectacle Man, and evidently well +bestowed. + +After the picture-book had been examined from beginning to end twice +over, the General was, with the aid of some candy and much diplomacy, +induced to accompany his sister downstairs, calling "By-by," and kissing +his hand with great affability to Frances. + +"Aren't they the cleanest looking children you ever saw?" said the +latter, coming back from the hall, where she had gone with their +guests. + +"Aren't they! I think I shall like Emma, she is a nice, sensible, +old-fashioned little girl, and the General is great fun. I hope they +will come again," replied Mrs. Morrison. + +In the course of the next few days they began to feel at home in their +new quarters, and they also made the acquaintance of Mrs. Bond, a small +woman with a pleasant but firm face, and such an air of energy that no +lazy person could exist comfortably in her presence. + +She was never known to waste any time. With the assistance of a colored +boy,--a theological student,--who came in twice a day and in the time he +could spare from his Latin and Greek cleaned for her, she kept Mr. +Clark's rooms and the halls in beautiful order. Her children were always +as neat as wax, and her busy fingers found time for a little fine sewing +occasionally, which, as a girl, she had learned in the convent school +where she was educated. + +Mrs. Bond was trying to train her daughter in the same industrious ways, +and one Saturday morning Frances discovered Emma dusting the show-cases +in the shop. Stopping to speak to her, she learned that this was her +daily task, and that on Saturdays she dusted the study also. It must be +very interesting work, Frances thought, and the two children found so +much to talk about that Mrs. Bond presently came in search of Emma and +reproved her for idling. She did not positively object to play after +lessons were learned and other duties attended to, but she conveyed the +impression to Frances that in her opinion a really exemplary little girl +would care more for her tasks than for amusement. + +"I am so sorry, but I have to go," Emma whispered, as her mother left +the room. + +"Won't your mother let you come to see me some time?" Frances asked. + +"I guess so, when I haven't anything to do," answered Emma, who thought +Frances the most charming little girl she had ever seen. + + + + +CHAPTER SIXTH. + +AN INFORMAL AFFAIR. + + +It was not long before the Morrisons' apartment blossomed into a +charmingly homelike place. Even Mrs. Bond, who on one of her tours of +inspection in the wake of Wilson Barnes, the student, had been enticed +in for a moment, agreed that the rooms were very fine, though she +herself would not care to have so many things to keep clean. + +Their sitting room was the greatest achievement. There was the new rug, +which really was a beauty, and the couch, with its plump cushions all +covered in a marvellous fifteen-cent stuff that looked like a costly +Oriental fabric, together with the books and pictures, which had been +left packed and ready to be sent to them whenever they should settle +down, and last of all, in the sunniest corner was a beautiful sword +fern, a rubber plant, and a jar of ivy. + +"Transients can't afford many plants, but a little greenness is +essential to happiness," Mrs. Morrison declared. + +The cosey kitchen was presided over by Zenobia Jackson, who exactly +suited her surroundings, being small and neat and quick, combining in a +most satisfactory way the duties of a parlor maid and cook. + +She was a friend of Wilson's, to whom Mrs. Morrison had applied. When +asked if he knew any one she could get to do the work of their small +flat, he replied, "Yes, ma'm; I know a young girl who would suit you, +but she is going to school at present." + +"If that is the case, she wouldn't suit at all," said Mrs. Morrison. + +"Well, she's thinking of leaving school. Her ma she's sick, and her +pa's out of work, and their insurance is getting in the rear, so Zenobia +'lows she'll have to get a place." + +"Can she cook?" asked Mrs. Morrison. + +"Yes, ma'm; her ma's one of the best cooks in town." + +"Her mother has taught her, then, I suppose." + +"No, ma'm; the best ones ain't taught. It comes by nature, and Zenobia +is a naturalist." Wilson spoke with ministerial gravity. + +Mrs. Morrison smiled. "I'd like to have her come to see me," she said. + +Wilson promised to let her know, and added, "If you take her, Mrs. +Morrison, she'll do her best, and angels can't do any better." + +The result was that a few days later Zenobia was installed and proved +herself worthy of her recommendation. + +"She does beautifully," Mrs. Morrison wrote to her husband, "and while I +am not in a position to assert that angels couldn't do better, I am +inclined to believe it." + +"Frances, I wish we knew those girls upstairs. I meet them so often in +the hall. One of them--Miss Moore, I think she is--is exceedingly +pretty." Mrs. Morrison was washing the glossy leaves of the rubber +plant. + +"I know them," her daughter replied, as she carefully measured the long +bud that was about to open. "The pretty one is Miss Sherwin," she +added. "I know, because when Emma and I went up to their room with a +package that had been left downstairs by mistake, Miss Moore opened the +door, and I heard her say, 'Here is your dress, Lillian.'" + +"I can't see how that proves anything. How did you know that the one who +opened the door was Miss Moore?" + +Frances thought for a moment, "I know now! The package had Miss +Sherwin's name on it. Doesn't that prove it?" + +"Perhaps it does, Wink, though it seems something of a puzzle," replied +her mother. "At any rate, I wish I knew them. I must remember to ask Mr. +Clark about them; they look lonely." + +"Let's go to see them," Frances suggested. + +"They were here before we came; they may not wish to know us." + +"I should think they would," Frances exclaimed, so earnestly her mother +laughed. + +"So should I, Winkie, but we don't know. Perhaps something will happen +to make us acquainted." + +Something did happen, and it was the General who brought it to pass. + +Mrs. Bond often remarked that Emma's head never saved her heels, and it +was quite true; for, although she went about her tasks willingly +enough, her thoughts had a way of travelling off into a world of their +own. She had long ago discovered this way of escape from the rather dull +routine of her daily life, but her mother declared since the Morrisons +came she had been worse than ever. And, indeed, the life upstairs in +those bright rooms seemed very strange and delightful to Emma, so much +so that in thinking about it she would forget the sugar bowl, or the +tea-cups when she set the table, and do all sorts of absent-minded +things. + +One afternoon, soon after Frances and her mother had the conversation +about their neighbors overhead, the former went down to see Emma. + +She found her in the kitchen that was as usual tidy to the last degree; +the General, however, true to the influence of his environment, was busy +with a tiny broom and dustpan. Emma sat in the window reading, and on +the stove something simmered and bubbled gently. + +"This is a very nice kitchen," Frances remarked, as she walked in. + +Emma closed her book. "Do you think so? I don't like kitchens, but your +sitting room is beautiful. It reminds me of a house where I go sometimes +for mother; oh, such a lovely place!" + +"Don't get down; let me sit beside you," Frances begged, and quickly +established herself in the other corner of the window-sill. + +"Mother doesn't care for pretty things; she says she is thankful if she +can be clean," Emma continued, with a sigh. + +"I think you are very clean," said the visitor, looking around her; "but +tell me about that beautiful house, won't you?" + +Emma obediently began an animated description of it. It was just like a +palace, she said, with a beautiful garden and conservatory, and rooms +and rooms full of lovely things. "Mother sews sometimes for the lady who +lives there, and I take the work home. I wonder, Frances, if you +couldn't go with me next time." + +"Look at the General!" cried Frances, suddenly, jumping down. + +All unnoticed by the girls he had contrived to set his broom on fire and +was now waving it aloft in great delight. He had no mind to give it up +either, and frightened by the excited manner in which they rushed upon +him, he clung to it for dear life, filling the house with his shrieks. +In the struggle a roller towel caught fire and some damage might have +been done, but for the appearance of Miss Moore and Miss Sherwin. + +The former seized the baby with a practised hand while her companion +unfastened the roller and let the towel fall to the floor, where the +fire was easily put out. It was all over when Mrs. Morrison, who had +heard the screams as she was dressing, came hurrying in, followed by Mr. +Clark. The General sat quiet in Miss Moore's lap, a finger in his mouth, +tears still on his cheek; Emma with a dazed expression was holding on to +all that remained of the broom; and Frances danced around excitedly +trying to explain how it happened. + +When Mrs. Bond walked in, everything quieted down as if by magic. +Explanations were needless, her quick eyes took it all in: "Emma wasn't +minding what she was about," she said decidedly. + +The Spectacle Man chuckled to himself as they all filed out, leaving her +restoring order. "The General is too much for Emma," he remarked; "it is +odd to see how like his mother that baby is already--as alert and +determined in the pursuit of mischief as she is in her more important +affairs." + +"I have a dozen erratic infants not more than a year older than the +General, at my table in kindergarten, so I know something about it," +said Miss Moore. + +The excitement had broken the ice, and the Morrisons and their +third-floor neighbors went upstairs together chatting sociably. Miss +Sherwin, indeed, had not much to say; but her companion made up for her +silence, and accepted without hesitation Mrs. Morrison's invitation to +come in and make her and Frances a call. + +"I have been wanting to come, but Lillian wouldn't let me," she said. + +"It is not fair to say that without giving my reason," put in Miss +Sherwin, coloring in a way that was most becoming. + +"I believe she thought you wouldn't care to know us," said Miss Moore, +laughing. + +"That was a great mistake," answered Mrs. Morrison. "Frances and I are +sociable persons, and besides, we are strangers here." + +"So are we, and we came here because Mr. Clark is an old friend of my +father's." As she spoke, Miss Moore looked about her with frankly +admiring eyes. "I am taking the kindergarten course; and my friend is +keeping house and amusing herself, and keeping me from dying of +home-sickness." + +Mrs. Morrison thought Miss Sherwin, with her rather melancholy dark +eyes, looked much more like a subject for home-sickness than her merry +companion. In the course of the conversation she discovered that their +home was in a Southern town, and that Miss Moore, who was the oldest +daughter in a large family, was studying kindergarten in order to +support herself. What Miss Sherwin was doing was not so clear. She had +no home ties and was free to go where she pleased, and it was evident +that her friend looked up to her with deep admiration. + +While Mrs. Morrison and Miss Moore were talking, Frances and Miss +Sherwin were making friends over their favorite story-books, and before +the call was over they all had the pleasant feeling of being old +acquaintances; and the acquaintance was not allowed to languish. + +The very next evening Frances and Emma in great glee knocked at the door +of what Miss Moore called their sky parlor, with an invitation to a +candy pulling. It was just the night for a little fun, being Friday and +stormy, and the young ladies promptly accepted. + +Delicious odors were finding their way into the sitting room when the +guests entered, Miss Sherwin looking pretty and pensive in her big +apron, Miss Moore as flyaway and merry as usual. + +Mrs. Morrison met them at the door and led the way to the kitchen, where +the children were watching the kettle that gave forth the pleasant +fragrance. "Frances wanted something to do, and as Friday evening is a +sort of holiday, I thought perhaps our neighbors would join us in +pulling candy," she said. + +They made molasses candy first, and while this was being pulled Mrs. +Morrison made some chocolate caramels; and even Miss Sherwin was unable +to resist the laughing and nonsense that went on, and was presently +taking part in it as merrily as anybody. + +They were sitting around the fire in a sociable group enjoying the +fruits of their labor, when the Spectacle Man knocked at the door. He +had to come to see Mrs. Morrison on business, but when Frances invited +him in to have some candy he did not decline. + +"This looks very pleasant," he said, surveying the company, a piece of +chocolate in his hand. + +"Sit down, Mr. Clark; I want to ask you something," said Mrs. Morrison. +"It is about the song Frances is always singing,-- + + "'The bridge is broke--'" + +"What is the rest of it?" + +"I will tell you all I know, but that isn't much," he replied, crossing +his legs and looking into the fire. "I used to like to hear it from my +grandfather when I was a child, and I found it interested Mark, my +nephew, when he was a little chap. This is the way it goes. + +"A man was once taking a long journey on foot. After walking several +hours he came to a deep, swift stream over which there had once been a +bridge, but now it was not to be seen. On the opposite side of the river +a man was chopping wood, and the traveller called to him to know what +had become of the bridge. The reply--and this is always sung--was:-- + + "'The bridge is broke and I have to mend it, + Fol de rol de ri do, fol de rol de ri do, + The bridge is broke and I have to mend it, + Fol de rol de ri.' + +"'How deep is the river?' the traveller then asked. + + "'Throw in a stone, 'twill sink to the bottom, + Fol de rol de ri do, fol de rol de ri--' etc. + +"'How can I get across?' was the next question. + + "'The ducks and the geese they all swim over, + Fol de rol de ri do--' etc. + +"And that is all." + +"Doesn't the poor man ever get across?" asked Mrs. Morrison. + +"I have told you all I know, madam," the Spectacle Man answered, with a +little wave of his hand. + +"I think there is a story hidden in it, and that is perhaps why children +enjoy it; it is like having a picture to look at." It was Miss Sherwin +who spoke. + +"That is a bright idea," said Mr. Clark; "but who will find the hidden +story for us?" + +"I believe Miss Sherwin herself can find it," suggested Mrs. Morrison. +"Suppose we give her two weeks to hunt for it, and then have a meeting +to hear it." + +"Oh, please--" began Miss Sherwin. + +"Don't say a word, Lil, you know you can," urged Miss Moore, as her +friend tried to make herself heard above the chorus of approval. + +"The meeting to be held in my study," added the Spectacle Man. + +"But suppose I can't do it," cried Miss Sherwin. + +"Father could, if he were here," put in Frances; "he is splendid for +stories!" + +"Is he the John Chauncey Morrison who writes so charmingly?" asked Miss +Sherwin. + +"Why, do you know him?" exclaimed Frances. + +"No, but I have read his stories." + +"I think he writes the nicest ones in the world," said the little girl. + +"But we don't expect everybody else to think so, Wink," her mother +added, laughing. + + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTH. + +A PORTRAIT. + + +One pleasant afternoon Emma came to ask if Frances might go with her to +carry home some sewing her mother had finished. + +Mrs. Morrison looked a little doubtful, but, before she could speak, +Frances exclaimed: "Do please say yes, mother. It is a great lovely +house, and I do so want to see it." + +"What do you know about it?" asked her mother. + +"Emma has told me. May I go? It is such a lovely day." + +"I am not sure that it is quite the thing for two little girls to go so +far alone." + +"But we'll take care of each other, and--it seems to me that what you +want to do is never the thing!" Frances said impatiently. + +Her mother laughed; "I have known other persons who thought that. Who +lives in this wonderful house?" she asked. + +"Mrs. Marvin, but she is not at home now; there is no one there but the +housekeeper," replied Emma. + +"If I let you go you must promise not to stay any longer than is +necessary for Emma's errand." + +They both agreed eagerly to this, and Emma ran down to get ready. + +"You mustn't turn into a little Bohemian, Wink," Mrs. Morrison said, +kissing the rosy face under the big hat. + +"I don't know what it is, so I guess I couldn't turn into it," laughed +Frances, as she followed Emma. + +The two children were in a gale of delight over their expedition, and, +although they meant to be very dignified, found it impossible to walk +more than a few steps without breaking into a skip. + +"I wish my hair was like yours," Emma said, looking admiringly at her +companion's waving brown locks. + +"But braids aren't half so much bother. I have to wear mine this way +because daddy likes it; and if you want to, you know, you can put your +hair up on kids. That is what Gladys Bowen does; hers doesn't curl one +bit." + +"Gladys goes to our school, and I don't like her," remarked Emma. + +"Why not? Don't you think she is pretty?" + +"Yes; but she is so proud of herself. She doesn't like to go with me +because my clothes aren't as nice as hers,--I know." + +"She gets that from her mother," Frances said sagely. "Whenever I go +there Mrs. Bowen asks me who made my dress or something." + +"I know I don't have very pretty dresses, but my mother hasn't time," +said Emma, rather sorrowfully. + +"I think you always look nice, Emma, and I like you better than I do +Gladys." + +"Oh, Frances! do you really? Then I shan't mind," cried Emma. + +She was supremely happy at having Frances for a companion on her walk, +and at the prospect of showing her this wonderful house; but when at +length they paused before the tall iron gate, she was seized with the +fear that it might not seem very grand to one who had seen so much of +the world. + +Frances' critical eye was pleased, however; "I really think it does look +like a palace," she said, with the air of having lived among palaces. + +It was a somewhat imposing mansion, with a row of graceful columns +across the front, and a broad flight of steps leading to the entrance. +It stood in the midst of a beautiful green lawn on which were a few fine +old trees and shrubs. + +"Just wait till you see the inside," said Emma, delightedly, as they +stood before the stately door; but alas! when it was opened the hall was +seen all dismantled; evidently house-cleaning was going on. + +After some hesitation the servant showed them into a room which was, +like the hall, in disorder. It seemed to be a library, but the furniture +was all covered, the floor was bare, and the sun streamed in through +uncurtained windows. The most prominent object in the room was a picture +which hung over the mantel, and this at once caught Frances' attention. + +It was the portrait of a girl apparently about her own age, whose sunny +eyes smiled down in the friendliest way. Her brown hair curled loosely +over her shoulders; her dress, of some soft, silken brocade of warm, +rich colors, was quaintly made and fell almost to her feet; her neck and +arms were bare, and her dimpled hands clasped lightly before her. There +was a grace and buoyancy in the pose which was very charming; Frances +was enchanted. + +"Isn't she lovely! Who is she, do you suppose?" she asked; but Emma +could tell her nothing about it, she had never been in this room before. + +"I believe she is like you, Frances," she said, looking critically at +the picture. + +"I am sure I am not half so pretty as that! She makes me think of +something-- I don't know exactly what," and Frances wrinkled her brow in +a puzzled way. She was completely fascinated, and continued to gaze at +the portrait all the while Emma was talking to the woman who came to see +her about the work, hearing nothing till her own name caught her ear. + +"It is some relative of Miss Frances," was what she heard, evidently in +reply to a question from Emma. + +As soon as they were on the street she inquired who Miss Frances was, +and Emma said she thought she was Mrs. Marvin, the lady who owned the +house. "She is coming home before long, and they are getting ready for +her," she added. + +"I should like to have that picture," said Frances, with a sigh. "Emma, +do you know what a Bohemian is?" + +"I know what the 'Bohemian Girl' is; it is music." + +"It can't be that, for mother said father wouldn't like it if I turned +into one." + +As Frances was unbuttoning her shoes that night she suddenly exclaimed, +"Why, it is the little girl in the golden doorway! + +"What is?" her mother asked. + +"I mean that is what the portrait reminded me of. It has just come into +my head. Isn't it funny?" + +"Almost any portrait of a little girl might suggest it, I should think," +said Mrs. Morrison. + +"I wish you could see her, mother. Do you think I can go again with Emma +sometime? I do want to see her once more." + +"I don't know, dear." + +"Mother, is it being a Bohemian to want to go?" + +Mrs. Morrison laughed. "Not exactly, Wink. It is difficult to explain, +but a Bohemian is perhaps a person who habitually does what is not 'the +thing.'" + +"That must be fun," said Frances. + +There was silence for a long time, then she asked, "Mother, aren't you +glad a certain person is abroad?" + +Mrs. Morrison looked at her in surprise. "What do you mean?" she said. + +"Oh, I was just thinking!" + +"But what put it into your head to think of a certain person?" + +"Well, the girl in the golden doorway always makes me think of him; and +you know, mother, father said he didn't mind leaving us here because he +was abroad." + +"You have been drawing on your imagination, Wink, you can't have +understood father; but now you must go to bed and not talk any more." + + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTH. + +THE STORY OF THE BRIDGE. + + +An atmosphere of great sociability pervaded the quaint room that the +Spectacle Man called his study, when on Friday evening, two weeks after +the candy pulling, his expected guests arrived. + +He had closed his shop an hour earlier than usual, and spent the time in +getting out certain treasures of china and silver, and placing them +where they could be seen to the best advantage. When the lamps were +lighted, the hearth brushed, and the big Japanese bowl heaped up with +apples and grapes, he paused and looked around him with satisfaction. + +He was reflecting how pleasant it was to be giving a party, when the +hall door opened to let in Peterkin and closed again in what might have +seemed a mysterious manner but for the sound of stifled laughter on the +outside. On the inside Peterkin stood looking cross-eyed in a vain +endeavor to see the frill that adorned his neck. + +"So they have dressed you for the occasion, my friend," remarked his +master; "it must recall the days when Mark was at home." + +A few minutes later Emma and Frances appeared, looking very demure and +bringing with them Gladys, who, happening in in the afternoon, had been +invited to stay and hear the story. The rest of the party soon followed, +and Mr. Clark's face beamed with pleasure as he stepped briskly about +getting every one seated. The children chose the sofa at the side of the +fireplace, where they sat, three in a row with Frances in the middle, +until Miss Moore begged to know if there was not room for her, and of +course there was. + +"I am afraid you are trying to excite our envy, Mr. Clark," Mrs. +Morrison said, touching a little dish of old Wedgwood. + +"I have a few odds and ends of things," was his reply; "but most of what +you see belongs to my nephew, Mark Osborne. A great-aunt left him her +property when she died, this house, and a good deal of what Mark himself +disrespectfully calls plunder." + +"You have never told us about the Toby jug," put in Frances. "Does that +belong to Mark?" + +"No, that is my own, and sometime I'll tell you all I know about it; but +now we want to hear Miss Sherwin's story. That is the first business of +the evening;" and, his guests being seated to his satisfaction, the +Spectacle Man crossed his knees and prepared to listen. + +"I am not sure that it is at all interesting," said the young lady, as +all eyes turned toward her. "Shall I read it or tell it?" + +"Tell it, please," cried the children in a chorus. + +So she began, at first a little timidly, and with a glance now and then +at her paper, but gaining courage as she went on. + +"I have called it," she said, "'The Story of the Missing Bridge.' + +"Once upon a time a young man set out on a journey. The tender beauty of +the springtime was upon the grass and trees, the wheat fields were +turning from gold to rose, and the sky was a soft, deep blue. + +"He was a sturdy young fellow and carried a light heart, as one could +tell from the smile in his eyes and the merry tune he whistled as he +strode along. And he had reason to be happy, for on the next day at +sunset he was to be married to the fairest girl in all the country +round. + +"After a time the path he followed left the open fields and entered the +cool, dim forest, where all was so still and peaceful that +involuntarily he changed his tune to one more grave. + +"A truly happy heart is certain to be a kind one, and, eager though he +was to reach his journey's end, he paused once and again to lend a +helping hand. Now it was to a peddler who was vainly trying to piece +together the broken strap that had held his pack, again to restore a +young bird to its nest, and then to release a white rabbit which had +caught its foot in a trap and was moaning piteously. + +"These incidents delayed him somewhat, and it was late in the afternoon +when he reached the river several miles beyond which lay his +destination. It was a wild and treacherous stream that rushed down from +the hills, boiling and bubbling over rocks and between high, precipitous +banks. Many years before a strong bridge had been thrown across it at +the point where the path emerged from the forest, but to-day, to his +utter surprise and bewilderment, there was no bridge to be seen. His +journey was brought to a sudden stop. + +"He looked about him; could he have missed his way? This was impossible, +he had travelled it too often. On the other side of the river he saw a +man chopping wood, and presently called to him to know what had become +of the bridge. + + "'The bridge is broke and I have to mend it, + Fol de rol de ri do, fol de rol de ri do, + The bridge is broke and I have to mend it, + Fol de rol de ri.' + +"This was the man's reply, sung in a merry rollicking tune as he +continued his work. + +"'How deep is the stream?' asked the traveller. + + "'Throw in a stone, 'twill sink to the bottom, + Fol de rol de ri do, fol de rol de ri do--' + +"'How can I get across?' + + "'The ducks and the geese they all swim over, + Fol de rol de ri do, fol de rol de ri do--' + +"came across the stream in the same mocking tune. + +"Angry and almost in despair, the young farmer sat down beneath a tree +to consider what was to be done. + +"The secret of all his trouble was this. In an old red stone castle, the +turrets of which were just visible above the trees on the other side of +the stream, there lived a magician who had long had his eye upon the +beautiful maiden who was the young man's promised bride. To win her he +appeared as a wealthy middle-aged suitor, ready to lay all his riches at +her feet, his real character being carefully concealed; but all his arts +had been plied in vain; no gold or gems or promises of future splendor +could turn her heart from her young lover. Her parents, however, were +inclined to look with favor upon the magician's suit, and their daughter +was made most unhappy by their reproaches. + +"The last resort of the magician was to insinuate doubts of her lover's +faithfulness; and after long and careful scheming, with her father and +mother as allies, a promise was wrung from the maiden that, if the +bridegroom failed by so much as an hour to appear at the appointed time, +she would wed his rival. So sure was she of her lover, so ignorant of +the magician's power. + +"It now only remained to hinder the coming of the bridegroom. This the +magician wished to contrive in such a way that the young farmer should +arrive upon the scene just too late, and that he himself might have the +exquisite pleasure of witnessing his despair. This was not without its +difficulties, for the forest that extended almost to the water's edge +was inhabited by fairies who were well disposed toward mortals, and took +frequent delight in frustrating the schemes of the evil-minded +magician. + +"He therefore set himself to work to win their good will, and after +establishing friendly relations went to the queen with what seemed an +innocent request. An enemy of his was about to pass through the wood, +and it was all-important that he should be hindered from crossing the +river until after a certain hour. All he asked of the fairies was the +promise that they would not reveal the plan by which he meant to +accomplish this. The promise was readily given, for what possible harm +could come to any one through being detained on the bank of the river +for a few hours? + +"The fairies often amused themselves by trying the temper of those who +passed through the forest, and the peddler, the bird, and the rabbit had +all been contrived to test the kindliness of the chance traveller; and +by his quick response to these calls for help the young farmer had won +their favor. So now, as he sat at the foot of the oak tree almost ready +to weep in his despair, he heard a tiny voice singing:-- + + "'The bridge is broke and you'll have to mend it, + Fol de rol de ri do, fol de rol de ri do.' + +"'If some kind friend would only tell me how!' he exclaimed. + +"'Is it then so necessary to your happiness?' asked the voice; and +looking all about, he at length discovered a little creature sitting on +a toadstool just at his feet. In her hand she held a large leaf which +till now had served to hide her from his view. + +"Having heard that the wood was the abode of fairies, he was not +surprised; and in the hope that they would be able and willing to help +him, he told his story. The fairy listened intently, marvelling at the +magician's craftiness. + +"'And when must you be there?' she asked. + +"'Not one minute later than sunset to-morrow. I set out a day sooner +than needful because of a mysteriously worded message I received, +warning me to make all haste lest I lose my bride,' was the reply. + +"'You have an enemy,' said the fairy, 'but we may be able to help you. +You must wait the hour of audience, which is on the stroke of midnight;' +with this she disappeared. + +"The young man, left alone, seemed to hear all about him mocking voices +singing:-- + + "'The ducks and the geese they all swim over--' + +"and again and again he went to the water's edge, resolved to attempt to +cross on the rocks, but the sight of the wild torrent told him it would +be certain death. + +"As night came on he at length fell into a troubled sleep with his head +against the trunk of the oak tree. He was aroused by soft music and +twinkling lights, and beheld before him, ranged in a semicircle, the +fairy queen and her attendants. The queen addressed him:-- + +"'Mortal, we have heard your story from Sadonia, one of our ladies, and, +as you have proved yourself kind and true-hearted, we would help you; +but we are bound by a sacred vow not to reveal the secret of the bridge +until sunset to-morrow.' + +"'Ah, then it will be too late!' cried the young man. + +"One of the attendant fairies now stepped out and knelt before the +queen. It was the one called Sadonia, with whom he had spoken. + +"'Your Majesty remembers,' she said, 'that for a certain fault I was +condemned to take the form of a white rabbit, and with my foot in a trap +wait to be released by some kind traveller. When I was in despair, this +mortal freed me, and I ask that I may show my gratitude now by aiding +him.' + +"'Can this be done without breaking the vow which binds us all?' asked +the queen. + +"'Your Majesty, I promise neither by word or sign to reveal the secret +of the bridge. I shall only ask him to obey me in a single command. The +result rests with himself.' + +"The queen was silent for a moment, then she said, 'Is this mortal +courageous enough, is his love deep enough, to keep him unfaltering in +the face of death?' + +"'Death met in trying to reach the one I love will be far better than +life without her!' cried the young man. + +"'Then,' said the queen, 'Sadonia is permitted to use all her powers to +aid you, but without revealing by word or sign the secret of the +bridge.' She waved her wand, and in a breath lights and fairies +disappeared and he was left alone. Not alone, for he heard Sadonia +singing:-- + + "'The ducks and the geese they all swim over--' + +"and there, dimly seen in the moonlight, she sat on a toadstool, wrapped +in a mantle of green. + +"'It is time, mortal, for you to be up and away. In yonder red castle +lives a magician; it was he you saw cutting wood--this is the hour when +he sleeps. Is your courage strong? Are you ready to do the impossible?' +While she spoke the young man sprang to his feet. + +"'Do you see the star straight before us in the heavens?' she asked. +'Keep your eyes fixed upon it, and think of her who is now dreaming of +you; then if you obey me, all will be well.' + +"She led him to the edge of the cliff, below him was the rushing stream; +'Look at the star and go on,' she cried. + +"For one instant he hesitated. Go on? Where would the next step take +him? Beneath were the rocks and the foaming torrent, but above him was +the glowing star. He stepped bravely out. Louder and louder roared the +torrent, brighter and brighter burned the star, firm and solid was the +mysterious path. Confidence grew as he went on, his heart full of a +great joy, and presently he felt the turf under his feet; the stream was +crossed! + +"As he paused to look back the truth flashed upon him: the bridge was +where it had always been, but some strange spell had made it invisible! + +"He went on his way, and all around him he seemed to hear fairy voices +singing:-- + + "'The ducks and the geese they all swim over, + Fol de rol de ri do, fol de ri do--' + +"He stopped and, lifting his hat, said softly, 'Thank you, Sadonia!' and +hoped she heard. + +"On the next day the maiden and her lover had a joyous wedding, and the +evil-minded magician slunk away in a rage to his castle, having +discovered that love is stronger than magic; for no evil power can +destroy the bridge between true and loving hearts, and faith and courage +can always find the way." + + * * * * * + +"Well!" exclaimed Mr. Clark, as Miss Sherwin paused, with a very +becoming color in her cheeks, "who would have thought there was such a +story hidden away in my old song." + +"I am so pleased that we asked her to do it," said Mrs. Morrison, +smiling across the table at the story-teller. "I had my suspicions +before, and now they are confirmed," she added. + +"I am just proud of you, Lil," said Miss Moore, beaming on her friend. + +"I think it is a lovely story, but couldn't you have more about the +fairies, Miss Sherwin?" Frances asked. + +"And about the wedding and what the bride had on," suggested Gladys. + +"But did you really make it all up?" inquired Emma. + +The young lady laughed. "No, I only found it between the lines of the +song, and I certainly think it can be improved." + +"The moral is such a fine one," remarked Mrs. Morrison. + +"That faith and courage can always find a way--yes, isn't it, if one +could only live up to it," said Miss Moore. + +"It has given me a great deal to think about," added the Spectacle Man. +"The bridge is broke--but faith and courage will find the way; yes, I +like it," and he nodded his head emphatically. + +"I thought morals weren't interesting," said Frances, at which they all +laughed, and Miss Sherwin said she hoped she had not made hers too +prominent. "I feel very grateful to you for liking it," she added. + +"I want you to elaborate it a little and send it to _The Young People's +Journal_," Mrs. Morrison said. + +Miss Sherwin shook her head, but Miss Moore declared she would see that +it was done. + +Peterkin, who had been completely forgotten in the interest of the +story, created a sensation just here by catching one of his sharp lower +teeth in his frill, thereby causing temporary lockjaw. He was promptly +released by Miss Moore, who declared he should not be dressed up again. + +After he had gone into seclusion under the sofa, and the rest of the +company were eating grapes and apples, Mr. Clark took down the Toby jug +from the mantel shelf. + +"It seems hardly right to tell another story to-night after the +beautiful one we have listened to," he said, "but this is a very short +one, and I promised Frances. This brown ware is called Rockingham, and +you see how the likeness of a very fat old gentleman is embossed upon +it. It is said that there once lived a jolly toper named Toby Fillpot. +In the course of time he died and was buried, and then, according to an +old drinking song:-- + + "'His body when long in the ground it had lain, + And time into clay had resolved it again, + A potter found out in its covert so snug, + And from part of fat Toby he formed this brown jug.' + +"In fact, I believe he made a number of them, and dedicated them to +friendship, mirth, and mild ale." + +"It seems to suggest Dickens; doesn't he somewhere mention a Toby jug?" +asked Mrs. Morrison. + +"I don't remember, but it is likely," answered Mr. Clark. + +"Was your grandfather an Englishman?" Miss Sherwin asked. + +"Yes, he was English and my mother was French." + +"I was sure there was French somewhere," said Mrs. Morrison. + +The children thought the jug very funny and interesting, but Frances did +not want to touch it after she had heard the story. + +"It might really be true," she said, putting her hands behind her. + +"Is this supposed to be one of the originals?" asked Miss Moore. + +"Well, that is as you choose to believe. It is over one hundred years +old, at any rate," was Mr. Clark's reply. + + + + +CHAPTER NINTH. + +FINDING A MORAL. + + +In spite of her disapproval of the place where the Morrisons had gone to +live, Gladys was very often there. She liked Frances, and at the house +of the Spectacle Man there seemed never to be any lack of something to +do. There were glorious games of "I spy" in the halls when Emma was off +duty, or visits to the studio where Miss Sherwin illustrated her stories +and was delighted to have them pose for her, or if it were a rainy +afternoon Mr. Clark did not object to their coming into the shop. He +kept some glasses especially to lend to them on these occasions, and if +business happened to be very dull he would entertain them with stories +of his childhood, of which they never tired. Any chance customer must +have been amused at the sight of three little girls in spectacles, +seated in a row listening to the old man. + +Gladys tyrannized over Emma and patronized her by turns, the latter +being too timid to resent it openly; and Frances enjoyed playing the +part of protector and defender. Naturally this state of affairs +sometimes led to war, for Frances was quick-tempered and impulsive, and +Gladys very stubborn. + +One afternoon Mrs. Morrison went out, leaving the three children deeply +interested in a new game. Everything went smoothly until Emma, who was +sometimes rather slow in understanding things, made a wrong play that +resulted in Gladys's defeat. When this was discovered Gladys in the +excitement of the moment accused her of cheating, whereupon Emma began +to cry and Frances became very angry. + +"She didn't cheat, Gladys Bowen, you know she didn't; and you haven't +any right to say so!" she exclaimed, with blazing eyes. + +"She did," asserted Gladys, with a dogged conviction in her tone that +infuriated Frances, and sweeping the dominoes from the table she +cried:-- + +"I'll never play with you again, never!" + +"No, you will never have a chance," was the cool reply. "I won't play +with either of you; and I'd be ashamed of myself if I were you, +Frances." + +"Oh, never mind!" urged Emma, aghast at the scene. + +"I will mind. She knows it is a story--and--" Frances could get no +further, her tears choked her, and rushing from the room she shut the +door behind her. + +Mrs. Morrison, coming in, found Gladys putting on her things with an air +of injured innocence quite impressive, while Emma stood helplessly +looking at her. The dominoes lay scattered on the floor. + +"Where is Frances?" she asked. + +"In the other room; she's mad," Gladys explained briefly. + +Mrs. Morrison knew it would be useless to ask questions at this stage, +so she only said she was sorry, and waited till Gladys left, then went +to find her daughter. + +Frances was lying on the bed crying convulsively. + +"What is the matter?" her mother asked gently. + +The child sat up, exclaiming between her sobs, "Gladys is so hateful. +She said Emma cheated--and it's a story--and I'll never play with her +again!" + +"Oh, my little girl! I am so sorry," was all Mrs. Morrison said, as she +left the room. + +Sorry about what? Frances wondered as her anger cooled. Because Gladys +had been so hateful? or was it because she had been in a passion?--but +then she had a right to be angry. As she lay quiet for a while, feeling +languid, now the storm had passed, a sense of shame stole over her. + +Presently she went softly into the sitting room. It was growing dark, +and her mother sat alone among the cushions of the couch; Frances +nestled down beside her, and there in the firelight and the stillness +she couldn't help feeling sorry, even though she still felt sure she had +a right to be angry. + +She wished her mother would speak, but as she did not, Frances asked, +"Don't you think Gladys was very unkind?" + +"She ought to have been very certain of the truth of what she said, +before she accused any one of cheating." + +"I think so too; and I had a right to be angry." She began to feel quite +certain of this. + +"I have been talking it over with Emma," said Mrs. Morrison, "and I find +she did not understand the game. She really played as Gladys said, but +she did it by mistake." + +"Did she? But Gladys ought to have known Emma wouldn't cheat." + +"And of course there was nothing for you to do, but throw down the +dominoes and accuse Gladys of telling a story?" + +"But, mother--" Frances hesitated. + +"Suppose you had told Gladys that there must be some mistake, and then +had tried to find out what it was." + +"But I was so provoked." + +"Yes, and you lost your self-control. You let yourself be ruled by your +temper. It is sometimes right to be angry, but it is never right to be +in a passion." + +"Don't you think I am getting better of my temper?" Frances asked +meekly. + +"Yes, dear; I have thought so lately, and it was right for you to want +to defend Emma; but to throw the dominoes on the floor, to be in such a +fury--my darling, it makes me afraid for you! You might sometime do +something that all your life would be a sorrow to you. God meant you to +rule your feelings and passions, not be ruled by them. You are like a +soldier who has surrendered to the enemy he might have conquered." + +"I'll ask him to forgive me," Frances whispered. + +"You know father and I want our little girl to grow into a sweet, +gracious woman--" + +"Just like you," Frances interrupted, with her arms around her mother's +neck. + +"No, not just like me," answered Mrs. Morrison, smiling; "you must be +your own self, Wink. I have tried not to spoil you, but of course I have +made mistakes, and now you are getting old enough to share the +responsibility with me." + +"Do you think you ought to punish me, mother?" + +"Dear, I think the punishment will be the trying to set things right +again." + +Nothing more was said on the subject that evening, but the next day +Frances came to her mother with a bright face; "I have found out what it +means," she said. + +"What what means?" Mrs. Morrison asked. + +"The story of the bridge. You know Gladys is mad with me and won't come +here any more-- Emma says she said she would never speak to me +again--and that is a broken bridge and I have to mend it; but I don't +know how," she added. + +"Perhaps you can find a way if you try," replied her mother, thinking it +best to let her solve her own problems. + +All day Frances' thoughts kept going back to the unfortunate quarrel, +and even when she was not thinking about it she was not happy. The storm +clouds hung low and made the atmosphere heavy. + +At twilight she slipped downstairs and peeped into the study where Dick +had just lit the lamp and Peterkin lay stretched at his ease before the +bright fire. She stole in and sat beside him on the rug and stroked him +softly. He purred gently, looking up in her face with so much wisdom in +his yellow eyes she felt like telling him about the trouble. + +Presently the Spectacle Man came with the evening paper, and was +surprised and pleased to see her. + +"Mr. Clark," she began, "I have a broken bridge to mend." + +"Is that so? I hope it will not give you much trouble." + +Frances sighed and put her face down on Peterkin's soft coat for a +moment. "I am afraid it will," she said, and then she told the story. + +The Spectacle Man listened gravely. "I don't believe the bridge is +really broken," he said; "it is only invisible beneath the clouds of +anger and unkindness." + +Frances drew a very deep breath. "Then what can I do?" she asked. + +"How was it in the story?" + +"But the young man had a fairy to help him. + +"I don't think you need one; love and courage can find a way," said Mr. +Clark. + +Frances went upstairs very soberly. "Mother, I believe I'll write to +Gladys," she said, going at once to her desk. It took a good deal of +time and thought, but it was finished at last, and she felt a weight +lifted from her heart as she put it in the envelope. This is what she +wrote:-- + + "DEAR GLADYS: I am sorry I behaved so the other day. I was mad + because you said Emma cheated, and I thought I had a right to be; + but I know now I ought not to have been in a passion. It was a + mistake; Emma did play wrong, but she didn't know any better. + Gladys, I have found the moral of the story. The bridge between + you and me is invisible because of the clouds of anger. I want to + find it again, don't you? + + "Your friend, + "FRANCES MORRISON." + +This note was despatched by Wilson, and bright and early next day Gladys +answered it in person. She went to Frances and kissed her. "I am not mad +with you any more," she said; "it was nice of you to write that note, +and I am sorry I said Emma cheated." + +After this, Frances was as merry as a cricket, and went about singing:-- + + "The bridge is broke and I have to mend it," + +till her mother was forced to beg for a little variety. + +Meanwhile the story of "The Missing Bridge," with some changes and +additions, and accompanied by two charming illustrations, had gone to +seek its fortune in the office of _The Young People's Journal_, and it +was no longer a secret that Miss Sherwin was in the habit of writing +stories and had already met with considerable success. + +Frances thought this a strong bond between them, "For father writes +stories too, you know," she would often say. + +It was about this time that the first letters, so long waited for, +arrived from Honolulu, giving such glowing accounts of the voyage and +the climate, and written in such evident good spirits, and so full of +love for the two left behind, that they had to be read at least once a +day for a week. + + + + +CHAPTER TENTH. + +THE PORTRAIT AGAIN. + + +Frances wished very much to go to school, but for several reasons her +mother did not think it wise, so she studied at home every morning, +going upstairs at twelve o'clock to Miss Sherwin for a drawing lesson. + +Emma thought this a delightful arrangement, but Frances looked with envy +upon the children who passed, swinging their school bags. "It is because +I wasn't strong last winter and mother thinks it wouldn't be good for me +to be shut up in a schoolroom, but I shall go next year," she explained. + +As the fall weather was beautiful they spent a great deal of time out of +doors, and when Mrs. Morrison did not care to go herself she would send +Frances with Zenobia for a walk or a ride on the cars, to the delight of +the latter, who adored her young charge. + +These two were returning from a long walk one cold day, when they met +Emma Bond, who said she was going to Mrs. Marvin's with some work, and +asked them to go back with her. + +"I don't know whether mother would like me to; do you think she would +care, Zenobia?" Frances asked. + +It was only a short distance, and Zenobia couldn't see any harm in +stopping a moment; so they went in with Emma and sat in the hall while +she ran upstairs to speak to the housekeeper. + +Everything was in perfect order to-day, and Frances gave a little sigh +of satisfaction as she looked about her; it was all so warm and +beautiful, with a stately sort of beauty that was very impressive. She +sat as still as a mouse, listening to the ticking of some unseen clock. + +Emma stayed a long time, and presently Frances whispered, "Zenobia, +there is a picture I want to see, and I am just going to peep in that +door; I'll be back in a minute;" and she stole softly across the hall as +if afraid she might break the stillness. + +The room she entered was a library, spacious and beautiful; but Frances +thought of nothing but the portrait, which in the softened light that +came from the curtained windows was more charming than ever. + +[Illustration: "'Little girl, I wish I knew you'"] + +"Little girl, I wish I knew you," she said half aloud, standing before +it, her eyes bright from her walk in the keen air, her cheeks the +deepest rose. + +On the hearth a wood fire smouldered, breaking into little gleams of +flame now and then. + +"If you would only come down and talk to me, and tell me who you are," +Frances continued under her breath, unconsciously taking the attitude of +the picture girl who smiled down on her so brightly. + +The fire purred softly, and there was added to this sound after a little +a gentle rustle which, though she heard it, seemed so a part of the +quiet that she gave it no thought. Then, suddenly, as if she had been +awakened from a dream, she became conscious of the presence of some one +near her. + +Turning, her eyes met those of a very stately person who stood only a +few feet away leaning on the back of a chair. She had silvery hair and a +proud, handsome face, and for a second or two Frances continued to gaze +at her, the two pairs of eyes holding each other as if by some magnetic +power. + +Then it flashed into Frances' mind that this must be Mrs. Marvin, and +the spell was broken. She had come home--and what must she think of a +girl who roamed about her house without leave! The child wanted to +explain, but words were not easy to find, and the lady did not speak. + +"I did not know--" she began, then hesitated and tried again; "I +thought--" her throat felt very dry, and she wondered if she had spoken +at all. It was so strange and uncomfortable that tears rose to her eyes. + +"I wish you would tell me who you are;" the lady spoke in a strange, +cold voice. + +The feeling that she was not being fairly treated, together with her +determination not to cry, made Frances intensely dignified, and it was +with a haughtiness almost equal to the lady's own that she replied, "My +name is Frances Morrison," and with a movement of her head which seemed +to add, "it is useless to try to explain," she turned away. + +A singular expression came into the stranger's face; she sat down in +the nearest chair. "I wish you would not go," she said; "I am afraid I +startled you as much as you did me. Come and tell me how you happen to +be here." Her tone was no longer cold, and she held out her hands +appealingly. + +The smile transformed her face, which was all sweetness and graciousness +now, and impulsive little Frances was instantly won. She went quickly to +the lady's side, saying in a breathless way she had when excited, "I +thought perhaps you did not like it,--but I didn't know any one was +here, and I wanted to see the picture again, so while Emma was upstairs +I thought I'd just peep in, but I'm sorry--" she paused; evidently her +words had not been heard. This strange person held her hands and gazed +at her in the oddest way. + +"And so you are a real little girl!" she said at length. + +The child smiled uneasily, and seeing it, the lady put her arm around +her and drew her closer. "Forgive me, dear, for not listening," she +said. "You came with--whom?" + +Again Frances explained, but perhaps she did not make it very clear, for +her companion still looked puzzled. + +"Do you live here?" she asked. + +"No, we are spending the winter here, mother and I." + +"Your mother and you--" the questioner repeated. + +"Yes, while father is away; he has gone to Honolulu. We stopped here +because mother was ill, and then the _Eastern Review_ wanted father to +go to Hawaii, so we thought we'd just stay. We have a flat at the +Spectacle Man's--I mean Mr. Clark's--and it is very nice." + +"Is it?" The stranger's eyes travelled over the dainty figure. "You will +think I am asking a great many questions, but where did you get your +name?" she added. + +"It was my great-grandmother's. Mother wanted to put Chauncey in. That +is father's name, John Chauncey Morrison. Perhaps you have read his +stories." Again Frances saw that strange expression in the face before +her. + +"Do you know who I am?" the lady asked. + +"I suppose you are Mrs. Marvin. Emma said you had not come home yet, but +that you were coming very soon, and when I saw you I knew who it must +be, and-- I hope you'll excuse me," she added, remembering she had +offered no apology. + +Emma and Zenobia, who had been standing in the door for several minutes, +now succeeded in catching Frances' eye. "I must go," she said, "they are +waiting for me." + +Mrs. Marvin glanced in their direction. "Will you come to see me again?" +she asked. + +"I don't know whether mother will let me," Frances replied doubtfully. + +The lady suddenly took the child's face in her hands and kissed her +lips,--such a strange, passionate kiss it was; and then Frances felt +herself almost pushed away. + +She had hardly any answer for Emma's excited questions, which began as +soon as they were outside the door, but walked along with an absent +expression that was rather provoking. + +"I can't see what makes you so funny, Frances," said her friend. + +"Why, Wink, how late you are!" Mrs. Morrison exclaimed, meeting them at +the head of the steps, having spent the last half hour at the window. + +Frances put her arms around her mother's neck. "Oh, mother, I have seen +such a beautiful lady, and she kissed me, and it made me feel like +crying!" + +By degrees Mrs. Morrison had the whole story, and looked rather grave +over it. "I am sorry you went in at all, dear, and it was very wrong to +go wandering about the house, even though you thought the owner was +away." + +"But I don't think she minded; at least she asked me to come again, so I +think she must have liked me." + +Mrs. Morrison smiled as she kissed her little daughter; she saw nothing +improbable in this. + +"I think I won't tell Jack about it," she said to herself, "For it would +only worry him; but I'll be careful to have it understood that Frances +is not to go into any house unless I am with her or have given my +permission. It can't happen again. Marvin is not a name I ever heard +Jack mention, I am quite sure of that." + + + + +CHAPTER ELEVENTH + +MRS. MARVIN IS PERPLEXED. + + +"Jack's little girl! can it be? It is the strangest thing that ever +happened to me. I do not understand it." Mrs. Marvin paced restlessly +back and forth, an expression of pain and perplexity on her handsome +face. + +"Why should I care?" she thought; "what is it to me? I gave it all up +long ago.-- And yet--that dear little girl--those eyes--a Morrison every +inch of her! There can be no mistake, but it is all a mystery how she +happened to come here. How weak I am! why should it torture me so? Oh, +Jack, Jack!" She hid her face in her hands. + +It showed, however, no trace of emotion when half an hour later she +encountered her housekeeper in the upper hall. + +"Caroline, who is the little girl who came to see you this afternoon?" +she asked. + +"I suppose it was Emma Bond, Miss Frances; her mother has been +hemstitching some pillow cases." + +"Do you know anything about the child who was with her? I think she said +she lived in the same house." + +"I don't know who she is, Miss Frances. She is a pretty child, but I +don't remember her name if I ever heard it." + +"I saw her and was rather attracted to her. She seemed not quite the +sort of child you would expect to find in a tenement house. There was a +very respectable looking maid with her." + +Caroline smiled. She was a bright-faced Swiss woman who had lived with +her mistress for nearly thirty years, knew her thoroughly, and loved her +devotedly. She was not deceived by the air of indifference with which +the lady moved away; she understood that for some reason her mistress +wished to find out all she knew about this little girl. + +"It isn't what you'd call a tenement house," she said; "the man who owns +it has made it into flats. He lives there himself, and has his shop, and +Mrs. Bond keeps house for him. It is a real nice place." + +"I fail to see the difference," was the reply; "but, Caroline, why did +she think I was Mrs. Marvin? She called me so." + +"I don't know, Miss Frances, unless it was Emma Bond's mistake. Her +mother did some sewing for Mrs. Marvin when she was staying here." + +"Well, Caroline, if you see Mrs. Bond you need not say anything about +the mistake. You understand? I have a reason for wishing them to think I +am Mrs. Marvin, as in fact I am." + +"I should like to know what it means," Caroline said to herself as her +mistress walked away. + +"This is all very melodramatic and absurd, but I must have time to +consider," the lady was thinking as she entered her own room, and closed +the door behind her. "I must contrive to see her again." + +Going to a cabinet, she took from an inner compartment a box, then she +had a long search for the key, and after it was found she sat with the +box on her lap gazing absently before her. + +It was thirteen--almost fourteen years since she had lifted that lid. +She had thought never to open it, unless--well, unless the impossible +happened, and now a pair of brown eyes had aroused an irresistible +longing to look once more on something that lay hidden there. In vain +she told herself it was foolish, idle, worse than childish. She recalled +the burning anger and resentment with which she had put the box away so +long ago. Yes, and had she not just cause? But the touch of those young +lips was still fresh upon her own, and whether she would or not, was +carrying her back, back to the dear old days. + +There was really very little in it, she reflected, as she began to look +over the contents; but a few trifles can mean so much sometimes. There +was a light brown curl, some photographs that showed how a certain +chubby, dimpled baby had developed into a manly boy of sixteen, a bundle +of letters in a schoolboy hand, and down at the very bottom, the thing +she was so anxious to see again, a lovely miniature of a boy of seven. + +She gazed at it long and earnestly. Such a dear little face! and this +afternoon she had seen the same smile, had looked into the same eyes! +Jack's daughter! was it possible? + +He had called her Frances, too; he had not quite forgotten. It was, of +course, a family name, and with all his independence Jack had a great +deal of family pride. And the air with which she had said, "Perhaps you +have read his stories,"--she could have laughed, but for the pain of the +thought that she who had once been first had now no part in his life. +Others had the right to be proud of him, but not she. + +She closed the lid and put the box away: the past could not be recalled, +she must try to forget, as she had tried all these years; but even as +she made the resolve her heart was saying, "I must see that child +again,--I must, must!" + + + + +CHAPTER TWELFTH. + +AT CHRISTMAS TIME. + + +"Hurrah!" said the Spectacle Man, "Mark's coming home for Christmas." He +waved a letter above his head as he spoke, and looked as if he might be +going to dance a jig. + +"Is he? I am very glad," replied Frances, who had run down to speak to +the postman, and now paused in the open door of the shop. + +"I was really afraid we couldn't manage it, travelling costs so much, +but one of his friends has given him a pass. Mark is a great fellow for +such things!" Mr. Clark's face beamed with pleasure. + +Frances wished she might bring her books and study her lessons in the +shop, it was so sunny and cheerful, with Peterkin stretched out in lazy +comfort before the fire, his master busy at his work-table over some +lenses. + +"Mother, do you know it will be Christmas in two weeks?" she asked, as +she entered the sitting room; "and Mark is coming home," she added. "Do +you think he will be nice?" + +"We may as well give him the benefit of any doubt," said Mrs. Morrison, +answering the last question. "What do you want to do for Christmas, +Wink?" + +"What can we do without father?" the little girl exclaimed, thinking of +the merrymakings of other years in which he had always been prime mover. + +"We are so glad to know how well and strong he is getting that we can +manage to have some sort of a happy time without him, I think," her +mother replied. "Suppose you ask Miss Sherwin if she and Miss Moore will +be here through the holidays." + +The air was full of Christmas plans, the streets were full of Christmas +shoppers, and the dwellers in the house of the Spectacle Man could not +escape the contagion. The girls on the third floor were not going home, +and were very willing to unite with their neighbors in a little +festivity. + +Miss Moore proposed a tree, which, in kindergarten fashion, they should +all unite in trimming. Emma and Frances immediately offered to string +pop-corn and cranberries, and went to work with great ardor, having at +the same time to bribe the General to attend to his own affairs, with +wonderful stories of Santa Claus, and the toys he had in store for good +boys. + +Emma was as happy as a lark. In past years the Sunday-school tree had +been all she had to look forward to, and the thought of having one in +the house was almost too much. Gladys also condescended to help with the +pop-corn, although she was rather scornful of such home-made +decorations. + +"I suppose I may invite Gladys to our tree, mayn't I?" Frances asked one +evening of the busy circle gathered around the table in Miss Sherwin's +studio. + +"I should think so," her mother replied. + +"I know a girl I'd like to ask. She is in my class, and she lives in +Texas, and I do not believe she has a single friend in the city." As she +spoke, Miss Moore carefully smoothed out the photograph she was +mounting. + +"You do it beautifully," said Mrs. Morrison, looking over her shoulder. + +"It is the 'Holy Night' by Plockhorst, as you see; we are going to give +one to each of our infants, and I offered to mount them. I like to +paste; it is my one talent." + +"For a Christmas picture, this is my favorite," and Miss Sherwin took +from a portfolio a photograph of the Magi on the way to Bethlehem. + +Emma and Frances left their cranberries to look at it. + +"How wonderfully simple and dignified it is! The wide sweep of the +desert, and the stately figures of the Wise Men, as they follow the +star," remarked Mrs. Morrison. + +"But no one has answered Miss Moore. Wouldn't it be nice to invite her +girl?" said Frances, going back to her work again. + +"Why, of course, and perhaps we'll find some one else who is not likely +to have a happy day," her mother answered. + +"There's Mrs. Gray," said Frances meditatively; "I wonder if she likes +Christmas trees?" + +So it began, and before they knew it the original plan was quite +outgrown. + +When Mark arrived he proved to be a tall, bright-faced boy of sixteen, +overflowing with good spirits, who contrived to get acquainted with all +the inmates of the house before twenty-four hours had passed. + +He took a lively interest in the tree, and suggested having it in his +uncle's study. Then on Christmas Eve the cases could be moved out of the +way in the shop, and both rooms be given up to the frolic. + +As the Spectacle Man was more than willing, this was decided upon; and +as it would give them so much more room, Miss Moore thought she'd like +to ask two other young women, who were studying in a business college, +and boarded in the same house with her Texas friend. Mark knew two +fellows he'd like to have, and his uncle wished to invite a young man +who had come once or twice to his Bible class, and who was a stranger in +town. + +"Perhaps," said Mrs. Morrison, when they were discussing it, "we had +better limit our invitations to those who are not likely to have a merry +Christmas." + +"My young man doesn't look as if he knew the meaning of merry," said Mr. +Clark. + +"My girls may know its meaning, but they haven't much chance to practise +it, in the dingy boarding house," added Miss Moore. + +"I am sure Mrs. Gray doesn't have any fun," said Frances, who clung to +her idea of asking the old lady. + +There couldn't have been found a merrier party in the whole city than +that at work in the Spectacle Man's study on Christmas Eve. Mark had +brought in a quantity of cedar and mistletoe, and while Mrs. Morrison +and Miss Sherwin trimmed the tree, the children and Miss Moore turned +the shop into a bower of fragrant green. + +Mark was full of mischief, and romped with Frances, and teased Emma +until she wished she could crawl under the bookcase as Peterkin did +under the same circumstances. The General trotted about in a gale of +delight, getting in everybody's way, and was most unwilling to leave the +scene of action when his mother came to take him to bed. + +Mrs. Bond lifted her hands in dismay at so much work for nothing. + +"But isn't it pretty?" asked Mrs. Morrison, from the top of the +step-ladder. + +"It is pretty enough, but it all has to come down, and then what a +mess!" was the reply. + +"Still, it is fun, and Christmas comes but once a year. Here, Mark, this +is to decorate the immortal George. Can you reach?" and Miss Moore held +out a beautiful branch of holly. + +"You'll come to the party, won't you, Mrs. Bond?" Frances asked. + +"Come? of course she will; no one in this house can be excused," said +Mr. Clark, entering the room with some interesting packages under his +arm. + +The little girls were extremely curious about some work Miss Sherwin and +Mrs. Morrison had been doing, which they kept a secret from everybody, +and now the sight of a number of flat parcels in tissue paper tied with +red ribbon excited them afresh. + +"Is that what you have been making?" asked Frances. + +"Just part of it," Miss Sherwin replied, as she hung them on the tree. + +"Emma, what do you suppose they are? Everybody is to have one, for I +have counted," Frances whispered. + +"I don't know, I am sure; but isn't it fun!" and Emma spun around like a +top in her excitement. + +"And she says it is only part," continued Frances. + +"I believe we have done all that can be done to-night," said Mrs. +Morrison, crossing the room to get a better view of the tree. + +"It will be a beauty when it is lighted. I think even Gladys will +admire it," remarked Miss Moore. + +Wilson, who had come in to sweep up, looked at it critically. "We had a +tree at the Institute last year that was lighted with inclandestine +lights," he said. + +Mark giggled, and Mrs. Morrison looked puzzled for a minute, then she +smiled as she said, "Yes, I have heard of lighting them by electricity, +but ours is a home-made affair." + +"Isn't Wilson absurd?" laughed Miss Sherwin as they all went into the +next room. "What do you think he said to me the other day? He complained +that Mrs. Bond was too unscrupulous to live with, and when I asked him +what he meant, he said she required him to wash off the front porch +every morning before he went to school, and that made him late for his +Greek lesson, and in his opinion it was very unscrupulous." + +"If it wasn't for Zenobia I think he would try to find a place where +more respect was shown to Greek," said Mrs. Morrison. + +Mrs. Marvin's housekeeper came in to see Mrs. Bond that evening, and on +her way out she had full view of the study, where work was still going +on. Seeing Frances and recognizing her, she asked her name, and seemed +very much surprised at Mrs. Bond's reply. + +"Frances Morrison!" she repeated, "why that is--" she checked herself, +but stood watching the group as if deeply interested. + +"Do you know her?" asked Mrs. Bond. + +Caroline shook her head. "The name's familiar, that is all," she +replied. + +Christmas Day was gloomy as to weather, but that was a small matter with +so much merriment going on indoors. After the excitement of examining +stockings was over the party was the event of the day, and was looked +forward to with eager anticipation by the children. + +It was to be an early party, the guests having been invited to come at +six o'clock. Gladys was the first to arrive, and the three little girls +sat on the big hall sofa and waited for the others to come. The shop was +brilliantly lighted and looked quite unfamiliar with all the show-cases +moved back against the wall, and its trimmings of cedar and holly. In +the centre of the room on a table was the secret which had so excited +Emma and Frances. A dozen or more cards were arranged around a central +one, upon which was printed, "A Christmas Dinner"; on each of the other +cards was a picture representing some part of the dinner. Miss Sherwin +presided over this, and Frances presented each guest, as he or she +arrived, with a pencil and a blank card on which the names of the +various dishes were to be written as they were guessed. The one +guessing the largest number was to have a prize, and everybody was to +try except Mrs. Morrison and Miss Sherwin, who had prepared the +pictures, and of course knew what they meant. + +This served to break the ice, and Miss Moore's girls, and Mark's +friends, and the Spectacle Man's shy student, all became sociable +directly, as they moved about the table. + +To the delight of Frances, Mrs. Gray came. She was quite apologetic over +it, saying it seemed ridiculous for her to be going anywhere, but she +didn't know when she had seen a Christmas tree, and so at the last +minute she had decided to come. + +"We take it as a great compliment," Mrs. Morrison said, helping her with +her wraps and leading her to Mr. Clark's arm-chair. + +She was a sweet-looking old lady in her white cap and embroidered +kerchief, and Miss Sherwin said her presence gave just the grandmotherly +touch their party needed. Miss Moore decorated her with a sprig of +holly, and every one tried to make her have a good time. The guests were +all brought to her corner and introduced, and then, while the rest were +busy trying to guess the menu, Mr. Clark came and sat beside her and +talked of old times, and the changes that had come to the city since +they were young. + +It may have been an odd sort of party, but it was a success; and the shy +young man proved himself more clever than any one else, for he guessed +all the dishes. Some of them were very easy, the first, for instance, +which was simply some points cut out of blue paper and pasted on a card. + +"I know what they are," said Mark, "but three wouldn't be enough for +me." + +Every one knew the map without a name must be _Turkey_, but the small +strips of different shades of green did not at first suggest _olives_; a +cat on the back of a chair puzzled some, but meant _catsup_ at once to +others. An infant in a high chair yelling for dear life, was of course +_ice cream_, but the medical student was the only one to guess the +meaning of a calf reposing on the grass. He explained his cleverness by +saying that his mother often made _veal loaf_, and he was very fond of +it. + +When he had received his prize, which was a box of candy, it was time +for the tree. While they were all thinking of something else, Mr. Clark +had slipped in and lighted it, and there it was, all in a blaze of +glory! + +The Spectacle Man was master of ceremonies, and it was worth something +to see his face as he stepped about taking things from the tree and +calling out names. + +For each there was a photograph of the Magi on the way to Bethlehem, +and, besides these, there were other things both useful and amusing, +that had been picked up at the ten-cent store, or manufactured at home. + +No one enjoyed it more than Mrs. Gray, unless it was the General, whose +enthusiasm knew no bounds, and who pranced about with a woolly lamb in +one hand and a Japanese baby in the other. Even Mrs. Bond relaxed, and +for at least an hour did nothing but look on and be amused. + +When the tree was exhausted they had some light refreshments, and then +played old-fashioned games in which all could join. + +"I don't know when I have had such a good time," said Mrs. Gray, as she +was getting ready to go; "and I don't see how you happened to think of +me." + +"We had made up our minds to be lonely and homesick, but we have +laughed so much I don't see how we can ever be doleful again," remarked +Miss Moore's friend. + +"It is the funniest party I ever went to," Gladys whispered to Frances, +"but I have had the loveliest time!" + +The shy student had enjoyed himself more than he could express in words, +and his face spoke for him as he said good night. + +"I am going to have a Christmas tree every year of my life till I die," +the Spectacle Man declared; and if he had had the least encouragement, +he would have gone to work on the spot to plan another party. + + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEENTH. + +ONE SUNDAY AFTERNOON. + + +In Frances' very own book there was a story of a boy who had a beautiful +voice, and who with a great many other boys sang in the choir of Christ +Church. The story was somewhat sad, for the boy, who loved dearly to +sing, lost his sweet voice one day and never found it again; but the +memory of the music as it floated up to the Gothic arches, and of the +sunlight from the great stained window falling a shaft of crimson and +gold across the chancel at vesper service, remained with him, and out of +it grew the story. + +And the story became very real indeed to Frances when one Sunday +afternoon her father took her to the very church where the boy used to +sing. It was such a pleasure to her that after this she and her mother +often went together, and Frances pretended that one of the choir boys, +who happened to have dark eyes and a high clear voice, was little Jack, +and there were certain hymns she loved to hear because he used to sing +them. + +It was the Sunday after Christmas, and Emma had just come up to know if +she might go to church with Frances, when Gladys walked in, gorgeously +arrayed in velvet and silk. Though rather over-dressed she looked very +pretty, but as soon as she spoke it became evident that she was not in a +very good humor. + +"I don't like Sunday," she asserted, with the air of wishing to shock +somebody. + +Emma exclaimed, "Oh, Gladys!" and looked at Mrs. Morrison to see the +effect of this remark upon her; but apparently it hadn't any, for the +lady went on turning the leaves of the book she held, half smiling. + +"I do; why don't you like it, Gladys?" asked Frances. + +"You can't do anything you want to do, and everybody is cross or taking +a nap. Mamma has a headache, and she said I shouldn't come over here, +but I just told her I was coming. I knew she wouldn't care if I didn't +bother her." + +"Your mother is pretty funny, Gladys," Frances observed. + +"Suppose you go with us to service this afternoon and hear the Christmas +music; we can stop and ask your mother on the way," Mrs. Morrison +suggested. + +"Do come, Gladys, it is lovely to hear the choir boys, and perhaps they +will sing 'O little town of Bethlehem,'" said Frances, adding, with a +nod to Emma, who knew the story, "That is one of them." + +Gladys did not decline the invitation, but she did not seem +enthusiastic, and presently announced, "Emma says you ought to like to +go to church better than to the circus, or anywhere, to any +entertainment, but I don't." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Frances, with a long-drawn breath, "I suppose you ought +to, but-- Mother, ought you to like church better than tableaux? Don't +you remember those beautiful ones we saw in North Carolina?" + +Emma again looked at Mrs. Morrison, confident in the strength of her +position. "Oughtn't you?" she urged. + +"Let me ask you a question. Which would you rather do, stay at home +to-morrow afternoon, or go to see 'The Mistletoe Bough'?" + +"'The Mistletoe Bough!'" cried three voices. + +"Does that mean that you care more for tableaux than you do for your +homes?" + +"No, mother, of course not, only--" Frances hesitated. + +"No, of course you do not, but for the time the tableaux are more +amusing. It seems to me we must make a distinction between caring for +things and finding them entertaining. You may care a great deal for +church and yet not find it as amusing as some other places." + +"I never thought of it in that way," said Mark, who had come in while +they were talking. + +"We ought not to care too much for amusement, but try to learn to take +pleasure in other things," continued Mrs. Morrison. "We do not love +persons or things because we ought to, but because they seem to us +lovely; and yet when we think for how long people have gone on building +churches--plain little chapels, grand cathedrals--and have worshipped +God in them, and found help and blessing, surely we ought not to be +willing to say, 'I don't like church,' but should try to find out its +beautiful meaning for ourselves." + +"I am afraid I am a good deal like Gladys; I have found it rather a +bore," said Mark. + +"You remember our Christmas picture of the Wise Men," Mrs. Morrison went +on. "They had learning and wealth and distinction, and yet they took +that long, weary journey for what?" + +"The star," said Gladys. + +"To find Jesus," said Frances. + +"Yes, with all their riches and learning they felt the need of something +else, and the star was sent to guide them. And to-day each one of us has +some heavenly vision which he must obey and follow as the Wise Men +followed the star." + +Frances shook her head. "I never had a vision," she said. + +"Yes, I think you have sometimes felt what a beautiful thing it would +be to be good. Perhaps when you have listened to the Christmas story you +have determined to let the Christ-Child into your heart. If you have, it +is your vision; and if you obey it, it will grow stronger and clearer. +In the midst of all our work and play, the vision often grows dim, but +going to God's house and thinking of Him and what He wants us to do, +helps to keep it bright." + +"I wish we had a real star to follow; it would be easier," said Gladys.' + +"We'd probably forget to watch it," said Mark. "I know how it is at +school. A fellow makes up his mind to grind away and do his very best, +and then before he knows it, the edge of his resolution wears off, and +he finds himself skinning along, taking it easy." + +Mrs. Morrison smiled. "Yes, that is the way with most of us: we forget +so easily. And now let's go to church and try to think what the +Christmas star means for us." + +The Spectacle Man who happened to be at the shop window when the little +party started out, smiled to himself at sight of Mark walking beside +Mrs. Morrison. "That is just what my boy needs," he said. "It isn't much +influence an old uncle can have." + +The church was fragrant and beautiful in its Christmas dress, the light +came softly through the stained windows, and above the festoons and +wreaths of cedar shone the brilliant star. The children sat very still, +with earnest faces, till the service began, then, to Frances' delight, +the processional was "O little town of Bethlehem." + +With their heads together over the book, she and Gladys sang too. At the +last stanza Frances, who knew the words, gazed straight at the star, +forgetful of everything but the music:-- + + "We hear the Christmas Angels + The great glad tidings tell; + Oh, come to us, abide with us, + Our Lord Emmanuel." + +But at the Amen something drew her eyes to the other side of the aisle +where, stately and handsome, stood Mrs. Marvin, watching her. She longed +to call her mother's attention to this lady of whom she had thought and +talked so much, but as Gladys sat between it was not possible. + +All through the short service she kept stealing glances across the +aisle, but Mrs. Marvin did not turn again. The sight of the bright child +face had stirred the memory of an earnest little chorister who used +sometimes to smile at her over his book as he passed, and she did not +want to remember those old days; she wished she had not come. + +Gladys, who did not often go to church, was interested and touched by +the simple service. She slipped her hand into Mrs. Morrison's when it +was over and whispered, "I am glad I came, and I mean to be good." + +Perhaps her ideas of goodness were somewhat vague, and certainly there +was much in her surroundings to cloud the vision, but who can tell what +fruit an earnest wish may bear. + +Frances hoped Mrs. Marvin would speak to her, but the crowd separated +them, and though she kept a careful watch she did not see her again. + +As they walked home in the twilight Mark, who was still beside Mrs. +Morrison, said, "I'm afraid I don't care enough for church and that sort +of thing, and though I know of course there must be a great deal in it +for some people, I never thought of trying to find out what it was, as +you said. It seemed to me it was something that came of itself, if it +came at all." He spoke with real earnestness. + +"Yet it doesn't seem quite logical to take care of our minds and bodies +and never think of our souls, does it?" his companion asked. "I remember +my own schooldays well enough to know how difficult it is not to be +entirely absorbed in what are called secular things. But after all, it +is the motive of a life that makes it fine; and if, in all you do, you +follow the best you know, are faithful and true and kind, that is +religion. The caring for church and things called sacred will come in +time; you can't be grown up spiritually all at once, any more than you +can physically." + +"You make it seem reasonable and almost easy," Mark said; "but I thought +one had to understand a lot of things. You see my mother died when I was +a little chap, and there was only Aunt Emily. Uncle George is very +kind, but you can't believe he knows how a boy feels; people forget." + +"Perhaps they remember more than impatient young persons give them +credit for," answered Mrs. Morrison, smiling. "There is one thing, Mark: +whatever you do, be in earnest." + +In the city streets the electric lights had come out one by one, and +overhead the stars were shining. They walked the last block in silence, +and when they separated at the door, Mark said, "Thank you, Mrs. +Morrison." + +"What was he thanking you for?" Frances asked. + +"I don't know, Wink, unless it was for some advice." + +"I think Mark is a nice boy; I am glad he came home," Frances remarked +as she took off her hat. + +At the same moment, down in the study, Mark was saying: "How did you +ever happen to find them, Uncle George?-- Mrs. Morrison and Frances, I +mean. They are not like--everybody; they are the real thing. That +Frances is a regular little princess! How did they happen to come here?" + +"I, too, have wondered at it, my boy, but I have learned to take the +good things that come my way without asking many questions," was the old +man's reply. + + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEENTH. + +THREE OF A NAME. + + +Frances stood thoughtfully looking out of the window. To-morrow would be +New Year's Day and also her mother's birthday, and she had not +remembered it till this morning. She wondered if she could not in some +way get some flowers for her. She had her Christmas money from Uncle +Allan in California, and there was nothing her mother enjoyed more than +flowers, but who would go with her to get them? Zenobia was busy, and +Emma was taking care of the General, who had had an attack of croup. + +As she stood there Mark came up the walk and lifted his hat to her. +"Perhaps he will take me," she said, and running into the hall she +called from the head of the stairs: "Mark, are you very busy? Could you +do something for me?" + +"I am at your ladyship's command," was the reply. + +"Then I'll come down and tell you, for it is a secret." + +"Is it? Well, I'm splendid at keeping secrets." + +Descending, Frances stated the case, and Mark not only said he would be +glad to go with her, but he knew a place where she could get flowers +much cheaper than down town. + +"I'm so much obliged to you, and now I must ask mother if I can go," +Frances said. "I can say you _want_ me to go, can't I? It will be true, +won't it?" she stopped halfway up the steps to inquire. + +"Nothing could be truer," said Mark, laughing. + +It did not take long to get her mother's permission, and in a very few +minutes she came flying down to join her escort at the door. + +As they walked up the street, talking merrily, more than one passer-by +smiled at the pleasant sight, and turned to look again at the tall boy +and the bright-eyed little girl. + +In these two weeks they had come to be great friends. Frances rather +enjoyed his teasing ways, which so alarmed Emma, and had always a saucy +reply of some sort ready. She liked to be called your ladyship, and +accepted his mock homage with a most regal air. + +"What kind of flowers are you going to buy?" Mark asked. + +"Violets, I think, because mother is specially fond of them." + +"Aren't they rather expensive?" + +"I don't know. I have two dollars; won't that be enough?" she asked +anxiously. + +"Dear me, I had no idea you were so rich! Are you going to spend all +that?" + +"I don't think that is too much to spend on your mother," she replied +with emphasis. + +"Certainly not, I wasn't objecting in the least." + +"No, it wouldn't do any good," she asserted with dignity. + +Mark laughed, and inquired what flowers she liked best herself. + +"Great big red roses," was the prompt answer. + +"Commend me to a princess for extravagant tastes!" Mark exclaimed, +laughing. + +The greenhouse was an enchanting place, and after the violets were +ordered Frances wandered up and down the fragrant aisles, quite +unwilling to leave. Mark at length grew impatient. "I am afraid it is +going to storm; we must go," he said. + +Sure enough, before they had gone two blocks it began to rain. Mark +glanced uneasily at the clouds and then at his companion. Neither of +them had thought of bringing an umbrella. + +"We can take the car at the next corner unless it begins to pour; in +that case we shall have to go in somewhere," he said, taking her hand. + +They were hurrying down the avenue when they heard some one call, +"Frances! Frances!" and there was Mrs. Marvin just leaving her carriage +at the gate. "You must come in and wait till the storm is over," she +said, and almost before they knew what had happened they found +themselves standing on the porch with her, while the rain swept down in +torrents. + +"I am grateful to the wind for blowing you in my direction," Mrs. Marvin +said, looking at Frances with her intent gaze. + +The little girl smiled, and then remembering that Mrs. Marvin did not +know Mark, she introduced him. + +The lady was very gracious and asked him in to wait till the storm was +over, but Mark said he had an engagement at home to meet a friend, and +did not mind the rain for himself; so, being provided with an umbrella, +he went off, promising to return for Frances when it cleared. This Mrs. +Marvin assured him would not be necessary, as she would send her home. + +"I am always getting caught in the rain," said Frances, as she went +upstairs, her hand clasped in Mrs. Marvin's. "That was the way I +happened to get acquainted with the Spectacle Man." + +"I am glad something brought you to me; I have been wondering if I +should ever see you again." + +When her own room was reached the lady sat down and drew the child to +her. "Have you forgotten me in all these weeks?" she asked. + +"Oh, no, I couldn't do that," was the reply. + +"You couldn't? Why not?" and she was drawn closer. + +Frances thought this was not the sort of person to be easily forgotten, +but she only smiled. + +"I'd better not take it off," she said, as Mrs. Marvin began to unfasten +her coat. "Mark will be back." + +"But you couldn't go out in such a storm, dear; you are going to take +lunch with me." + +Clearly there was nothing to do but submit, and Frances was not +unwilling. Mrs. Marvin looked at her fondly; the slender little figure +in the blue sailor suit quite satisfied her fastidious taste. It puzzled +her, too, for such daintiness and grace seemed to her altogether +incompatible with what she had heard of the child's surroundings. Her +sympathies were narrowed by her sensitiveness to anything that fell +below her own standard of taste. She had yet to learn that there was a +broader culture than hers. No wonder she was bewildered as she listened +to Frances' frank chatter. + +That this young person was very much of a chatterbox could not be +denied. Her father often said it would not take a Philadelphia lawyer to +find out all she knew, and on this occasion she had an interested +hearer. + +"Emma and I think this is a lovely house," she remarked, as they went +down to lunch. "I like our flat," she added loyally, "only of course +there isn't so much room in it." + +This, to her, made the chief difference,--more room, more things. Her +own home life had always been harmonious, had expressed grace and +refinement in a simpler way, indeed, but as truly as Mrs. Marvin's; and +so having always had the emphasis laid upon the best things, she felt no +embarrassment, but only a frank enjoyment in this beautiful house. + +When lunch was over, Mrs. Marvin led the way to the library, where the +wood fire burned, and the little girl smiled down from above the mantle, +and a great bunch of American Beauties bent their stately heads over a +tall vase. What a combination of delights! Frances hung over the flowers +with such pleasure in her eyes that her hostess said: "Do you like +roses? You must take those with you when you go." + +Mrs. Marvin took out a portfolio of photographs she thought might be +interesting, and they went over them together. She knew perfectly how to +be entertaining, and Frances enjoyed it very much, but when they came to +the last one she said: "Mrs. Marvin, won't you tell me now about that +portrait? I like it better than any picture I ever saw." + +"Why, certainly, dear; that is my mother when she was a child. It is one +of my greatest treasures." + +Frances felt disappointed. "Then she is not a little girl now," she +said. + +"No; the picture was painted many years ago, in London, when my +grandfather was Minister to England. My mother was an only child." + +"I am an only child, too," Frances remarked, her eyes fixed on the +portrait. + +"Perhaps you will be interested to know that her name was the same as +your own." + +"Was it? And your name, too, is Frances, isn't it?" + +"Yes, we are three of a name," was Mrs. Marvin's answer. + +"I suppose--" Frances hesitated. + +"What, dear?" + +"I was going to ask if the little girl was alive now." + +"No; she lived to grow up and marry, and died while she was still very +young and beautiful, leaving three little children." + +It was hard to realize that so much had happened to this bright-eyed +girl; Frances wrinkled her brow in the effort, and sat very still. After +a while she said, "I am glad her name was Frances; she always makes me +think of the Girl in the Golden Doorway." + +"What is that?" Mrs. Marvin inquired. + +"It is one of father's stories," was the answer, and without much urging +she told it, and told it well, because she was so fond of it. "It makes +me want to see him so," she added with a sigh, at the end. + +Mrs. Marvin listened, her face almost hidden by the screen she held. +"Did your father ever tell you anything more of his childhood?" she +asked. + +"Not very much. He went to live somewhere else, I think, and I don't +know what became of the picture. There is something about it I don't +understand, but some time I know he will tell me. I think a certain +person has something to do with it." + +"Whom do you mean by a certain person?" + +"It is some one who was once a friend of father's, but is not now. That +is all I know, except that I heard him tell mother he did not mind our +staying here, because a certain person was abroad; but I guess maybe I +oughtn't to say anything about it," Frances concluded uneasily. + +The conversation was interrupted by a servant who announced a young man +to take the little girl home. + +"It is Mark," Frances exclaimed, jumping up. + +While they had been talking the wind had grown quiet, and the rain had +turned to a wet snow. Mark had brought her waterproof and overshoes, but +Mrs. Marvin insisted upon ordering the carriage. She held Frances in her +arms and kissed her as if she could not bear to let her go. + +"I have had a beautiful time, and I am so much obliged for the roses," +the child said, when at last she was released. + +They drove home in state through the wet streets. "I tell you this is +fine!" said Mark; "I mean to be rich some day." + +"So do I," replied Frances from behind her roses, and neither of them +dreamed what a lonely heart they had left behind them in that beautiful +house. + + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEENTH. + +A CONFIDENCE. + + +This second encounter with Mrs. Marvin both annoyed and puzzled Mrs. +Morrison. It had come about naturally enough, yet she could not help +feeling that this lady's interest in a child she had not seen or heard +of six weeks ago was extraordinary; and though she did not wish to spoil +Frances' pleasure in her roses, she shook her head at the thought of +what they must have cost. + +The violets which arrived early on New Year's morning gave great +satisfaction, although they were, after all, the cause of her +disquietude. Half an hour later came an express package from Honolulu, +containing some trifles of native manufacture in sandalwood and ivory, a +number of photographs, and a long birthday letter. + +"I almost wish," Mr. Morrison wrote, "that our new home was to be on +this enchanting island. The box is for Frances' jewels when she gets +them, the other things to be divided as you see fit. If it were not for +the thought of two small persons in the house of the Spectacle Man away +off in the United States, I should be strongly tempted to run over to +China, it seems so near. But never mind! when Frances is grown we'll +make a journey around the world." + +"I think father is so nice," Frances remarked, as if she had but +recently made his acquaintance, locking and unlocking her box with as +much pleasure as if it had been full of jewels. + +Mrs. Morrison laughed happily; she knew what her daughter meant but +could not express the charm of sympathetic companionship. "Oh, Frances!" +she exclaimed quite gravely the next moment, "it has been good for us +to do without him for a while. We are so happy together I am afraid it +makes us selfish." + +Mark left for school the first of the next week. His parting words to +Mrs. Morrison were: "You have been awfully good to me, and I'll not +forget some of the things you have said. The house has been a different +place with you and the Princess here, and I hope I shall find you when I +come back." + +"I don't know about that," was the reply. "Just at present we are +wanderers, but we must look out for a home before long; and wherever it +is we'll be glad to see you." + +After this, things quieted down into the old routine, only now Frances +began to count the weeks that must pass before her father's return. By +the first of April, if not sooner, he had promised. + +She came down from her drawing lesson in great glee one morning. "Miss +Sherwin's story has been taken, mother, and they are going to print it +in March; aren't you glad? And they like the illustrations, too, and say +they will be glad to hear from her again; I saw the letter." + +"It shows their good taste; I must go up and congratulate her," said +Mrs. Morrison. + +"She did not seem to care much about it, mother. I don't think she is +quite happy," Frances remarked with an air of great penetration. + +Mrs. Morrison had become very fond of Lillian. Over their Christmas work +they had found each other out, and a real friendship had begun. Beneath +the girl's somewhat cold and reserved manner there was a genuine +sweetness and charm which had at once responded to the unaffected +friendliness of the older woman. + +Miss Moore professed to be extremely jealous, saying that already +Lillian cared more for Mrs. Morrison than she did for her; and on the +other hand, although she herself had been sociable to the last degree +with her neighbors, they openly preferred her taciturn companion. "It is +well that virtue is its own reward, for it certainly does not get any +other, in my experience," she remarked whimsically. + +"Don't be such a goose, Mary; you know everybody likes you," replied +Miss Sherwin. + +"Oh, yes, they like me, and say I am good-natured, because there is +nothing else to be said. It is my fate to be commonplace, and I must +make up my mind to it," and Miss Moore hurried away to her afternoon +class with her usual cheery face. Her moody friend was a puzzle to her, +and she by no means begrudged her any companionship that would make her +happier. + +Miss Sherwin sat at her desk. Before her lay the envelope containing +the check in payment for "The Story of the Missing Bridge," but she did +not look like one whose efforts had been crowned with success. After a +few ineffectual attempts to go to work, her head went down among the +papers, and it was thus Mrs. Morrison found her. + +"I knocked and thought I heard you answer," she said, "but even if I did +not, I can't go away now without trying to comfort you." + +The pressure of the arm around her, the touch of the soft hand, was too +grateful to be resisted; Lillian leaned her head against her friend as +she sobbed, "It is only that I am such a goose!" + +"I know all about that, dear, we so frequently are," Mrs. Morrison +replied, smiling a little all to herself. "But," she added, "you ought +to be happy to-day. I came up to congratulate you on your story." + +"I have had three taken this week, and instead of being happy I hate it +all!" Lillian's head went down on the papers again. + +By dint of much patient encouragement and real sympathetic interest the +story came out by degrees; all the hidden sorrow of months found an +outlet in the broken little confession. Not very clearly told, it was +yet plain enough in a general way. + +A boy and girl friendship had grown into something stronger. Only a year +ago they had made happy plans for the future they meant to spend +together. Then came the misunderstanding--a trifling thing in the +beginning, but which grew until she was convinced she had made a +mistake, that she had never really cared. She felt she needed freedom to +go her own way and do her own work. She would be independent and try +life for herself. + +He had laughed at first, and this hurt her pride. She would show him +she was not a weak dependent creature, and with some bitter words they +had parted. + +"I thought I did not care--that I could be happy in my work. I meant to +be famous and I did not mind being lonely," said Lillian; "but now that +I am having a little success it means nothing because--" she hesitated, +and Mrs. Morrison said softly-- + +"Success doesn't mean much unless there is some one to share it and be +glad with us. + +"Yes, that is it. Perhaps if I were a genius it would be different, but +I have only a poor little talent, after all. And I see how I was most to +blame. I was hateful and proud--and now there is no help for it. I don't +know why I should tell it, except that you are so kind, for it cannot be +undone, and I must learn to bear it." + +"It is so much better for you to speak of it, dear. And do you know +what I am thinking? That it is not easy to destroy the bridge between +two hearts that really love; isn't that it? All you can do is to wait +and be patient, going on with your work and making yourself worthy of +the best that can happen to you." + +"But when one makes a mistake one has to bear the consequences," said +Lillian, sadly. + +"The pain and self-accusation--yes, but how often we are given the +opportunity of undoing our mistakes. It is a hard, hard lesson you have +to learn, but isn't there a star of hope somewhere that you can fix your +eyes upon. Forgive me for pressing your own moral upon you, but it has +helped me and I want you to take comfort." + +As Mrs. Morrison went slowly down stairs again, she said to herself, +"Poor little girl! I wish I could help her; but if her lover is what he +ought to be, he will come back, I am sure." + + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. + +HARD TIMES. + + +Bad weather was predicted by the almanac for the first week in February, +and bad weather prevailed both indoors and out. + +Frances had an attack of grip which came near being pneumonia, and +caused her mother some anxious days. Miss Sherwin, going in one evening +to ask Zenobia about the patient, found Mrs. Morrison herself in the +kitchen, crying as if her heart would break, her face buried in one of +her little daughter's white aprons that lay on the ironing-board. + +"Is she worse?" Lillian exclaimed, much alarmed, for surely it must be +something serious to unnerve this bright, hopeful person. + +"I don't know--the doctor didn't say so--but she is ill, and one can +never tell. Oh, my darling baby!--if she should get worse, and Jack +away--why did I let him go!" she began a trembling search for her +handkerchief. "I left her with Zenobia-- I couldn't stand it any longer, +but I must go back now," she said, wiping her eyes. "I know I am +foolish, but I can't help it." + +"You are not foolish at all, but tired and anxious, poor child," said +Lillian, with her arms around her. "Now listen to me; Frances is going +to pull through, I am certain of it. The doctor would have said so, if +he thought her very ill; but I am going to stay with you. I am a good +nurse,-- I took care of my little cousin only a year ago, in just such +an attack, and you may lie on the sofa and watch me." + +"Oh, thank you, but--" + +"Please don't say a word, dear, for I know I can help. I am going to +take Zenobia's place now, and you may come when you have bathed your +face." + +There was strength in Lillian's quiet, confident tone; Mrs. Morrison +smiled through her tears: "You will think me a great fraud, after all my +good advice to you. Like the physician who gave up his profession to +enter the ministry, I find it easier to preach than to practise." + +"I am glad you are human," Lillian answered, and dropping a kiss on her +forehead, she went to relieve Zenobia. + +She was quite right in thinking she could help, and during the few days +while Frances lingered on the brink of a serious illness she was a tower +of comfort and strength. The experience drew them closer together; and +when the worst was over, and the patient convalescing, Mrs. Morrison +said she believed it was worth all the anxiety to have found out this +side of Lillian. + +"I do want you and Jack to know each other," she said, and this meant +that her new friend had been taken into the inner circle. + +About this time the Spectacle Man sat at his desk in the room below with +an anxious look on his usually cheery face. The storm cloud had settled +upon him, too, and his trouble was a question of money. + +The directors of a certain institution in which he owned a good deal of +stock had thought it wise to pass their semi-yearly dividend, and with +hard times affecting everything more or less, he could not see how Mark +was to be kept at school. Sitting there, he tortured himself with the +thought of what he might have done if he had only foreseen. He called +himself an old fogy, and wished he might be twenty years younger. + + "The bridge is broke and I have to mend it." + +The song rose to his lips unconsciously, and he hummed it in a dreary +fashion that caused Peterkin to open his eyes. At least he did open +them, and there was something in the serenity of those yellow orbs that +recalled the Spectacle Man to himself. + +"You are right, Peterkin, I am foolish, and I thank you for telling me +so," he said, stooping to caress the smooth head. "There is always a +way, and you'll find it if you'll keep your eyes open, and don't let the +clouds of despair and distrust gather and hide it," he continued to +himself, and he began to sing again, this time in a cheery tone. + +That same evening he went to see Mrs. Gray. It was a business call, for +the old lady needed some stronger glasses, and could not get out in bad +weather to attend to it herself; but after he had tried her eyes, they +fell to talking about other matters. + +Mrs. Gray was lonely and unhappy. Her only son was going to be married, +and she knew she was a burden to him, and she wished she was dead. She +had not meant to tell it, but the benevolent face of the Spectacle Man +invited confidence. + +He confessed to being blue himself, and then he told her briefly the +story of the bridge. + +"You may say it is all made up, but some way I know it is true," he +added earnestly. "There is always a way, if only we are patient and +don't give up. You haven't begun to be a burden yet, and I haven't had +to bring Mark home. We can't _see_ the way, but if we go on a step at a +time, we'll find it." + +Emma was also having a taste of bad weather. In the first place, the +General had an illness much like Frances', and this meant that he must +be kept in bed and amused from morning till night. Then Emma's teacher +decided to have her pupils give an entertainment on Washington's +Birthday, and Emma was selected among others to take part. It was an +event of great importance to the school children, and at recess nothing +else was talked about. + +As Emma expressed it, she had never been _in_ anything before in her +life, and no prima donna was ever more excited over her debut than she +at the thought of this little recitation; but her pleasure met with a +sudden check upon the discovery that a white dress would be necessary. +She hadn't a white dress, and she knew it was hopeless to think of +getting one in time, still she couldn't help mentioning it to her +mother. + +"A white dress! Will you tell me how on earth you could get one? Even if +I had the money to buy it, where would I find time to make it? It is all +nonsense anyway." Mrs. Bond was tired out and spoke with more emphasis +than she would otherwise have used. + +Her daughter turned away quite crushed by the pitiless logic. She should +have to tell Miss Ellen and the girls that she couldn't be in it +because she hadn't any dress. She couldn't help shedding some bitter +tears, and that was how the Spectacle Man found out about it. + +Her mother sent her into the shop to get some change, and his supply +being low Mr. Clark despatched Dick to get some; then noticing the red +eyes, he asked what the trouble was, and something in his kind, +sympathetic face drew forth the story. + +As he listened an idea came to the Spectacle Man. "Now, Emma," he said, +"don't worry any more about this till--well, till Monday morning. This +is Friday, so you won't have to do anything about it till then, and in +the meantime something may happen. Indeed, I'm almost sure something +will." + +All this may not have been very logical, but Emma carried away her +change with a much lighter heart. + +That evening when Mrs. Morrison went in to pay her rent, she stopped to +chat with the optician. Frances was eating oyster soup upstairs with +Miss Sherwin and Zenobia in attendance, and her mother was feeling very +happy. + +"Mrs. Morrison," Mr. Clark began in a somewhat embarrassed manner as she +was about to leave, "you know more of the value of such things than I +do; do you think any of these old belongings of mine are worth anything? +In money, I mean." By a wave of his hand he seemed to indicate all that +was in the room. + +"I should think so. The portrait, of course, is, and that cabinet looks +very handsome to me. Are you thinking of selling?" she asked. + +"I may have to, the times are so hard, and Mark must be kept at school. +Some of my investments aren't paying anything now." He paused a moment, +then added, "You wouldn't believe what a foolish old fellow I am, but +I'd rather set my heart on giving that portrait to some collection. I +have liked to think how it would look on the catalogue,--'Presented by +George W. Clark'--all nonsense, of course. Some ladies were here to-day +to ask if I would exhibit it. The Colonial Dames are to have a Loan +Exhibit." + +"I hope you will not have to sell it, but if you should, that will be an +excellent way of advertising it. Oughtn't you to let Mark know the state +of affairs? Don't spoil him; he is such a fine fellow," answered Mrs. +Morrison. + +"There's time enough for that," said Mr. Clark, and then added, "I want +to speak to you about something else," and he told the story of Emma's +trouble. "I thought perhaps you could--" + +"Yes, indeed, I'm sure I can. Thank you for telling me," she held out +her hand. "How kind you are, Mr. Clark! Good night." + +This makes it quite plain how Mrs. Morrison happened to walk into Mrs. +Bond's domain the next day with a white dress over her arm. + +"I want you to look at this, Mrs. Bond," she said. "It is a dress I +had made for Frances last spring, and by a mistake it was cut so +short it had to be faced. Now she has outgrown it, and nothing can +be done. Do you think Emma could wear it? Frances is a good deal +taller. I have thought of offering it to you before, and now it has +occurred to me that Emma may not have a dress ready to wear to the +school entertainment,--Gladys was telling us about it yesterday,--and +if you will accept it, it will be doing me a great favor. I dislike so +to have it wasted." + +"It is a very pretty dress; it is too bad Frances can't wear it," Mrs. +Bond remarked, examining it critically. + +"Then you will let me give it to Emma?" + +Emma's mother was not hard hearted; she liked to see her children happy, +but she had a stern feeling that hardship was likely to be their lot in +this world, and the sooner they became used to it the better. However, +when her pride was convinced that Mrs. Morrison could not use the dress, +she accepted it gratefully. + +Emma's joy was beyond words, and she very much wondered how the +Spectacle Man could have known that something was going to happen. + +When the eventful day came, Mrs. Morrison rolled her hair for her and +tied her long braids with butterfly bows of red, white, and blue, and +when she was dressed, Frances said, "Why, Emma, I believe you are as +pretty as Gladys!" + +Certainly no little girl waved her flag with more enthusiasm, or +rejoiced more truly in the celebration of Washington's Birthday. + + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH. + +AT THE LOAN EXHIBIT. + + +Before the end of February there began to be hints of spring in the air; +now and then there came a day so mild and fair it seemed to belong to +April, and as the winter passed it carried with it some at least of the +cares that had for a while rested upon the inmates of the optician's +house. + +Frances and her mother rejoiced because every day brought nearer their +traveller's return; Miss Moore, busy with the Easter work in her +kindergarten, was finding a new meaning in the season; and even Lillian +Sherwin felt now and then a thrill of joy that was like a prophecy of +days to come, to her sore heart. + +Mr. Clark was cheerful because he loved sunshine; and though he could +not as yet see the way through his difficulties, he felt sure it was +there, and that in good time he should find it. + +The pleasure of Washington's Birthday lingered with Emma; the General, +restored to health and amiability, was no longer such a care, and she +found time once more to spend in that haven of delight upstairs with +Frances. + +George Washington was sent to the Loan Exhibit, together with the +cabinet, some silver candlesticks, and the Wedgwood cream jug and sugar +dish. With the blank space over the mantel the study looked deserted; +and the owl, deprived of his resting-place on the cabinet, perched +forlornly on a corner of the bookcase. + +Frances took great interest in the Exhibit, and insisted upon going, +chiefly it seemed for the purpose of seeing how Washington looked in +his new surroundings. As Mrs. Morrison was housed with a cold, Miss +Sherwin offered to take her. + +They found a beautiful display of valuable and interesting things +arranged in a large, handsomely decorated hall; but not until Frances +had viewed the portrait and made a diligent search for Mr. Clark's other +possessions would she give any attention to less familiar things. + +She and Lillian were bending with delight over a case of miniatures when +she heard her name spoken, and turning, saw Mrs. Marvin. + +"Do you like the miniatures?" the lady asked. "Then come over to the +other side; there is one there I want you to see." + +[Illustration: "She pointed out a picture, set in diamonds"] + +She pointed out a picture, set in diamonds, of a lovely young woman. + +"How pretty! Is it you?" Frances asked, seeing a resemblance to the +handsome face beside her. + +Mrs. Marvin smiled. "No, it is my mother,--the little girl you are so +fond of, after she was grown. They wanted the portrait too," she added, +"but I have decided not to trust it out of my hands again." + +She pointed out several other miniatures in which she thought Frances +would be interested, all the while keeping the child's hand clasped in +her own. Miss Sherwin, seeing her charge had found an acquaintance, +moved on down the aisle. + +"Your friend seems to be interested in the manuscripts; suppose we rest +a few minutes," and Mrs. Marvin drew Frances down beside her on a settee +that stood near a tall case of lace and embroidery. + +"Who is the young lady with you?" she asked. + +Frances' explained, and Mrs. Marvin remarked that she was a handsome +girl. + +"And she is clever, too, for she writes lovely stories and illustrates +them," said Frances, impressively. + +"Does she, indeed?" + +"Yes, she wrote one for us about a song the Spectacle Man--I mean Mr. +Clark--sings. It is a fairy tale, and _The Young People's Journal_ took +it and are going to publish it next month. It has a beautiful moral to +it." + +"What do you know about morals?" laughed Mrs. Marvin. + +"I found this one out when I had a quarrel with Gladys. Mr. Clark helped +me to see it," was the reply; and then, as her companion looked +interested, Frances continued: + +"It is hard to explain it because you haven't read the story. It is +called 'The Missing Bridge,' and is about a young man who couldn't get +across the river that was between him and the girl he was going to +marry, because there wasn't any bridge. That is he _thought_ there +wasn't, though it really was there all the time, and had just been made +invisible by a magician. + +"Well, you know Gladys said she never would speak to me again, and that +was like having the bridge broken between us; don't you think so? But +Mr. Clark said he thought it was only hidden by the clouds of anger and +unkindness. I think it is very uncomfortable to quarrel, don't you?" +then, seeing an odd expression in her companion's face, Frances hastened +to add: "Of course I know you wouldn't quarrel with any one _now_, but I +thought maybe you had when you were a little girl. But don't you think +it is a nice moral? and--oh, yes--the last of it is that love and +courage can always find a way." + +"And how about you and Gladys?" + +"We made up. If you would like to read the story, Mrs. Marvin, it will +be out next week. The March number of _The Young People's Journal_, and +it's only twenty-five cents." + +Mrs. Marvin smiled. "I shall certainly get a copy," she said, adding, "I +see your friend looking this way. Suppose we go to her; I should like to +meet her." + +Why she said this she couldn't have told, and she half repented it the +next minute; but when Frances introduced Miss Sherwin she was all +graciousness. + +"Frances and I have an odd way of meeting every now and then, and have +become great friends. I have been showing her a miniature of my mother, +and she has been telling me about your story." + +"Why, Frances!" said Miss Sherwin, a pretty color coming into her face. + +This girl was extremely attractive, Mrs. Marvin decided, and found a +good deal to say to her over the collection of ancient missals. After a +while Frances wandered off to look at the portraits. + +Mrs. Marvin's eyes followed her as, with her hands clasped behind her, +she stood gazing at an old pioneer. + +"She is a very charming child," she remarked. + +"She is, and she ought to be, for her mother is one of the sweetest +women in the world," Miss Sherwin responded, in eager praise of her +friend, but the next moment she had the feeling of having somehow said +the wrong thing. Was it some change of expression in the handsome face, +or simply the silence that followed her little outburst, which caused +her discomfort? She could not tell. She had been wonderfully charmed by +this stately person, but now the spell was broken; with one impulse they +moved toward Frances. + +"I don't believe I like her, after all," Lillian thought; and yet there +was a marvellous sweetness in the smile that greeted the child, and +brought her with instant response to Mrs. Marvin's side. + +As they were making their way to the door after taking leave of Mrs. +Marvin, Miss Sherwin saw a lady step out from a group of people, and +exclaim: "Why, Mrs. Richards! how do you do? It was only the other day I +heard of your unexpected return." And the person to whom this greeting +was addressed was no other than Mrs. Marvin herself. It puzzled her, but +she said nothing about it to Mrs. Morrison when they related their +morning's adventures. + + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. + +THE MARCH NUMBER OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE'S JOURNAL. + + +Mrs. Marvin was in a sadly restless state of mind. She wished again and +again that chance had not brought this child in her way. Having seen +her, she could not forget her, and each meeting cost her fresh pain. + +And what was to be the outcome of it? Nothing? Frances had said they +would soon be going away. Perhaps then she might be able to settle down +again into the old life of resolutely putting aside the past. + +She was not so strong as she used to be, yet she must endure it as she +had done for so many years. There was nothing she could do. Her pride +told her this with added emphasis each time the half-formed question +rose in her mind. + +She actually fretted herself into a fever which the doctor pronounced +malarial, advising change of air,--a prescription Mrs. Marvin had no +thought of trying at present. + +After several days in bed, she was lying on her couch weak and languid +one morning, when she suddenly remembered the March number of _The Young +People's Journal_. She would send for it and read the story. + +When it was brought there came with it the swift recollection that Jack +used to take it. She could see him now poring over the puzzle column, +looking up with such a triumphant light in his brown eyes when he +discovered an answer. + +She held the paper for a long time without opening it, lying quite still +with a desolate look on her face that was more than Caroline, her +faithful nurse, could stand. + +"I declare, if Miss Frances doesn't cheer up, I don't know what I shall +do," she said to the seamstress. + +After a while Mrs. Marvin began to turn the pages, till she found the +story of "The Missing Bridge," with the gay little tune for a heading. + +It is doubtful if under ordinary circumstances she would have had +patience to read the simple story through, but to-day she found +something soothing in its very simplicity. + +"No power can destroy the bridge between true and loving hearts." She +lay thinking of what Frances had said about her quarrel with Gladys. Ah! +many another bridge had been made invisible by clouds of anger and +pride. The paper slipped from her grasp. "I _did_ love him so dearly," +she cried, clasping her hands; "and I thought he cared for me, but now +he has probably forgotten." + +"Faith and courage can find the way--" so said the story. + +"But I have neither," sighed Mrs. Marvin. + +Her unquiet mind seized upon the words of the little song, and all +through the day she said them over and over:-- + + "The bridge is broke and I have to mend it." + +The clock ticked:-- + + "The bridge is broke and I have to mend it, mend it, mend it, mend + it." + +Even the horses' hoofs on the asphalt street rang out the same refrain. + +Mrs. Marvin rose from her couch in some respects a changed woman. It +seemed to her she had lived years in that illness of two weeks. In her +soul a battle had been waged, and the struggle had left her passive and +unresisting; she was waiting. The outward result was a strange, new +gentleness of manner. + +At the time of the Loan Exhibit she had been commissioned by a friend +to purchase a wedding gift, which was to be, if possible, something +antique. The silver candlesticks belonging to Mr. Clark rather pleased +her; and thinking he might have other interesting things, she had +written his address in her note-book, intending to go and see for +herself, but her illness had interfered. When she was once more able to +be out this was her first thought. + +In the meantime the March _Journal_ was being read by a good many +persons who ordinarily never looked at it. The household at the +Spectacle Man's naturally took a deep interest in it; and Miss Sherwin +said she felt she ought to divide the profits, for if it had not been +for the song and Mrs. Morrison's suggestion, the story would never have +been written. + +Frances laid emphatic commands upon her father to buy a copy the minute +he landed in San Francisco; and Mr. Clark was also charged to remind +Mark of the story, when he wrote. + +In the hurry of sending telegrams, attending to his baggage, and making +arrangements for an early start eastward, Mr. Morrison forgot this +important matter, and it did not occur to him till, halfway on his +homeward journey, he one morning saw the paper among others the train +boy was carrying through the cars. He promptly purchased it, for it +would never do to meet his little daughter without having read the story +which was, she said, almost as good as one of his own. + +Soon after leaving San Francisco, Mr. Morrison had made the acquaintance +of a young civil engineer who was on his way to his home in Tennessee +for a visit. He had frank, gentlemanly manners, and the cheerful, +self-reliant air of a trained worker who loves his work, and the +travellers were at once attracted to each other. As so often happens, +they discovered mutual friends, and also that they had the same +affection for Southern life and ways. Alexander Carter, as he gave his +name, had recently accepted a position with a Western mining company,--a +place of trust and responsibility of which he was justly proud in a +modest way. + +"You seem to have found something amusing," he remarked, seeing Mr. +Morrison smiling over the magazine. + +"Well, no, it happens to be a rather serious story, but something +reminded me of my little daughter," was the reply. "By the way, Carter," +he added, "it is odd, but the hero of this tale bears a remarkable +resemblance to you--I mean in the illustration. See here!" Mr. Morrison +held before him the picture of the young farmer as he knelt to release +the white rabbit. "This is your profile exactly. Don't you see it +yourself?" + +Mr. Carter laughed. "I believe there is a faint likeness, which only +goes to show that I have a very ordinary countenance." + +"That is just what you have not, which is the curious part of it," said +Mr. Morrison. + +"Who wrote the story?" his companion asked. + +"It is unsigned, and I have forgotten the name. She is a young lady of +whom my wife and daughter are very fond." + +At St. Louis the travellers separated with cordial good-byes, feeling +like old friends, and Mr. Morrison rushed off to catch the train that +would take him to his destination some hours earlier than he had +expected to arrive. + +Mr. Carter, gathering up his things in a more leisurely way, noticed +_The Young People's Journal_ lying on the seat, and put it in his bag. + + + + +CHAPTER NINETEENTH. + +SURPRISES. + + +"Expect me Wednesday evening; will wire from St. Louis," so read the +telegram from San Francisco; and on Wednesday morning Frances had just +exclaimed over her oatmeal, "O dear, what a long day this will be!" when +the door opened and there stood a familiar figure, looking, oh, so +bright and well! + +After some moments of rapturous hugs and incoherent remarks, the +traveller was allowed to have some breakfast, while Mrs. Morrison and +Frances looked on, too happy to eat. + +"I had to surprise you, for a despatch sent after I left St. Louis would +have aroused you in the night, or else not have reached you till about +this time," Mr. Morrison explained as he helped himself to a muffin. + +"Jack, how brown you are, and how well you look! It is a delight to see +you," said his wife. + +"I never was better in my life; but I can't tell you how I have wished +for you and Frances." + +"Next time you'll take me, won't you, father?" Frances asked. + +"Yes, indeed. Wink, I believe you have grown a foot! You'll soon be a +young lady, and I don't like it; people will begin to think your mother +and I are elderly, when we are really in the heyday of youth." + +In this irrelevant fashion conversation went on through the day. There +were all the winter experiences to be related, and Frances could not +rest till each person in the house had been brought in to see her +father. First of all Mr. Clark ran up to say how glad he was to see the +traveller back again; and on her way to school Miss Moore looked in with +a merry greeting; then Emma and the General were waylaid in the hall +and introduced, the former in a dreadful fit of shyness; and last, Miss +Sherwin was pounced upon and dragged reluctantly into the sitting room. + +To her Mr. Morrison's return meant the breaking up of the pleasant +companionship of the winter, and she was not in the least glad to see +him. Mrs. Morrison's exclamation as she entered was somewhat +disconcerting. + +"Jack, I want you to know Lillian, she has been so good to me!" + +"Good! I?" Miss Sherwin cried in a tone that made them all laugh, and +then her hand was given a cordial grasp by a tall man with a boyish +face, who said, "We shall have to take each other on sufferance, Miss +Sherwin, till we can find out for ourselves how much truth there is in +what our friends say of us." + +"I am very glad we came here; it has really been a delightful +winter,--all but those two dreadful days when Frances was so ill,--but I +don't think I can ever let you go again," Mrs. Morrison said. It was +after lunch, and Frances had gone to get ready for a walk with her +father. + +"Then, will you go to New York with me next week?" asked her husband. + +"I may have to stand that. It will depend on how soon we must leave here +permanently. Jack, there is one rather strange thing I must tell you--" +but just here Frances danced in, and her mother did not finish her +sentence. + +When they returned from their walk late in the afternoon they stopped in +the shop for a moment to speak to Mr. Clark. Peterkin was the only +person to be seen, but the door into the study stood open, and, +supposing the Spectacle Man was there, Frances and her father entered. +Some one was standing before the mantel looking up at the portrait of +Washington, and Frances gave an exclamation of surprise, for it was not +the optician, but, of all persons, Mrs. Marvin! + +It was not very light, and for a second she thought she must be +mistaken, then something very strange happened. Mrs. Marvin turned, and +with a little cry stepped forward, holding out her hands appealingly. +"Jack, O Jack!" she said. + +The astonished child saw the light in her father's eyes as he exclaimed, +"Auntie!" and then his arms were around her, her cheek pressed to his. + +"Jack, I have wanted you so;" the words came with a sob. + +"Dear auntie, I am so glad!" + +Mrs. Marvin was not one to lose her self-control for long; she presently +lifted her head, with one hand on his shoulder she looked at him. "You +have not changed," she said, "but I have grown old." + +In truth, she was very white now the first flush of excitement was +fading, and with gentle hands Jack put her into the shabby leather +chair, and drew another to her side. + +"I wonder if I shall wake and find it a dream," she said, smiling up at +him. + +"It is better than any dream," he answered, bending over her. + +"I have been so lonely,--it has been so long. I thought perhaps you had +forgotten, and-- I am sorry-- Jack." It was the proud woman's surrender, +and John Morrison was touched to the heart. Tears rose to his eyes. + +"It was more my fault than yours, dear,--the years have taught me that, +and I have often wished I could tell you so," he said. + +Frances had stood an amazed spectator of this scene. What did it mean? +Ought she to stay? It was plain she was forgotten. After a little she +touched her father's arm, saying softly, "Daddy, I'm here, you know." + +The plaintive tone recalled both her companions; her father drew her to +his side, but before he could speak Mrs. Marvin took her hand. + +"Frances darling, you will love me, won't you? You are my own little +niece. The day when I first saw you in my library you reminded me of my +dear Jack." + +It was Mr. Morrison's turn to be surprised as his daughter impulsively +threw her arms round the lady's neck, exclaiming, "I do love you, but I +didn't know you knew father." + +"And I didn't know you knew each other," he said. + +"And I don't understand how you happened to come here," added his aunt. + +"Why, we live here, Mrs. Marvin," Frances replied. + +"Mrs. Marvin!" echoed Mr. Morrison. + +"That is a mistake which I encouraged because I wanted to see more of +her," his aunt said; adding, "Is this really the house of the Spectacle +Man?" + +There was so much to be explained it seemed almost hopeless; Mr. Clark +came in and went out again unobserved. It was not an opportune time for +selling candlesticks, evidently. + +"We will not try to unravel the tangle all at once," Mr. Morrison said, +rising. "Auntie, will you come upstairs? I want you to meet Katherine." + +This was hardest of all. It brought back one of her old disappointments; +and without doubt Katherine Morrison was aware how Jack's aunt felt +about his marriage, but she did not hesitate. It was not her custom to +do things by halves. + +Mrs. Morrison, sitting in the twilight lost in happy thoughts, was +aroused by Frances' excited voice: "Mother, what do you think has +happened?" + +Surprised at sight of the stranger, she rose; her husband met her and +drew her forward: "Auntie, this is my wife, to whom I owe my greatest +happiness." + +His aunt understood. This fair, girlish looking little person filled the +first place in his heart; whatever else was changed, this was not. + +"You must try to love me for Jack's sake," she said, taking Katherine's +hand with that new gentleness her nephew found so touching. + +It won his wife. "I shall not have to try," she answered. + +"Are you willing to forget and begin again?--that is what we are going +to do, is it not, Jack?" his aunt looked from his wife to him. "It will +make a great difference in my life," she continued; "I have been very +lonely, and I want this little girl;" she put her arm around Frances. + +"Then she will certainly have to take us, too; won't she, Katherine?" +and Mr. Morrison laughed happily. + +Frances still seemed puzzled. "If this is my Aunt Frances--" she said +slowly, "who is the little girl? Is she the Girl in the Golden Doorway, +truly?--the portrait, I mean. + +"I think she must be, and she is also your great-grandmother," her aunt +replied. + +"Then who is a Certain Person. You said he was abroad, father." Frances +evidently thought it time all mysteries were solved. + +"Why, yes, auntie, how does it happen you are not abroad? I heard last +summer on the best authority that you would spend the winter in Egypt," +said her nephew. + +"I fully expected to be gone eighteen months when I left, but the death +of the mother of my friend, Mrs. Roberts, changed our plans. I did not +wish to go alone." + +Frances was listening intently. "Father! you don't mean Aunt Frances is +a Certain Person?" she cried. "I thought it was a man." + +"It is a character we are going to forget. I am your father's aunt and +yours, dear, and I am not Mrs. Marvin, but Mrs. Richards. Mrs. Marvin is +my cousin. You understand it all now, don't you?" + +Frances was not quite certain of this, but there was no doubt about her +pleasure in her new relative; and when her father went home with his +aunt she was rather impatient at not being allowed to go too. + +"Come sit beside me, Wink, and have a little talk," Mrs. Morrison +suggested when they were alone. + +Frances came and nestled down beside her mother; the day had been so +full of excitement she found it hard work to keep still. + +"You know, dear, that Aunt Frances and father have not seen each other +for years,--not since before you were born,--and of course they have a +great deal to say to each other. There was some trouble--a +misunderstanding--but now it is over--" + +"They have found the bridge like Gladys and me," Frances put in. + +"Yes; but what I was going to say is this: we mustn't be selfish. We +must let Aunt Frances have father to herself sometimes. Don't you think +so?" + +As they sat quietly there in the twilight Mrs. Morrison saw opening +before her a path she would not have chosen. She was a person of simple +tastes and wide sympathies, and the world of wealth and convention to +which her husband would return so naturally had few attractions for her. +She would have need of love and courage, she told herself. + +"What do you think, Kate; auntie wants me to take you to New York with +me and leave Frances with her!" said Mr. Morrison, coming in. + +"She has never been away from me in her life. What do you say, Wink?" +and her mother lifted the face that rested against her shoulder and +kissed it. + +"I don't know; I believe I'd like it, for then I could see the little +girl every day," was the reply. + +"I think her great-grandmother has cut out all the rest of her +relations," her father remarked, laughing. + +"I don't see how she _could_ be my great-grandmother," Frances said +meditatively. + +Mrs. Richards remembered the candlesticks next day, and they gave her an +excuse for an early visit to Mr. Clark. She felt in love and charity +with all men, and, finding the optician at leisure, she entered into +conversation with him in her most gracious manner. His old-fashioned +courtliness pleased her, and she recalled him as one of the proprietors +of the large jewellery store of Mason and Clark, years ago. + +Mr. Clark remembered her father, Judge Morrison, and all together she +spent an exceedingly pleasant hour looking over his valuables and +talking of old times. She purchased the candlesticks, and also the two +pieces of Wedgwood which exactly matched some her grandfather had +brought from England. + +"You have shown me all you care to sell?" she asked, rising. + +"I believe there is nothing else, madam, except the house. I should like +very much to sell it," was Mr. Clark's reply. + +When Zenobia ushered her into the sitting room upstairs some minutes +later, Mrs. Richards was struck with its cosey beauty. Truly, there were +ways of living--pleasant ways--of which she had not dreamed. + +Frances was washing the sword fern while she recited her history lesson +to her mother, who was sewing. + +"I have come to take you home with me to lunch; I can't do without +you," Mrs. Richards announced. + +"Why don't you stay with us--auntie?" Frances spoke the new title +hesitatingly. + +"That will be much the better plan, and it will please Jack," added Mrs. +Morrison, cordially, and Mrs. Richards stayed. + +The next time she and her nephew were alone together she said to him: +"Jack, there is something I want you to explain to Katherine. I do not +think I could make any difference in my manner of living at my age, even +if I wished to, and I do not; but I am beginning to see that there may +be a charm about--other ways." + +"Yes, auntie," as she paused, "the years I have spent knocking about +without any money, having to work hard for Kate and the baby, have been +the happiest and best of my life. There was only one drawback to it +all--" he laid his hand on hers. + +She smiled fondly at him. "I want you to say to Katherine that I know I +must seem narrow to her; I realize that she may perhaps fear my +influence upon Frances--" her nephew began a protest, but she silenced +him. "No, let me finish. I have come to see things differently; I want +you to live your own lives in your own way; I want Frances to go on as +she has begun--sweet, generous, unconscious, and I only ask to be near +you." + +When Mr. Morrison repeated this to his wife, tears rose to her eyes. "I +haven't been fair to her," she said. "I have been afraid, but I shall +not be any more. I shall love her dearly." + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTIETH. + +CAROLINE'S STORY. + + +"Well, I suppose you have heard the news?" + +Caroline's pleasant face was more beaming than usual as Emma ushered her +into the room where Mrs. Bond sat with her sewing, the General being +safe in dreamland. + +"No, I haven't heard any so far as I remember," was her reply. + +Emma gave the visitor a chair, and retreated with her books to a corner +behind her mother, in the hope that she might not be sent away. She knew +something had happened. + +"Then you don't know that Mr. Morrison has turned out to be our Mr. +Jack, Miss Frances' nephew?" + +"Who is her nephew, did you say?" asked Mrs. Bond, going on with her +work. + +"Mr. Morrison, to be sure, the father of little Frances, bless her!" + +"He is Mrs. Marvin's nephew?" + +"Yes," said Caroline, laughing; "only she isn't Mrs. Marvin at all, but +Mrs. Richards. It is as good as a play." + +Mrs. Bond actually dropped her hands in her lap, as she asked, "Do you +mean there isn't any such person as Mrs. Marvin?" + +"Of course there is a Mrs. Marvin. She was staying at our house while +Miss Frances was abroad,--she is her cousin,--and the first sewing you +did was for her. I did not think of explaining, so you went on supposing +it was all for Mrs. Marvin. Then when Miss Frances found out that +Frances thought she was Mrs. Marvin, she asked me not to tell you any +different. I couldn't understand why, then." + +"Why should she care who I thought she was?" Mrs. Bond asked, taking up +her sewing. + +"It is plain enough now. You see, she and Mr. Jack had had a quarrel +years ago, and she had not seen or heard of him since; then one day, you +know, Frances came to our house with Emma, and Mrs. Richards saw her and +knew right away who she was, and was mightily taken with her, but she +didn't want Frances or her mother to know that she was Mr. Morrison's +aunt; don't you see? + +"You may say it happened," Caroline continued, "but I say the Lord +brought it about. Why should that child walk into the library and stand +before her great-grandmother's portrait, and Miss Frances come in and +find her there, looking as much like Mr. Jack when he was little as two +peas! Isn't he a splendid man! and just his old self. Why, when he came +out yesterday, he ran upstairs to my room calling out just as he used +to do,--'Where's Caroline?' It made me too happy to sleep." + +"Did Mr. Morrison live at your house once?" Emma ventured to ask. + +"Of course he did. When his mother died Miss Frances adopted him. He was +six years old, and it was the same year I went to live with her,--thirty +years this spring. You see, Mr. Jack's father, who was Mrs. Richards' +favorite brother, was thrown from his horse and killed when his little +boy was only three. It was a dreadful blow to the whole family; his wife +did not outlive him long, and his father, Judge Morrison, never +recovered from the shock, for his only other son was an invalid. + +"I used to think nobody had as much trouble as Miss Frances. She married +very young and was left a widow before she was twenty-two, and it seemed +as if Mr. Jack was her only comfort, for her father's mind began to +fail, and the old home was so changed she couldn't bear to go there; but +she was wrapped up in the child. + +"In those days he wasn't hard to manage, though he had a quick temper; +you couldn't help loving him on account of his sweet ways. He was +devoted to Miss Frances, and gave up to her wonderfully, so I suppose +she got to thinking she would always have things her own way with him, +as she had with every one else. + +"There were gay times, I can tell you, when he came home for his +holidays, after he began to go away to school. He might bring home as +many friends as he pleased, and there wasn't anything he couldn't have +for the asking. Yet he wasn't half as spoiled as you'd think. + +"The trouble began about the time he left college, but I didn't know +much about it then. Miss Frances had set her heart on his being a +lawyer like his grandfather; but though he studied it to please her, he +did not take any interest in law. Then I think she wanted him to marry a +niece of her husband's who used to be at the house a great deal. That +is-- I don't think she really wanted him to marry at all, but was just +afraid he'd take to some one she did not like. He had always been fond +of Miss Elsie, and it did look contrary in him to turn around and be so +indifferent when he found how his aunt felt. + +"Mr. Jack went abroad for a year, and it was soon after he came back +that they had the trouble. I happened to pass the library door one +evening when I heard Miss Frances say, 'If you have no regard for my +wishes perhaps you had better provide for yourself in the future--' and +he answered back as cool as you please, 'Thank you for suggesting it, +Aunt Frances; I have been an idler on your bounty quite too long.' I +never forgot those words. They didn't either of them mean what they +said, but were too proud to take it back. Miss Frances had never denied +him anything, and had more than enough for both, yet it was natural for +her to think he ought to go her way. + +"I never knew any more about it, except that Mr. Jack came to my room to +tell me he was going, with a face as white as a sheet. He had some +property of his own, though not much, for his grandfather made way with +almost everything before he died--no one knew how. He had softening of +the brain, brought on by grief. + +"The next I knew Mr. Jack sent me a paper with a notice of his marriage. +Mrs. Morrison was the daughter of one of the professors in the college +where he went. But--" Caroline concluded, with a sigh of content, "it is +all right now, and maybe it has all been for the best." + +"I suppose they'll be going away soon?" said Mrs. Bond. + +"Yes, Mr. Morrison and his wife are going to New York, and Frances is +coming to stay with us." + +Emma listened to this story with breathless interest. It seemed to her +quite the most natural and suitable thing that such good fortune should +come to Frances, but it made her feel sorrowful to think she was going +away. + +After their visitor had gone Mrs. Bond said, as she folded her work: +"Now, Emma, I do not want you to be foolish. Make up your mind not to +see anything of Frances after this, and you'll not be disappointed." + +"Why, mother?" + +"Because they are rich and we are poor, and it is not to be expected +that they will care for your society. I never go where I am not wanted, +and I do not choose to have you. Understand, I am not saying anything +against the Morrisons. Frances is a nice child, and her mother is very +pleasant and kind, but you can't change the world; birds of a feather +will flock together." + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-FIRST. + +OVERHEARD BY PETERKIN. + + +Peterkin was taking a nap in one corner of the big sofa in the hall. It +was a delightful spring afternoon and everybody was out; he knew this, +for he had seen them go. First Miss Moore hurried away with some books +under her arm; next Frances danced downstairs, followed by her father +and mother; a little later Emma and the General started out for a walk; +and last of all came Miss Sherwin, and sat beside him while she put on +her gloves. + +She stroked him gently for a minute before she left, and, bending over +him till her face touched his soft fur, said, "Oh, pussy, pussy! so many +things are happening, and it's going to be so lonely. It must be nice to +be a cat." + +Peterkin rubbed his head sympathetically against her hand, for her tone +was sad. He had had confidences made to him before and knew how to +receive them. He understood it all as well as if she had spent hours in +the telling, an advantage a cat possesses over a human confidant. + +He had been dozing undisturbed for a long time when he heard the door +open again, and a man's voice he did not recognize say: "How fortunate +that I met you! I seem to have had the wrong number." + +It was Miss Sherwin who replied, "I am very much surprised; I did not +know you were in this part of the country." + +Then they came and sat on the sofa, and the stranger, who, Peterkin saw, +was a pleasant looking young fellow, said he had been back only a short +time. "I stopped in Maryville a day, and then at home for two more," he +added. + +"You have been to Maryville?" Miss Sherwin's voice showed surprise. +Then she began to ask questions about the people there, and to talk of +the delightful weather, in all of which her companion seemed to feel +little interest. Presently there came a silence. + +The young man leaned forward, one elbow on his crossed knee that he +might the better look into Miss Sherwin's face, the light in the hall +being a little dim. "Lillian," he began, "in this past year I have had a +good deal of time for thinking, and naturally our--disagreement has been +often in my mind. When I last saw you I thought it was all over forever, +and though I had come to look at it differently in these months--feeling +that perhaps there had been a mistake--still I don't know that I +ever--that is-- I mean the possibility of undoing it never occurred to +me till I was on my way home. I hope you don't mind listening to this; +I'll try to be brief. + +"Perhaps you know I got my position in March,--the one I had been hoping +and working for,--and with it the opportunity to come East for a month +or two. I can't say I wanted very much to come. The thought of our old +plans made it rather bitter, but I owed it to the people at home. + +"Not to make the story too long, I picked up on the train a magazine +belonging to one of my fellow travellers, and read a little story. It +was called 'The Missing Bridge,' and was a sort of fairy story. It seems +rather absurd, but there was something in it that impressed me +strangely. It was the thought that even when people seem hopelessly +separated from each other, if they are brave enough and true enough to +try, they will find a way across all barriers. + +"I may not be making this clear, for you have not read the story; but +you will understand me when I say it made me feel unwilling to have +anything I may have said or done in the past, stand between us now; I +was to blame for much of the quarrel, and I am sorry for it all. I know +how clever you are,--they were all talking about it in Maryville,--and +it may seem only a foolish dream to you now, but I want to tell you--" +he paused with his eyes on the floor, as if afraid to read his answer in +the face beside him. + +It was very still in the hall, and, when he looked up after a moment, +Lillian had bowed her head in her hands. + +"I don't want to pain you," he began. + +"O Aleck!" she cried, putting out one hand, "it was _my_ story!" + +At this point Peterkin, seeing matters were likely to be settled +satisfactorily, and feeling no interest in details, dozed off again. The +next thing he knew the gas was lit, and Mr. Morrison was saying, "Why, +how are you, Carter? Delighted to see you. Where did you come from? Let +me present you to Mrs. Morrison," and Miss Sherwin, with a becoming +color in her face, was explaining that Mr. Carter was an old friend, and +they were all talking and laughing at once in the absurd way people have +sometimes, so that it was next to impossible to understand anything. + +When Mr. Carter left, after declining the Morrisons' invitation to spend +the evening, Peterkin followed him out on the porch to get a little air. +The Spectacle Man, coming in from a walk, found him sitting there, +looking like some dignified old Quaker in his gray coat and white +necktie. + +Mrs. Morrison slipped her hand into Miss Sherwin's as they went +upstairs. "Am I right in what I guess?" she whispered. + +"How could you know it?" Lillian asked, with an answering clasp. + +"My dear, if you could see your face!--but I felt certain he would +come!" + +"O Miss Sherwin!" called Mr. Morrison, who, with Frances, had lingered +at the door, "your acquaintance with Mr. Carter partly explains +something that puzzled me. I was struck with the resemblance between him +and the young farmer in the first illustration in your story. Did he sit +for the portrait?" + +"Jack, you must be dreaming!" his wife exclaimed. + +"I don't understand at all," Lillian said, in great confusion. + +"Could it possibly have been accidental?" A mischievous light shone in +Mr. Morrison's eyes. + +His wife shook her head at him, but Frances ran off to find the +magazine. Miss Sherwin recovered herself, and explained with a great +deal of dignity that, if it were so, it was quite accidental. That she +had known Mr. Carter since they were children, and was, of course, very +familiar with his face; then she said good evening, and left them. + +"Very well done," Mr. Morrison exclaimed. + +"Why, where is Miss Lillian," asked Frances, coming back; "I want to +show her the picture. It is like Mr. Carter." + +"Not now, dear,--another time," said her mother; adding, "You were +aching to tease her, Jack, and I am glad she did not give you an +opportunity." + +Mr. Morrison laughed. "I suppose congratulations are next in order. It +is at least a natural inference when you find a young man's image so +deeply graven upon the heart of a young woman that she unconsciously +reproduces it in her drawing." + +"I am sure he is to be congratulated," remarked Mrs. Morrison. + +"Unless I am very much mistaken, so is she," her husband added. + +Frances was listening with wide-open eyes. "Is Miss Sherwin going to be +married to Mr. Carter?" + +"I shouldn't be a bit surprised, Wink, if she were," replied her father, +"but you and I are supposed to know nothing about it." + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-SECOND. + +THE LITTLE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN DOORWAY. + + +It was evident, Mr. Morrison said, that he and his wife could not get +away too soon to please his aunt, and this was true for two reasons. +Mrs. Richards wished her nephew to meet his old friends under her +roof--there would be less talk; and before their return the six months' +lease on the flat would have expired and they would naturally come to +her for a while at least. She also wanted Frances all to herself. The +great house would be another place with the sound of a child's voice to +charm away its loneliness. + +She spent much time and thought in plans for her little niece's +entertainment, which were quite unnecessary, for Frances was as happy +as a lark, and found the hours brimful of amusement. To hear Caroline +tell of her father when he was little Jack; to go shopping or driving +with Aunt Frances; to romp with the fox terrier in the garden which the +crocuses and hyacinths were making beautiful; and then, when the day was +almost over, to rest in the depths of some great chair and look up at +the girl in the golden doorway,--this was unalloyed happiness. + +One Friday they drove to the house of the Spectacle Man and carried Emma +away to stay till Monday. How she ever came to let her go Mrs. Bond +couldn't understand; she believed she was bewitched. Emma, however, had +a blissful holiday, and before it was over she found courage to ask +Frances a question. + +"Do you like me as much as you used to, Frances?" she said. + +"What makes you ask such a funny question? Of course I do." + +"I thought maybe you wouldn't care so much now." + +"Why not?" insisted Frances, greatly puzzled. + +Emma thought of quoting her mother's proverb about birds of a feather, +the application of which she did not exactly understand; but she only +said, "Oh, because you are rich, I suppose." + +"But I'm not rich,--any richer than I ever was." + +"Your aunt is." + +"But why should that make me not like you? I don't like you to think +such a thing about me," and Frances looked aggrieved. + +"I didn't really think it, only--sometimes it does make a difference, +you know," Emma said. + +"Well, it won't to me, for I shall always like you, Emma," was Frances' +reassuring reply, and Emma was satisfied. + +Among other pleasant things, Frances and her aunt were arranging a +little surprise for Mr. Morrison's birthday, which was to be celebrated +by a dinner to which a number of cousins and old family friends were +asked. + +The travellers, who returned the night before, found a very happy little +girl waiting for them in the carriage at the station. + +"I have the loveliest secret, father, but you are not to know it till +your birthday!" She couldn't help telling this much, but all his teasing +could not extract any more; and, as it was not mentioned again, Mr. +Morrison forgot it. + +The next evening he dressed early, and went to the library to write a +letter, and when it was finished he fell into a pleasant revery. He +thought of his struggles and disappointments, and of the bright future +that seemed to be opening before him. The little girl smiled down upon +him in the twilight, and he recalled his old dream. + +It was surely a most living portrait. This little maiden, painted nearly +seventy years ago, looked as if about to speak. Was she laughing at him +still? would she presently come down? Surely he was dreaming, for there +she stood on the rug beside him! He could see the pattern of the rich +lace that fell from the neck of her quaint brocaded gown. + +She came nearer, and he watched her, almost afraid to breathe; it was, +he thought, a most interesting illusion. He put out his hand, expecting +the vision to vanish, when, instead of thin air, his fingers closed upon +a round arm of real flesh and blood, and a laughing voice exclaimed, +"Why, father, I thought you were asleep!" + +"Wink! is it really you?" he said, pulling her down on his knee. "I +thought the girl in the golden doorway had come down once more. Where +did you get this dress?" + +"This is the secret, father. Aunt Frances found it among my +great-grandmother's things. It was made for the picture, and was copied +from another portrait that the little girl's father liked. It almost +fitted me. Do you really think I look like her?" + +"Indeed you do, Wink; it is wonderful." + +Frances leaned her head on his shoulder, and looked up at her +great-grandmother in great content. + +"Do you know, Wink," said her father, presently, "I believe my old dream +has come true, and at last I have caught the girl in the golden +doorway." + +"How nice!" cried Frances, "for that puts me into the story. You will +have to write a sequel to it, father. Jack never guessed the girl would +turn out to be his own daughter, did he?" + +"He certainly did not," answered Mr. Morrison, laughing. + +They were pleasing themselves with these fancies when lights and Mrs. +Morrison, in her pretty evening gown, appearing together, put an end to +them. Some minutes later Mrs. Richards walked in upon a charming family +group. Life was becoming very full and sweet to her, and she looked very +handsome and happy. She felt proud of her children, most of all of that +graceful little person in the old brocade who ran to meet her. + +"Auntie, what do you think? We have found the sequel to 'The Girl in the +Golden Doorway.' The dream has come true: Jack has caught her, and she +turns out to be me." Frances made a courtesy, laughing merrily. + +"There is some more to it," she added. "Father, can't you tell it?" + +"Tell it yourself, Wink," was the smiling reply, and three pairs of +eyes watched her fondly as she stood, a finger on her lips, an intent +expression on her face. + +"Oh, yes! I remember. And together they are going to explore the House +of the Golden Doorway, and find out all its secrets." + +Mrs. Richards took the rosy face between her hands. "You have opened the +golden door to me, too, my darling," she said. + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-THIRD. + +"THE DUCKS AND THE GEESE THEY ALL SWIM OVER." + + + "Out of a song the story grew, + Just how it happened nobody knew, + But, song and story, it all came true. + + "Out of sight till time of need + The story lay hid like a little seed; + And then it grew that all might read-- + + "Might read and learn--however gray + The clouds may hang, or how dark the day, + That love and courage can find the way." + +No one suspected the Spectacle Man of poetical aspirations until Miss +Moore one day picked up these verses from the hall floor. "Dear me, what +are we all coming to!" she exclaimed. "Here is Lillian the strong-minded +going to be married, the Morrisons have found a fairy godmother, and +now Mr. Clark has taken to verse! If I were not so commonplace I'd +expect something to happen to me." + +Things were happening; there was no doubt about that. + +Soon after her nephew's return, Mrs. Richards made Mr. Clark an offer +for his house which he thought it wise to accept, and by the time summer +was fairly begun it was rapidly disappearing in a cloud of dust and +mortar to make room for a five-story office building. + +Frances could not be reconciled to this, nor was she the only one who +felt sad at sight of yawning vacancy where the dignified old mansion had +stood. The feelings of the optician were mixed; he was fond of the +place, but its sale solved some of the difficulties that had weighed +upon him, and when Mrs. Bond took a small house farther out, where there +were trees and a garden for the General to play in, he furnished two +rooms for himself, and, after the first wrench of leaving, he and +Peterkin found it very comfortable. His show-cases and other fixtures +were moved to a shop not far from the old one. + +Before this, however, something even more interesting had occurred. + +As Mr. Carter had only six weeks' leave, he and Lillian decided to have +a quiet wedding the last of April, making a short visit at his home on +their way West. + +"I am very much alone in the world, and there are no people I care more +to have at my wedding than you and Mary," Lillian said to Mrs. Morrison; +"and it is easier and simpler to have it here." + +Miss Moore professed to be highly indignant at the whole affair. "Here I +have been upholding her in her independence, taking her side, and she in +the basest manner deserts and goes over to the enemy," she exclaimed. + +Lillian laughed shamelessly. "Never mind, dear, when you have finished +your course you are coming out to me, and we'll start the most ideal of +kindergartens in our wild Western town." + +She went about her preparations with a light heart, growing prettier and +brighter each day. As for Mr. Carter, he won golden opinions from +everybody, even from the critical Wilson, who was one day moved to +confide that he and Zenobia were contemplating the same step. + +No one showed a more genuine interest in the wedding preparations than +Mrs. Richards. She had taken a fancy to Lillian, and declared that her +love affair was delightfully interesting and novel for these unromantic +times. She lent her carriage to facilitate the shopping, and the evening +before the wedding day entertained the bride and groom elect. + +Just such a gathering had never before been seen in Mrs. Richards's +beautiful home, for it was Frances who had the naming of the guests, and +she chose to have their friends of the winter. There was the Spectacle +Man, of course, and Emma and Gladys and Miss Moore,--it was too bad Mark +couldn't get home in time,--and Mrs. Gray, because she was the beginning +of it all, and Frances was fond of her. This was the party, with their +own family and the bride and groom. + +Caroline said that if Mrs. Richards had been going to entertain the +Queen and the President together, she couldn't have been more particular +about everything, and indeed she spared no trouble or expense. + +The table was exquisite in its bridal decorations of lilies of the +valley, and the whole house was fragrant with flowers; the guests all +looked their best, and it was throughout a most festive and happy +occasion. + +Frances fluttered about in her great-grandmother's dress, evidently +considering it her party; the Spectacle Man beamed on everybody; and old +Mrs. Gray, in a new silk gown, looked on in quiet enjoyment. Miss Moore +was, if possible, merrier than usual, but this may have been because she +was trying not to think how far away Lillian was going. + +When the supper was over and the healths of the bride and groom had been +drank, "The Story of the Missing Bridge" was proposed, and the optician +rose to respond. + +"It has occurred to me as a somewhat strange thing," he began, "that +seven or eight months ago we, who now feel like old friends, had not +met. In this time we have learned to know one another, and a little +story, which grew out of a foolish old song, has become a bond between +us,--something we shall carry with us wherever we go. We have learned +lessons of courage and cheer; some of us have found bridges over our +difficulties and troubles where we had supposed there were none; and I +can at least say for myself that hereafter, into whatever perplexities I +may fall, I shall remember the lesson of the story, that there is always +a way, and love and courage can find it." + +He sat down amid applause, and Frances said, "I am going to remember it, +too, for I did find a way when Gladys and I quarrelled." + +"I can add my testimony that ways open in the most unpromising places," +put in her father. + +"Perhaps if I had heard the story sooner my broken bridge would have +been mended long ago," said Mrs. Richards. + +"It is wonderful," Mrs. Gray took courage to say, "how things turn out +sometimes. I feel like telling everybody how sweet and kind my new +daughter is. She really seems fond of me already, and I was so dreadful +afraid of her." + +"When we look back we can't help seeing that we have been guided by a +higher Power, who could see the path that was dark to us," Mrs. Morrison +said softly; and the Spectacle Man added, "That's true." + +"Every one knows how much I owe to the story," Mr. Carter began, but +Lillian blushed and shook her head at him. + +"I am too commonplace to have interesting experiences," Miss Moore +announced, "so, as I haven't anything to relate, with Mr. Clark's +permission I'll read a poem;" and thereupon she read the verses she had +found in the hall. + +The Spectacle Man was quite embarrassed, and insisted that he was not in +the habit of dropping into verse, and that this had not been intended +for the public. + +"I want them, Mr. Clark, for the book I mean to write when I have time, +about our winter at your house," Miss Sherwin said. + +"Are you really going to do that, Miss Sherwin? How lovely!" cried +Frances. "And you must begin with Mrs. Gray's glasses, and put Emma and +Gladys and me in,--and Peterkin." + +Lillian laughed, and promised that when the story was written they +should all be in. + +The next morning was as beautiful as if it had been ordered for the +occasion, and the small number of persons gathered in the church saw a +charming bride, who seemed with her golden hair and her shimmering gown +of soft green tones, to be herself a part of the springtime. + +She walked up the aisle with her maid of honor, Miss Moore, preceded by +Frances and Emma in a state of unutterable bliss, while Gladys looked on +from a front pew. Mr. Clark gave the bride away, and nothing happened +to mar the simple and beautiful ceremony. + +When Mr. and Mrs. Carter had driven off in a shower of rice the +Spectacle Man returned to his shop and began that very afternoon to pack +up. As he worked he sang cheerily:-- + + "The ducks and the geese they all swim over, + Fol de rol de ri do, fol de rol de ri do, + The ducks and the geese they all swim over, + Fol de rol de ri." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Spectacle Man, by Mary F. Leonard + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SPECTACLE MAN *** + +***** This file should be named 30993.txt or 30993.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/9/9/30993/ + +Produced by Annie McGuire + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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