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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ba052b4 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #69854 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69854) diff --git a/old/69854-0.txt b/old/69854-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 760bb51..0000000 --- a/old/69854-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8224 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Christmas Makers' Club, by Edith -A. Sawyer - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Christmas Makers' Club - -Author: Edith A. Sawyer - -Illustrator: Ada C. Williamson - -Release Date: January 22, 2023 [eBook #69854] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Charlene Taylor, Krista Zaleski and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS' -CLUB *** - - - - - - -THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB - -[Illustration: “‘NOW CHILDREN, WE MUST MAKE OUR PLANS.’” - - (_See page 20_)] - - - - - The Christmas - Makers’ Club - - BY - EDITH A. SAWYER - - Illustrated by - ADA C. WILLIAMSON - - _Of glad things there be ... four; - A lark above the old nest blithely singing, - A wild rose clinging - In safety to a rock: a shepherd bringing - A lamb, found, in his arms, - And Christmas bells a-ringing._ - - _Willis Boyd Allen_ - - [Illustration] - - L. C. PAGE & COMPANY - BOSTON MDCCCCVIII - - - - - _Copyright, 1908_ - BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY - (INCORPORATED) - - _All rights reserved_ - - First Impression, May, 1908 - - - _COLONIAL PRESS_ - _Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co. - Boston, U.S.A._ - - - - - To - - Margaret and Ruth - Dorothy and ’Nita - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. THE CLUB GATHERS FOR WORK AND PLAY 1 - - II. PRINCE GRAY OWL 38 - - III. WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 83 - - IV. THE CLUB GOES VISITING 124 - - V. A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL 155 - - VI. THE BOY IN THE CLUB 195 - - VII. GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 237 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - - “‘NOW CHILDREN, WE MUST MAKE OUR PLANS’” - (_See page 20_) _Frontispiece_ - - “‘YES, GRAY OWL,’ SHE ANSWERED” 62 - - “SOOTHING THE CHILD WHO CLUNG TO HIM SO PASSIONATELY” 149 - - “‘WHAT DID I SEE BUT A BLACK-EYED DOLL’” 174 - - “THE TWINS MADE A STRIKING PICTURE” 226 - - “‘BUT WE WANT YOU!’ WAILED THE CLUB” 244 - - - - -THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE CLUB GATHERS FOR WORK AND PLAY - - Didst thou never know - The joy of following the path untrod? - - --_Margaret E. Sherwood: Persephone._ - - -“HOW I wish we had something new and interesting to do Friday -afternoons!” said Elsa Danforth, a slim girl in a black coat, with a -soft, wide black felt hat set back on the yellow hair which floated -like a cloud of pale gold over her shoulders. Elsa was the tallest of -the three girls who had hurried away from school together that gray -mid-November afternoon. They were just now turning into Washington -Avenue. - -“It’s too cold to play outdoors,” said Betty White, dancing on ahead, -her bag of school-books swung over her shoulder. Betty’s brown eyes -danced like her feet, and so did the capes to her long blue coat and -the wavy brown hair tied back with a bow of wide white ribbon. - -“Isn’t there something we can do?” asked Alice Holt, the youngest and -smallest of the three, hurrying to keep up with the others. - -“Play dolls or play school is all I can think of,” said Betty. “O Elsa, -we might go to your house and play with you!” she added, turning to -Elsa. Betty had wanted to have a good look at the great house where -Elsa Danforth lived with her grandmother. Betty had been in the house -only twice, and then but for a few moments, since the Danforths came -there in September. - -“But--” began Elsa. Then she stopped; she could not bear to say that -her grandmother had told her not to bring children home with her to -play. - -“I tell you what let’s do,” Alice exclaimed, before Betty could say -anything. “Let’s start some kind of a club, and have it meet Friday -afternoons. We might have it a Christmas Club.” - -“Only grown-up people have clubs,” objected Betty instantly; she was -still thinking of what fun it would be to go all over the Danforth -house. - -“We could have a club, though we are children,” said Elsa eagerly. “I -am almost twelve years old.” - -“I am only eleven,” said Betty, who, however, was nearly as tall as -Elsa. - -“And I am only ten and a half,” said Alice, running a little ahead, her -blue eyes very wide open with interest. “But it truly doesn’t matter -how old we are; we all play together and we like the same things.” -Alice was a quaint little figure. She looked like a rather shabbily -dressed doll, with her blue eyes and pink cheeks, her thick blue coat -which came just to her knees, and a shaggy blue tam-o’-shanter, below -which hung very smooth hair cut short around her neck. - -“If we have a club, where will it meet?” asked Elsa. - -“It can come to my house,” said Betty, beginning to be interested, and -dancing on ahead, backward now. - -“It can meet at my house, too, though I live rather far away,” said -Alice. - -Elsa walked on slowly, behind the others. She alone did not offer to -have the club meet at her home. - -They were directly in front of Betty’s home, a large and -pleasant-looking house on this main avenue of the suburban town of -Berkeley. “Come into my house and we will start the club now,” urged -Betty, running up the front steps. But she stopped as Elsa said: “I -must go and ask grandmother if I can belong.” - -“O, of course she will let you,” exclaimed Betty. But Elsa, with flying -yellow hair, was already half-way home. So Betty and Alice waited on -the top step. - -In a very short time Elsa came running back and announced breathlessly: -“Yes--I can belong--and I can stay till five o’clock.” Her usually pale -face was rosy from the haste, and her wide-brimmed hat had slipped down -over her loose, fair hair. - -It would be hard to find three girls more unlike than these three good -friends who went hurrying into the house together. Elsa, the oldest, -had a sensitive face and deep violet-gray eyes, which, with her soft, -silky hair, gave her a delicate, almost flower-like look. Betty, -next in age, was a lively, wide-awake girl with merry brown eyes and -bright cheeks; she was always a leader, and sometimes a wilful one, in -any fun or adventure. Alice--“Baby Alice,” as Betty often teasingly -called her--had softly rounded cheeks, big blue eyes, and a fair, high -forehead. Alice was a dreamy, rather quiet child, but everybody loved -her for her unselfish, affectionate ways. - -Betty opened the hall door and went ahead through the wide hall. “Hang -your coats and things here in the closet,” she cried, taking off her -overshoes, “and come on up to the nursery. We can have it all to -ourselves.” - -Elsa’s eyes shone with pleasure as she looked around the hospitable -hall and at the huge fireplace where a bright fire burned. She always -felt the homelikeness of the Whites’ house the moment she came into it. -It was so unlike her grandmother’s house, where everything was stiff -and stately. - -Elsa especially loved the nursery, Betty’s bedroom and playroom, for -it had picture-paper of children resting under trees and of wandering -brooks which led to other children and other trees; it had also a broad -window-shelf filled with bright-blossoming geraniums, and above, a -cage with three tiny East Indian strawberry-birds; and--best of all -to Elsa--a row of dolls, large and small, on a long, chintz-covered -window-seat between Betty’s blue-and-white bed on one side and her -dolls’ house on the other. Indeed, Elsa loved Betty’s room quite as -much as Betty herself did. - -Alice had never been in the room before. “O, what dear, lovely birds!” -she exclaimed, clasping her dimpled hands and looking up with round, -surprised eyes at the three mites of birds, brown with red spots, -red eyes and red beaks, and legs so thin and needle-like as to seem -scarcely strong enough to support even the tiny bodies. - -“They are the dearest things,” said Betty enthusiastically. “Uncle -John brought them to me from India. I am glad there are three of them, -because if one dies there will be two left.” - -“But what if two die?” asked Alice anxiously. - -That, however, Betty did not want to think of, so she said hurriedly: -“Come on, let’s decide about the club.” - -“What shall we name it?” asked Elsa, who had settled herself on the -soft rug by the bedside, with one elbow on the window-seat so that she -could better look at the dolls. - -“The Friday Club,” suggested Betty, who was sitting at the foot of the -bed. - -“I like ‘Club of Three,’” said Alice, turning away from the strawberry -birds with a little sigh of happiness. - -“I don’t like either of those names,” said Elsa. “Why not call it the -Christmas Club, if that is what it is going to be?” - -“Anybody can have a Christmas Club,” objected Betty, tightening the -white ribbon bow on her hair. - -“Why not ask somebody to name it for us?” suggested Alice. - -“No, we must name it ourselves, and keep the name a secret,” came -Betty’s quick answer. - -“Then let’s choose one of us president, and let her name it,” said -Elsa, who had Betty’s smallest doll in her lap now. - -“All right,” replied Betty, looking from Elsa to Alice, whose eyes were -again fixed upon the birds. Then, because Alice was always peacemaker, -Betty said: “I will choose Alice for president.” - -“And I will choose Elsa,” said Alice quickly, looking around. - -“I will choose Betty,” said Elsa. - -“Dear me!” cried Betty, jumping up so suddenly that the tiny -brown-and-red birds began fluttering around their cage; “we are all -president, and that means nobody is president, and we haven’t any name -either.” - -“I think we’d better give up the club,” said Alice, seeing trouble -ahead. - -“It was you who wanted to start it, and now you are backing out, -Alice,” cried Betty, stamping her foot impatiently. The little birds -had a panic of fluttering. - -“I’m not backing out, only if we are going to get into a fuss the -first thing, we might as well give it up,” said Alice wisely. - -“Why not play dolls?” suggested Elsa, noticing that the hands of the -blue-and-white clock on the shelf were pointing at four. Elsa did not -have many chances to be with other children, and she did not like to -have the time go so fast now. - -“No, let’s stick to the club,” insisted Betty, reseating herself on the -bed. - -Just then Betty’s mother came to the nursery door with a rosy-cheeked -baby in her arms who looked like a smaller Betty. The white-capped -nurse followed close behind. - -“I am sorry to disturb you, children,” said Mrs. White, after a -pleasant word of greeting, “but Nurse has just brought baby in from -out-of-doors, and she wants to put him in the nursery, as he is -fretful, and watching the birds always quiets him. Take your friends -down to the living-room, Betty.” - -“But, mother, we are just starting--” began Betty. - -“Betty dear, remember not to argue when I ask you to do anything,” -murmured Mrs. White into her little daughter’s ear, stooping to kiss -her forehead. - -Elsa and Alice were already at the nursery door, looking with adoring -eyes at the baby, who was stretching out his chubby hands toward the -birds. - -“We can stay in the living-room just as well, mother dear,” said Betty, -patting her baby brother’s cheek affectionately and then quickly -leading the way down-stairs. - -The living-room had a low ceiling and diamond-paned windows. The -large centre-table was covered with books, the chairs were deep and -comfortable, and on the wide couch opposite the fireplace lay two -great, sleek gray cats curled up, fast asleep. - -“What are your cats’ names?” asked Alice, who, not being a near -neighbour, did not know so much of Betty’s home and pets as did Elsa. - -“Romulus and Remus,” said Betty. “But we must talk about the club.” - -“I don’t believe we are going to have any club,” said Elsa, beginning -to stroke the cats, who purred in lazy content, without opening their -eyes. - -“Then it is your own fault,” exclaimed Betty, with a flash of temper. - -“Why?” Elsa left off petting the cats and sat up very straight on the -sofa. - -“Because you give up so soon,” replied Betty. - -Elsa suddenly bent low over the cats until her golden hair hid her -face, but she made no answer. - -“I wish we had some one older to manage for us,” sighed Alice, turning -over the pages of a picture-book on the table. - -“I tell you what we can do,” cried Betty, jumping up from the black -bearskin hearth-rug where she had settled herself momentarily. “We can -ask Miss Ruth Warren to be in the club!” - -“But will she want to be in a club with little girls?” asked Alice -anxiously. - -“I think she will,” returned Betty. - -“Perhaps she will be president,” suggested Alice, who was a born -peacemaker. - -“Maybe she will name the club for us,” put in Elsa, raising her head. -The flash of sensitiveness had died out of her violet-gray eyes. - -“Come on, then! Let’s ask her now,” said Betty; and in another moment -the three girls had slipped on their coats and were running toward the -Warrens’ house. - -The Warren family was a small one now; only Miss Ruth and a maiden aunt -lived in the old home-stead. There had always been some one for Ruth -Warren to devote herself to,--first her mother, then her grandmother, -next her father; and now the last of her older relatives, this aunt -who thought herself so much of an invalid that she seldom came -down-stairs. Ruth’s brothers and sisters had married and left the old -home; but although Ruth had chosen to remain unmarried, she had a busy -life and a happy one, with her home cares and housekeeping, and a large -number of nephews and nieces to love. There was a touch of sunshine -about her that made other people the happier for knowing her. She was -pleasant, too, to look upon, for she had beautiful brown eyes and -warm-toned yellow hair. She was girlish-looking, in spite of her thirty -years, and she always wore soft, graceful, unrustling gowns. - -She had just come, this afternoon, from a luncheon-party, and, finding -that her aunt had a caller, she seated herself before the open fire -in the library, trying to decide whether or not she would go to Mrs. -Wharton’s tea, at five o’clock. “I wish there were something more -interesting to do,” she said to herself; “luncheons and afternoon teas -are all about alike.” - -Old Sarah, the family servant, appeared at the library doorway just -then. “Well, Sarah?” said Miss Ruth, looking up at the tall, thin, -spectacled woman, whose corkscrew-like curls were bobbing with her -displeasure. - -“Three little girls to see you,” said Sarah, her lips screwing -themselves tight together as if in objection to three little girls -coming into the house. “And here they are, chasing right after me,” she -snapped out, moving to one side. - -Betty, who felt quite at home here, had urged the other children into -following Sarah to the library. - -Miss Ruth rose quickly and went forward to meet them: “Come in, girls,” -she said, in a friendly voice. “I am glad to see you.” - -“You know Elsa Danforth?” said Betty, in a suddenly shy manner. - -“Yes, indeed; Elsa is my neighbour, though she has never been in my -house before,” replied Miss Ruth, taking Elsa’s hand into her cordial -grasp. - -“And this is our little friend, Alice Holt,” said Betty, drawing -blue-eyed Alice forward. - -“Are you going somewhere?” asked Betty, almost before Miss Ruth had -time to greet Alice. “You look all dressed up.” - -“No,” said Miss Ruth, deciding instantly that she would not go to Mrs. -Wharton’s tea. “I have just come from somewhere. Take off your coats -and sit down, girls.” - -“We want you to be in our club,” began Betty. - -“What kind of a club is it?” - -“It is a Christmas Club, for play,” said Betty. - -“And work, too,” put in Elsa, shyly, thinking that their play alone -might not interest grown-up Miss Ruth. - -“Making Christmas presents especially,” said Betty, feeling hopeful. - -“For whom?” asked Miss Ruth. She had a way of making people feel -comfortable, and she met the children’s request so naturally that they -were speedily losing their shyness. - -“For our friends,” said Betty. - -“We might make things for the children at the Convalescent Home,” -suggested Alice, drawing her chair a little nearer. - -“What is that?” asked Elsa. - -“O, it’s a big, big brick house about a mile from where I live,” -explained Alice eagerly; “and children are brought there from the city -hospital--children who are getting cured, and they stay there sometimes -a long, long while for the country air and the sunshine make them well -again. Some of them are on crutches and have bandages all over them -and some are fastened to boards.” Alice had talked very fast, and she -stopped now, quite out of breath. - -“I shouldn’t like to see them,” said Betty, shrugging her shoulders. - -“But they are all getting well, even though they do have crutches -and boards and bandages,” continued Alice, her blue eyes shining with -interest. “Mother takes us children over there once in a while; she -says it is good for us, because it makes us more tender-hearted.” - -“I don’t believe my grandmother would let me go,” said Elsa, who had -been leaning forward, listening intently, with her chin in the palm of -her slim little hand. “Grandmother is particular about the children I -associate with, and I suppose these are all poor children. I should -just love to go, though,” she added, with a long sigh. - -“Wouldn’t it be a good plan for our club to make things to give those -little children?” asked Betty, growing more interested the more she -thought about the children. - -“The very thing!” said Miss Ruth. “Miss Hartwell, who is at the head of -the Convalescent Home, told me only yesterday that about fifty children -are there now. Of course the playthings wear out, and when the children -go back to their homes, cured, they want to take with them the toys -they have grown fond of. But what have you named your club?” asked Miss -Ruth, turning to Betty. - -“That’s what we can’t decide about,” said Betty. “We want you to name -it and be president.” - -“But this is such a great honour!” exclaimed Miss Ruth. Her brown eyes -had a way of laughing, even when her face was sober. - -“Now, Miss Ruth,--don’t laugh at us, please,” begged Betty, slipping -her arm around Miss Ruth’s neck. - -“Why not name it the Christmas Makers’ Club,” suggested Miss Ruth, with -serious eyes now, “--especially if you decide to make things for the -convalescent children?” - -“That’s the very best name we could have!” cried Betty, jumping up and -clapping her hands. - -“Splendid!” exclaimed Alice, two dimples showing in her soft pink -cheeks. - -“It sounds like all sorts of interesting things,” said Elsa, coming to -Miss Ruth’s side and timidly stroking her sleeve. - -“We must keep it a secret, though. We mustn’t tell the name to -anybody,” said Betty, perching herself on the arm of Miss Ruth’s chair, -at the other side. “People will have to know there is a club, but they -mustn’t know anything more than that.” - -“How will you keep your work a secret?” asked Miss Ruth. - -“If you are our president, you might keep the presents we make,” said -Elsa. - -“Please, O, please!” begged Betty and Alice in a chorus. “Please be -president!” - -Miss Ruth looked from one to another of the bright, excited faces, for -a moment. “I will gladly be your president, and keep your work,--and do -anything else you want me to,” she said, finally. - -Elsa’s face flushed rosy with pleasure, and she gave little Alice a -good hug. Betty dropped a warm kiss on Miss Ruth’s hair and said: “Then -come back with us now to my house, because I invited the Club to meet -there first.” - -Ruth Warren was as good as her word: “I will go where the Club wants me -to go,” she said, rising. “First of all, though, let me give you some -plum buns which Sarah made this morning.” - -“I know old Sarah’s plum buns; they are as good as she is cross,” said -Betty, as Miss Ruth left the room. - -“That’s not very polite, Betty,” said Alice. - -“I don’t care. I am not very polite, anyway,” replied Betty quickly. “I -tell the truth, though.” - -“That sounds as if you thought other girls didn’t tell the truth!” -exclaimed Elsa. - -“It is pretty hard to, always,” said Alice slowly. “I try to, but -sometimes the fib slips out first, and then it’s all the harder to get -the truth out.” - -“Mother always catches me if I don’t tell things straight,” confessed -Betty. - -“Papa used to tell me that the only thing he wanted me to be afraid of -was of not telling the truth,” Elsa said, her face growing suddenly -sad. Her father had died less than a year ago. - -At that moment Miss Ruth came into the room with a large plateful of -buns,--crisp and tempting and full of raisins,--and soon all three -girls were eating with a relish, as children eat, just after school. - -“Come!” said Betty, taking up her coat. “We ought to start.” - -Alice and Elsa obligingly put on their coats, but Ruth Warren saw that -they hesitated, and Betty as much as the others: there was yet a goodly -pile of buns left. - -“Fill your pockets, girls,” she said. “Sarah will be disappointed if -you don’t eat all the buns.” So the three girls filled their pockets, -and Alice said shyly: “I will take one to Ben if you don’t mind. O, -thank you!” - -“Who is Ben?” inquired Ruth Warren, as with a dark red golf cape over -her black lace gown, she started forth with the girls for Betty’s -home,--Betty hanging upon one arm, while Elsa and Alice walked on the -other side. - -“Ben is my twin brother,” Alice replied. “He’s ’most always hungry; -mother says boys always are.” - -“Three plum buns!” exclaimed Betty. Then she repeated in a comical, -sing-song voice: - - “Three plum buns! - One for you and one for me, - And one left over: - Give it to the boy who shouts - To scare sheep from the clover.” - -“But Ben doesn’t scare sheep from the clover,--because we haven’t any -sheep,” said Alice, very earnestly. “All we have is hens.” - -“O, Alice,” cried Betty, “that is only poetry.” - -“You do have hens then, Alice?” asked Miss Ruth quickly, seeing the -child’s face redden. - -“Yes, and Ben takes care of them, and he sells the eggs,” answered -Alice proudly. - -“They have the loveliest place,” said Betty, “a little hens’ house, and -they raise lettuce and radishes and all sorts of good things to eat.” - -“You see,” cried Alice, feeling that some explanation was necessary, -and running a little ahead in her eagerness: “father isn’t very well, -and he is a teacher, and he had to go out West for his health, and we -can’t afford to go, too, and we all try to help earn money to help, -because he doesn’t have much money. Besides Ben’s chickens, mother has -a market-garden, and a hired man to help; and I help, too. Perhaps the -Club will meet out at my house, sometimes.” - -“We will surely have at least one meeting there,” said Miss Ruth, while -Elsa’s eyes danced with pleasant anticipations. - -Betty hurried ahead, ran up the steps of her home and threw open the -door, her heart swelling with hospitality. “O mother!” she exclaimed, -for Mrs. White was just passing through the hall; “Miss Ruth is going -to belong to our Club!” - -“This is good of you, Ruth,” said Mrs. White, greeting her neighbour -cordially. “But you must not let the children trespass upon your time.” - -Betty looked up in dismay: had they been asking too much of Miss Ruth? - -“It will be such a new and refreshing kind of Club that I shall enjoy -it,” said Ruth Warren reassuringly. - -“It is good for us to dare to be children with children,” said Mrs. -White, stroking Elsa’s soft hair and looking into the appealing -violet-gray eyes that always brought a thrill of sympathy into her -heart for the motherless child. - -Elsa, meeting the kind glance, said very earnestly: “We are going to -call the Club--” - -“O, Elsa, you mustn’t tell! You will spoil it all,” cried Betty -impatiently. - -“Forgive my little Betty for her interruption, Elsa,” said Mrs. White, -seeing the colour rush into Elsa’s face. “Fault-finding is an easy -trade, Betty. But I suppose you children will all enjoy your Club more -if you keep the name and what you do as a secret.” - -Elsa looked up into Mrs. White’s kindly face and wondered if Betty -realized how fortunate she was in having such a mother, who understood -so well what little girls wanted. - -“We are going to make--” began Betty. - -“There, Betty, who is telling now!” said Mrs. White laughingly. “I am -afraid I shall be learning your secrets if I stay any longer,” she -added, turning away. “Be sure you don’t let the children bother you, -Ruth.” - -“No danger of that,” was the quick reply. And already, indeed, Ruth -Warren’s face looked younger and happier. “Now, children, we must make -our plans,” she continued, when they were all in the living-room. “It -seems to me the meetings would better be at my house. You can come -there on your way from school, and I will have everything ready,--our -work and something to eat.” - -“That will be better than meeting here,” said Betty instantly, “because -the other children--Max and Janet--come home from the high school early -and they might be around sometimes, and sometimes we should have to -keep very quiet on account of the baby.” - -“It would be a little nearer our house, too,” said Elsa, “and -grandmother could see Miss Ruth’s house from the window, and maybe I -could stay later than five o’clock sometimes.” - -“And how would you like it, Alice?” asked Ruth Warren, turning to the -fair-haired child who was usually the last speaker. - -“O, I’d like ever and ever so much to have the Club meet at your -house,” said Alice eagerly. “Ben can call for me to go home.” - -“Then we have our name settled, and the place where we shall meet,” -said Miss Ruth. “Next we must decide what to give the Convalescent Home -children for Christmas.” - -“Dolls!” cried Betty, from a big, square cushion on the floor. - -“Dolls!” echoed Elsa, curled up on the wide sofa beside the two sleepy -gray cats. - -“Dolls,--different kinds, paper dolls and some rag dolls,” said Alice, -her shabby little shoes sticking out straight ahead from the depths of -the chair she had chosen. - -“Rag dolls!” Betty tossed her head scornfully. - -“Yes,--rag dolls, please,” urged Elsa. - -“Some rag dolls, surely,” said Miss Ruth; “one of my dearest dolls -was a black Dinah with a red dress and yellow ribbons on her woolly -hair,--a homely-dear doll my grandmother made for me.” - -“Did your grandmother make dolls for you?” asked Elsa in a low voice. - -“Yes--but that was probably because somebody had made dolls for her -when she was a little girl,” explained Miss Ruth. - -“Dolls, then, it’s going to be,” said Betty. “We will all buy some -dolls, and make dresses for them ourselves, at the Club meetings.” - -Ruth Warren glanced at the children quickly. Elsa was daintily dressed -in a soft, black gown with a fine-embroidered white guimpe; Betty had -on a pretty blue-and-green Scotch plaid dress, with a simple muslin -guimpe: the Danforths and the Whites were well-to-do people. But what -about the Holts? The hem of Alice’s sailor-suit had been twice let -down,--the careful pressing of the creases could not conceal the fact; -her stocking-knees were closely darned, her shoes were shabby; and her -story of how all the family worked to help earn money was undoubtedly -true. If Betty and Elsa bought dolls, Alice might not be able to -buy so many as they. So Miss Ruth said at once: “I will provide the -dolls, and you may dress them. Each of you bring some pieces of pretty -ginghams and wash-goods to me before next Friday, and I will have the -dresses cut out and ready for you to begin on when you come to the Club -meeting. Do you think you can make dresses for as many as two dozen -dolls in all,--twenty-four dolls that will be, and eight apiece for -you?” - -“O, yes, yes!” came the chorus of answers. - -“Then, sometime when the Club is sewing and we are tired of talking, I -will tell you a story about a little old lady’s doll,” said Miss Ruth. - -“O, tell it now!” urged Betty. - -“Please!” “Please!” begged Elsa and Alice. - -“The next time, perhaps,” said Miss Ruth, glancing up at the clock, -whose hour-hand was fast approaching five, and shaking her head at -Betty’s added “Please!” - -“Don’t you think we ought to have a few boy dolls?” asked Alice. “Some -of the convalescent children are boys, and Ben likes my boy dolls best.” - -“Does Ben play with dolls?” asked Betty scornfully, rattling the tongs -by the fireside. - -“He used to when he was littler,” said Alice, “and he does sometimes -now, when he has the sore throat and has to stay in the house. He -doesn’t mind other boys knowing it, either,” she said, sitting up very -straight in the deep chair, her blue eyes beaming with pride; “one of -the boys teased him about it, and Ben ducked him into the frog-pond. -Ben is different from other boys,” Alice explained, turning to Miss -Ruth. “I think he would like to come to the Club sometimes.” - -“We don’t want boys in our Club,” objected Betty, rising and walking -around the room. - -“But Ben isn’t like other boys,” said Elsa from her corner with the -cats. - -“Ben could often help us,” said Miss Ruth encouragingly; “there will be -ever so much that a boy can do, especially toward Christmas-time.” - -“Ben can sew, too,” said loyal Alice. She loved her twin brother -heartily and wanted to have him in all her good times. - -“Here comes Ben, now,” exclaimed Betty, catching sight of him from the -window. - -“He said he would call for me about five o’clock,” cried Alice, running -with Betty to the front door. - -Back they came in a moment, followed by a rosy-cheeked boy, taller than -Alice but looking very much like her except that his big blue eyes -sparkled with fun, while hers were dreamy and rather serious. Ben had -on a short reefer jacket and knee trousers. In his red-mittened hands -he held the round cap which he had pulled off from his close-cropped -yellow hair. - -“This is my twin brother,” said Alice, leading him forward to Miss Ruth. - -“My name is Benjamin Franklin Holt,” said the boy, hastily pulling off -his right-hand red mitten. His cheeks grew rosier than ever, as he -bowed and shook hands with Miss Ruth, but he kept his eyes on her face -in a manly fashion. - -Ruth Warren liked the little fellow from that moment for his -straightforward look. “We are glad to see you, Ben,” she said, “and we -were just talking about your coming to the Club sometimes.” - -“Are you going to have a Club? I might come when there isn’t anything -else to do,” said Ben cheerfully. - -“Ben!” exclaimed his sister. - -“All right, Peggy. Yes, ma’am, thank you, I’d like to come sometimes.” -Ben edged over to the sofa. The two gray cats jumped down when he began -stroking them, and rubbed against his legs. - -“Ben loves animals,” said Alice, with shining eyes. - -“Alice told us you like to play dolls,” said Betty teasingly. - -“I do, sometimes, when there isn’t anything better to do,” said Ben. He -gave a funny side-glance at Miss Ruth out of his twinkling eyes as he -added, straightening up his fine, sturdy little figure: “I ducked a boy -in the frog-pond once for trying to tease me about dolls.” - -Ruth Warren’s eyes laughed back into Ben’s, but she said very -seriously: “I am sure you would not treat any of your sister’s friends -in ungallant fashion.” - -“That’s the trouble about girls,” replied Ben confidentially; “a -boy can’t ever play fair with them, because they are girls.” One of -the things which always delighted people with Ben was his extremely -friendly and wise manner. - -“You have not asked the name of our Club, Ben,” suggested Miss Ruth. - -“Don’t tell him, please, until he really joins,” urged Betty. - -“That will be time enough,” said Ben, carelessly but sweet-temperedly. - -“I must go this minute!” cried Elsa, jumping up from the sofa and -hurriedly putting on her coat, as the clock struck five. “Good-bye! -good-bye! I’ve had a beautiful time. Thank you, Miss Ruth!” she called -back as she darted out of the house. - -Betty White’s musical voice--which seemed to belong with the shining -brown hair and the fearless eyes--followed Miss Ruth and the Holt twins -as they made their way down the front steps a few moments later: “We -will run straight home from school to your house, Miss Ruth, for the -Club meeting next Friday afternoon; and don’t forget the story.” - -Alice and Ben walked the short distance homeward with Miss Ruth. -Happy Alice chattered away about the Club: “I am so glad it is really -started,” she said gleefully, as they stopped at the foot of the -Warrens’ door-steps. - -Ben whipped off his cap and stood bareheaded, looking up into Ruth -Warren’s face. Something friendly in her eyes made him say: “You look -as if you liked boys, Black Lace Lady.” - -“I do like boys, Ben,” said Miss Ruth; and from that moment she and Ben -were friends. - -Ben, while she spoke, had been pulling Alice by the hand. “Come on, -Peggy,” he cried now. - -But Alice hung back long enough to call out: “Ben always has names for -people. Good-bye!” Then the twins ran off together, hand in hand. - -At half-past five Elsa Danforth sat at a side-table in the dining-room -bay-window eating her bread-and-milk supper out of a gold-lined silver -porringer. The soft light from the great, glowing chandelier in the -dining-room fell upon the beautiful flowering plants and upon the -little black-gowned figure sitting there among them, all alone. Elsa -had begged the maid to leave the shades up,--it grew dark early these -short November days,--and she glanced out every now and then through -the twilight at the Warren house with happy thoughts in her heart. She -almost felt as if she had company, for the house was so near and Miss -Ruth had been so kind that afternoon. - -Mrs. Danforth, the tall, stately lady whom Elsa called -“grandmother”--never “grandmamma”--dined at half-past six, for, -notwithstanding the solitude of her life since her husband, Judge -Danforth, had died and she had come to live in this suburban town of -Berkeley, she chose to keep up the formal New York way of living. She -had late breakfasts always, so that when Elsa was attending school, the -only times the two saw one another for more than a few moments were -at luncheon, in the evening after Mrs. Danforth’s dinner was over and -before Elsa’s bedtime, and on Sunday. - -Elsa often felt very lonely, especially eating by herself. But she -never complained; she never thought herself very large or important, -and she was quite used to obeying her grandmother. Uncle Ned had said -for her to do exactly as her grandmother wanted her to do; and if Uncle -Ned had said this, it must be all right. - -“Who are the children in your Club, Elsa, beside Elizabeth White?” -asked Mrs. Danforth that evening. She and Elsa were sitting in the -luxurious library. The chairs were upholstered in dark green velvet, -the books on the tables and in the bookcases had rich bindings. Out of -the library opened a long drawing-room furnished in cream colour and -gold, and having beautiful inlaid cabinets full of treasures. - -Mrs. Danforth was a handsome woman, very erect, with a broad white -forehead, gray hair, heavy dark eyebrows, and keen blue eyes. She was -dressed in a corded black silk, richly trimmed with lace and jet. - -Elsa looked up from her book and answered: “The other member of -the Club is Alice, and maybe her brother Ben is coming sometimes, -grandmother.” - -“What is their last name?” asked the grandmother quickly. - -“Alice and Ben Bolt,” said Elsa. - -“Nonsense, child,” replied Mrs. Danforth: she had a discouraging way -of saying “Nonsense!” that made Elsa feel like a very small and silly -child; “those are names from an old nursery ballad.” - -“I am sure their names are Alice and Ben, anyway, grandmother,” said -Elsa, pushing back the silky hair which had dropped forward, and -looking steadily at her grandmother out of great, wide-open eyes. - -“Probably those are not their real names,” replied Mrs. Danforth. She -seemed rather troubled about something, Elsa thought. And then the -child tried to remember if she had done anything her grandmother did -not like. - -Later, just before Elsa’s bedtime, Mrs. Danforth asked again: “What is -the last name of the children you call Alice and Ben?” - -“Bolt, or Holt, or Colt may be; I can’t remember,” answered Elsa, -looking up from the pages of the “Swiss Family Robinson” and hoping her -grandmother would not notice that the mantel clock was striking eight. - -“Where do they live?” - -“O, a mile away,” said Elsa. “And they have hens and a garden, and they -raise radishes for the city market.” - -“Are you sure they are proper children for you to associate with?” - -“O, yes, grandmother,” said Elsa warmly. “Alice, especially, has -beautiful manners; Betty says her mother especially likes to have her -play with Alice.” - -“I must speak to Mrs. White about it, to make sure,” said Mrs. -Danforth, and Elsa’s face coloured sensitively, for she felt that her -grandmother thought she was not telling the truth. - -“Bedtime now, Elsa,” said Mrs. Danforth, the next moment. “Put away -your book. And try to remember people’s names. It is something a lady -always does.” - -“Yes, grandmother,” said Elsa dutifully. - -Almost any one, looking on, would have been surprised to see Elsa walk -up to her grandmother and, instead of kissing her good night, put out -her hand; and then to see Mrs. Danforth touch the slender, childlike -hand for only a brief second with the tips of her jewelled fingers. -But Elsa understood; long ago her grandmother had explained that she -thought kissing was an unnecessary and foolish custom. - -“Good night, Elsa. Remember to say your prayers.” - -“Yes, grandmother. Good night.” - -Elsa went slowly out of the room and up the polished stairs to her own -room, which always seemed empty to her, with its white-papered walls, -white bed, white furniture, curtains, even white frames on the pictures -of Greek statuary and ruined temples. - -Mrs. Danforth never thought of tucking Elsa into bed; and the child, as -she hung her black dress over the chair to-night, shed a few tears--as -she often did--over having to go to bed all alone in that white, white -room where her little black dresses looked so black. - -It seemed to Elsa that she had been wearing black dresses all her life. -Three years ago her mother had died, then a year later her grandfather, -Judge Danforth, died, and within the last twelve months, her father. -Since her father’s death, her own pretty home had been broken up, -her old nurse dismissed, and she had lived with her grandmother, at -first in the great New York house, and now for three months amid new -surroundings in Berkeley. - -No wonder that the grief and the many changes and now the sober, quiet -life with her grandmother in a new place, had made Elsa a sad-eyed, -white-faced child. The late summer, after their coming to Berkeley, -had been particularly lonely, for there had been nobody to play with. -Since October, however, when the Whites had come back from their summer -home, Elsa had been happier. Betty as near neighbour, had become Elsa’s -special friend, and now she and Alice had also made friends. - -When Elsa was ready for bed, in her long white nightgown, she turned -off the electric light, put up the window-shades, and looked out toward -the Warren house. “I wonder which is Miss Ruth’s room,” she whispered -to herself. “Wish I dared to ask her, because if it’s on this side, I -could look over sometimes, and feel as if I had company.” - -With a little sigh, Elsa knelt down by her white bed and mumbled her -prayer. Then, jumping up from her knees, she listened at the door. Not -a sound from Cummings, her grandmother’s maid, who had the room next -to Elsa’s, and who usually stayed down in the servants’ dining-room -until nine o’clock. Everything was quiet. So Elsa went quickly over to -the white bureau and pulling open the lower drawer, took from under a -pile of playthings a rather small china doll in a faded pink dress, the -red of whose cheeks had been almost entirely kissed off. With this doll -hugged close in her arms, Elsa crept into bed. - -On the white-cushioned couch between the windows sat a dignified row -of dolls, seven in all, and all in good clothes. But better than any -of these, Elsa loved her little old china doll which her own dear -nurse had given her at parting and which Elsa had named for her nurse, -Bettina. For some reason which Elsa did not try to explain to herself, -she kept Bettina from the sight of her grandmother and especially -from Cummings, the middle-aged woman who attended to Mrs. Danforth’s -wardrobe and in what time there was left, made dresses for Elsa. Every -morning when Elsa woke, the first thing she did, after pressing many -loving kisses upon Bettina’s worn face, was to put her away under the -pile of playthings in the lower drawer of the bureau. - -Thinking about the Club made Elsa feel very wide awake. She began -picturing to herself Betty White’s nursery-room with the bright scarlet -geraniums, the strawberry-birds, and the pretty chintz cushions; and -she hugged her doll the closer to take away the feeling of loneliness -in her own dreary white room. - -“Now, listen, Bettina, and try to learn our verses; and perhaps we can -go to sleep,” said Elsa, beginning to whisper softly the cradle-song -her father had taught her, not long before he died. Repeating these -three verses every night meant more to Elsa than the prayer which she -hurried through on her knees. And Bettina listened attentively, as -dolls listen, while a voice said close to her ears: - - “Dear Heart, Sweet Heart, - Time that little children - Creep into their mothers’ arms, to wait Sleep’s silent call; - Sweet Heart, Dear Heart, - All the little children - Must the Moon find sleeping when she mounts Heaven’s wall! - - “Sweet Heart, Dear Heart, - Over little children, - As they dream their white, white dreams, the wings of Love - are pressed; - Dear Heart, Sweet Heart, - They were little children - Whom the blessèd Child of Bethlehem lovèd best! - - “Dear Heart, Sweet Heart, - All the little children - Come from Love, and go to Love, when life’s long day is done; - Sweet Heart, Dear Heart, - All are little children, - Hushed at last, on Nature’s bosom, one by one!” - -And, as usually happened, when Elsa had said the last words, she fell -fast asleep. - - * * * * * - -Down-stairs, Mrs. Danforth, putting aside her book, sat a long time -deep in thought, her eyes shaded from the light. “Ben and Alice; Alice -and Ben!” she kept repeating to herself. “Strange,--and the name, too, -Holt, or Bolt;--yet it may be only that foolish old song. I must find -out about it all.” - -Finally, being a woman of strong will, she put the matter out of -her mind, leaned back into the luxurious chair and went on reading -her novel; while up-stairs, Elsa, the child who bore no shadow of -resemblance to her in looks or ways, fell asleep with wet eyelashes. - -Mrs. Danforth had every intention of being kind to Elsa. She provided -suitable and pretty frocks and the daintiest of underwear for the -child; she paid careful attention to Elsa’s education, her manners and -her companions. The one thing she failed to give the child was the -unbounded love which little fatherless and motherless Elsa needed more -than anything else in the world. - -In many ways Mrs. Danforth was proud of Elsa,--proud of her straight, -naturally graceful figure, her spirited bearing, her wonderfully -beautiful hair and eyes. Mrs. Danforth was a proud woman, and she -enjoyed the thought that the little girl whom she called grandchild -was well worthy of the name. She had never really cared for any child -except her own daughter; but that was a sad story of long ago. - -There was a definite reason why Mrs. Danforth did not give more -affection to Elsa, just as there was a definite purpose back of her -coming to live in Berkeley. This purpose, however, Mrs. Danforth was -slow in carrying out, being a proud-spirited woman. To her many New -York friends she explained her removal to Berkeley upon the ground -that the quiet, suburban town, with its cultured people and its good -schools, was a better place than New York City for Elsa to live in -during the years of her young girlhood. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -PRINCE GRAY OWL - - Forth he set in the breezy morn, - Across green fields of nodding corn, - As goodly a Prince as ever was born. - - --_Christina Rossetti._ - - Where every wind and leaf can talk, - But no man understand - Save one whose child-feet chanced to walk - Green paths of fairyland. - - --_Sophie Jewett._ - - -“THE children are late,” said Miss Ruth to Sarah who, soon after -three o’clock the next Friday afternoon, came into the library with -a large plate piled high with ginger cookies cut into shapes of -animals,--horses, cats, dogs, giraffes, and elephants. - -“Like as not they have given up wantin’ to have a club,” snapped Sarah, -shutting her mouth as if she had bitten off the words. “Children -nowadays are spoilt with havin’ such a lot done for ’em.” Sarah looked -disappointed, however; she had spent a long time in making those -cookies. - -Sarah Judd was the only servant in the Warren household, and she had -lived in the family a long time. Whenever Ruth Warren said anything to -her about having a younger woman to help, Sarah always shook her head -until the corkscrew side-curls fairly bobbed up and down and answered: -“No, madam: if you have anybody else come to work for you, I go!” As -old Sarah understood perfectly the ways and wishes of Miss Virginia -Warren, Ruth’s aunt, Ruth kept the cross-spoken servant, who was in -reality a kind-hearted woman. - -Ruth Warren had learned the wisdom of silence when Sarah made scolding -remarks; so now she kept on cutting out dresses for the rows and -rows of dolls,--big and little dolls, blond-haired and black-haired, -waxen-headed and china-headed, blue-eyed, gray-eyed, black-eyed,--two -of each kind and twenty-four in all, lying there on the centre-table. - -Sarah lingered in the room, brushing a little dust from the table with -the corner of her white apron. “What a handsome lot of doll-babies,” -she said after a moment; “I hope the children will come. I thought -at first that havin’ ’em come would make an awful sight of dust an’ -crumbs; but I can sweep Saturday mornin’s instead of Fridays, an’ it’s -kinder nice to hear children ’round, a-talkin’ an’ a-laughin’, as fast -as a sewin’-machine. Bless my heart, here they come now, a-hurryin’ -along!” Sarah dodged behind the curtain and looked out over the tops -of her spectacles. “Ain’t they cunnin’ little things!” she exclaimed, -“comin’ along with their arms twined ’round one another, an’ that -lively Betty White in the middle!” - -As Sarah turned from behind the window-curtain to answer the quick -ring of the front door-bell, she said anxiously: “If they eat all the -animals in the plate, I have got some more plain cookies they can have.” - -A moment later Sarah led the three girls into the library, her -side-curls bobbing with excitement. - -“O, look at those cookies!” cried Betty, after she had greeted Miss -Ruth. “Good old Sarah must have made them.” And Sarah vanished from the -doorway with a smile which made her thin, dry face seem suddenly to -have cracked. - -“I’m dreadfully sorry we are late, Miss Ruth,” Betty cried out, -excitedly--Betty was almost always the first to begin talking. “It is -all my fault--I had to stay after school, and Elsa and Alice waited for -me.” Betty stopped for breath, fanning herself with the skirt of her -blue and green plaid gown. - -“We wanted to wait,” said Alice with a shy, half-look at Miss Ruth, -then turning quickly to examine the piles of dolls again, with Elsa. - -“I got zero in arithmetic,” Betty rattled on again, “and I didn’t read -well, and I got caught whispering, so I had to eat three little bitter -blossoms and stay fifteen minutes after school. I wish there wasn’t any -school,” she added, with a toss of her brown hair. - -“So do I,” agreed Elsa, promptly, but Alice looked a little shocked. - -“Help yourselves to the cookies, girls; Sarah made them especially for -you,” said Miss Ruth, seeing Betty’s and Elsa’s eyes fixed upon the -gingerbread animals. - -“I shouldn’t care if I didn’t know anything, if I could have people -read to me and tell me stories,” said Betty, biting off the trunk of an -elephant cookie. - -“O, Miss Ruth, you said you would tell us a story!” exclaimed Elsa, -eagerly. - -“Yes,--a story about a doll and an old lady,” cried Betty, forgetting -her school troubles. - -“Wasn’t it strange for an old lady to have a doll?” said Alice, her -blue eyes very serious. - -“Strange perhaps, but true,” replied Miss Ruth, who had taken the tongs -and was stirring the fire into a splendid blaze. “Which would you -rather have,--that story, or one about a ‘Prince Gray Owl?’” - -“Both,” answered Betty, “but the gray owl story first.” - -“The doll story first, please,” begged Elsa. The fire lighted up the -golden-brown of Miss Ruth’s gown, and its brown fur trimming; Elsa -decided that the fur just matched the colour of Miss Ruth’s eyes. - -“I should like either story first,--only both please,” said Alice -slowly, between bites at a long-necked giraffe. - -“Which one can you tell easiest, Miss Ruth?” Elsa suddenly remembered -to ask. - -“I could tell the fairy story more easily to-day, perhaps, because I -told it only yesterday to my little niece who was visiting me. The old -lady’s doll story actually happened, so that I remember it better.” - -“Then the fairy story first, please,” Elsa said, contentedly. She had -one of the little dolls in her arms. - -“Didn’t the fairy story really happen, too?” Alice asked quickly. She -had chosen from among the dolls a blue-eyed, yellow-haired one that -looked very much like herself. - -“What a silly question, Baby Alice,” cried Betty. “Of course fairy -stories aren’t true.” - -“What makes you like fairy stories, Betty, if they are not true?” Elsa -asked, seeing that Alice looked hurt. - -“Because fairies are so dear and kind that it makes you wish they were -true,” Betty replied. - -“Fairy stories were true in the once-upon-a-time days,” said Miss Ruth, -to end the discussion; “that is, people believed in fairies,” she added. - -“Are these the dresses for us to make, all pinned on to the dolls, Miss -Ruth?” Elsa asked. “We’ve talked so much about other things that we -haven’t said hardly anything about the dolls.” - -“It’s nice to have their underclothes all made,” said Betty, “because -it saves so much of our time.” Betty had finally taken one of the -largest dolls to dress. - -“Do you each want to dress first the one you have chosen?” asked Miss -Ruth. - -“Yes!” “Yes!” was the quick chorus. - -“Then you may begin now, and I will sew, too,” said Miss Ruth, seating -herself by the table. “Here is a thimble for each of you, and in this -big work-basket you will find needles and sewing cotton and scissors. -Help yourselves to the cookies: and you need not be extra careful about -crumbs, because Sarah is going to sweep the library to-morrow morning.” - -The three girls grouped themselves near the table and threaded their -needles. - -“Please begin,” Betty whispered, just as Miss Ruth was asking of Alice: -“Is Ben coming to the Club?” - -“He wanted to, he told me,” said Alice, “but the other boys teased him -to go skating, ’cause Morse’s Pond is frozen over.” - -Betty tossed her head: “I knew he didn’t want to belong.” - -“He told me he did,” said Elsa, who, being sensitive herself, usually -knew when Alice’s feelings were hurt. Elsa’s eyes were shining with -pleasure: it was only half-past three o’clock, there was an hour and -a half of enjoyment ahead, with dolls’ dresses all ready to make, -ginger cookies to eat, and a fairy story to hear. The bright wood-fire -sparkling and crackling added to the cheer. Her eyes were dark like -purple pansies as she raised them, expectantly, to Miss Ruth. - -“Now that we are all ready,” said Miss Ruth, “I will begin. _Prince -Gray Owl_ is the name of the story.” - -“Was the Gray Owl really a prince?” asked Alice. - -“Hush!” said Betty. - - * * * * * - -Once upon a time,--began Miss Ruth,--there was a beautiful princess who -lived in a great gray castle with her uncle. The castle and the kingdom -belonged to the princess, but as the king, her father, and the queen, -her mother, were dead, her uncle ruled over the kingdom. - -Princess Katrina was only ten years old when her father and mother -died. As the years went on, her uncle liked better and better to be -king, and did not want to give up the position. But he knew that when -Princess Katrina married, he could no longer be king, because her -husband would become the ruler. Many a brave young prince wanted to -marry the princess, whose great beauty and cheerful heart were famed -throughout the world. But the uncle said “No” to each one of these -suitors, and ordered them never to come into the kingdom again on -penalty of having their heads cut off. - -Princess Katrina was now nineteen years old. Her uncle knew that if -she were not married before she was twenty-one, she could then choose -a husband for herself. So he arranged to have her marry, not a prince, -but a wicked old king, ruler of a far-off country, two days’ journey -beyond the sunset. The uncle agreed to give this bad man a large sum -of gold with the princess, and in return, the uncle was to keep the -kingdom. For the far-away king wanted gold more than he did land. - -Early one September morning Katrina’s uncle came to the sunshiny -bower where she sat alone, embroidering a beautiful scarlet-and-gold -tapestry. The princess made a beautiful picture, there in the sunshine, -with her soft hair shining like spun gold, her clear blue eyes, and -her fair cheeks tinged with rose colour. She looked a royal princess -indeed, in her blue velvet gown, with a long scarf of light blue gauze -floating over her shoulders. - -“Good morning, Uncle Wulfred,” said the princess. She was not very fond -of her uncle, but she always greeted him kindly. - -The wicked uncle had a crafty and cruel face. The jewelled gold crown -came almost down to the ears of his small, round head, and the kingly, -ermine-trimmed green velvet robe hung loosely from his short, stooping -figure. - -“Princess niece,” said the uncle, without any “Good morning” greeting, -“you are now over nineteen years old and it is time you were married, -so I have chosen a husband for you. King Rupert from the land two days’ -journey beyond the sunset is coming at the end of a month to marry you.” - -Princess Katrina’s happy, beautiful face turned very pale. “Do you mean -that cross, unkind old king who visited you a six-month ago and who one -day at banquet broke the neck of a poor, faithful hound who offended -him? Nay, Uncle Wulfred, I will not marry such a man.” - -“I say you shall marry him,” stormed the uncle, walking up and down the -room with jingling spurs. - -“Never! I will die first!” cried the princess. Rising suddenly in front -of her uncle, she faced him with white cheeks and flashing eyes. The -scarlet-and-gold tapestry fell from her hands to the floor. - -“You shall marry King Rupert, or die!” the uncle shouted; his -small eyes snapped angrily, his face grew purple, and he brought -his steel-gloved hand down upon the table so heavily that the -embroidery bodkins and scissors rolled off, clattering, to the -floor. “This-very-morning,” he said so fast that the words almost -tumbled over each other, “I-will-shut-you-up-in-the-East-Tower. -At-the-end-of-a-week-I-will-come-to-ask-if-you-will-marry-King-Rupert. -If-you-refuse-to-mind-me, -I-will-put-you-where-you-will-have-a-harder-time, the-second-week.” - -When her uncle stopped, purple in the face, to take breath, Princess -Katrina answered him scornfully and without fear: “You are a wicked -uncle. It is because you want to keep my kingdom that you are trying to -make me marry that cruel old king, who lives far away.” - -At these words, the uncle grew more angry than ever, because they were -the truth. He stamped heavily with his right foot three times upon the -stone floor. - -Instantly three tall men in black robes, with black masks over their -faces, rushed into Katrina’s bower. One of the men pushed back from -the doorway Katrina’s old nurse who lived with the princess now as -serving-woman. Quickly throwing a part of his black robe over the head -of the gray-haired woman, the man led her away. - -“Make the princess a prisoner!” commanded the uncle, pointing with his -sword at Katrina, who did not move or even cry out. - -The two men in black seized Katrina roughly by the shoulders. - -“Take this disobedient girl to the East Tower!” roared the angry uncle. - -Katrina did not speak, but her blue eyes gleamed proudly as the guards -led her away. - -The East Tower was an old, unused part of the castle, a long distance -from the part where the royal household lived. To reach the tower, the -guards led Katrina through many rooms hung with spiders’ webs, over -broken stone floors, and along dark passage-ways where rats scuttled. - - * * * * * - -“I am glad I wasn’t Katrina to have to go where there were rats!” -exclaimed Alice. - -“Don’t interrupt, Peggy!” cried Betty. - -Miss Ruth smiled, and continued: - - * * * * * - -The old East Tower of the castle was almost forgotten. No one ever -went there. Tall trees and bushes grew up around it, and a deep moat -surrounded it. - - * * * * * - -“What is a moat?” asked Betty. - -“A deep hollow, like a trench or a wide ditch, filled with water,” -explained Miss Ruth, and Alice whispered--but very sweet-temperedly--to -Betty: “Who’s interrupting now?” as Miss Ruth began again: - - * * * * * - -The land beyond the East Tower, across the moat, belonged to a -neighbouring king, who had been away at war for many years. No lonelier -place than the tower could have been found for a prison. - -“A safe place for the girl,” said the false king to his wicked -counsellors when they came back and told him they had locked Princess -Katrina into the upper room of the tower. - -“But suppose she dies there?” said one of the counsellors, who had a -daughter at home, of about Katrina’s age. - -“If she dies, no one will be the wiser, and you will be rich men,” said -the king. “Be sure you keep the old nurse drugged, and a guard to watch -her.” - -After that, when the royal ladies of the court asked King Wulfred where -the princess was, he told them she had been suddenly called away by the -illness of her aunt in another kingdom, and that the old nurse had gone -with the princess. - -Katrina was very lonely and sad the first few days in the round upper -room of the old stone tower. Three times each day the strong door -was unlocked and food and candles were set into the room. The man who -brought the food and the three candles would not say a word in answer -to Katrina’s questions. In the daytime, the princess walked around -the room, looking from one after another of the three windows at the -trees outside. When night came, she put all three of her candles at the -window where the leaves of the trees seemed thinnest, hoping that some -one passing might see the light, and wonder at its being there in the -old, deserted tower, and so come to her rescue. - -On the third day, the princess saw the bright eyes of a gray squirrel -looking in at the window; she put some food upon the window-sill, and -presently the squirrel came in through the iron bars, ate the food, -then sat up on his haunches and looked at her quite fearlessly. - -“I would help you if I could,” said the gray squirrel, unexpectedly, -“but all I can do is to give you my company.” - -Katrina was greatly surprised to hear the squirrel speak, but she -answered quickly: “If you will talk with me sometimes that will help -me, for I am so lonely.” - -“I will come every day,” he replied. “Now I must go home to arrange my -engagements.” Straightening out his splendid bushy tail, he jumped from -the window-sill into the thick leaves of an oak-tree, out of sight, -like a flash. - -After that, the gray squirrel came every day at exactly the same time. -He sat on Katrina’s shoulder and chattered about his busy life in the -great forest; and in turn Katrina told him about her being shut up in -the tower by her cruel uncle. - -“I would help you if I could,” said the squirrel one day, growing so -angry over her imprisonment that he tried to bite the iron bars of the -window, and in doing so, broke off two of his best front teeth. From -that time, Princess Katrina gave him more of her food, because he could -not crack nuts so well now. “Elf will mend my teeth some day, elf will -mend them,” said the squirrel cheerfully. - -On the afternoon of the seventh day, the cruel uncle unlocked the door -of the tower-room and stood before the princess. He was covered with -dust and cobwebs from coming through the unused rooms and dark passages -which led to the tower. - -“Is my dear niece ready to obey me and marry King Rupert?” the uncle -asked in a make-believe anxious voice. - -Princess Katrina held up her head courageously. “Never!” she said: “I -will never consent to marry that dreadful old man.” Her golden hair -gleamed like sunshine against the dark gray stone walls. - -She was so brave and fair standing there in her royal blue velvet gown, -facing him, that her uncle was half afraid. “It is for your good,” he -said in a shaking voice, the keys jingling in his hand. - -Katrina answered him quickly: “It is for your gain.” - -Then the uncle cried out fast, with blazing eyes: -“This-next-week-you-shall-live-in-the-lower-room-and-have-food-only- -twice-a-day-and-only-two-candles-for-the-night. -At-the-end-of-a-week-I-will-visit-you-and-if-you-refuse-to-marry- -King-Rupert-I-will-put-you-where-you-have-a-harder-time.” Seizing her -wrist, he dragged her roughly behind him through the door and down the -narrow, winding stone steps to the room below, thrust her into it, and -locked the creaking, heavy door upon her. - -That night Princess Katrina was dreadfully afraid. A wild storm of -wind and rain shook the tower and made her candle-light flicker. Once -when something gray brushed against the window she shrieked aloud; -but, watching, she saw that the gray object stopped on a branch of -the great oak-tree outside the window, and that it was a large, -soft owl, as tall as a man. The owl sat there a long time, staring -at the candle-light with blinking yellow eyes that had tiny black -spots at their centre, and the princess was comforted by the sense of -companionship. - -The next morning when the food and candles were brought, a package was -put with them, inside the door. - -Katrina hurriedly unwrapped the package and was overjoyed to find in -it her scarlet-and-gold tapestry, her bodkins, her skeins of scarlet -and gold embroidery silk, and a little paper cleverly sewed on the -very place where she had stopped her work the morning when her uncle -came into her bower. On the paper was written, in her old nurse’s -handwriting: “The counsellors kept me drugged for a week, then they -told me you had gone away. I did not believe them, and I bribed the -guard, with all the gold I had, to tell me where you are and to takes -these things to you. Keep a good heart. I go away from the castle to -help you.” - -When the gray squirrel came, early that afternoon, Katrina told him -what had happened and asked him what he thought. - -The gray squirrel sat up very still and looked at the princess out -of his round black eyes: “The gray owl will rescue you,” said the -squirrel at last, solemnly. - -“Who told you so?” asked the princess. - -“I heard the bluejays talking about it this morning,” he said, winking -his eyes rapidly. - -“Who told the bluejays?” Katrina inquired. - -“They are great gossips: they hear things by listening at the front -doors of the other birds’ homes.” The squirrel looked so fierce all at -once that the princess asked quickly: “Do you know the gray owl?” and -before the squirrel could answer, began telling him about the gray owl -she had seen outside her window the night before. “Do you know him?” -she asked again. - -“I know some gray owls,--I am sorry to say,” replied the squirrel, -shaking his tail. - -The princess opened her blue eyes very wide as she asked, “Why are you -sorry?” - -“Squirrels and owls cannot be friendly,” said the gray squirrel rather -sadly. - -“Why?” asked the princess. - -“Because it has always been so,” he answered, whisking his tail -excitedly and jumping out of the window so that the princess could not -ask him any more questions. - -That afternoon as Katrina began embroidering once more upon her -scarlet-and-gold tapestry, her thoughts were even busier than her -fingers. What did her nurse mean by writing that puzzling sentence: -“I go away from the castle to help you?” Over and over again, Katrina -turned these words in her mind. But she felt comforted and hopeful. - -When darkness fell, the princess put her two candles at the window, -and said to herself: “Perhaps the gray owl will come again to the -oak-tree.” For a long time she waited with her tender face pressed -against the iron bars. By and by she heard a soft whirr-r of wings, and -the gray owl settled upon a branch below the window. - -Katrina looked eagerly into the round, blinking eyes: “I wish you could -speak,” she said, half-aloud. - -The gray owl stepped so near the light that the little black line -almost faded out of his yellow eyes. Katrina was surprised at the owl’s -great size, and even more surprised to hear a muffled voice say: “Keep -a good heart. I will save you.” Then the owl spread its soft wings and -flew noiselessly away. - -It was soon after that the princess heard a faint, regular sound, as -of iron striking against stone; and the sound lasted all night,--as -long as she stayed awake, which was a long time, for she kept asking -herself over and over again: “Will the gray owl really save me from -this dungeon?” The squirrel had said the owl would do this, and now the -owl himself said so. - -In the days of Princess Katrina, the world of mankind had not moved -very far away from fairyland. The princess was not half so much -astonished to hear a squirrel and an owl speak as a princess would be -to-day. Katrina’s old nurse had told her many a tale of wonder; the -nurse had that very day sent the message, “Keep a good heart;” and -the gray owl had repeated the same words, “Keep a good heart.” By and -by Katrina fell asleep, still puzzled, but happy in having such good -friends as the nurse, the squirrel and the owl. - -The next morning, when the squirrel came as usual, Katrina asked his -opinion about the owl and the strange noise; but all the squirrel would -say was: “Owls are very strong. Owls have sharp, strong beaks.” Then -he whisked away, as if in haste. So Katrina stopped talking to the -squirrel about the owl after that, for the subject seemed to offend him. - -Every night, regularly, when darkness fell, Katrina heard the faint -pick! pick! of iron upon stone, and every night, as she leaned against -the window-bars, after the pick! pick! began, she heard the muffled -words, “Keep a good heart!” She did not always see the owl, but on -those nights she thought the owl must have perched upon a branch much -lower than her window, for, straining her eyes, she could see a gray -shape below. - -When the end of the second week came, Katrina wound the scarlet and -gold tapestry around her slender body, under her blue velvet gown, so -that her uncle should not see it. All day long she waited for him, but -he did not come until dusk. The key turned slowly in the rusty lock. -Her uncle stood before her. - -“Girl! Katrina!” he shouted, for he was frightened by her white face. -“Have you come to your senses? Are you ready to marry King Rupert?” - -“Never! I will never marry King Rupert,” Katrina answered, -looking at her uncle with flashing blue eyes so like those of -his dead brother, her father, that the uncle swore a terrible -oath to keep up his courage, and said very fast, though -his teeth chattered: “Down--to--the--dungeon--with--you! -Food--only--once--a--day. One--small--candle--for--the--night. -Be--ready--to--marry--King--Rupert--at--the--end--of--a--week-- -or--you--will--have--a--harder--time.” - -With trembling hands the coward uncle put a key into a keyhole in the -floor, raised a trap-door by an iron ring, and pushed Katrina down the -dark stairs. She lifted her white face bravely and said: “Never will I -do your bidding;” then the trap-door closed over her head. - -Down into the darkness the beautiful princess felt her way. After a -few moments she could see, by the dim light that came in from the one -window, a rough wooden bench, a stool, and a pile of dry leaves in one -corner. Outside the window, the oak leaves were very thick. Katrina -reached through the iron bars and broke the leaves from the nearest -branches. The strong stems hurt her hands, but she gained a little more -light and air. - -Before the dim twilight faded away, brave Katrina stirred the dry -leaves on the stone floor and found to her great comfort that there -were no creeping things underneath. After putting her scarlet-and-gold -tapestry over the leaves to make a bed for herself, she lighted her one -candle, and placing it upon the wooden bench before the window, sat -down beside it. Darkness had hardly fallen before she heard the pick! -pick! as of iron upon stone, and lo! the sounds seemed close at her -side. - -Suppose the sounds were some plan of her uncle’s to frighten her? For a -moment Katrina’s courage sank at the thought. But just then she heard a -muffled voice ask: “Are you there, Princess?” - -“Yes,” she answered faintly. “Who are you?” The dungeon walls were -thicker than the walls above; Katrina could only press so near the -window as to see a gray figure outside. - -“Your friend, the Gray Owl,” said the low voice. “We must not talk -much, for fear some one hear us. But keep a good heart.” - -Each day of that third week the princess worked a little while with the -shining gold silk upon the tapestry; it was so dark in the dungeon that -she could not see, even at noonday, to use the scarlet silk. She felt -very faint, because she had only one meal a day, of bread and water, -and she gave some of the bread to her daily visitor, the squirrel, who -grew very thin without his usual nuts. She begged him every day to go -to the elf and have his teeth mended, but he always answered: “It is a -long way, and I will not go until you are saved.” - -On the fifth night of that week when the pick! pick! as of iron upon -stone began, the princess went to the window and whispered sadly: “I -cannot keep heart much longer,” and the low, muffled voice of the gray -owl answered: “Courage! keep a good heart for one day more.” - -Upon the sixth day there was a dark tempest. Even at high noon the -dungeon was dark. The gray squirrel looked wet and discouraged when he -sprang in through the window at the usual time. - -“Do you think the gray owl is going to save me?” asked the princess in -her despair. - -At the mention of the gray owl, the squirrel jumped for the window, but -it was so dark in the dungeon that he bumped into the wall and fell -upon the stone floor. - -He held up a hurt front paw as Katrina ran to him. “Will you bind it -with silk for me?” he asked. “Elf will mend it when I go to him, elf -will mend it. But I shall have to stay with you now, because I cannot -jump--nor even walk,” he said, trying to rise but falling over again. - -Katrina bound the wounded paw tenderly. All that afternoon the squirrel -seemed to be thinking deeply, and Katrina could not make him talk. - -Utter darkness fell early. The dungeon grew very cold, so that both -Katrina and the squirrel shivered. She wrapped herself in the scarlet -and gold tapestry, took the squirrel in her hands, and crouched near -the window. - -Soon came a stir in the leaves outside. “Are you there, Princess?” -asked the muffled voice. Katrina felt the squirrel begin to tremble -violently. - -“Yes, Gray Owl,” she answered, waiting for him to say, “Keep a good -heart.” But instead, he said: “Prepare to leave the dungeon, Princess. -Stand away from the window, for soon a large stone of the wall will -fall into the dungeon.” - -Katrina moved to the opposite side, having hard work to keep the -squirrel in her hands; he acted so frightened that she knew now it had -been fear, not anger, which made him run away every time the owl’s name -was mentioned. - -“Are you safe, Princess?” came the gray owl’s question. - -“Yes,” she cried. Then she saw a heavy stone of the wall move inward -more and more until it slid to the ground with a dull sound, and left a -large open space in the wall. - - * * * * * - -“Here’s the boy of the Club,” announced Sarah, appearing at the door, -followed by Ben. - -Ruth Warren went forward to greet the red-cheeked boy, whose hair lay -wet upon his forehead. - -[Illustration: “‘YES, GRAY OWL,’ SHE ANSWERED.”] - -“I thought I’d come for a little while,” said Ben, his eyes upon the -last cookie in the plate, a long-necked horse. “Skating wasn’t much -good, and I got in twice.” His wet shoes proved this. - -“Sit here by the hearth and dry your feet, Ben,” said Miss Ruth, -turning to brighten the fire. - -“Let me do that,” said Ben gallantly, reaching for the tongs. - -Sarah took the plate from the table and vanished. Alice began -explaining things to Ben: - -“Miss Ruth is telling us a story about Prince Gray Owl, and he is just -saving Princess Katrina from the dungeon. I can tell you the first of -it on the way home, Ben.” Alice had jumped up from her chair and was -devotedly watching her brother while he blew to start the fire until -his red cheeks stood out like small balloons. - -“Please go on with the story, Miss Ruth,” cried Betty, impatient at the -delay. - -But just then Sarah came in with the large plate piled high again with -cookies. Ben put the tongs back in their place and seated himself -contentedly near the cookies. - -Miss Ruth spent a moment or two in looking over the girls’ sewing. -Betty had already made one doll’s dress and begun another. Elsa and -Alice were just finishing their first ones. When Miss Ruth seated -herself again, Elsa drew her chair nearer, and every now and then, as -Miss Ruth went on with the story, Elsa reached out and stroked the soft -fur on the golden-brown gown. - - * * * * * - -“Princess, can you come through this opening in the wall?” asked a -voice outside of the window-bars. - -Trembling now with excitement, the princess took up the tapestry which -had fallen around her and made it into a long roll, slender like -herself. - -“Try if this will go through, Gray Owl,” she said. The squirrel clung -to her shoulder. - -Slowly the roll of tapestry disappeared through the opening. - -“Do you dare follow, Princess?” came the thrilling question. - -“I dare--and I follow,” she answered. - -“Save me!” cried the squirrel. - -Katrina hid the shivering little creature in the folds of her blue -gossamer scarf, and with a last look around the dread dungeon, extended -her arms and put her head and shoulders through the opening in the -wall. Even before the rain-drops outside fell upon her hands, she felt -both hands grasped strongly, and she was drawn gently and steadily -forward until she could spring to her feet upright upon the soft ground. - -Before her stood--not the gray owl she had expected to see, but a tall -young man with a graceful figure, and richly dressed in a princely robe -of dark green velvet. - -The young man bowed low before Katrina. “Princess,” he said, “I am the -oldest son of the king, your neighbour. I was slightly wounded in one -of my father’s battles, and I came home the very day that your old -nurse escaped to my father’s castle and told of your imprisonment in -this dungeon. I took the shape of an owl and flew across the moat, and -as it was my right arm which was wounded, I kept the owl’s shape and -worked with the strong beak to remove this stone and free you.” - -“Sir, never did a knight do more for a maiden,” said the princess, in -turn bowing low. She saw that his right arm hung in a sling. - -“I will now fly with you to my father’s castle, where my mother, the -queen, and your faithful nurse await you,” said the prince. - -Seeing the wonder on the sweet face of the princess, the prince said: -“Once, when I was a boy, I saved a young gray owl from a fierce eagle; -and the gray owl’s father was so grateful that he gave me the power to -change into a gray owl, at will.” - -Then the prince said something which sounded like-- - - “Gray owl, gray owl, - I would be - A strong gray owl, - Like to thee.” - -And he turned into a great, soft-feathered gray owl. It could not have -been just those words,--because Katrina tried to use them so that she -might turn into an owl herself, long afterward, just for fun. - -The prince, now the gray owl, spread out one of his soft wings and took -the princess under it; then he gathered the roll of tapestry under the -other wing, and flew away, over the moat, toward his father’s castle. - - * * * * * - -“What about the gray squirrel?” asked Ben, excitedly flourishing a -half-eaten camel. - - * * * * * - -On the flight to the home of the prince--said Miss Ruth--Katrina told -the prince about the gray squirrel, whose little heart she could feel -all the time beating against hers. “I have him with me, under my -scarf,” she said. “He is afraid of you, I think,” she added, so low -that the squirrel could not hear. - -“The gray owls will do anything for me,” said the prince in a loud -voice. “I will tell the greatest gray owl, the king of the forest, that -from this time forth the owls and the squirrels must live peaceably -together.” - -Hearing this, the squirrel took courage and put his head out from -the folds of Katrina’s blue scarf. “Thank you, Gray Owl,” he said -gratefully. Then he slipped away, for they were near the home of the -elf, and he was anxious to have his front teeth and his broken paw -mended. - -It happened that the neighbouring king, who had been for many years -away at war, grew alarmed when his son, Prince Edward, was wounded; and -so the king came hurrying home the very night of the day that Princess -Katrina was rescued from the dungeon. When this good king heard the -story of her imprisonment, he decided to set forth the next morning to -punish her wicked uncle, Wulfred, whom he had never liked, but with -whom he had lived in peace, up to this time. - -That day, at noon, the false king made his way to the East Tower and -lifted up the trap-door of the dungeon. “Katrina! are you ready to -marry King Rupert?” he shouted down into the darkness. - -No voice answered. The uncle called again in a louder voice. Still -no answer came. He peered down into the blackness by the light of a -long torch he had brought, but he could see nothing except the bed of -leaves, the rude bench and the chair. - -“She lies dead under the leaves,” the uncle whispered to himself with -chattering teeth. A bat flew against his face. Shaking with fear, he -let the trap-door fall and hurried away, back through the winding, -cobwebby passages, to the state rooms of the palace. - -But there more fears awaited him. His three wicked counsellors rushed -up and drew him to the front window, crying: “See!” “A foe is marching -upon us!” “A great and mighty army!” - -The false king saw in the distance an army of hundreds of men, all in -glistening armour, with waving plumes and gleaming shields, line after -line stretching far into the distance. At the head of the army, upon a -magnificent black war-horse, rode the neighbouring king, clad in a suit -of mail, with a glittering helmet on his head, surmounted by a flowing -white plume. Behind the king, each upon a beautiful white horse, rode -Prince Edward and Princess Katrina; and upon the shoulder of the -princess perched a large gray squirrel. - - * * * * * - -“Then what happened?” questioned Betty, breathlessly. - -Miss Ruth, glancing at the clock, saw that the hands pointed closely to -five, so she told the rest of the story very fast: - - * * * * * - -The wicked uncle was a coward before danger. When he found that the -princess was with this great army, he made no resistance, but at once -ordered the white flag of surrender to be flung out from the tower, for -he knew that the powerful neighbouring king would not fail to avenge -Katrina’s wrongs. - -The conquering king made the wicked uncle a prisoner, and had him -put into the same dungeon where Katrina had been imprisoned. Prince -Edward and Princess Katrina were married soon after, and ruled -happily for many, many years. Behind their thrones hung the splendid -scarlet-and-gold tapestry upon which the princess had worked during -those dreary days in the dungeon. When the wicked uncle was an old man, -grown thin and white-haired, Katrina had him set free from prison, and -he spent his last days at the court, playing with a feeble, old gray -squirrel. - - * * * * * - -“Is that all?” sighed Betty, when Miss Ruth stopped talking. - -“Thank you ever so much,” said Elsa, as she sat looking into the fire: -“I like Prince Gray Owl,” she added soberly. - -“I think Katrina was the best, though, because she had the poor old -uncle pardoned,” said tender-hearted Alice. - -“What about the owls and the squirrels?” asked Ben, who was still -eating ginger cookies. - -“O, the owls and the squirrels lived happily together ever after in the -woods around, even ‘as far as the lands of the wicked King Rupert, two -days’ journey beyond the sunset,’” said Miss Ruth. - -“I wish there was some more about them!” exclaimed Betty. - -“There is more about the owls and the squirrels all the time, in the -woods,” said Miss Ruth. “How would you like some Friday afternoon, -instead of having our meeting in the house, to walk out to the -Convalescent Home and then come back through the woods?” - -Each and every member of the Club agreed that this would be a splendid -way to have a club meeting. “We could take home the sewing that we -would do at the meeting,” suggested Betty, “and bring it all finished -to the next meeting, so as not to lose time dressing the dolls.” - -“You have done well this afternoon, girls,” said Miss Ruth, beginning -to gather up the dolls and their dresses; “and Betty’s idea is a good -one. Each of you ask at home if she may go on the walk, and perhaps we -can have it next Friday.” - -“Then we can all see the Convalescings,” said Ben eagerly. “They are -nice little children, and I like to see them getting well.” - -“Five o’clock and five minutes after!” cried Elsa, springing up. “I -must go, or grandmother will not like it.” - -“Do you have to mind--even five minutes?” asked Betty, in surprise. - -“Yes,” answered Elsa, hurriedly putting on her long black cloak. “Uncle -Ned tells me to do just what grandmother says.” - -“Who is your Uncle Ned?” inquired Betty, who was taking a few last -stitches in the doll’s dress. - -“Uncle Ned? He is the nicest and the dearest and the best man in all -the world,” said Elsa, her violet-gray eyes growing eloquent with -feeling. “He is nicer even than Prince Gray Owl, and I miss him all -the time. Good-bye.” And Elsa ran away with her wide black felt hat -hanging from her arm, and with something very much like tears shining -in her eyes. - -Betty had sewed rapidly, and now she held up a second doll’s dress, -finished. - -“Good, Betty!” said Miss Ruth. “Let me count how many we have -done,--your two, Elsa and Alice each one, and two of mine, six in all, -out of the twenty-four; it will take us just three meetings more to -finish the eighteen dresses that are left.” - -“Then we can do some paper dolls, and rag dolls,” said Alice, clapping -her hands softly. - -“Maybe I could help about the paper dolls;” Ben made the suggestion -with a rather careless air. “I could paint dresses, because I know -what looks pretty. When I grow up to be a man I am going to earn a lot -of money and buy pretty dresses for Alice, and I’m going to get her -a black lace one and a yellowy brown one trimmed with fur,” he said, -slowly. - -Miss Ruth nodded encouragingly as she met Ben’s earnest blue eyes. - -“I will give you some of the pretty dresses, Betty,” said Alice -unselfishly, feeling perfectly sure that Ben would do whatever he -promised. - -Betty almost said, “I have prettier dresses now than you have,” but she -stopped just in time and said instead: “I will give you a blue velvet -dress, like Princess Katrina’s.” - -To-day, Alice’s blue sailor-suit looked more worn and even shorter -than before, and Ben’s sturdy little figure seemed almost bursting out -through his tight jacket. But both Alice and Ben were too happy-natured -to care much about clothes. He helped her on with her shabby blue coat -most affectionately. The twins were very fond of one another, although -Ben, being a boy, did not think so much about this as Alice did, for -she openly and eagerly showed her love for him. - -It was after quarter past five o’clock when Elsa Danforth, waiting in -the bay-window of the dining-room for her bread-and-milk supper, saw -Betty and Alice and Ben come out of the Warren house. “They have had -all this much longer good time!” Elsa said to herself. Life seemed -especially lonely to her just then. Her grandmother had reproved her -for being late, as well as for running home without her hat on. - -Elsa was just a simple and loving little girl, who tried very hard -not to be an unhappy one, although she knew she was living without -many things which other little girls had in their homes and with their -mothers. She was lonelier than ever that night, when bedtime came: and -this is how it happened. - -Mrs. Danforth had hired a pew at the largest church in Berkeley, and -had given money generously whenever asked to help any good cause. It -had come time for the ladies of the church to make their yearly gift -of clothing and toys to the Convalescent Home. And Mrs. Everett, the -head of the committee, called upon Mrs. Danforth for some money, that -afternoon. - -“It seems too bad to spend money for playthings when so much is needed -for clothing,” said Mrs. Everett, as she folded the crisp ten-dollar -bill which Mrs. Danforth handed her. “Has your grandchild any old toys -which might do for the children?” - -“I am sure she has,” replied Mrs. Danforth, remembering a large boxful -of half-worn toys in the garret,--toys which Elsa had said she was -tired of. - -“I could take them in my carriage now,” said Mrs. Everett. She was a -large-hearted woman, much interested in the Convalescent Home and -eager to help it. - -Mrs. Danforth rang for her maid. “Cummings,” she said to the very prim -and proper looking woman in starched white cap and black dress who -appeared instantly, “bring down that boxful of Miss Elsa’s old toys -from the garret. I am going to give them to a children’s home.” - -As Cummings went noiselessly out of the room, Mrs. Danforth asked of -her caller: “Do you happen to know a poor family by the name of Colt -or Holt who live just outside the town?” The proud-faced woman bent -forward to disentangle the gold chain of her eye-glasses from the jet -ornaments of her waist. - -“Yes, I know the Holts,” said Mrs. Everett. “They are poor but very -self-respecting people.” - -“They have a market-garden, I believe?” said Mrs. Danforth, still -struggling with the chain. - -“Yes,” replied Mrs. Everett, “and they raise excellent lettuce and -radishes; I can safely recommend their garden products to you. May I -help you with that chain, Mrs. Danforth?” - -“Thank you, I have it free now,” said Mrs. Danforth, leaning back and -changing the subject. - -When Cummings came noiselessly in again, with a large pasteboard box, -almost full of tin soldiers, picture-books and such playthings, she -suggested very respectfully. “Miss Elsa has the lower drawer of her -bureau full of toys, ma’am.” - -“Are you sure Miss Elsa does not play with them, Cummings?” - -The gray-haired woman shook her head primly: “Oh, no, ma’am; she never -touches them,”--which was the truth, so far as Cummings knew. - -“Very well; bring them also,” said Mrs. Danforth. - -As a result, some battered dolls’ furniture, two or three boxes of -games, and one small china doll were added to the collection in the -pasteboard box. Cummings took the now-filled box out to Mrs. Everett’s -carriage, and the kind-hearted woman drove away, happy in having -secured both money and playthings for the Convalescent Home. - - * * * * * - -When Elsa was ready for bed that night, she opened the lower drawer -of the white bureau to take out Bettina. Her hand fell upon heaped-up -ruffled and embroidered garments. - -She turned on the electric light. There, in place of the odd assortment -of playthings under which she had kept Bettina hidden, was a pile of -white underclothing. - -Something seemed almost to stop Elsa’s heart from beating as she opened -one bureau drawer after another, and even hunted under the bureau, -without finding her beloved doll. Suddenly she remembered hearing her -grandmother say, that evening, that she had given away some old toys to -the Convalescent Home children, and her own answer: “I am glad you did, -grandmother.” Bettina must have been among them. - -Sobbing bitterly, yet without making any sound, Elsa turned off the -light and crept into bed. She felt so lonely and wretched that she -could not go to sleep. After awhile, she climbed out of bed and stood -in front of the row of dolls on the white couch between the windows. -She chose the smallest of these dolls, the one which was most like -Bettina, held her for a moment, then kissed her, put her down and crept -back to bed. Much as she missed Bettina, she could not bear to take -another doll in her place. Again the child fell to sobbing in an agony -of loneliness. - -She heard the great clock in the hall chime nine; a moment after, -Cummings closed the door of her own room. When the chimes rang out the -half-hour, Mrs. Danforth’s steps came up the polished front stairs, -passed Elsa’s door, and Elsa heard her grandmother’s door close. -Soon the house was quiet, save for the sound of heavy breathing from -Cummings’s room. Cummings could be noiseless by day but not by night. - -Elsa felt that she could not stay in bed another moment. She sprang out -and went again to the row of dolls. Looking out of the window, she saw -a shadow pass across the thin lace curtains of the Warrens’ library -windows,--a shadow which she knew must be Miss Ruth’s. - -A desperate hope of comfort flashed into Elsa’s mind. Without a -moment’s delay, she slipped her little bare feet into her white, -fur-lined bedroom shoes, put on the thick, long, white bathrobe -which hung over a chair, and softly opened her door. Then with a -quick-beating heart but without any thought of fear, she crept down -the stairs, took a great fur cape of her grandmother’s from the hall, -undid the front door latch, left the door ajar, and ran down the steps, -in the faint moonlight, and across the dry grass of the lawn to the -Warrens’ house. - -Ruth Warren had just put out the lights in the library and was -fastening back the curtains when she saw the strange little -figure speeding toward her house. “Fairy or elf or child,--who -is it, I wonder?” she said to herself. There was something so -distressful-looking in the little hurrying figure that she did not wait -for the bell to ring. - -“Why, Elsa dear, what is the trouble?” she asked, drawing the child -into the hall. - -Elsa clung to Miss Ruth, sobbing in heart-broken fashion. - -“Has anything happened to your grandmother?” - -“No, O, no,--not that--I’ve lost--” but sobs drowned the words. - -“Have your cry out, dear, and then tell me about it.” Miss Ruth led -Elsa into the library, drew a chair in front of the fireplace where the -coals were yet glowing brightly, unfastened the heavy fur cape and took -the slender little white-gowned figure into her arms. - -The comfort of being told to cry all she wanted to, and of having kind -arms around her soon quieted Elsa’s sobs. - -With only a little break in her voice, now and then, she told the story -of her loss, feeling, with a child’s sure intuition, that Miss Ruth -understood. “It is--so hard,” she said with a final sigh, hiding her -face against the friendly shoulder; “I have had Bettina ever since -nurse went away.” - -“I know it is hard, dear,” Miss Ruth softly stroked the yellow hair. -“What shall we do?” - -That “we” was so comforting. - -“I--I s’pose I must get along without her,” said Elsa, sitting upright. -The quivering lips and tear-dimmed violet-gray eyes told the grief in -her heart, but her bravery was conquering now. - -“How old are you, Elsa?” asked Miss Ruth. - -“Almost twelve.” - -Miss Ruth wisely waited. - -There was a tender apology in Elsa’s voice when she spoke again: -“Grandmother didn’t know about Bettina. She doesn’t know how lonesome I -am.” - -Then Elsa turned and looked eagerly into Miss Ruth’s face: “Is your -room over the library?” - -“Yes, right over this room.” - -Elsa slipped off from Miss Ruth’s lap to the arm of the chair: “I--I -think I could go back now and go to sleep--without Bettina--if you -would just leave one curtain up a little wee bit so as I could know -you--you thought about me--once in awhile,” she said slowly. “I--I -shouldn’t feel so lonely then,--’cause from where my bed is I can look -right out to the window where there is a tall green vase--I thought -maybe it was your room.” - -“I will leave that curtain up a little way every night, Elsa, and I -will put a rose in that vase to-night, especially for you, so that you -can see the shadow on the curtain,” said Miss Ruth, rising. - -“O, will you?” The silvery voice was eloquent with gratitude. As Elsa -raised her head she suddenly felt very tired and sleepy. Indeed, the -child was almost worn out. - -“Now, Elsa, I am going to bring you a glass of milk and then go home -with you,” said Miss Ruth. “Just think how alarmed your grandmother -would be if she should miss you.” - -“O, I know she hasn’t missed me,” exclaimed Elsa. “She never thinks -about me, I am sure, after I go to bed.” And Miss Ruth left the child -sitting up with shining eyes and a bright red spot on each cheek. - -Elsa was drinking the milk just as the clock struck ten. Quite as if -her grandmother had told her to come home at exactly ten o’clock, -she slipped down from the chair, pulled the great fur cape over her -shoulders, and waited in the hall, a brave little figure with a flushed -face, while Miss Ruth put on her red golf cape. - -Miss Ruth fastened the long fur cape securely around Elsa,--for the -night air was chilling cold,--opened the front door, and, before the -child realized it, took her up, a soft, furry bundle and a heavy -one,--and ran with her across the strip of lawn. The door of the -Danforth house was ajar. - -“Hush, be very quiet, dear, or we shall wake your grandmother,” she -said, dropping the furry bundle on the top step of the Danforth veranda -and kissing the warm, sleepy face. “Lock the door safely, and go -straight to bed and to sleep.” - -But Elsa stopped long enough to whisper into Miss Ruth’s ear: “Thank -you ever and ever so much.” - -Almost as soon as Elsa had put down the latch, left the fur cape in -the hall and crept up-stairs to bed, she saw a light in Miss Ruth’s -room and one window shade raised just a little. Even while her eyes -were fixed upon the shadow of a rose against the curtain, she fell fast -asleep and dreamed that her Uncle Ned came in the shape of a great gray -owl, and rescued her out of a white-walled dungeon. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -WHAT THE WOODS GAVE - - The world is so full of a number of things, - I am sure we should all be as happy as kings. - - --_Robert Louis Stevenson._ - - -“I WISH we could walk out to the Convalescent Home this afternoon,” -were Betty’s first words when the three girls reached Miss Ruth’s house -the next Friday, all very much out of breath from their haste. “I am -tired, school has been so dull and stupid,” said Betty, “and my head -aches. Please can we go?” Betty, from at first not wanting to go to the -Convalescent Home, now wanted very much to go, for, since then, Alice -had been telling her more about it. - -“Would you like to take the walk this afternoon, Elsa?” Miss Ruth -inquired. “Is your grandmother willing for you to go?” - -“Yes, Miss Ruth,” replied Elsa; “I asked grandmother about it this -noon, and she said if you thought it was all right, I might go any -time.” - -Miss Ruth turned next to Alice: “Does it suit you, Alice?” - -Alice also was eager for the visit, so Miss Ruth decided that there -could be no better time. The three girls were tired and fagged from -their school, and fresh air would do them more good than staying -indoors. The afternoon was sunshiny, the ground bare of snow, and -outdoors looked very tempting. And it was, moreover, the day after -Thanksgiving, when children do not always feel at their best. - -“We will take a lunch with us,--unless you would rather have it now,” -suggested Miss Ruth. As no one seemed to be hungry now, the lunch plan -met with general favour. - -“Excuse me then,” said Miss Ruth, “and I will have Sarah put something -in a box for us.” - -“And I will run home and get my thick coat,” said Betty, who had worn -only a light jacket. “It may be cold coming back, and such a tender -little plant as I am mustn’t take cold.” In fact, however, Betty wanted -to tell her mother where she was going, as she did not have permission -for this particular day, as Elsa had. - -Sarah Judd sat in the tidy kitchen knitting a white stocking, her -needles keeping time with her bobbing curls, her black cat on the -table by her elbow. At Ruth Warren’s words: “I want a lunch for my -little people, Sarah,” the woman snapped out: “I declare for it, I’m -glad you are goin’ to do it yourself. I’m tired of waitin’ on a pack of -children that make so many crumbs--” - -“Now, Sarah, you know you like having the children come here,” -interrupted Miss Ruth. “We are going for a walk to-day, as it happens. -Is there bread enough for sandwiches?” - -“Yes;” Sarah made her needles go very fast. - -“And cookies enough for four children?” - -“Yes.” Then Sarah, who could not make her needles go any faster, -jumped up with stiff quickness, exclaiming: “Land sakes! let me do -it. I know what children like; you go ’way an’ I’ll surprise you and -them, too,”--which was exactly what the mistress of the house had been -waiting for Sarah to say. - -She ran up-stairs to tell her Aunt Virginia good-bye. When she came -into the library again, she found that Betty had returned and that the -three girls were standing around the centre-table where the dolls were, -trying to decide which they should dress next. - -“Girls, Aunt Virginia wants to see you, because she has heard so much -about the Club,” said Miss Ruth. - -“You haven’t told her the name, have you?” Betty asked anxiously, as -they followed Miss Ruth up-stairs. - -“O, no! I just call it ‘the Club’ when I speak of it.” - -“That’s the way I do,” Betty said, encouragingly, running on ahead. - -Miss Virginia Warren was accustomed to take extremely good care of -herself. To-day she was sitting in a large easy chair with soft -cushions all around her and a dark blue afghan over her knees. She -was about sixty years old, a large, rather heavy-looking woman, very -pale because she did not like fresh air in her room and never went -out-of-doors in cold weather; and indeed, she took as little exercise -as possible all times of the year, because she lived in constant fear -of bringing on heart trouble. Her face, though white, was very fair, -and her brown eyes--in colour and in a quick way she had of raising -them--were like Ruth Warren’s, but there the likeness ended, for the -aunt’s eyes had a wilful expression; her mouth also had a selfish droop -at the corners. - -Miss Virginia was dressed in a light blue wrapper, much trimmed with -white lace. She shook hands with each of the three girls,--she had -large, handsome hands, but without much life in them,--then she looked -the girls over as if they were a row of dolls. - -“They seem like bright little children,” she said slowly, turning to -Ruth Warren, her voice sounding as if she lifted a weight with her -chest at each breath; “but they look so well and strong and so full of -life,”--here Betty stopped twisting herself,--“so full of life, Ruth,” -went on the slow voice, “that I should think they would tire you all -out.” - -Miss Virginia, who had leaned forward slightly while she spoke, sank -back among her pillows. “They may go now,” she said, with a wave of her -large, white hand in the direction of the embarrassed children; “I am -tired already,” she repeated, “and you know almost anything brings on -heart trouble.” - -Ruth Warren had heard this remark hundreds of times in the three -years since she had offered a home to this aunt who was alone in the -world; but she was unfailingly kind to the fanciful woman. “Yes, Aunt -Virginia, you must be careful,” she said, motioning for the children to -go down-stairs. - -“Remember, Aunt Virginia, Sarah will come to you instantly any moment -you ring for her,” said Ruth Warren, stopping to arrange her aunt’s -pillows more comfortably, and kissing her on the forehead. But the -slow yet vigorous voice followed her out of the door: “I am growing so -feeble, Ruth, that I soon must have a regular nurse to stay with me, -especially when you are out.” - -The three girls were unusually quiet when Ruth Warren joined them, for -her aunt had made them feel as if they were very troublesome. - -“What shall we do about the dolls’ dresses, our work to-day?” the Club -president asked cheerfully. - -“We might each make two at home,” Betty found voice to say, for the -Club: “Alice might take hers now, and Elsa and I can call for ours.” - -So Alice chose two pink-and-white gingham dresses, rolled them into a -little bundle and put them into the pocket of her blue coat, while Elsa -and Betty looked on, embarrassed and quiet, even now. - -But when Miss Ruth had put on the brown fur-trimmed coat and hat which -matched her brown dress, and the three girls were once out in the open -air, the shadow cast upon their spirits by Miss Virginia vanished -entirely. Each one begged to carry the straw hand-bag containing the -lunch, and they finally agreed to carry it by turns, beginning with -Elsa, the oldest. - -“You have to pass my house to go to the Convalescent Home, and there -are dogs out that way,” suggested Alice, running on ahead and looking -back at the others. - -“I will take a stick,” said Elsa. - -“I will take my feet,” exclaimed Betty. - -“We can stop at my house and ask Ben to go with us,” Alice said. “He -had to hurry home from school to do errands for mamma, but I think he -will have them finished now. He knows all the dogs, and they all know -him.” - -A few moments’ walk took the Club into Berkeley Avenue, a long, -wooded road curving ahead. Soon the surroundings grew more and more -country-like. The road ran past wide farm-fields and comfortable homes -with lazy cows standing in the barn-yards and busy hens scratching in -the deserted gardens. Along the roadside, tall oak and chestnut trees -met in noble arches; all around was the faint rustle of dried leaves -and the soft swaying of bending branches. - -“How far is it to where we are going?” asked Betty, impatiently, -turning to Alice. - -“It’s a half-mile from my house,” answered Alice, “and we are almost -to my house. It’s that little one with a lot of windows.” - -“We have come more than a half-mile,” said Miss Ruth, “so it must be -Betty’s turn to carry the straw bag.” - -Betty took the bag, and darted along the road, here and there, to the -great risk of the lunch. - -They were soon in front of the small wooden house, well back from the -road, and having a great many windows full of flowers. Ben, with his -shirt-sleeves rolled up, was splitting kindling-wood at the side of the -house. He came running down to meet them. - -“Going to the Convalescing Home? Yes, I can go, too,” he said, pulling -down his shirt-sleeves. “I’ve done the errands, and was splitting -kindlings just for fun.” - -“Won’t you please come into my house, Miss Ruth?” asked Alice, shyly. -“Mamma said she wanted the Club to meet here sometime. She would like -to see you now, I know.” - -“We will come, sometime, Alice; thank you,” replied Miss Ruth, “but not -to-day. We have to be back home before dark.” - -So Alice ran in to speak to her mother and to leave the dolls’ -dresses, just as Ben came hurrying out, buttoning his tight little blue -jacket. - -“I might hitch up Jerry to the delivery wagon and take you that way,” -suggested Ben. - -“No, walking is more fun,” said Betty, who always knew exactly what she -wanted to do. A moment later Alice ran toward them, waving good-bye to -the young-looking woman who stood in the doorway. Betty flourished the -lunch-bag wildly in the air, while Miss Ruth and Elsa waved friendly -greetings and Ben shouted farewells. - -“What a splendid place to live in, Alice, with the woods so near,” -said Elsa. “I love to walk in the woods and go hunting into bushes, -and discover things.” Elsa looked with eager eyes at the clumps of -scrub-oak and low bushes ahead, beyond the stone wall. - -“There are snakes there sometimes, in warm weather,” said timid Alice. - -“I’m not afraid of snakes,” Elsa said. - -“I love ’em,--the cunning little ones,” cried Betty; which was true, -for Betty loved almost everything that was alive. - -“I will tell you a very short story about a friend of mine,” said Miss -Ruth. The children fell into line at once, Betty and Elsa on the -right, Ben and Alice on the left. - -“I was in a small country town one summer with this friend,” Miss Ruth -began, “and some one asked her to take a Sunday-school class of boys -who were full of mischief and fun. For awhile, that first Sunday, -everything went well; then, just as my friend was explaining the -lesson to the boys at one side, she felt something drop into her lap, -and turning, she saw a little green snake. Those boys looked at her, -expecting at least that she would scream. The snake wriggled and tried -to escape, but the boy who had brought him was too quick, and grasped -the snake; and he was so surprised when the teacher said: ‘That isn’t -the way to hold him. Don’t you see you are making him uncomfortable?’ -So she took hold of him.” - -“The boy or the snake?” asked Ben, quick as a flash. - -“The snake,” said Miss Ruth, answering the laugh in Ben’s eyes. “And -she held him--the snake, I mean--for ten or fifteen minutes, talking -about him until those boys thought she was the nicest teacher they had -ever had.” - -“Could you have done that, Miss Ruth?” asked Betty. - -But just then a large black and white hound bounded from the porch of a -house they were passing and ran with great leaps toward them, baying in -a deep voice. - -“Tinker! Tinker!” called Ben, darting forward. Alice drew around to the -other side of Miss Ruth, while Elsa and even Betty stepped a little -behind. - -“Tinker!” exclaimed Ben again, in a steady tone. “Come here! Don’t you -bark at my Black Lace Lady!” - -The great hound, on hearing Ben’s voice, had stopped short. Now, -with eyes cast down, he walked meekly to Ben, who put out his hand -and stroked the long, soft ears, saying: “Bad old Tinker, aren’t you -ashamed of yourself?” - -As Alice had said, Ben was friends with all the dogs on the road. The -hound, after walking a few steps with Ben’s hand on his head, turned -and went toward his home. - -“I wasn’t a bit afraid,” said Betty, coming forward again. - -Ben gave a low whistle to express his thoughts. The others were -politely silent. - -“What was it you called Miss Ruth, Ben?” Betty asked quickly. - -“Black Lace Lady,” Ben answered, “because she had on a black lace -dress the first time I ever saw her, and it was pretty.” - -“Ben always names people,” said Alice. “He calls me Peggy most of the -time.” - -“What is your name for me, Ben?” asked Betty, dancing on ahead. - -“You?” Ben looked at her brown curls and bright eyes for a half moment -and then said: “I am going to call you the Glad Girl.” - -“That’s nice,” Betty said, with an extra swing of the lunch-bag. -“Mother calls me Sunshine sometimes--and sometimes the Tornado. What’s -your name for Elsa?” - -Ben thought a moment: “I haven’t any name for Elsa yet: I am saving -that up.” Then he gazed at Miss Ruth anxiously: “Isn’t it Alice’s turn -to carry that straw bag?” Alice had found time to explain to him about -the lunch. “We can take shorter turns now, ’cause I can carry it, too.” - -So the bag was given into Alice’s keeping. - -“Tell us about the place where we are going, Miss Ruth, please?” asked -Elsa, who was enjoying the woods walk so much that she had kept quiet -most of the way. - -“To begin with,” replied Miss Ruth, “there is a large hospital in the -city, especially for children; but large as it is, there are always -more sick children to be taken into it than there is room for. When the -children in the hospital are getting well, they are brought out here to -the Convalescent Home where they can be cared for before going to their -own homes,--which are sometimes very poor homes. And the life out here, -with the sunshine and the fresh air and good care, makes the children -ever and ever so much stronger. There are about seventy or eighty -children here all the time.” - -“Poor little children,” said Elsa. Betty was walking along quietly now, -and Ben had taken Alice’s blue-mittened hand in his. - -“Yes, poor little children,” Miss Ruth repeated. “The happy part of it -all is, though, that the children are growing stronger. But just think -how they have to go without the playing and running about you all can -have. Once a little girl, seven years old, whom I saw out here, and who -couldn’t walk, said: ‘I used to play when I was young.’” - -“There’s the house now,” exclaimed Alice, as they came within sight of -a large red-brick building with many red chimneys, situated quite far -back from the highway. - -Just where the road turned toward the comfortable-looking red house -stood a tall, wooden sign with the words: - - CONVALESCENT HOME - OF THE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL - VISITORS ALWAYS WELCOME - -“Doesn’t that sound pleasant?” said Betty, reading it aloud. “It makes -you feel as though they really want you to come.” - -Miss Ruth had been here many times before, so she sent a message to the -head-nurse by the maid who opened the front door: “Tell Miss Hartwell -that we would like to see her when she is at liberty, and that I have -taken my young friends out to the playroom. How many children have you -here this week?” - -“About seventy-five, Miss Warren,” replied the maid, conducting the -little party through the large, airy hall with its light yellow-green -walls and dark wood finish, and along a wide passageway to the playroom. - -The three girls went on in silence, except that Elsa said to Miss Ruth: -“What a lovely, clean place it is!” - -Soon they found themselves in a large room--which seemed almost like -outdoors, it was so light and pleasant--and in the midst of a great -many children, most of whom were upon one crutch or two crutches, or -had bandages upon their feet, arms, or even their whole bodies. - -“There are over forty children here in the playroom,” said the -white-capped nurse who had stepped forward to answer Miss Ruth’s -greeting. “The stronger children have been out-of-doors in the fresh -air;--but see, they are coming in now,” she added. “Miss Hartwell has -them come in half an hour before their supper time.” - -Sliding glass doors led from the playroom upon a wide, unroofed piazza. -And now, through the open doorway, a tall, slender woman led the long -line of children, who limped or pushed themselves along on go-carts; -only a few, even, of these stronger children could walk in the -straight, free fashion in which ordinary boys and girls walk, when they -have full use of their limbs. - -“How happy they all look,” said Elsa; and indeed, the children’s faces, -though in many cases thin and pathetic-looking, were sweet, patient and -sunshiny. - -“They always look just the same, every time I come here,” Alice said; -then she ran off to speak with a little girl whom she remembered. Ben -was already in a corner, surrounded by a group of boys. - -While Miss Ruth went on talking with the head-nurse, Betty and Elsa -forgot their shyness,--which was easy, because the children came -crowding around them, with lively interest. To Betty, who was used to -her own baby brother, the most natural thing to do seemed to be to -sit down on the floor and play with the smallest ones. Elsa, heeding -the “Go walk! Go walk!” of two little girls, wandered away with one -holding fast to each hand. When the little girls grew tired, as they -did quickly, Elsa came back to Miss Ruth’s side, with shining, eloquent -gray eyes: “They are so friendly, the dear little things,” she said to -Miss Ruth, then walked slowly away, with two other girls, to a group of -children who were strapped down to go-carts, and flat upon their backs. - -A mite of five years, with round blue eyes and a pale, patient face, -held out both hands toward Elsa’s sunshiny yellow hair, saying “Pitty, -O, pitty!” Just beyond, a little boy was turning his head toward the -window. “What are you looking at?” Elsa asked, as she drew near. - -“At the sky; it’s nice up there,” the boy answered contentedly. - -By his side, on the next go-cart, a small girl was singing to herself a -nursery-verse Elsa knew; so she stopped and joined in the singing: - - “Come, little leaves,” said the wind one day, - “Come over the meadow with me and play; - Put on your dresses of red and gold, - For winter is come and the days grow cold.” - -Elsa’s baby companions, tired of walking, dropped down in little -patient heaps upon the floor, saying in soft voices: “Sing more! More -song!” - -“Oh!” - -Miss Ruth turned at Elsa’s exclamation and saw her kneeling by the side -of a child of about seven years, who was hugging an old, battered china -doll. The child was strapped to a frame which held her body straight, -because her back was not like other children’s. “Let me hold your dolly -a moment,” Elsa was saying, although Ruth Warren could not hear the -words. - -“No! No! Dirl take dolly ’way!” cried the little girl, who had a ruddy -face and dark, sparkling eyes. - -Miss Ruth, still talking with the head-nurse, watched Elsa, unheeded by -her. - -“Where did you get the dolly?” Elsa asked, longing to take her old -doll into her arms, for she had instantly known her own Bettina. - -“Lady dave her to me,” said the child. - -“What is the dolly’s name?” asked Elsa. - -“Dolly.” The child looked up solemnly. - -“Don’t you want to have a name for her?” Elsa asked, after a half -moment of waiting. - -“Vhat?” asked the child, clasping her tiny hands the tighter around the -doll. - -“Name her Bettina,” said Elsa, softly. - -“’Tina,” repeated the little girl. “Dat’s dood name. Dat’s nursey’s -name.” - -“Where is nursey?” Elsa sprang up from her knees and looked around the -room at the nurses. All the faces were strange to her. “Where is she?” -Elsa asked again, almost in tears. - -“Don ’way,” said the wee little girl. And, leaving her staring with two -very bright eyes at the doll, Elsa went back to Miss Ruth’s side and -took hold of her hand tightly. - -“You ought to be here some day when new children come,” said the -head-nurse kindly, noticing Elsa’s sober face, “and see how those who -have been here longest crowd around and tell the new children about the -nice things they do here. It makes the new children feel happy and at -home, immediately, so that they are hardly ever homesick. Sometimes -after the children are well, they don’t want to go home. One little -girl used to run and hide every time we spoke of her going home.” - -“I don’t wonder,” Elsa said quickly. “It’s so pleasant here for them.” - -“Would you like to see where almost all the children sleep?” asked the -head-nurse, now that Elsa’s face had brightened. - -“Yes, indeed,” Elsa said. Then Miss Ruth called the other members of -the Club, and they followed Miss Hartwell into one after another of -the three rooms, or “shacks,” which reached out, like arms, from the -playroom; and Miss Hartwell showed them how the windows and even the -doors could be moved so as to let plenty of fresh air into the shacks; -she said that the children never complained of feeling cold, for they -were bundled up in flannel clothing and hoods at night. Some of the -children limped along, following the visitors from one shack into the -next, and listening, nodded their heads with great interest while Miss -Hartwell made the explanation. - -“You would enjoy coming here sometime on a kindergarten afternoon,” -continued the head-nurse. “We have kindergarten teaching three times -a week--Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday afternoon--and no baby is -too small and no child too helpless, to take some part, real or -make-believe, in the pretty plays.” - -Immediately, one little boy, who had heard the word “kindergarten” held -up a piece of cardboard which had outlined upon it a yellow carrot with -a bright green top. And they all praised it. - -“Now I will show you the dining-room,” said Miss Hartwell, leading the -way back through the long passage and the pleasant hall. And, then, -if Elsa had dared, she would have questioned about the nurse named -Bettina; but Elsa was a shy little girl, and before she found courage -for the question, they were in the large, many-windowed dining-room -with its tall, handsome plants and wide fireplace, and Miss Hartwell -was showing them the pretty dishes with red, green, and blue figures, -for the children’s use. The room was filled with low tables surrounded -by low chairs, and on the tables were plates piled with buttered bread -and crackers, while in front of each place was a large cupful of milk -and a dish of apple-sauce. - -“The children have supper very early on winter afternoons,” Miss -Hartwell said. She had hardly spoken these words when the long -procession of children began coming into the dining-room,--the -stronger ones first, sometimes leading or helping the weaker ones, then -those who could not walk, pushing themselves along on their go-carts. -Last of all came the nurses with the youngest and weakest children. - -The visitors drew somewhat to one side and watched the children as they -took their places or were drawn up to the tables. - -At a signal from the head-nurse after each little white bib was tied -into place, the children began singing in thin, sweet voices: - - “Thank Him, thank Him, - All ye little children; - Thank Him, thank Him, - God is love.” - -Elsa’s and Betty’s eyes filled with tears; the children’s grace touched -Alice’s and Ben’s hearts into tenderness, too, although the twins had -heard it before; then they all dried their eyes, smiling through joyful -tears, as the children began to eat their supper. - -“Sometimes we have gingerbread for supper,” said a sweet-faced child -who was lying on a go-cart near the visitors, and whom one of the -nurses was feeding. - -“Tum aden,” cried the bright-eyed little girl who, as the visitors -turned to go, was hugging an old china doll, and patiently waiting her -turn to be fed. - -“You cunning baby!” said Elsa, stooping to kiss the battered doll, once -her own. - -So half-laughing, half-crying, the children passed out, their hearts -overflowing with a kind of painful pleasure. - -They kept unusually quiet for the first few moments as they walked -away. Elsa was the first one to speak. “I want to come again,” she said -in a wistful voice. It had been hard for her to leave her precious old -doll behind; and besides, the children interested her greatly. - -“So do I,” Betty joined in quickly. “It makes me feel queer, but I like -it.” - -“I love to come,” said Alice. “Sometimes we take things out to the -children; and you’d be s’prised the way they give up to each other. -Mamma says they are the most unselfishest children she ever saw.” - -Ben was trotting along ahead, jumping every now and then into the air. -Suddenly he stopped and said in a serious voice: “I am glad my two -legs are whole! My,--but it’s hard for those boys, though.” - -“It’s just as hard for the girls,” exclaimed Betty. - -“No,--because boys need to race around more than girls; it keeps them -from exploding,” declared Ben, taking an extra high jump. - -“I know a short way through the woods,” he added, stopping where a -foot-path led from the left-hand side of the road. “It comes out just -beyond our house; it’s pretty, too, and I can take you to a fine place -to eat the lunch.” Ben was growing hungry. - -Miss Ruth had kept the lunch-bag, insisting that it was her turn to -carry it now. They all agreed to follow Ben’s suggestion; and indeed it -was delightful to be walking along under broad-spreading trees through -whose branches the late afternoon sunlight struck golden lances. There -was an almost perfect stillness in the woods, except for the occasional -calling of crows overhead among the tree-tops or the Jay! Jay! of that -handsome robber, the blue-jay. - -“How does the Convalescent Home have money enough to take care of all -those children?” asked Elsa, sliding along, on the smooth carpet of -pine-needles, toward Miss Ruth. - -“The managers, the ladies who have charge of the Home, give money and -their friends give money, to provide the clothing--shoes and stockings -and nightgowns and little flannel dresses and everything,--besides -paying the nurses’ wages and for the medicines. It takes a great deal -of money; and ever so many more children could be brought here and -cured if there were more money to provide care and clothing for them.” - -“Perhaps my grandmother will give something,” Elsa said hesitatingly. -“O, I know,” she added, her face brightening, “Uncle Ned will help. I -will ask him.” - -“I am glad we are going to give the children some dolls; they didn’t -have many,” said Betty, rustling on ahead through the piled-up dry -leaves. - -“We might earn some money--our Club, I mean,” suggested Alice. - -“We will give them all the dolls and playthings we can for Christmas,” -said Elsa, putting her arm around Alice; “then, when we start a new -club, we can maybe have it an Easter Club, and see how much money we -can earn for those poor little children.” - -“Alice and I had our names printed in the Convalescing Home report last -year,” Ben called back over his shoulder; he was leading the way. “It -said this: ‘From Ben and Alice, a music-box;’ we gave them one we had,” -he explained. - -“Will the dolls we give and the name of our Club be printed in the -report, Miss Ruth?” asked Betty excitedly. - -“Yes, that is the custom,” answered Miss Ruth. - -“But then everybody would know the name,” objected Betty, walking -slowly on. - -“Never mind,” Alice said, putting her arm into Betty’s. “We can name -the Club over again after Christmas.” - -“And we wouldn’t want to call an Easter Club by the same name as a -Christmas Club,” said Elsa. - -“What’s the name of the Club, anyway?” Ben turned to ask. He was -marching on ahead, but not losing anything that was said. “Alice told -me I couldn’t know it till I belonged, but I belong now.” - -“Yes, you belong now, after having this afternoon’s meeting with us,” -said Miss Ruth. “Tell him the name, Alice.” - -So Alice ran ahead, put her arm around Ben’s neck, and whispered the -name into his ear,--although there was no need of secrecy, since they -all were members. - -“Christmas Makers’ Club!” Ben said critically. “That sounds pretty -important, as though you thought you were going to make Christmas.” - -“But we are,” cried Elsa; “we are going to help make it for the -convalescent children.” - -“And for ourselves, too,” put in Betty, who had many plans in her busy -brain. - -“Aren’t you going to help make it for anybody, Ben?” asked Miss Ruth. - -“O,--yes,” replied Ben, with the air of one who did not tell all of his -secrets. - -“He can make the beautifulest things,” said Alice, ever ready to -praise her brother. - -“I’ll make a few tops and some kites for those little chaps,” Ben said -modestly, slowing his steps in order to walk with the others, for here -the wood-path widened. “I used to think I would be a carpenter when I -grow up, but I’ve changed my mind.” - -“What do you want to do, Ben?” asked Miss Ruth, looking at the -lively-faced boy whose head came almost to her shoulder. - -Ben was a steady-minded, faithful lad, but he had a great imagination. -“I am going to do the way they do in fairy stories,” he said; “I am -going to get an old witch to help, and go to an island where there is -a hidden treasure and come back and spend it. And I shall have a pony -and a guinea pig and a garden of my own, and then I shall make the King -a great many presents, and marry the Princess and have plenty of people -to amuse me and read to me, and I shall go to bed when I choose and eat -all the candy I want and have turkey every day, and I shall conquer all -the world,--all except the Americans,--and my mother will be Queen--” -Here Ben stopped for want of breath rather than for want of imagination. - -“That is enough to take away one’s breath, Ben,” remarked Miss Ruth. -“What do you want to be, Alice? You must all tell.” - -“I want to be a nurse and take care of the convalescent children,” -Alice said shyly. - -“You will be a princess if you are my sister,” exclaimed Ben. - -“What about you, Betty?” Miss Ruth asked next. - -“Me! I want to be good and beautiful and sensible,” said Betty, very -slowly, for her; “and, of course, I want a houseful of horses and a -houseful of dogs.” - -“And you, Elsa?” - -Elsa was all ready for Miss Ruth’s question: “I am going to be the -mother of five children and make them very, very happy,” she said with -a most radiant expression on her flower-like face. - -“Let’s stop here and build a bower to eat the lunch in,” exclaimed -Betty, for all at once they came to a turn in the path and an open -space, carpeted with soft, reddish-brown pine-needles, and surrounded -by tall, straight tree trunks. - -“Walk on a minute more,” urged Ben; “I know a lots better place.” - -Soon another turn in the path brought them within sight of a hut, which -the dense trees had hidden,--a low, wooden cabin, built of logs with -the bark left on. In front of the hut was a wooden platform with a long -seat, and above the seat, one wide window of many small panes of glass. -It was a place to attract and charm any child. - -With shouts of excitement, Betty, Elsa, and Alice, followed by Ben, -leaped to the platform and the girls pressed their faces against the -window, full of curiosity to see the inside of the hut. - -“Nobody lives here,” explained Ben, turning to Miss Ruth, who was only -a moment behind the others. “Some boys’ father had the hut built for -them two-three years ago, but they have grown up and got tired of it. -They let me have the key,” he added, proudly taking it from his pocket -and fitting it into the door. - -“I have been here before with Ben, but not very often,” said Alice, -standing aside with her brother to let the others go into the hut first. - -Inside, the delighted children saw a room about as large as a -good-sized pantry, and in this room a round table, three stools, a -chair, and a tiny, rather rusty stove; opening from this room was a -smaller one, with two cot-beds. The whole place was clean and in order, -for Ben had taken great delight not only in having the key but in -caring for the hut. - -There was a sweet, dry odour of pine-wood about the place, and the -afternoon sun had made the large room quite warm. “We must surely have -our lunch here,” said Miss Ruth, “though we must be quick about it, for -the sunlight will soon be gone.” - -“Just seats enough to go around,” said Ben; “three stools for the -girls, a chair for Miss Ruth--excuse me, Miss Ruth, I ought to have -said you first,--and I’ll get the wooden box that I keep in the bushes -for rubbish.” - -Miss Ruth quickly spread a white napkin over the little table and took -out the lunch,--first a great many ginger cookies, and these were -carefully laid at one side; buttered thin biscuit next, three apiece, -with slices of cold turkey laid in between, and lastly, some nuts and -raisins. - -Four pairs of hands reached out without delay, and in a surprisingly -short time, sandwiches and cookies, nuts and raisins, every one of -them, had vanished. And how good everything tasted, there in the snug, -warm little hut, with the fragrant odour of the pines coming in through -the open door. - -“I wish, if we have the Easter Club, we could buy this hut and have our -meetings here,” said Elsa. The longer she stayed in the hut, the better -she liked it. - -“It’s near my house,” Alice said; “you can see our chimneys from the -door.” - -“And we could furnish the hut with a lot of things,--dishes and -pictures,” cried Betty. “And we could use the little room for a -storeroom!” - -Elsa had been thinking of other pleasures, so she said: “We could stay -here and enjoy the birds and the trees and the wild flowers, in the -spring.” - -“Do you think we could buy or hire the hut, Ben?” asked Miss Ruth; for -it certainly was a delightful place. - -“Yes, I think maybe I could manage it for you,” replied Ben, carefully -brushing all the crumbs of food into the wooden box on which he had -sat during the lunch. - -“O, I just saw the cunningest gray squirrel!” exclaimed Elsa, running -to the doorway, hoping for another glimpse of the little creature. - -“You can see plenty of gray squirrels and chipmunks round here, ’most -any time,” said Ben, following her. “And a man told me that last year a -pair of screech-owls built their nest and raised their family in that -old hollow tree there.” - -Elsa listened with closest attention. - -“This is a fine place to get acquainted with birds and animals,” Ben -said, encouragingly. “But you never can get acquainted with them till -you learn to be quiet, like them, and to walk through the woods without -making twigs snap every step you take.” - -Ben put the box of crumbs among the alder bushes at the side of the -hut. “Mr. Gray Squirrel and his family will have those crumbs almost -before we are out of sight,” he said. - -“We must start for home,” called Miss Ruth, coming out from the hut -with Alice and Betty. - -While Ben locked the door, the others stood for a moment watching the -brilliant red sunset light in the western sky. The deep baying of a -hound sounded through the quiet woods. Alice drew a little nearer to -Ben. - -“You are all safe, Peggy,” he said, patting her hand, his thoughts busy -with other things. “If I were a bird way up in the top boughs of those -tall trees, you would look like grasshoppers down here,” he said, with -his face turned to the sky. - -“And you would look like the teentiest, tontiest little bird,” replied -Betty quickly. - -“I should hear what the wind was saying, ’way up there,” Ben went on; -“we can’t hear such things down on the ground, ’cause people make so -much noise talking. You have to keep still to learn things,” added Ben -with a wise air and a serious face. Then he led the way along the path -again, singing to himself softly, in a musical voice: - - “There was an old man of Dumbree, - Who taught little owls to drink tea; - For he said, ‘To eat mice is not proper or nice,’ - That amiable man of Dumbree.” - -Soon the very tall trees grew fewer in number and the woods more -open; and the path now ran between old stumps, tufts of blueberry -bushes, clumps of alders, and wisps of coarse yellow-brown grass, -left unweakened by the frost. A few moments later, they came out upon -Berkeley Avenue, at a point where Ben and Alice would have to turn -back toward their home. - -“Thank you, very much, Ben, for bringing us through such an -interesting, pleasant way,” said Miss Ruth; “and we shall all remember -the hut.” - -“And the convalescent children,” cried Elsa. - -“And the Easter Club we are going to have,” put in Betty. “Don’t you -tell the name of our Club, Ben!” - -“No, no, no!” Ben called back,--as if a boy ever did tell secrets. - -“Mamma wants the Club to meet at our house sometime soon,” Alice said -in farewell, as she and Ben trotted off together. - -Ben waved his scrap of a blue cap as he cried: “Good-bye, good-bye, -Black Lace Lady! Good-bye, Glad Girl! Good-bye, Elsa!” - -“Have you thought of a name for Elsa yet?” called out Betty, waving the -now empty lunch-bag over her head frantically. - -“That’s telling!” Ben answered teasingly. He had thought, but he was -going to keep it to himself for awhile. - -Miss Ruth, Betty, and Elsa, had not gone far on their homeward way -when Mrs. Danforth overtook them, in a closed coupé with a driver -in livery, who stopped the gray horse beside the group in the -road. Mrs. Danforth had very often, lately, driven out on Berkeley -Avenue, and several times in passing the Holts’ house she had seen a -stooping-shouldered man, whom she supposed to be Mr. Holt, going to or -coming from the long shed, the place where, probably, she thought, the -market garden supplies were kept. The garden window frames showed just -behind the house. - -“Where are the others of your Club?” she asked, as she let down the -coupé window. She had expected to meet all of the Club together. - -“O, we came back through the woods, grandmother,” explained Elsa; “you -must have met Ben and Alice just now.” - -Then Mrs. Danforth remembered that she had met a boy and a girl only a -short distance back, but she had not noticed them especially. - -“I can take one of you home with me,” she said, looking from Miss Ruth -to Elsa and then to Betty, and pulling her handsome sable furs closer -up around her neck as the cool air came into the coupé. - -“Thank you, Mrs. Danforth, but I enjoy walking,” replied Ruth Warren, -who was entirely willing to give up the drive to one of the children. - -Elsa’s face looked as if she also would rather walk; but Betty’s brown -eyes were dancing with anticipation. She loved horses heartily, and -next to going over the Danforth house she had wanted to ride behind -that splendid gray steed. So she said, when Mrs. Danforth’s eyes rested -upon her: “I should just love to ride with you,” and accordingly, -Elsa’s grandmother drove off with Betty behind the spirited horse. - - * * * * * - -“Did you know I found a little girl out at the Convalescent Home -who--who had Bettina?” Elsa said to Miss Ruth, as they walked along -together over the hard, frozen road. - -“Was it the little girl with the bright dark eyes, whom I saw you with?” - -“Yes, that’s the one. Did you hear what she said?” Elsa asked. - -“I didn’t hear what either you or the little girl said, because I was -talking with Miss Hartwell; but I saw that you were greatly interested -about something: and it was your own doll Bettina. Were you glad?” - -“It--it was exciting to--to see Bettina,” Elsa said, swallowing a lump -in her throat, “and then when--when I asked the little girl to--let -me name the doll--I wanted her to be called Bettina--the little -girl said that her nurse’s name was Bettina, but she had gone away. -Do you suppose it could be my old Bettina,--Bettina March?” Elsa -asked, looking anxiously into Miss Ruth’s face, half in hope, half in -uncertainty. - -“You did not think to inquire of Miss Hartwell?” questioned Miss Ruth. - -“I--I thought, but I didn’t quite dare to,” Elsa replied desolately. - -“Don’t think too much about the matter, Elsa, because it might be -Bettina Smith or Bettina anybody; but I will find out for you,” said -Miss Ruth, thinking how plucky Elsa had been about the doll. - -“O, thank you, Miss Ruth,” Elsa said very gratefully and in a much -relieved tone. - -“Doesn’t your old nurse write to you?” - -“No,” Elsa answered slowly. “Grandmother said it was better for me to -learn to get along without Bettina--so--so I suppose that’s the reason -she doesn’t write to me.” - -Ruth Warren did not ask any further questions. But she felt that she -knew better than ever why Elsa was such a pale-faced child and why -there was so often a shadow of something sad in her eyes. - -“Do you think I ought to tell grandmother about--about my going over -to your house the other night?” Elsa asked suddenly, as the question -came into her mind for almost the hundredth time. - -“Might not your grandmother’s feelings be hurt because you went to -somebody else instead of going to her, with your--your trouble?” - -“Perhaps,” Elsa answered, in a doubtful tone, though. - -“If she were to ask you about it, you would of course tell her. But -when telling a thing unnecessarily means the possibility of hurting -somebody’s feelings, then even little girls can help make the world -happier by keeping things to themselves. Are you willing, Elsa, to have -me tell your grandmother, or anybody else, if ever the time comes when -it seems best?” - -“Yes, Miss Ruth,” cried Elsa, feeling as if a great weight had rolled -from her heart. “Of course grandmother didn’t know how much I loved -that doll. She didn’t even know I had her.” - -After this talk, Elsa felt that she and Miss Ruth were to be good -friends for always. - - * * * * * - -Betty White spent the first few moments of the drive in watching -the strong, easy pulling of the gray horse. Then she turned to Mrs. -Danforth with a question which greatly interested her and which she -thought there could never be a better time to ask. - -Now Betty was the frankest of little girls; so she spoke out very -bluntly: “Why do you make Elsa mind so--so hard?” - -Mrs. Danforth, being greatly amazed, was surprised into saying “What?” - -“Why don’t you let Elsa decide things sometimes for herself?” Betty’s -brown eyes met the surprised look in Mrs. Danforth’s blue eyes very -fearlessly. “Mother lets me decide things--she says it is good for me -to have re-responsibleness.” Betty stumbled a little over the long -word, but she kept on: “So if mother tells me I better come home from -anywhere about five o’clock, and if I want to stay a little longer, and -they want me to, I just stay, and then I tell her afterward, and if she -doesn’t like it, we talk it over.” - -Betty leaned back against the soft cushions in comfort. This matter was -off her mind! - -Mrs. Danforth did not give any reply. - -“I--I think the other way makes children afraid of you,” Betty added -bravely. - -Still Mrs. Danforth kept her eyes straight ahead, upon the coachman’s -broad shoulders. Presently she asked: “Was that the Holt children’s -father in front of their house, Elizabeth?” - -“We didn’t come back past the Holts’ house,” Betty replied, “but -that couldn’t have been Alice’s and Ben’s father. It must have been -the hired man. Mr. Holt is a teacher, and he is way out in the West -somewhere, because he isn’t very well. They miss him dreadfully.” - -“Nonsense!” exclaimed Mrs. Danforth. And Betty felt like a naughty -child, though she could not have told why. - -Betty’s mother was just turning toward her home, when Mrs. Danforth’s -coupé stopped, and Betty flew out like a small whirlwind. - -Mrs. Danforth lowered the coupé window and leaning forward, said: -“Mrs. White, I wish my little Elsa were as rosy and strong as your -Elizabeth.” She always spoke Betty’s full name,--Elizabeth. - -Mrs. White noticed the unusually gentle expression upon the proud face. -She had wanted a good opportunity to speak to Mrs. Danforth about Elsa; -so, with the same frankness which Betty had shown, she said: “There is -no use in trying to bring children up without love, Mrs. Danforth. You -cannot make strong, happy, useful men and women without it.” - -Mrs. Danforth did not seem offended; though her eyes gleamed proudly -from under her heavy brows, and a slight colour rose on her cheeks. -Her voice was rather hoarse as she said to Mrs. White, with a cold -smile: “Your daughter Elizabeth is very much like you.” Then she bowed -good-bye, and ordered the coachman to drive on. - -“You forgot to thank Mrs. Danforth for the drive, Betty,” said Mrs. -White, as they walked up the steps together. - -“So I did, mother. That is too bad,” Betty answered, penitently, -slipping her hand into her mother’s arm. “But Mrs. Danforth kind of -stiffens me up and makes me forget things. Aren’t grandmothers ever as -nice as mothers? I don’t know, because I haven’t any grandmothers.” - -“Yes, Betty, they are often better, or at least children think so. But -there are a great many different kinds of mothers and grandmothers.” - -“I know I’ve got the best kind of mother!” exclaimed Betty joyfully. - -That evening, after Elsa had shaken hands, said good night, and gone up -to her white room, Mrs. Danforth, alone in her luxurious library, sat -quiet for a long time, thinking deeply about many things, especially -about the real purpose which had brought her to live in Berkeley. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE CLUB GOES VISITING - - By sports like these are all their cares beguiled. - - --_Oliver Goldsmith._ - - -“I DON’T know but I shall have to ask you not to let the children come -to their Club this afternoon. I don’t like the noise, and you know -almost anything brings on heart trouble,” Miss Virginia Warren said, -when she came down to the library the next Friday morning, followed by -her niece, carrying two shawls. She spent an hour down-stairs daily, -after the rooms had been made excessively warm. - -“But, Aunt Virginia, you always stay in your room after three o’clock, -and it is so far from the library that you could hardly hear any -noise. I will keep the doors shut, though. I should be sorry indeed to -disappoint the children,” Ruth Warren replied, quite troubled by her -aunt’s words. - -“Well, of course the children are of more importance than my feelings,” -said Miss Virginia with a sigh. “But even though I don’t hear their -noise, knowing they are there, and that I may hear them any minute, -gives me cold turns every now and then.” She shivered, as if at the -mere thought. “Put that thick shawl over me quickly, Ruth.” - -The doctor had many times told Ruth Warren that there was nothing -really the matter with her aunt except a strong imagination and a -constant fear of illness; he had advised her, too, not to give in -too much to her aunt’s notions. So now Ruth said: “I am sorry, Aunt -Virginia, that the children’s coming disturbs you. I will ask Sarah -to stay in the room with you this afternoon so that you will not feel -nervous.” - -“Nervous! I am never nervous,” replied Miss Virginia, waving her large -white hands excitedly. “But I shall have to have a regular nurse, so -that there will be somebody with me all the time.” Then she wept a -little, and felt faint, and had to be revived with spirits of ammonia. - -Fortunately, however, she was spared further excitement on account of -the children’s coming that day. For just before three o’clock, Ben -Holt drove up to the house with a large, loose-jointed brown horse and -a double-seated sleigh, jumped out, rang the door-bell, and asked for -Miss Ruth. He was sitting on a tall carved chair in the hall when Ruth -Warren came down, at Sarah’s summons. - -“I stayed at home from school this afternoon,” said Ben, springing to -his feet and looking as if his sturdy body would burst out from the -tight little blue jacket. “Alice has hurt her ankle, and she wants the -Club to meet at our house, and so does my mother, and will you come? -I’ve brought Jerry and the double-seated sleigh. See?” And Ben drew -aside the lace curtain of the hall window to display his steed and -chariot. - -“Yes, I will go with pleasure,” Ruth Warren answered, after one swift, -amused glance at the big-boned horse and the sleigh. - -“Then I’ll just wait here till the other children come, if you please,” -Ben said, unbuttoning his jacket and drawing a long breath. - -“Will your horse stand?” asked Ruth Warren, wondering if Ben meant to -include her as one of the children. - -“O, yes, he’s glad enough to have a chance to stand,” the boy said with -a twinkle of humour. - -Ruth Warren went up-stairs to tell her aunt of the change of plan. - -“You are not going off with a crowd of children in that old sleigh, -Ruth, are you? Some of your friends will be sure to see you,” objected -Miss Virginia, in great and sudden distress. - -“Only three children, Aunt Virginia; and what if my friends do see me?” - -“But it looks so queer--the sleigh, I mean,--like a country grocery -sled, with an extra seat put in.” Miss Virginia grew quite excited. - -“I believe it is called a pung,” said Ruth; “never mind, Aunt Virginia, -nobody whom I care for will like me any the less for going in it. -Good-bye,--there come Betty and Elsa now, and you can watch us start,” -she added, for her aunt’s chair was always drawn close to the front -window. “You will have a quiet house all to yourself this afternoon.” - -“It will be too quiet, I am afraid,” sighed Miss Virginia. “I do like -to hear a little something going on, here all alone as I am, though not -children’s voices.” - -Miss Virginia Warren did not mean to be selfish, but she had never -learned that there is something sweeter in life than taking anxious -care of one’s health and thinking about one’s self. - - * * * * * - -Ben had seen Betty and Elsa on their way home from school and told -them; so they were there all ready to start when Miss Ruth came -down-stairs in her long, black, fur-lined coat. - -Mrs. Danforth had surprised Elsa that noon by saying: “Elsa, when -you are with your little Club, and all of you want to do anything -together, like going to the Convalescent Home, you may do it without -coming to ask me; and you may stay a little later than five o’clock -if coming away earlier would spoil your good time.” Elsa felt very -grown-up, with this new freedom, and yet the first use she made of it -was to run home to tell her grandmother that the Club was to meet at -Alice’s! It happened, however, that Mrs. Danforth was out driving; and -then Elsa felt more than ever grateful to her grandmother, because, -as she explained to Miss Ruth, “If grandmother hadn’t said I could do -anything the Club wanted to, I couldn’t have gone to Alice’s, because -grandmother wasn’t at home to ask.” - -Betty listened intently, but wisely kept still. She was dancing around -in great impatience for the start; she had on a long gray fur boa of -her mother’s, and as there had been no one to remind Elsa to wear -something extra warm, Miss Ruth bundled her into the dark red golf cape. - -Soon the little party set forth,--to Miss Virginia’s horror, though -she waved her hand feebly in return to the merry farewells from Miss -Ruth and Elsa on the back seat of the pung, and from Betty perched up -beside the blue-coated driver of the loose-jointed horse. - -Ben began clucking his steed into a faster gait. - -“What a good, steady horse you have, Ben,” said Miss Ruth; and indeed -the horse was pulling well on the road toward home. - -“It’s a good thing to have a horse that will stand and that people -aren’t afraid of,” Ben said loyally. “I can do anything with this -horse. G’long, Jerry!” - -The old horse, as if to justify the praise, went briskly. The sleighing -was smooth, for there had been two or three snow-storms the past week. -It was a rather sharp and wintry afternoon, cloudy, with every once in -awhile a flurry of snow in large, star-shaped flakes. - -“See how well Nature has tucked her children in, since we walked out -here a week ago,” said Miss Ruth, as the sleigh, with merrily jingling -bells, slid along the quieter part of Berkeley Avenue, where now masses -of soft snow lined the roadside. “And there will soon be a thicker -blanket put on, to keep them warm and safe until spring.” - -“Think of the hut, all covered with snow,” Elsa said. “How pretty it -must look.” - -“Wouldn’t it be fun if we could sleigh-ride over to the Convalescent -Home and see the children again,” exclaimed Betty, remembering the last -Friday afternoon and their visit. - -“But what about Alice waiting at home for us?” Miss Ruth asked quickly. - -“O, I forgot,” Betty cried. - -“I expect she’s wondering where we are,” exclaimed Ben. “G’long, Jerry!” - -But Jerry did not need urging now, for a moment later Ben turned -into the driveway which led to the rambling house with a piazza in -front, out upon which looked many long, narrow windows, filled with -bright-flowering plants, chiefly scarlet geraniums,--a cozy, cheerful -home indeed. - -Mrs. Holt was already at the front door,--a young woman in a plain -dark blue dress with dainty lace collar and cuffs, and so slender and -graceful that she looked more like an older sister of Ben’s than his -mother. Quite a warm colour bloomed on her pretty face as she shook -hands with Miss Ruth, whom Ben introduced by saying “This is the Black -Lace Lady.” - -“I am very happy to meet you, Miss Warren. Betty White I already know. -And this is Elsa Danforth? Come in, please. Alice has been growing -very impatient for your arrival,” Mrs. Holt said, with a gentle and -well-bred hospitality. - -The front door opened directly into a quite large hall, evidently the -living-room. There was a glowing fire in the old-fashioned fireplace -opposite the door, a low bookcase on one side of the fireplace and -a piano on the other; the stairs were at one end of the room, and -folding-doors opened into the dining-room at the opposite end. On a -chintz-covered lounge close to the front windows sat Alice in a blue -wrapper the colour of her eyes, and with one foot stretched out, -covered with an afghan. Her face flushed with pleasure: “O, I am so -glad you all came,” she said, as they drew around her. “I fell on some -ice, coming home from school yesterday, and twisted my ankle a little, -the doctor said, so I couldn’t come to the Club, and so we invited you -here. What shall we do?” she asked, leaning back against the gay chintz -pillows and looking like a large, sweet-faced doll with softly dimpled -cheeks. - -“I brought some of the dolls’ dresses--there are yet eight more to -make,” Miss Ruth said, taking a package from the deep pocket of her -fur-lined coat. “We can sew on those for one thing to do.” - -“I have made my last week’s two dresses,” cried Alice, pulling them in -very rumpled condition from under a sofa pillow, while Elsa and Betty -dived into their coat pockets, each bringing out two dresses, all -finished. - -“Good!” said Miss Ruth, taking off her coat and hat, at Mrs. Holt’s -bidding. “Perhaps we can each do two to-day--though these are for the -largest dolls.” - -“I will gladly help you sew,” Mrs. Holt said. “Alice has told me that -the dolls are to be given away at Christmas: that is all I know about -it,” she added, smiling in a motherly, understanding way. She had a -pretty, rather sad face and a very tender look in her blue eyes. It -was a great grief to her to be parted from her husband, and there was -another grief which lay further back in her heart. - -Even in the few moments of their talking together, Ruth Warren had -decided that Mrs. Holt was a very charming woman, and just the kind of -a mother Ben and Alice might be expected to have. - -Elsa and Betty had drawn their chairs very near to Alice and were -telling her all that had happened in school that morning, when Ben -came in from having put the horse into the barn, and walked up to his -mother’s side with “What shall we do?” - -“O, I know what to do,” he exclaimed, answering his own question. “We -will have a show.” - -“Goody!” cried Betty, hearing his last words. - -Mrs. Holt entered at once into the plan. “Miss Warren and Alice and I -will be audience. You can manage your show with Betty and Elsa to help, -I think.” - -“But what about the dolls’ dresses?” Elsa asked, eager as she was for -the “show.” - -“Bless the dear child!” said Mrs. Holt, putting her arm around the -slight, black-gowned figure. “Miss Warren and I will sew fast enough to -do your share and Betty’s.” She gazed intently into Elsa’s face as if -she would like to question the child about something. - -“O, thank you,” Elsa said, gratefully. “Why, that picture is just like -one my grandmother has in her room,” she exclaimed, catching sight of -an oil-painting of a large, gable-windowed house. - -As Ruth Warren saw Mrs. Holt’s face grow crimson and then suddenly very -pale, some faint, puzzling resemblance flashed through her mind and was -gone as quickly. - -Before Mrs. Holt had any time to answer, Ben ran toward her and laid -his hand coaxingly upon her shoulder: “Now, mother of mine, I have -brought the ‘show’ things down from the garret, and the pink gauze -curtain; and please can we use the red light?” - -“Yes, my boy. What shows are you going to have?” Mrs. Holt’s voice was -not quite steady, but she had regained her composure. - -“You will see in just a little while, mother of mine,” said Ben, with -the air of one who speaks to an over-eager child. - -Then, while Mrs. Holt explained to Miss Ruth and Elsa that the pink -cheese-cloth curtain was used to make the show-figures look more -beautiful, and that the red light, which made them even more beautiful, -was brought out only on great occasions like birthdays or holidays, -Elsa forgot all about the oil-painting; and very soon after, Ben called -her to join Betty and him in the parlour, which opened off the hall, -at the foot of the stairs. “Turn your backs, please,” cried Ben; “you -mustn’t see what is going to happen.” - -“Ben is such a manly little fellow,” said Miss Ruth, rising to change -her position. - -Quick tears sprang into Mrs. Holt’s blue eyes. “He tries to take care -of me,” she replied, with a little tremble in her voice; “my dear -little boy,” she added, half under her breath. “He is a great help in -the gardening we do, winter and summer, although I have a good man to -take the principal care. But I am sorry to have the children away from -their father. We hope it will not be very long before he can come back -to us, or we go to him.” - -“Mr. Holt is a teacher, I believe,” said Ruth Warren, who found herself -growing much interested in the Holt family. - -“Yes, out in Colorado; he had to go there for his health, and that is -why we are here,” was the reply, given with quiet dignity. - -Ruth Warren liked Mrs. Holt all the better because she did not attempt -to make any apology for keeping a market-garden, or to explain their -poverty, which was evident from the shabby furniture and plain clothing. - -“I wish they would begin,” sighed Alice, who was feeling rather left -out of things and who had all this time kept her eyes turned away from -the stairs, where mysterious preparations were going on. - -“You may turn ’round now,” called out Ben, starting the red light. So -the audience faced expectantly toward the stage which was formed by the -wide landing four steps up the stairway. - -Ben, jerking back the pink curtain, announced in a deep, dramatic tone: -“Priscilla, the Puritan Maiden.” - -Beside a real spinning-wheel sat Elsa with a white cap over her golden -hair and a white kerchief across her shoulders,--a demure little -Puritan maiden, her face very rosy under the red light. - -The applause from the audience was hearty and prolonged. Alice clapped -louder than any one else. But after the curtain was drawn forward, she -slipped her hand into her mother’s and said wistfully, “I do wish my -foot was well so I could be in the shows.” - -“Think of the little Convalescent children, my darling,” said Mrs. Holt -in a low tone, replacing the afghan which Alice had restlessly pushed -away. “Think how some of them keep still all the time.” - -A moment later Alice’s face dimpled with smiles as Ben drew aside the -curtain and said in his stage voice: “Little Red Riding-hood.” - -It was Betty in a short red cape and a tightly drawn red hood. With the -red light falling upon her round cheeks and her laughing eyes, she -looked indeed like a little maid from the fields. - -“Doesn’t the Glad Girl make a splendid Red Riding-hood?” cried Ben, -turning a somersault on the hearth-rug. “And wouldn’t the wolf have a -fine time eating her up!” he added, capering back to draw the curtain. - -Red Riding-hood herself announced the next show, “George Washington,” -who was no other than Ben, standing on a large book covered with white -cloth to represent a block of ice, and wearing a cock-hat and an old -military coat which came down to his heels--a brave-faced Father of his -Country. - -“You forgot to say ‘Crossing the Delaware,’ Betty,” exclaimed the -show-figure, leaning forward on his very thick sword made out of the -fire-tongs covered with brown paper. - -“Of course they would know that,” Betty replied; and the audience -agreed that they would have known it without being told. - -“Just one more,” cried Ben, stepping from off the block of ice to help -Betty draw the curtain. “This one’s going to take a very long time to -get ready, and you must guess the name of it. May I whisper to the -Black Lace Lady, mother?” - -Mrs. Holt nodded permission, and Ben whispered something into Miss -Ruth’s ear, to which she must have agreed, for he carried her heavy -coat into the parlour, where Betty and Elsa were, and shut the door. - -It took so long for them to arrange this last show that Mrs. Holt -and Miss Ruth finished making the first of the dolls’ dresses, and -Mrs. Holt was sewing upon the second one for Alice, when Betty called -“Ready!” and pulled back the curtain to disclose a marvellous sight. - -There stood Elsa, behind a wall of sofa pillows, her hair floating -down over the light blue silk scarf which covered her shoulders and -her slender figure draped in a dark blue velvet table-cover, while on -her shoulder perched a stuffed gray squirrel. On the step below the -pillow-wall knelt Ben, wearing Miss Ruth’s long coat with the gray fur -lining side out, his head and arms covered with Betty’s gray boa. This -strange-looking figure was pulling with his teeth at a sofa pillow in -the supposed wall, and repeating, in a muffled voice: “Keep a good -heart! Keep a good heart!” - -“Princess Katrina and the Gray Owl!” Alice cried out, the moment her -eyes fell upon this group. “How lovely, how lovely!” she said over and -over again, clapping her hands. Mrs. Holt and Ruth Warren joined in -the applause, laughing until the tears came into their eyes, for Ben -was such a ridiculously funny figure, although so well made up. - -Elsa kept still as long as she could; then the stuffed gray squirrel -fell from her shoulder, and Ben, springing to catch it, knocked down -the wall of pillows, and the show was over. - -“How did you _ever_ happen to think of it?” Alice asked, when the -flushed and happy actors stood around the lounge, taking off their -costumes. - -“Elsa thought of it,” cried Betty, who was holding the stuffed squirrel -tenderly. - -“Betty made me take the princess part, though I wanted her to,” said -Elsa. - -“Because she has yellow hair, like the princess,” put in Ben. “Betty -dressed us, and didn’t she do well? Your coat was just the thing,” he -added, turning as Miss Ruth rose to help him out of it. “My! it’s hot.” - -“Did you know what it was, Mrs. Holt?” Elsa inquired, coming to Mrs. -Holt’s side. - -“Yes, dear, for Alice has told the story to Ben and me, twice.” - -“Do your children tell you stories?” Elsa asked, with wide-open, -surprised eyes. - -“Sometimes, Elsa,” Mrs. Holt replied. “I sit by the fire the last part -of the afternoon, usually, and the children lie on pillows in front of -the fire; and if I am too tired to tell them a story, they tell me one.” - -“And do they have shows often?” Elsa questioned eagerly. This was -almost like a storybook, this account of the happy home-life. - -“Yes; they keep a boxful of costumes and that pink curtain on purpose -for shows. They get up all sorts of plays, too,” Mrs. Holt went on to -say, seeing the keen interest in Elsa’s face. “Last summer they played -snake until it got on my imagination so that I hardly dared step on the -floor for fear of putting my foot on that snake.” - -“It wasn’t really a snake, though,” said Betty, who had turned to -listen. - -“No, only a make-believe one,” Mrs. Holt replied laughingly; “but they -made it seem real.” - -“But, mother of mine,” said Ben very earnestly, “you know I only got -Peggy to play that so as to teach her not to be afraid of snakes.” - -“Girls!” exclaimed Ruth Warren, “it is quarter of five o’clock, and -snowing fast. We must begin to get ready to go home.” She realized -that it would take considerable time. - -“Mamma, dear, I wish Elsa and Betty could stay here all night,” cried -Alice. Betty had stayed before, once. - -“They could perfectly well, Alice,” replied Mrs. Holt cordially, “if -Elsa’s grandmother and Betty’s mother were willing.” - -“Let’s telephone and ask,” suggested Ben. - -“I think my mother will let me stay,” Betty said quickly, standing -on tip-toe in her excitement, “because it’s Friday and no school -to-morrow. May I telephone now?” - -In a few moments Betty came back from the side-hall: “Yes, mother says -I can stay, if Mrs. Holt is sure I won’t be a bother. Aren’t you going -to telephone about staying?” she asked, turning to Elsa, who had been -silent all this time, although her eyes showed how much she wanted to -stay. - -“I--I don’t believe grandmother would let me,” Elsa replied, making a -brave effort to keep a steady face. - -“Why don’t you ask her for Elsa, mamma?” inquired Alice. “Do, mother of -mine,” urged Ben. - -Mrs. Holt’s face flushed, then grew pale, and a look of pride came -over it. “I cannot do that, children, much as I would like to have Elsa -remain.” - -“I will ask Mrs. Danforth,” Ruth Warren said quickly, going to the -telephone. Presently she returned to the impatient group and said in a -cheerful tone: - -“Elsa’s grandmother wants her to come home. She asks me to say to you, -Elsa, that you will not be sorry you came.” - -But even this last part of the message could not keep Elsa from turning -quickly away, toward the window, to hide her feelings. - -“I will go and harness Jerry,” said Ben, hurrying out of the room. The -others talked very fast for a few moments. - -“I wish you could stay all night, Miss Ruth,” Alice said more -hospitably than thoughtfully, when Miss Ruth was putting on her coat. - -“There is no use in my thinking of it,” Miss Ruth answered quickly: “my -Aunt Virginia would never give her consent.” - -It was so funny to think of grown-up Miss Ruth having to mind that -Elsa, feeling comforted, came away from the window and began to get -ready for the drive home. - -“I hope Alice’s ankle will be well before the next meeting,” said Miss -Ruth, when they were at last ready to start. - -“It will be quite well in a week, unless she is careless, or takes -cold,” Mrs. Holt replied. “I am sure she is most grateful to the Club, -as I am, for your coming here.” - -Ben, who had driven Jerry up to the front door and come in to warm his -hands, carelessly picked up a sofa pillow in passing, and shied it at -Alice. “That’s just to show Peggy that she must keep quiet, no matter -what happens,” he said in answer to his mother’s reproving: “Why, Ben!” - -Betty had sprung to Alice’s defence, and for a moment she and Ben had a -lively pulling contest over the pillow. Elsa looked on in surprise; not -having any brothers or sisters, she was not used to that kind of fun -and hardly knew what to make of it. - -Suddenly Betty dropped her corner of the pillow. “Excuse me,” she said -to Mrs. Holt; “I forgot. Ben threw that pillow at Alice just the way -Max throws one at me sometimes, and I have to defend myself.” - -“You will have a lively time to-night, Mrs. Holt,” Ruth Warren said, -with a sober face and smiling eyes. - -“Children must be children,” Mrs. Holt replied with an answering smile. -“It is better for Alice to have things a little lively than to lie here -and feel lonely. But I think that she and Betty will be studying over -to-day’s lessons after supper.” - -“O, mamma! with my lame ankle!” protested Alice. And Betty’s face fell -a little. - -“Yes, dear, you must study awhile; it will not hurt your ankle. You say -that Betty is always ahead of you in your classes, so she can be the -teacher.” Mrs. Holt said this partly to cheer Betty and partly so that -Elsa would not go away thinking that the visit she was missing would be -all pleasure. - -“We haven’t any more dolls’ dresses to make, Miss Ruth,” Alice said, -handing to her a pile of neatly folded little light-coloured garments. -“What shall we do next?” - -“I will have something ready at the next meeting, Alice,--something -that perhaps Ben can help upon,” replied Ruth Warren, kissing Alice -good-bye, and thinking that it would be hard to find two more lovable -and companionable children than Alice and Ben, or a happier, more -satisfying home-life than theirs. - -“Just think, only two weeks more of school,” cried Betty. “Maybe the -Club can meet twice a week in vacation?” Betty looked at Miss Ruth -questioningly. - -“O, I wish it could!” Alice clasped her chubby hands together -beseechingly. - -Ruth Warren shook her head, but with that kind look in her eyes which -always made any refusal seem less hard. “Once a week is enough for us -really to enjoy it,” she said, “don’t you think so, Betty dear?” - -“I suppose so,” Betty admitted with her usual candour; “only I don’t -ever have half so good a time anywhere else.” - -“Come, Elsa, we must start,” Miss Ruth said, adding, as she shook hands -with Mrs. Holt: “I should like to call upon you some day soon.” - -“I should be delighted to have you call,” replied Mrs. Holt, warmly. “I -have made only a few acquaintances in Berkeley during the year I have -lived here. Betty’s mother has been very kind about coming to see me. -Children often bring together people who might not otherwise meet,” -she added, smoothing back Betty’s rumpled hair in a gentle, motherly -fashion. - -“We will show you the market-garden when you come again,” Ben said with -an air of pride. “It’s a very interesting place.” - -“Yes, you might enjoy that, Miss Warren,” said Mrs. Holt with a gentle -dignity. “We have a large winter-garden, back of the house, and this -year, in addition to vegetables, we are raising hyacinths and such -things, and later, we are going to try raising mushrooms.” - -“That sounds most delightful,” said Miss Ruth heartily; “I am sure I -shall enjoy seeing it all.” - -“Perhaps you would like to come, also,” Mrs. Holt said, rather timidly -it seemed, turning to Elsa. - -“O, yes, I should,” cried Elsa eagerly. “I think you are very kind -to little girls, and,” she added shyly, trying to be very polite, -“you--you have beautiful flowers.” - -“Children and flowers--I’ve never had enough of them yet,” exclaimed -Mrs. Holt, stooping suddenly to kiss Elsa’s upturned face. - -It was snowing hard. Ben tucked Miss Ruth and Elsa into the back seat -and then mounted to the front seat. Mrs. Holt, Alice, and Betty waved -good-bye from the front windows, Miss Ruth and Elsa waved back as long -as they could see the house; and the gay, pleasant meeting was over. - -Elsa was always so happy in being with Miss Ruth that once the pang -of leaving had vanished, she settled down with a contented sigh. It -was a beautiful time to be out-of-doors. Now that the snow was falling -in thick soft flakes, the chill had gone out of the air. The tall -evergreen trees drooped under their heavy white cloaks. In the west -there was a faint rosy tinge from the light of the setting sun. Now and -then a loud-cawing crow flew overhead, and once, by the roadside, they -saw a hungry blue-jay flirt the snow off from a tall brown weed and -begin to pick out and eat the seeds. - -The three talked awhile of the sights and sounds around them. Then Ben -turned his entire attention to Jerry, who needed constant urging for -this journey away from home, at the end of the day. - -“I asked Miss Hartwell a day or two ago about the nurse Bettina; and -her name is Bettina March,” Miss Ruth said, unexpectedly. - -“O my Bettina!” cried Elsa, with a little gasp. “And is she coming -back?” - -“Possibly,” Miss Ruth replied. “She was at the Convalescent Home only -about six weeks, and went away because she was not very well; but if -she is better, she is coming back about Christmas-time.” - -“Then I shall see her,--grandmother will surely let me see her; but it -won’t be for three whole weeks!” The little thrill of disappointment in -Elsa’s voice told Ruth Warren better than words could have told, how -dearly Elsa loved her old nurse. - -“Of course she may not come back at all, Elsa,” Ruth Warren felt -obliged to say. - -To this Elsa made no reply; but she asked, in a rather choked voice: -“Did you find out where Bettina is now?” - -“No, Elsa,” Miss Ruth answered gently. She felt very sorry for Elsa’s -disappointment, but she did not wish in any way to interfere with Mrs. -Danforth’s plan for the child. - -Ben, perched upon the front seat, was beginning to look as if he had -on a white fur coat. They were just driving along Washington Avenue, -approaching the Warren house, when Elsa exclaimed rapturously: “Uncle -Ned! O, there is my Uncle Ned!” - -A tall, broad-shouldered man, who was strolling by in leisurely -fashion, looked up and then stepped quickly toward the sleigh as Ben -stopped his horse in front of the Warrens’ house. Elsa was out in a -flash, and the tall man was bending over, soothing the child who clung -to him so passionately. - -[Illustration: “SOOTHING THE CHILD WHO CLUNG TO HIM SO PASSIONATELY.”] - -“Uncle Ned! When did you come?” Elsa asked between laughter and tears. - -“Less than an hour ago. I reached the house only a few moments before -your grandmother was telephoning about you.” - -“I am so glad, now, that I came home,” cried the child, still clinging -to him as if she could hardly believe her happiness in really having -him here. - -Ben had meanwhile jumped out and was gallantly helping Miss Ruth from -the sleigh. Elsa was far too excited to think of introductions. - -“This is your friend, Miss Ruth, Elsa?” asked the tall uncle, taking -off his hat. - -“Yes--excuse me--this is Miss Ruth, our Club--our Christmas Makers’ -Club--” cried Elsa, telling the name before she thought. - -“Miss Ruth looks more like a tall young lady than a Club,--even a -Christmas Makers’ Club,” said Elsa’s uncle gravely. - -“Uncle Ned! I mean that she runs the Club,” cried Elsa in half -distressed, half-laughing tone. - -“Yes, I run the Club,” said Ruth Warren quickly. The arc-light -overhead shone brightly. The snow was on her long eyelashes and her -face was flushed with the fresh air. - -“I am grateful to you if my little niece has caught her red cheeks from -the running,” was the instant reply. - -“Here is another member of the Club,” Ruth Warren said, turning to Ben, -“Ben Holt, the only boy in the Club.” - -“Another red-cheeked member! I quite approve of this Club,” said the -tall uncle, who had dark gray eyes, somewhat like Elsa’s. “Does the -Club drive you, or do you drive the Club, sir?” he asked, in his quick -way of speaking. - -“Sometimes one, sometimes the other, sir,” Ben replied merrily. “I am -the only one that takes them driving, though, because I have such a -safe, steady horse.” - -“He looks like a good safe horse, Ben,” said Elsa’s uncle, gravely and -politely. - -Ben climbed back into the sleigh and began turning Jerry. “Good-bye! -Perhaps you’ll come to the Club sometimes, as long as you are Elsa’s -uncle,” he called out in friendly fashion; “it meets Friday afternoons. -Good-bye, Black Lace Lady! Good-bye, Elsa!” - -“Thank you,” the tall uncle called out, for Jerry, headed toward home, -started off in a hurry; “I am afraid I shall not be here until another -meeting.” - -The boy and the angular horse vanished amid the thick-falling snow. - -“How long are you going to stay, Uncle Ned?” asked Elsa, in a most -anxious voice. - -“Only over night, Sweetheart,” he answered quickly, “but we mustn’t let -that spoil our visit. What is the name of this wonderful Club?” - -“Didn’t you hear me say it?” Elsa asked. - -But Uncle Ned had forgotten. - -“It’s a secret,” said Elsa; “you can’t know it unless you belong.” - -“It is a very exclusive Club, you see, Mr. Danforth,” said Miss Ruth, -turning toward the walk which led from the pavement to her home. - -“That makes me want to join all the more,” came the laughing answer. - -“I can tell you just this much, Uncle Ned,” cried Elsa, unfastening -Miss Ruth’s golf cape, “we are making things for Christmas.” - -“And does Miss Ruth live here in the house next to your grandmother’s?” -asked the tall uncle, taking the cape from Elsa. - -“Yes; she lives all alone with her aunt, just the way I live all alone -with grandmother,” Elsa said, a little sadly. - -“You ought to be very good friends,” said the uncle, soberly, for he -had noticed the change in Elsa’s tone. - -“We are,” replied Ruth Warren convincingly. - -“Yes, we are,” echoed Elsa in a happy voice now. - -“Let me go ahead on your path and make some tracks for you, the snow -is so deep,” suggested Mr. Danforth, quickly stepping forward. So Ruth -Warren followed in his footsteps, and Elsa brought up in the rear. - -At the door, Elsa’s uncle put out his hand and said in a grateful -voice: “My little niece has written me about you, Miss Warren, and I -want to thank you for all that you are doing to make her happy.” - -“Elsa and her friends give me a great deal of pleasure,” said Miss Ruth -in turn, with an unmistakable ring of sincerity in her voice. - -“Will the Club meet here next Friday?” asked Elsa eagerly. - -“Yes, next Friday; and we shall have something new to work upon,” Miss -Ruth replied. - -“Will you give Miss Ruth her cape, Uncle Ned?” asked Elsa. “She let me -take it for our sleigh-ride. I wonder what the new thing is going to -be,” she added, with lively interest. - -But Miss Ruth only smiled and said: “Wait and see!” - -As Elsa’s Uncle Ned took off his hat in farewell, Ruth Warren saw that -his hair was quite gray and that his face had the careworn look of a -very busy man. Elsa herself seemed like another girl since her uncle -had come. - -Miss Virginia Warren had left the shade up, at her front window, and -had seen Ruth’s meeting with the tall man whom Elsa Danforth had -greeted so affectionately. - -“There, Ruth!” said Miss Virginia when her niece came into her room; “I -was sure something would happen! What could that young gentleman have -thought of your being in that dreadful old sleigh?” - -“It was Elsa’s uncle, and he is not so very young, Aunt Virginia; I am -sure he is forty, and his hair is gray,” replied Ruth Warren. “I don’t -believe he was thinking of me at all; he seemed so rejoiced that Elsa’s -cheeks were red instead of white that I don’t believe he thought about -anything or anybody else.” - -But Miss Virginia was not to be pacified: “You do such strange things, -Ruth, for a young woman of your social position, and thirty years old, -too,” she sighed; “going off in that pung, was it, you called it? with -a lot of children, and to a market-gardener’s home.” - -Ruth Warren, leaving the first part of her aunt’s remark without -answer, made haste to say: “Mrs. Holt is in every sense a lady, and I -shall call upon her at the very first opportunity.” - -Miss Virginia dropped the subject, and said in a more kindly tone: “I -really hope the Club will come here next week; I begin to think, as -Sarah does, that it is rather pleasant to hear their young voices in -this quiet old house. We missed them this afternoon.” - -In this change of mind on the part of Miss Virginia, Ruth Warren -recognized Sarah Judd’s influence; for behind an iron exterior, this -trusty old serving-woman had a heart of gold. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL - - Something the heart must have to cherish. - - --_Henry W. Longfellow._ - - -THE next Monday afternoon Elsa and Alice went home from school with -Betty to talk over a plan which Elsa had said, with a very mysterious -air, that she wanted to tell them about. Finding that the baby was not -in the nursery, Betty took her friends to this delightful room, with -the flowering geraniums and the little strawberry-birds and the row of -dolls, the gay pillows of the window-seat, and the Kate Greenaway paper. - -“I should think you would stay here all the time, Betty,” exclaimed -Elsa, curling herself into a little heap on the rug, and leaning back -against the bed; her eyes began roaming around the “picture-book room,” -as she called it to herself. - -“I do stay here half of the time,--all night,” Betty answered quickly. -“That’s half the time when you have to go to bed at eight o’clock! Now -tell us about your secret.” Betty sat down near the door, to guard the -approach, and Alice drew a small rocking-chair close to the shelf of -plants, so that she could watch the lively little strawberry-birds. - -“It’s this,” said Elsa; “when my Uncle Ned was here, last Friday, he -asked me ever and ever so much about the Club, and I told him about -our dressing dolls for the Convalescent Home children, and about how -much they needed money; and he thought it would be nice if we could -earn some money,--no matter if it was just a little,--and surprise Miss -Ruth, and have it to give to the Convalescent Home with the dolls on -Christmas Day.” Elsa’s eyes were shining with interest. - -“I know how I can earn some,” cried Betty. “When I especially -want to earn money, mother gives me five cents a day for emptying -waste-baskets; and I will ask father to let me black his boots. How -many days are there before Christmas,--let me see, just fourteen, and -the waste-baskets would give me seventy cents, surely. What are you -going to do, Elsa, to earn money?” - -“Uncle Ned said he would give me fifty cents a week if I would write a -four-page letter to him twice a week.” - -“That will be a dollar,” said Betty, a little envious at Elsa’s being -able to earn more than she. “What will you do, Alice?” - -“Mamma sometimes pays me for washing the dishes. If I do them twice a -day, she will give me five cents, I think, each day.” - -“That will be seventy cents more,” Betty said encouragingly, “and two -dollars and forty cents in all.” - -“And I’m sure Ben can earn some, shovelling snow and running errands,” -cried Alice eagerly. - -“I wish grandmother would let me wash dishes or black boots,” sighed -Elsa. “Work hurts people’s hands, she says.” - -“But we will have at least three dollars, if Ben earns some, too,” -Betty said quickly, thinking how tiresome it must be to have to be -careful all the time about keeping one’s hands soft and white. “Won’t -Miss Ruth be surprised, though!” she added joyfully. - -Elsa clasped her slender little hands around her knees: “I know a -lovely surprise the Club is going to have;” her violet-gray eyes danced -with pleasure. - -“O, what is it?” cried both the other girls. - -“I mustn’t tell; Uncle Ned told me not to. You see, he asked me -what I wanted most for Christmas, and at first I said some little -strawberry-birds like Betty’s, and then we talked it over, and he said -he couldn’t get them very well in cold weather, and perhaps grandmother -wouldn’t like them, so we decided on something even nicer,--something -the whole Club will like.” - -“I think it’s mean to tell just a little bit, and not tell the rest,” -declared Betty. - -“But I should think you’d like to know you are going to have something, -anyway,” said peacemaker Alice. “Will Miss Ruth like it, too?” - -“I think so; I am sure she will,” Elsa answered, joyfully. - -Seeing the cloud on Betty’s face, Alice spoke up quickly: “Don’t you -think we ought to decide to-day on something to give Miss Ruth for -Christmas,--maybe something from all of us?” - -“Yes, I’ve been thinking about that,” exclaimed Betty, diverted by the -suggestion. “Mother said she would help us decide.” And Betty ran out -into the hall, calling “Mother! Mother, dear!” - -Presently Mrs. White came into the nursery. Being an affectionate -and thoughtful woman, she felt that it was wise not in any way to -discourage the generous impulses of the little girls. “How will this -plan suit you?” she asked, after they had talked the matter over for -a few moments: “Each one of you bring to me the amount of money she -can perfectly well afford to give for a present, and no one shall know -how much the others give; then all of you go with me some day after -vacation begins, and we will choose the present.” - -This plan suited the girls perfectly. - -“And it makes another surprise,” cried Elsa in great delight. “We have -so many now that I am almost getting them mixed up.” - -Mrs. White’s motherly heart was rejoiced at Elsa’s brighter, happier -face. “The Club and the being with other children are doing her a world -of good,” she said to herself wisely. - - * * * * * - -At noon on Friday, Betty White ran in to see Miss Ruth, solely for the -purpose of talking about the Club meeting. “Elsa and I were saying at -recess this morning,” she began breathlessly, “that we thought you had -forgotten all about the story of the old lady’s doll that you were -going to tell us. Will you tell it this afternoon? You can be thinking -it up.” - -To this Miss Ruth agreed. - -Betty had in one hand a fancy-striped paper bag, full of chocolate -candy. She held it toward Miss Ruth: “Take some, please. O, take more -than one piece! Mother had a birthday yesterday and she gave each of us -children two dollars. She hid the money in different places ’round the -house, and we had to hunt for it; it was such fun. - -“I like mother’s birthdays, ’cause she always gives us something,” -Betty rattled on, in her usual lively fashion. “Last year she baked -some new silver dollars into a cottage pudding: it looked so heavy that -none of us would take any at first, except Max, but when he bit into a -dollar and showed it to us, we all took some in a hurry. - -“Have some more candy, please,” urged Betty, generously, holding forth -the striped bag again. “I bought a lot,--twenty-five cents’ worth out -of my two dollars,--so I could have some candy to eat in school. I -never get found out. Don’t ever tell, will you?” - -“Do I ever tell?” asked Miss Ruth. - -“No,” Betty said, with an approving nod, “I don’t believe you ever do.” - -“Don’t you think it would be more honourable, however, Betty, since -candy-eating is not allowed in school, for you not to take the candy -there?” Ruth Warren asked, looking intently into Betty’s face. - -Betty lowered her eyes, but did not make any answer. - -“Leave the candy here,” suggested Ruth Warren, “and have it for the -Club meeting.” - -“All--right, I will,” came the rather reluctant but courageous consent. - -“Well, it’s ’most school-time and I must go,” cried Betty in her wonted -happy manner, a half-moment later. “Thank you for keeping the candy.” -She took a last piece by way of reward to herself, and hurried off to -school. - - * * * * * - -There was no Alice with Betty and Elsa when they arrived, soon after -three o’clock. “She wasn’t at school this morning, but Ben has gone -home to see if she can come,” Betty explained at once. - -“Mrs. Holt has just now telephoned me,” Ruth Warren said, “and she -tells me that Alice has a feverish cold, so she cannot come to the -Club.” - -“We might go out there,” Betty suggested. - -“But we are not invited,” Ruth Warren replied merrily. “If Alice has a -feverish cold, naturally enough her mother would not invite us there.” - -“It is too bad,” cried Elsa. “Alice will be so disappointed.” Both she -and Betty looked quite downcast, for they were very fond of Alice. - -“Can we have the story just the same, or shall we wait?” Betty inquired -anxiously. - -“We will have the story,” replied Miss Ruth, “because I shall go out -to see Alice to-morrow, and if she would like, I will tell it to her -there.” - -“Please begin now, then,” urged Betty. - -“But first I want to show you what I have for the Club to work upon,” -said Miss Ruth, beginning to undo the wrappings of a large, flat -pasteboard box which stood upon the table. - -“O, goody!” cried Betty, who had been eying the box with lively -curiosity. - -“Paper dolls!” exclaimed Elsa, clasping her hands in rapturous delight, -as the box-cover came off. - -“What beauties!” Betty said, dancing a quick-step in her excitement. - -There were twelve sets of dolls, all fully dressed, and with extra -costumes, ready to be painted. - -“All those dresses,--all the hats, too, to be painted,” said Elsa, in -great glee. - -“What fun! What fun!” cried Betty, whirling around like a lively top, -while Miss Ruth took from the box a large tin case of water-colour -paints and several brushes, and placed them upon some sheets of -blotting-paper which already covered the polished mahogany table. - -Betty had just been out to the kitchen for some water,--at Miss Ruth’s -suggestion and to grim-faced Sarah’s great delight,--and she was -filling the paint saucers when she glanced up at the sound of loud -sleigh-bells and cried out: “Why! there is Alice!” - -“It can’t be Alice!” said Elsa, following Betty to the window. - -“It’s the Holts’ hired man, grinning from ear to ear, and Alice with -him,” insisted Betty. “She has just jumped out of the sleigh.” - -The bell rang, and in a surprisingly short time Sarah appeared at the -library door, trying hard not to burst out laughing; for behind her -came Ben, very red in the face, dressed in a brown sailor-suit of -Alice’s, and looking so sheepish and so comical that Miss Ruth joined -in the general laugh, and Sarah went off chuckling, with her white -apron up to her face. - -“Peggy felt so bad because she couldn’t come that I put on one of her -old dresses over my own clothes, just for fun, to make her laugh,” said -Ben, hanging his head, but marching bravely into the room. - -“I shouldn’t think you’d want to wear girls’ clothes and come to a -girls’ Club,” said Betty teasingly. - -“Girls are all right, most of the time,” Ben answered. “They’re too -afraid of their clothes to be as nice as boys, all the time. This is -awful tight; mother said she knew something would happen to it;” he was -still very red in the face. - -Something had happened already, for one of the sleeves had partly -ripped from the blouse waist. Noticing this, Ruth Warren noticed also -a tumultuous movement under the blouse, suggestive of sobs. But Ben’s -smiling, ruddy face showed no signs of grief. A half-moment later, -a tiny, furry head with bright bead-like eyes, looked out above the -blouse collar. - -In her usual tone Miss Ruth said: “I see you have brought one of your -pets with you, Ben.” - -Ben made a quick movement, but not quick enough to prevent a gray -squirrel from springing out of his attempted grasp, upon the -window-sill. - -Elsa jumped, and Betty cried: “Ben Holt! How mean of you! Poor little -squirrel!” - -The squirrel’s heart was thumping wildly under the soft fur of his -chest, and his breath came in quick gasps as he turned his head -rapidly from side to side, searching a chance to escape. - -“Is he your tame squirrel, Ben?” Ruth Warren inquired. - -“Not exactly; you see we’ve been feeding him from the dining-room -window, so he’s quite tame,” explained Ben, “and--and I caught him on -the wood-pile, with some nuts, and brought him along to see if the -girls would be frightened.” - -“O, that is it,” was all Ruth Warren said, but Ben’s face grew redder -than ever. - -Making a sudden leap, the squirrel landed on top of the tall bookcase. -From here he gave another leap to the top of a window, and began -scolding loudly. - -“I will bring some walnuts, Ben, so that you can capture this -frightened little creature and take him home,” Miss Ruth said, going to -the pantry. - -“Now aren’t you sorry, Ben?” teased Betty. - -The relish of the joke was indeed gone for Ben, but he faced the music -bravely, for, though often heedless, he was no coward. When Miss Ruth -came back with the walnuts, he asked the girls to keep quiet, and in -a few moments coaxed Mr. Squirrel down from the window-top to the -mantel, where he sat with his bushy tail curled up over his back, -turning a nut-meat round and round in his paws as he ate it, listening -and watching intently. - -It was hard for Betty and Elsa to keep from laughing, and even Miss -Ruth had difficulty in keeping her face sober, for Ben in his sister’s -short-skirted dress, which hardly came to his knees,--leaving an -extra long pair of thin legs which ended in good-sized feet,--was an -exceedingly droll sight. A giggle from Betty at the critical moment -sent the squirrel flying to the curtain-top again; but greedy hunger -conquered fear, and growing venturesome again, the squirrel came by -cautious degrees down to the window-sill. While he sat there, filling -his cheek pouches with the cracked walnuts, Ben, who had been close at -hand all the while, deftly captured him and tucked him away securely -into the blouse waist. - -“Now, if one of you girls will unfasten this old dress skirt, I’ll drop -it off,” Ben said meekly, after struggling to unbutton the skirt with -one hand while holding the squirrel fast with the other. “I can’t go -through the streets with a skirt on,” he added, shamefacedly. - -Miss Ruth unfastened the waist-band buttons, the skirt dropped to the -floor, and Ben stood there in the middle of the room, looking even -funnier than ever in his dark blue knickerbockers and the brown blouse -waist. Miss Ruth mercifully and quickly helped him into the old blue -reefer jacket, which was so tight now that he could not button it at -all. - -“I should be glad to have you come back to the Club meeting, after you -have taken the squirrel home, Ben,” Miss Ruth said, with the double -purpose of making sure that the squirrel reached his headquarters and -of giving Ben a share in the meeting if he really wanted to come back. -“Will you ask Alice if she would like some of the paper dolls to paint, -and if she would, you could take them to her,” she added. - -“Yes, I will come back,” Ben answered, with a brightening face. “I’d -like to--anyway--and Peggy would be disappointed not to know all about -the meeting.” - -“I am going to tell the Club a story I promised them. It is only about -a little old lady’s doll; but if you would like to hear it, I will wait -till you come.” - -“Yes, ma’am, I should like to hear it, thank you,” replied Ben most -humbly. - -“Alice said you like dolls, Ben,” cried Betty mischievously. - -“I don’t care,--I do like dolls sometimes. I ducked a boy into the -frog-pond once--” began Ben; but he stopped and burst out laughing, for -Miss Ruth had given him a queer look, and now she was saying: “It seems -to me we have heard about that before, Ben.” - -“Hurry, Ben,” exclaimed Elsa, impatient for the story. “Hurry home and -hurry back again.” - -“Perhaps I can find our hired man on the road with Jerry,” called out -Ben, as he left the room, “and then I’d go flying home and back quicker -than a flash.” - -“Or a squirrel,” added Miss Ruth. “Be careful of the squirrel, Ben.” - -Both Elsa and Betty wanted some advice about the colours of paints -to use first, so the time did not seem very long to them before Ben -returned,--a most penitent-faced boy now, and in his own clothes. - -Ben walked straight up to Miss Ruth, made his best bow, and said in a -manly way, though very fast: “Mother says I must beg your pardon for -bringing the squirrel. I am sorry I did it.” - -“I think you frightened the squirrel more than you did the girls, -Ben,” Miss Ruth replied, feeling that the boy had already done -sufficient penance for his attempted fun. - -Ben drew a long breath of relief. “I had a ride both ways,” he said, -quite cheerfully. “May I paint, too?” he inquired, turning to look at -the tempting array upon the table, and also at the plateful of thin -sandwiches which Miss Ruth had wisely provided to go with Betty’s candy. - -“Yes, indeed,” Miss Ruth answered. “How would you like to paint the -shoes on the dolls? Take some sandwiches, children.” - -“I will black their boots for them,” cried Ben merrily, as he helped -himself to a chicken sandwich and a paint-brush. - -“Betty brought the candy,” said Miss Ruth, for Ben, somehow, was ready -for a piece in a flash. Then Betty bravely made the explanation. - -“Peggy says she will do all the painting you want her to. She can’t -hardly wait for it.” Ben suddenly remembered the message. - -“We can’t hardly wait for that story! Please, _please_, begin!” -entreated Betty. - - * * * * * - -This is a true story, children,--said Ruth Warren, going toward the -hearth, where a bright wood-fire burned steadily, and wheeling a deep, -comfortable chair half around so that she might watch the children at -their work:--The winter that I was eleven years old, my father had -to go to California. My mother went with him, and as it would have -been a rather long, hard journey for a child, they left me with my -grandmother, who lived in a roomy, old-fashioned house just on the -border of a large town. I was not very well that winter, and the doctor -had said I must not go to school, but must be out-of-doors all that -I could. I remember this half made up to me for having my father and -mother go away--or I tried to think it did. - -About three minutes’ walk from my grandmother’s, Miss Phœbe Dean, -a little old lady who had been a school-teacher in her younger -days, lived all alone in a snug, small story-and-a-half house. Miss -Dean owned the house, but she was rather poor and not very strong. -Grandmother used to send broths and jellies and things of that kind to -her, every few days, and as I had no school lessons to take my time, -grandmother generally sent the things by me. - -Miss Dean was very friendly. She had all sorts of quaint, interesting -curiosities in her house, for her father had been around the world -several times as captain of his own ship and had brought home many -treasures; sometimes she would open an old carved chest and show me -wonderful pictures and beautiful embroideries. Before long, she and I -were such good friends that I went to see her almost every day, whether -or not grandmother had anything to send. - -The bedroom which I slept in at my grandmother’s had a dormer window -facing toward Miss Dean’s house; and Miss Dean told me that she used -to watch for my light every night at my bedtime. Grandmother had made -Miss Dean promise that if she ever was ill at night, and wanted help, -she would put two candles side by side in her front window. One night, -after grandmother had put out my light and tucked me into bed, I looked -toward Miss Dean’s house, thinking that she was thinking about me; and -I felt sure that I saw two candles in her front window. There were a -few flakes of snow falling, and the lights looked rather dim, but I was -sure they were there, and meant that Miss Dean was ill. - -I called down to grandmother. She came up-stairs to look, and then -we both looked, but now neither one of us could see any light. -Grandmother said: “You imagined you saw the two candles, Ruth.” - -“No, grandmother,” I insisted. “I am sure I saw them.” - -Grandmother laughed and called me a foolish little girl; but, to -comfort me, said she would sit near the window down-stairs and look -out every now and then toward Miss Dean’s house. I kept my eyes on her -window, by propping myself up in bed, with the pillows, until by and by -I grew too sleepy to keep my eyes open,--especially as I did not see -the candles again. - -The next morning there was deep snow over everything. And because -grandmother’s house was on the border of the town, the streets were not -cleared of snow until noonday. I kept thinking and talking about Miss -Dean so much that about eleven o’clock grandmother said: “Put on your -rubber boots, Ruth, and go over to see her, if you want to.” - -In about a minute I had on those rubber boots and my thick red coat, -and was wading in the snow, quite to my knees, toward the little white -house. It took me so long that two or three times I almost gave it up, -because I was used to running over in such a short time. But I kept -on, and finally came to Miss Dean’s green-and-white gate. There were no -foot-tracks in the front yard, and the snow was so deep that I could -hardly find the door-steps. When I did find them, I began pounding on -the front door--Miss Dean did not have any door-bell--and very soon I -saw her all bundled up in a shawl, looking out of the window to see who -it was, before she unlocked the door. - -Poor little old lady! She led me into the sitting-room, where she slept -in the winter. “I shall have to go back to bed, dear,” she said in her -sweet way; “I have had a dreadful pain in my head ever since yesterday -afternoon.” - -“Then you did put the two candles at the window last night?” I asked -eagerly. - -“Yes, dear, for a little while,” she said in a weak voice as she sank -back against her pillows. “But when I saw that it was snowing, I took -the candles away so as not to disturb your grandmother, for I thought -the hired man and his wife might be gone down town, and she would have -no one to send over.” - -“Is there anything I can do for you?” I asked, for she had closed her -eyes as if she were suffering. Half-frightened by her white face, I -looked away from the bed; and there in a little rocking-chair what did -I see but a black-eyed doll, dressed in a long, clean white flannel -nightgown and with a red shawl pinned around her. - -“You might get some hot water from the tea-kettle on the kitchen -stove,” said Miss Dean, without opening her eyes, “and put a -teaspoonful of peppermint essence out of that bottle on the table into -a half glass of water. That might make me feel better.” - -I hurried out to the kitchen and brought back the hot mixture. Miss -Dean took it all, then settled down again among the pillows; but she -did not look so pale now. “I shall soon feel better,” she said in her -pretty, patient way. - -So I waited, seating myself opposite that doll. It had a china head -with such black hair, big black eyes and a round face, very white -except the bright red cheeks and lips. It was a pretty, lovable doll, -and I knew it must be a very old one. - -“You are looking at my doll, Ruth,” Miss Dean said suddenly; and -turning, I found her eyes fixed upon my face. - -“Is it your doll?” I cried. - -“Yes,” she said softly. She had large brown eyes and a delicate -face; her eyes seemed larger than ever now, because her face was so -white. - -[Illustration: “‘WHAT DID I SEE BUT A BLACK-EYED DOLL.’”] - -“It is my doll,” Miss Dean repeated. “Would you like to hold her?” - -I had been longing to take that quaint, white-nightgowned doll into my -arms. So I jumped up quickly and brought her back with me to the chair -by the bed. Probably my face showed how I loved that old china doll on -the spot. Anyway, after Miss Dean had watched me holding it a little -while, she said: “That peppermint makes my head feel better. I will -tell you about the doll.” - -“What is her name?” I asked. - -“Susie,” Miss Dean said, “and I have had her ever since I was five -years old. The way I happen to keep her out now is this: You see, when -I was younger, I used to teach children, year after year, different -ones, of course. I used to think that maybe if I married and had a -little daughter of my own, I would name her Susie,--my mother’s name -was Susan. But I grew older, and I didn’t marry, and then, after a -time, I had to give up school-teaching. My father and my mother had -died, and I missed the children more and more. - -“One day when it was very stormy and I was dreadfully, desperately -lonely, without a human being around, I went to the old trunk under the -eaves, where I had put my dolls away when I was fourteen years old, and -I took Susie out for just that day. And having that doll with me made -me feel so much happier that, afterward, every once in awhile, when I -grew lonely, I would take her out again. I made some new dresses and -nightgowns for her, because it didn’t seem quite fair not to treat her -well when she gave me so much pleasure. - -“Then, two or three years ago,”--Miss Dean went on; and her large -brown eyes began to grow very bright now,--“I put Susie into that -little rocking-chair one snowy night when I went to bed; and it was -so pleasant to wake up in the morning and find her there that I began -to have her out every night. By day I always put her into the bureau -drawer, because I thought if people saw her, they wouldn’t understand. -I should have put her away this morning when you came, only I was -suffering so, I forgot her.” - -“But I understand,” I said very quickly. “I am sure that if I lived -alone, I should do just the same.” - -“So should I. Wasn’t Miss Dean dear?” said Elsa, pushing back her -cloudy golden hair as Miss Ruth stopped a moment to put a bit of fallen -wood again into the fire. - -“Why didn’t she have more than one doll?” Betty asked, thoughtfully, -splashing her brush into the water. - -“Because one is enough,” said Elsa instantly. - -“Everybody likes one best,” explained Ben, with the wisdom of ten and a -half years. - - * * * * * - -After Miss Dean had told me about Susie,--continued Ruth Warren, -leaning comfortably back into her chair again,--she asked me if I -would like to see Susie’s dresses. I said yes, of course, and she told -me to open the lower drawer of the bureau. Such a quantity of pretty -things as I found! I dressed and undressed Susie to my heart’s content, -putting on first a plaid silk gown, then a checked blue-and-white -gingham and a funny little Red Riding-hood suit; and finally I put -Susie back into her white nightgown, for I felt that Miss Dean would -probably rather choose her dress for the day. And very soon I said I -must go. - -“Can’t you stop and have a little bit of dinner--a kind of lunch--with -me?” Miss Dean asked. “If you will put some biscuits into the oven to -warm, and make some tea, I will dress myself, and we can have that with -some cold ham and jelly.” - -I said I could stay,--for I knew grandmother wouldn’t mind. So Miss -Dean told me where the biscuit and tea were, and by the time I had them -ready, she came out into the kitchen, dressed in a gray flannel wrapper -with light blue trimmings. She made me think of a doll, she was so -small and so dainty;--she was one of the daintiest people I have ever -known, with white, beautifully shaped hands and soft, silky hair-- - - * * * * * - -“She makes me think of Elsa,” said Betty, with a little sigh, half of -envy, half of appreciation. - -“Don’t interrupt, _please_, Betty,” Elsa entreated, unmindful of what -Betty had said. - - * * * * * - -Everything about Miss Dean’s house was as dainty as Miss Dean -herself--resumed the story-teller;--and everything in the house seemed -small, like herself,--tables, chairs, lamps, vases, kitchen stove, even -the dishes we ate out of. We had a good luncheon, I remember, and Miss -Dean kept me interested, as she always did, with stories of what had -happened long ago. After we finished eating, she leaned her head back -against her chair in a tired way--she sat at the table in a little -rocking-chair--and she said in a wistful voice: “I have been thinking -about my poor hens. Not a bit of corn or water have they had since -yesterday, and I don’t dare go out to feed them because my head is so -dizzy that I am afraid of falling.” - -“O, let me feed them,” I begged instantly. - -“But they will be afraid of you,” she said; “they are used to seeing my -clothes.” - -“I can dress up in your clothes,” I said. “O, do let me, please!” - -Miss Dean liked a little fun, and she did want her hens fed. So she -showed me where she kept her “chicken clothes”--as she called them,--a -short brown skirt and a square plaid shawl that she wore over her head -and shoulders. The skirt was long for me and the shawl made my head -dreadfully hot. But we both laughed over it, and Miss Dean said she -was glad to know how she looked. Then she told me not to flop my arms -around, because that would frighten the hens. So, with a pail of water -and two quarts of corn, I made my way to the hen-house, which was just -beyond a little shed. By the time I arrived, I had forgotten not to -flop my arms, and the hens grew rather excited and lively, but they -were too hungry and thirsty to care much who fed them. After that, I -hunted around and found over a dozen white eggs, some of them quite -warm, I remember. I tripped upon the brown skirt, going back, and let -one egg fall out of the corn measure. - - * * * * * - -“The dolls’ shoes are all blacked,” exclaimed Ben, rising suddenly and -stretching himself, boy-fashion. “May I take a sofa pillow and lie down -in front of the fire?” he asked, coming toward Miss Ruth. - -“Make yourself comfortable, Ben,” she answered readily; which Ben -accordingly did. - -“Excuse my interrupting,” he said, in a low tone; “and please go on.” - - * * * * * - -Miss Dean told me that breaking the egg did not matter,--that she -often broke more than one, though I knew she said this just to make me -feel better. “I have brought something out for you,” she said, after -I had taken off the brown skirt and the stifling plaid shawl, and she -was counting the eggs. I saw on the kitchen table a black-and-gold -lacquered box, neither large nor small. It looked so interesting that I -wanted to open it at once, but Miss Dean began talking about the hens. - -I happened to see by the kitchen clock that it was almost three -o’clock, and I knew that I ought to be going, for, though I sometimes -stayed to lunch with Miss Dean, grandmother always said for me to come -home immediately. - -You may imagine how much I wanted to see what was in that beautiful -lacquered box; but I said that I must go home. I hurried into the -bedroom for my coat and Miss Dean followed me. I saw that she had -dressed Susie in the blue-and-white gingham frock while I had been out -feeding the hens. - -“I will come over to-morrow,” I said, as Miss Dean helped me on with my -coat. She noticed me looking at Susie,--although I was not thinking of -the doll just then. - -“Do you mind, dear, not telling any one about Susie?” Miss Dean asked -in a timid voice. - -“I will not tell anybody at all,” I remember I said, slowly, as I went, -slowly also, out of the front door, hoping that Miss Dean would call me -back to give me that box. - -“Have you light enough for your painting, girls?” Miss Ruth stopped to -ask. The daylight had suddenly begun to disappear. - -“Let’s stop now; I have done three sets,” said Betty, dropping her -paint-brush. - -“I have finished two.” Elsa straightened back her shoulders and -stretched her arms. - -Miss Ruth reached over to the couch and pulled two cushions down upon -the hearth-rug. “You have both done splendidly, and so has Ben. Sit -here and rest yourselves now,” she said. - -“Don’t waste any time from the story, please,” Betty said in a loud -whisper as she seated herself, Turk-fashion, on the large square -cushion and leaned her head against Miss Ruth’s knees. - -“Didn’t Miss Dean give you the box, or even show it to you that day?” -inquired Ben, who was lying flat upon his stomach, looking into the -fire. - -“No,” replied Miss Ruth, “not that day.” - -“I think she was mean to forget it,” said out-spoken Betty. - -“Wait till we’ve heard the end of the story,” exclaimed Elsa, who had -curled up on her cushion against the heavy brass stand which held the -fire-tongs and shovel. - -“Do you know the end of it?” Betty asked quickly. - -“No,--only I know anybody so nice as Miss Dean will be the same at the -end,” Elsa said, with a very earnest expression in her eyes. - -“I’ll bet I know what was in that box,” cried Ben, from his position on -the centre of the rug. - -“What?” asked Betty. - -“Hens’ eggs to hatch,” Ben replied confidently. - -“The idea!” exclaimed Betty. “Just as if Miss Dean would have given a -girl hens’ eggs for a present! Now keep still, Ben.” - -“We can have only a bit more of the story to-day, because it is almost -five o’clock,” said Miss Ruth, putting her hand softly over Betty’s -mouth, which began to frame an objecting “O!” Then she continued: - - * * * * * - -When I came home from Miss Dean’s, grandmother felt dreadfully to think -that the little old lady had been ill there all alone by herself. “I -must send her some nourishing things to eat,” said grandmother; “I -would have Barker go now”--he was the hired man--“but he is off hauling -wood, and Jenny”--that was his wife--“has a bad cold.” - -I said “O, grandmother, let me go!” For I was wondering, harder than -ever, what was in the lacquered box. But grandmother said, “No, child, -you have been out enough to-day in this bad walking. You may go over, -though, early in the morning.” - - * * * * * - -The clock pealed out five as Miss Ruth stopped with these words. - -“Just a little more,” urged Betty. - -“This will be a good place to begin again,” said Miss Ruth; “we will -have the rest of the story at the next Club meeting, if you like.” - -“I want it now,” insisted Betty; “I can stay.” - -“But I can’t,” said Ben, “only about a minute longer. I will think the -first part over, going home, to tell Alice.” - -“I hope she can come to the next meeting,” said Elsa, with a loyal -thought for her little friend. - -“You must tell her, Ben, that we have missed her a great deal,” Miss -Ruth said. - -“And give her the Club’s love,” added Elsa. - -“I like to have you do that,” said Betty, who had given up teasing and -suddenly grown very quiet as Miss Ruth passed her hand slowly over the -rumpled brown hair. - -Elsa looked on, from her seat against the tall brass fire-stand. She -was too loving-natured to be jealous, but she would have dearly liked -to be in Betty’s place, there against Miss Ruth’s knees. Still, Elsa -was very happy. Miss Ruth’s dark red dress was so warm-looking in -the firelight, and the room seemed so pleasant; it was restful and -delightful just to be there. Elsa felt this keenly, although she would -not have been able to put it into words. - -“Do you know what fire-sparks are?” asked Ben, who was leaning on -his elbows with his chin in his hands, and looking straight into the -glowing fire. “Sparks are the sunbeams that got shut up in the wood -while the tree was growing, and now they are going up the chimney and -back into the air again.” - -Sarah Judd, passing the library door to light the hall lamp, looked -in for a moment, unnoticed by the Club. “It do seem good to see them -children stretched out in front of the fire and havin’ such a good -time,” she said to herself, with one of the unexpectedly cracking-like -smiles upon her grim face. - - * * * * * - -The day after this meeting of the Club Miss Virginia Warren took a cold -from having her room overheated. “I am really worried about myself,” -she said after her niece had spent most of the day trying to make her -comfortable. - -“But the doctor says it is only a cold, and that your heart is in no -danger,” said Ruth Warren; “to be sure, a cold is uncomfortable enough -to make one wretched,” she added. “Let me open that farther window; a -little fresh air will make you feel better.” - -“O, no, no!” cried Miss Virginia, drawing her thick white shawl closer -around herself at the thought. “Don’t excite me so, Ruth. There’s no -telling what may happen. My heart seems very feeble,” she went on, -after trying for a half-moment to count the pulse-beats in her own -wrist. “I am more and more certain that I must have a nurse to watch my -pulse and look out every moment for draughts. Yes, I really must ask -you now to see about a nurse,” added Miss Virginia, clasping one large -hand over the other wrist to keep track of her heart-beats. - -Ruth Warren consulted the doctor. - -“Your aunt doesn’t need a nurse any more than you or I need one,” he -said, gruffly. “Better have one, though, and I will order her to open -the windows every hour of the day. We will give your aunt a little -training, and it may do her good.” - -As a result of this conversation, and of a plan which she found she -could carry out, Ruth Warren called a few days later at Mrs. Danforth’s. - -“Mrs. Danforth isn’t very well to-day, miss, and she asks will you come -up to her room, please,” said Cummings; so Ruth Warren followed the -stiff-backed maid up the polished stairs. From the top of the stairs -she saw, just ahead, a room all furnished in white, which she knew must -be Elsa’s. “What an unpretty room for a child!” she said to herself. - -Mrs. Danforth had on a beautiful white dressing-gown with long lace -ruffles hanging from the sleeves, and she was leaning back in a blue -velvet chair. “She does not look so ill as unhappy,” Ruth Warren -thought to herself. - -Not wishing to take any more time than was necessary, Ruth Warren began -at once to give the reason for her call: - -“Elsa has told me, Mrs. Danforth, of a nurse she once had by the name -of Bettina March. Curiously enough, I find that this same Bettina -March has quite lately been employed at the Convalescent Home here in -Berkeley. She was very much liked, but she was not strong, and went -away, hoping to return. She is not yet able to take up the work, and -she is anxious to find some occupation which will give her, for a time, -less active duties.” - -“Well, and what of it?” inquired Mrs. Danforth coldly, fixing her -eyes upon her visitor’s face. She and Miss Ruth had exchanged calls -formally; that was all the acquaintance they had, save a chance -meeting, now and then. - -“I should not have intruded upon you with a personal matter, Mrs. -Danforth, except for good reason,” Ruth Warren said quietly. “My Aunt -Virginia, who, as you know, lives with me, feels the need of having -a nurse; it will be an easy position and one which Bettina March can -easily fill, as my aunt is by no means very ill. I came to ask if you -have any objection to my engaging Bettina March?” - -“Is it that you wish to inquire of me in regard to Bettina March’s -character?” demanded Mrs. Danforth. “I know nothing against her.” - -Now Mrs. Danforth was accustomed to have people a little afraid of her. -She was rather surprised, therefore, to find that Ruth Warren did not -show any embarrassment, but went on, in a quite simple and perfectly -self-possessed manner, to say: “It is not that, Mrs. Danforth. The -head-nurse at the Convalescent Home has satisfied me entirely with -regard to the woman’s character. It is only on Elsa’s account that I -have come to you.” - -“Why should I object to your employing Bettina March on Elsa’s -account?” Mrs. Danforth made things as hard as she could for Ruth -Warren. - -“Because my house is next to yours, and Elsa has told me that you were -unwilling to have her keep up any acquaintance with her old nurse,” -Ruth Warren replied, in the same even-toned voice. - -Mrs. Danforth felt now obliged to explain. “Bettina March was nurse to -Elsa’s mother during her last illness, and after the mother died stayed -on with Elsa until her father died. I felt that the child was growing -too dependent on the woman. Elsa is almost entirely without relatives. -Her mother was an only child, and her father had only one brother, -Mr. Ned Danforth. If he should marry, or if I should die, Elsa would -be quite alone in the world and she would need to be self-reliant. I -did not think she was a child who would talk over my affairs,” Mrs. -Danforth remarked haughtily. - -Ruth Warren could not let Elsa stand in a false light before her -grandmother’s eyes. Therefore she suddenly decided to tell the story -of the child’s grief over the giving away of her doll. - -The coldness of Mrs. Danforth’s blue eyes gave way, little by little, -to a softer expression as Ruth Warren described Elsa’s visit to her, -that late evening. - -“So she was brave enough to go out of the house alone at night, and she -kept the loss of the doll from me for fear it would hurt my feelings,” -said Mrs. Danforth half to herself, toying with a silver paper-cutter -the while. “Of course I did not know that the child cared anything -about the doll.” - -“That is what Elsa said,” returned Ruth Warren, quite eagerly now. Then -she went on in a lower tone: “Elsa seems to me a keenly sensitive, -thoughtful and affectionate-natured little girl, but very much -repressed. As I have observed her--her shyness and her pale face--I -cannot help thinking that what she needs more than anything else is to -have some love shown her, and to feel free to show her own affection.” -Ruth Warren rose to go, feeling that perhaps she had said too much. - -“Wait a moment,” said Mrs. Danforth, not unkindly. “You mean to tell -me that I am too severe with the child?” She remembered, with an -uncomfortable feeling, that Mrs. White had said much the same thing. - -“Not too severe in the matter of discipline, but--” Ruth Warren left -the sentence unfinished. - -“On the whole, I thank you, Miss Warren,” said Mrs. Danforth slowly. -“I am sure you have Elsa’s best interest at heart. I am grateful to -you for taking charge of the little Club. It has made me feel safe -in regard to her. Do you think that the Holt children are perfectly -suitable companions for Elsa, in every way?” she asked suddenly. - -“They are perfectly suitable companions for any children, I am -sure,” Ruth Warren said warmly. “They are charming little children, -well-trained and gentle-mannered. The boy is mischievous, but he is -perhaps all the more likeable for his liveliness, and he is very manly -with his mother and his little sister. I have seen the mother several -times, and I have never met a more attractive or charming woman,--or a -braver woman.” - -A quick flush reddened Mrs. Danforth’s face, then died away as suddenly -as it came. Reaching out a trembling hand, she rang for her maid, who -appeared as if she had risen out of the blue velvet carpeted floor. - -“Cummings, some water,” said Mrs. Danforth, with an evident effort. -Then she leaned back against her chair and closed her eyes. - -Ruth Warren had started to leave the room, but fearing lest Mrs. -Danforth should faint, she stood waiting for Cummings to return. - -As she waited, she noticed, half unconsciously at first, then with -a quick start of interest, an oil-painting hanging upon the softly -tinted wall, back of Mrs. Danforth’s chair,--an oil-painting of a -large, gable-windowed house, exactly like the one at Mrs. Holt’s. Ruth -Warren remembered it particularly because of one small red-leaved maple -tree at the left-hand corner of the picture; and she also remembered -Elsa’s exclamation over Mrs. Holt’s picture. She looked again at Mrs. -Danforth’s white, set face, and a haunting resemblance flashed through -her mind, leaving her fairly bewildered. - -Just then Cummings came in with a glass of water. Mrs. Danforth opened -her eyes, drank the water, and appeared instantly better. “I have these -dizzy attacks once in a while, Miss Warren,” she said in her usual -stately manner, “but they pass off quickly. I am sorry this happened -while you were here. Thank you for coming. I am sure you will find -Bettina March a very useful woman.” - -Then Ruth Warren, turning many things over in her mind, went home, -leaving Mrs. Danforth to her pride and loneliness. - -It had chanced that, coming from a drive by way of Berkeley Avenue the -day before, and having Elsa with her, Mrs. Danforth had met a young, -fair-haired, plainly dressed woman walking along slowly between a boy -and a girl who looked very much alike, although the boy was the taller. - -Mrs. Holt had been to the shops that afternoon with her children, and -in the basket which Ben was carrying so carefully, were the precious -Christmas remembrances they had bought for the dear father out in -Colorado. Mrs. Holt’s face was unusually sad, for this would be the -first Christmas that she had ever been parted from her husband, and -she felt the separation more and more keenly as the days drew near to -Christmas. - -Elsa had leaned forward and waved eagerly behind the closed window -of the coupé. The twins had smilingly waved their hands in turn. The -tired-looking, sad-faced mother, in bowing to Elsa, had given a sudden, -startled look at Mrs. Danforth. - -The encounter had been over in a half-moment, for the strong gray horse -was going swiftly toward home. - -“It is Alice and Ben and their mother, grandmother,” Elsa had cried -excitedly. “Don’t you remember about ‘Sweet Alice and Ben Bolt?’ Only -their name is Holt.” - -Fearing that her grandmother’s silence meant reproof, Elsa had looked -around. Mrs. Danforth was sitting very white-faced and rigid, against -the coupé cushions. She did not speak again during the drive. - -This was the first time that Mrs. Danforth and Mrs. Holt had met, face -to face, in Berkeley; and it was the memory of this meeting, which Mrs. -Danforth could not put out of her mind, that kept her in her own room -the next day. Through shutting out love from her life, Mrs. Danforth -had burnt her heart almost to ashes. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE BOY IN THE CLUB - - You hear that boy laughing? You think he’s all fun? - But the angels laugh, too, at the good he has done. - - --_Oliver Wendell Holmes._ - - -BEN HOLT, driving slowly along the main business street of Berkeley, -Friday morning, about half-past nine o’clock, stopped his horse as he -saw the tall figure and met the gray eyes of Elsa Danforth’s uncle. - -“Good morning, sir,” the boy said, jumping from the sleigh with a -sudden inspiration. “I would like to ask your advice, sir,” he added, -diffidently. - -Mr. Danforth had instantly recognized the boy of the Club. “Well, Ben, -my boy; what is it about?” he asked in his quick way of speaking. - -Ben’s usually cheerful face was very sober and earnest. Mr. Danforth -noticed on the seat of the sleigh a queer-shaped bundle covered with -what looked suspiciously like a blue-and-white flannel night-shirt. - -“What do you want my advice about? Christmas presents?” the tall man -asked kindly, seeing that the boy found some difficulty in making his -request. - -“No, sir, it isn’t Christmas presents,” Ben replied sadly, taking a -few steps forward and putting his arm around Jerry’s long nose. “I am -going to run away, sir; but I had promised to give five of the little -Convalescings a sleigh-ride this morning, at eleven o’clock, and I’ve -been trying to find some safe fellow--man,” said Ben, correcting -himself,--“who will take them for me, somebody the head-nurse will -trust. Do you suppose you could do it?” The boy looked up with such a -wistful expression that Mr. Danforth felt quite touched, although he -felt also, that Ben was looking him over very carefully and trying to -decide whether the head-nurse would approve of him. “You could leave -Jerry at my house when you come home; it’s not a very long ways to walk -back to Elsa’s. Of course I--I couldn’t tell mother of mine that--that -I was going to run away.” Ben’s face showed that he was very miserable. - -“Let me get into the sleigh with you and we will talk it over,” Mr. -Danforth said, stepping in quickly. Ben sprang in at the other side and -pushed the blue-and-white flannel bundle to the floor, under the seat. - -“Now, first of all, tell me why you are going to run away?” Mr. -Danforth inquired in such a friendly, sympathetic tone that Ben could -not help opening his heart at once. - -“I want to earn a lot of money, sir. You see, my father’s away -teaching, and he isn’t very well, so he can’t send us much money. And -mother--mother has to buy so many things, she was counting on her -fingers last night,--coal, and things to eat, and clothes, and pay the -hired man, and pay the rent, and she just gets all the fingers paid -off and she has to begin again. She spent her last money yesterday -for coal, and she won’t have any more till the first of January, and -I can’t stand it, sir; I’ve got to earn some money to help her.” Ben -turned aside with a sound very much like a sob, but which of course -must not be heard from a boy who was going to run away. Bravely facing -ahead again after a moment he added: “I want to earn a lot of money, so -that mother won’t have to work so hard and so that we can go and live -with father.” - -“Do you help your mother any now?” Mr. Danforth inquired in the same -quick, sympathetic voice. - -“Yes, sir, a little; I feed and take care of the hens and I do errands -and shovel snow and help with the market-garden, and I talk over things -with mother, and I take the Convalescings out driving pleasant Saturday -mornings and vacations.” Ben named everything he could think of, for -he wanted to prove that he was a capable and trusty boy. He looked up, -anxiously: “Maybe, as you live in the city, you could tell me where to -begin work?” - -“Who will do all those things for your mother if you run away, Ben?” -came the next question. - -“Why--she can hire a boy with the money I send,” Ben answered, -miserably. - -“I wouldn’t run away just yet, Ben, if I were you,” said Mr. Danforth -very gravely. “Your mother might get used to that other boy. Boys -who run away always want to come back home, and once in awhile their -fathers and mothers won’t let them come back, but send them off to some -institution. Think it over awhile, Ben. It’s queer, but you are the -very boy I wanted to see this morning.” - -Ben turned questioningly toward his companion. There was a keen, clear -sparkle in Mr. Danforth’s gray eyes, and good-humoured lines around his -firm mouth. - -“What do you say to our spending a part of the morning at that -wonderful hut near your house, which Elsa has told me about? We can -talk some more of your running away, and I want your advice about a -Christmas surprise for the Club.” - -Seeing the hesitation which yet remained in Ben’s earnest blue eyes, -Mr. Danforth continued: “Now, Ben, I have given you my advice, and it’s -only fair that you should give me yours. I think I shall want to hire -you and your horse some day next week, and I will pay you fifty cents -an hour, and for this morning’s time, too.” - -“Jerry’s a fine horse to work, because he’s so steady, sir,” replied -Ben, yielding by slow degrees. “But the Convalescings expect me at -eleven o’clock.” - -Jerry had turned, unheeded by Ben, into Berkeley Avenue and was jogging -quite spiritedly in the direction of home. - -“It is not ten o’clock yet,” said Mr. Danforth, taking out his watch. -“You can help me an hour and then keep your engagement with the -children. I wouldn’t have you disappoint them.” - -“All right, sir,” Ben said, more cheerfully than he had yet spoken, -although his face sobered again immediately as he added: “I’ll leave my -bundle in the hut, then it will be ready any time I decide to start. -Of course, I’d lots rather earn some money and stay at home. But it’s -sorrowful-like, sir, to see your mother needing money so much.” Again -Ben turned aside his face, and when Mr. Danforth kindly looked the -other way, the boy drew his red-mittened hand across his eyes. - -Any one who had been near the log-hut in the tall pine woods not far -from Ben’s home that morning, would have seen a broad-shouldered man -in a heavy winter overcoat and a slip of a boy in a tight blue reefer -jacket sitting in the warm sunshine on the sheltered platform of the -hut, very earnestly talking together and advising one another, while -old Jerry, blanketed carefully, stood near by without being hitched, -and overhead, dusky crows and gleaming bluejays chattered vigorously, a -gray chickadee or a downy woodpecker occasionally putting in a word. - -Mr. Ned Danforth had surprised and delighted his niece Elsa almost -beyond bounds by appearing in Berkeley the evening before, and -announcing that he should stay at least until Christmas, a whole week. - -After his father, Judge Danforth, had died, and after the death of -Elsa’s father a few months later, Mr. Ned Danforth had agreed with -his stepmother that it was wise for her to close her New York home, -and also that Berkeley was a good place for motherless and fatherless -Elsa to live in. Some day, when his little niece should become a young -lady, Mr. Danforth hoped to have her live with him. He had missed the -child greatly, indeed, out of his New York life, and his flying visit -to Berkeley of a few weeks ago--the first time he had seen Elsa since -September--had caused him to wonder whether she was wholly happy in her -life alone with Mrs. Danforth, although the child made no complaint. - -It was particularly to set his mind at rest upon this point that he -had told Elsa he would pay her fifty cents a week if she would write a -four-page letter to him twice a week; for he felt that in these letters -she would probably tell him freely just what he wanted to know. Before -this, Elsa had written him once a week, and always a short letter, -saying that grandmother was well and she was well; that school was -pleasant because she liked her school-girl friends; that Berkeley was -a pretty place and the weather was growing colder; that she missed him -ever and ever so much, and was his affectionate little niece, Elsa. - -But the first long letter he received had run thus: - - “DEAREST UNCLE NED:-- - - “Grandmother is well and so am I. O, I am so glad you came - to see me. Please come again soon. School is most over and - I am sorry for I shall miss seeing my little girl friends. - Grandmother does not like to have little girls come to see - me. She lets me go to the Club though. Miss Ruth is lovely. - I take a red rose to her most every day and she puts it in - to a tall green glass vase in her window so I see it when I - go to bed and it doesent make me feel so lonesum. I shall be - sorry when school closes because it will seem lonesummer to - eat breakfast and supper alone. It is a very nice nayborhood. - Miss Ruth is busy most of the time taking care of her poor sick - aunt who doesent like children I guess because she told us to - go right away children one day she had asked the club to go up - stairs to see her. Betty White has the beautifulest nursery to - sleep in you ever saw it makes me think of very interesting - picture book or a Jacobs coat of many colors. Bettys mother - lets her decide things. I wish grandmother would let me. I wish - grandmother would let me have some pink or blue paper on my - room. It is all so white. I feels if I slept out doors in snow. - - “I am reading David Copperfield. I think it is a very good and - interesting book and it is so real and true. I like Agnes W. - better than any caracter and I think D. C. is sorry he fell in - love with Dora and I wish he had more courage when he is with - Urriah H and tell U. H. that he is a sneak and coward and give - him a blow or two. I like Mr. Peggotty and Ham and Peggotty - and Aunt Bettesy Trotwood and I also like Mr. Dick and all two - gether it is a fine book. Will you tell me the name of a book - to read next because when school closes I will have to read to - keep from being lonesum like September when I first came. This - is four pages and I wish you would come to see your poor lonesum - - “ELSA. - - “P. S. dont forget about the hut. - - “P. S. David was so crushed and frightened when he was little - and had no good times. I think he hasent got over it yet.” - -Mr. Danforth had decided from this and just such another long letter, -that his little niece was leading a lonely and repressed life with -her grandmother, and that it was this fact which was making the child -pale-faced and hollow-eyed, rather than the school-life, as Mrs. -Danforth had suggested. So when the head of the banking-house to which -he belonged decided to establish a branch office in the large city -near Berkeley, Mr. Danforth at once agreed to take charge of it. What -were New York clubs and big dinners in comparison with the welfare and -happiness of one little pathetic, gray-eyed, “lonesum” girl? - -And this was the reason of Mr. Ned Danforth’s being in Berkeley, -although he had not as yet told Elsa that he would soon come to stay -permanently. - -Thursday had been the last day of the school term, and this Friday -would be the last meeting of the Club before Christmas. Ben and Alice -had called for Betty at half-past two o’clock. Mrs. White had with -difficulty kept them and Betty from starting for Ruth Warren’s before -three o’clock. - -The moment Elsa, watching from the hall window, saw the little group -leave Betty’s house, she sped like an arrow to join them, having been -ready for the last half-hour. - -It was a merry, excited group of four children who ran up the front -steps of the Warren house very promptly at three o’clock on the -afternoon of December 18. Elsa had forgotten all about being sorry that -school had closed, now that Uncle Ned had come; Ben had forgotten all -about his intense desire to run away from home; Alice had forgotten -all about the cold which had kept her from the last Club meeting, -and Betty, on her part, had forgotten pretty nearly all that she had -learned in school the last term; indeed, she had almost forgotten that -there ever was any school. - -The open fire was burning brightly; the five unfinished sets of paper -dolls, the paints and the brushes were ready on the table; and Miss -Ruth, in her golden-brown, fur-trimmed gown, welcomed the Club with a -feeling of real pleasure in having all these lively children coming to -her house. She was heartily glad her Aunt Virginia had decided that -she liked the children’s noise, for Ben came in with an unmistakable -“Whoop!” and cried out, “No more school!” and the other children began -talking rapidly. - -“May I bring my Christmas presents and keep them here?” questioned -Betty. “Max and Janet find every single thing I hide away.” - -“My Uncle Ned has come to stay till Christmas,” exclaimed Elsa; “he’s -gone to the city this afternoon, or maybe I shouldn’t have wanted to -come even to the Club!” - -“I’ve brought back the two sets of paper dolls you sent for me to -paint,” piped in Alice. “And Ben’s brought something to show you.” - -Thereupon Ben opened the box he had in his hand, and blushing with -pride, showed the Club ten tops he had carved, carefully and well, -painted with bright colours. “They are for the Convalescings,” he -explained when the girls gave him a chance to speak; “and I think I’ll -have time to make a few more.” - -“Mamma is making some of the beautifulest rag dolls,” exclaimed Alice -enthusiastically. - -“We must finish painting the paper dolls this afternoon,” cried Betty, -“for just think, Christmas comes a week from to-day.” - -“Can we take the dolls out to the Convalescent Home, Miss Ruth?” Elsa -asked, with shining eyes. - -“Yes, we can all go there Christmas morning. I have arranged that with -Miss Hartwell. With the dolls Mrs. Holt is making, and ours, we shall -have enough to give a doll to every little girl there; and with Ben’s -tops and some tin soldiers which I am going to provide for the boys, -we shall have something for every boy.” - -“O, goody!” exclaimed Betty, while Elsa and Alice clapped their hands, -and Ben turned a somersault on the hearth-rug. - -“Now please finish the story, Miss Ruth,” said Betty. “You left off -where Ruth’s grandmother--I mean your grandmother--was going to let you -go to see the little old lady the next morning.” - -Betty, Alice, and Elsa immediately drew their chairs up to the table, -and chose their paint-brushes, ready to begin on the paper dolls. But -Ben remained standing before the fireplace, and, after putting one -hand in his pocket to make sure he had not lost the two silver quarter -dollars he had earned that morning, he clasped his hands behind him. -Ben was dreadfully hungry, for he had been outdoors all the morning, -and even the good dinner he had eaten since then had left his appetite -unsatisfied. He forgot that Miss Ruth always had something for the Club -to eat, so he looked very steadily at her and asked frankly: “Please, -Black Lace Lady, have you got any crackers or cookies? I’m hungry as -two bears, and I’d a good deal rather ask right out for something to -eat than hint for it.” - -“Why, Ben Holt!” gasped Alice, whose cheeks turned a very deep pink -in a moment. She came and laid her chubby hand on Ruth Warren’s arm: -“Excuse him, please, Miss Ruth. He knows better.” Alice felt dreadfully -ashamed of Ben. - -Ruth Warren stroked Alice’s hand affectionately: “Never mind, dear. I -ought to know better than to keep a hungry boy waiting for something to -eat. Sarah has made some plum buns for you.” - -“The same as we had for our first meeting!” cried Betty, tossing her -hair out of her eyes. - -“Yes, because Peggy brought some to me,” Ben said. “Here they are now,” -he exclaimed, looking up engagingly into Sarah Judd’s face as she came -through the library doorway, in her stiffest starched white apron, -carrying a very large plate piled high with crisp plum buns. - -“Thank you, ma’am,” Ben said with a polite bow. Stepping forward, he -took the plate from Sarah, and passed it first to Miss Ruth, then to -the girls. - -Sarah stood still, watching anxiously. “They are pretty crumby,” she -said, looking from the plate to the floor, “and--” but as she caught -Miss Ruth’s eye, she stopped; then, drawing a long breath like a sigh, -she said heroically: “Never mind the crumbs, little folks; I’m a-goin’ -to sweep to-morrow.” - -“I think you are very, very good to the Club, Sarah,” said Betty. - -“Thank you, oh, thank you,” cried Elsa, with thoughtful courtesy, while -little Alice smiled and looked more than ever like a dimple-faced doll. - -Sarah’s curls were bobbing excitedly as she went out of the room, -saying under her breath: “The cunnin’ little dears!” - -“Please, _please_, the story now,” entreated Betty. - -“Guess I won’t paint to-day,” Ben announced. “May I lie down by the -fire again?” - -“Yes,--take a cushion and take some buns, Ben,” Ruth Warren answered, -moving her chair aside. - -“Let me do that,” said Ben, springing instantly to help. - -“Thank you,” returned Miss Ruth. Then, seating herself, she said: “Now -I will go on with the story.” - - * * * * * - -By nine o’clock the next morning, I was teasing my grandmother to let -me start for Miss Dean’s. But it was almost eleven before Jenny, the -cook, had the broth and little cakes and jelly in a basket for me to -carry to Miss Dean. I remember hurrying so fast over the uneven, snowy -street that I spilled some of the broth. - -Miss Dean saw me coming and opened the front door the moment I set foot -on the top step. She was dressed in a soft gray cloth gown and she -looked ever so much better than she had the day before, in fact her -cheeks were quite pink and her eyes sparkled as she said: “I thought -that as I had been ill and you were coming again to see me, we would -have a party; and I have invited Susie to the party.” - -The bedroom--or the sitting-room as it really was except in -winter--looked very cozy. Miss Dean had spread a bright-coloured silk -patchwork quilt over the bed, and there in the little rocking-chair, -near by, sat Susie in a white muslin dress looped up with tiny pink -rosebuds over a blue satin skirt. - -“That is Susie’s ball costume,” Miss Dean said; “I didn’t show it to -you yesterday because I felt it might be wrong to let you know that I -approved of balls and dancing; but I decided to-day that it wouldn’t do -any harm. My mother didn’t like to have me learn to dance, but I don’t -see anything wrong in Susie’s going to parties and balls, just to look -on, anyway.” - -My eyes had travelled from Susie to the black-and-gold lacquered box, -which now stood upon the low table by the side of Susie’s chair. I -think Miss Dean must have seen me looking at it, for in a moment she -said: - -“I felt so bad to think I forgot to give you that box yesterday. That -is one reason I am having the party to-day. Take it now, to please a -little old lady.” As she handed it to me, I remember she said, “My, how -your eyes dance, child!” - -I opened the box, and found inside two smaller black-and-gold lacquered -boxes that just fitted the space. The first one I opened had in it a -beautiful coral necklace-- - - * * * * * - -“The one you have on now?” cried Betty, dropping her paint-brush and -coming to Miss Ruth’s side. - -“Yes, the very one,” Miss Ruth answered. “You have quick eyes, Betty.” - -Elsa and the twins crowded around to look at the exquisitely cut, -pinkish-red coral necklace. - -“What was in the other box?” Betty asked. “It seems to me I can’t wait -to hear!” - -“The other box proved to be a dainty work-box with an ivory thimble, -ivory-handled scissors and an ivory-covered needle-book. As I told you, -Miss Dean’s father had been a sea-captain, and he had brought these -things from a foreign country.” - -“Have you kept the boxes, Miss Ruth?” Elsa asked shyly. - -“Yes,” replied Miss Ruth: “I have the large box and the two smaller -boxes.” - -“O, do show them to us, please,” Betty entreated. The others waited -with greatest interest. - -“I thought you might like to see them, so I brought them down.” Ruth -Warren rose and took from a drawer of her writing-desk a richly -lacquered box; and the girls, with Ben, spent the next few moments in -examining and admiring the big box, the smaller boxes, and the dainty -ivory articles. - -“I brought down something else to show you,” Miss Ruth said. “Can you -guess what?” - -“A stuffed Arctic owl,” suggested Ben, taking a fresh supply of plum -buns while he was up. - -“O, Ben! Can’t you think of anything but birds and horses and hens’ -eggs!” cried Betty. - -“Yes,--I think of the poor little Convalescings,” said Ben -self-defensively. - -“I know, I know!” exclaimed Elsa, almost breathlessly. “It is Susie!” - -“Elsa has guessed right. It is Susie,--the little old lady’s doll,” -said Miss Ruth, going to the tall mahogany bookcase which wholly filled -one side of the room. The children followed her and watched with -closest attention while she took from a lower shelf a large white box. -Unrolling the stout white-paper covering, she opened the box-cover, -took out the old-fashioned doll, and held her up before the children’s -eyes. - -Betty was the first to speak. “What a queer old thing,” she said. - -“O, she has on the ball dress,” cried Alice, timidly touching one of -the tiny pink rosebuds which looped up the muslin dress over the blue -silk petticoat. - -“You dear doll!” said Elsa softly. - -“She _is_ kind of quaint and pretty,” Betty said, after a good second -look. - -Ben gave a low whistle, but said nothing. He thought the doll was a -beauty. The tiny pink rosebuds had won his heart. - -Susie was a china-headed doll, with stiff, unjointed arms. Her black -hair, parted and drawn down over her ears, her very black eyes, bright -red cheeks and rounded mouth gave her an old-time appearance both -quaint and attractive. - -“How well you have kept her,” exclaimed Betty. Her own dolls had all -suffered some misfortune, such as broken arms or hairless heads. - -“I did not have Susie until I was sixteen years old,” Miss Ruth said, -“and then I was too old to play with her.” - -“Do girls have to stop playing with dolls when they are sixteen years -old?” Elsa inquired anxiously. - -“O no,” Miss Ruth replied; “but girls of sixteen are usually too busy -with study and other things to have time for dolls.” - -“How did you happen to get the old doll?” Ben asked. He did not mean to -be disrespectful; it was only a boy’s way of speaking. - -“That comes at the end of the story,” Miss Ruth answered. “Are you -ready for me to go on?” - -Everybody said, “Yes,” and Elsa added: “I will put Susie in a -rocking-chair and we can look at her and that will make the story seem -more real than ever.” - -“That is just the way Miss Dean used to have her,” said Miss Ruth, as -Elsa placed the doll in a small rocking-chair upon a cushion and drew -the chair toward the table. - -“I remember,” Elsa answered. - -Once more the girls took up their paint-brushes and went to work, -while Ben stretched himself again upon the hearth-rug in his favourite -position; and then the story-teller began again: - - * * * * * - -Miss Dean had been making ready for our party all the morning, I think, -because we had so many things to eat. She seemed not to want to use -anything which grandmother had sent. First, we had hot biscuit and -little meat-balls; then we had chocolate frosted cake, currant-jelly -tarts and plum preserves, with hot chocolate to drink. - -“May we have Susie at the table with us?” I asked just as we were -sitting down; so Miss Dean sat Susie on the dictionary in the tallest -chair, and she put food on a plate for Susie, just as she did for me. -When I wasn’t looking, Miss Dean slipped the food off to a plate on a -side table, and then put more food in front of the doll, urging her in -such a pretty way to eat more. I never shall forget how young and happy -Miss Dean looked that day at the table, with such a kind, motherly -expression in her large brown eyes. - -We were just eating some preserved ginger and drinking the last of -our chocolate, and Miss Dean was saying: “I am sure Susie would enjoy -company very much indeed if she had more of it,” when there came a -knock at the front door and my grandmother walked into the room. She -and Miss Dean were such near neighbours and good friends that when -either one called upon the other, she did not wait at the door, but -walked in. - -Miss Dean rose, greeted my grandmother, and then looked at me in such -a timid, appealing manner that I knew she was thinking of Susie and -wondering what my grandmother would think of the doll being there. - -Grandmother sat down very straight in her chair, I remember, and looked -around in her pleasant way. Her eyesight wasn’t very good. Probably, -too, she didn’t remember how my own dolls looked. For very soon she -said: “I see that Ruth brought her doll to have luncheon with you, -Phœbe,”--grandmother always called Miss Dean by her first name. - -I held my breath till Miss Dean answered: “That isn’t Ruth’s doll--yet; -but it is one I am going to give her.” - -If grandmother had been looking in my direction, I am sure she would -have seen me jump at the thought that Susie was to be mine. - -“How kind of you, Phœbe,” grandmother said. “I hope Ruth has thanked -you properly.” - -Miss Dean turned toward me with a helpless expression, just as -grandmother added: “Isn’t it strange how children always like to make -company of their dolls and make believe they can eat?” - -“I wanted to have Susie at the table,” I said eagerly, half ready to -cry, because I felt so sorry for Miss Dean. - -“So you have named the doll Susie,” grandmother said. - -Miss Dean turned to me again with that distressed look in her brown -eyes. - -“No,” I said, “that was Miss Dean’s name for her, but I like it.” And -after that, grandmother began talking about something else. Her visit -was short. When she went, she said: “Come home soon, Ruth, or you will -be tiring Miss Phœbe, and don’t forget to thank her prettily for the -doll.” - -After closing the door behind grandmother, Miss Dean all of a sudden -dropped into a chair. “I was going to give the doll to you, anyway, -Ruth,” she said, hardly above a whisper. The pink colour had all gone -out of her face. - -“O no!” I said,--the way children do when they want a thing very much -and know they ought not to take it. - -“But I have told your grandmother that I was going to give the doll to -you.” Miss Dean’s voice trembled now, and the next moment I saw her -brown eyes fill with tears. - -“I have ever so many dolls,” I cried, naming over six or seven, “and -really, Miss Dean, I would rather have Susie here, because it will be -all the nicer when I come to see you.” I remember thinking so just -then, because Miss Dean was unhappy about it. - -“What will your grandmother think of me? what will she think of me?” -Miss Dean spoke with a real sob in her voice. - -Then I knew more surely than before that I must not take Susie away. -I petted Miss Dean and talked and talked until she dried her eyes and -asked me if I didn’t want to try Susie’s dresses on again, so that I -would be used to her ways, as long as she was truly going to be mine -some day. - -I remember that about as fast as Miss Dean began to feel better I began -to feel worse. While she put away the food and the dishes in that -clean, dainty kitchen, I played with the doll, dressing and undressing -her; and when I finally pinned the little red shawl over the white -nightgown, I am sure two or three of my tears fell upon Susie. Then I -knew it was time for me to be going home. - -“Are you perfectly sure you don’t want to take Susie?” Miss Dean asked -me at the door. - -“I want you to have her more!” I called back. I could not say another -word, so I started and ran for home, hugging the black-and-gold -lacquered box under my arm: I had entirely forgotten to show that to -grandmother while she was there. - -Grandmother was so interested in the box that she seemed to forget all -about the doll. But I went to see Miss Dean and Susie almost every -day. I had a queer feeling about that doll,--she was mine and yet she -wasn’t. Perhaps I actually enjoyed her more that way. Once in awhile I -found Miss Dean making new dresses for Susie; and then she always said: -“I want your doll to have a lot of pretty clothes to wear.” - -It happened that my father and mother came home from California -unexpectedly and sent for me to join them, and I was hurried off -without time even to say good-bye to Miss Dean and Susie. It must have -been two months after that when I received a letter from Miss Dean. -She wrote about her spring chickens and her garden, chiefly, but at -the end of the letter she said, “Susie misses you very much. She grows -prettier every day.” - -When I read this letter to my mother, she asked: “Who is Susie? Some -little girl who lives with Miss Dean?” - -“O no,” I said, “Susie is a doll, and she is going to be mine some day.” - -Mother didn’t ask any more questions. She only said “Oh!” in a funny -way. - -After that, little by little, I forgot about the doll. Grandmother came -to live with us, so I didn’t visit her again. But when I was sixteen -years old, and had given up playing with dolls, a big bundle came to me -by express one day, and in it was Susie dressed in a brown travelling -suit. All her other clothes were in the bundle. Miss Dean had died, and -had left directions to have the bundle sent to me. With it was a note -which Miss Dean had written. - - * * * * * - -“Have you kept the note?” Betty asked curiously. The three girls had -finished all the painting and had quietly drawn around the fire, during -the last few moments. - -“Yes; here it is.” From a yellowed envelope on her desk, Ruth Warren -drew forth a small sheet of paper and read: - - “DEAR LITTLE RUTH:-- - - “When this reaches you, Susie will go with it. She has really - been yours ever since that day of our party, and I thank you - gratefully for letting me keep her. I have loved her dearly. - Some of us poor lonely old folks are not much more than - grown-up children. I know you will have a happy time playing - with her, and when you are ready to give her away, I hope it - will be to some little girl who will love her as fondly as you - and I love her. - - “Your affectionate friend, - “PHŒBE DEAN.” - -“What a dear story!” sighed Elsa. “And how much the poor little old -lady must have cared for Susie.” - -“You have kept all her dresses?” inquired Betty, eying the doll with -new interest. - -“Yes. When the doll first came, I dressed her in the ball gown, because -that was what she had on when Miss Dean really gave her to me. Since -then I have thought very little about her. Perhaps I shall keep her and -have her for company when I grow old, just as Miss Dean had her. Or -perhaps we might dress her in a newer fashion and give her to one of -the Convalescent children.” - -“O no! no!” objected the girls as with one voice. “She is -different:--they will like other dolls just as much,” little Alice -added. - -“She is best in her own old-fashioned dresses,” Elsa said thoughtfully, -“because she has such a dear old-fashioned face.” - -“And then Miss Dean wanted you to give her to the little girl who would -love her the most,” Betty remarked. - -“I wonder who that would be?” Elsa said wistfully, as if she were -thinking out loud. - -“I’m not the one,” exclaimed Ben, jingling his silver quarter-dollars. - -“Of course you are not,” cried Betty. “You are only the boy in the -Club.” - -Betty and Ben were so constantly on the border of friendly warfare that -Ruth Warren thought it better to change the subject. “Children,” she -said quickly, beginning to gather the envelopes of paper dolls into a -pile, “we have just time enough left to name these dolls. There are -twelve of them, and each of you may choose three names. I will write -the names on the envelopes. We will let Ben choose his names first. -Will you begin, Ben?” - -Ben looked very hard into the fire for a moment. - -“Hurry up, Ben,” Alice said, giving him a sisterly poke with her foot. - -“All right, Peggy,” he said, holding the toe of her shoe -affectionately. “I’m ready. Katrina for the princess in the Gray Owl -story, Alice for my mother and for Peggy, and Ruth for you;” he turned -toward Miss Ruth with one of his comical little bows. - -The girls clapped their hands and Ruth Warren bowed in return to Ben as -she said: “Now, Alice next. We will go from the youngest on.” - -“I will name my three Love and Hope and Thankful.” Alice spoke in a low -tone and moved a little nearer to Ben. - -But the Club was listening so closely that every one heard. “What funny -names!” was Betty’s comment, as Miss Ruth wrote them down. - -“Mamma has told me stories about old, old ladies she knew of with those -names,” Alice explained. - -“Are they all right names?” she asked anxiously, turning her large blue -eyes upon Ruth Warren. - -“Yes, dear, they are good, old-fashioned names, and they go well with -the old lady and the old doll we have just been talking about. What are -your names, Betty?” - -“Rose and Rosamond and Julia,” Betty answered quickly, her mind being -all made up. - -“Good.” Ruth Warren had these down in a half-moment. “And now Elsa?” - -Elsa named her list with a little pause between each name: “Phœbe,--for -Miss Dean. Agnes,--for the Agnes in ‘David Copperfield’”--Elsa’s first -grown-up book had made a great impression upon her: “Ruth,--for you.” -The child looked very lovingly from under her long dark lashes at Miss -Ruth. - -“But we have one Ruth. Ben chose that,” objected Betty half jealously. - -“Never mind. We can have two of the same name,” insisted Elsa -spiritedly, although her face coloured sensitively from having all eyes -turned upon her. - -“None of the Convalescent children will have two paper dolls,” said -peaceable Alice. - -“I’d like to have all the dolls named Ruth,” Ben said gallantly. - -As Ben did not mind Elsa’s having chosen the same name that he had, -Betty did not make any further objection. - -“Please, Miss Ruth, ma’am, Mrs. Danforth to see you,” Sarah Judd -announced at the library door. “She said she wanted to come right in -here.” - -The children, not quite realizing, in the half dusk of the afternoon -light, that Mrs. Danforth was close behind Sarah, did not rise until -Miss Ruth stepped back from the doorway with her visitor. Accordingly, -Mrs. Danforth had a momentary glimpse of them on the hearth-rug,--Betty -curled up on a cushion, Elsa leaning in her old position against the -brass fire-stand, Alice and Ben seated side by side upon a large, -low, old-fashioned ottoman in the centre of the rug. The ruddy flames -lighted up their faces vividly. - -A moment later, the children were standing,--all except little Alice, -one of whose feet had gone to sleep so that she had to kneel upon the -ottoman. - -Sarah Judd, unnoticed, looked on from the shadow of the doorway at the -tall, stately woman in rich sable furs and heavy silk cloak. - -“I took the liberty of asking your maid to allow me to come where the -children were,” Mrs. Danforth said in a beautiful but cold voice. “I -wanted to see the Club that Elsa talks about so much.” - -“Pray be seated, Mrs. Danforth; we are delighted to see you,” said Ruth -Warren, turning to stir the fire into a yet brighter glow. “We like -firelight better than any other light,” she added. “Sit down, children.” - -Mrs. Danforth had seated herself very quickly, as her eyes fell upon -Alice and Ben. - -Betty curled up again on the cushion. Elsa drew a little way back from -the fireside into the shadow and sat upright upon a chair. Alice, as if -spellbound by something in Mrs. Danforth’s face, remained kneeling upon -the ottoman, and Ben stood by his sister’s side with his left hand upon -her shoulder. - -The twins made a striking picture there on the hearth-rug in the full -light of the blazing fire,--Alice, fair-haired, delicate-featured, -with great soft blue eyes and broad white forehead; Ben with the same -colouring of hair and complexion, with boyish, earnest face, frank, -handsome blue eyes, slender figure and well-shaped shoulders. - -“So, Elsa, these are your friends, Alice and Ben?” Mrs. Danforth asked -in a slightly unsteady voice now, loosening her furs as she spoke. She -looked very white; and Ruth Warren remembered that Mrs. Danforth had -been ill in her room a few days before. - -[Illustration: “THE TWINS MADE A STRIKING PICTURE.”] - -“Yes, grandmother,” Elsa’s voice answered out of the half-shadow where -she was sitting. - -The twins nodded their heads. Alice shyly, and Ben quite gravely. “Are -you Elsa’s grandmother?” he inquired, fixing his blue eyes upon Mrs. -Danforth. - -She merely bowed her head, and asked in the same rather unsteady voice: -“Your last name is what?” - -“Holt, ma’am,--Alice and Benjamin Franklin Holt,” the boy answered in -his clear, musical voice. - -Ruth Warren, seated somewhat back from the fireside and closely -observing the picture-like group upon the rug, could not help thinking -that it looked as if Alice were kneeling before Mrs. Danforth for -forgiveness and Ben were standing by her side as her champion. - -“How long have you lived here in Berkeley?” Mrs. Danforth’s eyes were -fixed intently upon Ben. She could not bear to look at Alice because of -the child’s resemblance to a long-ago little Alice. - -“Since the first of last July, ma’am,” Ben replied, manfully meeting -the almost stern look in the blue eyes bent upon him. - -“And where did you live before you came here?” asked Mrs. Danforth -sharply. - -“Grandmother is almost rude to ask so many questions,” thought Elsa in -her shadowy corner. Betty was listening with round, wide-open brown -eyes. Ruth Warren watched Mrs. Danforth’s face now. - -“We lived out in New York State. Father was teaching in a college -there,” Ben explained pleasantly: “his health wasn’t very good, though, -so he brought us here and stayed a little while, and then he had to go -to Colorado, for the doctor said so. We raise lettuce and things to -sell, so that father can stay away till he gets better.” - -“What does your mother do?” Mrs. Danforth asked in a strangely -trembling voice. - -“Mother? My mother? Oh, she helps with the garden when she is well -enough, and she makes some of my clothes and Alice’s dresses and keeps -’count of all the eggs I sell and--” he stopped short. - -Mrs. Danforth had risen suddenly. Looking toward Elsa, she said: “I -want you to come home with me now, Elsa. It is five o’clock and the -seamstress has some new frocks to try on to you before she goes.” - -Sarah Judd vanished from the hall. - -As if she were weak, Mrs. Danforth steadied herself by the back of the -chair, and then turned for another look at the blue-eyed boy before the -fire. - -With a very genuine desire to be a little gentleman,--as his mother -always told him to be,--Ben did the very best thing in the world which -he could have done. Stepping forward, though still with his hand upon -his sister’s shoulder, he looked up into Mrs. Danforth’s face and said -most respectfully: “I think you are a very nice grandmother. I wish -Alice and I had a grandmother.” - -“Then you have no grandmother?” she asked slowly, with that strange -tremble in her voice again, and clasping her hands tight together -behind the long sable boa. - -“We had one, my father’s mother,” Ben answered soberly, still with -his eyes fixed upon her face, “but that grandmother has gone away to -heaven. We don’t know about our other grandmother. Mother says she will -tell us about her sometime.” - -Mrs. Danforth made a motion almost as if she would take the little -fellow into her arms. Then she turned abruptly, not trusting herself to -stay another moment. - -Suddenly, as she turned, it no longer seemed hard for her to begin to -carry out the purpose which had brought her to Berkeley, for Ben had -walked straight into her heart, and she knew that she could no longer -shut love out from her life. - -Elsa followed her grandmother out of the room without a word except to -say good-bye to the Club. - -Ruth Warren found the children in silence when she came back from -seeing her guest to the door. She felt that they were wondering, just -as she was, whether Mrs. Danforth intended to take Elsa away from the -Club, and whether it was because the twins’ mother worked sometimes in -the market-garden. - -It was just the right opportunity for Ruth Warren to put to the -children a question which she had in her mind. She began by telling -them about Elsa’s loss of her doll, but without speaking of Elsa’s -night visit. - -“Poor Elsa,” exclaimed Betty, whose generous heart was quickly touched. - -“Her dearest doll,” sighed Alice, pityingly. - -Ben, seated on the ottoman again beside his sister, put his arm close -around her. - -“If Susie were to be given to any one of you three girls, which would -you rather should have her?” Miss Ruth asked. - -Betty and Alice looked at one another. - -Ben gave Alice a hug and said: “I vote for Elsa’s having the -doll,--though you didn’t ask me!” he added, hanging his head. - -From looking at one another, Betty and Alice had turned to look at -Susie, who sat on the cushion in the chair by the table, just where -Elsa had placed her. - -Betty was the first to speak: “If Elsa had Susie, I know she would let -us play with her.” - -Then Alice, generously swallowing her own disappointment, said: “Betty -has Max and Janet, and I have Ben, so I--I think Elsa better have -Susie.” - -“Because she has only her grandmother to live with,” put in Betty. - -“We all agree then,” said Miss Ruth, “that Elsa shall be the one to -have the little old lady’s doll. We will keep it a secret,” she added, -looking from one to another of the now bright faces. “We will give the -doll to her at Christmas, with a note saying it is from all of us.” - -“Because she has only a grandmother,” insisted Betty, forgetting Elsa’s -Uncle Ned. - -Just then they heard the door-bell ring, and a moment later, to -their great surprise, Elsa came running into the library, her gray -eyes sparkling with delight, her hair in a golden confusion over her -shoulders. - -“The seamstress wasn’t quite ready and grandmother said I might come -back, and she wants me to invite you all to a Christmas-tree at our -house on Christmas afternoon, and she wants Alice and Ben’s mother to -come--and Betty’s mother--and she says if you will all come--it will be -the best Christmas in her whole life!” Elsa stopped breathlessly, her -slender figure quivering with excitement and joy. - -“A Christmas-tree! What fun, what fun!” cried Betty, jumping up and -beginning to dance around the room. - -“Hurrah!” exclaimed Ben, giving Alice an extra hug. - -“May we help get it ready, Elsa?” Betty asked eagerly. In her own home -preparing the Christmas-tree was one of the great events of the year. - -“Yes, yes, I am sure so!” cried Elsa, who in her transport of -happiness was ready to promise anything. - -Then they all laughed heartily when little Alice said slowly, as if -the fact had just dawned over her mind: “The Club is going to have a -Christmas-tree at Elsa’s grandmother’s!” - -“Bless the blue-eyed baby,” said Betty; and Ruth Warren, stooping to -kiss the child’s serious upturned face, wondered if Christmas day would -bring some great change into the lives of Alice and Ben. - -“Do you think your mother will come to the Christmas-tree, Alice?” Elsa -asked. “Grandmother said particularly that I was to tell you she wants -your mother to come.” - -Ben answered for his sister: “She will come, I think, if Peggy and I -ask her to. What a splendid grandmother you have, Elsa!” he cried, -starting into a sort of war-dance around the room. “I’m going to make a -Christmas present for her.” - -“What is it?” asked Betty, curious instantly. - -But Ben was heedless of the question. “Is she very rich?” he inquired, -looking at Elsa. - -“Yes, I think so,” replied Elsa. - -“Then I’ll do it,” he exclaimed, ending his dance with a somersault -upon the hearth-rug. - -“What is it?” again asked Betty. - -“That’s telling,” Ben answered. - -“It will be something nice,” said Alice, out of her perfect faith in -her brother. - -Betty, not at all disturbed by Ben’s refusal to tell, went on -blissfully: “Then our next meeting of the Club will be the -Christmas-tree at Elsa’s, and we are all going out to the Convalescent -Home with the presents Christmas morning! Don’t you think we could have -just a little meeting here next Thursday afternoon, Miss Ruth, to talk -things over?” - -Ruth Warren yielded to the entreaty in four pairs of eyes: “Yes, you -may come at three o’clock for an hour’s meeting, if you like, and we -will have all the things ready to take to the Convalescent Home the -next morning.” - -“I will bring Jerry, Christmas morning, Jerry and the double-seated -sleigh, to carry you and the presents out there,” offered Ben. - -“If any of you have any presents that you want to hang on the -Christmas-tree for any of the rest of you,” said Elsa, diffidently, yet -feeling that it was something which ought to be said, “you could bring -them to my house and I am sure grandmother would take care of them for -you.” Elsa’s few moment’s talk with her grandmother had made her feel -that she could promise anything in her grandmother’s name for Christmas -day. - - * * * * * - -Ruth Warren seated herself in front of the fire for a moment’s thought, -after this lively meeting of the Club. She was greatly puzzled by Mrs. -Danforth’s excited manner and her unexpected invitation for Christmas -afternoon; and she was deeply interested to see how a little happiness -had changed Elsa almost instantly into a light-hearted child like Betty -and Alice. She had decided not to tell Elsa, beforehand, that Bettina -March was coming to be with her Aunt Virginia, as the day of the -nurse’s arrival was uncertain, although it would probably be Christmas -day. - -Her thinking was interrupted by the appearance of Sarah Judd, who came -to take away the plate, which had been entirely emptied of plum buns. - -“I don’t wonder you’re all tuckered out,” said Sarah severely, finding -her young mistress sitting quietly in front of the fire; “such lively -children, chatterin’ like magpies,--cunnin’ little things, though, they -be,” she added with one of her sudden changes of tone. - -Sarah brushed the crumbs from the table into the plate. Then, because -she was so interested in the subject that she could not keep silent -about it another moment, she said: “Beggin’ your pardon, Miss Ruth, but -did you notice how like Mrs. Danforth’s that little twin girl’s eyes -and forehead are,--a sight more than her own grandchild’s?” - -“Sarah, you are just imagining that,” replied Ruth Warren. “You could -only have seen them together for a moment.” - -“That was long enough,” said Sarah, who did not think it necessary to -explain that she had stood in the hall for several moments. “Folks -can’t very often fool me on looks.” Sarah nodded her head and set the -curls to bobbing as she repeated, “Folks can’t very often fool me on -looks. The little girl is a sight like the old lady Danforth, but the -boy is the very living image of her!” - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -GRAY OWL, SANTA CLAUS - - “Sing, Christmas bells! - Sing to all men,--the bond, the free, - The rich, the poor, the high, the low, - The little child that sports in glee, - The aged folk that tottering go,-- - Proclaim the morn - That Christ is born - That saveth them and saveth me!” - - “Blessed are they who still dream and wonder and believe.” - - -CHRISTMAS! Everything told it. The feeling of it was in the air. The -snow which lay lightly and deeply upon ground and trees, the icicles -which hung in long glittering pendants, the clear, bright blue sky, -the brisk, lively, sunshiny cold,--all told of Christmas. The air was -the Christmas air, stirring the heart-beats. The sounds were Christmas -sounds,--the merry calling out of Christmas greetings, the glad ringing -of the church bells. - -The Christmas Makers’ Club was all ready to enjoy Christmas day to -the utmost. Mysterious packages for the Christmas-tree had arrived -at Mrs. Danforth’s house all day Thursday and had been taken charge -of by Cummings, the maid, who seemed suddenly to have forgotten -her stiffness and to have become more like other people. The Club -had held an important business meeting at Miss Ruth Warren’s house -Thursday afternoon and had made everything ready for the visit to the -Convalescent Home on Christmas morning. The twenty-four dolls which the -Club had dressed and the twelve rag dolls of Mrs. Holt’s making--which -even Betty, who had scorned rag dolls, declared were full prettier -than the others--had been carefully placed in a large, flat basket. -The paper dolls and the tin soldiers were in boxes by themselves, and -the twelve tops which Ben had made were also ready to be given to the -Convalescent children. - -Elsa Danforth had told the Club that her Uncle Ned was very anxious to -go to the Convalescent Home with them, and it had been decided that -there would be plenty of room for him, also, in Ben’s large double -sleigh, as he could sit on the front seat with Ben and little Alice, -while Miss Ruth, Betty and Elsa occupied the back seat. - -Best of all, at this business meeting, the children had delivered to -their Club president, Miss Ruth, the united sum of five dollars and -sixty cents which they had earned, in the past two weeks, to give to -the managers of the Convalescent Home. There was one dollar and forty -cents from Betty White, who had earned five cents a day for emptying -waste paper baskets in her own home and for blacking her father’s -shoes--never were shoes better blacked, Mr. White declared, boastfully; -there were two dollars from Elsa, whose Uncle Ned had paid her just -as he promised he would for writing two letters each week, although -he had been in Berkeley the past week, and who had also paid her a -dollar for copying a long piece of writing for him; there were seventy -cents from little Alice, earned by washing dishes for her mother; and, -lastly, Ben, who had entered heartily in this plan for earning money, -had given a dollar and a half as his share, earned by shovelling snow -and doing errands for the neighbours. After considerable thinking, Ben -had decided to give to his mother the whole amount of the three dollars -and a half which Mr. Danforth had paid him for seven hours’ help; and -on Christmas morning Mrs. Holt had been deeply touched by the gift of -money from her devoted little son. - -Betty’s dollar and forty cents, Elsa’s two dollars, Alice’s seventy -cents, and Ben’s dollar and a half, made the good round sum of five -dollars and sixty cents which the Club had earned for the Convalescent -Home; and when the boy of the Club had handed the full amount in silver -to the president, the Club members had felt well repaid for all their -work by seeing her great surprise and delight. - -“Nothing which you could have done would have pleased me more than -this, children,” Miss Ruth said warmly. “I know that the money will be -a most welcome gift to the Convalescent Home and be ever so much help.” - -“Will the Club have its name printed?” Betty inquired anxiously. - -“Yes, I am sure the managers of the Home will want to mention the name -of the Club and the gift in their annual report,” Miss Ruth answered. - -“How will it sound, please?” Alice asked. - -“Something like this: ‘From the Christmas Makers’ Club of Berkeley, -$5.60; also dolls, tops, and toys.’” - -“Perhaps it will interest other children to do things for the little -Convalescings,” Ben suggested. - -“We are going to earn some more money for them when we have our Easter -Club,” Elsa said delightedly; “we must truly have that Easter Club!” - -“Won’t it be fun to see the little children at the Convalescent Home -to-morrow morning when we give them all the things we have for them?” -Betty cried out, enthusiastically, as the Club ended its important -business meeting on Thursday afternoon, impatient for the next day to -come. - -And so on this bright morning of the glad Christmas day, Ben drove -around to Washington Avenue at the appointed hour. He had washed the -sleigh and brushed Jerry until both fairly shone, and had given the old -horse some extra oats. Alice was perched up beside her brother on the -front seat, looking the picture of rosy-cheeked happiness. - -First of all, Ben stopped at the Danforth house, to call for Elsa and -her uncle. Meanwhile, Betty, who had been watching for the arrival of -the sleigh, came running out from her own home, with her brown hair and -her blue capes flying, to wish the twins a “Merry Christmas!” first; -so she jumped into the back seat of the sleigh without waiting to be -called for. Mr. Danforth helped Elsa into the back seat, and then -walked the short distance to the Warren house, for Miss Ruth was the -only one now remaining to join the party. - -But at Miss Ruth’s house a great disappointment awaited the Club, and -all on account of Miss Virginia Warren. - -Miss Virginia’s cold was better, but her nervousness had greatly -increased. She had never in her life had a trained nurse, and much as -she wanted one to take care of her and wait upon her, she felt that -it might prove so exciting as to have a very bad effect upon her, -especially at first. It had been arranged that Bettina March should -arrive at noon on Christmas day; and Ruth Warren would be back from -the Convalescent Home an hour before that time. But Miss Virginia had -decided that she could not possibly stay alone that morning, nor have -anybody except her niece, not even Sarah Judd, stay with her. - -From breakfast time on, Miss Virginia grew more and more uneasy. At -last, just before it was time for Ruth to put on her coat and be ready -to start with the Club, Miss Virginia began crying and wringing her -large white hands. - -“I am sorry, Ruth, to have you give up going to the Convalescent Home -with the children,” Aunt Virginia said, tearfully, “but I don’t feel -well enough to have you leave me. You know we are all supposed to be -happier by making Christmas happier for somebody else, so I am sure -you will be glad to stay with me.” Miss Virginia looked up at her niece -with a very helpless and resigned expression. Her tears had ceased, but -she kept on wringing her hands in a limp way. - -Ruth Warren was keenly disappointed. She knew that her aunt could -stay alone for an hour perfectly well; but she could not go with any -pleasure now, after her aunt had asked her to stay at home. - - * * * * * - -When the merry sleighful stopped in front of the house, Ruth Warren -herself answered the ring at the front door in order not to delay the -party. Mr. Danforth had told Ben that he would call for Miss Warren and -bring out the basket and boxes, so that Ben might stay in the sleigh -and hold Jerry, who, Ben said, might feel extra lively on Christmas -morning and run away with his precious load! - -Accordingly, when Ruth Warren opened the door, there stood before her -Elsa’s tall, broad-shouldered uncle with clear gray eyes, steady in an -open, moustached face, who looked squarely at her while he said with -almost a boy’s earnestness: “Merry Christmas, Miss Warren! Your Club -is at the door. Are you and the Christmas presents ready to start for -the Convalescents’ Home?” - -“Here are the basket and boxes, Mr. Danforth,” she said, for she had -them close by the door. Leaving him to bring them, she threw her red -cape over her shoulders and ran down the steps to the curb-stone to -tell the Club that she could not go with them on account of her Aunt -Virginia. - -A prolonged wail of grief went up from the Club. - -“We can’t go without you!” cried Elsa, her violet-gray eyes filling -with tears. - -“Please, _please_ come,” entreated Betty, jumping out of the sleigh. “I -will go and ask your aunt to let you.” - -“But it is I who decide it, not my aunt,” Ruth Warren said. “You will -have Mr. Danforth with you, and the head-nurse expects you, and you are -only to stay a short time. You will get along just as well without me.” - -“But we want you!” wailed the Club. “It won’t be any fun without you;” -and they would not be consoled. - -“Please do come, Black Lace Lady!” urged Ben in his most persuasive -tone, while Alice, leaning far over the edge of the sleigh at the great -risk of falling out, echoed “Please” most pleadingly. - -[Illustration: “‘BUT WE WANT YOU!’ WAILED THE CLUB.”] - -It was hard indeed to resist their urgent begging, but Miss Ruth said -steadily: “It will soon be over, and after all, children, your having -thought of the presents for the Convalescent children means far more -than the giving of the presents.” - -Still the Club refused consolation. “We just won’t go without you,” -said Betty passionately, kicking the snow with the toe of her rubber. -“I will not get back into the sleigh.” - -By this time Mr. Danforth, who realized what was going on, had the -basket and boxes packed under the sleigh seats. - -“But I want you to go, children,” Ruth Warren was urging. - -“The Club must do as its president wishes,” Mr. Danforth said quickly, -now that everything was ready. “All clubs do that,--or at least they -ought to. You must honour your president by carrying out her wishes.” -With this, he settled the question by lifting Betty into the back seat -of the sleigh, jumping in after her, and saying to Ben: “Start along, -sir, or we shall be late to our appointment. Do you think Jerry can -take us out there in fifteen minutes?” - -This settled it. Ben said, “G’long, Jerry!” The well-brushed horse -started off briskly, the reluctant children looking backward as long as -they could to see Miss Ruth standing there on the curb-stone. - -The thoughts which those disappointed children had, even on Christmas -morning, about Miss Virginia were not very pleasant thoughts. How -much of Miss Virginia’s feelings on that same morning were due to -nervousness, and how much to a desire not to have her beloved niece -drive out again in that old, country-like pung no one yet knows. It is -true, however, that Miss Virginia said when Ruth came back up-stairs: -“I am wholly surprised that such a distinguished-looking gentleman as -Mr. Danforth could be willing to go off in that sleigh and with that -crowd of children.” - - * * * * * - -Elsa’s Uncle Ned tried his best to cheer the spirits of the Club. -He told funny stories, he praised Ben’s horse, he gave them -mysterious hints of what would take place at the Christmas-tree that -afternoon--although he did not actually tell them a thing--and -finally, by the time they were opposite the Holt’s sunny, -flowery-windowed house, he had succeeded somewhat in making the -children forget their disappointment. - -Then it was that Mr. Danforth himself grew suddenly grave and -thoughtful as he asked Ben to stop for a moment while he delivered a -message from Mrs. Danforth to Mrs. Holt. - -This did not seem anything very important, and the children waited more -patiently than the horse did, in front of his home. - -But the message must have been one which affected Mrs. Holt greatly; -for when Ben and Alice looked, as they always did when they drove away, -to see their mother wave to them from the window, she was not there. -Could they have seen her at that moment, they would have been amazed -to see her leaning against the mantel with her hands over her face, -weeping softly at the message which Mr. Danforth had brought. - -They would have been still more amazed could they have been at the -front door of their own home a few moments later, when Mrs. Danforth’s -coupé, drawn by the spirited gray horse, drove up to that door and Mrs. -Danforth herself dismounted. - -Most amazed of all would they have been when their mother opened the -door, to hear her exclaim, “Mother!” and throw her arms around Mrs. -Danforth, and to hear the tall, white-faced woman crying, “My daughter, -my daughter!” as the fair-haired younger woman led her into the house -and shut the door. - - * * * * * - -The rest of the short distance to the Convalescent Home was spent -chiefly in talking about Miss Ruth and the Club’s plans for the future. -“Are we going to have a meeting next week?” Elsa inquired of Betty, who -knew Miss Ruth best. - -“I don’t know, I’m sure,” was Betty’s discouraging answer. “Mother said -Miss Ruth told her she was going away after New Year’s for a visit, -somewhere.” - -Fresh gloom settled over the Club at this. Mr. Danforth was in despair -with having such unhappy children upon his hands. But Ben came to his -rescue, for a gray squirrel whisking along the stone wall suggested -something to Ben’s mind. Turning around, he told Mr. Danforth about -carrying the squirrel to the Club meeting one day. “It didn’t frighten -Miss Ruth a bit,” Ben ended earnestly; “she’s got grit, the way I like -to have a girl.” - -From talking about the squirrel Ben went on to tell Mr. Danforth of -the screech-owl family which had lived in the hollow tree near there -last spring. “I think maybe they will come back here again,” he said -hopefully, “and maybe we can see them from the hut.” - -“What hut?” asked Mr. Danforth very innocent-like, although he and Ben -had been to the hut together more than once now. - -Ben gave a chuckle which he turned into a “G’long, Jerry!” and Elsa -cried, “Why, Uncle Ned, you know all about the hut! I have told you.” - -A moment later they passed the hospitable sign: - - CONVALESCENT HOME - OF THE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL - VISITORS ALWAYS WELCOME - -and the sleigh-bells jingled merrily up the avenue to the wide-winged -red brick building. - - * * * * * - -The kind face of the head-nurse fairly shone with happiness when she -saw the basketful of dolls and all the boxes. “I have just told the -children that you were coming,” she said, “and one little boy is sure -he heard the reindeers driving to the house. I think he is looking -for you to come down the chimney,--though you could never get so many -things as these down even our big chimney, at once! After you have -given them the presents, they are going to sing for you the carol they -have learned for their Christmas-tree, on Holy Innocents’ Day. We will -go right out to the playroom, so as not to keep you or them waiting a -moment.” - -The children visitors all knew the way to the playroom now. Ben and -Alice went first, with the big basket of dolls between them, followed -by the head-nurse and Betty, Elsa and her uncle, each carrying a box, -Mr. Danforth’s the largest of all, for Ben had brought out from under -the front seat of the sleigh, a square box which the other members of -the Club had not seen before. - -The sunny playroom was decked with Christmas greens, and the little -convalescents had a holiday air, for each girl wore a bright red -ribbon on her hair and each boy either a bright red necktie or a bit -of red ribbon in his buttonhole. There were, just as before, many, -many bandaged limbs and bodies, and many children on crutches or lying -in go-carts; there were the same happy patient expressions on the -children’s faces, only to-day, their faces were lighted up with the -excitement of Christmas and with eager interest in the presents they -were to receive. - -The nurses, the Club, and Mr. Danforth, all helped quickly to -distribute the gifts, and it was not long before every little girl in -the room was hugging a new doll and every little boy was admiring a new -top, or a tin soldier large enough to stand alone; and then there was -another present for each one of the children; for out of Mr. Danforth’s -box came dozens of gray squirrel-shaped boxes filled with simple -candy,--until the great playroom looked as if a forestful of tiny, tame -gray squirrels had been let loose there. - -It was a wholly new experience to Mr. Ned Danforth to see all these -little patient, crippled human beings. Like many busy men in the world, -he had been in the habit of signing his name to a check and sending it -to this or that hospital or charitable institution which he was asked -to help. But this was the first time in his life that he had ever -stepped inside such a place as the Convalescent Home; and at first it -seemed to him that he could not bear the sight, that almost forty years -old as he was, he would have to run away like a schoolboy, because the -sight of those convalescent children made him feel so sad. But he could -not run away; he was there in charge of the Christmas Makers’ Club. -So all he could do to relieve his feelings was to put his hand into -his pocket where he always kept a great many five-cent and ten-cent -pieces,--being a generous-natured man,--and begin giving these pieces -of money to the children. - -So he started to walk very fast through the playroom, dropping into the -hands or the laps of the children five-cent pieces, ten-cent pieces, -pennies, silver quarter-dollars, even half-dollars, here and there, -right and left, as long as they lasted. And the nurses, in great -fear lest the little children put the money into their mouths and -swallow it, followed closely after him, taking the money away from the -surprised children, who were so used to being obedient that they gave -it up without any fuss, and kind-hearted Uncle Ned did not know what -was happening behind him. - -Ben and Alice, Betty and Elsa were all too much occupied to notice, -either. Ben was surrounded by a group of his own particular little -friends, the boys whom he took out driving; Alice and Betty were -coaxing shy little girls to talk about their new dolls, and Elsa had -found out the black-eyed child in whose arms she had seen her own old -china doll, Bettina, on her first visit here. - -The child’s frame was strapped to a board, just as Elsa had seen -it before; but she called out cheerily: “I am all better! See my -new dolly!” On the floor by her side lay the old doll, so battered -and changed that only one who had loved her as Elsa had would have -recognized her. - -Elsa picked up the old doll tenderly, saying to herself: “I will hold -her till the little girl remembers and wants her.” “What is your new -doll’s name?” she asked the child. - -“’Tina.” - -“What is the old doll’s name?” Elsa held the battered doll out in plain -sight. - -“’Tina,” said the little girl, reaching out for the old doll and -blissfully clasping the old and the new together in her arms. - -“And what is your own name, dear?” asked Elsa, for the dark-eyed child -interested her greatly. - -“Iona,” the soft voice answered very distinctly. - -“Come, come, Elsa! It is time to start,” her Uncle Ned said, hurrying -up to her and trying to be very gruff. His face was quite red under its -tanned colour, and he was biting the ends of his moustache savagely. - -But just then, at a signal from the head-nurse, the children began to -sing their Christmas carol: - - “Once in royal David’s city - Stood a lowly cattle shed, - Where a mother laid her baby, - In a manger for his bed; - Mary was that mother mild, - Jesus Christ her little child. - - “For he is our childhood’s pattern; - Day by day like us he grew; - He was little, weak, and helpless, - Tears and smiles like us he knew; - And he feeleth for our sadness, - And he shareth in our gladness. - - “And our eyes at last shall see him, - Through his own redeeming love; - For that child so dear and gentle - Is our Lord in heaven above, - And he leads his children on - To the place where he is gone.” - -Then, because they were such frail little children that they could not -learn much or readily, they sang as the other part of their Christmas -service, their daily grace: - - “Thank Him, thank Him, - All ye little children, - Thank Him, thank Him, - God is love.” - -The plaintive child faces, some of them white as snow-drops, the -delicate, sweet voices singing the Christmas hymn and the simple grace, -proved too much for Uncle Ned’s tender heart. “We must go, we must -go this minute!” he exclaimed hurriedly calling the Club together and -fairly driving them out of the room, before him. - -Elsa looked back long enough to say good-bye to the dark-eyed child -of her fancy, and the little one called cheerily: “Dood-bye. I am all -better! Tum aden.” - -The head-nurse followed the retreating man and the hurrying children -along the passageway toward the front door with a very understanding -look on her face. - -“Have we stayed too long?” Elsa inquired anxiously, stopping behind the -others and lifting her serious eyes to Miss Hartwell’s face. - -“No, dear; there are still a few moments left of the time I had set for -your little Club to stay.” - -Elsa did not tell this to the other children or to her uncle. Already, -however, she had learned what her uncle did not yet know, but what he -learned later: that while the first visit to the Convalescent Home -is saddening, each time after that the place grows more and more -interesting and less sad to visit. - -At the door Mr. Ned Danforth turned and shook hands briskly with the -head-nurse. - -“Splendid place here!” he said, again very gruffly. “Noble work -you are doing! Thank you for your kindness to us.” Then he thrust a -large-sized bill into her hand, saying in a desperate sort of way, “Use -it to do something more for those children!” - -And Ben suddenly remembered the small white box containing five dollars -and sixty cents which he had in his pocket. He pulled it forth and -handed it to Miss Hartwell with a profound bow: “It is some money that -the Christmas Makers’ Club--that’s us--have earned all ourselves to -help the little Convalescings.” - -“Thank you, thank you, all of you,” said Miss Hartwell, looking from -one to another of the bright-faced children. “I am sure you cannot -realize how much help you have given to the children here and to the -Home.” - -Too delighted for words, the Club members smiled back at Miss Hartwell. - -She hesitated about speaking of Miss Ruth Warren, for Mr. Danforth -had told her, when they first came, of the Club’s tearful tendencies. -It was not until the children were going through the doorway that she -said: “You are as heartily sorry as I am, I know, because Miss Warren -could not come with you; but we shall look forward to other visits -from your Club when the longer days of spring are here.” - -The faces of the children showed their mingled grief and anticipation -expressively; they were speechless, however, on the subject of Miss -Ruth. - -“May I take some of the little chaps out sleigh-riding to-morrow -morning?” asked Ben, a heartful of sympathy shining in his boyish face. - -“Yes, Ben; and you don’t know how those little lads look forward to -their drives with you. We shall have to call you the Charioteer of the -Convalescent Home,” said Miss Hartwell. - -Then, as the door closed behind them, Mr. Danforth speedily bundled the -Club into the sleigh for the homeward drive. - -When they turned into Berkeley Avenue, Elsa thought she caught a sight, -far ahead, of her grandmother’s gray horse; but she decided it could -not have been, because her grandmother almost never went driving in the -morning, and she surely would not be away from home when there was so -much to see about in regard to the Christmas-tree. Even Elsa herself -did not know what all the surprises were to be, although she knew that -many wonderful things were going to happen that Christmas afternoon. - -That afternoon, the surprises came so fast and so astonishingly that -the heads of the Christmas Makers’ Club and of all concerned fairly -whirled with excitement. - -To begin with, Ben and Alice thought it strange indeed that Mrs. -Danforth’s gray horse and handsome double-seated sleigh were sent to -take their mother and them to the Christmas party. - -“Why couldn’t we go with Jerry just as well?” Ben asked loyally. “I -could cover him all up with his blanket and hitch him in front of -Elsa’s grandmother’s house.” - -But Mrs. Holt only smiled for answer. The children had found their -mother very bright-eyed, on their return, and she had been more than -usually tender with them, but had told them nothing as yet. - -“Do you think Elsa’s grandmother will let us drive home, or will we -have to walk?” Alice asked gravely. - -“I think she will have us drive home,” said Mrs. Holt, turning aside -to hide the happy tears that would spring into her eyes. She had -dressed Alice in her prettiest white dress,--a soft muslin with dainty -lace-trimmed ruffles,--and Ben wore for the first time a new dark blue -blouse suit; for Mrs. Holt was anxious to have her children look their -best that afternoon. - -“Mrs. Danforth would like to see you all in the library, ma’am,” said -Cummings, who opened the door. The twins wondered very much why their -mother’s hands trembled so. It could not be because she was afraid of -that straight-backed maid-servant who took their wraps and who smiled -at them quite pleasantly. Elsa was nowhere to be seen, which surprised -them. - -In the centre of the library stood Mrs. Danforth, not quite so erect as -usual, and with one hand on a chair, to support herself. She bowed her -head and her figure swayed slightly when Mrs. Holt entered the room, -with Ben just ahead of her on the right and Alice on the left. - -“Mother,--here are my children, Alice and Ben,” Mrs. Holt said in -a low voice which sounded as if there were tears behind it, “and, -children dear,”--she pressed them gently forward,--“this is your own -grandmother.” - -Mrs. Danforth knelt down suddenly and put her arms around both of the -mystified children, looking first into one and then the other of the -amazed, blue-eyed faces. She tried to speak, but something choked her. - -“Let me tell them, mother,” said Mrs. Holt, helping her to rise and -leading her to a chair. “I have always promised them I would tell them, -some day, about their grandmother.” Kneeling down, herself, now, by -the side of the chair, and drawing the children into her embrace, Mrs. -Holt said in the same tear-sounding voice and very slowly: “Listen, -children: when I was hardly more than a grown-up girl, I ran away from -my home and married your father against my mother’s wishes, for he -was a poor man, and he, too, was hardly old enough to be married. And -because I was a disobedient daughter, my mother punished me by not -wanting to see me for a long, long time. That time is ended now and--” -Mrs. Holt hid her face and her tears against her own little daughter’s -shoulder. - -Then Mrs. Danforth found her voice and said: “Dear children, your -grandmother has been a sorry, sad woman all these years that she tried -to punish her daughter, but she is happy--very happy now--to have her -daughter back again and her own grandchildren.” - -“Are you our grandmother?” Alice asked shyly, staring with wide-open -blue eyes at the gray-haired lady who said such interesting things and -seemed so sorry. - -“Yes, darling,” was the grandmotherly answer. “And you look just as -your mother looked when she was a little girl.” - -“You are really and truly my grandmother?” asked Ben in a delighted -tone, although he could not stop thinking how surprising it was that -his mother had ever been a little girl, and had been punished. - -“Yes. Are you going to love me?” Mrs. Danforth was astonished at -herself for asking. - -For particular answer, Ben threw his arms around her neck. “It’s going -to be real easy for me to love you,” he said happily. Then he drew back -and looked at her, seriously, before he announced: “I think I shall -call you Grandmother Gray.” - -“That is a very good name, my boy,” she said, smiling through the -joyful tears that had sprung into her eyes at the feeling of his loving -young arms around her neck; and her glasses fell off her nose like any -grandmother’s. - -“Is Elsa our cousin now?” asked Ben, who was always of an inquiring -turn of mind. - -“No, my dear,” replied his grandmother, brushing back his hair with -her richly jewelled hand; “and I will tell you why. After your own -grandfather died and after your mother went away, I married a widower, -Judge Danforth, who had two sons. One of those sons was Elsa’s father -and the other is her Uncle Ned, whom you know. After Judge Danforth -died, and Elsa’s father also, I moved to Berkeley, because I knew that -your mother was here, and I could not live any longer without seeing -her and my grandchildren. Elsa is no real relation to me at all.” - -Alice, who was holding her mother’s hand closely in hers while all -these wonderful things were going on, looked wholly puzzled; but Ben -thrust his hands into the pockets of his new trousers,--jingled the -two silver quarters he had earned by helping Mr. Danforth an hour that -morning, after the drive,--and said thoughtfully: “Then Elsa hasn’t you -for a real grandmother. Does she know it?” - -“Yes,” replied Mrs. Danforth; “I told her after she came from the -Convalescent Home this morning.” - -“I am all the gladder she is going to have Susie!” cried Alice; then -she quickly clapped her rounded hand over her mouth. - -But Ben had more questions to ask, so he did not notice that Alice had -told. “Are you very rich, Grandmother Gray?” - -“Yes,” she answered, rather surprised that the boy should ask this. - -“Will you give Peggy--I mean Alice--some pretty dresses, same as Elsa -and Betty have?” - -“Yes, my boy, Alice shall have everything she wants and so shall you.” - -Alice put her chubby hands together softly, in almost unbelieving joy, -and Ben said radiantly: “What I want most of all is that mother of mine -need not work hard any more.” - -A look of great sorrow passed over Mrs. Danforth’s face, and Mrs. Holt -whispered to Ben: “Hush, my darling.” - -The front door-bell ringing, told of the arrival of other guests. “We -must call Elsa in for a moment,” said Mrs. Danforth, rising. Her eyes -were soft now, with that look of tears in them. Stepping to the library -door, she said gently, “Elsa!” And Elsa, who had been waiting in the -reception-room across the hall, came into the library just as Ruth -Warren and Betty and a quiet little woman--whom Cummings instantly -recognized--entered the hall door and were asked by Cummings to go -up-stairs and leave their wraps. - -Elsa was dressed in a dainty white silk gown with a full, many-ruffled -skirt. She looked very pale as she stepped into the library and stood, -a lone, sensitive-faced child, opposite the happy group of grandmother, -mother, and two children. - -It was Elsa, strangely enough, who spoke first. Turning to Alice, she -said slowly: “You--you and Ben have a grandmother now and I haven’t -any. Shall I have to go away,” she asked, lifting her pathetic eyes to -Mrs. Danforth’s face, “and be a poor little girl?” She had just begun -to think of this question. - -“You need never go away unless you wish to, Elsa,” Mrs. Danforth said -quickly. “And you will not be a poor little girl, for, as your Uncle -Ned and I have agreed that I should tell you to-day, you are a very -rich little girl, with a great deal of money that is all your own.” - -“O, how glad I am!” cried Elsa, some of the sorrowful look dying out -of her eyes; “for now I can do everything I want to, to help the -Convalescent children.” - -There was something so touching and so winning in the little orphan -girl, standing there with her face full of unselfish joy at the thought -of what she could do for others less fortunate than herself, that Mrs. -Danforth suddenly humbled herself before this little child. - -“Elsa,” she said, stepping forward, “I have not been as kind and loving -to you as I might have been. But the love which springs up in my heart -for my own grandchildren makes me realize how much I also love the -little girl who has brightened my home and been so brave and obedient.” -She held out her arms. Elsa came forward gladly, and Mrs. Danforth -kissed her with warm affection,--apparently quite forgetting that she -had ever thought this a foolish custom. And Elsa felt that she loved -her grandmother-that-was a great deal more dearly now that she wasn’t -really her grandmother. Then Alice put her soft arms around Elsa’s -neck, and Mrs. Holt said kindly: “I shall have to call you my little -niece, Elsa.” - -Ben spoke up then: “Do you remember I’ve never told you my name for -you, Elsa? I’ve changed it now. It used to be Sad Girl, that’s why I -didn’t tell you before; but now it’s going to be ‘Princess.’” Dropping -a shy kiss on Elsa’s golden hair, Ben ran off in answer to a muffled -summons. - -At that same moment Cummings pulled back the heavy green velvet -portières which separated the library from the drawing-room, and the -glory of the Christmas-tree burst upon the children’s sight. - -The tree, reaching nearly to the ceiling, stood at the farther end -of the long drawing-room, its graceful branches fairly drooping with -treasures. There were packages of every shape and description; there -were long icicles, moving, swaying balls of silver and gold, scarlet -and blue, glowing and sparkling in the mellow radiance of many wax -candles; and there was a beautiful white Christmas angel at the very -top of the tree. A warm, spicy odour of balsam fir filled the air, and -a splendid, roaring fire in the great fireplace cast a ruddy light over -the beautiful furnishings of the drawing-room. - -Elsa, puzzled and excited by the events of the day, ran forward to -greet Miss Ruth with a feeling as of seeking shelter. “Do you know that -grandmother isn’t my grandmother really, but is Alice’s and Ben’s?” she -said in a low tone, slipping her hand into Miss Ruth’s. - -Ruth Warren, who had on the black lace gown with the little old lady’s -coral beads around her neck, gazed in surprise at Elsa for a half -moment. Then it was all so simple that she wondered why she had not -thought of Mrs. Danforth’s possibly having been twice married. “We -know now why both your grandmother--I mean Mrs. Danforth--and Mrs. Holt -have the paintings alike,” said Miss Ruth. - -“Yes, I remember--the picture of the house where grandmother used to -live,” cried Elsa. - -But one could not stop very long to think about any one thing, with -that Christmas-tree in the room. - -“I wish my Uncle Ned could be here,” Elsa exclaimed, as she swung -around into sight of the tree. “He had to go to the city this noon. -Perhaps he will come back before the tree is over. He said he would if -he could.” - -While Betty and Alice were gazing delightedly at the gorgeous tree, -Miss Ruth asked Elsa, in a low voice, to go across the hall into the -reception-room to find a Christmas surprise which was waiting for her -there. And soon Elsa came back with shining, happy eyes, leading by the -hand a short, comely-faced woman whose brown hair was slightly streaked -with gray. “This is Bettina March, my dear, dear Bettina,” said Elsa, -introducing the shy, modest little woman to the group of her friends; -but Bettina, although she greeted them all in a musical voice, with -a slight German accent, had eyes only for her beloved former charge, -Elsa. - -“Where is Ben?” asked Ruth Warren, in part to turn attention from the -shrinking stranger, who was half-laughing, half-crying with joy, and -in part because she was wondering who would take the presents from the -tree. - -Then an amazing thing happened. With a long hoo-oo-t! a great gray owl -hopped, sidling fashion, from the library doorway into the full sight -of the astonished Christmas party, flapping his wings awkwardly as he -made his way across the room to the Christmas-tree. And close behind -him scampered a very large gray squirrel. - -A shout went up from the children. - -“Gray Owl Santa Claus!” cried Betty, whirling round and round till she -looked like a red balloon in her holly-red dress. - -Alice, half-frightened, drew away from the Gray Owl toward the -Squirrel. “Ben is the Squirrel,” she exclaimed, for nothing could -deceive her with regard to her twin brother. - -“Keep a good heart!” the Gray Owl called out in a quick, muffled voice, -close to Elsa’s ear. - -“O, Uncle Ned, Uncle Ned!” she cried delightedly. “You came back to be -a Gray Owl Santa Claus! What a dear, funny uncle you are.” - -Then the Gray Owl, with sudden, awkward movements, began taking the -presents off from the tree and handing them to the Gray Squirrel, who -clasped his paws around them and carried them to the persons whose -names the Owl had called in a deep, muffled voice. - -And then it was that the Club had a chance to see the marvellous -costumes of the queer Santa Claus and his helper. The Gray Owl’s -body-covering was of soft gray wool material which lay in ridges -like downy feathers; the wings, which were held to his arms by long -sleeves of gray gauze, were made of closely placed long gray feathers -and quills, and his head was covered by a gray owl mask, with tufted -ears and yellow eyes having thin black slits. The squirrel had on -a most cleverly made coat of soft gray wool shaded to purest white -on the breast; a bristly, broom-like tail dragged behind him, and a -pointed-nosed mask with sharp little ears, was drawn close over his -head. - -By this time every one had received many presents, and a great opening -of packages had begun. The Club members had thought of most interesting -remembrances for one another. Elsa and Betty had together given Alice -a beautiful doll that could talk, a blue-eyed waxen beauty with -fringed eyelashes that opened and shut, rose-leaf cheeks and silky -flaxen curls; and the two girls had given to Ben a locomotive with an -electric battery,--a bewitching package which he stopped long enough -to open with his deft gray squirrel paws, and to cry out about, in his -unsquirrel-like voice: “Oh, my, how jolly!” Alice and Ben had together -given to Betty and to Elsa each a beautiful white hyacinth. Elsa had -from Betty a trunkful of dresses for her best doll, and Betty from Elsa -a dainty silver watch. From Miss Ruth, Ben had a box of tools, and each -of the girls a gold thimble. - -Still the Gray Owl kept on taking presents from the tree, the Squirrel -jumped around with packages, and the fun went on. Nobody was forgotten. -There were presents for Bettina, who ran away soon to Miss Virginia, -after a last loving look at Elsa; there were presents for Miss Ruth and -Mrs. Holt, for Mrs. Danforth and for Mrs. White, who came in somewhat -late to have a look at her neighbour’s Christmas-tree. There were -presents for Mr. Danforth, who tucked them away in some mysterious -make-believe Gray Owl tree-hollow; for Cummings, and for Sarah Judd, -who came by special invitation of the Club, and who smiled until her -face seemed in danger of cracking apart, as she received first a bright -scarlet geranium from Ben and Alice, then a pretty white apron from -Betty, and a handsomely illustrated book from Elsa. - -When the Squirrel, taking a square package, ran with little leaping -steps to Mrs. Danforth and began making a speech, everybody stopped -talking to listen. - -“Grandmother Gray,” he said, “when you invited the Club to have a -Christmas-tree at your house, I had an idea that you must be very rich, -and I thought you must need a good safe place to keep your money in, so -I made this for you.” - -Mrs. Danforth, with trembling fingers, like any surprised grandmother, -unwrapped the package to find a box, neatly jointed together, with the -lower part just large enough to put bills in laid out flat, and the -upper part divided into five places,--one, each, for pennies, five-cent -pieces, ten-cent pieces, quarters and half-dollars, as Ben, looking on, -explained. The box was stained a rich, dark red colour, and had a tiny -padlock and key. - -“Nonsense!” said the grandmother in greatest delight. “Did you make -this, Ben?” - -“Yes, grandmother; I used to think I would be a carpenter,” replied -Ben, as she took his two gray kid-gloved little hands into hers for a -moment. “I think now, though, that I shall be a bird-man.” - -Then, just like any fond, indulgent grandmother, Mrs. Danforth smiled -and said: “You shall be whatever you want to be, my boy.” And Mrs. Holt -looked with motherly pride upon her bright-eyed, happy-faced son. - -While the box was being passed around and admired and the Squirrel was -explaining it, the Gray Owl hopped in his funny sidelong fashion, with -awkward, flopping wings, to Alice--who was not afraid of him now--and -asked her to give to Elsa a long white box marked: “From the Christmas -Makers’ Club.” - -“Susie! Susie! You dear old doll,” Elsa cried, drawing a long, -sobbing breath of delight. They all turned at her exclamation and saw -her clasping to her breast an old-fashioned china doll in a white -ball dress looped up with morsels of pink rosebuds over a blue silk -petticoat. - -But there was no time even to explain to Elsa why the Club had given -her the old-fashioned doll, for another exciting event claimed their -attention immediately. The Gray Owl and the Squirrel together took a -heavy, flat package to Miss Ruth, who had already received so many -remembrances that she was far from having thoughts of anything more. -The Club watched breathlessly. This was the present which Mrs. White -had helped them choose. - -From under many white-paper wrappings appeared at last a beautiful Fra -Angelico trumpeter angel, soft, rich, scarlet-and-gold in colouring, in -a handsome gilt frame. With the picture came a card, on which Betty had -written with great carefulness: “An angel to blow you a greeting from -your affectionate Christmas Makers’ Club.” And to this card all the -members of the Club had signed their names. - -Hardly had Miss Ruth had time to thank the Club, when the Gray Owl -handed to Elsa a long, white business-like looking envelope addressed -to “Miss Ruth Warren, President of the Christmas Makers’ Club.” The -excitement of Elsa’s manner made the others look on again with keenest -interest. - -What was their delight and rapture to have Miss Ruth read a legal -paper, presenting to the Club, from Elsa Danforth, the gift, for the -exclusive use of the Club, of a log-hut on a certain piece of wood -property on Berkeley Avenue. - -“The hut! The hut! All our own!” cried Betty, whirling around again -like a lively red balloon. And then they all began talking at once and -very fast about furnishing the hut, of keeping some dolls and dishes -there, even of having a fireplace built so they could use the hut for -meetings in cold weather! - -Elsa, whose thought this gift of the hut had been--although her Uncle -Ned had carried it out, with Ben’s help--stood enjoying to the full the -happiness of the Club, when suddenly, with a long, low hoo-oo-t! the -Gray Owl, flapping his wings, landed in front of her. Bowing low, he -said: “Princess, the Gray Owl begs that you will allow him to live with -you here, in Berkeley, from this time forth.” - -“Uncle Ned! Do you really mean it?” she begged, lifting her flower-like -face and beseeching gray eyes to his. - -“Yes, the Gray Owl really means it. He will not be a cross Gray Owl, -though, so keep a good heart, Princess,” he answered, making believe -he thought she did not want him to live with her, for he had seen -tears start under her long eyelashes. Then, because he knew that many -exciting things had happened to his little niece that day, he drew her -toward him and held her under the shelter of his soft gray wings. - -Of all the surprises that Christmas had brought to Elsa, this last one -was the best. It was far more than the knowledge that she had a great -deal of money even though she was happy in the thought that she could -help the convalescent children with that money; it was more than the -great satisfaction of having Bettina March come back into her life, -more than the gift of the little old lady’s doll and all the many -other Christmas presents put together:--more than all these; for she -loved her Uncle Ned better than she loved anybody else in the whole -wide world. And she drew back within the shelter of the wide wings in -supreme content. - - -THE END. - - - - -BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE - - -THE LITTLE COLONEL BOOKS - -(Trade Mark) - -_By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON_ - -Each, 1 vol. large, 12mo, cloth decorative, per vol. $1.50 - - -The Little Colonel Stories. - - (Trade Mark) - -Illustrated. - -Being three “Little Colonel” stories in the Cosy Corner Series, “The -Little Colonel,” “Two Little Knights of Kentucky,” and “The Giant -Scissors,” put into a single volume. - - -The Little Colonel’s House Party. - - (Trade Mark) - -Illustrated by Louis Meynell. - - -The Little Colonel’s Holidays. - - (Trade Mark) - -Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman. - - -The Little Colonel’s Hero. - - (Trade Mark) - -Illustrated by E. B. Barry. - - -The Little Colonel at Boarding School. - - (Trade Mark) - -Illustrated by E. B. Barry. - - -The Little Colonel in Arizona. - - (Trade Mark) - -Illustrated by E. B. 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J. Bridgman. - - New illustrated edition, uniform with the Little Colonel Books, - 1 vol., large 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 - - -A story of the time of Christ, which is one of the author’s best-known -books. - - - =Asa Holmes=; OR, AT THE CROSS-ROADS. A sketch of Country - Life and Country Humor. By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON. With a - frontispiece by Ernest Fosbery. - - Large 16mo, cloth, gilt top $1.00 - -“‘Asa Holmes; or, At the Cross-Roads’ is the most delightful, most -sympathetic and wholesome book that has been published in a long -while.”--_Boston Times._ - - - =The Rival Campers=; OR, THE ADVENTURES OF HENRY BURNS. By RUEL - PERLEY SMITH. - - Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 - -Here is a book which will grip and enthuse every boy reader. It is -the story of a party of typical American lads, courageous, alert, and -athletic, who spend a summer camping on an island off the Maine coast. - -“The best boys’ book since ‘Tom Sawyer.’”--_San Francisco Examiner._ - - - =The Rival Campers Afloat=; OR, THE PRIZE YACHT VIKING. By RUEL - PERLEY SMITH. - - Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 - -This book is a continuation of the adventures of “The Rival Campers” on -their prize yacht _Viking_. An accidental collision results in a series -of exciting adventures, culminating in a mysterious chase, the loss -of their prize yacht, and its recapture by means of their old yacht, -_Surprise_. - - - =The Rival Campers Ashore.= By RUEL PERLEY SMITH, author of - “The Rival Campers,” “The Rival Campers Afloat,” etc. - - Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 - -“The Rival Campers Ashore” deals with the adventures of the campers and -their friends in and around the town of Benton. Mr. Smith introduces -a new character,--a girl,--who shows them the way to an old mill, -around which the mystery of the story revolves. The girl is an -admirable acquisition, proving as daring and resourceful as the campers -themselves. - - - =The Young Section-Hand=; OR, THE ADVENTURES OF ALLAN WEST. By - BURTON E. STEVENSON, author of “The Marathon Mystery,” etc. - Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated by L. J. Bridgman - $1.50 - -Mr. Stevenson’s hero is a manly lad of sixteen, who is given a chance -as a section-hand on a big Western railroad, and whose experiences are -as real as they are thrilling. - - - =The Young Train Dispatcher.= By BURTON E. STEVENSON, author of - “The Young Section-hand,” etc. - - Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 - -The young hero has many chances to prove his manliness and courage in -the exciting adventures which befall him in the discharge of his duty. - - - =Captain Jack Lorimer.= By WINN STANDISH. - - Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated by A. B. Shute $1.50 - -Jack is a fine example of the all-around American high-school boy. -He has the sturdy qualities boys admire, and his fondness for clean, -honest sport of all kinds will strike a chord of sympathy among -athletic youths. - - - =Jack Lorimer’s Champions=; or, Sports on Land and Lake. By - WINN STANDISH, author of “Captain Jack Lorimer,” etc. - - Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 - -All boys and girls who take an interest in school athletics will wish -to read of the exploits of the Millvale High School students, under the -leadership of Captain Jack Lorimer. - -Captain Jack’s Champions play quite as good ball as do some of the -teams on the large leagues, and they put all opponents to good hard -work in other summer sports. - -Jack Lorimer and his friends stand out as the finest examples of -all-round American high school boys and girls. - - - =Beautiful Joe’s Paradise=; OR, THE ISLAND OF BROTHERLY LOVE. - A sequel to “Beautiful Joe.” By MARSHALL SAUNDERS, author of - “Beautiful Joe.” - - One vol., library 12mo, cloth, illustrated $1.50 - -“This book revives the spirit of ‘Beautiful Joe’ capitally. It is -fairly riotous with fun, and as a whole is about as unusual as anything -in the animal book line that has seen the light. It is a book for -juveniles--old and young.”--_Philadelphia Item._ - - - =’Tilda Jane.= By MARSHALL SAUNDERS. - - One vol., 12mo, fully illustrated, cloth decorative, $1.50 - -“It is one of those exquisitely simple and truthful books that win -and charm the reader, and I did not put it down until I had finished -it--honest! And I am sure that every one, young or old, who reads will -be proud and happy to make the acquaintance of the delicious waif. - -“I cannot think of any better book for children than this. I commend it -unreservedly.”--_Cyrus Townsend Brady._ - - - =The Story of the Graveleys.= By MARSHALL SAUNDERS, author of - “Beautiful Joe’s Paradise,” “’Tilda Jane,” etc. - - Library 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated by E. B. Barry $1.50 - -Here we have the haps and mishaps, the trials and triumphs, of a -delightful New England family, of whose devotion and sturdiness it will -do the reader good to hear. - - - =Born to the Blue.= By FLORENCE KIMBALL RUSSEL. - - 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.25 - -The atmosphere of army life on the plains breathes on every page of -this delightful tale. The boy is the son of a captain of U. S. cavalry -stationed at a frontier post in the days when our regulars earned the -gratitude of a nation. - - - =In West Point Gray.= By FLORENCE KIMBALL RUSSEL. - - 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.25 - -West Point forms the background for the second volume in this series, -and gives us the adventures of Jack as a cadet. Here the training of -his childhood days in the frontier army post stands him in good stead; -and he quickly becomes the central figure of the West Point life. - - - =The Sandman; His Farm Stories.= By WILLIAM J. HOPKINS. With - fifty illustrations by Ada Clendenin Williamson. - - Large 12mo, decorative cover $1.50 - -“An amusing, original book, written for the benefit of very small -children. It should be one of the most popular of the year’s books for -reading to small children.”--_Buffalo Express._ - - - =The Sandman: More Farm Stories.= By WILLIAM J. HOPKINS. - - Large 12mo, decorative cover, fully illustrated $1.50 - -Mr. Hopkins’s first essay at bedtime stories met with such approval -that this second book of “Sandman” tales was issued for scores of eager -children. Life on the farm, and out-of-doors, is portrayed in his -inimitable manner. - - - =The Sandman: His Ship Stories.= By WILLIAM J. HOPKINS, author - of “The Sandman: His Farm Stories,” etc. - - Large 12mo, decorative cover, fully illustrated $1.50 - -“Mothers and fathers and kind elder sisters who put the little ones -to bed, and rack their brains for stories, will find this book a -treasure.”--_Cleveland Leader._ - -“Children call for these stories over and over again.”--_Chicago -Evening Post._ - - - =Pussy-Cat Town.= By MARION AMES TAGGART. - - Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in - colors $1.00 - -“Pussy-Cat Town” is a most unusual delightful cat story. Ban-Ban, a -pure Maltese who belonged to Rob, Kiku-san, Lois’s beautiful snow-white -pet, and their neighbors Bedelia the tortoise-shell, Madame Laura the -widow, Wutz Butz the warrior, and wise old Tommy Traddles, were really -and truly cats. - - - =The Roses of Saint Elizabeth.= By JANE SCOTT WOODRUFF, author - of “The Little Christmas Shoe.” - - Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in - colors by Adelaide Everhart $1.00 - -This is a charming little story of a child whose father was caretaker -of the great castle of the Wartburg, where Saint Elizabeth once had her -home. - - - =Gabriel and the Hour Book.= By EVALEEN STEIN. - - Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in - colors by Adelaide Everhart $1.00 - -Gabriel was a loving, patient, little French lad, who assisted the -monks in the long ago days, when all the books were written and -illuminated by hand, in the monasteries. - - - =The Enchanted Automobile.= Translated from the French by MARY - J. SAFFORD. - - Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in - colors by Edna M. Sawyer $1.00 - -The enchanted automobile was sent by the fairy godmother of a lazy, -discontented little prince and princess to take them to fairyland, -where they might visit their storybook favorites. - - - =The Red Feathers.= By THEODORE ROBERTS, author of “Brothers of - Peril,” etc. - -Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 - -“The Red Feathers” tells of the remarkable adventures of an Indian boy -who lived in the Stone Age, many years ago, when the world was young, -and when fairies and magicians did wonderful things for their friends -and enemies. - - - =The Wreck of the Ocean Queen.= By JAMES OTIS, author of “Larry - Hudson’s Ambition,” etc. - -Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 - -This story takes its readers on a sea voyage around the world; gives -them a trip on a treasure ship; an exciting experience in a terrific -gale; and finally a shipwreck, with a mutineering crew determined to -take the treasure to complicate matters. - -But only the mutineers will come to serious harm, and after the reader -has known the thrilling excitement of lack of food and water, of -attacks by night and day, and of a hand-to-hand fight, he is rescued -and brought safely home again,--to realize that it’s only a story, but -a stirring and realistic one. - - - =Little White Indians.= By FANNIE E. OSTRANDER. - -Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.25 - -The “Little White Indians” were two families of children who “played -Indian” all one long summer vacation. They built wigwams and made -camps; they went hunting and fought fierce battles on the war-trail. - -A bright, interesting story which will appeal strongly to the -“make-believe” instinct in children, and will give them a healthy, -active interest in “the simple life.” - - -COSY CORNER SERIES - - It is the intention of the publishers that this series shall - contain only the very highest and purest literature,--stories - that shall not only appeal to the children themselves, but be - appreciated by all those who feel with them in their joys and - sorrows. - - The numerous illustrations in each book are by well-known - artists, and each volume has a separate attractive cover design. - -Each 1 vol., 16mo, cloth $0.50 - - -_By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON_ - - -=The Little Colonel.= (Trade Mark.) - -The scene of this story is laid in Kentucky. Its heroine is a small -girl, who is known as the Little Colonel, on account of her fancied -resemblance to an old-school Southern gentleman, whose fine estate and -old family are famous in the region. - - -The Giant Scissors. - -This is the story of Joyce and of her adventures in France. Joyce is a -great friend of the Little Colonel, and in later volumes shares with -her the delightful experiences of the “House Party” and the “Holidays.” - - -Two Little Knights of Kentucky. - -WHO WERE THE LITTLE COLONEL’S NEIGHBORS. - -In this volume the Little Colonel returns to us like an old friend, but -with added grace and charm. She is not, however, the central figure of -the story, that place being taken by the “two little knights.” - - -Mildred’s Inheritance. - -A delightful little story of a lonely English girl who comes to America -and is befriended by a sympathetic American family who are attracted by -her beautiful speaking voice. By means of this one gift she is enabled -to help a school-girl who has temporarily lost the use of her eyes, and -thus finally her life becomes a busy, happy one. - - -Cicely and Other Stories for Girls. - -The readers of Mrs. Johnston’s charming juveniles will be glad to learn -of the issue of this volume for young people. - - -Aunt ’Liza’s Hero and Other Stories. - -A collection of six bright little stories, which will appeal to all -boys and most girls. - - -Big Brother. - -A story of two boys. The devotion and care of Steven, himself a small -boy, for his baby brother, is the theme of the simple tale. - - -Ole Mammy’s Torment. - -“Ole Mammy’s Torment” has been fitly called “a classic of Southern -life.” It relates the haps and mishaps of a small negro lad, and tells -how he was led by love and kindness to a knowledge of the right. - - -The Story of Dago. - -In this story Mrs. Johnston relates the story of Dago, a pet monkey, -owned jointly by two brothers. Dago tells his own story, and the -account of his haps and mishaps is both interesting and amusing. - - -The Quilt That Jack Built. - -A pleasant little story of a boy’s labor of love, and how it changed -the course of his life many years after it was accomplished. - - -Flip’s Islands of Providence. - -A story of a boy’s life battle, his early defeat, and his final -triumph, well worth the reading. - - -_By EDITH ROBINSON_ - - -A Little Puritan’s First Christmas. - -A Story of Colonial times in Boston, telling how Christmas was invented -by Betty Sewall, a typical child of the Puritans, aided by her brother -Sam. - - -A Little Daughter of Liberty. - -The author introduces this story as follows: - -“One ride is memorable in the early history of the American Revolution, -the well-known ride of Paul Revere. Equally deserving of commendation -is another ride,--the ride of Anthony Severn,--which was no less -historic in its action or memorable in its consequences.” - - -A Loyal Little Maid. - -A delightful and interesting story of Revolutionary days, in which the -child heroine, Betsey Schuyler, renders important services to George -Washington. - - -A Little Puritan Rebel. - -This is an historical tale of a real girl, during the time when the -gallant Sir Harry Vane was governor of Massachusetts. - - -A Little Puritan Pioneer. - -The scene of this story is laid in the Puritan settlement at -Charlestown. - - -A Little Puritan Bound Girl. - -A story of Boston in Puritan days, which is of great interest to -youthful readers. - - -A Little Puritan Cavalier. - -The story of a “Little Puritan Cavalier” who tried with all his boyish -enthusiasm to emulate the spirit and ideals of the dead Crusaders. - - -A Puritan Knight Errant. - -The story tells of a young lad in Colonial times who endeavored to -carry out the high ideals of the knights of olden days. - - -_By OUIDA_ (_Louise de la Ramée_) - - -=A Dog of Flanders=: A CHRISTMAS STORY. - -Too well and favorably known to require description. - - -The Nurnberg Stove. - -This beautiful story has never before been published at a popular price. - - -_By FRANCES MARGARET FOX_ - - -The Little Giant’s Neighbours. - -A charming nature story of a “little giant” whose neighbours were the -creatures of the field and garden. - - -Farmer Brown and the Birds. - -A little story which teaches children that the birds are man’s best -friends. - - -Betty of Old Mackinaw. - -A charming story of child-life, appealing especially to the little -readers who like stories of “real people.” - - -Brother Billy. - -The story of Betty’s brother, and some further adventures of Betty -herself. - - -Mother Nature’s Little Ones. - -Curious little sketches describing the early lifetime, or “childhood,” -of the little creatures out-of-doors. - - -How Christmas Came to the Mulvaneys. - -A bright, lifelike little story of a family of poor children, with an -unlimited capacity for fun and mischief. The wonderful never-to-be -forgotten Christmas that came to them is the climax of a series of -exciting incidents. - - -_By MISS MULOCK_ - - -The Little Lame Prince. - -A delightful story of a little boy who has many adventures by means of -the magic gifts of his fairy godmother. - - -Adventures of a Brownie. - -The story of a household elf who torments the cook and gardener, but is -a constant joy and delight to the children who love and trust him. - - -His Little Mother. - -Miss Mulock’s short stories for children are a constant source of -delight to them, and “His Little Mother,” in this new and attractive -dress, will be welcomed by hosts of youthful readers. - - -Little Sunshine’s Holiday. - -An attractive story of a summer outing. “Little Sunshine” is another -of those beautiful child-characters for which Miss Mulock is so justly -famous. - - -_By MARSHALL SAUNDERS_ - - -For His Country. - -A sweet and graceful story of a little boy who loved his country; -written with that charm which has endeared Miss Saunders to hosts of -readers. - - -Nita, the Story of an Irish Setter. - -In this touching little book, Miss Saunders shows how dear to her heart -are all of God’s dumb creatures. - - -Alpatok, the Story of an Eskimo Dog. - -Alpatok, an Eskimo dog from the far north, was stolen from his master -and left to starve in a strange city, but was befriended and cared for, -until he was able to return to his owner. Miss Saunders’s story is -based on truth, and the pictures in the book of “Alpatok” are based on -a photograph of the real Eskimo dog who had such a strange experience. - - -_By WILL ALLEN DROMGOOLE_ - - -The Farrier’s Dog and His Fellow. - -This story, written by the gifted young Southern woman, will appeal to -all that is best in the natures of the many admirers of her graceful -and piquant style. - - -The Fortunes of the Fellow. - -Those who read and enjoyed the pathos and charm of “The Farrier’s Dog -and His Fellow” will welcome the further account of the adventures of -Baydaw and the Fellow at the home of the kindly smith. - - -The Best of Friends. - -This continues the experiences of the Farrier’s dog and his Fellow, -written in Miss Dromgoole’s well-known charming style. - - -Down in Dixie. - -A fascinating story for boys and girls, of a family of Alabama children -who move to Florida and grow up in the South. - - -_By MARIAN W. WILDMAN_ - - -Loyalty Island. - -An account of the adventures of four children and their pet dog on -an island, and how they cleared their brother from the suspicion of -dishonesty. - - -Theodore and Theodora. - -This is a story of the exploits and mishaps of two mischievous twins, -and continues the adventures of the interesting group of children in -“Loyalty Island.” - - -_By CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS_ - - -The Cruise of the Yacht Dido. - -The story of two boys who turned their yacht into a fishing boat to -earn money to pay for a college course, and of their adventures while -exploring in search of hidden treasure. - - -The Young Acadian. - -The story of a young lad of Acadia who rescued a little English girl -from the hands of savages. - - -The Lord of the Air. - -THE STORY OF THE EAGLE - - -The King of the Mamozekel. - -THE STORY OF THE MOOSE - - -The Watchers of the Camp-fire. - -THE STORY OF THE PANTHER - - -The Haunter of the Pine Gloom. - -THE STORY OF THE LYNX - - -The Return to the Trails. - -THE STORY OF THE BEAR - - -The Little People of the Sycamore. - -THE STORY OF THE RACCOON - - -_By OTHER AUTHORS_ - - -The Great Scoop. - -_By MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL_ - -A capital tale of newspaper life in a big city, and of a bright, -enterprising, likable youngster employed thereon. - - -John Whopper. - -The late Bishop Clark’s popular story of the boy who fell through the -earth and came out in China, with a new introduction by Bishop Potter. - - -The Dole Twins. - -_By KATE UPSON CLARK_ - -The adventures of two little people who tried to earn money to buy -crutches for a lame aunt. An excellent description of child-life about -1812, which will greatly interest and amuse the children of to-day, -whose life is widely different. - - -Larry Hudson’s Ambition. - -_By JAMES OTIS_, author of “Toby Tyler,” etc. - -Larry Hudson is a typical American boy, whose hard work and enterprise -gain him his ambition,--an education and a start in the world. - - -The Little Christmas Shoe. - -_By JANE P. SCOTT WOODRUFF_ - -A touching story of Yule-tide. - - -Wee Dorothy. - -_By LAURA UPDEGRAFF_ - -A story of two orphan children, the tender devotion of the eldest, -a boy, for his sister being its theme and setting. With a bit of -sadness at the beginning, the story is otherwise bright and sunny, and -altogether wholesome in every way. - - - =The King of the Golden River=: A LEGEND OF STIRIA. _By JOHN - RUSKIN_ - -Written fifty years or more ago, and not originally intended for -publication, this little fairy-tale soon became known and made a place -for itself. - - -A Child’s Garden of Verses. - -_By R. L. STEVENSON_ - -Mr. Stevenson’s little volume is too well known to need description. It -will be heartily welcomed in this new and attractive edition. - - -THE LITTLE COUSIN SERIES - -The most delightful and interesting accounts possible of child-life in -other lands, filled with quaint sayings, doings, and adventures. - -Each one vol., 12mo, decorative cover, cloth, with six or more -full-page illustrations in color. - - Price per volume $0.60 - - -_By MARY HAZELTON WADE_ (_unless otherwise indicated_) - - =Our Little African Cousin= - - =Our Little Alaskan Cousin= - By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet - - =Our Little Arabian Cousin= - By Blanche McManus - - =Our Little Armenian Cousin= - - =Our Little Brown Cousin= - - =Our Little Canadian Cousin= - By Elizabeth R. Macdonald - - =Our Little Chinese Cousin= - By Isaac Taylor Headland - - =Our Little Cuban Cousin= - - =Our Little Dutch Cousin= - By Blanche McManus - - =Our Little English Cousin= - By Blanche McManus - - =Our Little Eskimo Cousin= - - =Our Little French Cousin= - By Blanche McManus - - =Our Little German Cousin= - - =Our Little Hawaiian Cousin= - - =Our Little Hindu Cousin= - By Blanche McManus - - =Our Little Indian Cousin= - - =Our Little Irish Cousin= - - =Our Little Italian Cousin= - - =Our Little Japanese Cousin= - - =Our Little Jewish Cousin= - - =Our Little Korean Cousin= - By H. Lee M. Pike - - =Our Little Mexican Cousin= - By Edward C. Butler - - =Our Little Norwegian Cousin= - - =Our Little Panama Cousin= - By H. Lee M. Pike - - =Our Little Philippine Cousin= - - =Our Little Porto Rican Cousin= - - =Our Little Russian Cousin= - - =Our Little Scotch Cousin= - By Blanche McManus - - =Our Little Siamese Cousin= - - =Our Little Spanish Cousin= - By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet - - =Our Little Swedish Cousin= - By Claire M. Coburn - - =Our Little Swiss Cousin= - - =Our Little Turkish Cousin= - - -THE GOLDENROD LIBRARY - -The Goldenrod Library contains stories which appeal alike both to -children and to their parents and guardians. - -Each volume is well illustrated from drawings by competent artists, -which, together with their handsomely decorated uniform binding, -showing the goldenrod, usually considered the emblem of America, is a -feature of their manufacture. - - Each one volume, small 12mo, illustrated $0.35 - - -LIST OF TITLES - - =Aunt Nabby’s Children.= By Frances Hodges White. - =Child’s Dream of a Star, The.= By Charles Dickens. - =Flight of Rosy Dawn, The.= By Pauline Bradford Mackie. - =Findelkind.= By Ouida. - =Fairy of the Rhone, The.= By A. Comyns Carr. - =Gatty and I.= By Frances E. Crompton. - =Helena’s Wonderworld.= By Frances Hodges White. - =Jerry’s Reward.= By Evelyn Snead Barnett. - =La Belle Nivernaise.= By Alphonse Daudet. - =Little King Davie.= By Nellie Hellis. - =Little Peterkin Vandike.= By Charles Stuart Pratt. - =Little Professor, The.= By Ida Horton Cash. - =Peggy’s Trial.= By Mary Knight Potter. - =Prince Yellowtop.= By Kate Whiting Patch. - =Provence Rose, A.= By Ouida. - =Seventh Daughter, A.= By Grace Wickham Curran. - =Sleeping Beauty, The.= By Martha Baker Dunn. - =Small, Small Child, A.= By E. Livingston Prescott. - =Susanne.= By Frances J. Delano. - =Water People, The.= By Charles Lee Sleight. - =Young Archer, The.= By Charles E. Brimblecom. - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - -Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations -in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other -spelling and punctuation remains unchanged. - -Italics are represented thus _italic_, bold is represented -thus =bold=. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS' -CLUB *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ -concept and trademark. 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Sawyer</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Christmas Makers' Club</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Edith A. Sawyer</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Illustrator: Ada C. Williamson</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: January 22, 2023 [eBook #69854]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Charlene Taylor, Krista Zaleski and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS' CLUB ***</div> - - - - - -<h1>THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB</h1> - -<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="frontis" style="max-width: 33.4375em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/frontis.png" alt=""> - <figcaption class="caption">“‘NOW CHILDREN, WE MUST MAKE OUR PLANS.’” -<p class="right"> -(<i>See <a href="#now">page 20</a></i>) -</p> -</figcaption> -</figure> - - - -<div class="chapter bbox2"> -<div class="bbox"> -<p class="center xbig"> The Christmas - Makers’ Club</p> -<p class="center"> BY<br> - <span class="big">EDITH A. SAWYER</span></p> -</div> -<div class="bbox"> - -<p class="center"> Illustrated by - <span class="big">ADA C. WILLIAMSON</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="bbox"> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2"><i>Of glad things there be ... four;</i></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><i>A lark above the old nest blithely singing,</i></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><i>A wild rose clinging</i></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><i>In safety to a rock: a shepherd bringing</i></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><i>A lamb, found, in his arms,</i></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><i>And Christmas bells a-ringing.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p class="right"> <i>Willis Boyd Allen</i> -</p> -<p class="center"> <figure class="figcenter illowp25" id="titlepage" style="max-width: 26.4375em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/titlepage.png" alt=""> -</figure> -</div> -<div class="bbox"> -<table class="autotable"> - -<tr> -<td class="tdc" colspan="2" style="padding-left: 2em; padding-right: 2em"> L. C. PAGE & COMPANY</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">BOSTON</td> -<td class="tdr">MDCCCCVIII</td> -</tr> -</table> - -</div> -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center p6"> <i>Copyright, 1908</i><br> - <span class="smcap">By L. C. Page & Company</span><br> - (INCORPORATED)</p> -</div> -<hr> -<p class="center"> <i>All rights reserved</i></p> - -<p class="center p4"> First Impression, May, 1908</p> - - -<p class="center p6"> <i>COLONIAL PRESS</i><br> - <i>Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co.</i><br> - <i>Boston, U.S.A.</i> -</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center p4 cursive big"> -To<br> -<br> -Margaret and Ruth<br> -Dorothy and ’Nita<br> -</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="nobreak h2" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</p> -</div> - - -<table class="autotable"> -<tr> -<td class="tdc" colspan="2"> CHAPTER</td> -<td class="tdr"> PAGE</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"> I.</td> -<td class="tdl"> <span class="smcap">The Club Gathers for Work and Play</span></td> -<td class="tdr"> <a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"> II.</td> -<td class="tdl"> <span class="smcap">Prince Gray Owl</span></td> -<td class="tdr"> <a href="#Page_38">38</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"> III.</td> -<td class="tdl"> <span class="smcap">What the Woods Gave</span></td> -<td class="tdr"> <a href="#Page_83">83</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"> IV.</td> -<td class="tdl"> <span class="smcap">The Club Goes Visiting</span></td> -<td class="tdr"> <a href="#Page_124">124</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"> V.</td> -<td class="tdl"> <span class="smcap">A Little Old Lady’s Doll</span></td> -<td class="tdr"> <a href="#Page_155">155</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"> VI.</td> -<td class="tdl"> <span class="smcap">The Boy in the Club</span></td> -<td class="tdr"> <a href="#Page_195">195</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"> VII.</td> -<td class="tdl"> <span class="smcap">Gray Owl Santa Claus</span></td> -<td class="tdr"> <a href="#Page_237">237</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="nobreak h2" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</p> -</div> - -<table class="autotable"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"></td> -<td class="tdr"> PAGE</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> “‘<span class="smcap">Now children, we must make our plans</span>’” (<i>See page 20</i>)</td> -<td class="tdr"><i><a href="#frontis">Frontispiece</a></i></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> “<span class="smcap">‘Yes, gray owl,’ she answered</span>”</td> -<td class="tdr"> <a href="#facing062">62</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> “<span class="smcap">Soothing the child who clung to him so passionately</span>”</td> -<td class="tdr"> <a href="#facing148">149</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> “‘<span class="smcap">What did I see but a black-eyed doll</span>’”</td> -<td class="tdr"> <a href="#facing174">174</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> “<span class="smcap">The twins made a striking picture</span>”</td> -<td class="tdr"> <a href="#facing226">226</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> “<span class="smcap">‘But we want you!’ wailed the club</span>”</td> -<td class="tdr"> <a href="#facing244">244</a></td> -</tr> -</table> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="nobreak h2" id="THE_CHRISTMAS_MAKERS_CLUB">THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS’ CLUB</p> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I<br> -<span class="small">THE CLUB GATHERS FOR WORK AND PLAY</span></h2></div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent10">Didst thou never know</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The joy of following the path untrod?</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"> -—<i>Margaret E. Sherwood: Persephone.</i> -</p> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/image001.png" alt=""> -</div> - -<p class="noindent drop-cap">“HOW I wish we had something new and interesting to do Friday -afternoons!” said Elsa Danforth, a slim girl in a black coat, with a -soft, wide black felt hat set back on the yellow hair which floated -like a cloud of pale gold over her shoulders. Elsa was the tallest of -the three girls who had hurried away from school together that gray -mid-November afternoon. They were just now turning into Washington -Avenue.</p> - -<p>“It’s too cold to play outdoors,” said Betty White, dancing on ahead, -her bag of school-books swung over her shoulder. Betty’s brown eyes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span> -danced like her feet, and so did the capes to her long blue coat and -the wavy brown hair tied back with a bow of wide white ribbon.</p> - -<p>“Isn’t there something we can do?” asked Alice Holt, the youngest and -smallest of the three, hurrying to keep up with the others.</p> - -<p>“Play dolls or play school is all I can think of,” said Betty. “O Elsa, -we might go to your house and play with you!” she added, turning to -Elsa. Betty had wanted to have a good look at the great house where -Elsa Danforth lived with her grandmother. Betty had been in the house -only twice, and then but for a few moments, since the Danforths came -there in September.</p> - -<p>“But—” began Elsa. Then she stopped; she could not bear to say that -her grandmother had told her not to bring children home with her to -play.</p> - -<p>“I tell you what let’s do,” Alice exclaimed, before Betty could say -anything. “Let’s start some kind of a club, and have it meet Friday -afternoons. We might have it a Christmas Club.”</p> - -<p>“Only grown-up people have clubs,” objected Betty instantly; she was -still thinking of what fun it would be to go all over the Danforth -house.</p> - -<p>“We could have a club, though we are children,” said Elsa eagerly. “I -am almost twelve years old.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span></p> - -<p>“I am only eleven,” said Betty, who, however, was nearly as tall as -Elsa.</p> - -<p>“And I am only ten and a half,” said Alice, running a little ahead, her -blue eyes very wide open with interest. “But it truly doesn’t matter -how old we are; we all play together and we like the same things.” -Alice was a quaint little figure. She looked like a rather shabbily -dressed doll, with her blue eyes and pink cheeks, her thick blue coat -which came just to her knees, and a shaggy blue tam-o’-shanter, below -which hung very smooth hair cut short around her neck.</p> - -<p>“If we have a club, where will it meet?” asked Elsa.</p> - -<p>“It can come to my house,” said Betty, beginning to be interested, and -dancing on ahead, backward now.</p> - -<p>“It can meet at my house, too, though I live rather far away,” said -Alice.</p> - -<p>Elsa walked on slowly, behind the others. She alone did not offer to -have the club meet at her home.</p> - -<p>They were directly in front of Betty’s home, a large and -pleasant-looking house on this main avenue of the suburban town of -Berkeley. “Come into my house and we will start the club now,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span> urged -Betty, running up the front steps. But she stopped as Elsa said: “I -must go and ask grandmother if I can belong.”</p> - -<p>“O, of course she will let you,” exclaimed Betty. But Elsa, with flying -yellow hair, was already half-way home. So Betty and Alice waited on -the top step.</p> - -<p>In a very short time Elsa came running back and announced breathlessly: -“Yes—I can belong—and I can stay till five o’clock.” Her usually pale -face was rosy from the haste, and her wide-brimmed hat had slipped down -over her loose, fair hair.</p> - -<p>It would be hard to find three girls more unlike than these three good -friends who went hurrying into the house together. Elsa, the oldest, -had a sensitive face and deep violet-gray eyes, which, with her soft, -silky hair, gave her a delicate, almost flower-like look. Betty, -next in age, was a lively, wide-awake girl with merry brown eyes and -bright cheeks; she was always a leader, and sometimes a wilful one, in -any fun or adventure. Alice—“Baby Alice,” as Betty often teasingly -called her—had softly rounded cheeks, big blue eyes, and a fair, high -forehead. Alice was a dreamy, rather quiet child, but everybody loved -her for her unselfish, affectionate ways.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span></p> - -<p>Betty opened the hall door and went ahead through the wide hall. “Hang -your coats and things here in the closet,” she cried, taking off her -overshoes, “and come on up to the nursery. We can have it all to -ourselves.”</p> - -<p>Elsa’s eyes shone with pleasure as she looked around the hospitable -hall and at the huge fireplace where a bright fire burned. She always -felt the homelikeness of the Whites’ house the moment she came into it. -It was so unlike her grandmother’s house, where everything was stiff -and stately.</p> - -<p>Elsa especially loved the nursery, Betty’s bedroom and playroom, for -it had picture-paper of children resting under trees and of wandering -brooks which led to other children and other trees; it had also a broad -window-shelf filled with bright-blossoming geraniums, and above, a -cage with three tiny East Indian strawberry-birds; and—best of all -to Elsa—a row of dolls, large and small, on a long, chintz-covered -window-seat between Betty’s blue-and-white bed on one side and her -dolls’ house on the other. Indeed, Elsa loved Betty’s room quite as -much as Betty herself did.</p> - -<p>Alice had never been in the room before. “O, what dear, lovely birds!” -she exclaimed, clasping her dimpled hands and looking up with round, -surprised<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span> eyes at the three mites of birds, brown with red spots, -red eyes and red beaks, and legs so thin and needle-like as to seem -scarcely strong enough to support even the tiny bodies.</p> - -<p>“They are the dearest things,” said Betty enthusiastically. “Uncle -John brought them to me from India. I am glad there are three of them, -because if one dies there will be two left.”</p> - -<p>“But what if two die?” asked Alice anxiously.</p> - -<p>That, however, Betty did not want to think of, so she said hurriedly: -“Come on, let’s decide about the club.”</p> - -<p>“What shall we name it?” asked Elsa, who had settled herself on the -soft rug by the bedside, with one elbow on the window-seat so that she -could better look at the dolls.</p> - -<p>“The Friday Club,” suggested Betty, who was sitting at the foot of the -bed.</p> - -<p>“I like ‘Club of Three,’” said Alice, turning away from the strawberry -birds with a little sigh of happiness.</p> - -<p>“I don’t like either of those names,” said Elsa. “Why not call it the -Christmas Club, if that is what it is going to be?”</p> - -<p>“Anybody can have a Christmas Club,” objected Betty, tightening the -white ribbon bow on her hair.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span></p> - -<p>“Why not ask somebody to name it for us?” suggested Alice.</p> - -<p>“No, we must name it ourselves, and keep the name a secret,” came -Betty’s quick answer.</p> - -<p>“Then let’s choose one of us president, and let her name it,” said -Elsa, who had Betty’s smallest doll in her lap now.</p> - -<p>“All right,” replied Betty, looking from Elsa to Alice, whose eyes were -again fixed upon the birds. Then, because Alice was always peacemaker, -Betty said: “I will choose Alice for president.”</p> - -<p>“And I will choose Elsa,” said Alice quickly, looking around.</p> - -<p>“I will choose Betty,” said Elsa.</p> - -<p>“Dear me!” cried Betty, jumping up so suddenly that the tiny -brown-and-red birds began fluttering around their cage; “we are all -president, and that means nobody is president, and we haven’t any name -either.”</p> - -<p>“I think we’d better give up the club,” said Alice, seeing trouble -ahead.</p> - -<p>“It was you who wanted to start it, and now you are backing out, -Alice,” cried Betty, stamping her foot impatiently. The little birds -had a panic of fluttering.</p> - -<p>“I’m not backing out, only if we are going to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span> get into a fuss the -first thing, we might as well give it up,” said Alice wisely.</p> - -<p>“Why not play dolls?” suggested Elsa, noticing that the hands of the -blue-and-white clock on the shelf were pointing at four. Elsa did not -have many chances to be with other children, and she did not like to -have the time go so fast now.</p> - -<p>“No, let’s stick to the club,” insisted Betty, reseating herself on the -bed.</p> - -<p>Just then Betty’s mother came to the nursery door with a rosy-cheeked -baby in her arms who looked like a smaller Betty. The white-capped -nurse followed close behind.</p> - -<p>“I am sorry to disturb you, children,” said Mrs. White, after a -pleasant word of greeting, “but Nurse has just brought baby in from -out-of-doors, and she wants to put him in the nursery, as he is -fretful, and watching the birds always quiets him. Take your friends -down to the living-room, Betty.”</p> - -<p>“But, mother, we are just starting—” began Betty.</p> - -<p>“Betty dear, remember not to argue when I ask you to do anything,” -murmured Mrs. White into her little daughter’s ear, stooping to kiss -her forehead.</p> - -<p>Elsa and Alice were already at the nursery door,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span> looking with adoring -eyes at the baby, who was stretching out his chubby hands toward the -birds.</p> - -<p>“We can stay in the living-room just as well, mother dear,” said Betty, -patting her baby brother’s cheek affectionately and then quickly -leading the way down-stairs.</p> - -<p>The living-room had a low ceiling and diamond-paned windows. The -large centre-table was covered with books, the chairs were deep and -comfortable, and on the wide couch opposite the fireplace lay two -great, sleek gray cats curled up, fast asleep.</p> - -<p>“What are your cats’ names?” asked Alice, who, not being a near -neighbour, did not know so much of Betty’s home and pets as did Elsa.</p> - -<p>“Romulus and Remus,” said Betty. “But we must talk about the club.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe we are going to have any club,” said Elsa, beginning -to stroke the cats, who purred in lazy content, without opening their -eyes.</p> - -<p>“Then it is your own fault,” exclaimed Betty, with a flash of temper.</p> - -<p>“Why?” Elsa left off petting the cats and sat up very straight on the -sofa.</p> - -<p>“Because you give up so soon,” replied Betty.</p> - -<p>Elsa suddenly bent low over the cats until her golden hair hid her -face, but she made no answer.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span></p> - -<p>“I wish we had some one older to manage for us,” sighed Alice, turning -over the pages of a picture-book on the table.</p> - -<p>“I tell you what we can do,” cried Betty, jumping up from the black -bearskin hearth-rug where she had settled herself momentarily. “We can -ask Miss Ruth Warren to be in the club!”</p> - -<p>“But will she want to be in a club with little girls?” asked Alice -anxiously.</p> - -<p>“I think she will,” returned Betty.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps she will be president,” suggested Alice, who was a born -peacemaker.</p> - -<p>“Maybe she will name the club for us,” put in Elsa, raising her head. -The flash of sensitiveness had died out of her violet-gray eyes.</p> - -<p>“Come on, then! Let’s ask her now,” said Betty; and in another moment -the three girls had slipped on their coats and were running toward the -Warrens’ house.</p> - -<p>The Warren family was a small one now; only Miss Ruth and a maiden aunt -lived in the old home-stead. There had always been some one for Ruth -Warren to devote herself to,—first her mother, then her grandmother, -next her father; and now the last of her older relatives, this aunt -who thought herself so much of an invalid that she seldom came<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span> -down-stairs. Ruth’s brothers and sisters had married and left the old -home; but although Ruth had chosen to remain unmarried, she had a busy -life and a happy one, with her home cares and housekeeping, and a large -number of nephews and nieces to love. There was a touch of sunshine -about her that made other people the happier for knowing her. She was -pleasant, too, to look upon, for she had beautiful brown eyes and -warm-toned yellow hair. She was girlish-looking, in spite of her thirty -years, and she always wore soft, graceful, unrustling gowns.</p> - -<p>She had just come, this afternoon, from a luncheon-party, and, finding -that her aunt had a caller, she seated herself before the open fire -in the library, trying to decide whether or not she would go to Mrs. -Wharton’s tea, at five o’clock. “I wish there were something more -interesting to do,” she said to herself; “luncheons and afternoon teas -are all about alike.”</p> - -<p>Old Sarah, the family servant, appeared at the library doorway just -then. “Well, Sarah?” said Miss Ruth, looking up at the tall, thin, -spectacled woman, whose corkscrew-like curls were bobbing with her -displeasure.</p> - -<p>“Three little girls to see you,” said Sarah, her lips screwing -themselves tight together as if in objection<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span> to three little girls -coming into the house. “And here they are, chasing right after me,” she -snapped out, moving to one side.</p> - -<p>Betty, who felt quite at home here, had urged the other children into -following Sarah to the library.</p> - -<p>Miss Ruth rose quickly and went forward to meet them: “Come in, girls,” -she said, in a friendly voice. “I am glad to see you.”</p> - -<p>“You know Elsa Danforth?” said Betty, in a suddenly shy manner.</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed; Elsa is my neighbour, though she has never been in my -house before,” replied Miss Ruth, taking Elsa’s hand into her cordial -grasp.</p> - -<p>“And this is our little friend, Alice Holt,” said Betty, drawing -blue-eyed Alice forward.</p> - -<p>“Are you going somewhere?” asked Betty, almost before Miss Ruth had -time to greet Alice. “You look all dressed up.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Miss Ruth, deciding instantly that she would not go to Mrs. -Wharton’s tea. “I have just come from somewhere. Take off your coats -and sit down, girls.”</p> - -<p>“We want you to be in our club,” began Betty.</p> - -<p>“What kind of a club is it?”</p> - -<p>“It is a Christmas Club, for play,” said Betty.</p> - -<p>“And work, too,” put in Elsa, shyly, thinking<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span> that their play alone -might not interest grown-up Miss Ruth.</p> - -<p>“Making Christmas presents especially,” said Betty, feeling hopeful.</p> - -<p>“For whom?” asked Miss Ruth. She had a way of making people feel -comfortable, and she met the children’s request so naturally that they -were speedily losing their shyness.</p> - -<p>“For our friends,” said Betty.</p> - -<p>“We might make things for the children at the Convalescent Home,” -suggested Alice, drawing her chair a little nearer.</p> - -<p>“What is that?” asked Elsa.</p> - -<p>“O, it’s a big, big brick house about a mile from where I live,” -explained Alice eagerly; “and children are brought there from the city -hospital—children who are getting cured, and they stay there sometimes -a long, long while for the country air and the sunshine make them well -again. Some of them are on crutches and have bandages all over them -and some are fastened to boards.” Alice had talked very fast, and she -stopped now, quite out of breath.</p> - -<p>“I shouldn’t like to see them,” said Betty, shrugging her shoulders.</p> - -<p>“But they are all getting well, even though they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span> do have crutches -and boards and bandages,” continued Alice, her blue eyes shining with -interest. “Mother takes us children over there once in a while; she -says it is good for us, because it makes us more tender-hearted.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe my grandmother would let me go,” said Elsa, who had -been leaning forward, listening intently, with her chin in the palm of -her slim little hand. “Grandmother is particular about the children I -associate with, and I suppose these are all poor children. I should -just love to go, though,” she added, with a long sigh.</p> - -<p>“Wouldn’t it be a good plan for our club to make things to give those -little children?” asked Betty, growing more interested the more she -thought about the children.</p> - -<p>“The very thing!” said Miss Ruth. “Miss Hartwell, who is at the head of -the Convalescent Home, told me only yesterday that about fifty children -are there now. Of course the playthings wear out, and when the children -go back to their homes, cured, they want to take with them the toys -they have grown fond of. But what have you named your club?” asked Miss -Ruth, turning to Betty.</p> - -<p>“That’s what we can’t decide about,” said Betty. “We want you to name -it and be president.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span></p> - -<p>“But this is such a great honour!” exclaimed Miss Ruth. Her brown eyes -had a way of laughing, even when her face was sober.</p> - -<p>“Now, Miss Ruth,—don’t laugh at us, please,” begged Betty, slipping -her arm around Miss Ruth’s neck.</p> - -<p>“Why not name it the Christmas Makers’ Club,” suggested Miss Ruth, with -serious eyes now, “—especially if you decide to make things for the -convalescent children?”</p> - -<p>“That’s the very best name we could have!” cried Betty, jumping up and -clapping her hands.</p> - -<p>“Splendid!” exclaimed Alice, two dimples showing in her soft pink -cheeks.</p> - -<p>“It sounds like all sorts of interesting things,” said Elsa, coming to -Miss Ruth’s side and timidly stroking her sleeve.</p> - -<p>“We must keep it a secret, though. We mustn’t tell the name to -anybody,” said Betty, perching herself on the arm of Miss Ruth’s chair, -at the other side. “People will have to know there is a club, but they -mustn’t know anything more than that.”</p> - -<p>“How will you keep your work a secret?” asked Miss Ruth.</p> - -<p>“If you are our president, you might keep the presents we make,” said -Elsa.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span></p> - -<p>“Please, O, please!” begged Betty and Alice in a chorus. “Please be -president!”</p> - -<p>Miss Ruth looked from one to another of the bright, excited faces, for -a moment. “I will gladly be your president, and keep your work,—and do -anything else you want me to,” she said, finally.</p> - -<p>Elsa’s face flushed rosy with pleasure, and she gave little Alice a -good hug. Betty dropped a warm kiss on Miss Ruth’s hair and said: “Then -come back with us now to my house, because I invited the Club to meet -there first.”</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren was as good as her word: “I will go where the Club wants me -to go,” she said, rising. “First of all, though, let me give you some -plum buns which Sarah made this morning.”</p> - -<p>“I know old Sarah’s plum buns; they are as good as she is cross,” said -Betty, as Miss Ruth left the room.</p> - -<p>“That’s not very polite, Betty,” said Alice.</p> - -<p>“I don’t care. I am not very polite, anyway,” replied Betty quickly. “I -tell the truth, though.”</p> - -<p>“That sounds as if you thought other girls didn’t tell the truth!” -exclaimed Elsa.</p> - -<p>“It is pretty hard to, always,” said Alice slowly. “I try to, but -sometimes the fib slips out first, and then it’s all the harder to get -the truth out.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span></p> - -<p>“Mother always catches me if I don’t tell things straight,” confessed -Betty.</p> - -<p>“Papa used to tell me that the only thing he wanted me to be afraid of -was of not telling the truth,” Elsa said, her face growing suddenly -sad. Her father had died less than a year ago.</p> - -<p>At that moment Miss Ruth came into the room with a large plateful of -buns,—crisp and tempting and full of raisins,—and soon all three -girls were eating with a relish, as children eat, just after school.</p> - -<p>“Come!” said Betty, taking up her coat. “We ought to start.”</p> - -<p>Alice and Elsa obligingly put on their coats, but Ruth Warren saw that -they hesitated, and Betty as much as the others: there was yet a goodly -pile of buns left.</p> - -<p>“Fill your pockets, girls,” she said. “Sarah will be disappointed if -you don’t eat all the buns.” So the three girls filled their pockets, -and Alice said shyly: “I will take one to Ben if you don’t mind. O, -thank you!”</p> - -<p>“Who is Ben?” inquired Ruth Warren, as with a dark red golf cape over -her black lace gown, she started forth with the girls for Betty’s -home,—Betty<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span> hanging upon one arm, while Elsa and Alice walked on the -other side.</p> - -<p>“Ben is my twin brother,” Alice replied. “He’s ’most always hungry; -mother says boys always are.”</p> - -<p>“Three plum buns!” exclaimed Betty. Then she repeated in a comical, -sing-song voice:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6">“Three plum buns!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">One for you and one for me,</div> - <div class="verse indent6">And one left over:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Give it to the boy who shouts</div> - <div class="verse indent6">To scare sheep from the clover.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“But Ben doesn’t scare sheep from the clover,—because we haven’t any -sheep,” said Alice, very earnestly. “All we have is hens.”</p> - -<p>“O, Alice,” cried Betty, “that is only poetry.”</p> - -<p>“You do have hens then, Alice?” asked Miss Ruth quickly, seeing the -child’s face redden.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and Ben takes care of them, and he sells the eggs,” answered -Alice proudly.</p> - -<p>“They have the loveliest place,” said Betty, “a little hens’ house, and -they raise lettuce and radishes and all sorts of good things to eat.”</p> - -<p>“You see,” cried Alice, feeling that some explanation was necessary, -and running a little ahead in her eagerness: “father isn’t very well, -and he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span> is a teacher, and he had to go out West for his health, and we -can’t afford to go, too, and we all try to help earn money to help, -because he doesn’t have much money. Besides Ben’s chickens, mother has -a market-garden, and a hired man to help; and I help, too. Perhaps the -Club will meet out at my house, sometimes.”</p> - -<p>“We will surely have at least one meeting there,” said Miss Ruth, while -Elsa’s eyes danced with pleasant anticipations.</p> - -<p>Betty hurried ahead, ran up the steps of her home and threw open the -door, her heart swelling with hospitality. “O mother!” she exclaimed, -for Mrs. White was just passing through the hall; “Miss Ruth is going -to belong to our Club!”</p> - -<p>“This is good of you, Ruth,” said Mrs. White, greeting her neighbour -cordially. “But you must not let the children trespass upon your time.”</p> - -<p>Betty looked up in dismay: had they been asking too much of Miss Ruth?</p> - -<p>“It will be such a new and refreshing kind of Club that I shall enjoy -it,” said Ruth Warren reassuringly.</p> - -<p>“It is good for us to dare to be children with children,” said Mrs. -White, stroking Elsa’s soft hair and looking into the appealing -violet-gray eyes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span> that always brought a thrill of sympathy into her -heart for the motherless child.</p> - -<p>Elsa, meeting the kind glance, said very earnestly: “We are going to -call the Club—”</p> - -<p>“O, Elsa, you mustn’t tell! You will spoil it all,” cried Betty -impatiently.</p> - -<p>“Forgive my little Betty for her interruption, Elsa,” said Mrs. White, -seeing the colour rush into Elsa’s face. “Fault-finding is an easy -trade, Betty. But I suppose you children will all enjoy your Club more -if you keep the name and what you do as a secret.”</p> - -<p>Elsa looked up into Mrs. White’s kindly face and wondered if Betty -realized how fortunate she was in having such a mother, who understood -so well what little girls wanted.</p> - -<p>“We are going to make—” began Betty.</p> - -<p>“There, Betty, who is telling now!” said Mrs. White laughingly. “I am -afraid I shall be learning your secrets if I stay any longer,” she -added, turning away. “Be sure you don’t let the children bother you, -Ruth.”</p> - -<p>“No danger of that,” was the quick reply. And already, indeed, Ruth -Warren’s face looked younger and happier. <a id="now"></a>“Now, children, we must make -our plans,” she continued, when they were all in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> living-room. “It -seems to me the meetings would better be at my house. You can come -there on your way from school, and I will have everything ready,—our -work and something to eat.”</p> - -<p>“That will be better than meeting here,” said Betty instantly, “because -the other children—Max and Janet—come home from the high school early -and they might be around sometimes, and sometimes we should have to -keep very quiet on account of the baby.”</p> - -<p>“It would be a little nearer our house, too,” said Elsa, “and -grandmother could see Miss Ruth’s house from the window, and maybe I -could stay later than five o’clock sometimes.”</p> - -<p>“And how would you like it, Alice?” asked Ruth Warren, turning to the -fair-haired child who was usually the last speaker.</p> - -<p>“O, I’d like ever and ever so much to have the Club meet at your -house,” said Alice eagerly. “Ben can call for me to go home.”</p> - -<p>“Then we have our name settled, and the place where we shall meet,” -said Miss Ruth. “Next we must decide what to give the Convalescent Home -children for Christmas.”</p> - -<p>“Dolls!” cried Betty, from a big, square cushion on the floor.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span></p> - -<p>“Dolls!” echoed Elsa, curled up on the wide sofa beside the two sleepy -gray cats.</p> - -<p>“Dolls,—different kinds, paper dolls and some rag dolls,” said Alice, -her shabby little shoes sticking out straight ahead from the depths of -the chair she had chosen.</p> - -<p>“Rag dolls!” Betty tossed her head scornfully.</p> - -<p>“Yes,—rag dolls, please,” urged Elsa.</p> - -<p>“Some rag dolls, surely,” said Miss Ruth; “one of my dearest dolls -was a black Dinah with a red dress and yellow ribbons on her woolly -hair,—a homely-dear doll my grandmother made for me.”</p> - -<p>“Did your grandmother make dolls for you?” asked Elsa in a low voice.</p> - -<p>“Yes—but that was probably because somebody had made dolls for her -when she was a little girl,” explained Miss Ruth.</p> - -<p>“Dolls, then, it’s going to be,” said Betty. “We will all buy some -dolls, and make dresses for them ourselves, at the Club meetings.”</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren glanced at the children quickly. Elsa was daintily dressed -in a soft, black gown with a fine-embroidered white guimpe; Betty had -on a pretty blue-and-green Scotch plaid dress, with a simple muslin -guimpe: the Danforths and the Whites were well-to-do people. But what -about the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span> Holts? The hem of Alice’s sailor-suit had been twice let -down,—the careful pressing of the creases could not conceal the fact; -her stocking-knees were closely darned, her shoes were shabby; and her -story of how all the family worked to help earn money was undoubtedly -true. If Betty and Elsa bought dolls, Alice might not be able to -buy so many as they. So Miss Ruth said at once: “I will provide the -dolls, and you may dress them. Each of you bring some pieces of pretty -ginghams and wash-goods to me before next Friday, and I will have the -dresses cut out and ready for you to begin on when you come to the Club -meeting. Do you think you can make dresses for as many as two dozen -dolls in all,—twenty-four dolls that will be, and eight apiece for -you?”</p> - -<p>“O, yes, yes!” came the chorus of answers.</p> - -<p>“Then, sometime when the Club is sewing and we are tired of talking, I -will tell you a story about a little old lady’s doll,” said Miss Ruth.</p> - -<p>“O, tell it now!” urged Betty.</p> - -<p>“Please!” “Please!” begged Elsa and Alice.</p> - -<p>“The next time, perhaps,” said Miss Ruth, glancing up at the clock, -whose hour-hand was fast approaching five, and shaking her head at -Betty’s added “Please!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span></p> - -<p>“Don’t you think we ought to have a few boy dolls?” asked Alice. “Some -of the convalescent children are boys, and Ben likes my boy dolls best.”</p> - -<p>“Does Ben play with dolls?” asked Betty scornfully, rattling the tongs -by the fireside.</p> - -<p>“He used to when he was littler,” said Alice, “and he does sometimes -now, when he has the sore throat and has to stay in the house. He -doesn’t mind other boys knowing it, either,” she said, sitting up very -straight in the deep chair, her blue eyes beaming with pride; “one of -the boys teased him about it, and Ben ducked him into the frog-pond. -Ben is different from other boys,” Alice explained, turning to Miss -Ruth. “I think he would like to come to the Club sometimes.”</p> - -<p>“We don’t want boys in our Club,” objected Betty, rising and walking -around the room.</p> - -<p>“But Ben isn’t like other boys,” said Elsa from her corner with the -cats.</p> - -<p>“Ben could often help us,” said Miss Ruth encouragingly; “there will be -ever so much that a boy can do, especially toward Christmas-time.”</p> - -<p>“Ben can sew, too,” said loyal Alice. She loved her twin brother -heartily and wanted to have him in all her good times.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span></p> - -<p>“Here comes Ben, now,” exclaimed Betty, catching sight of him from the -window.</p> - -<p>“He said he would call for me about five o’clock,” cried Alice, running -with Betty to the front door.</p> - -<p>Back they came in a moment, followed by a rosy-cheeked boy, taller than -Alice but looking very much like her except that his big blue eyes -sparkled with fun, while hers were dreamy and rather serious. Ben had -on a short reefer jacket and knee trousers. In his red-mittened hands -he held the round cap which he had pulled off from his close-cropped -yellow hair.</p> - -<p>“This is my twin brother,” said Alice, leading him forward to Miss Ruth.</p> - -<p>“My name is Benjamin Franklin Holt,” said the boy, hastily pulling off -his right-hand red mitten. His cheeks grew rosier than ever, as he -bowed and shook hands with Miss Ruth, but he kept his eyes on her face -in a manly fashion.</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren liked the little fellow from that moment for his -straightforward look. “We are glad to see you, Ben,” she said, “and we -were just talking about your coming to the Club sometimes.”</p> - -<p>“Are you going to have a Club? I might come when there isn’t anything -else to do,” said Ben cheerfully.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span></p> - -<p>“Ben!” exclaimed his sister.</p> - -<p>“All right, Peggy. Yes, ma’am, thank you, I’d like to come sometimes.” -Ben edged over to the sofa. The two gray cats jumped down when he began -stroking them, and rubbed against his legs.</p> - -<p>“Ben loves animals,” said Alice, with shining eyes.</p> - -<p>“Alice told us you like to play dolls,” said Betty teasingly.</p> - -<p>“I do, sometimes, when there isn’t anything better to do,” said Ben. He -gave a funny side-glance at Miss Ruth out of his twinkling eyes as he -added, straightening up his fine, sturdy little figure: “I ducked a boy -in the frog-pond once for trying to tease me about dolls.”</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren’s eyes laughed back into Ben’s, but she said very -seriously: “I am sure you would not treat any of your sister’s friends -in ungallant fashion.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the trouble about girls,” replied Ben confidentially; “a -boy can’t ever play fair with them, because they are girls.” One of -the things which always delighted people with Ben was his extremely -friendly and wise manner.</p> - -<p>“You have not asked the name of our Club, Ben,” suggested Miss Ruth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span></p> - -<p>“Don’t tell him, please, until he really joins,” urged Betty.</p> - -<p>“That will be time enough,” said Ben, carelessly but sweet-temperedly.</p> - -<p>“I must go this minute!” cried Elsa, jumping up from the sofa and -hurriedly putting on her coat, as the clock struck five. “Good-bye! -good-bye! I’ve had a beautiful time. Thank you, Miss Ruth!” she called -back as she darted out of the house.</p> - -<p>Betty White’s musical voice—which seemed to belong with the shining -brown hair and the fearless eyes—followed Miss Ruth and the Holt twins -as they made their way down the front steps a few moments later: “We -will run straight home from school to your house, Miss Ruth, for the -Club meeting next Friday afternoon; and don’t forget the story.”</p> - -<p>Alice and Ben walked the short distance homeward with Miss Ruth. -Happy Alice chattered away about the Club: “I am so glad it is really -started,” she said gleefully, as they stopped at the foot of the -Warrens’ door-steps.</p> - -<p>Ben whipped off his cap and stood bareheaded, looking up into Ruth -Warren’s face. Something friendly in her eyes made him say: “You look -as if you liked boys, Black Lace Lady.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span></p> - -<p>“I do like boys, Ben,” said Miss Ruth; and from that moment she and Ben -were friends.</p> - -<p>Ben, while she spoke, had been pulling Alice by the hand. “Come on, -Peggy,” he cried now.</p> - -<p>But Alice hung back long enough to call out: “Ben always has names for -people. Good-bye!” Then the twins ran off together, hand in hand.</p> - -<p>At half-past five Elsa Danforth sat at a side-table in the dining-room -bay-window eating her bread-and-milk supper out of a gold-lined silver -porringer. The soft light from the great, glowing chandelier in the -dining-room fell upon the beautiful flowering plants and upon the -little black-gowned figure sitting there among them, all alone. Elsa -had begged the maid to leave the shades up,—it grew dark early these -short November days,—and she glanced out every now and then through -the twilight at the Warren house with happy thoughts in her heart. She -almost felt as if she had company, for the house was so near and Miss -Ruth had been so kind that afternoon.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth, the tall, stately lady whom Elsa called -“grandmother”—never “grandmamma”—dined at half-past six, for, -notwithstanding the solitude of her life since her husband, Judge -Danforth, had died and she had come to live in this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span> suburban town of -Berkeley, she chose to keep up the formal New York way of living. She -had late breakfasts always, so that when Elsa was attending school, the -only times the two saw one another for more than a few moments were -at luncheon, in the evening after Mrs. Danforth’s dinner was over and -before Elsa’s bedtime, and on Sunday.</p> - -<p>Elsa often felt very lonely, especially eating by herself. But she -never complained; she never thought herself very large or important, -and she was quite used to obeying her grandmother. Uncle Ned had said -for her to do exactly as her grandmother wanted her to do; and if Uncle -Ned had said this, it must be all right.</p> - -<p>“Who are the children in your Club, Elsa, beside Elizabeth White?” -asked Mrs. Danforth that evening. She and Elsa were sitting in the -luxurious library. The chairs were upholstered in dark green velvet, -the books on the tables and in the bookcases had rich bindings. Out of -the library opened a long drawing-room furnished in cream colour and -gold, and having beautiful inlaid cabinets full of treasures.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth was a handsome woman, very erect, with a broad white -forehead, gray hair, heavy dark eyebrows, and keen blue eyes. She was -dressed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span> in a corded black silk, richly trimmed with lace and jet.</p> - -<p>Elsa looked up from her book and answered: “The other member of -the Club is Alice, and maybe her brother Ben is coming sometimes, -grandmother.”</p> - -<p>“What is their last name?” asked the grandmother quickly.</p> - -<p>“Alice and Ben Bolt,” said Elsa.</p> - -<p>“Nonsense, child,” replied Mrs. Danforth: she had a discouraging way -of saying “Nonsense!” that made Elsa feel like a very small and silly -child; “those are names from an old nursery ballad.”</p> - -<p>“I am sure their names are Alice and Ben, anyway, grandmother,” said -Elsa, pushing back the silky hair which had dropped forward, and -looking steadily at her grandmother out of great, wide-open eyes.</p> - -<p>“Probably those are not their real names,” replied Mrs. Danforth. She -seemed rather troubled about something, Elsa thought. And then the -child tried to remember if she had done anything her grandmother did -not like.</p> - -<p>Later, just before Elsa’s bedtime, Mrs. Danforth asked again: “What is -the last name of the children you call Alice and Ben?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span></p> - -<p>“Bolt, or Holt, or Colt may be; I can’t remember,” answered Elsa, -looking up from the pages of the “Swiss Family Robinson” and hoping her -grandmother would not notice that the mantel clock was striking eight.</p> - -<p>“Where do they live?”</p> - -<p>“O, a mile away,” said Elsa. “And they have hens and a garden, and they -raise radishes for the city market.”</p> - -<p>“Are you sure they are proper children for you to associate with?”</p> - -<p>“O, yes, grandmother,” said Elsa warmly. “Alice, especially, has -beautiful manners; Betty says her mother especially likes to have her -play with Alice.”</p> - -<p>“I must speak to Mrs. White about it, to make sure,” said Mrs. -Danforth, and Elsa’s face coloured sensitively, for she felt that her -grandmother thought she was not telling the truth.</p> - -<p>“Bedtime now, Elsa,” said Mrs. Danforth, the next moment. “Put away -your book. And try to remember people’s names. It is something a lady -always does.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, grandmother,” said Elsa dutifully.</p> - -<p>Almost any one, looking on, would have been surprised to see Elsa walk -up to her grandmother<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span> and, instead of kissing her good night, put out -her hand; and then to see Mrs. Danforth touch the slender, childlike -hand for only a brief second with the tips of her jewelled fingers. -But Elsa understood; long ago her grandmother had explained that she -thought kissing was an unnecessary and foolish custom.</p> - -<p>“Good night, Elsa. Remember to say your prayers.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, grandmother. Good night.”</p> - -<p>Elsa went slowly out of the room and up the polished stairs to her own -room, which always seemed empty to her, with its white-papered walls, -white bed, white furniture, curtains, even white frames on the pictures -of Greek statuary and ruined temples.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth never thought of tucking Elsa into bed; and the child, as -she hung her black dress over the chair to-night, shed a few tears—as -she often did—over having to go to bed all alone in that white, white -room where her little black dresses looked so black.</p> - -<p>It seemed to Elsa that she had been wearing black dresses all her life. -Three years ago her mother had died, then a year later her grandfather, -Judge Danforth, died, and within the last twelve months,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span> her father. -Since her father’s death, her own pretty home had been broken up, -her old nurse dismissed, and she had lived with her grandmother, at -first in the great New York house, and now for three months amid new -surroundings in Berkeley.</p> - -<p>No wonder that the grief and the many changes and now the sober, quiet -life with her grandmother in a new place, had made Elsa a sad-eyed, -white-faced child. The late summer, after their coming to Berkeley, -had been particularly lonely, for there had been nobody to play with. -Since October, however, when the Whites had come back from their summer -home, Elsa had been happier. Betty as near neighbour, had become Elsa’s -special friend, and now she and Alice had also made friends.</p> - -<p>When Elsa was ready for bed, in her long white nightgown, she turned -off the electric light, put up the window-shades, and looked out toward -the Warren house. “I wonder which is Miss Ruth’s room,” she whispered -to herself. “Wish I dared to ask her, because if it’s on this side, I -could look over sometimes, and feel as if I had company.”</p> - -<p>With a little sigh, Elsa knelt down by her white bed and mumbled her -prayer. Then, jumping up from her knees, she listened at the door. Not -a sound from Cummings, her grandmother’s maid,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span> who had the room next -to Elsa’s, and who usually stayed down in the servants’ dining-room -until nine o’clock. Everything was quiet. So Elsa went quickly over to -the white bureau and pulling open the lower drawer, took from under a -pile of playthings a rather small china doll in a faded pink dress, the -red of whose cheeks had been almost entirely kissed off. With this doll -hugged close in her arms, Elsa crept into bed.</p> - -<p>On the white-cushioned couch between the windows sat a dignified row -of dolls, seven in all, and all in good clothes. But better than any -of these, Elsa loved her little old china doll which her own dear -nurse had given her at parting and which Elsa had named for her nurse, -Bettina. For some reason which Elsa did not try to explain to herself, -she kept Bettina from the sight of her grandmother and especially -from Cummings, the middle-aged woman who attended to Mrs. Danforth’s -wardrobe and in what time there was left, made dresses for Elsa. Every -morning when Elsa woke, the first thing she did, after pressing many -loving kisses upon Bettina’s worn face, was to put her away under the -pile of playthings in the lower drawer of the bureau.</p> - -<p>Thinking about the Club made Elsa feel very<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span> wide awake. She began -picturing to herself Betty White’s nursery-room with the bright scarlet -geraniums, the strawberry-birds, and the pretty chintz cushions; and -she hugged her doll the closer to take away the feeling of loneliness -in her own dreary white room.</p> - -<p>“Now, listen, Bettina, and try to learn our verses; and perhaps we can -go to sleep,” said Elsa, beginning to whisper softly the cradle-song -her father had taught her, not long before he died. Repeating these -three verses every night meant more to Elsa than the prayer which she -hurried through on her knees. And Bettina listened attentively, as -dolls listen, while a voice said close to her ears:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent16">“Dear Heart, Sweet Heart,</div> - <div class="verse indent16">Time that little children</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Creep into their mothers’ arms, to wait Sleep’s silent call;</div> - <div class="verse indent16">Sweet Heart, Dear Heart,</div> - <div class="verse indent16">All the little children</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Must the Moon find sleeping when she mounts Heaven’s wall!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent16">“Sweet Heart, Dear Heart,</div> - <div class="verse indent16">Over little children,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As they dream their white, white dreams, the wings of Love are pressed;</div> - <div class="verse indent16">Dear Heart, Sweet Heart,</div> - <div class="verse indent16">They were little children</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Whom the blessèd Child of Bethlehem lovèd best!</div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent16">“Dear Heart, Sweet Heart,</div> - <div class="verse indent16">All the little children</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Come from Love, and go to Love, when life’s long day is done;</div> - <div class="verse indent16">Sweet Heart, Dear Heart,</div> - <div class="verse indent16">All are little children,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hushed at last, on Nature’s bosom, one by one!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>And, as usually happened, when Elsa had said the last words, she fell -fast asleep.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>Down-stairs, Mrs. Danforth, putting aside her book, sat a long time -deep in thought, her eyes shaded from the light. “Ben and Alice; Alice -and Ben!” she kept repeating to herself. “Strange,—and the name, too, -Holt, or Bolt;—yet it may be only that foolish old song. I must find -out about it all.”</p> - -<p>Finally, being a woman of strong will, she put the matter out of -her mind, leaned back into the luxurious chair and went on reading -her novel; while up-stairs, Elsa, the child who bore no shadow of -resemblance to her in looks or ways, fell asleep with wet eyelashes.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth had every intention of being kind to Elsa. She provided -suitable and pretty frocks and the daintiest of underwear for the -child; she paid careful attention to Elsa’s education, her manners and -her companions. The one thing she failed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span> to give the child was the -unbounded love which little fatherless and motherless Elsa needed more -than anything else in the world.</p> - -<p>In many ways Mrs. Danforth was proud of Elsa,—proud of her straight, -naturally graceful figure, her spirited bearing, her wonderfully -beautiful hair and eyes. Mrs. Danforth was a proud woman, and she -enjoyed the thought that the little girl whom she called grandchild -was well worthy of the name. She had never really cared for any child -except her own daughter; but that was a sad story of long ago.</p> - -<p>There was a definite reason why Mrs. Danforth did not give more -affection to Elsa, just as there was a definite purpose back of her -coming to live in Berkeley. This purpose, however, Mrs. Danforth was -slow in carrying out, being a proud-spirited woman. To her many New -York friends she explained her removal to Berkeley upon the ground -that the quiet, suburban town, with its cultured people and its good -schools, was a better place than New York City for Elsa to live in -during the years of her young girlhood.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II<br> -<span class="small">PRINCE GRAY OWL</span></h2></div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">Forth he set in the breezy morn,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Across green fields of nodding corn,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As goodly a Prince as ever was born.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"> -—<i>Christina Rossetti.</i><br> -</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">Where every wind and leaf can talk,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">But no man understand</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Save one whose child-feet chanced to walk</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Green paths of fairyland.</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class="right"> -—<i>Sophie Jewett.</i><br> -</p> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/image038.png" alt=""> -</div> - -<p class="noindent drop-cap">“THE children are late,” said Miss Ruth to Sarah who, soon after -three o’clock the next Friday afternoon, came into the library with -a large plate piled high with ginger cookies cut into shapes of -animals,—horses, cats, dogs, giraffes, and elephants.</p> - -<p>“Like as not they have given up wantin’ to have a club,” snapped Sarah, -shutting her mouth as if she had bitten off the words. “Children -nowadays are spoilt with havin’ such a lot done for ’em.” Sarah looked -disappointed, however; she had spent a long time in making those -cookies.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span></p> - -<p>Sarah Judd was the only servant in the Warren household, and she had -lived in the family a long time. Whenever Ruth Warren said anything to -her about having a younger woman to help, Sarah always shook her head -until the corkscrew side-curls fairly bobbed up and down and answered: -“No, madam: if you have anybody else come to work for you, I go!” As -old Sarah understood perfectly the ways and wishes of Miss Virginia -Warren, Ruth’s aunt, Ruth kept the cross-spoken servant, who was in -reality a kind-hearted woman.</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren had learned the wisdom of silence when Sarah made scolding -remarks; so now she kept on cutting out dresses for the rows and -rows of dolls,—big and little dolls, blond-haired and black-haired, -waxen-headed and china-headed, blue-eyed, gray-eyed, black-eyed,—two -of each kind and twenty-four in all, lying there on the centre-table.</p> - -<p>Sarah lingered in the room, brushing a little dust from the table with -the corner of her white apron. “What a handsome lot of doll-babies,” -she said after a moment; “I hope the children will come. I thought -at first that havin’ ’em come would make an awful sight of dust an’ -crumbs; but I can sweep Saturday mornin’s instead of Fridays, an’ it’s -kinder<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span> nice to hear children ’round, a-talkin’ an’ a-laughin’, as fast -as a sewin’-machine. Bless my heart, here they come now, a-hurryin’ -along!” Sarah dodged behind the curtain and looked out over the tops -of her spectacles. “Ain’t they cunnin’ little things!” she exclaimed, -“comin’ along with their arms twined ’round one another, an’ that -lively Betty White in the middle!”</p> - -<p>As Sarah turned from behind the window-curtain to answer the quick -ring of the front door-bell, she said anxiously: “If they eat all the -animals in the plate, I have got some more plain cookies they can have.”</p> - -<p>A moment later Sarah led the three girls into the library, her -side-curls bobbing with excitement.</p> - -<p>“O, look at those cookies!” cried Betty, after she had greeted Miss -Ruth. “Good old Sarah must have made them.” And Sarah vanished from the -doorway with a smile which made her thin, dry face seem suddenly to -have cracked.</p> - -<p>“I’m dreadfully sorry we are late, Miss Ruth,” Betty cried out, -excitedly—Betty was almost always the first to begin talking. “It is -all my fault—I had to stay after school, and Elsa and Alice waited for -me.” Betty stopped for breath, fanning<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span> herself with the skirt of her -blue and green plaid gown.</p> - -<p>“We wanted to wait,” said Alice with a shy, half-look at Miss Ruth, -then turning quickly to examine the piles of dolls again, with Elsa.</p> - -<p>“I got zero in arithmetic,” Betty rattled on again, “and I didn’t read -well, and I got caught whispering, so I had to eat three little bitter -blossoms and stay fifteen minutes after school. I wish there wasn’t any -school,” she added, with a toss of her brown hair.</p> - -<p>“So do I,” agreed Elsa, promptly, but Alice looked a little shocked.</p> - -<p>“Help yourselves to the cookies, girls; Sarah made them especially for -you,” said Miss Ruth, seeing Betty’s and Elsa’s eyes fixed upon the -gingerbread animals.</p> - -<p>“I shouldn’t care if I didn’t know anything, if I could have people -read to me and tell me stories,” said Betty, biting off the trunk of an -elephant cookie.</p> - -<p>“O, Miss Ruth, you said you would tell us a story!” exclaimed Elsa, -eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Yes,—a story about a doll and an old lady,” cried Betty, forgetting -her school troubles.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span></p> - -<p>“Wasn’t it strange for an old lady to have a doll?” said Alice, her -blue eyes very serious.</p> - -<p>“Strange perhaps, but true,” replied Miss Ruth, who had taken the tongs -and was stirring the fire into a splendid blaze. “Which would you -rather have,—that story, or one about a ‘Prince Gray Owl?’”</p> - -<p>“Both,” answered Betty, “but the gray owl story first.”</p> - -<p>“The doll story first, please,” begged Elsa. The fire lighted up the -golden-brown of Miss Ruth’s gown, and its brown fur trimming; Elsa -decided that the fur just matched the colour of Miss Ruth’s eyes.</p> - -<p>“I should like either story first,—only both please,” said Alice -slowly, between bites at a long-necked giraffe.</p> - -<p>“Which one can you tell easiest, Miss Ruth?” Elsa suddenly remembered -to ask.</p> - -<p>“I could tell the fairy story more easily to-day, perhaps, because I -told it only yesterday to my little niece who was visiting me. The old -lady’s doll story actually happened, so that I remember it better.”</p> - -<p>“Then the fairy story first, please,” Elsa said,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span> contentedly. She had -one of the little dolls in her arms.</p> - -<p>“Didn’t the fairy story really happen, too?” Alice asked quickly. She -had chosen from among the dolls a blue-eyed, yellow-haired one that -looked very much like herself.</p> - -<p>“What a silly question, Baby Alice,” cried Betty. “Of course fairy -stories aren’t true.”</p> - -<p>“What makes you like fairy stories, Betty, if they are not true?” Elsa -asked, seeing that Alice looked hurt.</p> - -<p>“Because fairies are so dear and kind that it makes you wish they were -true,” Betty replied.</p> - -<p>“Fairy stories were true in the once-upon-a-time days,” said Miss Ruth, -to end the discussion; “that is, people believed in fairies,” she added.</p> - -<p>“Are these the dresses for us to make, all pinned on to the dolls, Miss -Ruth?” Elsa asked. “We’ve talked so much about other things that we -haven’t said hardly anything about the dolls.”</p> - -<p>“It’s nice to have their underclothes all made,” said Betty, “because -it saves so much of our time.” Betty had finally taken one of the -largest dolls to dress.</p> - -<p>“Do you each want to dress first the one you have chosen?” asked Miss -Ruth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span></p> - -<p>“Yes!” “Yes!” was the quick chorus.</p> - -<p>“Then you may begin now, and I will sew, too,” said Miss Ruth, seating -herself by the table. “Here is a thimble for each of you, and in this -big work-basket you will find needles and sewing cotton and scissors. -Help yourselves to the cookies: and you need not be extra careful about -crumbs, because Sarah is going to sweep the library to-morrow morning.”</p> - -<p>The three girls grouped themselves near the table and threaded their -needles.</p> - -<p>“Please begin,” Betty whispered, just as Miss Ruth was asking of Alice: -“Is Ben coming to the Club?”</p> - -<p>“He wanted to, he told me,” said Alice, “but the other boys teased him -to go skating, ’cause Morse’s Pond is frozen over.”</p> - -<p>Betty tossed her head: “I knew he didn’t want to belong.”</p> - -<p>“He told me he did,” said Elsa, who, being sensitive herself, usually -knew when Alice’s feelings were hurt. Elsa’s eyes were shining with -pleasure: it was only half-past three o’clock, there was an hour and -a half of enjoyment ahead, with dolls’ dresses all ready to make, -ginger cookies to eat, and a fairy story to hear. The bright wood-fire -sparkling<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span> and crackling added to the cheer. Her eyes were dark like -purple pansies as she raised them, expectantly, to Miss Ruth.</p> - -<p>“Now that we are all ready,” said Miss Ruth, “I will begin. <i>Prince -Gray Owl</i> is the name of the story.”</p> - -<p>“Was the Gray Owl really a prince?” asked Alice.</p> - -<p>“Hush!” said Betty.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>Once upon a time,—began Miss Ruth,—there was a beautiful princess who -lived in a great gray castle with her uncle. The castle and the kingdom -belonged to the princess, but as the king, her father, and the queen, -her mother, were dead, her uncle ruled over the kingdom.</p> - -<p>Princess Katrina was only ten years old when her father and mother -died. As the years went on, her uncle liked better and better to be -king, and did not want to give up the position. But he knew that when -Princess Katrina married, he could no longer be king, because her -husband would become the ruler. Many a brave young prince wanted to -marry the princess, whose great beauty and cheerful heart were famed -throughout the world. But the uncle said “No” to each one of these -suitors, and ordered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span> them never to come into the kingdom again on -penalty of having their heads cut off.</p> - -<p>Princess Katrina was now nineteen years old. Her uncle knew that if -she were not married before she was twenty-one, she could then choose -a husband for herself. So he arranged to have her marry, not a prince, -but a wicked old king, ruler of a far-off country, two days’ journey -beyond the sunset. The uncle agreed to give this bad man a large sum -of gold with the princess, and in return, the uncle was to keep the -kingdom. For the far-away king wanted gold more than he did land.</p> - -<p>Early one September morning Katrina’s uncle came to the sunshiny -bower where she sat alone, embroidering a beautiful scarlet-and-gold -tapestry. The princess made a beautiful picture, there in the sunshine, -with her soft hair shining like spun gold, her clear blue eyes, and -her fair cheeks tinged with rose colour. She looked a royal princess -indeed, in her blue velvet gown, with a long scarf of light blue gauze -floating over her shoulders.</p> - -<p>“Good morning, Uncle Wulfred,” said the princess. She was not very fond -of her uncle, but she always greeted him kindly.</p> - -<p>The wicked uncle had a crafty and cruel face. The jewelled gold crown -came almost down to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span> ears of his small, round head, and the kingly, -ermine-trimmed green velvet robe hung loosely from his short, stooping -figure.</p> - -<p>“Princess niece,” said the uncle, without any “Good morning” greeting, -“you are now over nineteen years old and it is time you were married, -so I have chosen a husband for you. King Rupert from the land two days’ -journey beyond the sunset is coming at the end of a month to marry you.”</p> - -<p>Princess Katrina’s happy, beautiful face turned very pale. “Do you mean -that cross, unkind old king who visited you a six-month ago and who one -day at banquet broke the neck of a poor, faithful hound who offended -him? Nay, Uncle Wulfred, I will not marry such a man.”</p> - -<p>“I say you shall marry him,” stormed the uncle, walking up and down the -room with jingling spurs.</p> - -<p>“Never! I will die first!” cried the princess. Rising suddenly in front -of her uncle, she faced him with white cheeks and flashing eyes. The -scarlet-and-gold tapestry fell from her hands to the floor.</p> - -<p>“You shall marry King Rupert, or die!” the uncle shouted; his -small eyes snapped angrily, his face grew purple, and he brought -his steel-gloved hand down upon the table so heavily that the -embroidery<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span> bodkins and scissors rolled off, clattering, to the -floor. “This-very-morning,” he said so fast that the words almost -tumbled over each other, “I-will-shut-you-up-in-the-East-Tower. -At-the-end-of-a-week-I-will-come-to-ask-if-you-will-marry-King-Rupert. -If-you-refuse-to-mind-me, -I-will-put-you-where-you-will-have-a-harder-time, the-second-week.”</p> - -<p>When her uncle stopped, purple in the face, to take breath, Princess -Katrina answered him scornfully and without fear: “You are a wicked -uncle. It is because you want to keep my kingdom that you are trying to -make me marry that cruel old king, who lives far away.”</p> - -<p>At these words, the uncle grew more angry than ever, because they were -the truth. He stamped heavily with his right foot three times upon the -stone floor.</p> - -<p>Instantly three tall men in black robes, with black masks over their -faces, rushed into Katrina’s bower. One of the men pushed back from -the doorway Katrina’s old nurse who lived with the princess now as -serving-woman. Quickly throwing a part of his black robe over the head -of the gray-haired woman, the man led her away.</p> - -<p>“Make the princess a prisoner!” commanded the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span> uncle, pointing with his -sword at Katrina, who did not move or even cry out.</p> - -<p>The two men in black seized Katrina roughly by the shoulders.</p> - -<p>“Take this disobedient girl to the East Tower!” roared the angry uncle.</p> - -<p>Katrina did not speak, but her blue eyes gleamed proudly as the guards -led her away.</p> - -<p>The East Tower was an old, unused part of the castle, a long distance -from the part where the royal household lived. To reach the tower, the -guards led Katrina through many rooms hung with spiders’ webs, over -broken stone floors, and along dark passage-ways where rats scuttled.</p> - -<p class="p2">“I am glad I wasn’t Katrina to have to go where there were rats!” -exclaimed Alice.</p> - -<p>“Don’t interrupt, Peggy!” cried Betty.</p> - -<p>Miss Ruth smiled, and continued:</p> - -<p class="p2">The old East Tower of the castle was almost forgotten. No one ever -went there. Tall trees and bushes grew up around it, and a deep moat -surrounded it.</p> - -<p class="p2">“What is a moat?” asked Betty.</p> - -<p>“A deep hollow, like a trench or a wide ditch,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span> filled with water,” -explained Miss Ruth, and Alice whispered—but very sweet-temperedly—to -Betty: “Who’s interrupting now?” as Miss Ruth began again:</p> - -<p class="p2">The land beyond the East Tower, across the moat, belonged to a -neighbouring king, who had been away at war for many years. No lonelier -place than the tower could have been found for a prison.</p> - -<p>“A safe place for the girl,” said the false king to his wicked -counsellors when they came back and told him they had locked Princess -Katrina into the upper room of the tower.</p> - -<p>“But suppose she dies there?” said one of the counsellors, who had a -daughter at home, of about Katrina’s age.</p> - -<p>“If she dies, no one will be the wiser, and you will be rich men,” said -the king. “Be sure you keep the old nurse drugged, and a guard to watch -her.”</p> - -<p>After that, when the royal ladies of the court asked King Wulfred where -the princess was, he told them she had been suddenly called away by the -illness of her aunt in another kingdom, and that the old nurse had gone -with the princess.</p> - -<p>Katrina was very lonely and sad the first few days in the round upper -room of the old stone tower.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span> Three times each day the strong door -was unlocked and food and candles were set into the room. The man who -brought the food and the three candles would not say a word in answer -to Katrina’s questions. In the daytime, the princess walked around -the room, looking from one after another of the three windows at the -trees outside. When night came, she put all three of her candles at the -window where the leaves of the trees seemed thinnest, hoping that some -one passing might see the light, and wonder at its being there in the -old, deserted tower, and so come to her rescue.</p> - -<p>On the third day, the princess saw the bright eyes of a gray squirrel -looking in at the window; she put some food upon the window-sill, and -presently the squirrel came in through the iron bars, ate the food, -then sat up on his haunches and looked at her quite fearlessly.</p> - -<p>“I would help you if I could,” said the gray squirrel, unexpectedly, -“but all I can do is to give you my company.”</p> - -<p>Katrina was greatly surprised to hear the squirrel speak, but she -answered quickly: “If you will talk with me sometimes that will help -me, for I am so lonely.”</p> - -<p>“I will come every day,” he replied. “Now I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span> must go home to arrange my -engagements.” Straightening out his splendid bushy tail, he jumped from -the window-sill into the thick leaves of an oak-tree, out of sight, -like a flash.</p> - -<p>After that, the gray squirrel came every day at exactly the same time. -He sat on Katrina’s shoulder and chattered about his busy life in the -great forest; and in turn Katrina told him about her being shut up in -the tower by her cruel uncle.</p> - -<p>“I would help you if I could,” said the squirrel one day, growing so -angry over her imprisonment that he tried to bite the iron bars of the -window, and in doing so, broke off two of his best front teeth. From -that time, Princess Katrina gave him more of her food, because he could -not crack nuts so well now. “Elf will mend my teeth some day, elf will -mend them,” said the squirrel cheerfully.</p> - -<p>On the afternoon of the seventh day, the cruel uncle unlocked the door -of the tower-room and stood before the princess. He was covered with -dust and cobwebs from coming through the unused rooms and dark passages -which led to the tower.</p> - -<p>“Is my dear niece ready to obey me and marry King Rupert?” the uncle -asked in a make-believe anxious voice.</p> - -<p>Princess Katrina held up her head courageously.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span> “Never!” she said: “I -will never consent to marry that dreadful old man.” Her golden hair -gleamed like sunshine against the dark gray stone walls.</p> - -<p>She was so brave and fair standing there in her royal blue velvet gown, -facing him, that her uncle was half afraid. “It is for your good,” he -said in a shaking voice, the keys jingling in his hand.</p> - -<p>Katrina answered him quickly: “It is for your gain.”</p> - -<p>Then the uncle cried out fast, with blazing eyes: -“This-next-week-you-shall-live-in-the-lower-room-and-have-food-only-twice-a-day-and-only-two-candles-for-the-night. -At-the-end-of-a-week-I-will-visit-you-and-if-you-refuse-to-marry-King-Rupert-I-will-put-you-where-you-have-a-harder-time.” -Seizing her wrist, he dragged her roughly behind him through the door -and down the narrow, winding stone steps to the room below, thrust her -into it, and locked the creaking, heavy door upon her.</p> - -<p>That night Princess Katrina was dreadfully afraid. A wild storm of -wind and rain shook the tower and made her candle-light flicker. Once -when something gray brushed against the window she shrieked aloud; -but, watching, she saw that the gray object stopped on a branch of -the great oak-tree outside the window, and that it was a large,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span> -soft owl, as tall as a man. The owl sat there a long time, staring -at the candle-light with blinking yellow eyes that had tiny black -spots at their centre, and the princess was comforted by the sense of -companionship.</p> - -<p>The next morning when the food and candles were brought, a package was -put with them, inside the door.</p> - -<p>Katrina hurriedly unwrapped the package and was overjoyed to find in -it her scarlet-and-gold tapestry, her bodkins, her skeins of scarlet -and gold embroidery silk, and a little paper cleverly sewed on the -very place where she had stopped her work the morning when her uncle -came into her bower. On the paper was written, in her old nurse’s -handwriting: “The counsellors kept me drugged for a week, then they -told me you had gone away. I did not believe them, and I bribed the -guard, with all the gold I had, to tell me where you are and to takes -these things to you. Keep a good heart. I go away from the castle to -help you.”</p> - -<p>When the gray squirrel came, early that afternoon, Katrina told him -what had happened and asked him what he thought.</p> - -<p>The gray squirrel sat up very still and looked at the princess out -of his round black eyes: “The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span> gray owl will rescue you,” said the -squirrel at last, solemnly.</p> - -<p>“Who told you so?” asked the princess.</p> - -<p>“I heard the bluejays talking about it this morning,” he said, winking -his eyes rapidly.</p> - -<p>“Who told the bluejays?” Katrina inquired.</p> - -<p>“They are great gossips: they hear things by listening at the front -doors of the other birds’ homes.” The squirrel looked so fierce all at -once that the princess asked quickly: “Do you know the gray owl?” and -before the squirrel could answer, began telling him about the gray owl -she had seen outside her window the night before. “Do you know him?” -she asked again.</p> - -<p>“I know some gray owls,—I am sorry to say,” replied the squirrel, -shaking his tail.</p> - -<p>The princess opened her blue eyes very wide as she asked, “Why are you -sorry?”</p> - -<p>“Squirrels and owls cannot be friendly,” said the gray squirrel rather -sadly.</p> - -<p>“Why?” asked the princess.</p> - -<p>“Because it has always been so,” he answered, whisking his tail -excitedly and jumping out of the window so that the princess could not -ask him any more questions.</p> - -<p>That afternoon as Katrina began embroidering<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span> once more upon her -scarlet-and-gold tapestry, her thoughts were even busier than her -fingers. What did her nurse mean by writing that puzzling sentence: -“I go away from the castle to help you?” Over and over again, Katrina -turned these words in her mind. But she felt comforted and hopeful.</p> - -<p>When darkness fell, the princess put her two candles at the window, -and said to herself: “Perhaps the gray owl will come again to the -oak-tree.” For a long time she waited with her tender face pressed -against the iron bars. By and by she heard a soft whirr-r of wings, and -the gray owl settled upon a branch below the window.</p> - -<p>Katrina looked eagerly into the round, blinking eyes: “I wish you could -speak,” she said, half-aloud.</p> - -<p>The gray owl stepped so near the light that the little black line -almost faded out of his yellow eyes. Katrina was surprised at the owl’s -great size, and even more surprised to hear a muffled voice say: “Keep -a good heart. I will save you.” Then the owl spread its soft wings and -flew noiselessly away.</p> - -<p>It was soon after that the princess heard a faint, regular sound, as -of iron striking against stone; and the sound lasted all night,—as -long as she stayed awake, which was a long time, for she kept<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span> asking -herself over and over again: “Will the gray owl really save me from -this dungeon?” The squirrel had said the owl would do this, and now the -owl himself said so.</p> - -<p>In the days of Princess Katrina, the world of mankind had not moved -very far away from fairyland. The princess was not half so much -astonished to hear a squirrel and an owl speak as a princess would be -to-day. Katrina’s old nurse had told her many a tale of wonder; the -nurse had that very day sent the message, “Keep a good heart;” and -the gray owl had repeated the same words, “Keep a good heart.” By and -by Katrina fell asleep, still puzzled, but happy in having such good -friends as the nurse, the squirrel and the owl.</p> - -<p>The next morning, when the squirrel came as usual, Katrina asked his -opinion about the owl and the strange noise; but all the squirrel would -say was: “Owls are very strong. Owls have sharp, strong beaks.” Then -he whisked away, as if in haste. So Katrina stopped talking to the -squirrel about the owl after that, for the subject seemed to offend him.</p> - -<p>Every night, regularly, when darkness fell, Katrina heard the faint -pick! pick! of iron upon stone, and every night, as she leaned against -the window-bars,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span> after the pick! pick! began, she heard the muffled -words, “Keep a good heart!” She did not always see the owl, but on -those nights she thought the owl must have perched upon a branch much -lower than her window, for, straining her eyes, she could see a gray -shape below.</p> - -<p>When the end of the second week came, Katrina wound the scarlet and -gold tapestry around her slender body, under her blue velvet gown, so -that her uncle should not see it. All day long she waited for him, but -he did not come until dusk. The key turned slowly in the rusty lock. -Her uncle stood before her.</p> - -<p>“Girl! Katrina!” he shouted, for he was frightened by her white face. -“Have you come to your senses? Are you ready to marry King Rupert?”</p> - -<p>“Never! I will never marry King Rupert,” Katrina answered, -looking at her uncle with flashing blue eyes so like those of -his dead brother, her father, that the uncle swore a terrible -oath to keep up his courage, and said very fast, though -his teeth chattered: “Down—to—the—dungeon—with—you! -Food—only—once—a—day. One—small—candle—for—the—night. -Be—ready—to—marry—King—Rupert—at—the—end—of—a—week—or—you—will—have—a—harder—time.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span></p> - -<p>With trembling hands the coward uncle put a key into a keyhole in the -floor, raised a trap-door by an iron ring, and pushed Katrina down the -dark stairs. She lifted her white face bravely and said: “Never will I -do your bidding;” then the trap-door closed over her head.</p> - -<p>Down into the darkness the beautiful princess felt her way. After a -few moments she could see, by the dim light that came in from the one -window, a rough wooden bench, a stool, and a pile of dry leaves in one -corner. Outside the window, the oak leaves were very thick. Katrina -reached through the iron bars and broke the leaves from the nearest -branches. The strong stems hurt her hands, but she gained a little more -light and air.</p> - -<p>Before the dim twilight faded away, brave Katrina stirred the dry -leaves on the stone floor and found to her great comfort that there -were no creeping things underneath. After putting her scarlet-and-gold -tapestry over the leaves to make a bed for herself, she lighted her one -candle, and placing it upon the wooden bench before the window, sat -down beside it. Darkness had hardly fallen before<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span> she heard the pick! -pick! as of iron upon stone, and lo! the sounds seemed close at her -side.</p> - -<p>Suppose the sounds were some plan of her uncle’s to frighten her? For a -moment Katrina’s courage sank at the thought. But just then she heard a -muffled voice ask: “Are you there, Princess?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” she answered faintly. “Who are you?” The dungeon walls were -thicker than the walls above; Katrina could only press so near the -window as to see a gray figure outside.</p> - -<p>“Your friend, the Gray Owl,” said the low voice. “We must not talk -much, for fear some one hear us. But keep a good heart.”</p> - -<p>Each day of that third week the princess worked a little while with the -shining gold silk upon the tapestry; it was so dark in the dungeon that -she could not see, even at noonday, to use the scarlet silk. She felt -very faint, because she had only one meal a day, of bread and water, -and she gave some of the bread to her daily visitor, the squirrel, who -grew very thin without his usual nuts. She begged him every day to go -to the elf and have his teeth mended, but he always answered: “It is a -long way, and I will not go until you are saved.”</p> - -<p>On the fifth night of that week when the pick! pick! as of iron upon -stone began, the princess<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span> went to the window and whispered sadly: “I -cannot keep heart much longer,” and the low, muffled voice of the gray -owl answered: “Courage! keep a good heart for one day more.”</p> - -<p>Upon the sixth day there was a dark tempest. Even at high noon the -dungeon was dark. The gray squirrel looked wet and discouraged when he -sprang in through the window at the usual time.</p> - -<p>“Do you think the gray owl is going to save me?” asked the princess in -her despair.</p> - -<p>At the mention of the gray owl, the squirrel jumped for the window, but -it was so dark in the dungeon that he bumped into the wall and fell -upon the stone floor.</p> - -<p>He held up a hurt front paw as Katrina ran to him. “Will you bind it -with silk for me?” he asked. “Elf will mend it when I go to him, elf -will mend it. But I shall have to stay with you now, because I cannot -jump—nor even walk,” he said, trying to rise but falling over again.</p> - -<p>Katrina bound the wounded paw tenderly. All that afternoon the squirrel -seemed to be thinking deeply, and Katrina could not make him talk.</p> - -<p>Utter darkness fell early. The dungeon grew very cold, so that both -Katrina and the squirrel shivered. She wrapped herself in the scarlet -and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span> gold tapestry, took the squirrel in her hands, and crouched near -the window.</p> - -<p>Soon came a stir in the leaves outside. “Are you there, Princess?” -asked the muffled voice. Katrina felt the squirrel begin to tremble -violently.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Gray Owl,” she answered, waiting for him to say, “Keep a good -heart.” But instead, he said: “Prepare to leave the dungeon, Princess. -Stand away from the window, for soon a large stone of the wall will -fall into the dungeon.”</p> - -<p>Katrina moved to the opposite side, having hard work to keep the -squirrel in her hands; he acted so frightened that she knew now it had -been fear, not anger, which made him run away every time the owl’s name -was mentioned.</p> - -<p>“Are you safe, Princess?” came the gray owl’s question.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” she cried. Then she saw a heavy stone of the wall move inward -more and more until it slid to the ground with a dull sound, and left a -large open space in the wall.</p> - -<p class="p2">“Here’s the boy of the Club,” announced Sarah, appearing at the door, -followed by Ben.</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren went forward to greet the red-cheeked boy, whose hair lay -wet upon his forehead.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span></p> - -<figure class="figcenter illowp49" id="facing062" style="max-width: 33em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/facing062.png" alt=""> - <figcaption class="caption">“‘YES, GRAY OWL,’ SHE ANSWERED.”</figcaption> -</figure> - -<p>“I thought I’d come for a little while,” said Ben, his eyes upon the -last cookie in the plate, a long-necked horse. “Skating wasn’t much -good, and I got in twice.” His wet shoes proved this.</p> - -<p>“Sit here by the hearth and dry your feet, Ben,” said Miss Ruth, -turning to brighten the fire.</p> - -<p>“Let me do that,” said Ben gallantly, reaching for the tongs.</p> - -<p>Sarah took the plate from the table and vanished. Alice began -explaining things to Ben:</p> - -<p>“Miss Ruth is telling us a story about Prince Gray Owl, and he is just -saving Princess Katrina from the dungeon. I can tell you the first of -it on the way home, Ben.” Alice had jumped up from her chair and was -devotedly watching her brother while he blew to start the fire until -his red cheeks stood out like small balloons.</p> - -<p>“Please go on with the story, Miss Ruth,” cried Betty, impatient at the -delay.</p> - -<p>But just then Sarah came in with the large plate piled high again with -cookies. Ben put the tongs back in their place and seated himself -contentedly near the cookies.</p> - -<p>Miss Ruth spent a moment or two in looking over the girls’ sewing. -Betty had already made one doll’s dress and begun another. Elsa and -Alice<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span> were just finishing their first ones. When Miss Ruth seated -herself again, Elsa drew her chair nearer, and every now and then, as -Miss Ruth went on with the story, Elsa reached out and stroked the soft -fur on the golden-brown gown.</p> - -<p class="p2">“Princess, can you come through this opening in the wall?” asked a -voice outside of the window-bars.</p> - -<p>Trembling now with excitement, the princess took up the tapestry which -had fallen around her and made it into a long roll, slender like -herself.</p> - -<p>“Try if this will go through, Gray Owl,” she said. The squirrel clung -to her shoulder.</p> - -<p>Slowly the roll of tapestry disappeared through the opening.</p> - -<p>“Do you dare follow, Princess?” came the thrilling question.</p> - -<p>“I dare—and I follow,” she answered.</p> - -<p>“Save me!” cried the squirrel.</p> - -<p>Katrina hid the shivering little creature in the folds of her blue -gossamer scarf, and with a last look around the dread dungeon, extended -her arms and put her head and shoulders through the opening in the -wall. Even before the rain-drops outside fell upon her hands, she felt -both hands grasped<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span> strongly, and she was drawn gently and steadily -forward until she could spring to her feet upright upon the soft ground.</p> - -<p>Before her stood—not the gray owl she had expected to see, but a tall -young man with a graceful figure, and richly dressed in a princely robe -of dark green velvet.</p> - -<p>The young man bowed low before Katrina. “Princess,” he said, “I am the -oldest son of the king, your neighbour. I was slightly wounded in one -of my father’s battles, and I came home the very day that your old -nurse escaped to my father’s castle and told of your imprisonment in -this dungeon. I took the shape of an owl and flew across the moat, and -as it was my right arm which was wounded, I kept the owl’s shape and -worked with the strong beak to remove this stone and free you.”</p> - -<p>“Sir, never did a knight do more for a maiden,” said the princess, in -turn bowing low. She saw that his right arm hung in a sling.</p> - -<p>“I will now fly with you to my father’s castle, where my mother, the -queen, and your faithful nurse await you,” said the prince.</p> - -<p>Seeing the wonder on the sweet face of the princess, the prince said: -“Once, when I was a boy, I saved a young gray owl from a fierce eagle; -and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span> the gray owl’s father was so grateful that he gave me the power to -change into a gray owl, at will.”</p> - -<p>Then the prince said something which sounded like—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">“Gray owl, gray owl,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">I would be</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A strong gray owl,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Like to thee.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">And he turned into a great, soft-feathered gray owl. It -could not have been just those words,—because Katrina tried to use -them so that she might turn into an owl herself, long afterward, just -for fun.</p> - -<p>The prince, now the gray owl, spread out one of his soft wings and took -the princess under it; then he gathered the roll of tapestry under the -other wing, and flew away, over the moat, toward his father’s castle.</p> - -<p class="p2">“What about the gray squirrel?” asked Ben, excitedly flourishing a -half-eaten camel.</p> - -<p class="p2">On the flight to the home of the prince—said Miss Ruth—Katrina told -the prince about the gray squirrel, whose little heart she could feel -all the time beating against hers. “I have him with me, under my -scarf,” she said. “He is afraid of you,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span> I think,” she added, so low -that the squirrel could not hear.</p> - -<p>“The gray owls will do anything for me,” said the prince in a loud -voice. “I will tell the greatest gray owl, the king of the forest, that -from this time forth the owls and the squirrels must live peaceably -together.”</p> - -<p>Hearing this, the squirrel took courage and put his head out from -the folds of Katrina’s blue scarf. “Thank you, Gray Owl,” he said -gratefully. Then he slipped away, for they were near the home of the -elf, and he was anxious to have his front teeth and his broken paw -mended.</p> - -<p>It happened that the neighbouring king, who had been for many years -away at war, grew alarmed when his son, Prince Edward, was wounded; and -so the king came hurrying home the very night of the day that Princess -Katrina was rescued from the dungeon. When this good king heard the -story of her imprisonment, he decided to set forth the next morning to -punish her wicked uncle, Wulfred, whom he had never liked, but with -whom he had lived in peace, up to this time.</p> - -<p>That day, at noon, the false king made his way to the East Tower and -lifted up the trap-door of the dungeon. “Katrina! are you ready to -marry<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span> King Rupert?” he shouted down into the darkness.</p> - -<p>No voice answered. The uncle called again in a louder voice. Still -no answer came. He peered down into the blackness by the light of a -long torch he had brought, but he could see nothing except the bed of -leaves, the rude bench and the chair.</p> - -<p>“She lies dead under the leaves,” the uncle whispered to himself with -chattering teeth. A bat flew against his face. Shaking with fear, he -let the trap-door fall and hurried away, back through the winding, -cobwebby passages, to the state rooms of the palace.</p> - -<p>But there more fears awaited him. His three wicked counsellors rushed -up and drew him to the front window, crying: “See!” “A foe is marching -upon us!” “A great and mighty army!”</p> - -<p>The false king saw in the distance an army of hundreds of men, all in -glistening armour, with waving plumes and gleaming shields, line after -line stretching far into the distance. At the head of the army, upon a -magnificent black war-horse, rode the neighbouring king, clad in a suit -of mail, with a glittering helmet on his head, surmounted by a flowing -white plume. Behind the king, each upon a beautiful white horse, rode -Prince Edward and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span> Princess Katrina; and upon the shoulder of the -princess perched a large gray squirrel.</p> - -<p class="p2">“Then what happened?” questioned Betty, breathlessly.</p> - -<p>Miss Ruth, glancing at the clock, saw that the hands pointed closely to -five, so she told the rest of the story very fast:</p> - -<p class="p2">The wicked uncle was a coward before danger. When he found that the -princess was with this great army, he made no resistance, but at once -ordered the white flag of surrender to be flung out from the tower, for -he knew that the powerful neighbouring king would not fail to avenge -Katrina’s wrongs.</p> - -<p>The conquering king made the wicked uncle a prisoner, and had him -put into the same dungeon where Katrina had been imprisoned. Prince -Edward and Princess Katrina were married soon after, and ruled -happily for many, many years. Behind their thrones hung the splendid -scarlet-and-gold tapestry upon which the princess had worked during -those dreary days in the dungeon. When the wicked uncle was an old man, -grown thin and white-haired, Katrina had him set free from prison,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span> and -he spent his last days at the court, playing with a feeble, old gray -squirrel.</p> - -<p class="p2">“Is that all?” sighed Betty, when Miss Ruth stopped talking.</p> - -<p>“Thank you ever so much,” said Elsa, as she sat looking into the fire: -“I like Prince Gray Owl,” she added soberly.</p> - -<p>“I think Katrina was the best, though, because she had the poor old -uncle pardoned,” said tender-hearted Alice.</p> - -<p>“What about the owls and the squirrels?” asked Ben, who was still -eating ginger cookies.</p> - -<p>“O, the owls and the squirrels lived happily together ever after in the -woods around, even ‘as far as the lands of the wicked King Rupert, two -days’ journey beyond the sunset,’” said Miss Ruth.</p> - -<p>“I wish there was some more about them!” exclaimed Betty.</p> - -<p>“There is more about the owls and the squirrels all the time, in the -woods,” said Miss Ruth. “How would you like some Friday afternoon, -instead of having our meeting in the house, to walk out to the -Convalescent Home and then come back through the woods?”</p> - -<p>Each and every member of the Club agreed that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span> this would be a splendid -way to have a club meeting. “We could take home the sewing that we -would do at the meeting,” suggested Betty, “and bring it all finished -to the next meeting, so as not to lose time dressing the dolls.”</p> - -<p>“You have done well this afternoon, girls,” said Miss Ruth, beginning -to gather up the dolls and their dresses; “and Betty’s idea is a good -one. Each of you ask at home if she may go on the walk, and perhaps we -can have it next Friday.”</p> - -<p>“Then we can all see the Convalescings,” said Ben eagerly. “They are -nice little children, and I like to see them getting well.”</p> - -<p>“Five o’clock and five minutes after!” cried Elsa, springing up. “I -must go, or grandmother will not like it.”</p> - -<p>“Do you have to mind—even five minutes?” asked Betty, in surprise.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” answered Elsa, hurriedly putting on her long black cloak. “Uncle -Ned tells me to do just what grandmother says.”</p> - -<p>“Who is your Uncle Ned?” inquired Betty, who was taking a few last -stitches in the doll’s dress.</p> - -<p>“Uncle Ned? He is the nicest and the dearest and the best man in all -the world,” said Elsa, her violet-gray eyes growing eloquent with -feeling.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span> “He is nicer even than Prince Gray Owl, and I miss him all -the time. Good-bye.” And Elsa ran away with her wide black felt hat -hanging from her arm, and with something very much like tears shining -in her eyes.</p> - -<p>Betty had sewed rapidly, and now she held up a second doll’s dress, -finished.</p> - -<p>“Good, Betty!” said Miss Ruth. “Let me count how many we have -done,—your two, Elsa and Alice each one, and two of mine, six in all, -out of the twenty-four; it will take us just three meetings more to -finish the eighteen dresses that are left.”</p> - -<p>“Then we can do some paper dolls, and rag dolls,” said Alice, clapping -her hands softly.</p> - -<p>“Maybe I could help about the paper dolls;” Ben made the suggestion -with a rather careless air. “I could paint dresses, because I know -what looks pretty. When I grow up to be a man I am going to earn a lot -of money and buy pretty dresses for Alice, and I’m going to get her -a black lace one and a yellowy brown one trimmed with fur,” he said, -slowly.</p> - -<p>Miss Ruth nodded encouragingly as she met Ben’s earnest blue eyes.</p> - -<p>“I will give you some of the pretty dresses,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span> Betty,” said Alice -unselfishly, feeling perfectly sure that Ben would do whatever he -promised.</p> - -<p>Betty almost said, “I have prettier dresses now than you have,” but she -stopped just in time and said instead: “I will give you a blue velvet -dress, like Princess Katrina’s.”</p> - -<p>To-day, Alice’s blue sailor-suit looked more worn and even shorter -than before, and Ben’s sturdy little figure seemed almost bursting out -through his tight jacket. But both Alice and Ben were too happy-natured -to care much about clothes. He helped her on with her shabby blue coat -most affectionately. The twins were very fond of one another, although -Ben, being a boy, did not think so much about this as Alice did, for -she openly and eagerly showed her love for him.</p> - -<p>It was after quarter past five o’clock when Elsa Danforth, waiting in -the bay-window of the dining-room for her bread-and-milk supper, saw -Betty and Alice and Ben come out of the Warren house. “They have had -all this much longer good time!” Elsa said to herself. Life seemed -especially lonely to her just then. Her grandmother had reproved her -for being late, as well as for running home without her hat on.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span></p> - -<p>Elsa was just a simple and loving little girl, who tried very hard -not to be an unhappy one, although she knew she was living without -many things which other little girls had in their homes and with their -mothers. She was lonelier than ever that night, when bedtime came: and -this is how it happened.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth had hired a pew at the largest church in Berkeley, and -had given money generously whenever asked to help any good cause. It -had come time for the ladies of the church to make their yearly gift -of clothing and toys to the Convalescent Home. And Mrs. Everett, the -head of the committee, called upon Mrs. Danforth for some money, that -afternoon.</p> - -<p>“It seems too bad to spend money for playthings when so much is needed -for clothing,” said Mrs. Everett, as she folded the crisp ten-dollar -bill which Mrs. Danforth handed her. “Has your grandchild any old toys -which might do for the children?”</p> - -<p>“I am sure she has,” replied Mrs. Danforth, remembering a large boxful -of half-worn toys in the garret,—toys which Elsa had said she was -tired of.</p> - -<p>“I could take them in my carriage now,” said Mrs. Everett. She was a -large-hearted woman,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span> much interested in the Convalescent Home and -eager to help it.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth rang for her maid. “Cummings,” she said to the very prim -and proper looking woman in starched white cap and black dress who -appeared instantly, “bring down that boxful of Miss Elsa’s old toys -from the garret. I am going to give them to a children’s home.”</p> - -<p>As Cummings went noiselessly out of the room, Mrs. Danforth asked of -her caller: “Do you happen to know a poor family by the name of Colt -or Holt who live just outside the town?” The proud-faced woman bent -forward to disentangle the gold chain of her eye-glasses from the jet -ornaments of her waist.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know the Holts,” said Mrs. Everett. “They are poor but very -self-respecting people.”</p> - -<p>“They have a market-garden, I believe?” said Mrs. Danforth, still -struggling with the chain.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” replied Mrs. Everett, “and they raise excellent lettuce and -radishes; I can safely recommend their garden products to you. May I -help you with that chain, Mrs. Danforth?”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, I have it free now,” said Mrs. Danforth, leaning back and -changing the subject.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span></p> - -<p>When Cummings came noiselessly in again, with a large pasteboard box, -almost full of tin soldiers, picture-books and such playthings, she -suggested very respectfully. “Miss Elsa has the lower drawer of her -bureau full of toys, ma’am.”</p> - -<p>“Are you sure Miss Elsa does not play with them, Cummings?”</p> - -<p>The gray-haired woman shook her head primly: “Oh, no, ma’am; she never -touches them,”—which was the truth, so far as Cummings knew.</p> - -<p>“Very well; bring them also,” said Mrs. Danforth.</p> - -<p>As a result, some battered dolls’ furniture, two or three boxes of -games, and one small china doll were added to the collection in the -pasteboard box. Cummings took the now-filled box out to Mrs. Everett’s -carriage, and the kind-hearted woman drove away, happy in having -secured both money and playthings for the Convalescent Home.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>When Elsa was ready for bed that night, she opened the lower drawer -of the white bureau to take out Bettina. Her hand fell upon heaped-up -ruffled and embroidered garments.</p> - -<p>She turned on the electric light. There, in place of the odd assortment -of playthings under which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span> she had kept Bettina hidden, was a pile of -white underclothing.</p> - -<p>Something seemed almost to stop Elsa’s heart from beating as she opened -one bureau drawer after another, and even hunted under the bureau, -without finding her beloved doll. Suddenly she remembered hearing her -grandmother say, that evening, that she had given away some old toys to -the Convalescent Home children, and her own answer: “I am glad you did, -grandmother.” Bettina must have been among them.</p> - -<p>Sobbing bitterly, yet without making any sound, Elsa turned off the -light and crept into bed. She felt so lonely and wretched that she -could not go to sleep. After awhile, she climbed out of bed and stood -in front of the row of dolls on the white couch between the windows. -She chose the smallest of these dolls, the one which was most like -Bettina, held her for a moment, then kissed her, put her down and crept -back to bed. Much as she missed Bettina, she could not bear to take -another doll in her place. Again the child fell to sobbing in an agony -of loneliness.</p> - -<p>She heard the great clock in the hall chime nine; a moment after, -Cummings closed the door of her own room. When the chimes rang out the -half-hour,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span> Mrs. Danforth’s steps came up the polished front stairs, -passed Elsa’s door, and Elsa heard her grandmother’s door close. -Soon the house was quiet, save for the sound of heavy breathing from -Cummings’s room. Cummings could be noiseless by day but not by night.</p> - -<p>Elsa felt that she could not stay in bed another moment. She sprang out -and went again to the row of dolls. Looking out of the window, she saw -a shadow pass across the thin lace curtains of the Warrens’ library -windows,—a shadow which she knew must be Miss Ruth’s.</p> - -<p>A desperate hope of comfort flashed into Elsa’s mind. Without a -moment’s delay, she slipped her little bare feet into her white, -fur-lined bedroom shoes, put on the thick, long, white bathrobe -which hung over a chair, and softly opened her door. Then with a -quick-beating heart but without any thought of fear, she crept down -the stairs, took a great fur cape of her grandmother’s from the hall, -undid the front door latch, left the door ajar, and ran down the steps, -in the faint moonlight, and across the dry grass of the lawn to the -Warrens’ house.</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren had just put out the lights in the library and was -fastening back the curtains when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span> she saw the strange little -figure speeding toward her house. “Fairy or elf or child,—who -is it, I wonder?” she said to herself. There was something so -distressful-looking in the little hurrying figure that she did not wait -for the bell to ring.</p> - -<p>“Why, Elsa dear, what is the trouble?” she asked, drawing the child -into the hall.</p> - -<p>Elsa clung to Miss Ruth, sobbing in heart-broken fashion.</p> - -<p>“Has anything happened to your grandmother?”</p> - -<p>“No, O, no,—not that—I’ve lost—” but sobs drowned the words.</p> - -<p>“Have your cry out, dear, and then tell me about it.” Miss Ruth led -Elsa into the library, drew a chair in front of the fireplace where the -coals were yet glowing brightly, unfastened the heavy fur cape and took -the slender little white-gowned figure into her arms.</p> - -<p>The comfort of being told to cry all she wanted to, and of having kind -arms around her soon quieted Elsa’s sobs.</p> - -<p>With only a little break in her voice, now and then, she told the story -of her loss, feeling, with a child’s sure intuition, that Miss Ruth -understood. “It is—so hard,” she said with a final sigh, hiding<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span> her -face against the friendly shoulder; “I have had Bettina ever since -nurse went away.”</p> - -<p>“I know it is hard, dear,” Miss Ruth softly stroked the yellow hair. -“What shall we do?”</p> - -<p>That “we” was so comforting.</p> - -<p>“I—I s’pose I must get along without her,” said Elsa, sitting upright. -The quivering lips and tear-dimmed violet-gray eyes told the grief in -her heart, but her bravery was conquering now.</p> - -<p>“How old are you, Elsa?” asked Miss Ruth.</p> - -<p>“Almost twelve.”</p> - -<p>Miss Ruth wisely waited.</p> - -<p>There was a tender apology in Elsa’s voice when she spoke again: -“Grandmother didn’t know about Bettina. She doesn’t know how lonesome I -am.”</p> - -<p>Then Elsa turned and looked eagerly into Miss Ruth’s face: “Is your -room over the library?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, right over this room.”</p> - -<p>Elsa slipped off from Miss Ruth’s lap to the arm of the chair: “I—I -think I could go back now and go to sleep—without Bettina—if you -would just leave one curtain up a little wee bit so as I could know -you—you thought about me—once in awhile,” she said slowly. “I—I -shouldn’t feel so lonely then,—’cause from where my bed is I can look -right out to the window where there is a tall<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span> green vase—I thought -maybe it was your room.”</p> - -<p>“I will leave that curtain up a little way every night, Elsa, and I -will put a rose in that vase to-night, especially for you, so that you -can see the shadow on the curtain,” said Miss Ruth, rising.</p> - -<p>“O, will you?” The silvery voice was eloquent with gratitude. As Elsa -raised her head she suddenly felt very tired and sleepy. Indeed, the -child was almost worn out.</p> - -<p>“Now, Elsa, I am going to bring you a glass of milk and then go home -with you,” said Miss Ruth. “Just think how alarmed your grandmother -would be if she should miss you.”</p> - -<p>“O, I know she hasn’t missed me,” exclaimed Elsa. “She never thinks -about me, I am sure, after I go to bed.” And Miss Ruth left the child -sitting up with shining eyes and a bright red spot on each cheek.</p> - -<p>Elsa was drinking the milk just as the clock struck ten. Quite as if -her grandmother had told her to come home at exactly ten o’clock, -she slipped down from the chair, pulled the great fur cape over her -shoulders, and waited in the hall, a brave little figure with a flushed -face, while Miss Ruth put on her red golf cape.</p> - -<p>Miss Ruth fastened the long fur cape securely<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span> around Elsa,—for the -night air was chilling cold,—opened the front door, and, before the -child realized it, took her up, a soft, furry bundle and a heavy -one,—and ran with her across the strip of lawn. The door of the -Danforth house was ajar.</p> - -<p>“Hush, be very quiet, dear, or we shall wake your grandmother,” she -said, dropping the furry bundle on the top step of the Danforth veranda -and kissing the warm, sleepy face. “Lock the door safely, and go -straight to bed and to sleep.”</p> - -<p>But Elsa stopped long enough to whisper into Miss Ruth’s ear: “Thank -you ever and ever so much.”</p> - -<p>Almost as soon as Elsa had put down the latch, left the fur cape in -the hall and crept up-stairs to bed, she saw a light in Miss Ruth’s -room and one window shade raised just a little. Even while her eyes -were fixed upon the shadow of a rose against the curtain, she fell fast -asleep and dreamed that her Uncle Ned came in the shape of a great gray -owl, and rescued her out of a white-walled dungeon.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III<br> -<span class="small">WHAT THE WOODS GAVE</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">The world is so full of a number of things,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I am sure we should all be as happy as kings.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"> -—<i>Robert Louis Stevenson.</i><br> -</p> - - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/image083.png" alt=""> -</div> - -<p class="noindent drop-cap">“I WISH we could walk out to the Convalescent Home this afternoon,” -were Betty’s first words when the three girls reached Miss Ruth’s house -the next Friday, all very much out of breath from their haste. “I am -tired, school has been so dull and stupid,” said Betty, “and my head -aches. Please can we go?” Betty, from at first not wanting to go to the -Convalescent Home, now wanted very much to go, for, since then, Alice -had been telling her more about it.</p> - -<p>“Would you like to take the walk this afternoon, Elsa?” Miss Ruth -inquired. “Is your grandmother willing for you to go?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Miss Ruth,” replied Elsa; “I asked grandmother about it this -noon, and she said if you thought it was all right, I might go any -time.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span></p> - -<p>Miss Ruth turned next to Alice: “Does it suit you, Alice?”</p> - -<p>Alice also was eager for the visit, so Miss Ruth decided that there -could be no better time. The three girls were tired and fagged from -their school, and fresh air would do them more good than staying -indoors. The afternoon was sunshiny, the ground bare of snow, and -outdoors looked very tempting. And it was, moreover, the day after -Thanksgiving, when children do not always feel at their best.</p> - -<p>“We will take a lunch with us,—unless you would rather have it now,” -suggested Miss Ruth. As no one seemed to be hungry now, the lunch plan -met with general favour.</p> - -<p>“Excuse me then,” said Miss Ruth, “and I will have Sarah put something -in a box for us.”</p> - -<p>“And I will run home and get my thick coat,” said Betty, who had worn -only a light jacket. “It may be cold coming back, and such a tender -little plant as I am mustn’t take cold.” In fact, however, Betty wanted -to tell her mother where she was going, as she did not have permission -for this particular day, as Elsa had.</p> - -<p>Sarah Judd sat in the tidy kitchen knitting a white stocking, her -needles keeping time with her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span> bobbing curls, her black cat on the -table by her elbow. At Ruth Warren’s words: “I want a lunch for my -little people, Sarah,” the woman snapped out: “I declare for it, I’m -glad you are goin’ to do it yourself. I’m tired of waitin’ on a pack of -children that make so many crumbs—”</p> - -<p>“Now, Sarah, you know you like having the children come here,” -interrupted Miss Ruth. “We are going for a walk to-day, as it happens. -Is there bread enough for sandwiches?”</p> - -<p>“Yes;” Sarah made her needles go very fast.</p> - -<p>“And cookies enough for four children?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.” Then Sarah, who could not make her needles go any faster, -jumped up with stiff quickness, exclaiming: “Land sakes! let me do -it. I know what children like; you go ’way an’ I’ll surprise you and -them, too,”—which was exactly what the mistress of the house had been -waiting for Sarah to say.</p> - -<p>She ran up-stairs to tell her Aunt Virginia good-bye. When she came -into the library again, she found that Betty had returned and that the -three girls were standing around the centre-table where the dolls were, -trying to decide which they should dress next.</p> - -<p>“Girls, Aunt Virginia wants to see you, because<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span> she has heard so much -about the Club,” said Miss Ruth.</p> - -<p>“You haven’t told her the name, have you?” Betty asked anxiously, as -they followed Miss Ruth up-stairs.</p> - -<p>“O, no! I just call it ‘the Club’ when I speak of it.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the way I do,” Betty said, encouragingly, running on ahead.</p> - -<p>Miss Virginia Warren was accustomed to take extremely good care of -herself. To-day she was sitting in a large easy chair with soft -cushions all around her and a dark blue afghan over her knees. She -was about sixty years old, a large, rather heavy-looking woman, very -pale because she did not like fresh air in her room and never went -out-of-doors in cold weather; and indeed, she took as little exercise -as possible all times of the year, because she lived in constant fear -of bringing on heart trouble. Her face, though white, was very fair, -and her brown eyes—in colour and in a quick way she had of raising -them—were like Ruth Warren’s, but there the likeness ended, for the -aunt’s eyes had a wilful expression; her mouth also had a selfish droop -at the corners.</p> - -<p>Miss Virginia was dressed in a light blue wrapper,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span> much trimmed with -white lace. She shook hands with each of the three girls,—she had -large, handsome hands, but without much life in them,—then she looked -the girls over as if they were a row of dolls.</p> - -<p>“They seem like bright little children,” she said slowly, turning to -Ruth Warren, her voice sounding as if she lifted a weight with her -chest at each breath; “but they look so well and strong and so full of -life,”—here Betty stopped twisting herself,—“so full of life, Ruth,” -went on the slow voice, “that I should think they would tire you all -out.”</p> - -<p>Miss Virginia, who had leaned forward slightly while she spoke, sank -back among her pillows. “They may go now,” she said, with a wave of her -large, white hand in the direction of the embarrassed children; “I am -tired already,” she repeated, “and you know almost anything brings on -heart trouble.”</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren had heard this remark hundreds of times in the three -years since she had offered a home to this aunt who was alone in the -world; but she was unfailingly kind to the fanciful woman. “Yes, Aunt -Virginia, you must be careful,” she said, motioning for the children to -go down-stairs.</p> - -<p>“Remember, Aunt Virginia, Sarah will come to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span> you instantly any moment -you ring for her,” said Ruth Warren, stopping to arrange her aunt’s -pillows more comfortably, and kissing her on the forehead. But the -slow yet vigorous voice followed her out of the door: “I am growing so -feeble, Ruth, that I soon must have a regular nurse to stay with me, -especially when you are out.”</p> - -<p>The three girls were unusually quiet when Ruth Warren joined them, for -her aunt had made them feel as if they were very troublesome.</p> - -<p>“What shall we do about the dolls’ dresses, our work to-day?” the Club -president asked cheerfully.</p> - -<p>“We might each make two at home,” Betty found voice to say, for the -Club: “Alice might take hers now, and Elsa and I can call for ours.”</p> - -<p>So Alice chose two pink-and-white gingham dresses, rolled them into a -little bundle and put them into the pocket of her blue coat, while Elsa -and Betty looked on, embarrassed and quiet, even now.</p> - -<p>But when Miss Ruth had put on the brown fur-trimmed coat and hat which -matched her brown dress, and the three girls were once out in the open -air, the shadow cast upon their spirits by Miss Virginia vanished -entirely. Each one begged to carry the straw hand-bag containing the -lunch, and they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span> finally agreed to carry it by turns, beginning with -Elsa, the oldest.</p> - -<p>“You have to pass my house to go to the Convalescent Home, and there -are dogs out that way,” suggested Alice, running on ahead and looking -back at the others.</p> - -<p>“I will take a stick,” said Elsa.</p> - -<p>“I will take my feet,” exclaimed Betty.</p> - -<p>“We can stop at my house and ask Ben to go with us,” Alice said. “He -had to hurry home from school to do errands for mamma, but I think he -will have them finished now. He knows all the dogs, and they all know -him.”</p> - -<p>A few moments’ walk took the Club into Berkeley Avenue, a long, -wooded road curving ahead. Soon the surroundings grew more and more -country-like. The road ran past wide farm-fields and comfortable homes -with lazy cows standing in the barn-yards and busy hens scratching in -the deserted gardens. Along the roadside, tall oak and chestnut trees -met in noble arches; all around was the faint rustle of dried leaves -and the soft swaying of bending branches.</p> - -<p>“How far is it to where we are going?” asked Betty, impatiently, -turning to Alice.</p> - -<p>“It’s a half-mile from my house,” answered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span> Alice, “and we are almost -to my house. It’s that little one with a lot of windows.”</p> - -<p>“We have come more than a half-mile,” said Miss Ruth, “so it must be -Betty’s turn to carry the straw bag.”</p> - -<p>Betty took the bag, and darted along the road, here and there, to the -great risk of the lunch.</p> - -<p>They were soon in front of the small wooden house, well back from the -road, and having a great many windows full of flowers. Ben, with his -shirt-sleeves rolled up, was splitting kindling-wood at the side of the -house. He came running down to meet them.</p> - -<p>“Going to the Convalescing Home? Yes, I can go, too,” he said, pulling -down his shirt-sleeves. “I’ve done the errands, and was splitting -kindlings just for fun.”</p> - -<p>“Won’t you please come into my house, Miss Ruth?” asked Alice, shyly. -“Mamma said she wanted the Club to meet here sometime. She would like -to see you now, I know.”</p> - -<p>“We will come, sometime, Alice; thank you,” replied Miss Ruth, “but not -to-day. We have to be back home before dark.”</p> - -<p>So Alice ran in to speak to her mother and to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span> leave the dolls’ -dresses, just as Ben came hurrying out, buttoning his tight little blue -jacket.</p> - -<p>“I might hitch up Jerry to the delivery wagon and take you that way,” -suggested Ben.</p> - -<p>“No, walking is more fun,” said Betty, who always knew exactly what she -wanted to do. A moment later Alice ran toward them, waving good-bye to -the young-looking woman who stood in the doorway. Betty flourished the -lunch-bag wildly in the air, while Miss Ruth and Elsa waved friendly -greetings and Ben shouted farewells.</p> - -<p>“What a splendid place to live in, Alice, with the woods so near,” -said Elsa. “I love to walk in the woods and go hunting into bushes, -and discover things.” Elsa looked with eager eyes at the clumps of -scrub-oak and low bushes ahead, beyond the stone wall.</p> - -<p>“There are snakes there sometimes, in warm weather,” said timid Alice.</p> - -<p>“I’m not afraid of snakes,” Elsa said.</p> - -<p>“I love ’em,—the cunning little ones,” cried Betty; which was true, -for Betty loved almost everything that was alive.</p> - -<p>“I will tell you a very short story about a friend of mine,” said Miss -Ruth. The children fell into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span> line at once, Betty and Elsa on the -right, Ben and Alice on the left.</p> - -<p>“I was in a small country town one summer with this friend,” Miss Ruth -began, “and some one asked her to take a Sunday-school class of boys -who were full of mischief and fun. For awhile, that first Sunday, -everything went well; then, just as my friend was explaining the -lesson to the boys at one side, she felt something drop into her lap, -and turning, she saw a little green snake. Those boys looked at her, -expecting at least that she would scream. The snake wriggled and tried -to escape, but the boy who had brought him was too quick, and grasped -the snake; and he was so surprised when the teacher said: ‘That isn’t -the way to hold him. Don’t you see you are making him uncomfortable?’ -So she took hold of him.”</p> - -<p>“The boy or the snake?” asked Ben, quick as a flash.</p> - -<p>“The snake,” said Miss Ruth, answering the laugh in Ben’s eyes. “And -she held him—the snake, I mean—for ten or fifteen minutes, talking -about him until those boys thought she was the nicest teacher they had -ever had.”</p> - -<p>“Could you have done that, Miss Ruth?” asked Betty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span></p> - -<p>But just then a large black and white hound bounded from the porch of a -house they were passing and ran with great leaps toward them, baying in -a deep voice.</p> - -<p>“Tinker! Tinker!” called Ben, darting forward. Alice drew around to the -other side of Miss Ruth, while Elsa and even Betty stepped a little -behind.</p> - -<p>“Tinker!” exclaimed Ben again, in a steady tone. “Come here! Don’t you -bark at my Black Lace Lady!”</p> - -<p>The great hound, on hearing Ben’s voice, had stopped short. Now, -with eyes cast down, he walked meekly to Ben, who put out his hand -and stroked the long, soft ears, saying: “Bad old Tinker, aren’t you -ashamed of yourself?”</p> - -<p>As Alice had said, Ben was friends with all the dogs on the road. The -hound, after walking a few steps with Ben’s hand on his head, turned -and went toward his home.</p> - -<p>“I wasn’t a bit afraid,” said Betty, coming forward again.</p> - -<p>Ben gave a low whistle to express his thoughts. The others were -politely silent.</p> - -<p>“What was it you called Miss Ruth, Ben?” Betty asked quickly.</p> - -<p>“Black Lace Lady,” Ben answered, “because<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span> she had on a black lace -dress the first time I ever saw her, and it was pretty.”</p> - -<p>“Ben always names people,” said Alice. “He calls me Peggy most of the -time.”</p> - -<p>“What is your name for me, Ben?” asked Betty, dancing on ahead.</p> - -<p>“You?” Ben looked at her brown curls and bright eyes for a half moment -and then said: “I am going to call you the Glad Girl.”</p> - -<p>“That’s nice,” Betty said, with an extra swing of the lunch-bag. -“Mother calls me Sunshine sometimes—and sometimes the Tornado. What’s -your name for Elsa?”</p> - -<p>Ben thought a moment: “I haven’t any name for Elsa yet: I am saving -that up.” Then he gazed at Miss Ruth anxiously: “Isn’t it Alice’s turn -to carry that straw bag?” Alice had found time to explain to him about -the lunch. “We can take shorter turns now, ’cause I can carry it, too.”</p> - -<p>So the bag was given into Alice’s keeping.</p> - -<p>“Tell us about the place where we are going, Miss Ruth, please?” asked -Elsa, who was enjoying the woods walk so much that she had kept quiet -most of the way.</p> - -<p>“To begin with,” replied Miss Ruth, “there is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span> a large hospital in the -city, especially for children; but large as it is, there are always -more sick children to be taken into it than there is room for. When the -children in the hospital are getting well, they are brought out here to -the Convalescent Home where they can be cared for before going to their -own homes,—which are sometimes very poor homes. And the life out here, -with the sunshine and the fresh air and good care, makes the children -ever and ever so much stronger. There are about seventy or eighty -children here all the time.”</p> - -<p>“Poor little children,” said Elsa. Betty was walking along quietly now, -and Ben had taken Alice’s blue-mittened hand in his.</p> - -<p>“Yes, poor little children,” Miss Ruth repeated. “The happy part of it -all is, though, that the children are growing stronger. But just think -how they have to go without the playing and running about you all can -have. Once a little girl, seven years old, whom I saw out here, and who -couldn’t walk, said: ‘I used to play when I was young.’”</p> - -<p>“There’s the house now,” exclaimed Alice, as they came within sight of -a large red-brick building with many red chimneys, situated quite far -back from the highway.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span></p> - -<p>Just where the road turned toward the comfortable-looking red house -stood a tall, wooden sign with the words:</p> - -<p class="center"> -CONVALESCENT HOME<br> -OF THE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL<br> -VISITORS ALWAYS WELCOME<br> -</p> - -<p>“Doesn’t that sound pleasant?” said Betty, reading it aloud. “It makes -you feel as though they really want you to come.”</p> - -<p>Miss Ruth had been here many times before, so she sent a message to the -head-nurse by the maid who opened the front door: “Tell Miss Hartwell -that we would like to see her when she is at liberty, and that I have -taken my young friends out to the playroom. How many children have you -here this week?”</p> - -<p>“About seventy-five, Miss Warren,” replied the maid, conducting the -little party through the large, airy hall with its light yellow-green -walls and dark wood finish, and along a wide passageway to the playroom.</p> - -<p>The three girls went on in silence, except that Elsa said to Miss Ruth: -“What a lovely, clean place it is!”</p> - -<p>Soon they found themselves in a large room—which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span> seemed almost like -outdoors, it was so light and pleasant—and in the midst of a great -many children, most of whom were upon one crutch or two crutches, or -had bandages upon their feet, arms, or even their whole bodies.</p> - -<p>“There are over forty children here in the playroom,” said the -white-capped nurse who had stepped forward to answer Miss Ruth’s -greeting. “The stronger children have been out-of-doors in the fresh -air;—but see, they are coming in now,” she added. “Miss Hartwell has -them come in half an hour before their supper time.”</p> - -<p>Sliding glass doors led from the playroom upon a wide, unroofed piazza. -And now, through the open doorway, a tall, slender woman led the long -line of children, who limped or pushed themselves along on go-carts; -only a few, even, of these stronger children could walk in the -straight, free fashion in which ordinary boys and girls walk, when they -have full use of their limbs.</p> - -<p>“How happy they all look,” said Elsa; and indeed, the children’s faces, -though in many cases thin and pathetic-looking, were sweet, patient and -sunshiny.</p> - -<p>“They always look just the same, every time I come here,” Alice said; -then she ran off to speak<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span> with a little girl whom she remembered. Ben -was already in a corner, surrounded by a group of boys.</p> - -<p>While Miss Ruth went on talking with the head-nurse, Betty and Elsa -forgot their shyness,—which was easy, because the children came -crowding around them, with lively interest. To Betty, who was used to -her own baby brother, the most natural thing to do seemed to be to -sit down on the floor and play with the smallest ones. Elsa, heeding -the “Go walk! Go walk!” of two little girls, wandered away with one -holding fast to each hand. When the little girls grew tired, as they -did quickly, Elsa came back to Miss Ruth’s side, with shining, eloquent -gray eyes: “They are so friendly, the dear little things,” she said to -Miss Ruth, then walked slowly away, with two other girls, to a group of -children who were strapped down to go-carts, and flat upon their backs.</p> - -<p>A mite of five years, with round blue eyes and a pale, patient face, -held out both hands toward Elsa’s sunshiny yellow hair, saying “Pitty, -O, pitty!” Just beyond, a little boy was turning his head toward the -window. “What are you looking at?” Elsa asked, as she drew near.</p> - -<p>“At the sky; it’s nice up there,” the boy answered contentedly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span></p> - -<p>By his side, on the next go-cart, a small girl was singing to herself a -nursery-verse Elsa knew; so she stopped and joined in the singing:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">“Come, little leaves,” said the wind one day,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Come over the meadow with me and play;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Put on your dresses of red and gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For winter is come and the days grow cold.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Elsa’s baby companions, tired of walking, dropped down in little -patient heaps upon the floor, saying in soft voices: “Sing more! More -song!”</p> - -<p>“Oh!”</p> - -<p>Miss Ruth turned at Elsa’s exclamation and saw her kneeling by the side -of a child of about seven years, who was hugging an old, battered china -doll. The child was strapped to a frame which held her body straight, -because her back was not like other children’s. “Let me hold your dolly -a moment,” Elsa was saying, although Ruth Warren could not hear the -words.</p> - -<p>“No! No! Dirl take dolly ’way!” cried the little girl, who had a ruddy -face and dark, sparkling eyes.</p> - -<p>Miss Ruth, still talking with the head-nurse, watched Elsa, unheeded by -her.</p> - -<p>“Where did you get the dolly?” Elsa asked,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span> longing to take her old -doll into her arms, for she had instantly known her own Bettina.</p> - -<p>“Lady dave her to me,” said the child.</p> - -<p>“What is the dolly’s name?” asked Elsa.</p> - -<p>“Dolly.” The child looked up solemnly.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you want to have a name for her?” Elsa asked, after a half -moment of waiting.</p> - -<p>“Vhat?” asked the child, clasping her tiny hands the tighter around the -doll.</p> - -<p>“Name her Bettina,” said Elsa, softly.</p> - -<p>“’Tina,” repeated the little girl. “Dat’s dood name. Dat’s nursey’s -name.”</p> - -<p>“Where is nursey?” Elsa sprang up from her knees and looked around the -room at the nurses. All the faces were strange to her. “Where is she?” -Elsa asked again, almost in tears.</p> - -<p>“Don ’way,” said the wee little girl. And, leaving her staring with two -very bright eyes at the doll, Elsa went back to Miss Ruth’s side and -took hold of her hand tightly.</p> - -<p>“You ought to be here some day when new children come,” said the -head-nurse kindly, noticing Elsa’s sober face, “and see how those who -have been here longest crowd around and tell the new children about the -nice things they do here. It makes the new children feel happy and at -home,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span> immediately, so that they are hardly ever homesick. Sometimes -after the children are well, they don’t want to go home. One little -girl used to run and hide every time we spoke of her going home.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t wonder,” Elsa said quickly. “It’s so pleasant here for them.”</p> - -<p>“Would you like to see where almost all the children sleep?” asked the -head-nurse, now that Elsa’s face had brightened.</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed,” Elsa said. Then Miss Ruth called the other members of -the Club, and they followed Miss Hartwell into one after another of -the three rooms, or “shacks,” which reached out, like arms, from the -playroom; and Miss Hartwell showed them how the windows and even the -doors could be moved so as to let plenty of fresh air into the shacks; -she said that the children never complained of feeling cold, for they -were bundled up in flannel clothing and hoods at night. Some of the -children limped along, following the visitors from one shack into the -next, and listening, nodded their heads with great interest while Miss -Hartwell made the explanation.</p> - -<p>“You would enjoy coming here sometime on a kindergarten afternoon,” -continued the head-nurse. “We have kindergarten teaching three times -a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span> week—Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday afternoon—and no baby is -too small and no child too helpless, to take some part, real or -make-believe, in the pretty plays.”</p> - -<p>Immediately, one little boy, who had heard the word “kindergarten” held -up a piece of cardboard which had outlined upon it a yellow carrot with -a bright green top. And they all praised it.</p> - -<p>“Now I will show you the dining-room,” said Miss Hartwell, leading the -way back through the long passage and the pleasant hall. And, then, -if Elsa had dared, she would have questioned about the nurse named -Bettina; but Elsa was a shy little girl, and before she found courage -for the question, they were in the large, many-windowed dining-room -with its tall, handsome plants and wide fireplace, and Miss Hartwell -was showing them the pretty dishes with red, green, and blue figures, -for the children’s use. The room was filled with low tables surrounded -by low chairs, and on the tables were plates piled with buttered bread -and crackers, while in front of each place was a large cupful of milk -and a dish of apple-sauce.</p> - -<p>“The children have supper very early on winter afternoons,” Miss -Hartwell said. She had hardly spoken these words when the long -procession of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span> children began coming into the dining-room,—the -stronger ones first, sometimes leading or helping the weaker ones, then -those who could not walk, pushing themselves along on their go-carts. -Last of all came the nurses with the youngest and weakest children.</p> - -<p>The visitors drew somewhat to one side and watched the children as they -took their places or were drawn up to the tables.</p> - -<p>At a signal from the head-nurse after each little white bib was tied -into place, the children began singing in thin, sweet voices:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">“Thank Him, thank Him,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">All ye little children;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thank Him, thank Him,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">God is love.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Elsa’s and Betty’s eyes filled with tears; the children’s grace touched -Alice’s and Ben’s hearts into tenderness, too, although the twins had -heard it before; then they all dried their eyes, smiling through joyful -tears, as the children began to eat their supper.</p> - -<p>“Sometimes we have gingerbread for supper,” said a sweet-faced child -who was lying on a go-cart near the visitors, and whom one of the -nurses was feeding.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span></p> - -<p>“Tum aden,” cried the bright-eyed little girl who, as the visitors -turned to go, was hugging an old china doll, and patiently waiting her -turn to be fed.</p> - -<p>“You cunning baby!” said Elsa, stooping to kiss the battered doll, once -her own.</p> - -<p>So half-laughing, half-crying, the children passed out, their hearts -overflowing with a kind of painful pleasure.</p> - -<p>They kept unusually quiet for the first few moments as they walked -away. Elsa was the first one to speak. “I want to come again,” she said -in a wistful voice. It had been hard for her to leave her precious old -doll behind; and besides, the children interested her greatly.</p> - -<p>“So do I,” Betty joined in quickly. “It makes me feel queer, but I like -it.”</p> - -<p>“I love to come,” said Alice. “Sometimes we take things out to the -children; and you’d be s’prised the way they give up to each other. -Mamma says they are the most unselfishest children she ever saw.”</p> - -<p>Ben was trotting along ahead, jumping every now and then into the air. -Suddenly he stopped and said in a serious voice: “I am glad my two<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span> -legs are whole! My,—but it’s hard for those boys, though.”</p> - -<p>“It’s just as hard for the girls,” exclaimed Betty.</p> - -<p>“No,—because boys need to race around more than girls; it keeps them -from exploding,” declared Ben, taking an extra high jump.</p> - -<p>“I know a short way through the woods,” he added, stopping where a -foot-path led from the left-hand side of the road. “It comes out just -beyond our house; it’s pretty, too, and I can take you to a fine place -to eat the lunch.” Ben was growing hungry.</p> - -<p>Miss Ruth had kept the lunch-bag, insisting that it was her turn to -carry it now. They all agreed to follow Ben’s suggestion; and indeed it -was delightful to be walking along under broad-spreading trees through -whose branches the late afternoon sunlight struck golden lances. There -was an almost perfect stillness in the woods, except for the occasional -calling of crows overhead among the tree-tops or the Jay! Jay! of that -handsome robber, the blue-jay.</p> - -<p>“How does the Convalescent Home have money enough to take care of all -those children?” asked Elsa, sliding along, on the smooth carpet of -pine-needles, toward Miss Ruth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span></p> - -<p>“The managers, the ladies who have charge of the Home, give money and -their friends give money, to provide the clothing—shoes and stockings -and nightgowns and little flannel dresses and everything,—besides -paying the nurses’ wages and for the medicines. It takes a great deal -of money; and ever so many more children could be brought here and -cured if there were more money to provide care and clothing for them.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps my grandmother will give something,” Elsa said hesitatingly. -“O, I know,” she added, her face brightening, “Uncle Ned will help. I -will ask him.”</p> - -<p>“I am glad we are going to give the children some dolls; they didn’t -have many,” said Betty, rustling on ahead through the piled-up dry -leaves.</p> - -<p>“We might earn some money—our Club, I mean,” suggested Alice.</p> - -<p>“We will give them all the dolls and playthings we can for Christmas,” -said Elsa, putting her arm around Alice; “then, when we start a new -club, we can maybe have it an Easter Club, and see how much money we -can earn for those poor little children.”</p> - -<p>“Alice and I had our names printed in the Convalescing Home report last -year,” Ben called back<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span> over his shoulder; he was leading the way. “It -said this: ‘From Ben and Alice, a music-box;’ we gave them one we had,” -he explained.</p> - -<p>“Will the dolls we give and the name of our Club be printed in the -report, Miss Ruth?” asked Betty excitedly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, that is the custom,” answered Miss Ruth.</p> - -<p>“But then everybody would know the name,” objected Betty, walking -slowly on.</p> - -<p>“Never mind,” Alice said, putting her arm into Betty’s. “We can name -the Club over again after Christmas.”</p> - -<p>“And we wouldn’t want to call an Easter Club by the same name as a -Christmas Club,” said Elsa.</p> - -<p>“What’s the name of the Club, anyway?” Ben turned to ask. He was -marching on ahead, but not losing anything that was said. “Alice told -me I couldn’t know it till I belonged, but I belong now.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, you belong now, after having this afternoon’s meeting with us,” -said Miss Ruth. “Tell him the name, Alice.”</p> - -<p>So Alice ran ahead, put her arm around Ben’s neck, and whispered the -name into his ear,—although there was no need of secrecy, since they -all were members.</p> - -<p>“Christmas Makers’ Club!” Ben said critically.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span> “That sounds pretty -important, as though you thought you were going to make Christmas.”</p> - -<p>“But we are,” cried Elsa; “we are going to help make it for the -convalescent children.”</p> - -<p>“And for ourselves, too,” put in Betty, who had many plans in her busy -brain.</p> - -<p>“Aren’t you going to help make it for anybody, Ben?” asked Miss Ruth.</p> - -<p>“O,—yes,” replied Ben, with the air of one who did not tell all of his -secrets.</p> - -<p>“He can make the beautifulest things,” said Alice, ever ready to -praise her brother.</p> - -<p>“I’ll make a few tops and some kites for those little chaps,” Ben said -modestly, slowing his steps in order to walk with the others, for here -the wood-path widened. “I used to think I would be a carpenter when I -grow up, but I’ve changed my mind.”</p> - -<p>“What do you want to do, Ben?” asked Miss Ruth, looking at the -lively-faced boy whose head came almost to her shoulder.</p> - -<p>Ben was a steady-minded, faithful lad, but he had a great imagination. -“I am going to do the way they do in fairy stories,” he said; “I am -going to get an old witch to help, and go to an island where there is -a hidden treasure and come back and spend<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span> it. And I shall have a pony -and a guinea pig and a garden of my own, and then I shall make the King -a great many presents, and marry the Princess and have plenty of people -to amuse me and read to me, and I shall go to bed when I choose and eat -all the candy I want and have turkey every day, and I shall conquer all -the world,—all except the Americans,—and my mother will be Queen—” -Here Ben stopped for want of breath rather than for want of imagination.</p> - -<p>“That is enough to take away one’s breath, Ben,” remarked Miss Ruth. -“What do you want to be, Alice? You must all tell.”</p> - -<p>“I want to be a nurse and take care of the convalescent children,” -Alice said shyly.</p> - -<p>“You will be a princess if you are my sister,” exclaimed Ben.</p> - -<p>“What about you, Betty?” Miss Ruth asked next.</p> - -<p>“Me! I want to be good and beautiful and sensible,” said Betty, very -slowly, for her; “and, of course, I want a houseful of horses and a -houseful of dogs.”</p> - -<p>“And you, Elsa?”</p> - -<p>Elsa was all ready for Miss Ruth’s question:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span> “I am going to be the -mother of five children and make them very, very happy,” she said with -a most radiant expression on her flower-like face.</p> - -<p>“Let’s stop here and build a bower to eat the lunch in,” exclaimed -Betty, for all at once they came to a turn in the path and an open -space, carpeted with soft, reddish-brown pine-needles, and surrounded -by tall, straight tree trunks.</p> - -<p>“Walk on a minute more,” urged Ben; “I know a lots better place.”</p> - -<p>Soon another turn in the path brought them within sight of a hut, which -the dense trees had hidden,—a low, wooden cabin, built of logs with -the bark left on. In front of the hut was a wooden platform with a long -seat, and above the seat, one wide window of many small panes of glass. -It was a place to attract and charm any child.</p> - -<p>With shouts of excitement, Betty, Elsa, and Alice, followed by Ben, -leaped to the platform and the girls pressed their faces against the -window, full of curiosity to see the inside of the hut.</p> - -<p>“Nobody lives here,” explained Ben, turning to Miss Ruth, who was only -a moment behind the others. “Some boys’ father had the hut built for -them two-three years ago, but they have grown up and got tired of it. -They let me have the key,” he added,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span> proudly taking it from his pocket -and fitting it into the door.</p> - -<p>“I have been here before with Ben, but not very often,” said Alice, -standing aside with her brother to let the others go into the hut first.</p> - -<p>Inside, the delighted children saw a room about as large as a -good-sized pantry, and in this room a round table, three stools, a -chair, and a tiny, rather rusty stove; opening from this room was a -smaller one, with two cot-beds. The whole place was clean and in order, -for Ben had taken great delight not only in having the key but in -caring for the hut.</p> - -<p>There was a sweet, dry odour of pine-wood about the place, and the -afternoon sun had made the large room quite warm. “We must surely have -our lunch here,” said Miss Ruth, “though we must be quick about it, for -the sunlight will soon be gone.”</p> - -<p>“Just seats enough to go around,” said Ben; “three stools for the -girls, a chair for Miss Ruth—excuse me, Miss Ruth, I ought to have -said you first,—and I’ll get the wooden box that I keep in the bushes -for rubbish.”</p> - -<p>Miss Ruth quickly spread a white napkin over the little table and took -out the lunch,—first a great many ginger cookies, and these were -carefully laid at one side; buttered thin biscuit next,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span> three apiece, -with slices of cold turkey laid in between, and lastly, some nuts and -raisins.</p> - -<p>Four pairs of hands reached out without delay, and in a surprisingly -short time, sandwiches and cookies, nuts and raisins, every one of -them, had vanished. And how good everything tasted, there in the snug, -warm little hut, with the fragrant odour of the pines coming in through -the open door.</p> - -<p>“I wish, if we have the Easter Club, we could buy this hut and have our -meetings here,” said Elsa. The longer she stayed in the hut, the better -she liked it.</p> - -<p>“It’s near my house,” Alice said; “you can see our chimneys from the -door.”</p> - -<p>“And we could furnish the hut with a lot of things,—dishes and -pictures,” cried Betty. “And we could use the little room for a -storeroom!”</p> - -<p>Elsa had been thinking of other pleasures, so she said: “We could stay -here and enjoy the birds and the trees and the wild flowers, in the -spring.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think we could buy or hire the hut, Ben?” asked Miss Ruth; for -it certainly was a delightful place.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I think maybe I could manage it for you,” replied Ben, carefully -brushing all the crumbs<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span> of food into the wooden box on which he had -sat during the lunch.</p> - -<p>“O, I just saw the cunningest gray squirrel!” exclaimed Elsa, running -to the doorway, hoping for another glimpse of the little creature.</p> - -<p>“You can see plenty of gray squirrels and chipmunks round here, ’most -any time,” said Ben, following her. “And a man told me that last year a -pair of screech-owls built their nest and raised their family in that -old hollow tree there.”</p> - -<p>Elsa listened with closest attention.</p> - -<p>“This is a fine place to get acquainted with birds and animals,” Ben -said, encouragingly. “But you never can get acquainted with them till -you learn to be quiet, like them, and to walk through the woods without -making twigs snap every step you take.”</p> - -<p>Ben put the box of crumbs among the alder bushes at the side of the -hut. “Mr. Gray Squirrel and his family will have those crumbs almost -before we are out of sight,” he said.</p> - -<p>“We must start for home,” called Miss Ruth, coming out from the hut -with Alice and Betty.</p> - -<p>While Ben locked the door, the others stood for a moment watching the -brilliant red sunset light in the western sky. The deep baying of a -hound<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span> sounded through the quiet woods. Alice drew a little nearer to -Ben.</p> - -<p>“You are all safe, Peggy,” he said, patting her hand, his thoughts busy -with other things. “If I were a bird way up in the top boughs of those -tall trees, you would look like grasshoppers down here,” he said, with -his face turned to the sky.</p> - -<p>“And you would look like the teentiest, tontiest little bird,” replied -Betty quickly.</p> - -<p>“I should hear what the wind was saying, ’way up there,” Ben went on; -“we can’t hear such things down on the ground, ’cause people make so -much noise talking. You have to keep still to learn things,” added Ben -with a wise air and a serious face. Then he led the way along the path -again, singing to himself softly, in a musical voice:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">“There was an old man of Dumbree,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who taught little owls to drink tea;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For he said, ‘To eat mice is not proper or nice,’</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That amiable man of Dumbree.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Soon the very tall trees grew fewer in number and the woods more -open; and the path now ran between old stumps, tufts of blueberry -bushes, clumps of alders, and wisps of coarse yellow-brown grass, -left unweakened by the frost. A few moments later, they came out upon -Berkeley Avenue,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span> at a point where Ben and Alice would have to turn -back toward their home.</p> - -<p>“Thank you, very much, Ben, for bringing us through such an -interesting, pleasant way,” said Miss Ruth; “and we shall all remember -the hut.”</p> - -<p>“And the convalescent children,” cried Elsa.</p> - -<p>“And the Easter Club we are going to have,” put in Betty. “Don’t you -tell the name of our Club, Ben!”</p> - -<p>“No, no, no!” Ben called back,—as if a boy ever did tell secrets.</p> - -<p>“Mamma wants the Club to meet at our house sometime soon,” Alice said -in farewell, as she and Ben trotted off together.</p> - -<p>Ben waved his scrap of a blue cap as he cried: “Good-bye, good-bye, -Black Lace Lady! Good-bye, Glad Girl! Good-bye, Elsa!”</p> - -<p>“Have you thought of a name for Elsa yet?” called out Betty, waving the -now empty lunch-bag over her head frantically.</p> - -<p>“That’s telling!” Ben answered teasingly. He had thought, but he was -going to keep it to himself for awhile.</p> - -<p>Miss Ruth, Betty, and Elsa, had not gone far on their homeward way -when Mrs. Danforth overtook them, in a closed coupé with a driver -in livery,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span> who stopped the gray horse beside the group in the -road. Mrs. Danforth had very often, lately, driven out on Berkeley -Avenue, and several times in passing the Holts’ house she had seen a -stooping-shouldered man, whom she supposed to be Mr. Holt, going to or -coming from the long shed, the place where, probably, she thought, the -market garden supplies were kept. The garden window frames showed just -behind the house.</p> - -<p>“Where are the others of your Club?” she asked, as she let down the -coupé window. She had expected to meet all of the Club together.</p> - -<p>“O, we came back through the woods, grandmother,” explained Elsa; “you -must have met Ben and Alice just now.”</p> - -<p>Then Mrs. Danforth remembered that she had met a boy and a girl only a -short distance back, but she had not noticed them especially.</p> - -<p>“I can take one of you home with me,” she said, looking from Miss Ruth -to Elsa and then to Betty, and pulling her handsome sable furs closer -up around her neck as the cool air came into the coupé.</p> - -<p>“Thank you, Mrs. Danforth, but I enjoy walking,” replied Ruth Warren, -who was entirely willing to give up the drive to one of the children.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span></p> - -<p>Elsa’s face looked as if she also would rather walk; but Betty’s brown -eyes were dancing with anticipation. She loved horses heartily, and -next to going over the Danforth house she had wanted to ride behind -that splendid gray steed. So she said, when Mrs. Danforth’s eyes rested -upon her: “I should just love to ride with you,” and accordingly, -Elsa’s grandmother drove off with Betty behind the spirited horse.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>“Did you know I found a little girl out at the Convalescent Home -who—who had Bettina?” Elsa said to Miss Ruth, as they walked along -together over the hard, frozen road.</p> - -<p>“Was it the little girl with the bright dark eyes, whom I saw you with?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, that’s the one. Did you hear what she said?” Elsa asked.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t hear what either you or the little girl said, because I was -talking with Miss Hartwell; but I saw that you were greatly interested -about something: and it was your own doll Bettina. Were you glad?”</p> - -<p>“It—it was exciting to—to see Bettina,” Elsa said, swallowing a lump -in her throat, “and then when—when I asked the little girl to—let -me<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span> name the doll—I wanted her to be called Bettina—the little -girl said that her nurse’s name was Bettina, but she had gone away. -Do you suppose it could be my old Bettina,—Bettina March?” Elsa -asked, looking anxiously into Miss Ruth’s face, half in hope, half in -uncertainty.</p> - -<p>“You did not think to inquire of Miss Hartwell?” questioned Miss Ruth.</p> - -<p>“I—I thought, but I didn’t quite dare to,” Elsa replied desolately.</p> - -<p>“Don’t think too much about the matter, Elsa, because it might be -Bettina Smith or Bettina anybody; but I will find out for you,” said -Miss Ruth, thinking how plucky Elsa had been about the doll.</p> - -<p>“O, thank you, Miss Ruth,” Elsa said very gratefully and in a much -relieved tone.</p> - -<p>“Doesn’t your old nurse write to you?”</p> - -<p>“No,” Elsa answered slowly. “Grandmother said it was better for me to -learn to get along without Bettina—so—so I suppose that’s the reason -she doesn’t write to me.”</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren did not ask any further questions. But she felt that she -knew better than ever why Elsa was such a pale-faced child and why -there was so often a shadow of something sad in her eyes.</p> - -<p>“Do you think I ought to tell grandmother about—about<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span> my going over -to your house the other night?” Elsa asked suddenly, as the question -came into her mind for almost the hundredth time.</p> - -<p>“Might not your grandmother’s feelings be hurt because you went to -somebody else instead of going to her, with your—your trouble?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps,” Elsa answered, in a doubtful tone, though.</p> - -<p>“If she were to ask you about it, you would of course tell her. But -when telling a thing unnecessarily means the possibility of hurting -somebody’s feelings, then even little girls can help make the world -happier by keeping things to themselves. Are you willing, Elsa, to have -me tell your grandmother, or anybody else, if ever the time comes when -it seems best?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Miss Ruth,” cried Elsa, feeling as if a great weight had rolled -from her heart. “Of course grandmother didn’t know how much I loved -that doll. She didn’t even know I had her.”</p> - -<p>After this talk, Elsa felt that she and Miss Ruth were to be good -friends for always.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>Betty White spent the first few moments of the drive in watching -the strong, easy pulling of the gray horse. Then she turned to Mrs. -Danforth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span> with a question which greatly interested her and which she -thought there could never be a better time to ask.</p> - -<p>Now Betty was the frankest of little girls; so she spoke out very -bluntly: “Why do you make Elsa mind so—so hard?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth, being greatly amazed, was surprised into saying “What?”</p> - -<p>“Why don’t you let Elsa decide things sometimes for herself?” Betty’s -brown eyes met the surprised look in Mrs. Danforth’s blue eyes very -fearlessly. “Mother lets me decide things—she says it is good for me -to have re-responsibleness.” Betty stumbled a little over the long -word, but she kept on: “So if mother tells me I better come home from -anywhere about five o’clock, and if I want to stay a little longer, and -they want me to, I just stay, and then I tell her afterward, and if she -doesn’t like it, we talk it over.”</p> - -<p>Betty leaned back against the soft cushions in comfort. This matter was -off her mind!</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth did not give any reply.</p> - -<p>“I—I think the other way makes children afraid of you,” Betty added -bravely.</p> - -<p>Still Mrs. Danforth kept her eyes straight ahead,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span> upon the coachman’s -broad shoulders. Presently she asked: “Was that the Holt children’s -father in front of their house, Elizabeth?”</p> - -<p>“We didn’t come back past the Holts’ house,” Betty replied, “but -that couldn’t have been Alice’s and Ben’s father. It must have been -the hired man. Mr. Holt is a teacher, and he is way out in the West -somewhere, because he isn’t very well. They miss him dreadfully.”</p> - -<p>“Nonsense!” exclaimed Mrs. Danforth. And Betty felt like a naughty -child, though she could not have told why.</p> - -<p>Betty’s mother was just turning toward her home, when Mrs. Danforth’s -coupé stopped, and Betty flew out like a small whirlwind.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth lowered the coupé window and leaning forward, said: -“Mrs. White, I wish my little Elsa were as rosy and strong as your -Elizabeth.” She always spoke Betty’s full name,—Elizabeth.</p> - -<p>Mrs. White noticed the unusually gentle expression upon the proud face. -She had wanted a good opportunity to speak to Mrs. Danforth about Elsa; -so, with the same frankness which Betty had shown, she said: “There is -no use in trying to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span> bring children up without love, Mrs. Danforth. You -cannot make strong, happy, useful men and women without it.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth did not seem offended; though her eyes gleamed proudly -from under her heavy brows, and a slight colour rose on her cheeks. -Her voice was rather hoarse as she said to Mrs. White, with a cold -smile: “Your daughter Elizabeth is very much like you.” Then she bowed -good-bye, and ordered the coachman to drive on.</p> - -<p>“You forgot to thank Mrs. Danforth for the drive, Betty,” said Mrs. -White, as they walked up the steps together.</p> - -<p>“So I did, mother. That is too bad,” Betty answered, penitently, -slipping her hand into her mother’s arm. “But Mrs. Danforth kind of -stiffens me up and makes me forget things. Aren’t grandmothers ever as -nice as mothers? I don’t know, because I haven’t any grandmothers.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Betty, they are often better, or at least children think so. But -there are a great many different kinds of mothers and grandmothers.”</p> - -<p>“I know I’ve got the best kind of mother!” exclaimed Betty joyfully.</p> - -<p>That evening, after Elsa had shaken hands, said good night, and gone up -to her white room, Mrs.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span> Danforth, alone in her luxurious library, sat -quiet for a long time, thinking deeply about many things, especially -about the real purpose which had brought her to live in Berkeley.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV<br> -<span class="small">THE CLUB GOES VISITING</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">By sports like these are all their cares beguiled.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"> -—<i>Oliver Goldsmith.</i><br> -</p> - - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/image083.png" alt=""> -</div> - -<p class="noindent drop-cap">“I DON’T know but I shall have to ask you not to let the children come -to their Club this afternoon. I don’t like the noise, and you know -almost anything brings on heart trouble,” Miss Virginia Warren said, -when she came down to the library the next Friday morning, followed by -her niece, carrying two shawls. She spent an hour down-stairs daily, -after the rooms had been made excessively warm.</p> - -<p>“But, Aunt Virginia, you always stay in your room after three o’clock, -and it is so far from the library that you could hardly hear any -noise. I will keep the doors shut, though. I should be sorry indeed to -disappoint the children,” Ruth Warren replied, quite troubled by her -aunt’s words.</p> - -<p>“Well, of course the children are of more importance than my feelings,” -said Miss Virginia with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span> a sigh. “But even though I don’t hear their -noise, knowing they are there, and that I may hear them any minute, -gives me cold turns every now and then.” She shivered, as if at the -mere thought. “Put that thick shawl over me quickly, Ruth.”</p> - -<p>The doctor had many times told Ruth Warren that there was nothing -really the matter with her aunt except a strong imagination and a -constant fear of illness; he had advised her, too, not to give in -too much to her aunt’s notions. So now Ruth said: “I am sorry, Aunt -Virginia, that the children’s coming disturbs you. I will ask Sarah -to stay in the room with you this afternoon so that you will not feel -nervous.”</p> - -<p>“Nervous! I am never nervous,” replied Miss Virginia, waving her large -white hands excitedly. “But I shall have to have a regular nurse, so -that there will be somebody with me all the time.” Then she wept a -little, and felt faint, and had to be revived with spirits of ammonia.</p> - -<p>Fortunately, however, she was spared further excitement on account of -the children’s coming that day. For just before three o’clock, Ben -Holt drove up to the house with a large, loose-jointed brown horse and -a double-seated sleigh, jumped out, rang the door-bell, and asked for -Miss Ruth. He was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span> sitting on a tall carved chair in the hall when Ruth -Warren came down, at Sarah’s summons.</p> - -<p>“I stayed at home from school this afternoon,” said Ben, springing to -his feet and looking as if his sturdy body would burst out from the -tight little blue jacket. “Alice has hurt her ankle, and she wants the -Club to meet at our house, and so does my mother, and will you come? -I’ve brought Jerry and the double-seated sleigh. See?” And Ben drew -aside the lace curtain of the hall window to display his steed and -chariot.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I will go with pleasure,” Ruth Warren answered, after one swift, -amused glance at the big-boned horse and the sleigh.</p> - -<p>“Then I’ll just wait here till the other children come, if you please,” -Ben said, unbuttoning his jacket and drawing a long breath.</p> - -<p>“Will your horse stand?” asked Ruth Warren, wondering if Ben meant to -include her as one of the children.</p> - -<p>“O, yes, he’s glad enough to have a chance to stand,” the boy said with -a twinkle of humour.</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren went up-stairs to tell her aunt of the change of plan.</p> - -<p>“You are not going off with a crowd of children in that old sleigh, -Ruth, are you? Some of your<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span> friends will be sure to see you,” objected -Miss Virginia, in great and sudden distress.</p> - -<p>“Only three children, Aunt Virginia; and what if my friends do see me?”</p> - -<p>“But it looks so queer—the sleigh, I mean,—like a country grocery -sled, with an extra seat put in.” Miss Virginia grew quite excited.</p> - -<p>“I believe it is called a pung,” said Ruth; “never mind, Aunt Virginia, -nobody whom I care for will like me any the less for going in it. -Good-bye,—there come Betty and Elsa now, and you can watch us start,” -she added, for her aunt’s chair was always drawn close to the front -window. “You will have a quiet house all to yourself this afternoon.”</p> - -<p>“It will be too quiet, I am afraid,” sighed Miss Virginia. “I do like -to hear a little something going on, here all alone as I am, though not -children’s voices.”</p> - -<p>Miss Virginia Warren did not mean to be selfish, but she had never -learned that there is something sweeter in life than taking anxious -care of one’s health and thinking about one’s self.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>Ben had seen Betty and Elsa on their way home from school and told -them; so they were there all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span> ready to start when Miss Ruth came -down-stairs in her long, black, fur-lined coat.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth had surprised Elsa that noon by saying: “Elsa, when -you are with your little Club, and all of you want to do anything -together, like going to the Convalescent Home, you may do it without -coming to ask me; and you may stay a little later than five o’clock -if coming away earlier would spoil your good time.” Elsa felt very -grown-up, with this new freedom, and yet the first use she made of it -was to run home to tell her grandmother that the Club was to meet at -Alice’s! It happened, however, that Mrs. Danforth was out driving; and -then Elsa felt more than ever grateful to her grandmother, because, -as she explained to Miss Ruth, “If grandmother hadn’t said I could do -anything the Club wanted to, I couldn’t have gone to Alice’s, because -grandmother wasn’t at home to ask.”</p> - -<p>Betty listened intently, but wisely kept still. She was dancing around -in great impatience for the start; she had on a long gray fur boa of -her mother’s, and as there had been no one to remind Elsa to wear -something extra warm, Miss Ruth bundled her into the dark red golf cape.</p> - -<p>Soon the little party set forth,—to Miss Virginia’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span> horror, though -she waved her hand feebly in return to the merry farewells from Miss -Ruth and Elsa on the back seat of the pung, and from Betty perched up -beside the blue-coated driver of the loose-jointed horse.</p> - -<p>Ben began clucking his steed into a faster gait.</p> - -<p>“What a good, steady horse you have, Ben,” said Miss Ruth; and indeed -the horse was pulling well on the road toward home.</p> - -<p>“It’s a good thing to have a horse that will stand and that people -aren’t afraid of,” Ben said loyally. “I can do anything with this -horse. G’long, Jerry!”</p> - -<p>The old horse, as if to justify the praise, went briskly. The sleighing -was smooth, for there had been two or three snow-storms the past week. -It was a rather sharp and wintry afternoon, cloudy, with every once in -awhile a flurry of snow in large, star-shaped flakes.</p> - -<p>“See how well Nature has tucked her children in, since we walked out -here a week ago,” said Miss Ruth, as the sleigh, with merrily jingling -bells, slid along the quieter part of Berkeley Avenue, where now masses -of soft snow lined the roadside. “And there will soon be a thicker -blanket put on, to keep them warm and safe until spring.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span></p> - -<p>“Think of the hut, all covered with snow,” Elsa said. “How pretty it -must look.”</p> - -<p>“Wouldn’t it be fun if we could sleigh-ride over to the Convalescent -Home and see the children again,” exclaimed Betty, remembering the last -Friday afternoon and their visit.</p> - -<p>“But what about Alice waiting at home for us?” Miss Ruth asked quickly.</p> - -<p>“O, I forgot,” Betty cried.</p> - -<p>“I expect she’s wondering where we are,” exclaimed Ben. “G’long, Jerry!”</p> - -<p>But Jerry did not need urging now, for a moment later Ben turned -into the driveway which led to the rambling house with a piazza in -front, out upon which looked many long, narrow windows, filled with -bright-flowering plants, chiefly scarlet geraniums,—a cozy, cheerful -home indeed.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Holt was already at the front door,—a young woman in a plain -dark blue dress with dainty lace collar and cuffs, and so slender and -graceful that she looked more like an older sister of Ben’s than his -mother. Quite a warm colour bloomed on her pretty face as she shook -hands with Miss Ruth, whom Ben introduced by saying “This is the Black -Lace Lady.”</p> - -<p>“I am very happy to meet you, Miss Warren.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span> Betty White I already know. -And this is Elsa Danforth? Come in, please. Alice has been growing -very impatient for your arrival,” Mrs. Holt said, with a gentle and -well-bred hospitality.</p> - -<p>The front door opened directly into a quite large hall, evidently the -living-room. There was a glowing fire in the old-fashioned fireplace -opposite the door, a low bookcase on one side of the fireplace and -a piano on the other; the stairs were at one end of the room, and -folding-doors opened into the dining-room at the opposite end. On a -chintz-covered lounge close to the front windows sat Alice in a blue -wrapper the colour of her eyes, and with one foot stretched out, -covered with an afghan. Her face flushed with pleasure: “O, I am so -glad you all came,” she said, as they drew around her. “I fell on some -ice, coming home from school yesterday, and twisted my ankle a little, -the doctor said, so I couldn’t come to the Club, and so we invited you -here. What shall we do?” she asked, leaning back against the gay chintz -pillows and looking like a large, sweet-faced doll with softly dimpled -cheeks.</p> - -<p>“I brought some of the dolls’ dresses—there are yet eight more to -make,” Miss Ruth said, taking a package from the deep pocket of her -fur-lined<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span> coat. “We can sew on those for one thing to do.”</p> - -<p>“I have made my last week’s two dresses,” cried Alice, pulling them in -very rumpled condition from under a sofa pillow, while Elsa and Betty -dived into their coat pockets, each bringing out two dresses, all -finished.</p> - -<p>“Good!” said Miss Ruth, taking off her coat and hat, at Mrs. Holt’s -bidding. “Perhaps we can each do two to-day—though these are for the -largest dolls.”</p> - -<p>“I will gladly help you sew,” Mrs. Holt said. “Alice has told me that -the dolls are to be given away at Christmas: that is all I know about -it,” she added, smiling in a motherly, understanding way. She had a -pretty, rather sad face and a very tender look in her blue eyes. It -was a great grief to her to be parted from her husband, and there was -another grief which lay further back in her heart.</p> - -<p>Even in the few moments of their talking together, Ruth Warren had -decided that Mrs. Holt was a very charming woman, and just the kind of -a mother Ben and Alice might be expected to have.</p> - -<p>Elsa and Betty had drawn their chairs very near to Alice and were -telling her all that had happened<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span> in school that morning, when Ben -came in from having put the horse into the barn, and walked up to his -mother’s side with “What shall we do?”</p> - -<p>“O, I know what to do,” he exclaimed, answering his own question. “We -will have a show.”</p> - -<p>“Goody!” cried Betty, hearing his last words.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Holt entered at once into the plan. “Miss Warren and Alice and I -will be audience. You can manage your show with Betty and Elsa to help, -I think.”</p> - -<p>“But what about the dolls’ dresses?” Elsa asked, eager as she was for -the “show.”</p> - -<p>“Bless the dear child!” said Mrs. Holt, putting her arm around the -slight, black-gowned figure. “Miss Warren and I will sew fast enough to -do your share and Betty’s.” She gazed intently into Elsa’s face as if -she would like to question the child about something.</p> - -<p>“O, thank you,” Elsa said, gratefully. “Why, that picture is just like -one my grandmother has in her room,” she exclaimed, catching sight of -an oil-painting of a large, gable-windowed house.</p> - -<p>As Ruth Warren saw Mrs. Holt’s face grow crimson and then suddenly very -pale, some faint, puzzling resemblance flashed through her mind and was -gone as quickly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span></p> - -<p>Before Mrs. Holt had any time to answer, Ben ran toward her and laid -his hand coaxingly upon her shoulder: “Now, mother of mine, I have -brought the ‘show’ things down from the garret, and the pink gauze -curtain; and please can we use the red light?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, my boy. What shows are you going to have?” Mrs. Holt’s voice was -not quite steady, but she had regained her composure.</p> - -<p>“You will see in just a little while, mother of mine,” said Ben, with -the air of one who speaks to an over-eager child.</p> - -<p>Then, while Mrs. Holt explained to Miss Ruth and Elsa that the pink -cheese-cloth curtain was used to make the show-figures look more -beautiful, and that the red light, which made them even more beautiful, -was brought out only on great occasions like birthdays or holidays, -Elsa forgot all about the oil-painting; and very soon after, Ben called -her to join Betty and him in the parlour, which opened off the hall, -at the foot of the stairs. “Turn your backs, please,” cried Ben; “you -mustn’t see what is going to happen.”</p> - -<p>“Ben is such a manly little fellow,” said Miss Ruth, rising to change -her position.</p> - -<p>Quick tears sprang into Mrs. Holt’s blue eyes.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span> “He tries to take care -of me,” she replied, with a little tremble in her voice; “my dear -little boy,” she added, half under her breath. “He is a great help in -the gardening we do, winter and summer, although I have a good man to -take the principal care. But I am sorry to have the children away from -their father. We hope it will not be very long before he can come back -to us, or we go to him.”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Holt is a teacher, I believe,” said Ruth Warren, who found herself -growing much interested in the Holt family.</p> - -<p>“Yes, out in Colorado; he had to go there for his health, and that is -why we are here,” was the reply, given with quiet dignity.</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren liked Mrs. Holt all the better because she did not attempt -to make any apology for keeping a market-garden, or to explain their -poverty, which was evident from the shabby furniture and plain clothing.</p> - -<p>“I wish they would begin,” sighed Alice, who was feeling rather left -out of things and who had all this time kept her eyes turned away from -the stairs, where mysterious preparations were going on.</p> - -<p>“You may turn ’round now,” called out Ben,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span> starting the red light. So -the audience faced expectantly toward the stage which was formed by the -wide landing four steps up the stairway.</p> - -<p>Ben, jerking back the pink curtain, announced in a deep, dramatic tone: -“Priscilla, the Puritan Maiden.”</p> - -<p>Beside a real spinning-wheel sat Elsa with a white cap over her golden -hair and a white kerchief across her shoulders,—a demure little -Puritan maiden, her face very rosy under the red light.</p> - -<p>The applause from the audience was hearty and prolonged. Alice clapped -louder than any one else. But after the curtain was drawn forward, she -slipped her hand into her mother’s and said wistfully, “I do wish my -foot was well so I could be in the shows.”</p> - -<p>“Think of the little Convalescent children, my darling,” said Mrs. Holt -in a low tone, replacing the afghan which Alice had restlessly pushed -away. “Think how some of them keep still all the time.”</p> - -<p>A moment later Alice’s face dimpled with smiles as Ben drew aside the -curtain and said in his stage voice: “Little Red Riding-hood.”</p> - -<p>It was Betty in a short red cape and a tightly drawn red hood. With the -red light falling upon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span> her round cheeks and her laughing eyes, she -looked indeed like a little maid from the fields.</p> - -<p>“Doesn’t the Glad Girl make a splendid Red Riding-hood?” cried Ben, -turning a somersault on the hearth-rug. “And wouldn’t the wolf have a -fine time eating her up!” he added, capering back to draw the curtain.</p> - -<p>Red Riding-hood herself announced the next show, “George Washington,” -who was no other than Ben, standing on a large book covered with white -cloth to represent a block of ice, and wearing a cock-hat and an old -military coat which came down to his heels—a brave-faced Father of his -Country.</p> - -<p>“You forgot to say ‘Crossing the Delaware,’ Betty,” exclaimed the -show-figure, leaning forward on his very thick sword made out of the -fire-tongs covered with brown paper.</p> - -<p>“Of course they would know that,” Betty replied; and the audience -agreed that they would have known it without being told.</p> - -<p>“Just one more,” cried Ben, stepping from off the block of ice to help -Betty draw the curtain. “This one’s going to take a very long time to -get ready, and you must guess the name of it. May I whisper to the -Black Lace Lady, mother?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span></p> - -<p>Mrs. Holt nodded permission, and Ben whispered something into Miss -Ruth’s ear, to which she must have agreed, for he carried her heavy -coat into the parlour, where Betty and Elsa were, and shut the door.</p> - -<p>It took so long for them to arrange this last show that Mrs. Holt -and Miss Ruth finished making the first of the dolls’ dresses, and -Mrs. Holt was sewing upon the second one for Alice, when Betty called -“Ready!” and pulled back the curtain to disclose a marvellous sight.</p> - -<p>There stood Elsa, behind a wall of sofa pillows, her hair floating -down over the light blue silk scarf which covered her shoulders and -her slender figure draped in a dark blue velvet table-cover, while on -her shoulder perched a stuffed gray squirrel. On the step below the -pillow-wall knelt Ben, wearing Miss Ruth’s long coat with the gray fur -lining side out, his head and arms covered with Betty’s gray boa. This -strange-looking figure was pulling with his teeth at a sofa pillow in -the supposed wall, and repeating, in a muffled voice: “Keep a good -heart! Keep a good heart!”</p> - -<p>“Princess Katrina and the Gray Owl!” Alice cried out, the moment her -eyes fell upon this group. “How lovely, how lovely!” she said over and -over<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span> again, clapping her hands. -Mrs. Holt and Ruth Warren joined in -the applause, laughing until the tears came into their eyes, for Ben -was such a ridiculously funny figure, although so well made up.</p> - -<p>Elsa kept still as long as she could; then the stuffed gray squirrel -fell from her shoulder, and Ben, springing to catch it, knocked down -the wall of pillows, and the show was over.</p> - -<p>“How did you <i>ever</i> happen to think of it?” Alice asked, when the -flushed and happy actors stood around the lounge, taking off their -costumes.</p> - -<p>“Elsa thought of it,” cried Betty, who was holding the stuffed squirrel -tenderly.</p> - -<p>“Betty made me take the princess part, though I wanted her to,” said -Elsa.</p> - -<p>“Because she has yellow hair, like the princess,” put in Ben. “Betty -dressed us, and didn’t she do well? Your coat was just the thing,” he -added, turning as Miss Ruth rose to help him out of it. “My! it’s hot.”</p> - -<p>“Did you know what it was, Mrs. Holt?” Elsa inquired, coming to Mrs. -Holt’s side.</p> - -<p>“Yes, dear, for Alice has told the story to Ben and me, twice.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span></p> - -<p>“Do your children tell you stories?” Elsa asked, with wide-open, -surprised eyes.</p> - -<p>“Sometimes, Elsa,” Mrs. Holt replied. “I sit by the fire the last part -of the afternoon, usually, and the children lie on pillows in front of -the fire; and if I am too tired to tell them a story, they tell me one.”</p> - -<p>“And do they have shows often?” Elsa questioned eagerly. This was -almost like a storybook, this account of the happy home-life.</p> - -<p>“Yes; they keep a boxful of costumes and that pink curtain on purpose -for shows. They get up all sorts of plays, too,” Mrs. Holt went on to -say, seeing the keen interest in Elsa’s face. “Last summer they played -snake until it got on my imagination so that I hardly dared step on the -floor for fear of putting my foot on that snake.”</p> - -<p>“It wasn’t really a snake, though,” said Betty, who had turned to -listen.</p> - -<p>“No, only a make-believe one,” Mrs. Holt replied laughingly; “but they -made it seem real.”</p> - -<p>“But, mother of mine,” said Ben very earnestly, “you know I only got -Peggy to play that so as to teach her not to be afraid of snakes.”</p> - -<p>“Girls!” exclaimed Ruth Warren, “it is quarter of five o’clock, and -snowing fast. We must begin<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span> to get ready to go home.” She realized -that it would take considerable time.</p> - -<p>“Mamma, dear, I wish Elsa and Betty could stay here all night,” cried -Alice. Betty had stayed before, once.</p> - -<p>“They could perfectly well, Alice,” replied Mrs. Holt cordially, “if -Elsa’s grandmother and Betty’s mother were willing.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s telephone and ask,” suggested Ben.</p> - -<p>“I think my mother will let me stay,” Betty said quickly, standing -on tip-toe in her excitement, “because it’s Friday and no school -to-morrow. May I telephone now?”</p> - -<p>In a few moments Betty came back from the side-hall: “Yes, mother says -I can stay, if Mrs. Holt is sure I won’t be a bother. Aren’t you going -to telephone about staying?” she asked, turning to Elsa, who had been -silent all this time, although her eyes showed how much she wanted to -stay.</p> - -<p>“I—I don’t believe grandmother would let me,” Elsa replied, making a -brave effort to keep a steady face.</p> - -<p>“Why don’t you ask her for Elsa, mamma?” inquired Alice. “Do, mother of -mine,” urged Ben.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Holt’s face flushed, then grew pale, and a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span> look of pride came -over it. “I cannot do that, children, much as I would like to have Elsa -remain.”</p> - -<p>“I will ask Mrs. Danforth,” Ruth Warren said quickly, going to the -telephone. Presently she returned to the impatient group and said in a -cheerful tone:</p> - -<p>“Elsa’s grandmother wants her to come home. She asks me to say to you, -Elsa, that you will not be sorry you came.”</p> - -<p>But even this last part of the message could not keep Elsa from turning -quickly away, toward the window, to hide her feelings.</p> - -<p>“I will go and harness Jerry,” said Ben, hurrying out of the room. The -others talked very fast for a few moments.</p> - -<p>“I wish you could stay all night, Miss Ruth,” Alice said more -hospitably than thoughtfully, when Miss Ruth was putting on her coat.</p> - -<p>“There is no use in my thinking of it,” Miss Ruth answered quickly: “my -Aunt Virginia would never give her consent.”</p> - -<p>It was so funny to think of grown-up Miss Ruth having to mind that -Elsa, feeling comforted, came away from the window and began to get -ready for the drive home.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span></p> - -<p>“I hope Alice’s ankle will be well before the next meeting,” said Miss -Ruth, when they were at last ready to start.</p> - -<p>“It will be quite well in a week, unless she is careless, or takes -cold,” Mrs. Holt replied. “I am sure she is most grateful to the Club, -as I am, for your coming here.”</p> - -<p>Ben, who had driven Jerry up to the front door and come in to warm his -hands, carelessly picked up a sofa pillow in passing, and shied it at -Alice. “That’s just to show Peggy that she must keep quiet, no matter -what happens,” he said in answer to his mother’s reproving: “Why, Ben!”</p> - -<p>Betty had sprung to Alice’s defence, and for a moment she and Ben had a -lively pulling contest over the pillow. Elsa looked on in surprise; not -having any brothers or sisters, she was not used to that kind of fun -and hardly knew what to make of it.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Betty dropped her corner of the pillow. “Excuse me,” she said -to Mrs. Holt; “I forgot. Ben threw that pillow at Alice just the way -Max throws one at me sometimes, and I have to defend myself.”</p> - -<p>“You will have a lively time to-night, Mrs.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span> Holt,” Ruth Warren said, -with a sober face and smiling eyes.</p> - -<p>“Children must be children,” Mrs. Holt replied with an answering smile. -“It is better for Alice to have things a little lively than to lie here -and feel lonely. But I think that she and Betty will be studying over -to-day’s lessons after supper.”</p> - -<p>“O, mamma! with my lame ankle!” protested Alice. And Betty’s face fell -a little.</p> - -<p>“Yes, dear, you must study awhile; it will not hurt your ankle. You say -that Betty is always ahead of you in your classes, so she can be the -teacher.” Mrs. Holt said this partly to cheer Betty and partly so that -Elsa would not go away thinking that the visit she was missing would be -all pleasure.</p> - -<p>“We haven’t any more dolls’ dresses to make, Miss Ruth,” Alice said, -handing to her a pile of neatly folded little light-coloured garments. -“What shall we do next?”</p> - -<p>“I will have something ready at the next meeting, Alice,—something -that perhaps Ben can help upon,” replied Ruth Warren, kissing Alice -good-bye, and thinking that it would be hard to find two more lovable -and companionable children than<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span> Alice and Ben, or a happier, more -satisfying home-life than theirs.</p> - -<p>“Just think, only two weeks more of school,” cried Betty. “Maybe the -Club can meet twice a week in vacation?” Betty looked at Miss Ruth -questioningly.</p> - -<p>“O, I wish it could!” Alice clasped her chubby hands together -beseechingly.</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren shook her head, but with that kind look in her eyes which -always made any refusal seem less hard. “Once a week is enough for us -really to enjoy it,” she said, “don’t you think so, Betty dear?”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so,” Betty admitted with her usual candour; “only I don’t -ever have half so good a time anywhere else.”</p> - -<p>“Come, Elsa, we must start,” Miss Ruth said, adding, as she shook hands -with Mrs. Holt: “I should like to call upon you some day soon.”</p> - -<p>“I should be delighted to have you call,” replied Mrs. Holt, warmly. “I -have made only a few acquaintances in Berkeley during the year I have -lived here. Betty’s mother has been very kind about coming to see me. -Children often bring together people who might not otherwise meet,” -she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span> added, smoothing back Betty’s rumpled hair in a gentle, motherly -fashion.</p> - -<p>“We will show you the market-garden when you come again,” Ben said with -an air of pride. “It’s a very interesting place.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, you might enjoy that, Miss Warren,” said Mrs. Holt with a gentle -dignity. “We have a large winter-garden, back of the house, and this -year, in addition to vegetables, we are raising hyacinths and such -things, and later, we are going to try raising mushrooms.”</p> - -<p>“That sounds most delightful,” said Miss Ruth heartily; “I am sure I -shall enjoy seeing it all.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps you would like to come, also,” Mrs. Holt said, rather timidly -it seemed, turning to Elsa.</p> - -<p>“O, yes, I should,” cried Elsa eagerly. “I think you are very kind -to little girls, and,” she added shyly, trying to be very polite, -“you—you have beautiful flowers.”</p> - -<p>“Children and flowers—I’ve never had enough of them yet,” exclaimed -Mrs. Holt, stooping suddenly to kiss Elsa’s upturned face.</p> - -<p>It was snowing hard. Ben tucked Miss Ruth and Elsa into the back seat -and then mounted to the front seat. Mrs. Holt, Alice, and Betty waved -good-bye from the front windows, Miss Ruth and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span> Elsa waved back as long -as they could see the house; and the gay, pleasant meeting was over.</p> - -<p>Elsa was always so happy in being with Miss Ruth that once the pang -of leaving had vanished, she settled down with a contented sigh. It -was a beautiful time to be out-of-doors. Now that the snow was falling -in thick soft flakes, the chill had gone out of the air. The tall -evergreen trees drooped under their heavy white cloaks. In the west -there was a faint rosy tinge from the light of the setting sun. Now and -then a loud-cawing crow flew overhead, and once, by the roadside, they -saw a hungry blue-jay flirt the snow off from a tall brown weed and -begin to pick out and eat the seeds.</p> - -<p>The three talked awhile of the sights and sounds around them. Then Ben -turned his entire attention to Jerry, who needed constant urging for -this journey away from home, at the end of the day.</p> - -<p>“I asked Miss Hartwell a day or two ago about the nurse Bettina; and -her name is Bettina March,” Miss Ruth said, unexpectedly.</p> - -<p>“O my Bettina!” cried Elsa, with a little gasp. “And is she coming -back?”</p> - -<p>“Possibly,” Miss Ruth replied. “She was at the Convalescent Home only -about six weeks, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span> went away because she was not very well; but if -she is better, she is coming back about Christmas-time.”</p> - -<p>“Then I shall see her,—grandmother will surely let me see her; but it -won’t be for three whole weeks!” The little thrill of disappointment in -Elsa’s voice told Ruth Warren better than words could have told, how -dearly Elsa loved her old nurse.</p> - -<p>“Of course she may not come back at all, Elsa,” Ruth Warren felt -obliged to say.</p> - -<p>To this Elsa made no reply; but she asked, in a rather choked voice: -“Did you find out where Bettina is now?”</p> - -<p>“No, Elsa,” Miss Ruth answered gently. She felt very sorry for Elsa’s -disappointment, but she did not wish in any way to interfere with Mrs. -Danforth’s plan for the child.</p> - -<p>Ben, perched upon the front seat, was beginning to look as if he had -on a white fur coat. They were just driving along Washington Avenue, -approaching the Warren house, when Elsa exclaimed rapturously: “Uncle -Ned! O, there is my Uncle Ned!”</p> - -<p>A tall, broad-shouldered man, who was strolling by in leisurely -fashion, looked up and then stepped <span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span>quickly toward the sleigh as Ben -stopped his horse in front of the Warrens’ house. Elsa was out in a -flash, and the tall man was bending over, soothing the child who clung -to him so passionately.</p> - -<figure class="figcenter illowp49" id="facing148" style="max-width: 32.875em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/facing148.png" alt=""> - <figcaption class="caption">“SOOTHING THE CHILD WHO CLUNG TO HIM SO PASSIONATELY.”</figcaption> -</figure> - -<p>“Uncle Ned! When did you come?” Elsa asked between laughter and tears.</p> - -<p>“Less than an hour ago. I reached the house only a few moments before -your grandmother was telephoning about you.”</p> - -<p>“I am so glad, now, that I came home,” cried the child, still clinging -to him as if she could hardly believe her happiness in really having -him here.</p> - -<p>Ben had meanwhile jumped out and was gallantly helping Miss Ruth from -the sleigh. Elsa was far too excited to think of introductions.</p> - -<p>“This is your friend, Miss Ruth, Elsa?” asked the tall uncle, taking -off his hat.</p> - -<p>“Yes—excuse me—this is Miss Ruth, our Club—our Christmas Makers’ -Club—” cried Elsa, telling the name before she thought.</p> - -<p>“Miss Ruth looks more like a tall young lady than a Club,—even a -Christmas Makers’ Club,” said Elsa’s uncle gravely.</p> - -<p>“Uncle Ned! I mean that she runs the Club,” cried Elsa in half -distressed, half-laughing tone.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I run the Club,” said Ruth Warren<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span> quickly. The arc-light -overhead shone brightly. The snow was on her long eyelashes and her -face was flushed with the fresh air.</p> - -<p>“I am grateful to you if my little niece has caught her red cheeks from -the running,” was the instant reply.</p> - -<p>“Here is another member of the Club,” Ruth Warren said, turning to Ben, -“Ben Holt, the only boy in the Club.”</p> - -<p>“Another red-cheeked member! I quite approve of this Club,” said the -tall uncle, who had dark gray eyes, somewhat like Elsa’s. “Does the -Club drive you, or do you drive the Club, sir?” he asked, in his quick -way of speaking.</p> - -<p>“Sometimes one, sometimes the other, sir,” Ben replied merrily. “I am -the only one that takes them driving, though, because I have such a -safe, steady horse.”</p> - -<p>“He looks like a good safe horse, Ben,” said Elsa’s uncle, gravely and -politely.</p> - -<p>Ben climbed back into the sleigh and began turning Jerry. “Good-bye! -Perhaps you’ll come to the Club sometimes, as long as you are Elsa’s -uncle,” he called out in friendly fashion; “it meets Friday afternoons. -Good-bye, Black Lace Lady! Good-bye, Elsa!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span></p> - -<p>“Thank you,” the tall uncle called out, for Jerry, headed toward home, -started off in a hurry; “I am afraid I shall not be here until another -meeting.”</p> - -<p>The boy and the angular horse vanished amid the thick-falling snow.</p> - -<p>“How long are you going to stay, Uncle Ned?” asked Elsa, in a most -anxious voice.</p> - -<p>“Only over night, Sweetheart,” he answered quickly, “but we mustn’t let -that spoil our visit. What is the name of this wonderful Club?”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t you hear me say it?” Elsa asked.</p> - -<p>But Uncle Ned had forgotten.</p> - -<p>“It’s a secret,” said Elsa; “you can’t know it unless you belong.”</p> - -<p>“It is a very exclusive Club, you see, Mr. Danforth,” said Miss Ruth, -turning toward the walk which led from the pavement to her home.</p> - -<p>“That makes me want to join all the more,” came the laughing answer.</p> - -<p>“I can tell you just this much, Uncle Ned,” cried Elsa, unfastening -Miss Ruth’s golf cape, “we are making things for Christmas.”</p> - -<p>“And does Miss Ruth live here in the house next to your grandmother’s?” -asked the tall uncle, taking the cape from Elsa.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span></p> - -<p>“Yes; she lives all alone with her aunt, just the way I live all alone -with grandmother,” Elsa said, a little sadly.</p> - -<p>“You ought to be very good friends,” said the uncle, soberly, for he -had noticed the change in Elsa’s tone.</p> - -<p>“We are,” replied Ruth Warren convincingly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, we are,” echoed Elsa in a happy voice now.</p> - -<p>“Let me go ahead on your path and make some tracks for you, the snow -is so deep,” suggested Mr. Danforth, quickly stepping forward. So Ruth -Warren followed in his footsteps, and Elsa brought up in the rear.</p> - -<p>At the door, Elsa’s uncle put out his hand and said in a grateful -voice: “My little niece has written me about you, Miss Warren, and I -want to thank you for all that you are doing to make her happy.”</p> - -<p>“Elsa and her friends give me a great deal of pleasure,” said Miss Ruth -in turn, with an unmistakable ring of sincerity in her voice.</p> - -<p>“Will the Club meet here next Friday?” asked Elsa eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, next Friday; and we shall have something new to work upon,” Miss -Ruth replied.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span></p> - -<p>“Will you give Miss Ruth her cape, Uncle Ned?” asked Elsa. “She let me -take it for our sleigh-ride. I wonder what the new thing is going to -be,” she added, with lively interest.</p> - -<p>But Miss Ruth only smiled and said: “Wait and see!”</p> - -<p>As Elsa’s Uncle Ned took off his hat in farewell, Ruth Warren saw that -his hair was quite gray and that his face had the careworn look of a -very busy man. Elsa herself seemed like another girl since her uncle -had come.</p> - -<p>Miss Virginia Warren had left the shade up, at her front window, and -had seen Ruth’s meeting with the tall man whom Elsa Danforth had -greeted so affectionately.</p> - -<p>“There, Ruth!” said Miss Virginia when her niece came into her room; “I -was sure something would happen! What could that young gentleman have -thought of your being in that dreadful old sleigh?”</p> - -<p>“It was Elsa’s uncle, and he is not so very young, Aunt Virginia; I am -sure he is forty, and his hair is gray,” replied Ruth Warren. “I don’t -believe he was thinking of me at all; he seemed so rejoiced that Elsa’s -cheeks were red instead of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span> white that I don’t believe he thought about -anything or anybody else.”</p> - -<p>But Miss Virginia was not to be pacified: “You do such strange things, -Ruth, for a young woman of your social position, and thirty years old, -too,” she sighed; “going off in that pung, was it, you called it? with -a lot of children, and to a market-gardener’s home.”</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren, leaving the first part of her aunt’s remark without -answer, made haste to say: “Mrs. Holt is in every sense a lady, and I -shall call upon her at the very first opportunity.”</p> - -<p>Miss Virginia dropped the subject, and said in a more kindly tone: “I -really hope the Club will come here next week; I begin to think, as -Sarah does, that it is rather pleasant to hear their young voices in -this quiet old house. We missed them this afternoon.”</p> - -<p>In this change of mind on the part of Miss Virginia, Ruth Warren -recognized Sarah Judd’s influence; for behind an iron exterior, this -trusty old serving-woman had a heart of gold.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V<br> -<span class="small">A LITTLE OLD LADY’S DOLL</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">Something the heart must have to cherish.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"> -—<i>Henry W. Longfellow.</i><br> -</p> - - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/image038.png" alt=""> -</div> - -<p class="noindent drop-cap">THE next Monday afternoon Elsa and Alice went home from school with -Betty to talk over a plan which Elsa had said, with a very mysterious -air, that she wanted to tell them about. Finding that the baby was not -in the nursery, Betty took her friends to this delightful room, with -the flowering geraniums and the little strawberry-birds and the row of -dolls, the gay pillows of the window-seat, and the Kate Greenaway paper.</p> - -<p>“I should think you would stay here all the time, Betty,” exclaimed -Elsa, curling herself into a little heap on the rug, and leaning back -against the bed; her eyes began roaming around the “picture-book room,” -as she called it to herself.</p> - -<p>“I do stay here half of the time,—all night,” Betty answered quickly. -“That’s half the time when you have to go to bed at eight o’clock! Now<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span> -tell us about your secret.” Betty sat down near the door, to guard the -approach, and Alice drew a small rocking-chair close to the shelf of -plants, so that she could watch the lively little strawberry-birds.</p> - -<p>“It’s this,” said Elsa; “when my Uncle Ned was here, last Friday, he -asked me ever and ever so much about the Club, and I told him about -our dressing dolls for the Convalescent Home children, and about how -much they needed money; and he thought it would be nice if we could -earn some money,—no matter if it was just a little,—and surprise Miss -Ruth, and have it to give to the Convalescent Home with the dolls on -Christmas Day.” Elsa’s eyes were shining with interest.</p> - -<p>“I know how I can earn some,” cried Betty. “When I especially -want to earn money, mother gives me five cents a day for emptying -waste-baskets; and I will ask father to let me black his boots. How -many days are there before Christmas,—let me see, just fourteen, and -the waste-baskets would give me seventy cents, surely. What are you -going to do, Elsa, to earn money?”</p> - -<p>“Uncle Ned said he would give me fifty cents a week if I would write a -four-page letter to him twice a week.”</p> - -<p>“That will be a dollar,” said Betty, a little envious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span> at Elsa’s being -able to earn more than she. “What will you do, Alice?”</p> - -<p>“Mamma sometimes pays me for washing the dishes. If I do them twice a -day, she will give me five cents, I think, each day.”</p> - -<p>“That will be seventy cents more,” Betty said encouragingly, “and two -dollars and forty cents in all.”</p> - -<p>“And I’m sure Ben can earn some, shovelling snow and running errands,” -cried Alice eagerly.</p> - -<p>“I wish grandmother would let me wash dishes or black boots,” sighed -Elsa. “Work hurts people’s hands, she says.”</p> - -<p>“But we will have at least three dollars, if Ben earns some, too,” -Betty said quickly, thinking how tiresome it must be to have to be -careful all the time about keeping one’s hands soft and white. “Won’t -Miss Ruth be surprised, though!” she added joyfully.</p> - -<p>Elsa clasped her slender little hands around her knees: “I know a -lovely surprise the Club is going to have;” her violet-gray eyes danced -with pleasure.</p> - -<p>“O, what is it?” cried both the other girls.</p> - -<p>“I mustn’t tell; Uncle Ned told me not to. You see, he asked me -what I wanted most for Christmas,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span> and at first I said some little -strawberry-birds like Betty’s, and then we talked it over, and he said -he couldn’t get them very well in cold weather, and perhaps grandmother -wouldn’t like them, so we decided on something even nicer,—something -the whole Club will like.”</p> - -<p>“I think it’s mean to tell just a little bit, and not tell the rest,” -declared Betty.</p> - -<p>“But I should think you’d like to know you are going to have something, -anyway,” said peacemaker Alice. “Will Miss Ruth like it, too?”</p> - -<p>“I think so; I am sure she will,” Elsa answered, joyfully.</p> - -<p>Seeing the cloud on Betty’s face, Alice spoke up quickly: “Don’t you -think we ought to decide to-day on something to give Miss Ruth for -Christmas,—maybe something from all of us?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I’ve been thinking about that,” exclaimed Betty, diverted by the -suggestion. “Mother said she would help us decide.” And Betty ran out -into the hall, calling “Mother! Mother, dear!”</p> - -<p>Presently Mrs. White came into the nursery. Being an affectionate -and thoughtful woman, she felt that it was wise not in any way to -discourage the generous impulses of the little girls. “How will this -plan suit you?” she asked, after they had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span> talked the matter over for -a few moments: “Each one of you bring to me the amount of money she -can perfectly well afford to give for a present, and no one shall know -how much the others give; then all of you go with me some day after -vacation begins, and we will choose the present.”</p> - -<p>This plan suited the girls perfectly.</p> - -<p>“And it makes another surprise,” cried Elsa in great delight. “We have -so many now that I am almost getting them mixed up.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. White’s motherly heart was rejoiced at Elsa’s brighter, happier -face. “The Club and the being with other children are doing her a world -of good,” she said to herself wisely.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>At noon on Friday, Betty White ran in to see Miss Ruth, solely for the -purpose of talking about the Club meeting. “Elsa and I were saying at -recess this morning,” she began breathlessly, “that we thought you had -forgotten all about the story of the old lady’s doll that you were -going to tell us. Will you tell it this afternoon? You can be thinking -it up.”</p> - -<p>To this Miss Ruth agreed.</p> - -<p>Betty had in one hand a fancy-striped paper bag, full of chocolate -candy. She held it toward Miss<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span> Ruth: “Take some, please. O, take more -than one piece! Mother had a birthday yesterday and she gave each of us -children two dollars. She hid the money in different places ’round the -house, and we had to hunt for it; it was such fun.</p> - -<p>“I like mother’s birthdays, ’cause she always gives us something,” -Betty rattled on, in her usual lively fashion. “Last year she baked -some new silver dollars into a cottage pudding: it looked so heavy that -none of us would take any at first, except Max, but when he bit into a -dollar and showed it to us, we all took some in a hurry.</p> - -<p>“Have some more candy, please,” urged Betty, generously, holding forth -the striped bag again. “I bought a lot,—twenty-five cents’ worth out -of my two dollars,—so I could have some candy to eat in school. I -never get found out. Don’t ever tell, will you?”</p> - -<p>“Do I ever tell?” asked Miss Ruth.</p> - -<p>“No,” Betty said, with an approving nod, “I don’t believe you ever do.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you think it would be more honourable, however, Betty, since -candy-eating is not allowed in school, for you not to take the candy -there?” Ruth Warren asked, looking intently into Betty’s face.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span></p> - -<p>Betty lowered her eyes, but did not make any answer.</p> - -<p>“Leave the candy here,” suggested Ruth Warren, “and have it for the -Club meeting.”</p> - -<p>“All—right, I will,” came the rather reluctant but courageous consent.</p> - -<p>“Well, it’s ’most school-time and I must go,” cried Betty in her wonted -happy manner, a half-moment later. “Thank you for keeping the candy.” -She took a last piece by way of reward to herself, and hurried off to -school.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>There was no Alice with Betty and Elsa when they arrived, soon after -three o’clock. “She wasn’t at school this morning, but Ben has gone -home to see if she can come,” Betty explained at once.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Holt has just now telephoned me,” Ruth Warren said, “and she -tells me that Alice has a feverish cold, so she cannot come to the -Club.”</p> - -<p>“We might go out there,” Betty suggested.</p> - -<p>“But we are not invited,” Ruth Warren replied merrily. “If Alice has a -feverish cold, naturally enough her mother would not invite us there.”</p> - -<p>“It is too bad,” cried Elsa. “Alice will be so disappointed.” Both she -and Betty looked quite downcast, for they were very fond of Alice.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span></p> - -<p>“Can we have the story just the same, or shall we wait?” Betty inquired -anxiously.</p> - -<p>“We will have the story,” replied Miss Ruth, “because I shall go out -to see Alice to-morrow, and if she would like, I will tell it to her -there.”</p> - -<p>“Please begin now, then,” urged Betty.</p> - -<p>“But first I want to show you what I have for the Club to work upon,” -said Miss Ruth, beginning to undo the wrappings of a large, flat -pasteboard box which stood upon the table.</p> - -<p>“O, goody!” cried Betty, who had been eying the box with lively -curiosity.</p> - -<p>“Paper dolls!” exclaimed Elsa, clasping her hands in rapturous delight, -as the box-cover came off.</p> - -<p>“What beauties!” Betty said, dancing a quick-step in her excitement.</p> - -<p>There were twelve sets of dolls, all fully dressed, and with extra -costumes, ready to be painted.</p> - -<p>“All those dresses,—all the hats, too, to be painted,” said Elsa, in -great glee.</p> - -<p>“What fun! What fun!” cried Betty, whirling around like a lively top, -while Miss Ruth took from the box a large tin case of water-colour -paints and several brushes, and placed them upon some sheets<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span> of -blotting-paper which already covered the polished mahogany table.</p> - -<p>Betty had just been out to the kitchen for some water,—at Miss Ruth’s -suggestion and to grim-faced Sarah’s great delight,—and she was -filling the paint saucers when she glanced up at the sound of loud -sleigh-bells and cried out: “Why! there is Alice!”</p> - -<p>“It can’t be Alice!” said Elsa, following Betty to the window.</p> - -<p>“It’s the Holts’ hired man, grinning from ear to ear, and Alice with -him,” insisted Betty. “She has just jumped out of the sleigh.”</p> - -<p>The bell rang, and in a surprisingly short time Sarah appeared at the -library door, trying hard not to burst out laughing; for behind her -came Ben, very red in the face, dressed in a brown sailor-suit of -Alice’s, and looking so sheepish and so comical that Miss Ruth joined -in the general laugh, and Sarah went off chuckling, with her white -apron up to her face.</p> - -<p>“Peggy felt so bad because she couldn’t come that I put on one of her -old dresses over my own clothes, just for fun, to make her laugh,” said -Ben, hanging his head, but marching bravely into the room.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span></p> - -<p>“I shouldn’t think you’d want to wear girls’ clothes and come to a -girls’ Club,” said Betty teasingly.</p> - -<p>“Girls are all right, most of the time,” Ben answered. “They’re too -afraid of their clothes to be as nice as boys, all the time. This is -awful tight; mother said she knew something would happen to it;” he was -still very red in the face.</p> - -<p>Something had happened already, for one of the sleeves had partly -ripped from the blouse waist. Noticing this, Ruth Warren noticed also -a tumultuous movement under the blouse, suggestive of sobs. But Ben’s -smiling, ruddy face showed no signs of grief. A half-moment later, -a tiny, furry head with bright bead-like eyes, looked out above the -blouse collar.</p> - -<p>In her usual tone Miss Ruth said: “I see you have brought one of your -pets with you, Ben.”</p> - -<p>Ben made a quick movement, but not quick enough to prevent a gray -squirrel from springing out of his attempted grasp, upon the -window-sill.</p> - -<p>Elsa jumped, and Betty cried: “Ben Holt! How mean of you! Poor little -squirrel!”</p> - -<p>The squirrel’s heart was thumping wildly under the soft fur of his -chest, and his breath came in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span> quick gasps as he turned his head -rapidly from side to side, searching a chance to escape.</p> - -<p>“Is he your tame squirrel, Ben?” Ruth Warren inquired.</p> - -<p>“Not exactly; you see we’ve been feeding him from the dining-room -window, so he’s quite tame,” explained Ben, “and—and I caught him on -the wood-pile, with some nuts, and brought him along to see if the -girls would be frightened.”</p> - -<p>“O, that is it,” was all Ruth Warren said, but Ben’s face grew redder -than ever.</p> - -<p>Making a sudden leap, the squirrel landed on top of the tall bookcase. -From here he gave another leap to the top of a window, and began -scolding loudly.</p> - -<p>“I will bring some walnuts, Ben, so that you can capture this -frightened little creature and take him home,” Miss Ruth said, going to -the pantry.</p> - -<p>“Now aren’t you sorry, Ben?” teased Betty.</p> - -<p>The relish of the joke was indeed gone for Ben, but he faced the music -bravely, for, though often heedless, he was no coward. When Miss Ruth -came back with the walnuts, he asked the girls to keep quiet, and in -a few moments coaxed Mr. Squirrel down from the window-top to the -mantel,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span> where he sat with his bushy tail curled up over his back, -turning a nut-meat round and round in his paws as he ate it, listening -and watching intently.</p> - -<p>It was hard for Betty and Elsa to keep from laughing, and even Miss -Ruth had difficulty in keeping her face sober, for Ben in his sister’s -short-skirted dress, which hardly came to his knees,—leaving an -extra long pair of thin legs which ended in good-sized feet,—was an -exceedingly droll sight. A giggle from Betty at the critical moment -sent the squirrel flying to the curtain-top again; but greedy hunger -conquered fear, and growing venturesome again, the squirrel came by -cautious degrees down to the window-sill. While he sat there, filling -his cheek pouches with the cracked walnuts, Ben, who had been close at -hand all the while, deftly captured him and tucked him away securely -into the blouse waist.</p> - -<p>“Now, if one of you girls will unfasten this old dress skirt, I’ll drop -it off,” Ben said meekly, after struggling to unbutton the skirt with -one hand while holding the squirrel fast with the other. “I can’t go -through the streets with a skirt on,” he added, shamefacedly.</p> - -<p>Miss Ruth unfastened the waist-band buttons, the skirt dropped to the -floor, and Ben stood there<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span> in the middle of the room, looking even -funnier than ever in his dark blue knickerbockers and the brown blouse -waist. Miss Ruth mercifully and quickly helped him into the old blue -reefer jacket, which was so tight now that he could not button it at -all.</p> - -<p>“I should be glad to have you come back to the Club meeting, after you -have taken the squirrel home, Ben,” Miss Ruth said, with the double -purpose of making sure that the squirrel reached his headquarters and -of giving Ben a share in the meeting if he really wanted to come back. -“Will you ask Alice if she would like some of the paper dolls to paint, -and if she would, you could take them to her,” she added.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I will come back,” Ben answered, with a brightening face. “I’d -like to—anyway—and Peggy would be disappointed not to know all about -the meeting.”</p> - -<p>“I am going to tell the Club a story I promised them. It is only about -a little old lady’s doll; but if you would like to hear it, I will wait -till you come.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, ma’am, I should like to hear it, thank you,” replied Ben most -humbly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span></p> - -<p>“Alice said you like dolls, Ben,” cried Betty mischievously.</p> - -<p>“I don’t care,—I do like dolls sometimes. I ducked a boy into the -frog-pond once—” began Ben; but he stopped and burst out laughing, for -Miss Ruth had given him a queer look, and now she was saying: “It seems -to me we have heard about that before, Ben.”</p> - -<p>“Hurry, Ben,” exclaimed Elsa, impatient for the story. “Hurry home and -hurry back again.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps I can find our hired man on the road with Jerry,” called out -Ben, as he left the room, “and then I’d go flying home and back quicker -than a flash.”</p> - -<p>“Or a squirrel,” added Miss Ruth. “Be careful of the squirrel, Ben.”</p> - -<p>Both Elsa and Betty wanted some advice about the colours of paints -to use first, so the time did not seem very long to them before Ben -returned,—a most penitent-faced boy now, and in his own clothes.</p> - -<p>Ben walked straight up to Miss Ruth, made his best bow, and said in a -manly way, though very fast: “Mother says I must beg your pardon for -bringing the squirrel. I am sorry I did it.”</p> - -<p>“I think you frightened the squirrel more than<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span> you did the girls, -Ben,” Miss Ruth replied, feeling that the boy had already done -sufficient penance for his attempted fun.</p> - -<p>Ben drew a long breath of relief. “I had a ride both ways,” he said, -quite cheerfully. “May I paint, too?” he inquired, turning to look at -the tempting array upon the table, and also at the plateful of thin -sandwiches which Miss Ruth had wisely provided to go with Betty’s candy.</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed,” Miss Ruth answered. “How would you like to paint the -shoes on the dolls? Take some sandwiches, children.”</p> - -<p>“I will black their boots for them,” cried Ben merrily, as he helped -himself to a chicken sandwich and a paint-brush.</p> - -<p>“Betty brought the candy,” said Miss Ruth, for Ben, somehow, was ready -for a piece in a flash. Then Betty bravely made the explanation.</p> - -<p>“Peggy says she will do all the painting you want her to. She can’t -hardly wait for it.” Ben suddenly remembered the message.</p> - -<p>“We can’t hardly wait for that story! Please, <i>please</i>, begin!” -entreated Betty.</p> - -<p class="p2">This is a true story, children,—said Ruth Warren, going toward the -hearth, where a bright wood-fire <span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span> burned steadily, and wheeling a deep, -comfortable chair half around so that she might watch the children at -their work:—The winter that I was eleven years old, my father had -to go to California. My mother went with him, and as it would have -been a rather long, hard journey for a child, they left me with my -grandmother, who lived in a roomy, old-fashioned house just on the -border of a large town. I was not very well that winter, and the doctor -had said I must not go to school, but must be out-of-doors all that -I could. I remember this half made up to me for having my father and -mother go away—or I tried to think it did.</p> - -<p>About three minutes’ walk from my grandmother’s, Miss Phœbe Dean, -a little old lady who had been a school-teacher in her younger -days, lived all alone in a snug, small story-and-a-half house. Miss -Dean owned the house, but she was rather poor and not very strong. -Grandmother used to send broths and jellies and things of that kind to -her, every few days, and as I had no school lessons to take my time, -grandmother generally sent the things by me.</p> - -<p>Miss Dean was very friendly. She had all sorts of quaint, interesting -curiosities in her house, for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span> her father had been around the world -several times as captain of his own ship and had brought home many -treasures; sometimes she would open an old carved chest and show me -wonderful pictures and beautiful embroideries. Before long, she and I -were such good friends that I went to see her almost every day, whether -or not grandmother had anything to send.</p> - -<p>The bedroom which I slept in at my grandmother’s had a dormer window -facing toward Miss Dean’s house; and Miss Dean told me that she used -to watch for my light every night at my bedtime. Grandmother had made -Miss Dean promise that if she ever was ill at night, and wanted help, -she would put two candles side by side in her front window. One night, -after grandmother had put out my light and tucked me into bed, I looked -toward Miss Dean’s house, thinking that she was thinking about me; and -I felt sure that I saw two candles in her front window. There were a -few flakes of snow falling, and the lights looked rather dim, but I was -sure they were there, and meant that Miss Dean was ill.</p> - -<p>I called down to grandmother. She came up-stairs to look, and then -we both looked, but now<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span> neither one of us could see any light. -Grandmother said: “You imagined you saw the two candles, Ruth.”</p> - -<p>“No, grandmother,” I insisted. “I am sure I saw them.”</p> - -<p>Grandmother laughed and called me a foolish little girl; but, to -comfort me, said she would sit near the window down-stairs and look -out every now and then toward Miss Dean’s house. I kept my eyes on her -window, by propping myself up in bed, with the pillows, until by and by -I grew too sleepy to keep my eyes open,—especially as I did not see -the candles again.</p> - -<p>The next morning there was deep snow over everything. And because -grandmother’s house was on the border of the town, the streets were not -cleared of snow until noonday. I kept thinking and talking about Miss -Dean so much that about eleven o’clock grandmother said: “Put on your -rubber boots, Ruth, and go over to see her, if you want to.”</p> - -<p>In about a minute I had on those rubber boots and my thick red coat, -and was wading in the snow, quite to my knees, toward the little white -house. It took me so long that two or three times I almost gave it up, -because I was used to running<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span> over in such a short time. But I kept -on, and finally came to Miss Dean’s green-and-white gate. There were no -foot-tracks in the front yard, and the snow was so deep that I could -hardly find the door-steps. When I did find them, I began pounding on -the front door—Miss Dean did not have any door-bell—and very soon I -saw her all bundled up in a shawl, looking out of the window to see who -it was, before she unlocked the door.</p> - -<p>Poor little old lady! She led me into the sitting-room, where she slept -in the winter. “I shall have to go back to bed, dear,” she said in her -sweet way; “I have had a dreadful pain in my head ever since yesterday -afternoon.”</p> - -<p>“Then you did put the two candles at the window last night?” I asked -eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, dear, for a little while,” she said in a weak voice as she sank -back against her pillows. “But when I saw that it was snowing, I took -the candles away so as not to disturb your grandmother, for I thought -the hired man and his wife might be gone down town, and she would have -no one to send over.”</p> - -<p>“Is there anything I can do for you?” I asked, for she had closed her -eyes as if she were suffering. Half-frightened by her white face, I -looked<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span> away from the bed; and there in a little rocking-chair what did -I see but a black-eyed doll, dressed in a long, clean white flannel -nightgown and with a red shawl pinned around her.</p> - -<p>“You might get some hot water from the tea-kettle on the kitchen -stove,” said Miss Dean, without opening her eyes, “and put a -teaspoonful of peppermint essence out of that bottle on the table into -a half glass of water. That might make me feel better.”</p> - -<p>I hurried out to the kitchen and brought back the hot mixture. Miss -Dean took it all, then settled down again among the pillows; but she -did not look so pale now. “I shall soon feel better,” she said in her -pretty, patient way.</p> - -<p>So I waited, seating myself opposite that doll. It had a china head -with such black hair, big black eyes and a round face, very white -except the bright red cheeks and lips. It was a pretty, lovable doll, -and I knew it must be a very old one.</p> - -<p>“You are looking at my doll, Ruth,” Miss Dean said suddenly; and -turning, I found her eyes fixed upon my face.</p> - -<p>“Is it your doll?” I cried.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” she said softly. She had large brown -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span>eyes and a -delicate face; her eyes seemed larger than ever now, because her face -was so white.</p> -<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="facing174" style="max-width: 32.4375em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/facing174.png" alt=""> - <figcaption class="caption">“‘WHAT DID I SEE BUT A BLACK-EYED DOLL.’”</figcaption> -</figure> - -<p>“It is my doll,” Miss Dean repeated. “Would you like to hold her?”</p> - -<p>I had been longing to take that quaint, white-nightgowned doll into my -arms. So I jumped up quickly and brought her back with me to the chair -by the bed. Probably my face showed how I loved that old china doll on -the spot. Anyway, after Miss Dean had watched me holding it a little -while, she said: “That peppermint makes my head feel better. I will -tell you about the doll.”</p> - -<p>“What is her name?” I asked.</p> - -<p>“Susie,” Miss Dean said, “and I have had her ever since I was five -years old. The way I happen to keep her out now is this: You see, when -I was younger, I used to teach children, year after year, different -ones, of course. I used to think that maybe if I married and had a -little daughter of my own, I would name her Susie,—my mother’s name -was Susan. But I grew older, and I didn’t marry, and then, after a -time, I had to give up school-teaching. My father and my mother had -died, and I missed the children more and more.</p> - -<p>“One day when it was very stormy and I was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span> dreadfully, desperately -lonely, without a human being around, I went to the old trunk under the -eaves, where I had put my dolls away when I was fourteen years old, and -I took Susie out for just that day. And having that doll with me made -me feel so much happier that, afterward, every once in awhile, when I -grew lonely, I would take her out again. I made some new dresses and -nightgowns for her, because it didn’t seem quite fair not to treat her -well when she gave me so much pleasure.</p> - -<p>“Then, two or three years ago,”—Miss Dean went on; and her large -brown eyes began to grow very bright now,—“I put Susie into that -little rocking-chair one snowy night when I went to bed; and it was -so pleasant to wake up in the morning and find her there that I began -to have her out every night. By day I always put her into the bureau -drawer, because I thought if people saw her, they wouldn’t understand. -I should have put her away this morning when you came, only I was -suffering so, I forgot her.”</p> - -<p>“But I understand,” I said very quickly. “I am sure that if I lived -alone, I should do just the same.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span></p> - -<p class="p2">“So should I. Wasn’t Miss Dean dear?” said Elsa, pushing back her -cloudy golden hair as Miss Ruth stopped a moment to put a bit of fallen -wood again into the fire.</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t she have more than one doll?” Betty asked, thoughtfully, -splashing her brush into the water.</p> - -<p>“Because one is enough,” said Elsa instantly.</p> - -<p>“Everybody likes one best,” explained Ben, with the wisdom of ten and a -half years.</p> - -<p class="p2">After Miss Dean had told me about Susie,—continued Ruth Warren, -leaning comfortably back into her chair again,—she asked me if I -would like to see Susie’s dresses. I said yes, of course, and she told -me to open the lower drawer of the bureau. Such a quantity of pretty -things as I found! I dressed and undressed Susie to my heart’s content, -putting on first a plaid silk gown, then a checked blue-and-white -gingham and a funny little Red Riding-hood suit; and finally I put -Susie back into her white nightgown, for I felt that Miss Dean would -probably rather choose her dress for the day. And very soon I said I -must go.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span></p> - -<p>“Can’t you stop and have a little bit of dinner—a kind of lunch—with -me?” Miss Dean asked. “If you will put some biscuits into the oven to -warm, and make some tea, I will dress myself, and we can have that with -some cold ham and jelly.”</p> - -<p>I said I could stay,—for I knew grandmother wouldn’t mind. So Miss -Dean told me where the biscuit and tea were, and by the time I had them -ready, she came out into the kitchen, dressed in a gray flannel wrapper -with light blue trimmings. She made me think of a doll, she was so -small and so dainty;—she was one of the daintiest people I have ever -known, with white, beautifully shaped hands and soft, silky hair—</p> - -<p class="p2">“She makes me think of Elsa,” said Betty, with a little sigh, half of -envy, half of appreciation.</p> - -<p>“Don’t interrupt, <i>please</i>, Betty,” Elsa entreated, unmindful of -what Betty had said.</p> - -<p class="p2">Everything about Miss Dean’s house was as dainty as Miss Dean -herself—resumed the story-teller;—and everything in the house seemed -small, like herself,—tables, chairs, lamps, vases, kitchen stove, even -the dishes we ate out of. We had a good luncheon, I remember, and Miss -Dean kept<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span> me interested, as she always did, with stories of what had -happened long ago. After we finished eating, she leaned her head back -against her chair in a tired way—she sat at the table in a little -rocking-chair—and she said in a wistful voice: “I have been thinking -about my poor hens. Not a bit of corn or water have they had since -yesterday, and I don’t dare go out to feed them because my head is so -dizzy that I am afraid of falling.”</p> - -<p>“O, let me feed them,” I begged instantly.</p> - -<p>“But they will be afraid of you,” she said; “they are used to seeing my -clothes.”</p> - -<p>“I can dress up in your clothes,” I said. “O, do let me, please!”</p> - -<p>Miss Dean liked a little fun, and she did want her hens fed. So she -showed me where she kept her “chicken clothes”—as she called them,—a -short brown skirt and a square plaid shawl that she wore over her head -and shoulders. The skirt was long for me and the shawl made my head -dreadfully hot. But we both laughed over it, and Miss Dean said she -was glad to know how she looked. Then she told me not to flop my arms -around, because that would frighten the hens. So, with a pail of water -and two quarts of corn, I made my way to the hen-house, which was just -beyond a little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span> shed. By the time I arrived, I had forgotten not to -flop my arms, and the hens grew rather excited and lively, but they -were too hungry and thirsty to care much who fed them. After that, I -hunted around and found over a dozen white eggs, some of them quite -warm, I remember. I tripped upon the brown skirt, going back, and let -one egg fall out of the corn measure.</p> - -<p class="p2">“The dolls’ shoes are all blacked,” exclaimed Ben, rising suddenly and -stretching himself, boy-fashion. “May I take a sofa pillow and lie down -in front of the fire?” he asked, coming toward Miss Ruth.</p> - -<p>“Make yourself comfortable, Ben,” she answered readily; which Ben -accordingly did.</p> - -<p>“Excuse my interrupting,” he said, in a low tone; “and please go on.”</p> - -<p class="p2">Miss Dean told me that breaking the egg did not matter,—that she -often broke more than one, though I knew she said this just to make me -feel better. “I have brought something out for you,” she said, after -I had taken off the brown skirt and the stifling plaid shawl, and she -was counting the eggs. I saw on the kitchen table a black-and-gold<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span> -lacquered box, neither large nor small. It looked so interesting that I -wanted to open it at once, but Miss Dean began talking about the hens.</p> - -<p>I happened to see by the kitchen clock that it was almost three -o’clock, and I knew that I ought to be going, for, though I sometimes -stayed to lunch with Miss Dean, grandmother always said for me to come -home immediately.</p> - -<p>You may imagine how much I wanted to see what was in that beautiful -lacquered box; but I said that I must go home. I hurried into the -bedroom for my coat and Miss Dean followed me. I saw that she had -dressed Susie in the blue-and-white gingham frock while I had been out -feeding the hens.</p> - -<p>“I will come over to-morrow,” I said, as Miss Dean helped me on with my -coat. She noticed me looking at Susie,—although I was not thinking of -the doll just then.</p> - -<p>“Do you mind, dear, not telling any one about Susie?” Miss Dean asked -in a timid voice.</p> - -<p>“I will not tell anybody at all,” I remember I said, slowly, as I went, -slowly also, out of the front door, hoping that Miss Dean would call me -back to give me that box.</p> - -<p class="p2">“Have you light enough for your painting,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span> girls?” Miss Ruth stopped to -ask. The daylight had suddenly begun to disappear.</p> - -<p>“Let’s stop now; I have done three sets,” said Betty, dropping her -paint-brush.</p> - -<p>“I have finished two.” Elsa straightened back her shoulders and -stretched her arms.</p> - -<p>Miss Ruth reached over to the couch and pulled two cushions down upon -the hearth-rug. “You have both done splendidly, and so has Ben. Sit -here and rest yourselves now,” she said.</p> - -<p>“Don’t waste any time from the story, please,” Betty said in a loud -whisper as she seated herself, Turk-fashion, on the large square -cushion and leaned her head against Miss Ruth’s knees.</p> - -<p>“Didn’t Miss Dean give you the box, or even show it to you that day?” -inquired Ben, who was lying flat upon his stomach, looking into the -fire.</p> - -<p>“No,” replied Miss Ruth, “not that day.”</p> - -<p>“I think she was mean to forget it,” said out-spoken Betty.</p> - -<p>“Wait till we’ve heard the end of the story,” exclaimed Elsa, who had -curled up on her cushion against the heavy brass stand which held the -fire-tongs and shovel.</p> - -<p>“Do you know the end of it?” Betty asked quickly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span></p> - -<p>“No,—only I know anybody so nice as Miss Dean will be the same at the -end,” Elsa said, with a very earnest expression in her eyes.</p> - -<p>“I’ll bet I know what was in that box,” cried Ben, from his position on -the centre of the rug.</p> - -<p>“What?” asked Betty.</p> - -<p>“Hens’ eggs to hatch,” Ben replied confidently.</p> - -<p>“The idea!” exclaimed Betty. “Just as if Miss Dean would have given a -girl hens’ eggs for a present! Now keep still, Ben.”</p> - -<p>“We can have only a bit more of the story to-day, because it is almost -five o’clock,” said Miss Ruth, putting her hand softly over Betty’s -mouth, which began to frame an objecting “O!” Then she continued:</p> - -<p class="p2">When I came home from Miss Dean’s, grandmother felt dreadfully to think -that the little old lady had been ill there all alone by herself. “I -must send her some nourishing things to eat,” said grandmother; “I -would have Barker go now”—he was the hired man—“but he is off hauling -wood, and Jenny”—that was his wife—“has a bad cold.”</p> - -<p>I said “O, grandmother, let me go!” For I was wondering, harder than -ever, what was in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span> lacquered box. But grandmother said, “No, child, -you have been out enough to-day in this bad walking. You may go over, -though, early in the morning.”</p> - -<p class="p2">The clock pealed out five as Miss Ruth stopped with these words.</p> - -<p>“Just a little more,” urged Betty.</p> - -<p>“This will be a good place to begin again,” said Miss Ruth; “we will -have the rest of the story at the next Club meeting, if you like.”</p> - -<p>“I want it now,” insisted Betty; “I can stay.”</p> - -<p>“But I can’t,” said Ben, “only about a minute longer. I will think the -first part over, going home, to tell Alice.”</p> - -<p>“I hope she can come to the next meeting,” said Elsa, with a loyal -thought for her little friend.</p> - -<p>“You must tell her, Ben, that we have missed her a great deal,” Miss -Ruth said.</p> - -<p>“And give her the Club’s love,” added Elsa.</p> - -<p>“I like to have you do that,” said Betty, who had given up teasing and -suddenly grown very quiet as Miss Ruth passed her hand slowly over the -rumpled brown hair.</p> - -<p>Elsa looked on, from her seat against the tall brass fire-stand. She -was too loving-natured to be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span> jealous, but she would have dearly liked -to be in Betty’s place, there against Miss Ruth’s knees. Still, Elsa -was very happy. Miss Ruth’s dark red dress was so warm-looking in -the firelight, and the room seemed so pleasant; it was restful and -delightful just to be there. Elsa felt this keenly, although she would -not have been able to put it into words.</p> - -<p>“Do you know what fire-sparks are?” asked Ben, who was leaning on -his elbows with his chin in his hands, and looking straight into the -glowing fire. “Sparks are the sunbeams that got shut up in the wood -while the tree was growing, and now they are going up the chimney and -back into the air again.”</p> - -<p>Sarah Judd, passing the library door to light the hall lamp, looked -in for a moment, unnoticed by the Club. “It do seem good to see them -children stretched out in front of the fire and havin’ such a good -time,” she said to herself, with one of the unexpectedly cracking-like -smiles upon her grim face.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>The day after this meeting of the Club Miss Virginia Warren took a cold -from having her room overheated. “I am really worried about myself,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span> -she said after her niece had spent most of the day trying to make her -comfortable.</p> - -<p>“But the doctor says it is only a cold, and that your heart is in no -danger,” said Ruth Warren; “to be sure, a cold is uncomfortable enough -to make one wretched,” she added. “Let me open that farther window; a -little fresh air will make you feel better.”</p> - -<p>“O, no, no!” cried Miss Virginia, drawing her thick white shawl closer -around herself at the thought. “Don’t excite me so, Ruth. There’s no -telling what may happen. My heart seems very feeble,” she went on, -after trying for a half-moment to count the pulse-beats in her own -wrist. “I am more and more certain that I must have a nurse to watch my -pulse and look out every moment for draughts. Yes, I really must ask -you now to see about a nurse,” added Miss Virginia, clasping one large -hand over the other wrist to keep track of her heart-beats.</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren consulted the doctor.</p> - -<p>“Your aunt doesn’t need a nurse any more than you or I need one,” he -said, gruffly. “Better have one, though, and I will order her to open -the windows every hour of the day. We will give your aunt a little -training, and it may do her good.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span></p> - -<p>As a result of this conversation, and of a plan which she found she -could carry out, Ruth Warren called a few days later at Mrs. Danforth’s.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Danforth isn’t very well to-day, miss, and she asks will you come -up to her room, please,” said Cummings; so Ruth Warren followed the -stiff-backed maid up the polished stairs. From the top of the stairs -she saw, just ahead, a room all furnished in white, which she knew must -be Elsa’s. “What an unpretty room for a child!” she said to herself.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth had on a beautiful white dressing-gown with long lace -ruffles hanging from the sleeves, and she was leaning back in a blue -velvet chair. “She does not look so ill as unhappy,” Ruth Warren -thought to herself.</p> - -<p>Not wishing to take any more time than was necessary, Ruth Warren began -at once to give the reason for her call:</p> - -<p>“Elsa has told me, Mrs. Danforth, of a nurse she once had by the name -of Bettina March. Curiously enough, I find that this same Bettina -March has quite lately been employed at the Convalescent Home here in -Berkeley. She was very much liked, but she was not strong, and went -away, hoping to return. She is not yet able to take up<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span> the work, and -she is anxious to find some occupation which will give her, for a time, -less active duties.”</p> - -<p>“Well, and what of it?” inquired Mrs. Danforth coldly, fixing her -eyes upon her visitor’s face. She and Miss Ruth had exchanged calls -formally; that was all the acquaintance they had, save a chance -meeting, now and then.</p> - -<p>“I should not have intruded upon you with a personal matter, Mrs. -Danforth, except for good reason,” Ruth Warren said quietly. “My Aunt -Virginia, who, as you know, lives with me, feels the need of having -a nurse; it will be an easy position and one which Bettina March can -easily fill, as my aunt is by no means very ill. I came to ask if you -have any objection to my engaging Bettina March?”</p> - -<p>“Is it that you wish to inquire of me in regard to Bettina March’s -character?” demanded Mrs. Danforth. “I know nothing against her.”</p> - -<p>Now Mrs. Danforth was accustomed to have people a little afraid of her. -She was rather surprised, therefore, to find that Ruth Warren did not -show any embarrassment, but went on, in a quite simple and perfectly -self-possessed manner, to say: “It is not that, Mrs. Danforth. The -head-nurse<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span> at the Convalescent Home has satisfied me entirely with -regard to the woman’s character. It is only on Elsa’s account that I -have come to you.”</p> - -<p>“Why should I object to your employing Bettina March on Elsa’s -account?” Mrs. Danforth made things as hard as she could for Ruth -Warren.</p> - -<p>“Because my house is next to yours, and Elsa has told me that you were -unwilling to have her keep up any acquaintance with her old nurse,” -Ruth Warren replied, in the same even-toned voice.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth felt now obliged to explain. “Bettina March was nurse to -Elsa’s mother during her last illness, and after the mother died stayed -on with Elsa until her father died. I felt that the child was growing -too dependent on the woman. Elsa is almost entirely without relatives. -Her mother was an only child, and her father had only one brother, -Mr. Ned Danforth. If he should marry, or if I should die, Elsa would -be quite alone in the world and she would need to be self-reliant. I -did not think she was a child who would talk over my affairs,” Mrs. -Danforth remarked haughtily.</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren could not let Elsa stand in a false light before her -grandmother’s eyes. Therefore<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span> she suddenly decided to tell the story -of the child’s grief over the giving away of her doll.</p> - -<p>The coldness of Mrs. Danforth’s blue eyes gave way, little by little, -to a softer expression as Ruth Warren described Elsa’s visit to her, -that late evening.</p> - -<p>“So she was brave enough to go out of the house alone at night, and she -kept the loss of the doll from me for fear it would hurt my feelings,” -said Mrs. Danforth half to herself, toying with a silver paper-cutter -the while. “Of course I did not know that the child cared anything -about the doll.”</p> - -<p>“That is what Elsa said,” returned Ruth Warren, quite eagerly now. Then -she went on in a lower tone: “Elsa seems to me a keenly sensitive, -thoughtful and affectionate-natured little girl, but very much -repressed. As I have observed her—her shyness and her pale face—I -cannot help thinking that what she needs more than anything else is to -have some love shown her, and to feel free to show her own affection.” -Ruth Warren rose to go, feeling that perhaps she had said too much.</p> - -<p>“Wait a moment,” said Mrs. Danforth, not unkindly. “You mean to tell -me that I am too severe with the child?” She remembered, with an -uncomfortable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span> feeling, that Mrs. White had said much the same thing.</p> - -<p>“Not too severe in the matter of discipline, but—” Ruth Warren left -the sentence unfinished.</p> - -<p>“On the whole, I thank you, Miss Warren,” said Mrs. Danforth slowly. -“I am sure you have Elsa’s best interest at heart. I am grateful to -you for taking charge of the little Club. It has made me feel safe -in regard to her. Do you think that the Holt children are perfectly -suitable companions for Elsa, in every way?” she asked suddenly.</p> - -<p>“They are perfectly suitable companions for any children, I am -sure,” Ruth Warren said warmly. “They are charming little children, -well-trained and gentle-mannered. The boy is mischievous, but he is -perhaps all the more likeable for his liveliness, and he is very manly -with his mother and his little sister. I have seen the mother several -times, and I have never met a more attractive or charming woman,—or a -braver woman.”</p> - -<p>A quick flush reddened Mrs. Danforth’s face, then died away as suddenly -as it came. Reaching out a trembling hand, she rang for her maid, who -appeared as if she had risen out of the blue velvet carpeted floor.</p> - -<p>“Cummings, some water,” said Mrs. Danforth,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span> with an evident effort. -Then she leaned back against her chair and closed her eyes.</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren had started to leave the room, but fearing lest Mrs. -Danforth should faint, she stood waiting for Cummings to return.</p> - -<p>As she waited, she noticed, half unconsciously at first, then with -a quick start of interest, an oil-painting hanging upon the softly -tinted wall, back of Mrs. Danforth’s chair,—an oil-painting of a -large, gable-windowed house, exactly like the one at Mrs. Holt’s. Ruth -Warren remembered it particularly because of one small red-leaved maple -tree at the left-hand corner of the picture; and she also remembered -Elsa’s exclamation over Mrs. Holt’s picture. She looked again at Mrs. -Danforth’s white, set face, and a haunting resemblance flashed through -her mind, leaving her fairly bewildered.</p> - -<p>Just then Cummings came in with a glass of water. Mrs. Danforth opened -her eyes, drank the water, and appeared instantly better. “I have these -dizzy attacks once in a while, Miss Warren,” she said in her usual -stately manner, “but they pass off quickly. I am sorry this happened -while you were here. Thank you for coming. I am sure you will find -Bettina March a very useful woman.”</p> - -<p>Then Ruth Warren, turning many things over<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span> in her mind, went home, -leaving Mrs. Danforth to her pride and loneliness.</p> - -<p>It had chanced that, coming from a drive by way of Berkeley Avenue the -day before, and having Elsa with her, Mrs. Danforth had met a young, -fair-haired, plainly dressed woman walking along slowly between a boy -and a girl who looked very much alike, although the boy was the taller.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Holt had been to the shops that afternoon with her children, and -in the basket which Ben was carrying so carefully, were the precious -Christmas remembrances they had bought for the dear father out in -Colorado. Mrs. Holt’s face was unusually sad, for this would be the -first Christmas that she had ever been parted from her husband, and -she felt the separation more and more keenly as the days drew near to -Christmas.</p> - -<p>Elsa had leaned forward and waved eagerly behind the closed window -of the coupé. The twins had smilingly waved their hands in turn. The -tired-looking, sad-faced mother, in bowing to Elsa, had given a sudden, -startled look at Mrs. Danforth.</p> - -<p>The encounter had been over in a half-moment, for the strong gray horse -was going swiftly toward home.</p> - -<p>“It is Alice and Ben and their mother, grandmother,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span> Elsa had cried -excitedly. “Don’t you remember about ‘Sweet Alice and Ben Bolt?’ Only -their name is Holt.”</p> - -<p>Fearing that her grandmother’s silence meant reproof, Elsa had looked -around. Mrs. Danforth was sitting very white-faced and rigid, against -the coupé cushions. She did not speak again during the drive.</p> - -<p>This was the first time that Mrs. Danforth and Mrs. Holt had met, face -to face, in Berkeley; and it was the memory of this meeting, which Mrs. -Danforth could not put out of her mind, that kept her in her own room -the next day. Through shutting out love from her life, Mrs. Danforth -had burnt her heart almost to ashes.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI<br> -<span class="small">THE BOY IN THE CLUB</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">You hear that boy laughing? You think he’s all fun?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But the angels laugh, too, at the good he has done.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"> -—<i>Oliver Wendell Holmes.</i><br> -</p> - - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/image195.png" alt=""> -</div> - -<p class="noindent drop-cap">BEN HOLT, driving slowly along the main business street of Berkeley, -Friday morning, about half-past nine o’clock, stopped his horse as he -saw the tall figure and met the gray eyes of Elsa Danforth’s uncle.</p> - -<p>“Good morning, sir,” the boy said, jumping from the sleigh with a -sudden inspiration. “I would like to ask your advice, sir,” he added, -diffidently.</p> - -<p>Mr. Danforth had instantly recognized the boy of the Club. “Well, Ben, -my boy; what is it about?” he asked in his quick way of speaking.</p> - -<p>Ben’s usually cheerful face was very sober and earnest. Mr. Danforth -noticed on the seat of the sleigh a queer-shaped bundle covered with -what<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span> looked suspiciously like a blue-and-white flannel night-shirt.</p> - -<p>“What do you want my advice about? Christmas presents?” the tall man -asked kindly, seeing that the boy found some difficulty in making his -request.</p> - -<p>“No, sir, it isn’t Christmas presents,” Ben replied sadly, taking a -few steps forward and putting his arm around Jerry’s long nose. “I am -going to run away, sir; but I had promised to give five of the little -Convalescings a sleigh-ride this morning, at eleven o’clock, and I’ve -been trying to find some safe fellow—man,” said Ben, correcting -himself,—“who will take them for me, somebody the head-nurse will -trust. Do you suppose you could do it?” The boy looked up with such a -wistful expression that Mr. Danforth felt quite touched, although he -felt also, that Ben was looking him over very carefully and trying to -decide whether the head-nurse would approve of him. “You could leave -Jerry at my house when you come home; it’s not a very long ways to walk -back to Elsa’s. Of course I—I couldn’t tell mother of mine that—that -I was going to run away.” Ben’s face showed that he was very miserable.</p> - -<p>“Let me get into the sleigh with you and we will<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span> talk it over,” Mr. -Danforth said, stepping in quickly. Ben sprang in at the other side and -pushed the blue-and-white flannel bundle to the floor, under the seat.</p> - -<p>“Now, first of all, tell me why you are going to run away?” Mr. -Danforth inquired in such a friendly, sympathetic tone that Ben could -not help opening his heart at once.</p> - -<p>“I want to earn a lot of money, sir. You see, my father’s away -teaching, and he isn’t very well, so he can’t send us much money. And -mother—mother has to buy so many things, she was counting on her -fingers last night,—coal, and things to eat, and clothes, and pay the -hired man, and pay the rent, and she just gets all the fingers paid -off and she has to begin again. She spent her last money yesterday -for coal, and she won’t have any more till the first of January, and -I can’t stand it, sir; I’ve got to earn some money to help her.” Ben -turned aside with a sound very much like a sob, but which of course -must not be heard from a boy who was going to run away. Bravely facing -ahead again after a moment he added: “I want to earn a lot of money, so -that mother won’t have to work so hard and so that we can go and live -with father.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span></p> - -<p>“Do you help your mother any now?” Mr. Danforth inquired in the same -quick, sympathetic voice.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir, a little; I feed and take care of the hens and I do errands -and shovel snow and help with the market-garden, and I talk over things -with mother, and I take the Convalescings out driving pleasant Saturday -mornings and vacations.” Ben named everything he could think of, for -he wanted to prove that he was a capable and trusty boy. He looked up, -anxiously: “Maybe, as you live in the city, you could tell me where to -begin work?”</p> - -<p>“Who will do all those things for your mother if you run away, Ben?” -came the next question.</p> - -<p>“Why—she can hire a boy with the money I send,” Ben answered, -miserably.</p> - -<p>“I wouldn’t run away just yet, Ben, if I were you,” said Mr. Danforth -very gravely. “Your mother might get used to that other boy. Boys -who run away always want to come back home, and once in awhile their -fathers and mothers won’t let them come back, but send them off to some -institution. Think it over awhile, Ben. It’s queer, but you are the -very boy I wanted to see this morning.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span></p> - -<p>Ben turned questioningly toward his companion. There was a keen, clear -sparkle in Mr. Danforth’s gray eyes, and good-humoured lines around his -firm mouth.</p> - -<p>“What do you say to our spending a part of the morning at that -wonderful hut near your house, which Elsa has told me about? We can -talk some more of your running away, and I want your advice about a -Christmas surprise for the Club.”</p> - -<p>Seeing the hesitation which yet remained in Ben’s earnest blue eyes, -Mr. Danforth continued: “Now, Ben, I have given you my advice, and it’s -only fair that you should give me yours. I think I shall want to hire -you and your horse some day next week, and I will pay you fifty cents -an hour, and for this morning’s time, too.”</p> - -<p>“Jerry’s a fine horse to work, because he’s so steady, sir,” replied -Ben, yielding by slow degrees. “But the Convalescings expect me at -eleven o’clock.”</p> - -<p>Jerry had turned, unheeded by Ben, into Berkeley Avenue and was jogging -quite spiritedly in the direction of home.</p> - -<p>“It is not ten o’clock yet,” said Mr. Danforth, taking out his watch. -“You can help me an hour<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</span> and then keep your engagement with the -children. I wouldn’t have you disappoint them.”</p> - -<p>“All right, sir,” Ben said, more cheerfully than he had yet spoken, -although his face sobered again immediately as he added: “I’ll leave my -bundle in the hut, then it will be ready any time I decide to start. -Of course, I’d lots rather earn some money and stay at home. But it’s -sorrowful-like, sir, to see your mother needing money so much.” Again -Ben turned aside his face, and when Mr. Danforth kindly looked the -other way, the boy drew his red-mittened hand across his eyes.</p> - -<p>Any one who had been near the log-hut in the tall pine woods not far -from Ben’s home that morning, would have seen a broad-shouldered man -in a heavy winter overcoat and a slip of a boy in a tight blue reefer -jacket sitting in the warm sunshine on the sheltered platform of the -hut, very earnestly talking together and advising one another, while -old Jerry, blanketed carefully, stood near by without being hitched, -and overhead, dusky crows and gleaming bluejays chattered vigorously, a -gray chickadee or a downy woodpecker occasionally putting in a word.</p> - -<p>Mr. Ned Danforth had surprised and delighted his niece Elsa almost -beyond bounds by appearing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span> in Berkeley the evening before, and -announcing that he should stay at least until Christmas, a whole week.</p> - -<p>After his father, Judge Danforth, had died, and after the death of -Elsa’s father a few months later, Mr. Ned Danforth had agreed with -his stepmother that it was wise for her to close her New York home, -and also that Berkeley was a good place for motherless and fatherless -Elsa to live in. Some day, when his little niece should become a young -lady, Mr. Danforth hoped to have her live with him. He had missed the -child greatly, indeed, out of his New York life, and his flying visit -to Berkeley of a few weeks ago—the first time he had seen Elsa since -September—had caused him to wonder whether she was wholly happy in her -life alone with Mrs. Danforth, although the child made no complaint.</p> - -<p>It was particularly to set his mind at rest upon this point that he -had told Elsa he would pay her fifty cents a week if she would write a -four-page letter to him twice a week; for he felt that in these letters -she would probably tell him freely just what he wanted to know. Before -this, Elsa had written him once a week, and always a short letter, -saying that grandmother was well and she was well; that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span> school was -pleasant because she liked her school-girl friends; that Berkeley was -a pretty place and the weather was growing colder; that she missed him -ever and ever so much, and was his affectionate little niece, Elsa.</p> - -<p>But the first long letter he received had run thus:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Dearest Uncle Ned</span>:—</p> - -<p>“Grandmother is well and so am I. O, I am so glad you came -to see me. Please come again soon. School is most over and -I am sorry for I shall miss seeing my little girl friends. -Grandmother does not like to have little girls come to see -me. She lets me go to the Club though. Miss Ruth is lovely. -I take a red rose to her most every day and she puts it in -to a tall green glass vase in her window so I see it when I -go to bed and it doesent make me feel so lonesum. I shall be -sorry when school closes because it will seem lonesummer to -eat breakfast and supper alone. It is a very nice nayborhood. -Miss Ruth is busy most of the time taking care of her poor sick -aunt who doesent like children I guess because she told us to -go right away children one day she had asked the club to go up -stairs to see her. Betty White has the beautifulest nursery to -sleep in you ever<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</span> saw it makes me think of very interesting -picture book or a Jacobs coat of many colors. Bettys mother -lets her decide things. I wish grandmother would let me. I wish -grandmother would let me have some pink or blue paper on my -room. It is all so white. I feels if I slept out doors in snow.</p> - -<p>“I am reading David Copperfield. I think it is a very good and -interesting book and it is so real and true. I like Agnes W. -better than any caracter and I think D. C. is sorry he fell in -love with Dora and I wish he had more courage when he is with -Urriah H and tell U. H. that he is a sneak and coward and give -him a blow or two. I like Mr. Peggotty and Ham and Peggotty -and Aunt Bettesy Trotwood and I also like Mr. Dick and all two -gether it is a fine book. Will you tell me the name of a book -to read next because when school closes I will have to read to -keep from being lonesum like September when I first came. This -is four pages and I wish you would come to see your poor lonesum</p> - -<p class="right"> -“<span class="smcap">Elsa</span>.<br> -</p> - -<p>“P. S. dont forget about the hut.</p> - -<p>“P. S. David was so crushed and frightened when he was little -and had no good times. I think he hasent got over it yet.”</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</span></p> - -<p>Mr. Danforth had decided from this and just such another long letter, -that his little niece was leading a lonely and repressed life with -her grandmother, and that it was this fact which was making the child -pale-faced and hollow-eyed, rather than the school-life, as Mrs. -Danforth had suggested. So when the head of the banking-house to which -he belonged decided to establish a branch office in the large city -near Berkeley, Mr. Danforth at once agreed to take charge of it. What -were New York clubs and big dinners in comparison with the welfare and -happiness of one little pathetic, gray-eyed, “lonesum” girl?</p> - -<p>And this was the reason of Mr. Ned Danforth’s being in Berkeley, -although he had not as yet told Elsa that he would soon come to stay -permanently.</p> - -<p>Thursday had been the last day of the school term, and this Friday -would be the last meeting of the Club before Christmas. Ben and Alice -had called for Betty at half-past two o’clock. Mrs. White had with -difficulty kept them and Betty from starting for Ruth Warren’s before -three o’clock.</p> - -<p>The moment Elsa, watching from the hall window, saw the little group -leave Betty’s house, she sped like an arrow to join them, having been -ready for the last half-hour.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</span></p> - -<p>It was a merry, excited group of four children who ran up the front -steps of the Warren house very promptly at three o’clock on the -afternoon of December 18. Elsa had forgotten all about being sorry that -school had closed, now that Uncle Ned had come; Ben had forgotten all -about his intense desire to run away from home; Alice had forgotten -all about the cold which had kept her from the last Club meeting, -and Betty, on her part, had forgotten pretty nearly all that she had -learned in school the last term; indeed, she had almost forgotten that -there ever was any school.</p> - -<p>The open fire was burning brightly; the five unfinished sets of paper -dolls, the paints and the brushes were ready on the table; and Miss -Ruth, in her golden-brown, fur-trimmed gown, welcomed the Club with a -feeling of real pleasure in having all these lively children coming to -her house. She was heartily glad her Aunt Virginia had decided that -she liked the children’s noise, for Ben came in with an unmistakable -“Whoop!” and cried out, “No more school!” and the other children began -talking rapidly.</p> - -<p>“May I bring my Christmas presents and keep them here?” questioned -Betty. “Max and Janet find every single thing I hide away.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</span></p> - -<p>“My Uncle Ned has come to stay till Christmas,” exclaimed Elsa; “he’s -gone to the city this afternoon, or maybe I shouldn’t have wanted to -come even to the Club!”</p> - -<p>“I’ve brought back the two sets of paper dolls you sent for me to -paint,” piped in Alice. “And Ben’s brought something to show you.”</p> - -<p>Thereupon Ben opened the box he had in his hand, and blushing with -pride, showed the Club ten tops he had carved, carefully and well, -painted with bright colours. “They are for the Convalescings,” he -explained when the girls gave him a chance to speak; “and I think I’ll -have time to make a few more.”</p> - -<p>“Mamma is making some of the beautifulest rag dolls,” exclaimed Alice -enthusiastically.</p> - -<p>“We must finish painting the paper dolls this afternoon,” cried Betty, -“for just think, Christmas comes a week from to-day.”</p> - -<p>“Can we take the dolls out to the Convalescent Home, Miss Ruth?” Elsa -asked, with shining eyes.</p> - -<p>“Yes, we can all go there Christmas morning. I have arranged that with -Miss Hartwell. With the dolls Mrs. Holt is making, and ours, we shall -have enough to give a doll to every little girl there; and with Ben’s -tops and some tin soldiers which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span> I am going to provide for the boys, -we shall have something for every boy.”</p> - -<p>“O, goody!” exclaimed Betty, while Elsa and Alice clapped their hands, -and Ben turned a somersault on the hearth-rug.</p> - -<p>“Now please finish the story, Miss Ruth,” said Betty. “You left off -where Ruth’s grandmother—I mean your grandmother—was going to let you -go to see the little old lady the next morning.”</p> - -<p>Betty, Alice, and Elsa immediately drew their chairs up to the table, -and chose their paint-brushes, ready to begin on the paper dolls. But -Ben remained standing before the fireplace, and, after putting one -hand in his pocket to make sure he had not lost the two silver quarter -dollars he had earned that morning, he clasped his hands behind him. -Ben was dreadfully hungry, for he had been outdoors all the morning, -and even the good dinner he had eaten since then had left his appetite -unsatisfied. He forgot that Miss Ruth always had something for the Club -to eat, so he looked very steadily at her and asked frankly: “Please, -Black Lace Lady, have you got any crackers or cookies? I’m hungry as -two bears, and I’d a good deal rather ask right out for something to -eat than hint for it.”</p> - -<p>“Why, Ben Holt!” gasped Alice, whose cheeks<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span> turned a very deep pink -in a moment. She came and laid her chubby hand on Ruth Warren’s arm: -“Excuse him, please, Miss Ruth. He knows better.” Alice felt dreadfully -ashamed of Ben.</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren stroked Alice’s hand affectionately: “Never mind, dear. I -ought to know better than to keep a hungry boy waiting for something to -eat. Sarah has made some plum buns for you.”</p> - -<p>“The same as we had for our first meeting!” cried Betty, tossing her -hair out of her eyes.</p> - -<p>“Yes, because Peggy brought some to me,” Ben said. “Here they are now,” -he exclaimed, looking up engagingly into Sarah Judd’s face as she came -through the library doorway, in her stiffest starched white apron, -carrying a very large plate piled high with crisp plum buns.</p> - -<p>“Thank you, ma’am,” Ben said with a polite bow. Stepping forward, he -took the plate from Sarah, and passed it first to Miss Ruth, then to -the girls.</p> - -<p>Sarah stood still, watching anxiously. “They are pretty crumby,” she -said, looking from the plate to the floor, “and—” but as she caught -Miss Ruth’s eye, she stopped; then, drawing a long breath like a sigh, -she said heroically: “Never<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span> mind the crumbs, little folks; I’m a-goin’ -to sweep to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“I think you are very, very good to the Club, Sarah,” said Betty.</p> - -<p>“Thank you, oh, thank you,” cried Elsa, with thoughtful courtesy, while -little Alice smiled and looked more than ever like a dimple-faced doll.</p> - -<p>Sarah’s curls were bobbing excitedly as she went out of the room, -saying under her breath: “The cunnin’ little dears!”</p> - -<p>“Please, <i>please</i>, the story now,” entreated Betty.</p> - -<p>“Guess I won’t paint to-day,” Ben announced. “May I lie down by the -fire again?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,—take a cushion and take some buns, Ben,” Ruth Warren answered, -moving her chair aside.</p> - -<p>“Let me do that,” said Ben, springing instantly to help.</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” returned Miss Ruth. Then, seating herself, she said: “Now -I will go on with the story.”</p> - -<p class="p2">By nine o’clock the next morning, I was teasing my grandmother to let -me start for Miss Dean’s. But it was almost eleven before Jenny, the -cook,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</span> had the broth and little cakes and jelly in a basket for me to -carry to Miss Dean. I remember hurrying so fast over the uneven, snowy -street that I spilled some of the broth.</p> - -<p>Miss Dean saw me coming and opened the front door the moment I set foot -on the top step. She was dressed in a soft gray cloth gown and she -looked ever so much better than she had the day before, in fact her -cheeks were quite pink and her eyes sparkled as she said: “I thought -that as I had been ill and you were coming again to see me, we would -have a party; and I have invited Susie to the party.”</p> - -<p>The bedroom—or the sitting-room as it really was except in -winter—looked very cozy. Miss Dean had spread a bright-coloured silk -patchwork quilt over the bed, and there in the little rocking-chair, -near by, sat Susie in a white muslin dress looped up with tiny pink -rosebuds over a blue satin skirt.</p> - -<p>“That is Susie’s ball costume,” Miss Dean said; “I didn’t show it to -you yesterday because I felt it might be wrong to let you know that I -approved of balls and dancing; but I decided to-day that it wouldn’t do -any harm. My mother didn’t like to have me learn to dance, but I don’t -see anything<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span> wrong in Susie’s going to parties and balls, just to look -on, anyway.”</p> - -<p>My eyes had travelled from Susie to the black-and-gold lacquered box, -which now stood upon the low table by the side of Susie’s chair. I -think Miss Dean must have seen me looking at it, for in a moment she -said:</p> - -<p>“I felt so bad to think I forgot to give you that box yesterday. That -is one reason I am having the party to-day. Take it now, to please a -little old lady.” As she handed it to me, I remember she said, “My, how -your eyes dance, child!”</p> - -<p>I opened the box, and found inside two smaller black-and-gold lacquered -boxes that just fitted the space. The first one I opened had in it a -beautiful coral necklace—</p> - -<p class="p2">“The one you have on now?” cried Betty, dropping her paint-brush and -coming to Miss Ruth’s side.</p> - -<p>“Yes, the very one,” Miss Ruth answered. “You have quick eyes, Betty.”</p> - -<p>Elsa and the twins crowded around to look at the exquisitely cut, -pinkish-red coral necklace.</p> - -<p>“What was in the other box?” Betty asked. “It seems to me I can’t wait -to hear!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span></p> - -<p>“The other box proved to be a dainty work-box with an ivory thimble, -ivory-handled scissors and an ivory-covered needle-book. As I told you, -Miss Dean’s father had been a sea-captain, and he had brought these -things from a foreign country.”</p> - -<p>“Have you kept the boxes, Miss Ruth?” Elsa asked shyly.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” replied Miss Ruth: “I have the large box and the two smaller -boxes.”</p> - -<p>“O, do show them to us, please,” Betty entreated. The others waited -with greatest interest.</p> - -<p>“I thought you might like to see them, so I brought them down.” Ruth -Warren rose and took from a drawer of her writing-desk a richly -lacquered box; and the girls, with Ben, spent the next few moments in -examining and admiring the big box, the smaller boxes, and the dainty -ivory articles.</p> - -<p>“I brought down something else to show you,” Miss Ruth said. “Can you -guess what?”</p> - -<p>“A stuffed Arctic owl,” suggested Ben, taking a fresh supply of plum -buns while he was up.</p> - -<p>“O, Ben! Can’t you think of anything but birds and horses and hens’ -eggs!” cried Betty.</p> - -<p>“Yes,—I think of the poor little Convalescings,” said Ben -self-defensively.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span></p> - -<p>“I know, I know!” exclaimed Elsa, almost breathlessly. “It is Susie!”</p> - -<p>“Elsa has guessed right. It is Susie,—the little old lady’s doll,” -said Miss Ruth, going to the tall mahogany bookcase which wholly filled -one side of the room. The children followed her and watched with -closest attention while she took from a lower shelf a large white box. -Unrolling the stout white-paper covering, she opened the box-cover, -took out the old-fashioned doll, and held her up before the children’s -eyes.</p> - -<p>Betty was the first to speak. “What a queer old thing,” she said.</p> - -<p>“O, she has on the ball dress,” cried Alice, timidly touching one of -the tiny pink rosebuds which looped up the muslin dress over the blue -silk petticoat.</p> - -<p>“You dear doll!” said Elsa softly.</p> - -<p>“She <i>is</i> kind of quaint and pretty,” Betty said, after a good -second look.</p> - -<p>Ben gave a low whistle, but said nothing. He thought the doll was a -beauty. The tiny pink rosebuds had won his heart.</p> - -<p>Susie was a china-headed doll, with stiff, unjointed arms. Her black -hair, parted and drawn down over her ears, her very black eyes, bright -red<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span> cheeks and rounded mouth gave her an old-time appearance both -quaint and attractive.</p> - -<p>“How well you have kept her,” exclaimed Betty. Her own dolls had all -suffered some misfortune, such as broken arms or hairless heads.</p> - -<p>“I did not have Susie until I was sixteen years old,” Miss Ruth said, -“and then I was too old to play with her.”</p> - -<p>“Do girls have to stop playing with dolls when they are sixteen years -old?” Elsa inquired anxiously.</p> - -<p>“O no,” Miss Ruth replied; “but girls of sixteen are usually too busy -with study and other things to have time for dolls.”</p> - -<p>“How did you happen to get the old doll?” Ben asked. He did not mean to -be disrespectful; it was only a boy’s way of speaking.</p> - -<p>“That comes at the end of the story,” Miss Ruth answered. “Are you -ready for me to go on?”</p> - -<p>Everybody said, “Yes,” and Elsa added: “I will put Susie in a -rocking-chair and we can look at her and that will make the story seem -more real than ever.”</p> - -<p>“That is just the way Miss Dean used to have her,” said Miss Ruth, as -Elsa placed the doll in a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span> small rocking-chair upon a cushion and drew -the chair toward the table.</p> - -<p>“I remember,” Elsa answered.</p> - -<p>Once more the girls took up their paint-brushes and went to work, -while Ben stretched himself again upon the hearth-rug in his favourite -position; and then the story-teller began again:</p> - -<p class="p2">Miss Dean had been making ready for our party all the morning, I think, -because we had so many things to eat. She seemed not to want to use -anything which grandmother had sent. First, we had hot biscuit and -little meat-balls; then we had chocolate frosted cake, currant-jelly -tarts and plum preserves, with hot chocolate to drink.</p> - -<p>“May we have Susie at the table with us?” I asked just as we were -sitting down; so Miss Dean sat Susie on the dictionary in the tallest -chair, and she put food on a plate for Susie, just as she did for me. -When I wasn’t looking, Miss Dean slipped the food off to a plate on a -side table, and then put more food in front of the doll, urging her in -such a pretty way to eat more. I never shall forget how young and happy -Miss Dean looked that day at the table, with such a kind, motherly -expression in her large brown eyes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span></p> - -<p>We were just eating some preserved ginger and drinking the last of -our chocolate, and Miss Dean was saying: “I am sure Susie would enjoy -company very much indeed if she had more of it,” when there came a -knock at the front door and my grandmother walked into the room. She -and Miss Dean were such near neighbours and good friends that when -either one called upon the other, she did not wait at the door, but -walked in.</p> - -<p>Miss Dean rose, greeted my grandmother, and then looked at me in such -a timid, appealing manner that I knew she was thinking of Susie and -wondering what my grandmother would think of the doll being there.</p> - -<p>Grandmother sat down very straight in her chair, I remember, and looked -around in her pleasant way. Her eyesight wasn’t very good. Probably, -too, she didn’t remember how my own dolls looked. For very soon she -said: “I see that Ruth brought her doll to have luncheon with you, -Phœbe,”—grandmother always called Miss Dean by her first name.</p> - -<p>I held my breath till Miss Dean answered: “That isn’t Ruth’s doll—yet; -but it is one I am going to give her.”</p> - -<p>If grandmother had been looking in my direction,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</span> I am sure she would -have seen me jump at the thought that Susie was to be mine.</p> - -<p>“How kind of you, Phœbe,” grandmother said. “I hope Ruth has thanked -you properly.”</p> - -<p>Miss Dean turned toward me with a helpless expression, just as -grandmother added: “Isn’t it strange how children always like to make -company of their dolls and make believe they can eat?”</p> - -<p>“I wanted to have Susie at the table,” I said eagerly, half ready to -cry, because I felt so sorry for Miss Dean.</p> - -<p>“So you have named the doll Susie,” grandmother said.</p> - -<p>Miss Dean turned to me again with that distressed look in her brown -eyes.</p> - -<p>“No,” I said, “that was Miss Dean’s name for her, but I like it.” And -after that, grandmother began talking about something else. Her visit -was short. When she went, she said: “Come home soon, Ruth, or you will -be tiring Miss Phœbe, and don’t forget to thank her prettily for the -doll.”</p> - -<p>After closing the door behind grandmother, Miss Dean all of a sudden -dropped into a chair. “I was going to give the doll to you, anyway, -Ruth,” she said, hardly above a whisper. The pink colour had all gone -out of her face.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span></p> - -<p>“O no!” I said,—the way children do when they want a thing very much -and know they ought not to take it.</p> - -<p>“But I have told your grandmother that I was going to give the doll to -you.” Miss Dean’s voice trembled now, and the next moment I saw her -brown eyes fill with tears.</p> - -<p>“I have ever so many dolls,” I cried, naming over six or seven, “and -really, Miss Dean, I would rather have Susie here, because it will be -all the nicer when I come to see you.” I remember thinking so just -then, because Miss Dean was unhappy about it.</p> - -<p>“What will your grandmother think of me? what will she think of me?” -Miss Dean spoke with a real sob in her voice.</p> - -<p>Then I knew more surely than before that I must not take Susie away. -I petted Miss Dean and talked and talked until she dried her eyes and -asked me if I didn’t want to try Susie’s dresses on again, so that I -would be used to her ways, as long as she was truly going to be mine -some day.</p> - -<p>I remember that about as fast as Miss Dean began to feel better I began -to feel worse. While she put away the food and the dishes in that -clean, dainty kitchen, I played with the doll, dressing and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span> undressing -her; and when I finally pinned the little red shawl over the white -nightgown, I am sure two or three of my tears fell upon Susie. Then I -knew it was time for me to be going home.</p> - -<p>“Are you perfectly sure you don’t want to take Susie?” Miss Dean asked -me at the door.</p> - -<p>“I want you to have her more!” I called back. I could not say another -word, so I started and ran for home, hugging the black-and-gold -lacquered box under my arm: I had entirely forgotten to show that to -grandmother while she was there.</p> - -<p>Grandmother was so interested in the box that she seemed to forget all -about the doll. But I went to see Miss Dean and Susie almost every -day. I had a queer feeling about that doll,—she was mine and yet she -wasn’t. Perhaps I actually enjoyed her more that way. Once in awhile I -found Miss Dean making new dresses for Susie; and then she always said: -“I want your doll to have a lot of pretty clothes to wear.”</p> - -<p>It happened that my father and mother came home from California -unexpectedly and sent for me to join them, and I was hurried off -without time even to say good-bye to Miss Dean and Susie. It must have -been two months after that when I received a letter from Miss Dean. -She wrote about<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</span> her spring chickens and her garden, chiefly, but at -the end of the letter she said, “Susie misses you very much. She grows -prettier every day.”</p> - -<p>When I read this letter to my mother, she asked: “Who is Susie? Some -little girl who lives with Miss Dean?”</p> - -<p>“O no,” I said, “Susie is a doll, and she is going to be mine some day.”</p> - -<p>Mother didn’t ask any more questions. She only said “Oh!” in a funny -way.</p> - -<p>After that, little by little, I forgot about the doll. Grandmother came -to live with us, so I didn’t visit her again. But when I was sixteen -years old, and had given up playing with dolls, a big bundle came to me -by express one day, and in it was Susie dressed in a brown travelling -suit. All her other clothes were in the bundle. Miss Dean had died, and -had left directions to have the bundle sent to me. With it was a note -which Miss Dean had written.</p> - -<p class="p2">“Have you kept the note?” Betty asked curiously. The three girls had -finished all the painting and had quietly drawn around the fire, during -the last few moments.</p> - -<p>“Yes; here it is.” From a yellowed envelope on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</span> her desk, Ruth Warren -drew forth a small sheet of paper and read:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Dear Little Ruth</span>:—</p> - -<p>“When this reaches you, Susie will go with it. She has really -been yours ever since that day of our party, and I thank you -gratefully for letting me keep her. I have loved her dearly. -Some of us poor lonely old folks are not much more than -grown-up children. I know you will have a happy time playing -with her, and when you are ready to give her away, I hope it -will be to some little girl who will love her as fondly as you -and I love her.</p> - -<p class="right"> -<span style="margin-right: 4.5em;">“Your affectionate friend,</span><br> -“<span class="smcap">Phœbe Dean.</span>”<br> -</p> -</div> - -<p>“What a dear story!” sighed Elsa. “And how much the poor little old -lady must have cared for Susie.”</p> - -<p>“You have kept all her dresses?” inquired Betty, eying the doll with -new interest.</p> - -<p>“Yes. When the doll first came, I dressed her in the ball gown, because -that was what she had on when Miss Dean really gave her to me. Since -then I have thought very little about her. Perhaps I shall keep her and -have her for company when I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</span> grow old, just as Miss Dean had her. Or -perhaps we might dress her in a newer fashion and give her to one of -the Convalescent children.”</p> - -<p>“O no! no!” objected the girls as with one voice. “She is -different:—they will like other dolls just as much,” little Alice -added.</p> - -<p>“She is best in her own old-fashioned dresses,” Elsa said thoughtfully, -“because she has such a dear old-fashioned face.”</p> - -<p>“And then Miss Dean wanted you to give her to the little girl who would -love her the most,” Betty remarked.</p> - -<p>“I wonder who that would be?” Elsa said wistfully, as if she were -thinking out loud.</p> - -<p>“I’m not the one,” exclaimed Ben, jingling his silver quarter-dollars.</p> - -<p>“Of course you are not,” cried Betty. “You are only the boy in the -Club.”</p> - -<p>Betty and Ben were so constantly on the border of friendly warfare that -Ruth Warren thought it better to change the subject. “Children,” she -said quickly, beginning to gather the envelopes of paper dolls into a -pile, “we have just time enough left to name these dolls. There are -twelve of them, and each of you may choose three names. I will write -the names on the envelopes. We will let<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</span> Ben choose his names first. -Will you begin, Ben?”</p> - -<p>Ben looked very hard into the fire for a moment.</p> - -<p>“Hurry up, Ben,” Alice said, giving him a sisterly poke with her foot.</p> - -<p>“All right, Peggy,” he said, holding the toe of her shoe -affectionately. “I’m ready. Katrina for the princess in the Gray Owl -story, Alice for my mother and for Peggy, and Ruth for you;” he turned -toward Miss Ruth with one of his comical little bows.</p> - -<p>The girls clapped their hands and Ruth Warren bowed in return to Ben as -she said: “Now, Alice next. We will go from the youngest on.”</p> - -<p>“I will name my three Love and Hope and Thankful.” Alice spoke in a low -tone and moved a little nearer to Ben.</p> - -<p>But the Club was listening so closely that every one heard. “What funny -names!” was Betty’s comment, as Miss Ruth wrote them down.</p> - -<p>“Mamma has told me stories about old, old ladies she knew of with those -names,” Alice explained.</p> - -<p>“Are they all right names?” she asked anxiously, turning her large blue -eyes upon Ruth Warren.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</span></p> - -<p>“Yes, dear, they are good, old-fashioned names, and they go well with -the old lady and the old doll we have just been talking about. What are -your names, Betty?”</p> - -<p>“Rose and Rosamond and Julia,” Betty answered quickly, her mind being -all made up.</p> - -<p>“Good.” Ruth Warren had these down in a half-moment. “And now Elsa?”</p> - -<p>Elsa named her list with a little pause between each name: “Phœbe,—for -Miss Dean. Agnes,—for the Agnes in ‘David Copperfield’”—Elsa’s first -grown-up book had made a great impression upon her: “Ruth,—for you.” -The child looked very lovingly from under her long dark lashes at Miss -Ruth.</p> - -<p>“But we have one Ruth. Ben chose that,” objected Betty half jealously.</p> - -<p>“Never mind. We can have two of the same name,” insisted Elsa -spiritedly, although her face coloured sensitively from having all eyes -turned upon her.</p> - -<p>“None of the Convalescent children will have two paper dolls,” said -peaceable Alice.</p> - -<p>“I’d like to have all the dolls named Ruth,” Ben said gallantly.</p> - -<p>As Ben did not mind Elsa’s having chosen the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</span> same name that he had, -Betty did not make any further objection.</p> - -<p>“Please, Miss Ruth, ma’am, Mrs. Danforth to see you,” Sarah Judd -announced at the library door. “She said she wanted to come right in -here.”</p> - -<p>The children, not quite realizing, in the half dusk of the afternoon -light, that Mrs. Danforth was close behind Sarah, did not rise until -Miss Ruth stepped back from the doorway with her visitor. Accordingly, -Mrs. Danforth had a momentary glimpse of them on the hearth-rug,—Betty -curled up on a cushion, Elsa leaning in her old position against the -brass fire-stand, Alice and Ben seated side by side upon a large, -low, old-fashioned ottoman in the centre of the rug. The ruddy flames -lighted up their faces vividly.</p> - -<p>A moment later, the children were standing,—all except little Alice, -one of whose feet had gone to sleep so that she had to kneel upon the -ottoman.</p> - -<p>Sarah Judd, unnoticed, looked on from the shadow of the doorway at the -tall, stately woman in rich sable furs and heavy silk cloak.</p> - -<p>“I took the liberty of asking your maid to allow me to come where the -children were,” Mrs. Danforth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</span> said in a beautiful but cold voice. “I -wanted to see the Club that Elsa talks about so much.”</p> - -<p>“Pray be seated, Mrs. Danforth; we are delighted to see you,” said Ruth -Warren, turning to stir the fire into a yet brighter glow. “We like -firelight better than any other light,” she added. “Sit down, children.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth had seated herself very quickly, as her eyes fell upon -Alice and Ben.</p> - -<p>Betty curled up again on the cushion. Elsa drew a little way back from -the fireside into the shadow and sat upright upon a chair. Alice, as if -spellbound by something in Mrs. Danforth’s face, remained kneeling upon -the ottoman, and Ben stood by his sister’s side with his left hand upon -her shoulder.</p> - -<p>The twins made a striking picture there on the hearth-rug in the full -light of the blazing fire,—Alice, fair-haired, delicate-featured, -with great soft blue eyes and broad white forehead; Ben with the same -colouring of hair and complexion, with boyish, earnest face, frank, -handsome blue eyes, slender figure and well-shaped shoulders.</p> - -<p>“So, Elsa, these are your friends, Alice and Ben?” Mrs. Danforth asked -in a slightly unsteady voice now, loosening her furs as she spoke. She -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</span>looked very white; and Ruth Warren remembered that Mrs. Danforth had -been ill in her room a few days before.</p> - -<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="facing226" style="max-width: 32.0625em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/facing226.png" alt=""> - <figcaption class="caption">“THE TWINS MADE A STRIKING PICTURE.”</figcaption> -</figure> - -<p>“Yes, grandmother,” Elsa’s voice answered out of the half-shadow where -she was sitting.</p> - -<p>The twins nodded their heads. Alice shyly, and Ben quite gravely. “Are -you Elsa’s grandmother?” he inquired, fixing his blue eyes upon Mrs. -Danforth.</p> - -<p>She merely bowed her head, and asked in the same rather unsteady voice: -“Your last name is what?”</p> - -<p>“Holt, ma’am,—Alice and Benjamin Franklin Holt,” the boy answered in -his clear, musical voice.</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren, seated somewhat back from the fireside and closely -observing the picture-like group upon the rug, could not help thinking -that it looked as if Alice were kneeling before Mrs. Danforth for -forgiveness and Ben were standing by her side as her champion.</p> - -<p>“How long have you lived here in Berkeley?” Mrs. Danforth’s eyes were -fixed intently upon Ben. She could not bear to look at Alice because of -the child’s resemblance to a long-ago little Alice.</p> - -<p>“Since the first of last July, ma’am,” Ben replied,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</span> manfully meeting -the almost stern look in the blue eyes bent upon him.</p> - -<p>“And where did you live before you came here?” asked Mrs. Danforth -sharply.</p> - -<p>“Grandmother is almost rude to ask so many questions,” thought Elsa in -her shadowy corner. Betty was listening with round, wide-open brown -eyes. Ruth Warren watched Mrs. Danforth’s face now.</p> - -<p>“We lived out in New York State. Father was teaching in a college -there,” Ben explained pleasantly: “his health wasn’t very good, though, -so he brought us here and stayed a little while, and then he had to go -to Colorado, for the doctor said so. We raise lettuce and things to -sell, so that father can stay away till he gets better.”</p> - -<p>“What does your mother do?” Mrs. Danforth asked in a strangely -trembling voice.</p> - -<p>“Mother? My mother? Oh, she helps with the garden when she is well -enough, and she makes some of my clothes and Alice’s dresses and keeps -’count of all the eggs I sell and—” he stopped short.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth had risen suddenly. Looking toward Elsa, she said: “I -want you to come home with me now, Elsa. It is five o’clock and the -seamstress<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</span> has some new frocks to try on to you before she goes.”</p> - -<p>Sarah Judd vanished from the hall.</p> - -<p>As if she were weak, Mrs. Danforth steadied herself by the back of the -chair, and then turned for another look at the blue-eyed boy before the -fire.</p> - -<p>With a very genuine desire to be a little gentleman,—as his mother -always told him to be,—Ben did the very best thing in the world which -he could have done. Stepping forward, though still with his hand upon -his sister’s shoulder, he looked up into Mrs. Danforth’s face and said -most respectfully: “I think you are a very nice grandmother. I wish -Alice and I had a grandmother.”</p> - -<p>“Then you have no grandmother?” she asked slowly, with that strange -tremble in her voice again, and clasping her hands tight together -behind the long sable boa.</p> - -<p>“We had one, my father’s mother,” Ben answered soberly, still with -his eyes fixed upon her face, “but that grandmother has gone away to -heaven. We don’t know about our other grandmother. Mother says she will -tell us about her sometime.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth made a motion almost as if she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</span> would take the little -fellow into her arms. Then she turned abruptly, not trusting herself to -stay another moment.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, as she turned, it no longer seemed hard for her to begin to -carry out the purpose which had brought her to Berkeley, for Ben had -walked straight into her heart, and she knew that she could no longer -shut love out from her life.</p> - -<p>Elsa followed her grandmother out of the room without a word except to -say good-bye to the Club.</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren found the children in silence when she came back from -seeing her guest to the door. She felt that they were wondering, just -as she was, whether Mrs. Danforth intended to take Elsa away from the -Club, and whether it was because the twins’ mother worked sometimes in -the market-garden.</p> - -<p>It was just the right opportunity for Ruth Warren to put to the -children a question which she had in her mind. She began by telling -them about Elsa’s loss of her doll, but without speaking of Elsa’s -night visit.</p> - -<p>“Poor Elsa,” exclaimed Betty, whose generous heart was quickly touched.</p> - -<p>“Her dearest doll,” sighed Alice, pityingly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</span></p> - -<p>Ben, seated on the ottoman again beside his sister, put his arm close -around her.</p> - -<p>“If Susie were to be given to any one of you three girls, which would -you rather should have her?” Miss Ruth asked.</p> - -<p>Betty and Alice looked at one another.</p> - -<p>Ben gave Alice a hug and said: “I vote for Elsa’s having the -doll,—though you didn’t ask me!” he added, hanging his head.</p> - -<p>From looking at one another, Betty and Alice had turned to look at -Susie, who sat on the cushion in the chair by the table, just where -Elsa had placed her.</p> - -<p>Betty was the first to speak: “If Elsa had Susie, I know she would let -us play with her.”</p> - -<p>Then Alice, generously swallowing her own disappointment, said: “Betty -has Max and Janet, and I have Ben, so I—I think Elsa better have -Susie.”</p> - -<p>“Because she has only her grandmother to live with,” put in Betty.</p> - -<p>“We all agree then,” said Miss Ruth, “that Elsa shall be the one to -have the little old lady’s doll. We will keep it a secret,” she added, -looking from one to another of the now bright faces. “We will give the -doll to her at Christmas, with a note saying it is from all of us.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</span></p> - -<p>“Because she has only a grandmother,” insisted Betty, forgetting Elsa’s -Uncle Ned.</p> - -<p>Just then they heard the door-bell ring, and a moment later, to -their great surprise, Elsa came running into the library, her gray -eyes sparkling with delight, her hair in a golden confusion over her -shoulders.</p> - -<p>“The seamstress wasn’t quite ready and grandmother said I might come -back, and she wants me to invite you all to a Christmas-tree at our -house on Christmas afternoon, and she wants Alice and Ben’s mother to -come—and Betty’s mother—and she says if you will all come—it will be -the best Christmas in her whole life!” Elsa stopped breathlessly, her -slender figure quivering with excitement and joy.</p> - -<p>“A Christmas-tree! What fun, what fun!” cried Betty, jumping up and -beginning to dance around the room.</p> - -<p>“Hurrah!” exclaimed Ben, giving Alice an extra hug.</p> - -<p>“May we help get it ready, Elsa?” Betty asked eagerly. In her own home -preparing the Christmas-tree was one of the great events of the year.</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes, I am sure so!” cried Elsa, who in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</span> her transport of -happiness was ready to promise anything.</p> - -<p>Then they all laughed heartily when little Alice said slowly, as if -the fact had just dawned over her mind: “The Club is going to have a -Christmas-tree at Elsa’s grandmother’s!”</p> - -<p>“Bless the blue-eyed baby,” said Betty; and Ruth Warren, stooping to -kiss the child’s serious upturned face, wondered if Christmas day would -bring some great change into the lives of Alice and Ben.</p> - -<p>“Do you think your mother will come to the Christmas-tree, Alice?” Elsa -asked. “Grandmother said particularly that I was to tell you she wants -your mother to come.”</p> - -<p>Ben answered for his sister: “She will come, I think, if Peggy and I -ask her to. What a splendid grandmother you have, Elsa!” he cried, -starting into a sort of war-dance around the room. “I’m going to make a -Christmas present for her.”</p> - -<p>“What is it?” asked Betty, curious instantly.</p> - -<p>But Ben was heedless of the question. “Is she very rich?” he inquired, -looking at Elsa.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I think so,” replied Elsa.</p> - -<p>“Then I’ll do it,” he exclaimed, ending his dance with a somersault -upon the hearth-rug.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</span></p> - -<p>“What is it?” again asked Betty.</p> - -<p>“That’s telling,” Ben answered.</p> - -<p>“It will be something nice,” said Alice, out of her perfect faith in -her brother.</p> - -<p>Betty, not at all disturbed by Ben’s refusal to tell, went on -blissfully: “Then our next meeting of the Club will be the -Christmas-tree at Elsa’s, and we are all going out to the Convalescent -Home with the presents Christmas morning! Don’t you think we could have -just a little meeting here next Thursday afternoon, Miss Ruth, to talk -things over?”</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren yielded to the entreaty in four pairs of eyes: “Yes, you -may come at three o’clock for an hour’s meeting, if you like, and we -will have all the things ready to take to the Convalescent Home the -next morning.”</p> - -<p>“I will bring Jerry, Christmas morning, Jerry and the double-seated -sleigh, to carry you and the presents out there,” offered Ben.</p> - -<p>“If any of you have any presents that you want to hang on the -Christmas-tree for any of the rest of you,” said Elsa, diffidently, yet -feeling that it was something which ought to be said, “you could bring -them to my house and I am sure grandmother would take care of them for -you.” Elsa’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</span> few moment’s talk with her grandmother had made her feel -that she could promise anything in her grandmother’s name for Christmas -day.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>Ruth Warren seated herself in front of the fire for a moment’s thought, -after this lively meeting of the Club. She was greatly puzzled by Mrs. -Danforth’s excited manner and her unexpected invitation for Christmas -afternoon; and she was deeply interested to see how a little happiness -had changed Elsa almost instantly into a light-hearted child like Betty -and Alice. She had decided not to tell Elsa, beforehand, that Bettina -March was coming to be with her Aunt Virginia, as the day of the -nurse’s arrival was uncertain, although it would probably be Christmas -day.</p> - -<p>Her thinking was interrupted by the appearance of Sarah Judd, who came -to take away the plate, which had been entirely emptied of plum buns.</p> - -<p>“I don’t wonder you’re all tuckered out,” said Sarah severely, finding -her young mistress sitting quietly in front of the fire; “such lively -children, chatterin’ like magpies,—cunnin’ little things, though, they -be,” she added with one of her sudden changes of tone.</p> - -<p>Sarah brushed the crumbs from the table into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</span> the plate. Then, because -she was so interested in the subject that she could not keep silent -about it another moment, she said: “Beggin’ your pardon, Miss Ruth, but -did you notice how like Mrs. Danforth’s that little twin girl’s eyes -and forehead are,—a sight more than her own grandchild’s?”</p> - -<p>“Sarah, you are just imagining that,” replied Ruth Warren. “You could -only have seen them together for a moment.”</p> - -<p>“That was long enough,” said Sarah, who did not think it necessary to -explain that she had stood in the hall for several moments. “Folks -can’t very often fool me on looks.” Sarah nodded her head and set the -curls to bobbing as she repeated, “Folks can’t very often fool me on -looks. The little girl is a sight like the old lady Danforth, but the -boy is the very living image of her!”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII<br> -<span class="small">GRAY OWL, SANTA CLAUS</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent4">“Sing, Christmas bells!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sing to all men,—the bond, the free,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The rich, the poor, the high, the low,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The little child that sports in glee,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The aged folk that tottering go,—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Proclaim the morn</div> - <div class="verse indent6">That Christ is born</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That saveth them and saveth me!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">“Blessed are they who still dream and wonder and believe.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/image237.png" alt=""> -</div> - -<p class="noindent drop-cap">CHRISTMAS! Everything told it. The feeling of it was in the air. The -snow which lay lightly and deeply upon ground and trees, the icicles -which hung in long glittering pendants, the clear, bright blue sky, -the brisk, lively, sunshiny cold,—all told of Christmas. The air was -the Christmas air, stirring the heart-beats. The sounds were Christmas -sounds,—the merry calling out of Christmas greetings, the glad ringing -of the church bells.</p> - -<p>The Christmas Makers’ Club was all ready to enjoy Christmas day to -the utmost. Mysterious packages for the Christmas-tree had arrived -at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</span> Mrs. Danforth’s house all day Thursday and had been taken charge -of by Cummings, the maid, who seemed suddenly to have forgotten -her stiffness and to have become more like other people. The Club -had held an important business meeting at Miss Ruth Warren’s house -Thursday afternoon and had made everything ready for the visit to the -Convalescent Home on Christmas morning. The twenty-four dolls which the -Club had dressed and the twelve rag dolls of Mrs. Holt’s making—which -even Betty, who had scorned rag dolls, declared were full prettier -than the others—had been carefully placed in a large, flat basket. -The paper dolls and the tin soldiers were in boxes by themselves, and -the twelve tops which Ben had made were also ready to be given to the -Convalescent children.</p> - -<p>Elsa Danforth had told the Club that her Uncle Ned was very anxious to -go to the Convalescent Home with them, and it had been decided that -there would be plenty of room for him, also, in Ben’s large double -sleigh, as he could sit on the front seat with Ben and little Alice, -while Miss Ruth, Betty and Elsa occupied the back seat.</p> - -<p>Best of all, at this business meeting, the children had delivered to -their Club president, Miss Ruth,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</span> the united sum of five dollars and -sixty cents which they had earned, in the past two weeks, to give to -the managers of the Convalescent Home. There was one dollar and forty -cents from Betty White, who had earned five cents a day for emptying -waste paper baskets in her own home and for blacking her father’s -shoes—never were shoes better blacked, Mr. White declared, boastfully; -there were two dollars from Elsa, whose Uncle Ned had paid her just -as he promised he would for writing two letters each week, although -he had been in Berkeley the past week, and who had also paid her a -dollar for copying a long piece of writing for him; there were seventy -cents from little Alice, earned by washing dishes for her mother; and, -lastly, Ben, who had entered heartily in this plan for earning money, -had given a dollar and a half as his share, earned by shovelling snow -and doing errands for the neighbours. After considerable thinking, Ben -had decided to give to his mother the whole amount of the three dollars -and a half which Mr. Danforth had paid him for seven hours’ help; and -on Christmas morning Mrs. Holt had been deeply touched by the gift of -money from her devoted little son.</p> - -<p>Betty’s dollar and forty cents, Elsa’s two dollars,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</span> Alice’s seventy -cents, and Ben’s dollar and a half, made the good round sum of five -dollars and sixty cents which the Club had earned for the Convalescent -Home; and when the boy of the Club had handed the full amount in silver -to the president, the Club members had felt well repaid for all their -work by seeing her great surprise and delight.</p> - -<p>“Nothing which you could have done would have pleased me more than -this, children,” Miss Ruth said warmly. “I know that the money will be -a most welcome gift to the Convalescent Home and be ever so much help.”</p> - -<p>“Will the Club have its name printed?” Betty inquired anxiously.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I am sure the managers of the Home will want to mention the name -of the Club and the gift in their annual report,” Miss Ruth answered.</p> - -<p>“How will it sound, please?” Alice asked.</p> - -<p>“Something like this: ‘From the Christmas Makers’ Club of Berkeley, -$5.60; also dolls, tops, and toys.’”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it will interest other children to do things for the little -Convalescings,” Ben suggested.</p> - -<p>“We are going to earn some more money for them when we have our Easter -Club,” Elsa said delightedly; “we must truly have that Easter Club!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</span></p> - -<p>“Won’t it be fun to see the little children at the Convalescent Home -to-morrow morning when we give them all the things we have for them?” -Betty cried out, enthusiastically, as the Club ended its important -business meeting on Thursday afternoon, impatient for the next day to -come.</p> - -<p>And so on this bright morning of the glad Christmas day, Ben drove -around to Washington Avenue at the appointed hour. He had washed the -sleigh and brushed Jerry until both fairly shone, and had given the old -horse some extra oats. Alice was perched up beside her brother on the -front seat, looking the picture of rosy-cheeked happiness.</p> - -<p>First of all, Ben stopped at the Danforth house, to call for Elsa and -her uncle. Meanwhile, Betty, who had been watching for the arrival of -the sleigh, came running out from her own home, with her brown hair and -her blue capes flying, to wish the twins a “Merry Christmas!” first; -so she jumped into the back seat of the sleigh without waiting to be -called for. Mr. Danforth helped Elsa into the back seat, and then -walked the short distance to the Warren house, for Miss Ruth was the -only one now remaining to join the party.</p> - -<p>But at Miss Ruth’s house a great disappointment<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</span> awaited the Club, and -all on account of Miss Virginia Warren.</p> - -<p>Miss Virginia’s cold was better, but her nervousness had greatly -increased. She had never in her life had a trained nurse, and much as -she wanted one to take care of her and wait upon her, she felt that -it might prove so exciting as to have a very bad effect upon her, -especially at first. It had been arranged that Bettina March should -arrive at noon on Christmas day; and Ruth Warren would be back from -the Convalescent Home an hour before that time. But Miss Virginia had -decided that she could not possibly stay alone that morning, nor have -anybody except her niece, not even Sarah Judd, stay with her.</p> - -<p>From breakfast time on, Miss Virginia grew more and more uneasy. At -last, just before it was time for Ruth to put on her coat and be ready -to start with the Club, Miss Virginia began crying and wringing her -large white hands.</p> - -<p>“I am sorry, Ruth, to have you give up going to the Convalescent Home -with the children,” Aunt Virginia said, tearfully, “but I don’t feel -well enough to have you leave me. You know we are all supposed to be -happier by making Christmas<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</span> happier for somebody else, so I am sure -you will be glad to stay with me.” Miss Virginia looked up at her niece -with a very helpless and resigned expression. Her tears had ceased, but -she kept on wringing her hands in a limp way.</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren was keenly disappointed. She knew that her aunt could -stay alone for an hour perfectly well; but she could not go with any -pleasure now, after her aunt had asked her to stay at home.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>When the merry sleighful stopped in front of the house, Ruth Warren -herself answered the ring at the front door in order not to delay the -party. Mr. Danforth had told Ben that he would call for Miss Warren and -bring out the basket and boxes, so that Ben might stay in the sleigh -and hold Jerry, who, Ben said, might feel extra lively on Christmas -morning and run away with his precious load!</p> - -<p>Accordingly, when Ruth Warren opened the door, there stood before her -Elsa’s tall, broad-shouldered uncle with clear gray eyes, steady in an -open, moustached face, who looked squarely at her while he said with -almost a boy’s earnestness:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</span> “Merry Christmas, Miss Warren! Your Club -is at the door. Are you and the Christmas presents ready to start for -the Convalescents’ Home?”</p> - -<p>“Here are the basket and boxes, Mr. Danforth,” she said, for she had -them close by the door. Leaving him to bring them, she threw her red -cape over her shoulders and ran down the steps to the curb-stone to -tell the Club that she could not go with them on account of her Aunt -Virginia.</p> - -<p>A prolonged wail of grief went up from the Club.</p> - -<p>“We can’t go without you!” cried Elsa, her violet-gray eyes filling -with tears.</p> - -<p>“Please, <i>please</i> come,” entreated Betty, jumping out of the -sleigh. “I will go and ask your aunt to let you.”</p> - -<p>“But it is I who decide it, not my aunt,” Ruth Warren said. “You will -have Mr. Danforth with you, and the head-nurse expects you, and you are -only to stay a short time. You will get along just as well without me.”</p> - -<p>“But we want you!” wailed the Club. “It won’t be any fun without you;” -and they would not be consoled.</p> - -<p>“Please do come, Black Lace Lady!” urged - -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</span> -Ben in his most -persuasive tone, while Alice, leaning far over the edge of the sleigh -at the great risk of falling out, echoed “Please” most pleadingly.</p> - -<figure class="figcenter illowp49" id="facing244" style="max-width: 33.3125em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/facing244.png" alt=""> - <figcaption class="caption">“‘BUT WE WANT YOU!’ WAILED THE CLUB.”</figcaption> -</figure> - - -<p>It was hard indeed to resist their urgent begging, but Miss Ruth said -steadily: “It will soon be over, and after all, children, your having -thought of the presents for the Convalescent children means far more -than the giving of the presents.”</p> - -<p>Still the Club refused consolation. “We just won’t go without you,” -said Betty passionately, kicking the snow with the toe of her rubber. -“I will not get back into the sleigh.”</p> - -<p>By this time Mr. Danforth, who realized what was going on, had the -basket and boxes packed under the sleigh seats.</p> - -<p>“But I want you to go, children,” Ruth Warren was urging.</p> - -<p>“The Club must do as its president wishes,” Mr. Danforth said quickly, -now that everything was ready. “All clubs do that,—or at least they -ought to. You must honour your president by carrying out her wishes.” -With this, he settled the question by lifting Betty into the back seat -of the sleigh, jumping in after her, and saying to Ben:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</span> “Start along, -sir, or we shall be late to our appointment. Do you think Jerry can -take us out there in fifteen minutes?”</p> - -<p>This settled it. Ben said, “G’long, Jerry!” The well-brushed horse -started off briskly, the reluctant children looking backward as long as -they could to see Miss Ruth standing there on the curb-stone.</p> - -<p>The thoughts which those disappointed children had, even on Christmas -morning, about Miss Virginia were not very pleasant thoughts. How -much of Miss Virginia’s feelings on that same morning were due to -nervousness, and how much to a desire not to have her beloved niece -drive out again in that old, country-like pung no one yet knows. It is -true, however, that Miss Virginia said when Ruth came back up-stairs: -“I am wholly surprised that such a distinguished-looking gentleman as -Mr. Danforth could be willing to go off in that sleigh and with that -crowd of children.”</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>Elsa’s Uncle Ned tried his best to cheer the spirits of the Club. -He told funny stories, he praised Ben’s horse, he gave them -mysterious hints of what would take place at the Christmas-tree that -afternoon—although he did not actually tell them<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</span> a thing—and -finally, by the time they were opposite the Holt’s sunny, -flowery-windowed house, he had succeeded somewhat in making the -children forget their disappointment.</p> - -<p>Then it was that Mr. Danforth himself grew suddenly grave and -thoughtful as he asked Ben to stop for a moment while he delivered a -message from Mrs. Danforth to Mrs. Holt.</p> - -<p>This did not seem anything very important, and the children waited more -patiently than the horse did, in front of his home.</p> - -<p>But the message must have been one which affected Mrs. Holt greatly; -for when Ben and Alice looked, as they always did when they drove away, -to see their mother wave to them from the window, she was not there. -Could they have seen her at that moment, they would have been amazed -to see her leaning against the mantel with her hands over her face, -weeping softly at the message which Mr. Danforth had brought.</p> - -<p>They would have been still more amazed could they have been at the -front door of their own home a few moments later, when Mrs. Danforth’s -coupé, drawn by the spirited gray horse, drove up to that door and Mrs. -Danforth herself dismounted.</p> - -<p>Most amazed of all would they have been when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</span> their mother opened the -door, to hear her exclaim, “Mother!” and throw her arms around Mrs. -Danforth, and to hear the tall, white-faced woman crying, “My daughter, -my daughter!” as the fair-haired younger woman led her into the house -and shut the door.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>The rest of the short distance to the Convalescent Home was spent -chiefly in talking about Miss Ruth and the Club’s plans for the future. -“Are we going to have a meeting next week?” Elsa inquired of Betty, who -knew Miss Ruth best.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know, I’m sure,” was Betty’s discouraging answer. “Mother said -Miss Ruth told her she was going away after New Year’s for a visit, -somewhere.”</p> - -<p>Fresh gloom settled over the Club at this. Mr. Danforth was in despair -with having such unhappy children upon his hands. But Ben came to his -rescue, for a gray squirrel whisking along the stone wall suggested -something to Ben’s mind. Turning around, he told Mr. Danforth about -carrying the squirrel to the Club meeting one day. “It didn’t frighten -Miss Ruth a bit,” Ben ended earnestly; “she’s got grit, the way I like -to have a girl.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</span></p> - -<p>From talking about the squirrel Ben went on to tell Mr. Danforth of -the screech-owl family which had lived in the hollow tree near there -last spring. “I think maybe they will come back here again,” he said -hopefully, “and maybe we can see them from the hut.”</p> - -<p>“What hut?” asked Mr. Danforth very innocent-like, although he and Ben -had been to the hut together more than once now.</p> - -<p>Ben gave a chuckle which he turned into a “G’long, Jerry!” and Elsa -cried, “Why, Uncle Ned, you know all about the hut! I have told you.”</p> - -<p>A moment later they passed the hospitable sign:</p> - -<p class="center"> -CONVALESCENT HOME<br> -OF THE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL<br> -VISITORS ALWAYS WELCOME<br> -</p> - -<p class="noindent">and the sleigh-bells jingled merrily up the avenue to the -wide-winged red brick building.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>The kind face of the head-nurse fairly shone with happiness when she -saw the basketful of dolls and all the boxes. “I have just told the -children that you were coming,” she said, “and one little boy is sure -he heard the reindeers driving to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</span> house. I think he is looking -for you to come down the chimney,—though you could never get so many -things as these down even our big chimney, at once! After you have -given them the presents, they are going to sing for you the carol they -have learned for their Christmas-tree, on Holy Innocents’ Day. We will -go right out to the playroom, so as not to keep you or them waiting a -moment.”</p> - -<p>The children visitors all knew the way to the playroom now. Ben and -Alice went first, with the big basket of dolls between them, followed -by the head-nurse and Betty, Elsa and her uncle, each carrying a box, -Mr. Danforth’s the largest of all, for Ben had brought out from under -the front seat of the sleigh, a square box which the other members of -the Club had not seen before.</p> - -<p>The sunny playroom was decked with Christmas greens, and the little -convalescents had a holiday air, for each girl wore a bright red -ribbon on her hair and each boy either a bright red necktie or a bit -of red ribbon in his buttonhole. There were, just as before, many, -many bandaged limbs and bodies, and many children on crutches or lying -in go-carts; there were the same happy patient expressions on the -children’s faces, only to-day, their faces were lighted up with the -excitement of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</span> Christmas and with eager interest in the presents they -were to receive.</p> - -<p>The nurses, the Club, and Mr. Danforth, all helped quickly to -distribute the gifts, and it was not long before every little girl in -the room was hugging a new doll and every little boy was admiring a new -top, or a tin soldier large enough to stand alone; and then there was -another present for each one of the children; for out of Mr. Danforth’s -box came dozens of gray squirrel-shaped boxes filled with simple -candy,—until the great playroom looked as if a forestful of tiny, tame -gray squirrels had been let loose there.</p> - -<p>It was a wholly new experience to Mr. Ned Danforth to see all these -little patient, crippled human beings. Like many busy men in the world, -he had been in the habit of signing his name to a check and sending it -to this or that hospital or charitable institution which he was asked -to help. But this was the first time in his life that he had ever -stepped inside such a place as the Convalescent Home; and at first it -seemed to him that he could not bear the sight, that almost forty years -old as he was, he would have to run away like a schoolboy, because the -sight of those convalescent children made him feel so sad. But he could -not run away; he was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</span> there in charge of the Christmas Makers’ Club. -So all he could do to relieve his feelings was to put his hand into -his pocket where he always kept a great many five-cent and ten-cent -pieces,—being a generous-natured man,—and begin giving these pieces -of money to the children.</p> - -<p>So he started to walk very fast through the playroom, dropping into the -hands or the laps of the children five-cent pieces, ten-cent pieces, -pennies, silver quarter-dollars, even half-dollars, here and there, -right and left, as long as they lasted. And the nurses, in great -fear lest the little children put the money into their mouths and -swallow it, followed closely after him, taking the money away from the -surprised children, who were so used to being obedient that they gave -it up without any fuss, and kind-hearted Uncle Ned did not know what -was happening behind him.</p> - -<p>Ben and Alice, Betty and Elsa were all too much occupied to notice, -either. Ben was surrounded by a group of his own particular little -friends, the boys whom he took out driving; Alice and Betty were -coaxing shy little girls to talk about their new dolls, and Elsa had -found out the black-eyed child in whose arms she had seen her own old -china doll, Bettina, on her first visit here.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</span></p> - -<p>The child’s frame was strapped to a board, just as Elsa had seen -it before; but she called out cheerily: “I am all better! See my -new dolly!” On the floor by her side lay the old doll, so battered -and changed that only one who had loved her as Elsa had would have -recognized her.</p> - -<p>Elsa picked up the old doll tenderly, saying to herself: “I will hold -her till the little girl remembers and wants her.” “What is your new -doll’s name?” she asked the child.</p> - -<p>“’Tina.”</p> - -<p>“What is the old doll’s name?” Elsa held the battered doll out in plain -sight.</p> - -<p>“’Tina,” said the little girl, reaching out for the old doll and -blissfully clasping the old and the new together in her arms.</p> - -<p>“And what is your own name, dear?” asked Elsa, for the dark-eyed child -interested her greatly.</p> - -<p>“Iona,” the soft voice answered very distinctly.</p> - -<p>“Come, come, Elsa! It is time to start,” her Uncle Ned said, hurrying -up to her and trying to be very gruff. His face was quite red under its -tanned colour, and he was biting the ends of his moustache savagely.</p> - -<p>But just then, at a signal from the head-nurse, the children began to -sing their Christmas carol:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">“Once in royal David’s city</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Stood a lowly cattle shed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where a mother laid her baby,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In a manger for his bed;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Mary was that mother mild,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Jesus Christ her little child.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">“For he is our childhood’s pattern;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Day by day like us he grew;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He was little, weak, and helpless,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Tears and smiles like us he knew;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And he feeleth for our sadness,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And he shareth in our gladness.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">“And our eyes at last shall see him,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Through his own redeeming love;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For that child so dear and gentle</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Is our Lord in heaven above,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And he leads his children on</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To the place where he is gone.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Then, because they were such frail little children that they could not -learn much or readily, they sang as the other part of their Christmas -service, their daily grace:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">“Thank Him, thank Him,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">All ye little children,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thank Him, thank Him,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">God is love.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The plaintive child faces, some of them white as snow-drops, the -delicate, sweet voices singing the Christmas hymn and the simple grace, -proved too much for Uncle Ned’s tender heart. “We must<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</span> go, we must -go this minute!” he exclaimed hurriedly calling the Club together and -fairly driving them out of the room, before him.</p> - -<p>Elsa looked back long enough to say good-bye to the dark-eyed child -of her fancy, and the little one called cheerily: “Dood-bye. I am all -better! Tum aden.”</p> - -<p>The head-nurse followed the retreating man and the hurrying children -along the passageway toward the front door with a very understanding -look on her face.</p> - -<p>“Have we stayed too long?” Elsa inquired anxiously, stopping behind the -others and lifting her serious eyes to Miss Hartwell’s face.</p> - -<p>“No, dear; there are still a few moments left of the time I had set for -your little Club to stay.”</p> - -<p>Elsa did not tell this to the other children or to her uncle. Already, -however, she had learned what her uncle did not yet know, but what he -learned later: that while the first visit to the Convalescent Home -is saddening, each time after that the place grows more and more -interesting and less sad to visit.</p> - -<p>At the door Mr. Ned Danforth turned and shook hands briskly with the -head-nurse.</p> - -<p>“Splendid place here!” he said, again very gruffly.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</span> “Noble work -you are doing! Thank you for your kindness to us.” Then he thrust a -large-sized bill into her hand, saying in a desperate sort of way, “Use -it to do something more for those children!”</p> - -<p>And Ben suddenly remembered the small white box containing five dollars -and sixty cents which he had in his pocket. He pulled it forth and -handed it to Miss Hartwell with a profound bow: “It is some money that -the Christmas Makers’ Club—that’s us—have earned all ourselves to -help the little Convalescings.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, thank you, all of you,” said Miss Hartwell, looking from -one to another of the bright-faced children. “I am sure you cannot -realize how much help you have given to the children here and to the -Home.”</p> - -<p>Too delighted for words, the Club members smiled back at Miss Hartwell.</p> - -<p>She hesitated about speaking of Miss Ruth Warren, for Mr. Danforth -had told her, when they first came, of the Club’s tearful tendencies. -It was not until the children were going through the doorway that she -said: “You are as heartily sorry as I am, I know, because Miss Warren -could not come with you; but we shall look forward to other visits<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</span> -from your Club when the longer days of spring are here.”</p> - -<p>The faces of the children showed their mingled grief and anticipation -expressively; they were speechless, however, on the subject of Miss -Ruth.</p> - -<p>“May I take some of the little chaps out sleigh-riding to-morrow -morning?” asked Ben, a heartful of sympathy shining in his boyish face.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Ben; and you don’t know how those little lads look forward to -their drives with you. We shall have to call you the Charioteer of the -Convalescent Home,” said Miss Hartwell.</p> - -<p>Then, as the door closed behind them, Mr. Danforth speedily bundled the -Club into the sleigh for the homeward drive.</p> - -<p>When they turned into Berkeley Avenue, Elsa thought she caught a sight, -far ahead, of her grandmother’s gray horse; but she decided it could -not have been, because her grandmother almost never went driving in the -morning, and she surely would not be away from home when there was so -much to see about in regard to the Christmas-tree. Even Elsa herself -did not know what all the surprises were to be, although she knew that -many wonderful things were going to happen that Christmas afternoon.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</span></p> - -<p>That afternoon, the surprises came so fast and so astonishingly that -the heads of the Christmas Makers’ Club and of all concerned fairly -whirled with excitement.</p> - -<p>To begin with, Ben and Alice thought it strange indeed that Mrs. -Danforth’s gray horse and handsome double-seated sleigh were sent to -take their mother and them to the Christmas party.</p> - -<p>“Why couldn’t we go with Jerry just as well?” Ben asked loyally. “I -could cover him all up with his blanket and hitch him in front of -Elsa’s grandmother’s house.”</p> - -<p>But Mrs. Holt only smiled for answer. The children had found their -mother very bright-eyed, on their return, and she had been more than -usually tender with them, but had told them nothing as yet.</p> - -<p>“Do you think Elsa’s grandmother will let us drive home, or will we -have to walk?” Alice asked gravely.</p> - -<p>“I think she will have us drive home,” said Mrs. Holt, turning aside -to hide the happy tears that would spring into her eyes. She had -dressed Alice in her prettiest white dress,—a soft muslin with dainty -lace-trimmed ruffles,—and Ben wore for the first time a new dark blue -blouse suit; for Mrs.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</span> Holt was anxious to have her children look their -best that afternoon.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Danforth would like to see you all in the library, ma’am,” said -Cummings, who opened the door. The twins wondered very much why their -mother’s hands trembled so. It could not be because she was afraid of -that straight-backed maid-servant who took their wraps and who smiled -at them quite pleasantly. Elsa was nowhere to be seen, which surprised -them.</p> - -<p>In the centre of the library stood Mrs. Danforth, not quite so erect as -usual, and with one hand on a chair, to support herself. She bowed her -head and her figure swayed slightly when Mrs. Holt entered the room, -with Ben just ahead of her on the right and Alice on the left.</p> - -<p>“Mother,—here are my children, Alice and Ben,” Mrs. Holt said in -a low voice which sounded as if there were tears behind it, “and, -children dear,”—she pressed them gently forward,—“this is your own -grandmother.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth knelt down suddenly and put her arms around both of the -mystified children, looking first into one and then the other of the -amazed, blue-eyed faces. She tried to speak, but something choked her.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</span></p> - -<p>“Let me tell them, mother,” said Mrs. Holt, helping her to rise and -leading her to a chair. “I have always promised them I would tell them, -some day, about their grandmother.” Kneeling down, herself, now, by -the side of the chair, and drawing the children into her embrace, Mrs. -Holt said in the same tear-sounding voice and very slowly: “Listen, -children: when I was hardly more than a grown-up girl, I ran away from -my home and married your father against my mother’s wishes, for he -was a poor man, and he, too, was hardly old enough to be married. And -because I was a disobedient daughter, my mother punished me by not -wanting to see me for a long, long time. That time is ended now and—” -Mrs. Holt hid her face and her tears against her own little daughter’s -shoulder.</p> - -<p>Then Mrs. Danforth found her voice and said: “Dear children, your -grandmother has been a sorry, sad woman all these years that she tried -to punish her daughter, but she is happy—very happy now—to have her -daughter back again and her own grandchildren.”</p> - -<p>“Are you our grandmother?” Alice asked shyly, staring with wide-open -blue eyes at the gray-haired<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</span> lady who said such interesting things and -seemed so sorry.</p> - -<p>“Yes, darling,” was the grandmotherly answer. “And you look just as -your mother looked when she was a little girl.”</p> - -<p>“You are really and truly my grandmother?” asked Ben in a delighted -tone, although he could not stop thinking how surprising it was that -his mother had ever been a little girl, and had been punished.</p> - -<p>“Yes. Are you going to love me?” Mrs. Danforth was astonished at -herself for asking.</p> - -<p>For particular answer, Ben threw his arms around her neck. “It’s going -to be real easy for me to love you,” he said happily. Then he drew back -and looked at her, seriously, before he announced: “I think I shall -call you Grandmother Gray.”</p> - -<p>“That is a very good name, my boy,” she said, smiling through the -joyful tears that had sprung into her eyes at the feeling of his loving -young arms around her neck; and her glasses fell off her nose like any -grandmother’s.</p> - -<p>“Is Elsa our cousin now?” asked Ben, who was always of an inquiring -turn of mind.</p> - -<p>“No, my dear,” replied his grandmother, brushing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</span> back his hair with -her richly jewelled hand; “and I will tell you why. After your own -grandfather died and after your mother went away, I married a widower, -Judge Danforth, who had two sons. One of those sons was Elsa’s father -and the other is her Uncle Ned, whom you know. After Judge Danforth -died, and Elsa’s father also, I moved to Berkeley, because I knew that -your mother was here, and I could not live any longer without seeing -her and my grandchildren. Elsa is no real relation to me at all.”</p> - -<p>Alice, who was holding her mother’s hand closely in hers while all -these wonderful things were going on, looked wholly puzzled; but Ben -thrust his hands into the pockets of his new trousers,—jingled the -two silver quarters he had earned by helping Mr. Danforth an hour that -morning, after the drive,—and said thoughtfully: “Then Elsa hasn’t you -for a real grandmother. Does she know it?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” replied Mrs. Danforth; “I told her after she came from the -Convalescent Home this morning.”</p> - -<p>“I am all the gladder she is going to have Susie!” cried Alice; then -she quickly clapped her rounded hand over her mouth.</p> - -<p>But Ben had more questions to ask, so he did<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</span> not notice that Alice had -told. “Are you very rich, Grandmother Gray?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” she answered, rather surprised that the boy should ask this.</p> - -<p>“Will you give Peggy—I mean Alice—some pretty dresses, same as Elsa -and Betty have?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, my boy, Alice shall have everything she wants and so shall you.”</p> - -<p>Alice put her chubby hands together softly, in almost unbelieving joy, -and Ben said radiantly: “What I want most of all is that mother of mine -need not work hard any more.”</p> - -<p>A look of great sorrow passed over Mrs. Danforth’s face, and Mrs. Holt -whispered to Ben: “Hush, my darling.”</p> - -<p>The front door-bell ringing, told of the arrival of other guests. “We -must call Elsa in for a moment,” said Mrs. Danforth, rising. Her eyes -were soft now, with that look of tears in them. Stepping to the library -door, she said gently, “Elsa!” And Elsa, who had been waiting in the -reception-room across the hall, came into the library just as Ruth -Warren and Betty and a quiet little woman—whom Cummings instantly -recognized—entered the hall door and were asked by Cummings to go -up-stairs and leave their wraps.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</span></p> - -<p>Elsa was dressed in a dainty white silk gown with a full, many-ruffled -skirt. She looked very pale as she stepped into the library and stood, -a lone, sensitive-faced child, opposite the happy group of grandmother, -mother, and two children.</p> - -<p>It was Elsa, strangely enough, who spoke first. Turning to Alice, she -said slowly: “You—you and Ben have a grandmother now and I haven’t -any. Shall I have to go away,” she asked, lifting her pathetic eyes to -Mrs. Danforth’s face, “and be a poor little girl?” She had just begun -to think of this question.</p> - -<p>“You need never go away unless you wish to, Elsa,” Mrs. Danforth said -quickly. “And you will not be a poor little girl, for, as your Uncle -Ned and I have agreed that I should tell you to-day, you are a very -rich little girl, with a great deal of money that is all your own.”</p> - -<p>“O, how glad I am!” cried Elsa, some of the sorrowful look dying out -of her eyes; “for now I can do everything I want to, to help the -Convalescent children.”</p> - -<p>There was something so touching and so winning in the little orphan -girl, standing there with her face full of unselfish joy at the thought -of what she could do for others less fortunate than<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</span> herself, that Mrs. -Danforth suddenly humbled herself before this little child.</p> - -<p>“Elsa,” she said, stepping forward, “I have not been as kind and loving -to you as I might have been. But the love which springs up in my heart -for my own grandchildren makes me realize how much I also love the -little girl who has brightened my home and been so brave and obedient.” -She held out her arms. Elsa came forward gladly, and Mrs. Danforth -kissed her with warm affection,—apparently quite forgetting that she -had ever thought this a foolish custom. And Elsa felt that she loved -her grandmother-that-was a great deal more dearly now that she wasn’t -really her grandmother. Then Alice put her soft arms around Elsa’s -neck, and Mrs. Holt said kindly: “I shall have to call you my little -niece, Elsa.”</p> - -<p>Ben spoke up then: “Do you remember I’ve never told you my name for -you, Elsa? I’ve changed it now. It used to be Sad Girl, that’s why I -didn’t tell you before; but now it’s going to be ‘Princess.’” Dropping -a shy kiss on Elsa’s golden hair, Ben ran off in answer to a muffled -summons.</p> - -<p>At that same moment Cummings pulled back the heavy green velvet -portières which separated the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</span> library from the drawing-room, and the -glory of the Christmas-tree burst upon the children’s sight.</p> - -<p>The tree, reaching nearly to the ceiling, stood at the farther end -of the long drawing-room, its graceful branches fairly drooping with -treasures. There were packages of every shape and description; there -were long icicles, moving, swaying balls of silver and gold, scarlet -and blue, glowing and sparkling in the mellow radiance of many wax -candles; and there was a beautiful white Christmas angel at the very -top of the tree. A warm, spicy odour of balsam fir filled the air, and -a splendid, roaring fire in the great fireplace cast a ruddy light over -the beautiful furnishings of the drawing-room.</p> - -<p>Elsa, puzzled and excited by the events of the day, ran forward to -greet Miss Ruth with a feeling as of seeking shelter. “Do you know that -grandmother isn’t my grandmother really, but is Alice’s and Ben’s?” she -said in a low tone, slipping her hand into Miss Ruth’s.</p> - -<p>Ruth Warren, who had on the black lace gown with the little old lady’s -coral beads around her neck, gazed in surprise at Elsa for a half -moment. Then it was all so simple that she wondered why she had not -thought of Mrs. Danforth’s possibly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</span> having been twice married. “We -know now why both your grandmother—I mean Mrs. Danforth—and Mrs. Holt -have the paintings alike,” said Miss Ruth.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I remember—the picture of the house where grandmother used to -live,” cried Elsa.</p> - -<p>But one could not stop very long to think about any one thing, with -that Christmas-tree in the room.</p> - -<p>“I wish my Uncle Ned could be here,” Elsa exclaimed, as she swung -around into sight of the tree. “He had to go to the city this noon. -Perhaps he will come back before the tree is over. He said he would if -he could.”</p> - -<p>While Betty and Alice were gazing delightedly at the gorgeous tree, -Miss Ruth asked Elsa, in a low voice, to go across the hall into the -reception-room to find a Christmas surprise which was waiting for her -there. And soon Elsa came back with shining, happy eyes, leading by the -hand a short, comely-faced woman whose brown hair was slightly streaked -with gray. “This is Bettina March, my dear, dear Bettina,” said Elsa, -introducing the shy, modest little woman to the group of her friends; -but Bettina, although she greeted them all in a musical voice, with -a slight German accent, had eyes only for her beloved former charge, -Elsa.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</span></p> - -<p>“Where is Ben?” asked Ruth Warren, in part to turn attention from the -shrinking stranger, who was half-laughing, half-crying with joy, and -in part because she was wondering who would take the presents from the -tree.</p> - -<p>Then an amazing thing happened. With a long hoo-oo-t! a great gray owl -hopped, sidling fashion, from the library doorway into the full sight -of the astonished Christmas party, flapping his wings awkwardly as he -made his way across the room to the Christmas-tree. And close behind -him scampered a very large gray squirrel.</p> - -<p>A shout went up from the children.</p> - -<p>“Gray Owl Santa Claus!” cried Betty, whirling round and round till she -looked like a red balloon in her holly-red dress.</p> - -<p>Alice, half-frightened, drew away from the Gray Owl toward the -Squirrel. “Ben is the Squirrel,” she exclaimed, for nothing could -deceive her with regard to her twin brother.</p> - -<p>“Keep a good heart!” the Gray Owl called out in a quick, muffled voice, -close to Elsa’s ear.</p> - -<p>“O, Uncle Ned, Uncle Ned!” she cried delightedly. “You came back to be -a Gray Owl Santa Claus! What a dear, funny uncle you are.”</p> - -<p>Then the Gray Owl, with sudden, awkward<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</span> movements, began taking the -presents off from the tree and handing them to the Gray Squirrel, who -clasped his paws around them and carried them to the persons whose -names the Owl had called in a deep, muffled voice.</p> - -<p>And then it was that the Club had a chance to see the marvellous -costumes of the queer Santa Claus and his helper. The Gray Owl’s -body-covering was of soft gray wool material which lay in ridges -like downy feathers; the wings, which were held to his arms by long -sleeves of gray gauze, were made of closely placed long gray feathers -and quills, and his head was covered by a gray owl mask, with tufted -ears and yellow eyes having thin black slits. The squirrel had on -a most cleverly made coat of soft gray wool shaded to purest white -on the breast; a bristly, broom-like tail dragged behind him, and a -pointed-nosed mask with sharp little ears, was drawn close over his -head.</p> - -<p>By this time every one had received many presents, and a great opening -of packages had begun. The Club members had thought of most interesting -remembrances for one another. Elsa and Betty had together given Alice -a beautiful doll that could talk, a blue-eyed waxen beauty with -fringed eyelashes that opened and shut, rose-leaf cheeks and silky<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</span> -flaxen curls; and the two girls had given to Ben a locomotive with an -electric battery,—a bewitching package which he stopped long enough -to open with his deft gray squirrel paws, and to cry out about, in his -unsquirrel-like voice: “Oh, my, how jolly!” Alice and Ben had together -given to Betty and to Elsa each a beautiful white hyacinth. Elsa had -from Betty a trunkful of dresses for her best doll, and Betty from Elsa -a dainty silver watch. From Miss Ruth, Ben had a box of tools, and each -of the girls a gold thimble.</p> - -<p>Still the Gray Owl kept on taking presents from the tree, the Squirrel -jumped around with packages, and the fun went on. Nobody was forgotten. -There were presents for Bettina, who ran away soon to Miss Virginia, -after a last loving look at Elsa; there were presents for Miss Ruth and -Mrs. Holt, for Mrs. Danforth and for Mrs. White, who came in somewhat -late to have a look at her neighbour’s Christmas-tree. There were -presents for Mr. Danforth, who tucked them away in some mysterious -make-believe Gray Owl tree-hollow; for Cummings, and for Sarah Judd, -who came by special invitation of the Club, and who smiled until her -face seemed in danger of cracking apart, as she received first a bright -scarlet geranium from Ben<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</span> and Alice, then a pretty white apron from -Betty, and a handsomely illustrated book from Elsa.</p> - -<p>When the Squirrel, taking a square package, ran with little leaping -steps to Mrs. Danforth and began making a speech, everybody stopped -talking to listen.</p> - -<p>“Grandmother Gray,” he said, “when you invited the Club to have a -Christmas-tree at your house, I had an idea that you must be very rich, -and I thought you must need a good safe place to keep your money in, so -I made this for you.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Danforth, with trembling fingers, like any surprised grandmother, -unwrapped the package to find a box, neatly jointed together, with the -lower part just large enough to put bills in laid out flat, and the -upper part divided into five places,—one, each, for pennies, five-cent -pieces, ten-cent pieces, quarters and half-dollars, as Ben, looking on, -explained. The box was stained a rich, dark red colour, and had a tiny -padlock and key.</p> - -<p>“Nonsense!” said the grandmother in greatest delight. “Did you make -this, Ben?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, grandmother; I used to think I would be a carpenter,” replied -Ben, as she took his two gray kid-gloved little hands into hers for a -moment. “I think now, though, that I shall be a bird-man.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</span></p> - -<p>Then, just like any fond, indulgent grandmother, Mrs. Danforth smiled -and said: “You shall be whatever you want to be, my boy.” And Mrs. Holt -looked with motherly pride upon her bright-eyed, happy-faced son.</p> - -<p>While the box was being passed around and admired and the Squirrel was -explaining it, the Gray Owl hopped in his funny sidelong fashion, with -awkward, flopping wings, to Alice—who was not afraid of him now—and -asked her to give to Elsa a long white box marked: “From the Christmas -Makers’ Club.”</p> - -<p>“Susie! Susie! You dear old doll,” Elsa cried, drawing a long, -sobbing breath of delight. They all turned at her exclamation and saw -her clasping to her breast an old-fashioned china doll in a white -ball dress looped up with morsels of pink rosebuds over a blue silk -petticoat.</p> - -<p>But there was no time even to explain to Elsa why the Club had given -her the old-fashioned doll, for another exciting event claimed their -attention immediately. The Gray Owl and the Squirrel together took a -heavy, flat package to Miss Ruth, who had already received so many -remembrances that she was far from having thoughts of anything more. -The Club watched breathlessly. This was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</span> the present which Mrs. White -had helped them choose.</p> - -<p>From under many white-paper wrappings appeared at last a beautiful Fra -Angelico trumpeter angel, soft, rich, scarlet-and-gold in colouring, in -a handsome gilt frame. With the picture came a card, on which Betty had -written with great carefulness: “An angel to blow you a greeting from -your affectionate Christmas Makers’ Club.” And to this card all the -members of the Club had signed their names.</p> - -<p>Hardly had Miss Ruth had time to thank the Club, when the Gray Owl -handed to Elsa a long, white business-like looking envelope addressed -to “Miss Ruth Warren, President of the Christmas Makers’ Club.” The -excitement of Elsa’s manner made the others look on again with keenest -interest.</p> - -<p>What was their delight and rapture to have Miss Ruth read a legal -paper, presenting to the Club, from Elsa Danforth, the gift, for the -exclusive use of the Club, of a log-hut on a certain piece of wood -property on Berkeley Avenue.</p> - -<p>“The hut! The hut! All our own!” cried Betty, whirling around again -like a lively red balloon. And then they all began talking at once and -very fast about furnishing the hut, of keeping some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</span> dolls and dishes -there, even of having a fireplace built so they could use the hut for -meetings in cold weather!</p> - -<p>Elsa, whose thought this gift of the hut had been—although her Uncle -Ned had carried it out, with Ben’s help—stood enjoying to the full the -happiness of the Club, when suddenly, with a long, low hoo-oo-t! the -Gray Owl, flapping his wings, landed in front of her. Bowing low, he -said: “Princess, the Gray Owl begs that you will allow him to live with -you here, in Berkeley, from this time forth.”</p> - -<p>“Uncle Ned! Do you really mean it?” she begged, lifting her flower-like -face and beseeching gray eyes to his.</p> - -<p>“Yes, the Gray Owl really means it. He will not be a cross Gray Owl, -though, so keep a good heart, Princess,” he answered, making believe -he thought she did not want him to live with her, for he had seen -tears start under her long eyelashes. Then, because he knew that many -exciting things had happened to his little niece that day, he drew her -toward him and held her under the shelter of his soft gray wings.</p> - -<p>Of all the surprises that Christmas had brought to Elsa, this last one -was the best. It was far more<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</span> than the knowledge that she had a great -deal of money even though she was happy in the thought that she could -help the convalescent children with that money; it was more than the -great satisfaction of having Bettina March come back into her life, -more than the gift of the little old lady’s doll and all the many -other Christmas presents put together:—more than all these; for she -loved her Uncle Ned better than she loved anybody else in the whole -wide world. And she drew back within the shelter of the wide wings in -supreme content.</p> - - -<p class="center p4">THE END.</p> -<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="endpaper1" style="max-width: 39.4375em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/endpaper.png" alt=""> -</figure> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="h2" id="BOOKS_FOR_YOUNG_PEOPLE">BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE</p> - -</div> - - -<p class="h3">THE LITTLE COLONEL BOOKS -</p> - -<p class="center small close">(Trade Mark)</p> - -<p class="center"><i>By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON</i></p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Each, 1 vol. large, 12mo, cloth decorative, per vol.</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.50</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Little Colonel Stories.</b></p> - -<p class="indent10 small close">(Trade Mark)</p> - -<p>Illustrated.</p> - -<p>Being three “Little Colonel” stories in the Cosy Corner Series, “The -Little Colonel,” “Two Little Knights of Kentucky,” and “The Giant -Scissors,” put into a single volume.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Little Colonel’s House Party.</b></p> - -<p class="indent10 small close">(Trade Mark)</p> - -<p>Illustrated by Louis Meynell.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Little Colonel’s Holidays.</b></p> - -<p class="indent10 small close">(Trade Mark)</p> - -<p>Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Little Colonel’s Hero.</b></p> - -<p class="indent10 small close">(Trade Mark)</p> - -<p>Illustrated by E. B. Barry.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Little Colonel at Boarding School.</b></p> - -<p class="indent10 small close">(Trade Mark)</p> - -<p>Illustrated by E. B. Barry.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Little Colonel in Arizona.</b></p> - -<p class="indent10 small close">(Trade Mark)</p> - -<p>Illustrated by E. B. Barry.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Little Colonel’s Christmas Vacation.</b></p> - -<p class="indent10 small close">(Trade Mark)</p> - -<p>Illustrated by E. B. Barry.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Little Colonel, Maid of Honour.</b></p> - -<p class="indent10 small close">(Trade Mark)</p> - -<p>Illustrated by E. B. Barry.</p> - -<p>Since the time of “Little Women,” no juvenile heroine has been better -beloved of her child readers than Mrs. Johnston’s “Little Colonel.”</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Little Colonel.</b></p> - -<p class="indent10 small close">(Trade Mark)</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Two Little Knights of Kentucky.</b></p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Giant Scissors.</b></p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Big Brother.</b></p> - -<p class="center"> -Special Holiday Editions -</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Each one volume, cloth decorative, small quarto, $1.25.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>New plates, handsomely illustrated, with eight full-page drawings in -color.</p> - -<p>“The books are as satisfactory to the small girls, who find them -adorable, as for the mothers and librarians, who delight in their -influence.”—<i>Christian Register.</i></p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">These four volumes, boxed as a four-volume set</td> -<td class="tdr"> $5.00</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">In the Desert of Waiting</span></b>: <span class="smcap">The Legend of Camelback -Mountain.</span></p> - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">The Three Weavers</span></b>: <span class="smcap">A Fairy Tale for Fathers and -Mothers as Well as for Their Daughters.</span></p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Keeping Tryst.</b></p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Legend of the Bleeding Heart.</b></p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Each one volume, tall 16mo, cloth decorative</td> -<td class="tdr"> $0.50</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Paper boards</td> -<td class="tdr"> .35</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>There has been a constant demand for publication in separate form of -these four stories, which were originally included in four of the -“Little Colonel” books.</p> - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">Joel: A Boy of Galilee.</span></b> By <span class="smcap">Annie Fellows -Johnston</span>. Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman.</p> - -<p>New illustrated edition, uniform with the Little Colonel Books, -1 vol., large 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50</p> - - -<p>A story of the time of Christ, which is one of the author’s best-known -books.</p> - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">Asa Holmes</span></b>; <span class="smcap">or, At the Cross-Roads</span>. A sketch -of Country Life and Country Humor. By <span class="smcap">Annie Fellows -Johnston</span>. With a frontispiece by Ernest Fosbery.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Large 16mo, cloth, gilt top</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.00</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>“‘Asa Holmes; or, At the Cross-Roads’ is the most delightful, most -sympathetic and wholesome book that has been published in a long -while.”—<i>Boston Times.</i></p> - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">The Rival Campers</span></b>; <span class="smcap">or, The Adventures of Henry -Burns</span>. By <span class="smcap">Ruel Perley Smith</span>.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.50</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>Here is a book which will grip and enthuse every boy reader. It is -the story of a party of typical American lads, courageous, alert, and -athletic, who spend a summer camping on an island off the Maine coast.</p> - -<p>“The best boys’ book since ‘Tom Sawyer.’”—<i>San Francisco -Examiner.</i></p> - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">The Rival Campers Afloat</span></b>; <span class="smcap">or, the Prize Yacht -Viking</span>. By <span class="smcap">Ruel Perley Smith</span>.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.50</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>This book is a continuation of the adventures of “The Rival Campers” -on their prize yacht <i>Viking</i>. An accidental collision results in -a series of exciting adventures, culminating in a mysterious chase, -the loss of their prize yacht, and its recapture by means of their old -yacht, <i>Surprise</i>.</p> - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">The Rival Campers Ashore.</span></b> By <span class="smcap">Ruel Perley Smith</span>, -author of “The Rival Campers,” “The Rival Campers Afloat,” etc.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.50</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>“The Rival Campers Ashore” deals with the adventures of the campers and -their friends in and around the town of Benton. Mr. Smith introduces -a new character,—a girl,—who shows them the way to an old mill, -around which the mystery of the story revolves. The girl is an -admirable acquisition, proving as daring and resourceful as the campers -themselves.</p> - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">The Young Section-Hand</span></b>; <span class="smcap">or, The Adventures of -Allan West</span>. By <span class="smcap">Burton E. Stevenson</span>, author of -“The Marathon Mystery,” etc.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated by L. J. Bridgman</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.50</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>Mr. Stevenson’s hero is a manly lad of sixteen, who is given a chance -as a section-hand on a big Western railroad, and whose experiences are -as real as they are thrilling.</p> - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">The Young Train Dispatcher.</span></b> By <span class="smcap">Burton E. -Stevenson</span>, author of “The Young Section-hand,” etc.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.50</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>The young hero has many chances to prove his manliness and courage in -the exciting adventures which befall him in the discharge of his duty.</p> - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">Captain Jack Lorimer.</span></b> By <span class="smcap">Winn Standish</span>.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated by A. B. Shute</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.50</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>Jack is a fine example of the all-around American high-school boy. -He has the sturdy qualities boys admire, and his fondness for clean, -honest sport of all kinds will strike a chord of sympathy among -athletic youths.</p> - - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">Jack Lorimer’s Champions</span></b>; or, Sports on Land and Lake. -By <span class="smcap">Winn Standish</span>, author of “Captain Jack Lorimer,” -etc.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.50</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>All boys and girls who take an interest in school athletics will wish -to read of the exploits of the Millvale High School students, under the -leadership of Captain Jack Lorimer.</p> - -<p>Captain Jack’s Champions play quite as good ball as do some of the -teams on the large leagues, and they put all opponents to good hard -work in other summer sports.</p> - -<p>Jack Lorimer and his friends stand out as the finest examples of -all-round American high school boys and girls.</p> - - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">Beautiful Joe’s Paradise</span></b>; <span class="smcap">or, The Island of -Brotherly Love</span>. A sequel to “Beautiful Joe.” By -<span class="smcap">Marshall Saunders</span>, author of “Beautiful Joe.”</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">One vol., library 12mo, cloth, illustrated</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.50</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>“This book revives the spirit of ‘Beautiful Joe’ capitally. It is -fairly riotous with fun, and as a whole is about as unusual as anything -in the animal book line that has seen the light. It is a book for -juveniles—old and young.”—<i>Philadelphia Item.</i></p> - - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">’Tilda Jane.</span></b> By <span class="smcap">Marshall Saunders</span>.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">One vol., 12mo, fully illustrated, cloth decorative,</td> -<td class="tdr">$1.50</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>“It is one of those exquisitely simple and truthful books that win -and charm the reader, and I did not put it down until I had finished -it—honest! And I am sure that every one, young or old, who reads will -be proud and happy to make the acquaintance of the delicious waif.</p> - -<p>“I cannot think of any better book for children than this. I commend it -unreservedly.”—<i>Cyrus Townsend Brady.</i></p> - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">The Story of the Graveleys.</span></b> By <span class="smcap">Marshall -Saunders</span>, author of “Beautiful Joe’s Paradise,” “’Tilda -Jane,” etc.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Library 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated by E. B. Barry</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.50</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>Here we have the haps and mishaps, the trials and triumphs, of a -delightful New England family, of whose devotion and sturdiness it will -do the reader good to hear.</p> - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">Born to the Blue.</span></b> By <span class="smcap">Florence Kimball Russel</span>.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.25</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>The atmosphere of army life on the plains breathes on every page of -this delightful tale. The boy is the son of a captain of U. S. cavalry -stationed at a frontier post in the days when our regulars earned the -gratitude of a nation.</p> - - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">In West Point Gray.</span></b> By <span class="smcap">Florence Kimball Russel</span>.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.25</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>West Point forms the background for the second volume in this series, -and gives us the adventures of Jack as a cadet. Here the training of -his childhood days in the frontier army post stands him in good stead; -and he quickly becomes the central figure of the West Point life.</p> - - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">The Sandman; His Farm Stories.</span></b> By <span class="smcap">William J. -Hopkins</span>. With fifty illustrations by Ada Clendenin -Williamson.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Large 12mo, decorative cover</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.50</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>“An amusing, original book, written for the benefit of very small -children. It should be one of the most popular of the year’s books for -reading to small children.”—<i>Buffalo Express.</i></p> - - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">The Sandman: More Farm Stories.</span></b> By <span class="smcap">William J. -Hopkins</span>.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Large 12mo, decorative cover, fully illustrated</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.50</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>Mr. Hopkins’s first essay at bedtime stories met with such approval -that this second book of “Sandman” tales was issued for scores of eager -children. Life on the farm, and out-of-doors, is portrayed in his -inimitable manner.</p> - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">The Sandman: His Ship Stories.</span></b> By <span class="smcap">William J. -Hopkins</span>, author of “The Sandman: His Farm Stories,” etc.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Large 12mo, decorative cover, fully illustrated</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.50</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>“Mothers and fathers and kind elder sisters who put the little ones -to bed, and rack their brains for stories, will find this book a -treasure.”—<i>Cleveland Leader.</i></p> - -<p>“Children call for these stories over and over again.”—<i>Chicago -Evening Post.</i></p> - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">Pussy-Cat Town.</span></b> By <span class="smcap">Marion Ames Taggart</span>.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in colors</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.00</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>“Pussy-Cat Town” is a most unusual delightful cat story. Ban-Ban, a -pure Maltese who belonged to Rob, Kiku-san, Lois’s beautiful snow-white -pet, and their neighbors Bedelia the tortoise-shell, Madame Laura the -widow, Wutz Butz the warrior, and wise old Tommy Traddles, were really -and truly cats.</p> - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">The Roses of Saint Elizabeth.</span></b> By <span class="smcap">Jane Scott -Woodruff</span>, author of “The Little Christmas Shoe.”</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in colors by Adelaide Everhart</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.00</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>This is a charming little story of a child whose father was caretaker -of the great castle of the Wartburg, where Saint Elizabeth once had her -home.</p> - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">Gabriel and the Hour Book.</span></b> By <span class="smcap">Evaleen Stein</span>.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in colors by Adelaide Everhart</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.00</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>Gabriel was a loving, patient, little French lad, who assisted the -monks in the long ago days, when all the books were written and -illuminated by hand, in the monasteries.</p> - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">The Enchanted Automobile.</span></b> Translated from the French by -<span class="smcap">Mary J. Safford</span>.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in colors by Edna M. Sawyer</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.00</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>The enchanted automobile was sent by the fairy godmother of a lazy, -discontented little prince and princess to take them to fairyland, -where they might visit their storybook favorites.</p> - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">The Red Feathers.</span></b> By <span class="smcap">Theodore Roberts</span>, author -of “Brothers of Peril,” etc.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Cloth decorative, illustrated</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.50</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>“The Red Feathers” tells of the remarkable adventures of an Indian boy -who lived in the Stone Age, many years ago, when the world was young, -and when fairies and magicians did wonderful things for their friends -and enemies.</p> - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">The Wreck of the Ocean Queen.</span></b> By <span class="smcap">James Otis</span>, -author of “Larry Hudson’s Ambition,” etc.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Cloth decorative, illustrated</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.50</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>This story takes its readers on a sea voyage around the world; gives -them a trip on a treasure ship; an exciting experience in a terrific -gale; and finally a shipwreck, with a mutineering crew determined to -take the treasure to complicate matters.</p> - -<p>But only the mutineers will come to serious harm, and after the reader -has known the thrilling excitement of lack of food and water, of -attacks by night and day, and of a hand-to-hand fight, he is rescued -and brought safely home again,—to realize that it’s only a story, but -a stirring and realistic one.</p> - - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">Little White Indians.</span></b> By <span class="smcap">Fannie E. Ostrander</span>.</p> - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Cloth decorative, illustrated</td> -<td class="tdr"> $1.25</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>The “Little White Indians” were two families of children who “played -Indian” all one long summer vacation. They built wigwams and made -camps; they went hunting and fought fierce battles on the war-trail.</p> - -<p>A bright, interesting story which will appeal strongly to the -“make-believe” instinct in children, and will give them a healthy, -active interest in “the simple life.”</p> - - -<p class="h3">COSY CORNER SERIES -</p> - -<p class="hang">It is the intention of the publishers that this series shall -contain only the very highest and purest literature,—stories -that shall not only appeal to the children themselves, but be -appreciated by all those who feel with them in their joys and -sorrows.</p> - -<p class="hang">The numerous illustrations in each book are by well-known -artists, and each volume has a separate attractive cover design.</p> - -<table class="price" style="margin-left: 0em"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Each 1 vol., 16mo, cloth</td> -<td class="tdr"> $0.50</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p class="noindent"><i>By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON</i></p> - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">The Little Colonel.</span></b> (Trade Mark.)</p> - -<p>The scene of this story is laid in Kentucky. Its heroine is a small -girl, who is known as the Little Colonel, on account of her fancied -resemblance to an old-school Southern gentleman, whose fine estate and -old family are famous in the region.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Giant Scissors.</b></p> - -<p>This is the story of Joyce and of her adventures in France. Joyce is a -great friend of the Little Colonel, and in later volumes shares with -her the delightful experiences of the “House Party” and the “Holidays.”</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Two Little Knights of Kentucky.</b></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Who Were the Little Colonel’s Neighbors.</span></p> - -<p>In this volume the Little Colonel returns to us like an old friend, but -with added grace and charm. She is not, however, the central figure of -the story, that place being taken by the “two little knights.”</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Mildred’s Inheritance.</b></p> - -<p>A delightful little story of a lonely English girl who comes to America -and is befriended by a sympathetic American family who are attracted by -her beautiful speaking voice. By means of this one gift she is enabled -to help a school-girl who has temporarily lost the use of her eyes, and -thus finally her life becomes a busy, happy one.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Cicely and Other Stories for Girls.</b></p> - -<p>The readers of Mrs. Johnston’s charming juveniles will be glad to learn -of the issue of this volume for young people.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Aunt ’Liza’s Hero and Other Stories.</b></p> - -<p>A collection of six bright little stories, which will appeal to all -boys and most girls.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Big Brother.</b></p> - -<p>A story of two boys. The devotion and care of Steven, himself a small -boy, for his baby brother, is the theme of the simple tale.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Ole Mammy’s Torment.</b></p> - -<p>“Ole Mammy’s Torment” has been fitly called “a classic of Southern -life.” It relates the haps and mishaps of a small negro lad, and tells -how he was led by love and kindness to a knowledge of the right.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Story of Dago.</b></p> - -<p>In this story Mrs. Johnston relates the story of Dago, a pet monkey, -owned jointly by two brothers. Dago tells his own story, and the -account of his haps and mishaps is both interesting and amusing.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Quilt That Jack Built.</b></p> - -<p>A pleasant little story of a boy’s labor of love, and how it changed -the course of his life many years after it was accomplished.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Flip’s Islands of Providence.</b></p> - -<p>A story of a boy’s life battle, his early defeat, and his final -triumph, well worth the reading.</p> - - -<p class="noindent p2"><i>By EDITH ROBINSON</i></p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>A Little Puritan’s First Christmas.</b></p> - -<p>A Story of Colonial times in Boston, telling how Christmas was invented -by Betty Sewall, a typical child of the Puritans, aided by her brother -Sam.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>A Little Daughter of Liberty.</b></p> - -<p>The author introduces this story as follows:</p> - -<p>“One ride is memorable in the early history of the American Revolution, -the well-known ride of Paul Revere. Equally deserving of commendation -is another ride,—the ride of Anthony Severn,—which was no less -historic in its action or memorable in its consequences.”</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>A Loyal Little Maid.</b></p> - -<p>A delightful and interesting story of Revolutionary days, in which the -child heroine, Betsey Schuyler, renders important services to George -Washington.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>A Little Puritan Rebel.</b></p> - -<p>This is an historical tale of a real girl, during the time when the -gallant Sir Harry Vane was governor of Massachusetts.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>A Little Puritan Pioneer.</b></p> - -<p>The scene of this story is laid in the Puritan settlement at -Charlestown.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>A Little Puritan Bound Girl.</b></p> - -<p>A story of Boston in Puritan days, which is of great interest to -youthful readers.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>A Little Puritan Cavalier.</b></p> - -<p>The story of a “Little Puritan Cavalier” who tried with all his boyish -enthusiasm to emulate the spirit and ideals of the dead Crusaders.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>A Puritan Knight Errant.</b></p> - -<p>The story tells of a young lad in Colonial times who endeavored to -carry out the high ideals of the knights of olden days.</p> - - -<p class="noindent p2"><i>By OUIDA</i> (<i>Louise de la Ramée</i>)</p> - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">A Dog of Flanders</span></b>: <span class="smcap">A Christmas Story</span>.</p> - -<p>Too well and favorably known to require description.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Nurnberg Stove.</b></p> - -<p>This beautiful story has never before been published at a popular price.</p> - - -<p class="noindent p2"><i>By FRANCES MARGARET FOX</i></p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Little Giant’s Neighbours.</b></p> - -<p>A charming nature story of a “little giant” whose neighbours were the -creatures of the field and garden.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Farmer Brown and the Birds.</b></p> - -<p>A little story which teaches children that the birds are man’s best -friends.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Betty of Old Mackinaw.</b></p> - -<p>A charming story of child-life, appealing especially to the little -readers who like stories of “real people.”</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Brother Billy.</b></p> - -<p>The story of Betty’s brother, and some further adventures of Betty -herself.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Mother Nature’s Little Ones.</b></p> - -<p>Curious little sketches describing the early lifetime, or “childhood,” -of the little creatures out-of-doors.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>How Christmas Came to the Mulvaneys.</b></p> - -<p>A bright, lifelike little story of a family of poor children, with an -unlimited capacity for fun and mischief. The wonderful never-to-be -forgotten Christmas that came to them is the climax of a series of -exciting incidents.</p> - - -<p class="noindent p2"><i>By MISS MULOCK</i></p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Little Lame Prince.</b></p> - -<p>A delightful story of a little boy who has many adventures by means of -the magic gifts of his fairy godmother.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Adventures of a Brownie.</b></p> - -<p>The story of a household elf who torments the cook and gardener, but is -a constant joy and delight to the children who love and trust him.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>His Little Mother.</b></p> - -<p>Miss Mulock’s short stories for children are a constant source of -delight to them, and “His Little Mother,” in this new and attractive -dress, will be welcomed by hosts of youthful readers.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Little Sunshine’s Holiday.</b></p> - -<p>An attractive story of a summer outing. “Little Sunshine” is another -of those beautiful child-characters for which Miss Mulock is so justly -famous.</p> - - -<p class="noindent p2"><i>By MARSHALL SAUNDERS</i></p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>For His Country.</b></p> - -<p>A sweet and graceful story of a little boy who loved his country; -written with that charm which has endeared Miss Saunders to hosts of -readers.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Nita, the Story of an Irish Setter.</b></p> - -<p>In this touching little book, Miss Saunders shows how dear to her heart -are all of God’s dumb creatures.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Alpatok, the Story of an Eskimo Dog.</b></p> - -<p>Alpatok, an Eskimo dog from the far north, was stolen from his master -and left to starve in a strange city, but was befriended and cared for, -until he was able to return to his owner. Miss Saunders’s story is -based on truth, and the pictures in the book of “Alpatok” are based on -a photograph of the real Eskimo dog who had such a strange experience.</p> - - -<p class="noindent p2"><i>By WILL ALLEN DROMGOOLE</i></p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Farrier’s Dog and His Fellow.</b></p> - -<p>This story, written by the gifted young Southern woman, will appeal to -all that is best in the natures of the many admirers of her graceful -and piquant style.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Fortunes of the Fellow.</b></p> - -<p>Those who read and enjoyed the pathos and charm of “The Farrier’s Dog -and His Fellow” will welcome the further account of the adventures of -Baydaw and the Fellow at the home of the kindly smith.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Best of Friends.</b></p> - -<p>This continues the experiences of the Farrier’s dog and his Fellow, -written in Miss Dromgoole’s well-known charming style.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Down in Dixie.</b></p> - -<p>A fascinating story for boys and girls, of a family of Alabama children -who move to Florida and grow up in the South.</p> - - -<p class="noindent p2"><i>By MARIAN W. WILDMAN</i></p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Loyalty Island.</b></p> - -<p>An account of the adventures of four children and their pet dog on -an island, and how they cleared their brother from the suspicion of -dishonesty.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Theodore and Theodora.</b></p> - -<p>This is a story of the exploits and mishaps of two mischievous twins, -and continues the adventures of the interesting group of children in -“Loyalty Island.”</p> - - -<p class="noindent p2"><i>By CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS</i></p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Cruise of the Yacht Dido.</b></p> - -<p>The story of two boys who turned their yacht into a fishing boat to -earn money to pay for a college course, and of their adventures while -exploring in search of hidden treasure.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Young Acadian.</b></p> - -<p>The story of a young lad of Acadia who rescued a little English girl -from the hands of savages.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Lord of the Air.</b></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Story of the Eagle</span></p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The King of the Mamozekel.</b></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Story of the Moose</span></p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Watchers of the Camp-fire.</b></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Story of the Panther</span></p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Haunter of the Pine Gloom.</b></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Story of the Lynx</span></p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Return to the Trails.</b></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Story of the Bear</span></p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Little People of the Sycamore.</b></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Story of the Raccoon</span></p> - - -<p class="center p4"><i>By OTHER AUTHORS</i></p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Great Scoop.</b></p> - -<p class="close"><i>By MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL</i></p> - -<p>A capital tale of newspaper life in a big city, and of a bright, -enterprising, likable youngster employed thereon.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>John Whopper.</b></p> - -<p>The late Bishop Clark’s popular story of the boy who fell through the -earth and came out in China, with a new introduction by Bishop Potter.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Dole Twins.</b></p> - -<p class="close"><i>By KATE UPSON CLARK</i></p> - -<p>The adventures of two little people who tried to earn money to buy -crutches for a lame aunt. An excellent description of child-life about -1812, which will greatly interest and amuse the children of to-day, -whose life is widely different.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Larry Hudson’s Ambition.</b></p> - -<p class="close"><i>By JAMES OTIS</i>, author of “Toby Tyler,” etc.</p> - -<p>Larry Hudson is a typical American boy, whose hard work and enterprise -gain him his ambition,—an education and a start in the world.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>The Little Christmas Shoe.</b></p> - -<p class="close"><i>By JANE P. SCOTT WOODRUFF</i></p> - -<p>A touching story of Yule-tide.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>Wee Dorothy.</b></p> - -<p class="close"><i>By LAURA UPDEGRAFF</i></p> - -<p>A story of two orphan children, the tender devotion of the eldest, -a boy, for his sister being its theme and setting. With a bit of -sadness at the beginning, the story is otherwise bright and sunny, and -altogether wholesome in every way.</p> - - -<p class="noindent"><b><span class="big">The King of the Golden River</span></b>: <span class="smcap">A Legend of -Stiria</span>.</p> -<p class="close"> <i>By JOHN RUSKIN</i></p> - -<p>Written fifty years or more ago, and not originally intended for -publication, this little fairy-tale soon became known and made a place -for itself.</p> - - -<p class="big noindent"><b>A Child’s Garden of Verses.</b></p> - -<p class="close"><i>By R. L. STEVENSON</i></p> - -<p>Mr. Stevenson’s little volume is too well known to need description. It -will be heartily welcomed in this new and attractive edition.</p> - - -<p class="h3">THE LITTLE COUSIN SERIES -</p> -<p>The most delightful and interesting accounts possible of child-life in -other lands, filled with quaint sayings, doings, and adventures.</p> - -<p>Each one vol., 12mo, decorative cover, cloth, with six or more -full-page illustrations in color.</p> - - - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Price per volume</td> -<td class="tdr"> $0.60</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - -<p class="noindent"><i>By MARY HAZELTON WADE</i> (<i>unless otherwise indicated</i>)</p> - - -<ul> -<li> <b>Our Little African Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little Alaskan Cousin</b> -By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet</li> - -<li><b>Our Little Arabian Cousin</b> -By Blanche McManus</li> - -<li><b>Our Little Armenian Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little Brown Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little Canadian Cousin</b> -By Elizabeth R. Macdonald</li> - -<li><b>Our Little Chinese Cousin</b> -By Isaac Taylor Headland</li> - -<li><b>Our Little Cuban Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little Dutch Cousin</b> -By Blanche McManus</li> - -<li><b>Our Little English Cousin</b> -By Blanche McManus</li> - -<li><b>Our Little Eskimo Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little French Cousin</b> -By Blanche McManus</li> - -<li><b>Our Little German Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little Hawaiian Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little Hindu Cousin</b> -By Blanche McManus</li> - -<li><b>Our Little Indian Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little Irish Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little Italian Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little Japanese Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little Jewish Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little Korean Cousin</b> -By H. Lee M. Pike</li> - -<li><b>Our Little Mexican Cousin</b> -By Edward C. Butler</li> - -<li><b>Our Little Norwegian Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little Panama Cousin</b> -By H. Lee M. Pike</li> - -<li><b>Our Little Philippine Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little Porto Rican Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little Russian Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little Scotch Cousin</b> -By Blanche McManus</li> - -<li><b>Our Little Siamese Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little Spanish Cousin</b> -By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet</li> - -<li><b>Our Little Swedish Cousin</b> -By Claire M. Coburn</li> - -<li><b>Our Little Swiss Cousin</b></li> - -<li><b>Our Little Turkish Cousin</b></li> -</ul> - - - - -<p class="h3">THE GOLDENROD LIBRARY -</p> -<p>The Goldenrod Library contains stories which appeal alike both to -children and to their parents and guardians.</p> - -<p>Each volume is well illustrated from drawings by competent artists, -which, together with their handsomely decorated uniform binding, -showing the goldenrod, usually considered the emblem of America, is a -feature of their manufacture.</p> - - - -<table class="price"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Each one volume, small 12mo, illustrated</td> -<td class="tdr"> $0.35</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - -<p class="center"><b>LIST OF TITLES</b></p> - - -<ul><li> <b>Aunt Nabby’s Children.</b> By Frances Hodges White.</li> -<li> <b>Child’s Dream of a Star, The.</b> By Charles Dickens.</li> -<li> <b>Flight of Rosy Dawn, The.</b> By Pauline Bradford Mackie.</li> -<li> <b>Findelkind.</b> By Ouida.</li> -<li> <b>Fairy of the Rhone, The.</b> By A. Comyns Carr.</li> -<li> <b>Gatty and I.</b> By Frances E. Crompton.</li> -<li> <b>Helena’s Wonderworld.</b> By Frances Hodges White.</li> -<li> <b>Jerry’s Reward.</b> By Evelyn Snead Barnett.</li> -<li> <b>La Belle Nivernaise.</b> By Alphonse Daudet.</li> -<li> <b>Little King Davie.</b> By Nellie Hellis.</li> -<li> <b>Little Peterkin Vandike.</b> By Charles Stuart Pratt.</li> -<li> <b>Little Professor, The.</b> By Ida Horton Cash.</li> -<li> <b>Peggy’s Trial.</b> By Mary Knight Potter.</li> -<li> <b>Prince Yellowtop.</b> By Kate Whiting Patch.</li> -<li> <b>Provence Rose, A.</b> By Ouida.</li> -<li> <b>Seventh Daughter, A.</b> By Grace Wickham Curran.</li> -<li> <b>Sleeping Beauty, The.</b> By Martha Baker Dunn.</li> -<li> <b>Small, Small Child, A.</b> By E. Livingston Prescott.</li> -<li> <b>Susanne.</b> By Frances J. Delano.</li> -<li> <b>Water People, The.</b> By Charles Lee Sleight.</li> -<li> <b>Young Archer, The.</b> By Charles E. Brimblecom.</li> -</ul> - - - -<div class="transnote"> - -<h2>Transcriber’s Notes</h2> - -<p>Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations -in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other -spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.</p> -</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS' CLUB ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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