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Page 36
"And I don't wonder. There is magic in that girl for sick or sorrowing
people. I wish you could have seen and heard her. Her hair is full of
warmth and color; her lips and cheeks are pink; her eyes are bright
with health and mischief, and beaming with love, too; her smile is like
sunshine, and her voice as glad as a wild bird's. I never saw a
creature so alive and radiant, and I could feel that the weak little
creatures drank in her strength and vigor, without depleting her, as
flowers drink in the sunlight.
"As she stood up and made ready to go, she caught sight of me, and
ejaculated, with the most astonished face, 'Why, it is my lady in
black!' Then, with a blush, she added, 'Excuse me! I spoke without
thinking--I always do. I have thought of you very often since I gave
you the flowers; and as I did n't know your name, I have always called
you my lady in black.'
"'I should be very glad to be your "lady" in any color,' I answered,
'and my other name is Mrs. Bird.' Then I asked her if she would not
come and see me. She said, 'Yes, with pleasure,' and told me also that
her mother was ill, and that she left her as little as possible;
whereupon I offered to go and see her instead.
"Now, here endeth the first lesson, and here beginneth the second,
namely, my new plan, on which I wish to ask your advice. You know that
all the money Donald and I used to spend on Carol's nurses, physicians,
and what not, we give away each Christmas Day in memory of her. It may
be that we give it in monthly installments, but we try to plan it and
let people know about it on that day. I propose to create a new
profession for talented young women who like to be helpful to others as
well as to themselves. I propose to offer this little Miss Oliver, say
twenty-five dollars a month, if she will go regularly to the Children's
Hospital and to the various orphan asylums just before supper and just
before bedtime, and sing and tell stories to the children for an hour.
I want to ask her to give two hours a day only, going to each place
once or twice a week; but of course she will need a good deal of time
for preparation. If she accepts, I will see the managers of the
various institutions, offer her services, and arrange for the hours. I
am confident that they will receive my protegee with delight, and I am
sure that I shall bring the good old art of story-telling into fashion
again, through this gifted girl. Now, John, what do you think?"
"I heartily approve, as usual. It is a novelty, but I cannot see why
it 's not perfectly expedient, and I certainly can think of no other
way in which a monthly expenditure of twenty-five dollars will carry so
much genuine delight and comfort to so many different children. Carol
would sing for joy if she could know of your plan."
"Perhaps she does know it," said Mrs. Bird softly.
And so it was settled.
Polly's joy and gratitude at Mrs. Bird's proposal baffles the powers of
the narrator. It was one of those things pleasant to behold, charming
to imagine, but impossible to describe. After Mrs. Bird's carriage had
been whirled away, she watched at the window for Edgar, and, when she
saw him nearing the steps, did not wait for him to unlock the door, but
opened it from the top of the stairs, and flew down them to the landing
as lightly as a feather.
As for Edgar himself, he was coming up with unprecedented speed, and
they nearly fell into each other's arms as they both exclaimed, in one
breath, "Hurrah!" and then, in another, "Who told you?"
"How did you know it?" asked Edgar. "Has Tom Mills been here?"
"What is anybody by the name of Mills to me in my present state of
mind!" exclaimed Polly. "Have you some good news, too? If so, speak
out quickly."
"Good news? I should think I had; what else were you hurrahing about?
I 've won the scholarship, and I have a chance to earn some money! Tom
Mills's eyes are in bad condition, and the oculist says he must wear
blue goggles and not look at a book for two months. His father wrote
to me to-day, and he asks if I will read over the day's lessons with
Tom every afternoon or evening, so that he can keep up with the class;
and says that if I will do him this great service he will be glad to
pay me any reasonable sum. He 'ventured' to write me on Professor
Hope's recommendation."
"Oh, Edgar, that is too, too good!" cried Polly, jumping up and down in
delight. "Now hear my news. What do you suppose has happened?"
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