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Page 56
"I don't know why I should be telling you all this. I hope it does not
bore you. I usually wait till my hopes and plans work out into something
practical before I mention them; but lately everything has gone so well
that I can't help being sanguine over these new plans, and it makes
their achievement seem nearer to talk them over with you. It certainly
is good to be young and strong and feel your muscle is equal to the
strain put upon it. This old world looks just about all right to me this
morning."
When Mary came dancing out of the fitting room a few minutes later her
first remark was so nearly an echo of Jack's that Betty smiled at the
coincidence.
"Oh, isn't this a good old world? Everybody is so obliging. They are
going to make a special rush order of altering my dress, and send it out
by special messenger early in the morning, so that I can have it to take
out to Eugenia's. I'm holding fast to my new spring hat, though. I can't
risk that to any messenger boy. Phil will just have to let me take it in
the automobile with us."
Promptly at the hour agreed upon, Phil met them at the milliner's. As
Betty predicted he did laugh at the huge square bandbox which Mary clung
to, and inquired for the bird-cage which was supposed to be its
companion piece. But Mary paid little heed to his teasing, upheld by the
thought of that perfect dream of a white hat which the derided box
contained. Her only regret was that she could not wear it for him to
see. Joyce and the mirror both assured her that it was the most becoming
one she ever owned, and it seemed a pity that it was not suitable for
motoring. The wearing of it would have added so much to her pleasure.
However, the thought of it, and of the new dress that was to be sent up
in the morning, ran through her mind all that afternoon, like a happy
undercurrent. She said so once, when Phil asked her what she was smiling
about all to herself.
"It's just as if they were singing a sort of alto to what we are doing
now, and making a duet of my pleasure; a _double_ good time. Oh, I
_wish_ Jack could be here to see how happy he has made me!"
The grateful thought of him found expression a dozen times during the
course of the drive. When they stopped for dinner at the quaint wayside
inn she wished audibly that he were there. Somehow, into the keen
enjoyment of the day crept a wistful longing to see him again, and the
ache that caught her throat now and then was almost a homesick pang.
Going back, as they sped along in the darkness towards the twinkling
lights of the vast city, she decided that she would write to him that
very night, before she went to sleep, and make it clear to him how much
she appreciated all he had done for her. He was the best brother in the
world, and the very dearest.
Phil went up with them when they reached the entrance to the flats. He
could not stay long, he said, but he must see the contents of that
bandbox. The air of the studio was heavy with the fragrance of the
Easter lilies, and he went about opening windows at Joyce's direction,
while she and the other girls unwound themselves from the veils in which
they had been wrapped, and put a few smoothing touches to their
wind-blown hair. Joyce was the first to come back to the studio. She
carried a letter which she had picked up in the hall.
"This seems to be a day for letters," she remarked. "This is a good
thick one from home." She made no movement to open it then, thinking to
read it aloud after Phil had taken his leave. But when Mary joined them,
and he seemed absorbed in the highly diverting process they made of
trying on the new hat, she opened the envelope to glance over the first
few pages. She read the first paragraph with one ear directed to the
amusing repartee. Then the smile suddenly left her face, and with a
startled exclamation she turned back to re-read it, hurrying on to the
bottom of the page.
"Oh, what is it?" cried Mary in alarm. Joyce had looked up with a groan,
her face white and shocked. She was trembling so that the letter shook
perceptibly in her hand.
"There has been an accident out at the mines," she answered, trying to
steady her voice, "and Jack was badly hurt. So very badly that mamma
didn't telegraph us, but waited to see how it would terminate. Oh, he's
better," she hurried to add, seeing Mary grow faint and white, and sit
down weakly on the floor beside the bandbox. "He is going to live, the
doctors say, but they're afraid--" Her voice faltered and she began to
sob. "They're afraid he'll be a cripple for life! Never walk again!"
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