{"collection":"folklore-oral-tradition","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_69854/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_69854","id":"gutenberg_69854","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69854","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Novels","Christmas -- Juvenile fiction","Christmas stories","Fairy tales","Girls -- Societies and clubs -- Juvenile fiction","Humanitarianism -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"THE CHRISTMAS MAKERS\u2019 CLUB\n\n[Illustration: \u201c\u2018NOW CHILDREN, WE MUST MAKE OUR PLANS.\u2019\u201d\n\n (_See page 20_)]\n\n\n\n\n The Christmas\n Makers\u2019 Club\n\n BY\n EDITH A. SAWYER\n\n Illustrated by\n ADA C. WILLIAMSON\n\n _Of glad things there be ... four;\n A lark above the old nest blithely singing,\n A wild rose clinging\n In safety to a rock: a shepherd bringing\n A lamb, found, in his arms,\n And Christmas bells a-ringing._\n\n _Willis Boyd Allen_\n\n [Illustration]\n\n L. C. PAGE & COMPANY\n BOSTON MDCCCCVIII\n\n\n\n\n _Copyright, 1908_\n BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY\n (INCORPORATED)\n\n _All rights reserved_\n\n First Impression, May, 1908\n\n\n _COLONIAL PRESS_\n _Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co.\n Boston, U.S.A._\n\n\n\n\n To\n\n Margaret and Ruth\n Dorothy and \u2019Nita\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n CHAPTER PAGE\n\n I. THE CLUB GATHERS FOR WORK AND PLAY 1\n\n II. PRINCE GRAY OWL 38\n\n III. WHAT THE WOODS GAVE 83\n\n IV. THE CLUB GOES VISITING 124\n\n V. A LITTLE OLD LADY\u2019S DOLL 155\n\n VI. THE BOY IN THE CLUB 195\n\n VII. GRAY OWL SANTA CLAUS 237\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n PAGE\n\n \u201c\u2018NOW CHILDREN, WE MUST MAKE OUR PLANS\u2019\u201d\n (_See page 20_) _Frontispiece_\n\n \u201c\u2018YES, GRAY OWL,\u2019 SHE ANSWERED\u201d 62\n\n \u201cSOOTHING THE CHILD WHO CLUNG TO HIM SO PASSIONATELY\u201d 149\n\n \u201c\u2018WHAT DID I SEE BUT A BLACK-EYED DOLL\u2019\u201d 174\n\n \u201cTHE TWINS MADE A STRIKING PICTURE\u201d 226\n\n \u201c\u2018BUT WE WANT YOU!\u2019 WAILED THE CLUB\u201d 244\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHRISTMAS MAKERS\u2019 CLUB\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nTHE CLUB GATHERS FOR WORK AND PLAY\n\n Didst thou never know\n The joy of following the path untrod?\n\n --_Margaret E. Sherwood: Persephone._\n\n\n\u201cHOW I wish we had something new and interesting to do Friday\nafternoons!\u201d said Elsa Danforth, a slim girl in a black coat, with a\nsoft, wide black felt hat set back on the yellow hair which floated\nlike a cloud of pale gold over her shoulders. Elsa was the tallest of\nthe three girls who had hurried away from school together that gray\nmid-November afternoon. They were just now turning into Washington\nAvenue.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s too cold to play outdoors,\u201d said Betty White, dancing on ahead,\nher bag of school-books swung over her shoulder. Betty\u2019s brown eyes\ndanced like her feet, and so did the capes to her long blue coat and\nthe wavy brown hair tied back with a bow of wide white ribbon.\n\n\u201cIsn\u2019t there something we can do?\u201d asked Alice Holt, the youngest and\nsmallest of the three, hurrying to keep up with the others.\n\n\u201cPlay dolls or play school is all I can think of,\u201d said Betty. \u201cO Elsa,\nwe might go to your house and play with you!\u201d she added, turning to\nElsa. Betty had wanted to have a good look at the great house where\nElsa Danforth lived with her grandmother. Betty had been in the house\nonly twice, and then but for a few moments, since the Danforths came\nthere in September.\n\n\u201cBut--\u201d began Elsa. Then she stopped; she could not bear to say that\nher grandmother had told her not to bring children home with her to\nplay.\n\n\u201cI tell you what let\u2019s do,\u201d Alice exclaimed, before Betty could say\nanything. \u201cLet\u2019s start some kind of a club, and have it meet Friday\nafternoons. We might have it a Christmas Club.\u201d\n\n\u201cOnly grown-up people have clubs,\u201d objected Betty instantly; she was\nstill thinking of what fun it would be to go all over the Danforth\nhouse.\n\n\u201cWe could have a club, though we are children,\u201d said Elsa eagerly. \u201cI\nam almost twelve years old.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am only eleven,\u201d said Betty, who, however, was nearly as tall as\nElsa.\n\n\u201cAnd I am only ten and a half,\u201d said Alice, running a little ahead, her\nblue eyes very wide open with interest. \u201cBut it truly doesn\u2019t matter\nhow old we are; we all play together and we like the same things.\u201d\nAlice was a quaint little figure. She looked like a rather shabbily\ndressed doll, with her blue eyes and pink cheeks, her thick blue coat\nwhich came just to her knees, and a shaggy blue tam-o\u2019-shanter, below\nwhich hung very smooth hair cut short around her neck.\n\n\u201cIf we have a club, where will it meet?\u201d asked Elsa.\n\n\u201cIt can come to my house,\u201d said Betty, beginning to be interested, and\ndancing on ahead, backward now.\n\n\u201cIt can meet at my house, too, though I live rather far away,\u201d said\nAlice.\n\nElsa walked on slowly, behind the others. She alone did not offer to\nhave the club meet at her home.\n\nThey were directly in front of Betty\u2019s home, a large and\npleasant-looking house on this main avenue of the suburban town of\nBerkeley. \u201cCome into my house and we will start the club now,\u201d urged\nBetty, running up the front steps. But she stopped as Elsa said: \u201cI\nmust go and ask grandmother if I can belong.\u201d\n\n\u201cO, of course she will let you,\u201d exclaimed Betty. But Elsa, with flying\nyellow hair, was already half-way home. So Betty and Alice waited on\nthe top step.\n\nIn a very short time Elsa came running back and announced breathlessly:\n\u201cYes--I can belong--and I can stay till five o\u2019clock.\u201d Her usually pale\nface was rosy from the haste, and her wide-brimmed hat had slipped down\nover her loose, fair hair.\n\nIt would be hard to find three girls more unlike than these three good\nfriends who went hurrying into the house together. Elsa, the oldest,\nhad a sensitive face and deep violet-gray eyes, which, with her soft,\nsilky hair, gave her a delicate, almost flower-like look. Betty,\nnext in age, was a lively, wide-awake girl with merry brown eyes and\nbright cheeks; she was always a leader, and sometimes a wilful one, in\nany fun or adventure. Alice--\u201cBaby Alice,\u201d as Betty often teasingly\ncalled her--had softly rounded cheeks, big blue eyes, and a fair, high\nforehead. Alice was a dreamy, rather quiet child, but everybody loved\nher for her unselfish, affectionate ways.\n\nBetty opened the hall door and went ahead through the wide hall. \u201cHang\nyour coats and things here in the closet,\u201d she cried, taking off her\novershoes, \u201cand come on up to the nursery. We can have it all to\nourselves.\u201d\n\nElsa\u2019s eyes shone with pleasure as she looked around the hospitable\nhall and at the huge fireplace where a bright fire burned. She always\nfelt the homelikeness of the Whites\u2019 house the moment she came into it.\nIt was so unlike her grandmother\u2019s house, where everything was stiff\nand stately.\n\nElsa especially loved the nursery, Betty\u2019s bedroom and playroom, for\nit had picture-paper of children resting under trees and of wandering\nbrooks which led to other children and other trees; it had also a broad\nwindow-shelf filled with bright-blossoming geraniums, and above, a\ncage with three tiny East Indian strawberry-birds; and--best of all\nto Elsa--a row of dolls, large and small, on a long, chintz-covered\nwindow-seat between Betty\u2019s blue-and-white bed on one side and her\ndolls\u2019 house on the other. Indeed, Elsa loved Betty\u2019s room quite as\nmuch as Betty herself did.\n\nAlice had never been in the room before. \u201cO, what dear, lovely birds!\u201d\nshe exclaimed, clasping her dimpled hands and looking up with round,\nsurprised eyes at the three mites of birds, brown with red spots,\nred eyes and red beaks, and legs so thin and needle-like as to seem\nscarcely strong enough to support even the tiny bodies.\n\n\u201cThey are the dearest things,\u201d said Betty enthusiastically. \u201cUncle\nJohn brought them to me from India. I am glad there are three of them,\nbecause if one dies there will be two left.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what if two die?\u201d asked Alice anxiously.\n\nThat, however, Betty did not want to think of, so she said hurriedly:\n\u201cCome on, let\u2019s decide about the club.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat shall we name it?\u201d asked Elsa, who had settled herself on the\nsoft rug by the bedside, with one elbow on the window-seat so that she\ncould better look at the dolls.\n\n\u201cThe Friday Club,\u201d suggested Betty, who was sitting at the foot of the\nbed.\n\n\u201cI like \u2018Club of Three,\u2019\u201d said Alice, turning away from the strawberry\nbirds with a little sigh of happiness.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t like either of those names,\u201d said Elsa. \u201cWhy not call it the\nChristmas Club, if that is what it is going to be?\u201d\n\n\u201cAnybody can have a Christmas Club,\u201d objected Betty, tightening the\nwhite ribbon bow on her hair.\n\n\u201cWhy not ask somebody to name it for us?\u201d suggested Alice.\n\n\u201cNo, we must name it ourselves, and keep the name a secret,\u201d came\nBetty\u2019s quick answer.\n\n\u201cThen let\u2019s choose one of us president, and let her name it,\u201d said\nElsa, who had Betty\u2019s smallest doll in her lap now.\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d replied Betty, looking from Elsa to Alice, whose eyes were\nagain fixed upon the birds. Then, because Alice was always peacemaker,\nBetty said: \u201cI will choose Alice for president.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I will choose Elsa,\u201d said Alice quickly, looking around.\n\n\u201cI will choose Betty,\u201d said Elsa.\n\n\u201cDear me!\u201d cried Betty, jumping up so suddenly that the tiny\nbrown-and-red birds began fluttering around their cage; \u201cwe are all\npresident, and that means nobody is president, and we haven\u2019t any name\neither.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think we\u2019d better give up the club,\u201d said Alice, seeing trouble\nahead.\n\n\u201cIt was you who wanted to start it, and now you are backing out,\nAlice,\u201d cried Betty, stamping her foot impatiently. The little birds\nhad a panic of fluttering.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m not backing out, only if we are going to get into a fuss the\nfirst thing, we might as well give it up,\u201d said Alice wisely.\n\n\u201cWhy not play dolls?\u201d suggested Elsa, noticing that the hands of the\nblue-and-white clock on the shelf were pointing at four. Elsa did not\nhave many chances to be with other children, and she did not like to\nhave the time go so fast now.\n\n\u201cNo, let\u2019s stick to the club,\u201d insisted Betty, reseating herself on the\nbed.\n\nJust then Betty\u2019s mother came to the nursery door with a rosy-cheeked\nbaby in her arms who looked like a smaller Betty. The white-capped\nnurse followed close behind.\n\n\u201cI am sorry to disturb you, children,\u201d said Mrs. White, after a\npleasant word of greeting, \u201cbut Nurse has just brought baby in from\nout-of-doors, and she wants to put him in the nursery, as he is\nfretful, and watching the birds always quiets him. Take your friends\ndown to the living-room, Betty.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, mother, we are just starting--\u201d began Betty.\n\n\u201cBetty dear, remember not to argue when I ask you to do anything,\u201d\nmurmured Mrs. White into her little daughter\u2019s ear, stooping to kiss\nher forehead.\n\nElsa and Alice were already at the nursery door, looking with adoring\neyes at the baby, who was stretching out his chubby hands toward the\nbirds.\n\n\u201cWe can stay in the living-room just as well, mother dear,\u201d said Betty,\npatting her baby brother\u2019s cheek affectionately and then quickly\nleading the way down-stairs.\n\nThe living-room had a low ceiling and diamond-paned windows. The\nlarge centre-table was covered with books, the chairs were deep and\ncomfortable, and on the wide couch opposite the fireplace lay two\ngreat, sleek gray cats curled up, fast asleep.\n\n\u201cWhat are your cats\u2019 names?\u201d asked Alice, who, not being a near\nneighbour, did not know so much of Betty\u2019s home and pets as did Elsa.\n\n\u201cRomulus and Remus,\u201d said Betty. \u201cBut we must talk about the club.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t believe we are going to have any club,\u201d said Elsa, beginning\nto stroke the cats, who purred in lazy content, without opening their\neyes.\n\n\u201cThen it is your own fault,\u201d exclaimed Betty, with a flash of temper.\n\n\u201cWhy?\u201d Elsa left off petting the cats and sat up very straight on the\nsofa.\n\n\u201cBecause you give up so soon,\u201d replied Betty.\n\nElsa suddenly bent low over the cats until her golden hair hid her\nface, but she made no answer.\n\n\u201cI wish we had some one older to manage for us,\u201d sighed Alice, turning\nover the pages of a picture-book on the table.\n\n\u201cI tell you what we can do,\u201d cried Betty, jumping up from the black\nbearskin hearth-rug where she had settled herself momentarily. \u201cWe can\nask Miss Ruth Warren to be in the club!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut will she want to be in a club with little girls?\u201d asked Alice\nanxiously.\n\n\u201cI think she will,\u201d returned Betty.\n\n\u201cPerhaps she will be president,\u201d suggested Alice, who was a born\npeacemaker.\n\n\u201cMaybe she will name the club for us,\u201d put in Elsa, raising her head.\nThe flash of sensitiveness had died out of her violet-gray eyes.\n\n\u201cCome on, then! Let\u2019s ask her now,\u201d said Betty; and in another moment\nthe three girls had slipped on their coats and were running toward the\nWarrens\u2019 house.\n\nThe Warren family was a small one now; only Miss Ruth and a maiden aunt\nlived in the old home-stead. There had always been some one for Ruth\nWarren to devote herself to,--first her mother, then her grandmother,\nnext her father; and now the last of her older relatives, this aunt\nwho thought herself so much of an invalid that she seldom came\ndown-stairs. Ruth\u2019s brothers and sisters had married and left the old\nhome; but although Ruth had chosen to remain unmarried, she had a busy\nlife and a happy one, with her home cares and housekeeping, and a large\nnumber of nephews and nieces to love. There was a touch of sunshine\nabout her that made other people the happier for knowing her. She was\npleasant, too, to look upon, for she had beautiful brown eyes and\nwarm-toned yellow hair. She was girlish-looking, in spite of her thirty\nyears, and she always wore soft, graceful, unrustling gowns.\n\nShe had just come, this afternoon, from a luncheon-party, and, finding\nthat her aunt had a caller, she seated herself before the open fire\nin the library, trying to decide whether or not she would go to Mrs.\nWharton\u2019s tea, at five o\u2019clock. \u201cI wish there were something more\ninteresting to do,\u201d she said to herself; \u201cluncheons and afternoon teas\nare all about alike.\u201d\n\nOld Sarah, the family servant, appeared at the library doorway just\nthen. \u201cWell, Sarah?\u201d said Miss Ruth, looking up at the tall, thin,\nspectacled woman, whose corkscrew-like curls were bobbing with her\ndispleasure.\n\n\u201cThree little girls to see you,\u201d said Sarah, her lips screwing\nthemselves tight together as if in objection to three little girls\ncoming into the house. \u201cAnd here they are, chasing right after me,\u201d she\nsnapped out, moving to one side.\n\nBetty, who felt quite at home here, had urged the other children into\nfollowing Sarah to the library.\n\nMiss Ruth rose quickly and went forward to meet them: \u201cCome in, girls,\u201d\nshe said, in a friendly voice. \u201cI am glad to see you.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou know Elsa Danforth?\u201d said Betty, in a suddenly shy manner.\n\n\u201cYes, indeed; Elsa is my neighbour, though she has never been in my\nhouse before,\u201d replied Miss Ruth, taking Elsa\u2019s hand into her cordial\ngrasp.\n\n\u201cAnd this is our little friend, Alice Holt,\u201d said Betty, drawing\nblue-eyed Alice forward.\n\n\u201cAre you going somewhere?\u201d asked Betty, almost before Miss Ruth had\ntime to greet Alice. \u201cYou look all dressed up.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Miss Ruth, deciding instantly that she would not go to Mrs.\nWharton\u2019s tea. \u201cI have just come from somewhere. Take off your coats\nand sit down, girls.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe want you to be in our club,\u201d began Betty.\n\n\u201cWhat kind of a club is it?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is a Christmas Club, for play,\u201d said Betty.\n\n\u201cAnd work, too,\u201d put in Elsa, shyly, thinking that their play alone\nmight not interest grown-up Miss Ruth.\n\n\u201cMaking Christmas presents especially,\u201d said Betty, feeling hopeful.\n\n\u201cFor whom?\u201d asked Miss Ruth. She had a way of making people feel\ncomfortable, and she met the children\u2019s request so naturally that they\nwere speedily losing their shyness.\n\n\u201cFor our friends,\u201d said Betty.\n\n\u201cWe might make things for the children at the Convalescent Home,\u201d\nsuggested Alice, drawing her chair a little nearer.\n\n\u201cWhat is that?\u201d asked Elsa.\n\n\u201cO, it\u2019s a big, big brick house about a mile from where I live,\u201d\nexplained Alice eagerly; \u201cand children are brought there from the city\nhospital--children who are getting cured, and they stay there sometimes\na long, long while for the country air and the sunshine make them well\nagain. Some of them are on crutches and have bandages all over them\nand some are fastened to boards.\u201d Alice had talked very fast, and she\nstopped now, quite out of breath.\n\n\u201cI shouldn\u2019t like to see them,\u201d said Betty, shrugging her shoulders.\n\n\u201cBut they are all getting well, even though they do have crutches\nand boards and bandages,\u201d continued Alice, her blue eyes shining with\ninterest. \u201cMother takes us children over there once in a while; she\nsays it is good for us, because it makes us more tender-hearted.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t believe my grandmother would let me go,\u201d said Elsa, who had\nbeen leaning forward, listening intently, with her chin in the palm of\nher slim little hand. \u201cGrandmother is particular about the children I\nassociate with, and I suppose these are all poor children. I should\njust love to go, though,\u201d she added, with a long sigh.\n\n\u201cWouldn\u2019t it be a good plan for our club to make things to give those\nlittle children?\u201d asked Betty, growing more interested the more she\nthought about the children.\n\n\u201cThe very thing!\u201d said Miss Ruth. \u201cMiss Hartwell, who is at the head of\nthe Convalescent Home, told me only yesterday that about fifty children\nare there now. Of course the playthings wear out, and when the children\ngo back to their homes, cured, they want to take with them the toys\nthey have grown fond of. But what have you named your club?\u201d asked Miss\nRuth, turning to Betty.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s what we can\u2019t decide about,\u201d said Betty. \u201cWe want you to name\nit and be president.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut this is such a great honour!\u201d exclaimed Miss Ruth. Her brown eyes\nhad a way of laughing, even when her face was sober.\n\n\u201cNow, Miss Ruth,--don\u2019t laugh at us, please,\u201d begged Betty, slipping\nher arm around Miss Ruth\u2019s neck.\n\n\u201cWhy not name it the Christmas Makers\u2019 Club,\u201d suggested Miss Ruth, with\nserious eyes now, \u201c--especially if you decide to make things for the\nconvalescent children?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s the very best name we could have!\u201d cried Betty, jumping up and\nclapping her hands.\n\n\u201cSplendid!\u201d exclaimed Alice, two dimples showing in her soft pink\ncheeks.\n\n\u201cIt sounds like all sorts of interesting things,\u201d said Elsa, coming to\nMiss Ruth\u2019s side and timidly stroking her sleeve.\n\n\u201cWe must keep it a secret, though. We mustn\u2019t tell the name to\nanybody,\u201d said Betty, perching herself on the arm of Miss Ruth\u2019s chair,\nat the other side. \u201cPeople will have to know there is a club, but they\nmustn\u2019t know anything more than that.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow will you keep your work a secret?\u201d asked Miss Ruth.\n\n\u201cIf you are our president, you might keep the presents we make,\u201d said\nElsa.\n\n\u201cPlease, O, please!\u201d begged Betty and Alice in a chorus. \u201cPlease be\npresident!\u201d\n\nMiss Ruth looked from one to another of the bright, excited faces, for\na moment. \u201cI will gladly be your president, and keep your work,--and do\nanything else you want me to,\u201d she said, finally.\n\nElsa\u2019s face flushed rosy with pleasure, and she gave little Alice a\ngood hug. Betty dropped a warm kiss on Miss Ruth\u2019s hair and said: \u201cThen\ncome back with us now to my house, because I invited the Club to meet\nthere first.\u201d\n\nRuth Warren was as good as her word: \u201cI will go where the Club wants me\nto go,\u201d she said, rising. \u201cFirst of all, though, let me give you some\nplum buns which Sarah made this morning.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know old Sarah\u2019s plum buns; they are as good as she is cross,\u201d said\nBetty, as Miss Ruth left the room.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s not very polite, Betty,\u201d said Alice.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t care. I am not very polite, anyway,\u201d replied Betty quickly. \u201cI\ntell the truth, though.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat sounds as if you thought other girls didn\u2019t tell the truth!\u201d\nexclaimed Elsa.\n\n\u201cIt is pretty hard to, always,\u201d said Alice slowly. \u201cI try to, but\nsometimes the fib slips out first, and then it\u2019s all the harder to get\nthe truth out.\u201d\n\n\u201cMother always catches me if I don\u2019t tell things straight,\u201d confessed\nBetty.\n\n\u201cPapa used to tell me that the only thing he wanted me to be afraid of\nwas of not telling the truth,\u201d Elsa said, her face growing suddenly\nsad. Her father had died less than a year ago.\n\nAt that moment Miss Ruth came into the room with a large plateful of\nbuns,--crisp and tempting and full of raisins,--and soon all three\ngirls were eating with a relish, as children eat, just after school.\n\n\u201cCome!\u201d said Betty, taking up her coat. \u201cWe ought to start.\u201d\n\nAlice and Elsa obligingly put on their coats, but Ruth Warren saw that\nthey hesitated, and Betty as much as the others: there was yet a goodly\npile of buns left.\n\n\u201cFill your pockets, girls,\u201d she said. \u201cSarah will be disappointed if\nyou don\u2019t eat all the buns.\u201d So the three girls filled their pockets,\nand Alice said shyly: \u201cI will take one to Ben if you don\u2019t mind. O,\nthank you!\u201d\n\n\u201cWho is Ben?\u201d inquired Ruth Warren, as with a dark red golf cape over\nher black lace gown, she started forth with the girls for Betty\u2019s\nhome,--Betty hanging upon one arm, while Elsa and Alice walked on the\nother side.\n\n\u201cBen is my twin brother,\u201d Alice replied. \u201cHe\u2019s \u2019most always hungry;\nmother says boys always are.\u201d\n\n\u201cThree plum buns!\u201d exclaimed Betty. Then she repeated in a comical,\nsing-song voice:\n\n \u201cThree plum buns!\n One for you and one for me,\n And one left over:\n Give it to the boy who shouts\n To scare sheep from the clover.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut Ben doesn\u2019t scare sheep from the clover,--because we haven\u2019t any\nsheep,\u201d said Alice, very earnestly. \u201cAll we have is hens.\u201d\n\n\u201cO, Alice,\u201d cried Betty, \u201cthat is only poetry.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou do have hens then, Alice?\u201d asked Miss Ruth quickly, seeing the\nchild\u2019s face redden.\n\n\u201cYes, and Ben takes care of them, and he sells the eggs,\u201d answered\nAlice proudly.\n\n\u201cThey have the loveliest place,\u201d said Betty, \u201ca little hens\u2019 house, and\nthey raise lettuce and radishes and all sorts of good things to eat.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou see,\u201d cried Alice, feeling that some explanation was necessary,\nand running a little ahead in her eagerness: \u201cfather isn\u2019t very well,\nand he is a teacher, and he had to go out West for his health, and we\ncan\u2019t afford to go, too, and we all try to help earn money to help,\nbecause he doesn\u2019t have much money. Besides Ben\u2019s chickens, mother has\na market-garden, and a hired man to help; and I help, too. Perhaps the\nClub will meet out at my house, sometimes.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe will surely have at least one meeting there,\u201d said Miss Ruth, while\nElsa\u2019s eyes danced with pleasant anticipations.\n\nBetty hurried ahead, ran up the steps of her home and threw open the\ndoor, her heart swelling with hospitality. \u201cO mother!\u201d she exclaimed,\nfor Mrs. White was just passing through the hall; \u201cMiss Ruth is going\nto belong to our Club!\u201d\n\n\u201cThis is good of you, Ruth,\u201d said Mrs. White, greeting her neighbour\ncordially. \u201cBut you must not let the children trespass upon your time.\u201d\n\nBetty looked up in dismay: had they been asking too much of Miss Ruth?\n\n\u201cIt will be such a new and refreshing kind of Club that I shall enjoy\nit,\u201d said Ruth Warren reassuringly.\n\n\u201cIt is good for us to dare to be children with children,\u201d said Mrs.\nWhite, stroking Elsa\u2019s soft hair and looking into the appealing\nviolet-gray eyes that always brought a thrill of sympathy into her\nheart for the motherless child.\n\nElsa, meeting the kind glance, said very earnestly: \u201cWe are going to\ncall the Club--\u201d\n\n\u201cO, Elsa, you mustn\u2019t tell! You will spoil it all,\u201d cried Betty\nimpatiently.\n\n\u201cForgive my little Betty for her interruption, Elsa,\u201d said Mrs. White,\nseeing the colour rush into Elsa\u2019s face. \u201cFault-finding is an easy\ntrade, Betty. But I suppose you children will all enjoy your Club more\nif you keep the name and what you do as a secret.\u201d\n\nElsa looked up into Mrs. White\u2019s kindly face and wondered if Betty\nrealized how fortunate she was in having such a mother, who understood\nso well what little girls wanted.\n\n\u201cWe are going to make--\u201d began Betty.\n\n\u201cThere, Betty, who is telling now!\u201d said Mrs. White laughingly. \u201cI am\nafraid I shall be learning your secrets if I stay any longer,\u201d she\nadded, turning away. \u201cBe sure you don\u2019t let the children bother you,\nRuth.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo danger of that,\u201d was the quick reply. And already, indeed, Ruth\nWarren\u2019s face looked younger and happier. \u201cNow, children, we must make\nour plans,\u201d she continued, when they were all in the living-room. \u201cIt\nseems to me the meetings would better be at my house. You can come\nthere on your way from school, and I will have everything ready,--our\nwork and something to eat.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will be better than meeting here,\u201d said Betty instantly, \u201cbecause\nthe other children--Max and Janet--come home from the high school early\nand they might be around sometimes, and sometimes we should have to\nkeep very quiet on account of the baby.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt would be a little nearer our house, too,\u201d said Elsa, \u201cand\ngrandmother could see Miss Ruth\u2019s house from the window, and maybe I\ncould stay later than five o\u2019clock sometimes.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd how would you like it, Alice?\u201d asked Ruth Warren, turning to the\nfair-haired child who was usually the last speaker.\n\n\u201cO, I\u2019d like ever and ever so much to have the Club meet at your\nhouse,\u201d said Alice eagerly. \u201cBen can call for me to go home.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen we have our name settled, and the place where we shall meet,\u201d\nsaid Miss Ruth. \u201cNext we must decide what to give the Convalescent Home\nchildren for Christmas.\u201d\n\n\u201cDolls!\u201d cried Betty, from a big, square cushion on the floor.\n\n\u201cDolls!\u201d echoed Elsa, curled up on the wide sofa beside the two sleepy\ngray cats.\n\n\u201cDolls,--different kinds, paper dolls and some rag dolls,\u201d said Alice,\nher shabby little shoes sticking out straight ahead from the depths of\nthe chair she had chosen.\n\n\u201cRag dolls!\u201d Betty tossed her head scornfully.\n\n\u201cYes,--rag dolls, please,\u201d urged Elsa.\n\n\u201cSome rag dolls, surely,\u201d said Miss Ruth; \u201cone of my dearest dolls\nwas a black Dinah with a red dress and yellow ribbons on her woolly\nhair,--a homely-dear doll my grandmother made for me.\u201d\n\n\u201cDid your grandmother make dolls for you?\u201d asked Elsa in a low voice.\n\n\u201cYes--but that was probably because somebody had made dolls for her\nwhen she was a little girl,\u201d explained Miss Ruth.\n\n\u201cDolls, then, it\u2019s going to be,\u201d said Betty. \u201cWe will all buy some\ndolls, and make dresses for them ourselves, at the Club meetings.\u201d\n\nRuth Warren glanced at the children quickly. Elsa was daintily dressed\nin a soft, black gown with a fine-embroidered white guimpe; Betty had\non a pretty blue-and-green Scotch plaid dress, with a simple muslin\nguimpe: the Danforths and the Whites were well-to-do people. But what\nabout the Holts? The hem of Alice\u2019s sailor-suit had been twice let\ndown,--the careful pressing of the creases could not conceal the fact;\nher stocking-knees were closely darned, her shoes were shabby; and her\nstory of how all the family worked to help earn money was undoubtedly\ntrue. If Betty and Elsa bought dolls, Alice might not be able to\nbuy so many as they. So Miss Ruth said at once: \u201cI will provide the\ndolls, and you may dress them. Each of you bring some pieces of pretty\nginghams and wash-goods to me before next Friday, and I will have the\ndresses cut out and ready for you to begin on when you come to the Club\nmeeting. Do you think you can make dresses for as many as two dozen\ndolls in all,--twenty-four dolls that will be, and eight apiece for\nyou?\u201d\n\n\u201cO, yes, yes!\u201d came the chorus of answers.\n\n\u201cThen, sometime when the Club is sewing and we are tired of talking, I\nwill tell you a story about a little old lady\u2019s doll,\u201d said Miss Ruth.\n\n\u201cO, tell it now!\u201d urged Betty.\n\n\u201cPlease!\u201d \u201cPlease!\u201d begged Elsa and Alice.\n\n\u201cThe next time, perhaps,\u201d said Miss Ruth, glancing up at the clock,\nwhose hour-hand was fast approaching five, and shaking her head at\nBetty\u2019s added \u201cPlease!\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t you think we ought to have a few boy dolls?\u201d asked Alice. \u201cSome\nof the convalescent children are boys, and Ben likes my boy dolls best.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoes Ben play with dolls?\u201d asked Betty scornfully, rattling the tongs\nby the fireside.\n\n\u201cHe used to when he was littler,\u201d said Alice, \u201cand he does sometimes\nnow, when he has the sore throat and has to stay in the house. He\ndoesn\u2019t mind other boys knowing it, either,\u201d she said, sitting up very\nstraight in the deep chair, her blue eyes beaming with pride; \u201cone of\nthe boys teased him about it, and Ben ducked him into the frog-pond.\nBen is different from other boys,\u201d Alice explained, turning to Miss\nRuth. \u201cI think he would like to come to the Club sometimes.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t want boys in our Club,\u201d objected Betty, rising and walking\naround the room.\n\n\u201cBut Ben isn\u2019t like other boys,\u201d said Elsa from her corner with the\ncats.\n\n\u201cBen could often help us,\u201d said Miss Ruth encouragingly; \u201cthere will be\never so much that a boy can do, especially toward Christmas-time.\u201d\n\n\u201cBen can sew, too,\u201d said loyal Alice. She loved her twin brother\nheartily and wanted to have him in all her good times.\n\n\u201cHere comes Ben, now,\u201d exclaimed Betty, catching sight of him from the\nwindow.\n\n\u201cHe said he would call for me about five o\u2019clock,\u201d cried Alice, running\nwith Betty to the front door.\n\nBack they came in a moment, followed by a rosy-cheeked boy, taller than\nAlice but looking very much like her except that his big blue eyes\nsparkled with fun, while hers were dreamy and rather serious. Ben had\non a short reefer jacket and knee trousers. In his red-mittened hands\nhe held the round cap which he had pulled off from his close-cropped\nyellow hair.\n\n\u201cThis is my twin brother,\u201d said Alice, leading him forward to Miss Ruth.\n\n\u201cMy name is Benjamin Franklin Holt,\u201d said the boy, hastily pulling off\nhis right-hand red mitten. His cheeks grew rosier than ever, as he\nbowed and shook hands with Miss Ruth, but he kept his eyes on her face\nin a manly fashion.\n\nRuth Warren liked the little fellow from that moment for his\nstraightforward look. \u201cWe are glad to see you, Ben,\u201d she said, \u201cand we\nwere just talking about your coming to the Club sometimes.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you going to have a Club? I might come when there isn\u2019t anything\nelse to do,\u201d said Ben cheerfully.\n\n\u201cBen!\u201d exclaimed his sister.\n\n\u201cAll right, Peggy. Yes, ma\u2019am, thank you, I\u2019d like to come sometimes.\u201d\nBen edged over to the sofa. The two gray cats jumped down when he began\nstroking them, and rubbed against his legs.\n\n\u201cBen loves animals,\u201d said Alice, with shining eyes.\n\n\u201cAlice told us you like to play dolls,\u201d said Betty teasingly.\n\n\u201cI do, sometimes, when there isn\u2019t anything better to do,\u201d said Ben. He\ngave a funny side-glance at Miss Ruth out of his twinkling eyes as he\nadded, straightening up his fine, sturdy little figure: \u201cI ducked a boy\nin the frog-pond once for trying to tease me about dolls.\u201d\n\nRuth Warren\u2019s eyes laughed back into Ben\u2019s, but she said very\nseriously: \u201cI am sure you would not treat any of your sister\u2019s friends\nin ungallant fashion.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s the trouble about girls,\u201d replied Ben confidentially; \u201ca\nboy can\u2019t ever play fair with them, because they are girls.\u201d One of\nthe things which always delighted people with Ben was his extremely\nfriendly and wise manner.\n\n\u201cYou have not asked the name of our Club, Ben,\u201d suggested Miss Ruth.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t tell him, please, until he really joins,\u201d urged Betty.\n\n\u201cThat will be time enough,\u201d said Ben, carelessly but sweet-temperedly.\n\n\u201cI must go this minute!\u201d cried Elsa, jumping up from the sofa and\nhurriedly putting on her coat, as the clock struck five. \u201cGood-bye!\ngood-bye! I\u2019ve had a beautiful time. Thank you, Miss Ruth!\u201d she called\nback as she darted out of the house.\n\nBetty White\u2019s musical voice--which seemed to belong with the shining\nbrown hair and the fearless eyes--followed Miss Ruth and the Holt twins\nas they made their way down the front steps a few moments later: \u201cWe\nwill run straight home from school to your house, Miss Ruth, for the\nClub meeting next Friday afternoon; and don\u2019t forget the story.\u201d\n\nAlice and Ben walked the short distance homeward with Miss Ruth.\nHappy Alice chattered away about the Club: \u201cI am so glad it is really\nstarted,\u201d she said gleefully, as they stopped at the foot of the\nWarrens\u2019 door-steps.\n\nBen whipped off his cap and stood bareheaded, looking up into Ruth\nWarren\u2019s face. Something friendly in her eyes made him say: \u201cYou look\nas if you liked boys, Black Lace Lady.\u201d\n\n\u201cI do like boys, Ben,\u201d said Miss Ruth; and from that moment she and Ben\nwere friends.\n\nBen, while she spoke, had been pulling Alice by the hand. \u201cCome on,\nPeggy,\u201d he cried now.\n\nBut Alice hung back long enough to call out: \u201cBen always has names for\npeople. Good-bye!\u201d Then the twins ran off together, hand in hand.\n\nAt half-past five Elsa Danforth sat at a side-table in the dining-room\nbay-window eating her bread-and-milk supper out of a gold-lined silver\nporringer. The soft light from the great, glowing chandelier in the\ndining-room fell upon the beautiful flowering plants and upon the\nlittle black-gowned figure sitting there among them, all alone. Elsa\nhad begged the maid to leave the shades up,--it grew dark early these\nshort November days,--and she glanced out every now and then through\nthe twilight at the Warren house with happy thoughts in her heart. She\nalmost felt as if she had company, for the house was so near and Miss\nRuth had been so kind that afternoon.\n\nMrs. Danforth, the tall, stately lady whom Elsa called\n\u201cgrandmother\u201d--never \u201cgrandmamma\u201d--dined at half-past six, for,\nnotwithstanding the solitude of her life since her husband, Judge\nDanforth, had died and she had come to live in this suburban town of\nBerkeley, she chose to keep up the formal New York way of living. She\nhad late breakfasts always, so that when Elsa was attending school, the\nonly times the two saw one another for more than a few moments were\nat luncheon, in the evening after Mrs. Danforth\u2019s dinner was over and\nbefore Elsa\u2019s bedtime, and on Sunday.\n\nElsa often felt very lonely, especially eating by herself. But she\nnever complained; she never thought herself very large or important,\nand she was quite used to obeying her grandmother. Uncle Ned had said\nfor her to do exactly as her grandmother wanted her to do; and if Uncle\nNed had said this, it must be all right.\n\n\u201cWho are the children in your Club, Elsa, beside Elizabeth White?\u201d\nasked Mrs. Danforth that evening. She and Elsa were sitting in the\nluxurious library. The chairs were upholstered in dark green velvet,\nthe books on the tables and in the bookcases had rich bindings. Out of\nthe library opened a long drawing-room furnished in cream colour and\ngold, and having beautiful inlaid cabinets full of treasures.\n\nMrs. Danforth was a handsome woman, very erect, with a broad white\nforehead, gray hair, heavy dark eyebrows, and keen blue eyes. She was\ndressed in a corded black silk, richly trimmed with lace and jet.\n\nElsa looked up from her book and answered: \u201cThe other member of\nthe Club is Alice, and maybe her brother Ben is coming sometimes,\ngrandmother.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is their last name?\u201d asked the grandmother quickly.\n\n\u201cAlice and Ben Bolt,\u201d said Elsa.\n\n\u201cNonsense, child,\u201d replied Mrs. Danforth: she had a discouraging way\nof saying \u201cNonsense!\u201d that made Elsa feel like a very small and silly\nchild; \u201cthose are names from an old nursery ballad.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am sure their names are Alice and Ben, anyway, grandmother,\u201d said\nElsa, pushing back the silky hair which had dropped forward, and\nlooking steadily at her grandmother out of great, wide-open eyes.\n\n\u201cProbably those are not their real names,\u201d replied Mrs. Danforth. She\nseemed rather troubled about something, Elsa thought. And then the\nchild tried to remember if she had done anything her grandmother did\nnot like.\n\nLater, just before Elsa\u2019s bedtime, Mrs. Danforth asked again: \u201cWhat is\nthe last name of the children you call Alice and Ben?\u201d\n\n\u201cBolt, or Holt, or Colt may be; I can\u2019t remember,\u201d answered Elsa,\nlooking up from the pages of the \u201cSwiss Family Robinson\u201d and hoping her\ngrandmother would not notice that the mantel clock was striking eight.\n\n\u201cWhere do they live?\u201d\n\n\u201cO, a mile away,\u201d said Elsa. \u201cAnd they have hens and a garden, and they\nraise radishes for the city market.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you sure they are proper children for you to associate with?\u201d\n\n\u201cO, yes, grandmother,\u201d said Elsa warmly. \u201cAlice, especially, has\nbeautiful manners; Betty says her mother especially likes to have her\nplay with Alice.\u201d\n\n\u201cI must speak to Mrs. White about it, to make sure,\u201d said Mrs.\nDanforth, and Elsa\u2019s face coloured sensitively, for she felt that her\ngrandmother thought she was not telling the truth.\n\n\u201cBedtime now, Elsa,\u201d said Mrs. Danforth, the next moment. \u201cPut away\nyour book. And try to remember people\u2019s names. It is something a lady\nalways does.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, grandmother,\u201d said Elsa dutifully.\n\nAlmost any one, looking on, would have been surprised to see Elsa walk\nup to her grandmother and, instead of kissing her good night, put out\nher hand; and then to see Mrs. Danforth touch the slender, childlike\nhand for only a brief second with the tips of her jewelled fingers.\nBut Elsa understood; long ago her grandmother had explained that she\nthought kissing was an unnecessary and foolish custom.\n\n\u201cGood night, Elsa. Remember to say your prayers.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, grandmother. Good night.\u201d\n\nElsa went slowly out of the room and up the polished stairs to her own\nroom, which always seemed empty to her, with its white-papered walls,\nwhite bed, white furniture, curtains, even white frames on the pictures\nof Greek statuary and ruined temples.\n\nMrs. Danforth never thought of tucking Elsa into bed; and the child, as\nshe hung her black dress over the chair to-night, shed a few tears--as\nshe often did--over having to go to bed all alone in that white, white\nroom where her little black dresses looked so black.\n\nIt seemed to Elsa that she had been wearing black dresses all her life.\nThree years ago her mother had died, then a year later her grandfather,\nJudge Danforth, died, and within the last twelve months, her father.\nSince her father\u2019s death, her own pretty home had been broken up,\nher old nurse dismissed, and she had lived with her grandmother, at\nfirst in the great New York house, and now for three months amid new\nsurroundings in Berkeley.\n\nNo wonder that the grief and the many changes and now the sober, quiet\nlife with her grandmother in a new place, had made Elsa a sad-eyed,\nwhite-faced child. The late summer, after their coming to Berkeley,\nhad been particularly lonely, for there had been nobody to play with.\nSince October, however, when the Whites had come back from their summer\nhome, Elsa had been happier. Betty as near neighbour, had become Elsa\u2019s\nspecial friend, and now she and Alice had also made friends.\n\nWhen Elsa was ready for bed, in her long white nightgown, she turned\noff the electric light, put up the window-shades, and looked out toward\nthe Warren house. \u201cI wonder which is Miss Ruth\u2019s room,\u201d she whispered\nto herself. \u201cWish I dared to ask her, because if it\u2019s on this side, I\ncould look over sometimes, and feel as if I had company.\u201d\n\nWith a little sigh, Elsa knelt down by her white bed and mumbled her\nprayer. Then, jumping up from her knees, she listened at the door. Not\na sound from Cummings, her grandmother\u2019s maid, who had the room next\nto Elsa\u2019s, and who usually stayed down in the servants\u2019 dining-room\nuntil nine o\u2019clock. Everything was quiet. So Elsa went quickly over to\nthe white bureau and pulling open the lower drawer, took from under a\npile of playthings a rather small china doll in a faded pink dress, the\nred of whose cheeks had been almost entirely kissed off. With this doll\nhugged close in her arms, Elsa crept into bed.\n\nOn the white-cushioned couch between the windows sat a dignified row\nof dolls, seven in all, and all in good clothes. But better than any\nof these, Elsa loved her little old china doll which her own dear\nnurse had given her at parting and which Elsa had named for her nurse,\nBettina. For some reason which Elsa did not try to explain to herself,\nshe kept Bettina from the sight of her grandmother and especially\nfrom Cummings, the middle-aged woman who attended to Mrs. Danforth\u2019s\nwardrobe and in what time there was left, made dresses for Elsa. Every\nmorning when Elsa woke, the first thing she did, after pressing many\nloving kisses upon Bettina\u2019s worn face, was to put her away under the\npile of playthings in the lower drawer of the bureau.\n\nThinking about the Club made Elsa feel very wide awake. She began\npicturing to herself Betty White\u2019s nursery-room with the bright scarlet\ngeraniums, the strawberry-birds, and the pretty chintz cushions; and\nshe hugged her doll the closer to take away the feeling of loneliness\nin her own dreary white room.\n\n\u201cNow, listen, Bettina, and try to learn our verses; and perhaps we can\ngo to sleep,\u201d said Elsa, beginning to whisper softly the cradle-song\nher father had taught her, not long before he died. Repeating these\nthree verses every night meant more to Elsa than the prayer which she\nhurried through on her knees. And Bettina listened attentively, as\ndolls listen, while a voice said close to her ears:\n\n \u201cDear Heart, Sweet Heart,\n Time that little children\n Creep into their mothers\u2019 arms, to wait Sleep\u2019s silent call;\n Sweet Heart, Dear Heart,\n All the little children\n Must the Moon find sleeping when she mounts Heaven\u2019s wall!\n\n \u201cSweet Heart, Dear Heart,\n Over little children,\n As they dream their white, white dreams, the wings of Love\n are pressed;\n Dear Heart, Sweet Heart,\n They were little children\n Whom the bless\u00e8d Child of Bethlehem lov\u00e8d best!\n\n \u201cDear Heart, Sweet Heart,\n All the little children\n Come from Love, and go to Love, when life\u2019s long day is done;\n Sweet Heart, Dear Heart,\n All are little children,\n Hushed at last, on Nature\u2019s bosom, one by one!\u201d\n\nAnd, as usually happened, when Elsa had said the last words, she fell\nfast asleep.\n\n * * * * *\n\nDown-stairs, Mrs. Danforth, putting aside her book, sat a long time\ndeep in thought, her eyes shaded from the light. \u201cBen and Alice; Alice\nand Ben!\u201d she kept repeating to herself. \u201cStrange,--and the name, too,\nHolt, or Bolt;--yet it may be only that foolish old song. I must find\nout about it all.\u201d\n\nFinally, being a woman of strong will, she put the matter out of\nher mind, leaned back into the luxurious chair and went on reading\nher novel; while up-stairs, Elsa, the child who bore no shadow of\nresemblance to her in looks or ways, fell asleep with wet eyelashes.\n\nMrs. Danforth had every intention of being kind to Elsa. She provided\nsuitable and pretty frocks and the daintiest of underwear for the\nchild; she paid careful attention to Elsa\u2019s education, her manners and\nher companions. The one thing she failed to give the child was the\nunbounded love which little fatherless and motherless Elsa needed more\nthan anything else in the world.\n\nIn many ways Mrs. Danforth was proud of Elsa,--proud of her straight,\nnaturally graceful figure, her spirited bearing, her wonderfully\nbeautiful hair and eyes. Mrs. Danforth was a proud woman, and she\nenjoyed the thought that the little girl whom she called grandchild\nwas well worthy of the name. She had never really cared for any child\nexcept her own daughter; but that was a sad story of long ago.\n\nThere was a definite reason why Mrs. Danforth did not give more\naffection to Elsa, just as there was a definite purpose back of her\ncoming to live in Berkeley. This purpose, however, Mrs. Danforth was\nslow in carrying out, being a proud-spirited woman. To her many New\nYork friends she explained her removal to Berkeley upon the ground\nthat the quiet, suburban town, with its cultured people and its good\nschools, was a better place than New York City for Elsa to live in\nduring the years of her young girlhood.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nPRINCE GRAY OWL\n\n Forth he set in the breezy morn,\n Across green fields of nodding corn,\n As goodly a Prince as ever was born.\n\n --_Christina Rossetti._\n\n Where every wind and leaf can talk,\n But no man understand\n Save one whose child-feet chanced to walk\n Green paths of fairyland.\n\n --_Sophie Jewett._\n\n\n\u201cTHE children are late,\u201d said Miss Ruth to Sarah who, soon after\nthree o\u2019clock the next Friday afternoon, came into the library with\na large plate piled high with ginger cookies cut into shapes of\nanimals,--horses, cats, dogs, giraffes, and elephants.\n\n\u201cLike as not they have given up wantin\u2019 to have a club,\u201d snapped Sarah,\nshutting her mouth as if she had bitten off the words. \u201cChildren\nnowadays are spoilt with havin\u2019 such a lot done for \u2019em.\u201d Sarah looked\ndisappointed, however; she had spent a long time in making those\ncookies.\n\nSarah Judd was the only servant in the Warren household, and she had\nlived in the family a long time. Whenever Ruth Warren said anything to\nher about having a younger woman to help, Sarah always shook her head\nuntil the corkscrew side-curls fairly bobbed up and down and answered:\n\u201cNo, madam: if you have anybody else come to work for you, I go!\u201d As\nold Sarah understood perfectly the ways and wishes of Miss Virginia\nWarren, Ruth\u2019s aunt, Ruth kept the cross-spoken servant, who was in\nreality a kind-hearted woman.\n\nRuth Warren had learned the wisdom of silence when Sarah made scolding\nremarks; so now she kept on cutting out dresses for the rows and\nrows of dolls,--big and little dolls, blond-haired and black-haired,\nwaxen-headed and china-headed, blue-eyed, gray-eyed, black-eyed,--two\nof each kind and twenty-four in all, lying there on the centre-table.\n\nSarah lingered in the room, brushing a little dust from the table with\nthe corner of her white apron. \u201cWhat a handsome lot of doll-babies,\u201d\nshe said after a moment; \u201cI hope the children will come. I thought\nat first that havin\u2019 \u2019em come would make an awful sight of dust an\u2019\ncrumbs; but I can sweep Saturday mornin\u2019s instead of Fridays, an\u2019 it\u2019s\nkinder nice to hear children \u2019round, a-talkin\u2019 an\u2019 a-laughin\u2019, as fast\nas a sewin\u2019-machine. Bless my heart, here they come now, a-hurryin\u2019\nalong!\u201d Sarah dodged behind the curtain and looked out over the tops\nof her spectacles. \u201cAin\u2019t they cunnin\u2019 little things!\u201d she exclaimed,\n\u201ccomin\u2019 along with their arms twined \u2019round one another, an\u2019 that\nlively Betty White in the middle!\u201d\n\nAs Sarah turned from behind the window-curtain to answer the quick\nring of the front door-bell, she said anxiously: \u201cIf they eat all the\nanimals in the plate, I have got some more plain cookies they can have.\u201d\n\nA moment later Sarah led the three girls into the library, her\nside-curls bobbing with excitement.\n\n\u201cO, look at those cookies!\u201d cried Betty, after she had greeted Miss\nRuth. \u201cGood old Sarah must have made them.\u201d And Sarah vanished from the\ndoorway with a smile which made her thin, dry face seem suddenly to\nhave cracked.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m dreadfully sorry we are late, Miss Ruth,\u201d Betty cried out,\nexcitedly--Betty was almost always the first to begin talking. \u201cIt is\nall my fault--I had to stay after school, and Elsa and Alice waited for\nme.\u201d Betty stopped for breath, fanning herself with the skirt of her\nblue and green plaid gown.\n\n\u201cWe wanted to wait,\u201d said Alice with a shy, half-look at Miss Ruth,\nthen turning quickly to examine the piles of dolls again, with Elsa.\n\n\u201cI got zero in arithmetic,\u201d Betty rattled on again, \u201cand I didn\u2019t read\nwell, and I got caught whispering, so I had to eat three little bitter\nblossoms and stay fifteen minutes after school. I wish there wasn\u2019t any\nschool,\u201d she added, with a toss of her brown hair.\n\n\u201cSo do I,\u201d agreed Elsa, promptly, but Alice looked a little shocked.\n\n\u201cHelp yourselves to the cookies, girls; Sarah made them especially for\nyou,\u201d said Miss Ruth, seeing Betty\u2019s and Elsa\u2019s eyes fixed upon the\ngingerbread animals.\n\n\u201cI shouldn\u2019t care if I didn\u2019t know anything, if I could have people\nread to me and tell me stories,\u201d said Betty, biting off the trunk of an\nelephant cookie.\n\n\u201cO, Miss Ruth, you said you would tell us a story!\u201d exclaimed Elsa,\neagerly.\n\n\u201cYes,--a story about a doll and an old lady,\u201d cried Betty, forgetting\nher school troubles.\n\n\u201cWasn\u2019t it strange for an old lady to have a doll?\u201d said Alice, her\nblue eyes very serious.\n\n\u201cStrange perhaps, but true,\u201d replied Miss Ruth, who had taken the tongs\nand was stirring the fire into a splendid blaze. \u201cWhich would you\nrather have,--that story, or one about a \u2018Prince Gray Owl?\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cBoth,\u201d answered Betty, \u201cbut the gray owl story first.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe doll story first, please,\u201d begged Elsa. The fire lighted up the\ngolden-brown of Miss Ruth\u2019s gown, and its brown fur trimming; Elsa\ndecided that the fur just matched the colour of Miss Ruth\u2019s eyes.\n\n\u201cI should like either story first,--only both please,\u201d said Alice\nslowly, between bites at a long-necked giraffe.\n\n\u201cWhich one can you tell easiest, Miss Ruth?\u201d Elsa suddenly remembered\nto ask.\n\n\u201cI could tell the fairy story more easily to-day, perhaps, because I\ntold it only yesterday to my little niece who was visiting me. The old\nlady\u2019s doll story actually happened, so that I remember it better.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen the fairy story first, please,\u201d Elsa said, contentedly. She had\none of the little dolls in her arms.\n\n\u201cDidn\u2019t the fairy story really happen, too?\u201d Alice asked quickly. She\nhad chosen from among the dolls a blue-eyed, yellow-haired one that\nlooked very much like herself.\n\n\u201cWhat a silly question, Baby Alice,\u201d cried Betty. \u201cOf course fairy\nstories aren\u2019t true.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat makes you like fairy stories, Betty, if they are not true?\u201d Elsa\nasked, seeing that Alice looked hurt.\n\n\u201cBecause fairies are so dear and kind that it makes you wish they were\ntrue,\u201d Betty replied.\n\n\u201cFairy stories were true in the once-upon-a-time days,\u201d said Miss Ruth,\nto end the discussion; \u201cthat is, people believed in fairies,\u201d she added.\n\n\u201cAre these the dresses for us to make, all pinned on to the dolls, Miss\nRuth?\u201d Elsa asked. \u201cWe\u2019ve talked so much about other things that we\nhaven\u2019t said hardly anything about the dolls.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s nice to have their underclothes all made,\u201d said Betty, \u201cbecause\nit saves so much of our time.\u201d Betty had finally taken one of the\nlargest dolls to dress.\n\n\u201cDo you each want to dress first the one you have chosen?\u201d asked Miss\nRuth.\n\n\u201cYes!\u201d \u201cYes!\u201d was the quick chorus.\n\n\u201cThen you may begin now, and I will sew, too,\u201d said Miss Ruth, seating\nherself by the table. \u201cHere is a thimble for each of you, and in this\nbig work-basket you will find needles and sewing cotton and scissors.\nHelp yourselves to the cookies: and you need not be extra careful about\ncrumbs, because Sarah is going to sweep the library to-morrow morning.\u201d\n\nThe three girls grouped themselves near the table and threaded their\nneedles.\n\n\u201cPlease begin,\u201d Betty whispered, just as Miss Ruth was asking of Alice:\n\u201cIs Ben coming to the Club?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe wanted to, he told me,\u201d said Alice, \u201cbut the other boys teased him\nto go skating, \u2019cause Morse\u2019s Pond is frozen over.\u201d\n\nBetty tossed her head: \u201cI knew he didn\u2019t want to belong.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe told me he did,\u201d said Elsa, who, being sensitive herself, usually\nknew when Alice\u2019s feelings were hurt. Elsa\u2019s eyes were shining with\npleasure: it was only half-past three o\u2019clock, there was an hour and\na half of enjoyment ahead, with dolls\u2019 dresses all ready to make,\nginger cookies to eat, and a fairy story to hear. The bright wood-fire\nsparkling and crackling added to the cheer. Her eyes were dark like\npurple pansies as she raised them, expectantly, to Miss Ruth.\n\n\u201cNow that we are all ready,\u201d said Miss Ruth, \u201cI will begin. _Prince\nGray Owl_ is the name of the story.\u201d\n\n\u201cWas the Gray Owl really a prince?\u201d asked Alice.\n\n\u201cHush!\u201d said Betty.\n\n * * * * *\n\nOnce upon a time,--began Miss Ruth,--there was a beautiful princess who\nlived in a great gray castle with her uncle. The castle and the kingdom\nbelonged to the princess, but as the king, her father, and the queen,\nher mother, were dead, her uncle ruled over the kingdom.\n\nPrincess Katrina was only ten years old when her father and mother\ndied. As the years went on, her uncle liked better and better to be\nking, and did not want to give up the position. But he knew that when\nPrincess Katrina married, he could no longer be king, because her\nhusband would become the ruler. Many a brave young prince wanted to\nmarry the princess, whose great beauty and cheerful heart were famed\nthroughout the world. But the uncle said \u201cNo\u201d to each one of these\nsuitors, and ordered them never to come into the kingdom again on\npenalty of having their heads cut off.\n\nPrincess Katrina was now nineteen years old. Her uncle knew that if\nshe were not married before she was twenty-one, she could then choose\na husband for herself. So he arranged to have her marry, not a prince,\nbut a wicked old king, ruler of a far-off country, two days\u2019 journey\nbeyond the sunset. The uncle agreed to give this bad man a large sum\nof gold with the princess, and in return, the uncle was to keep the\nkingdom. For the far-away king wanted gold more than he did land.\n\nEarly one September morning Katrina\u2019s uncle came to the sunshiny\nbower where she sat alone, embroidering a beautiful scarlet-and-gold\ntapestry. The princess made a beautiful picture, there in the sunshine,\nwith her soft hair shining like spun gold, her clear blue eyes, and\nher fair cheeks tinged with rose colour. She looked a royal princess\nindeed, in her blue velvet gown, with a long scarf of light blue gauze\nfloating over her shoulders.\n\n\u201cGood morning, Uncle Wulfred,\u201d said the princess. She was not very fond\nof her uncle, but she always greeted him kindly.\n\nThe wicked uncle had a crafty and cruel face. The jewelled gold crown\ncame almost down to the ears of his small, round head, and the kingly,\nermine-trimmed green velvet robe hung loosely from his short, stooping\nfigure.\n\n\u201cPrincess niece,\u201d said the uncle, without any \u201cGood morning\u201d greeting,\n\u201cyou are now over nineteen years old and it is time you were married,\nso I have chosen a husband for you. King Rupert from the land two days\u2019\njourney beyond the sunset is coming at the end of a month to marry you.\u201d\n\nPrincess Katrina\u2019s happy, beautiful face turned very pale. \u201cDo you mean\nthat cross, unkind old king who visited you a six-month ago and who one\nday at banquet broke the neck of a poor, faithful hound who offended\nhim? Nay, Uncle Wulfred, I will not marry such a man.\u201d\n\n\u201cI say you shall marry him,\u201d stormed the uncle, walking up and down the\nroom with jingling spurs.\n\n\u201cNever! I will die first!\u201d cried the princess. Rising suddenly in front\nof her uncle, she faced him with white cheeks and flashing eyes. The\nscarlet-and-gold tapestry fell from her hands to the floor.\n\n\u201cYou shall marry King Rupert, or die!\u201d the uncle shouted; his\nsmall eyes snapped angrily, his face grew purple, and he brought\nhis steel-gloved hand down upon the table so heavily that the\nembroidery bodkins and scissors rolled off, clattering, to the\nfloor. \u201cThis-very-morning,\u201d he said so fast that the words almost\ntumbled over each other, \u201cI-will-shut-you-up-in-the-East-Tower.\nAt-the-end-of-a-week-I-will-come-to-ask-if-you-will-marry-King-Rupert.\nIf-you-refuse-to-mind-me,\nI-will-put-you-where-you-will-have-a-harder-time, the-second-week.\u201d\n\nWhen her uncle stopped, purple in the face, to take breath, Princess\nKatrina answered him scornfully and without fear: \u201cYou are a wicked\nuncle. It is because you want to keep my kingdom that you are trying to\nmake me marry that cruel old king, who lives far away.\u201d\n\nAt these words, the uncle grew more angry than ever, because they were\nthe truth. He stamped heavily with his right foot three times upon the\nstone floor.\n\nInstantly three tall men in black robes, with black masks over their\nfaces, rushed into Katrina\u2019s bower. One of the men pushed back from\nthe doorway Katrina\u2019s old nurse who lived with the princess now as\nserving-woman. Quickly throwing a part of his black robe over the head\nof the gray-haired woman, the man led her away.\n\n\u201cMake the princess a prisoner!\u201d commanded the uncle, pointing with his\nsword at Katrina, who did not move or even cry out.\n\nThe two men in black seized Katrina roughly by the shoulders.\n\n\u201cTake this disobedient girl to the East Tower!\u201d roared the angry uncle.\n\nKatrina did not speak, but her blue eyes gleamed proudly as the guards\nled her away.\n\nThe East Tower was an old, unused part of the castle, a long distance\nfrom the part where the royal household lived. To reach the tower, the\nguards led Katrina through many rooms hung with spiders\u2019 webs, over\nbroken stone floors, and along dark passage-ways where rats scuttled.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cI am glad I wasn\u2019t Katrina to have to go where there were rats!\u201d\nexclaimed Alice.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t interrupt, Peggy!\u201d cried Betty.\n\nMiss Ruth smiled, and continued:\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe old East Tower of the castle was almost forgotten. No one ever\nwent there. Tall trees and bushes grew up around it, and a deep moat\nsurrounded it.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cWhat is a moat?\u201d asked Betty.\n\n\u201cA deep hollow, like a trench or a wide ditch, filled with water,\u201d\nexplained Miss Ruth, and Alice whispered--but very sweet-temperedly--to\nBetty: \u201cWho\u2019s interrupting now?\u201d as Miss Ruth began again:\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe land beyond the East Tower, across the moat, belonged to a\nneighbouring king, who had been away at war for many years. No lonelier\nplace than the tower could have been found for a prison.\n\n\u201cA safe place for the girl,\u201d said the false king to his wicked\ncounsellors when they came back and told him they had locked Princess\nKatrina into the upper room of the tower.\n\n\u201cBut suppose she dies there?\u201d said one of the counsellors, who had a\ndaughter at home, of about Katrina\u2019s age.\n\n\u201cIf she dies, no one will be the wiser, and you will be rich men,\u201d said\nthe king. \u201cBe sure you keep the old nurse drugged, and a guard to watch\nher.\u201d\n\nAfter that, when the royal ladies of the court asked King Wulfred where\nthe princess was, he told them she had been suddenly called away by the\nillness of her aunt in another kingdom, and that the old nurse had gone\nwith the princess.\n\nKatrina was very lonely and sad the first few days in the round upper\nroom of the old stone tower. Three times each day the strong door\nwas unlocked and food and candles were set into the room. The man who\nbrought the food and the three candles would not say a word in answer\nto Katrina\u2019s questions. In the daytime, the princess walked around\nthe room, looking from one after another of the three windows at the\ntrees outside. When night came, she put all three of her candles at the\nwindow where the leaves of the trees seemed thinnest, hoping that some\none passing might see the light, and wonder at its being there in the\nold, deserted tower, and so come to her rescue.\n\nOn the third day, the princess saw the bright eyes of a gray squirrel\nlooking in at the window; she put some food upon the window-sill, and\npresently the squirrel came in through the iron bars, ate the food,\nthen sat up on his haunches and looked at her quite fearlessly.\n\n\u201cI would help you if I could,\u201d said the gray squirrel, unexpectedly,\n\u201cbut all I can do is to give you my company.\u201d\n\nKatrina was greatly surprised to hear the squirrel speak, but she\nanswered quickly: \u201cIf you will talk with me sometimes that will help\nme, for I am so lonely.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will come every day,\u201d he replied. \u201cNow I must go home to arrange my\nengagements.\u201d Straightening out his splendid bushy tail, he jumped from\nthe window-sill into the thick leaves of an oak-tree, out of sight,\nlike a flash.\n\nAfter that, the gray squirrel came every day at exactly the same time.\nHe sat on Katrina\u2019s shoulder and chattered about his busy life in the\ngreat forest; and in turn Katrina told him about her being shut up in\nthe tower by her cruel uncle.\n\n\u201cI would help you if I could,\u201d said the squirrel one day, growing so\nangry over her imprisonment that he tried to bite the iron bars of the\nwindow, and in doing so, broke off two of his best front teeth. From\nthat time, Princess Katrina gave him more of her food, because he could\nnot crack nuts so well now. \u201cElf will mend my teeth some day, elf will\nmend them,\u201d said the squirrel cheerfully.\n\nOn the afternoon of the seventh day, the cruel uncle unlocked the door\nof the tower-room and stood before the princess. He was covered with\ndust and cobwebs from coming through the unused rooms and dark passages\nwhich led to the tower.\n\n\u201cIs my dear niece ready to obey me and marry King Rupert?\u201d the uncle\nasked in a make-believe anxious voice.\n\nPrincess Katrina held up her head courageously. \u201cNever!\u201d she said: \u201cI\nwill never consent to marry that dreadful old man.\u201d Her golden hair\ngleamed like sunshine against the dark gray stone walls.\n\nShe was so brave and fair standing there in her royal blue velvet gown,\nfacing him, that her uncle was half afraid. \u201cIt is for your good,\u201d he\nsaid in a shaking voice, the keys jingling in his hand.\n\nKatrina answered him quickly: \u201cIt is for your gain.\u201d\n\nThen the uncle cried out fast, with blazing eyes:\n\u201cThis-next-week-you-shall-live-in-the-lower-room-and-have-food-only-\ntwice-a-day-and-only-two-candles-for-the-night.\nAt-the-end-of-a-week-I-will-visit-you-and-if-you-refuse-to-marry-\nKing-Rupert-I-will-put-you-where-you-have-a-harder-time.\u201d Seizing her\nwrist, he dragged her roughly behind him through the door and down the\nnarrow, winding stone steps to the room below, thrust her into it, and\nlocked the creaking, heavy door upon her.\n\nThat night Princess Katrina was dreadfully afraid. A wild storm of\nwind and rain shook the tower and made her candle-light flicker. Once\nwhen something gray brushed against the window she shrieked aloud;\nbut, watching, she saw that the gray object stopped on a branch of\nthe great oak-tree outside the window, and that it was a large,\nsoft owl, as tall as a man. The owl sat there a long time, staring\nat the candle-light with blinking yellow eyes that had tiny black\nspots at their centre, and the princess was comforted by the sense of\ncompanionship.\n\nThe next morning when the food and candles were brought, a package was\nput with them, inside the door.\n\nKatrina hurriedly unwrapped the package and was overjoyed to find in\nit her scarlet-and-gold tapestry, her bodkins, her skeins of scarlet\nand gold embroidery silk, and a little paper cleverly sewed on the\nvery place where she had stopped her work the morning when her uncle\ncame into her bower. On the paper was written, in her old nurse\u2019s\nhandwriting: \u201cThe counsellors kept me drugged for a week, then they\ntold me you had gone away. I did not believe them, and I bribed the\nguard, with all the gold I had, to tell me where you are and to takes\nthese things to you. Keep a good heart. I go away from the castle to\nhelp you.\u201d\n\nWhen the gray squirrel came, early that afternoon, Katrina told him\nwhat had happened and asked him what he thought.\n\nThe gray squirrel sat up very still and looked at the princess out\nof his round black eyes: \u201cThe gray owl will rescue you,\u201d said the\nsquirrel at last, solemnly.\n\n\u201cWho told you so?\u201d asked the princess.\n\n\u201cI heard the bluejays talking about it this morning,\u201d he said, winking\nhis eyes rapidly.\n\n\u201cWho told the bluejays?\u201d Katrina inquired.\n\n\u201cThey are great gossips: they hear things by listening at the front\ndoors of the other birds\u2019 homes.\u201d The squirrel looked so fierce all at\nonce that the princess asked quickly: \u201cDo you know the gray owl?\u201d and\nbefore the squirrel could answer, began telling him about the gray owl\nshe had seen outside her window the night before. \u201cDo you know him?\u201d\nshe asked again.\n\n\u201cI know some gray owls,--I am sorry to say,\u201d replied the squirrel,\nshaking his tail.\n\nThe princess opened her blue eyes very wide as she asked, \u201cWhy are you\nsorry?\u201d\n\n\u201cSquirrels and owls cannot be friendly,\u201d said the gray squirrel rather\nsadly.\n\n\u201cWhy?\u201d asked the princess.\n\n\u201cBecause it has always been so,\u201d he answered, whisking his tail\nexcitedly and jumping out of the window so that the princess could not\nask him any more questions.\n\nThat afternoon as Katrina began embroidering once more upon her\nscarlet-and-gold tapestry, her thoughts were even busier than her\nfingers. What did her nurse mean by writing that puzzling sentence:\n\u201cI go away from the castle to help you?\u201d Over and over again, Katrina\nturned these words in her mind. But she felt comforted and hopeful.\n\nWhen darkness fell, the princess put her two candles at the window,\nand said to herself: \u201cPerhaps the gray owl will come again to the\noak-tree.\u201d For a long time she waited with her tender face pressed\nagainst the iron bars. By and by she heard a soft whirr-r of wings, and\nthe gray owl settled upon a branch below the window.\n\nKatrina looked eagerly into the round, blinking eyes: \u201cI wish you could\nspeak,\u201d she said, half-aloud.\n\nThe gray owl stepped so near the light that the little black line\nalmost faded out of his yellow eyes. Katrina was surprised at the owl\u2019s\ngreat size, and even more surprised to hear a muffled voice say: \u201cKeep\na good heart. I will save you.\u201d Then the owl spread its soft wings and\nflew noiselessly away.\n\nIt was soon after that the princess heard a faint, regular sound, as\nof iron striking against stone; and the sound lasted all night,--as\nlong as she stayed awake, which was a long time, for she kept asking\nherself over and over again: \u201cWill the gray owl really save me from\nthis dungeon?\u201d The squirrel had said the owl would do this, and now the\nowl himself said so.\n\nIn the days of Princess Katrina, the world of mankind had not moved\nvery far away from fairyland. The princess was not half so much\nastonished to hear a squirrel and an owl speak as a princess would be\nto-day. Katrina\u2019s old nurse had told her many a tale of wonder; the\nnurse had that very day sent the message, \u201cKeep a good heart;\u201d and\nthe gray owl had repeated the same words, \u201cKeep a good heart.\u201d By and\nby Katrina fell asleep, still puzzled, but happy in having such good\nfriends as the nurse, the squirrel and the owl.\n\nThe next morning, when the squirrel came as usual, Katrina asked his\nopinion about the owl and the strange noise; but all the squirrel would\nsay was: \u201cOwls are very strong. Owls have sharp, strong beaks.\u201d Then\nhe whisked away, as if in haste. So Katrina stopped talking to the\nsquirrel about the owl after that, for the subject seemed to offend him.\n\nEvery night, regularly, when darkness fell, Katrina heard the faint\npick! pick! of iron upon stone, and every night, as she leaned against\nthe window-bars, after the pick! pick! began, she heard the muffled\nwords, \u201cKeep a good heart!\u201d She did not always see the owl, but on\nthose nights she thought the owl must have perched upon a branch much\nlower than her window, for, straining her eyes, she could see a gray\nshape below.\n\nWhen the end of the second week came, Katrina wound the scarlet and\ngold tapestry around her slender body, under her blue velvet gown, so\nthat her uncle should not see it. All day long she waited for him, but\nhe did not come until dusk. The key turned slowly in the rusty lock.\nHer uncle stood before her.\n\n\u201cGirl! Katrina!\u201d he shouted, for he was frightened by her white face.\n\u201cHave you come to your senses? Are you ready to marry King Rupert?\u201d\n\n\u201cNever! I will never marry King Rupert,\u201d Katrina answered,\nlooking at her uncle with flashing blue eyes so like those of\nhis dead brother, her father, that the uncle swore a terrible\noath to keep up his courage, and said very fast, though\nhis teeth chattered: \u201cDown--to--the--dungeon--with--you!\nFood--only--once--a--day. One--small--candle--for--the--night.\nBe--ready--to--marry--King--Rupert--at--the--end--of--a--week--\nor--you--will--have--a--harder--time.\u201d\n\nWith trembling hands the coward uncle put a key into a keyhole in the\nfloor, raised a trap-door by an iron ring, and pushed Katrina down the\ndark stairs. She lifted her white face bravely and said: \u201cNever will I\ndo your bidding;\u201d then the trap-door closed over her head.\n\nDown into the darkness the beautiful princess felt her way. After a\nfew moments she could see, by the dim light that came in from the one\nwindow, a rough wooden bench, a stool, and a pile of dry leaves in one\ncorner. Outside the window, the oak leaves were very thick. Katrina\nreached through the iron bars and broke the leaves from the nearest\nbranches. The strong stems hurt her hands, but she gained a little more\nlight and air.\n\nBefore the dim twilight faded away, brave Katrina stirred the dry\nleaves on the stone floor and found to her great comfort that there\nwere no creeping things underneath. After putting her scarlet-and-gold\ntapestry over the leaves to make a bed for herself, she lighted her one\ncandle, and placing it upon the wooden bench before the window, sat\ndown beside it. Darkness had hardly fallen before she heard the pick!\npick! as of iron upon stone, and lo! the sounds seemed close at her\nside.\n\nSuppose the sounds were some plan of her uncle\u2019s to frighten her? For a\nmoment Katrina\u2019s courage sank at the thought. But just then she heard a\nmuffled voice ask: \u201cAre you there, Princess?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she answered faintly. \u201cWho are you?\u201d The dungeon walls were\nthicker than the walls above; Katrina could only press so near the\nwindow as to see a gray figure outside.\n\n\u201cYour friend, the Gray Owl,\u201d said the low voice. \u201cWe must not talk\nmuch, for fear some one hear us. But keep a good heart.\u201d\n\nEach day of that third week the princess worked a little while with the\nshining gold silk upon the tapestry; it was so dark in the dungeon that\nshe could not see, even at noonday, to use the scarlet silk. She felt\nvery faint, because she had only one meal a day, of bread and water,\nand she gave some of the bread to her daily visitor, the squirrel, who\ngrew very thin without his usual nuts. She begged him every day to go\nto the elf and have his teeth mended, but he always answered: \u201cIt is a\nlong way, and I will not go until you are saved.\u201d\n\nOn the fifth night of that week when the pick! pick! as of iron upon\nstone began, the princess went to the window and whispered sadly: \u201cI\ncannot keep heart much longer,\u201d and the low, muffled voice of the gray\nowl answered: \u201cCourage! keep a good heart for one day more.\u201d\n\nUpon the sixth day there was a dark tempest. Even at high noon the\ndungeon was dark. The gray squirrel looked wet and discouraged when he\nsprang in through the window at the usual time.\n\n\u201cDo you think the gray owl is going to save me?\u201d asked the princess in\nher despair.\n\nAt the mention of the gray owl, the squirrel jumped for the window, but\nit was so dark in the dungeon that he bumped into the wall and fell\nupon the stone floor.\n\nHe held up a hurt front paw as Katrina ran to him. \u201cWill you bind it\nwith silk for me?\u201d he asked. \u201cElf will mend it when I go to him, elf\nwill mend it. But I shall have to stay with you now, because I cannot\njump--nor even walk,\u201d he said, trying to rise but falling over again.\n\nKatrina bound the wounded paw tenderly. All that afternoon the squirrel\nseemed to be thinking deeply, and Katrina could not make him talk.\n\nUtter darkness fell early. The dungeon grew very cold, so that both\nKatrina and the squirrel shivered. She wrapped herself in the scarlet\nand gold tapestry, took the squirrel in her hands, and crouched near\nthe window.\n\nSoon came a stir in the leaves outside. \u201cAre you there, Princess?\u201d\nasked the muffled voice. Katrina felt the squirrel begin to tremble\nviolently.\n\n\u201cYes, Gray Owl,\u201d she answered, waiting for him to say, \u201cKeep a good\nheart.\u201d But instead, he said: \u201cPrepare to leave the dungeon, Princess.\nStand away from the window, for soon a large stone of the wall will\nfall into the dungeon.\u201d\n\nKatrina moved to the opposite side, having hard work to keep the\nsquirrel in her hands; he acted so frightened that she knew now it had\nbeen fear, not anger, which made him run away every time the owl\u2019s name\nwas mentioned.\n\n\u201cAre you safe, Princess?\u201d came the gray owl\u2019s question.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she cried. Then she saw a heavy stone of the wall move inward\nmore and more until it slid to the ground with a dull sound, and left a\nlarge open space in the wall.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s the boy of the Club,\u201d announced Sarah, appearing at the door,\nfollowed by Ben.\n\nRuth Warren went forward to greet the red-cheeked boy, whose hair lay\nwet upon his forehead.\n\n[Illustration: \u201c\u2018YES, GRAY OWL,\u2019 SHE ANSWERED.\u201d]\n\n\u201cI thought I\u2019d come for a little while,\u201d said Ben, his eyes upon the\nlast cookie in the plate, a long-necked horse. \u201cSkating wasn\u2019t much\ngood, and I got in twice.\u201d His wet shoes proved this.\n\n\u201cSit here by the hearth and dry your feet, Ben,\u201d said Miss Ruth,\nturning to brighten the fire.\n\n\u201cLet me do that,\u201d said Ben gallantly, reaching for the tongs.\n\nSarah took the plate from the table and vanished. Alice began\nexplaining things to Ben:\n\n\u201cMiss Ruth is telling us a story about Prince Gray Owl, and he is just\nsaving Princess Katrina from the dungeon. I can tell you the first of\nit on the way home, Ben.\u201d Alice had jumped up from her chair and was\ndevotedly watching her brother while he blew to start the fire until\nhis red cheeks stood out like small balloons.\n\n\u201cPlease go on with the story, Miss Ruth,\u201d cried Betty, impatient at the\ndelay.\n\nBut just then Sarah came in with the large plate piled high again with\ncookies. Ben put the tongs back in their place and seated himself\ncontentedly near the cookies.\n\nMiss Ruth spent a moment or two in looking over the girls\u2019 sewing.\nBetty had already made one doll\u2019s dress and begun another. Elsa and\nAlice were just finishing their first ones. When Miss Ruth seated\nherself again, Elsa drew her chair nearer, and every now and then, as\nMiss Ruth went on with the story, Elsa reached out and stroked the soft\nfur on the golden-brown gown.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cPrincess, can you come through this opening in the wall?\u201d asked a\nvoice outside of the window-bars.\n\nTrembling now with excitement, the princess took up the tapestry which\nhad fallen around her and made it into a long roll, slender like\nherself.\n\n\u201cTry if this will go through, Gray Owl,\u201d she said. The squirrel clung\nto her shoulder.\n\nSlowly the roll of tapestry disappeared through the opening.\n\n\u201cDo you dare follow, Princess?\u201d came the thrilling question.\n\n\u201cI dare--and I follow,\u201d she answered.\n\n\u201cSave me!\u201d cried the squirrel.\n\nKatrina hid the shivering little creature in the folds of her blue\ngossamer scarf, and with a last look around the dread dungeon, extended\nher arms and put her head and shoulders through the opening in the\nwall. Even before the rain-drops outside fell upon her hands, she felt\nboth hands grasped strongly, and she was drawn gently and steadily\nforward until she could spring to her feet upright upon the soft ground.\n\nBefore her stood--not the gray owl she had expected to see, but a tall\nyoung man with a graceful figure, and richly dressed in a princely robe\nof dark green velvet.\n\nThe young man bowed low before Katrina. \u201cPrincess,\u201d he said, \u201cI am the\noldest son of the king, your neighbour. I was slightly wounded in one\nof my father\u2019s battles, and I came home the very day that your old\nnurse escaped to my father\u2019s castle and told of your imprisonment in\nthis dungeon. I took the shape of an owl and flew across the moat, and\nas it was my right arm which was wounded, I kept the owl\u2019s shape and\nworked with the strong beak to remove this stone and free you.\u201d\n\n\u201cSir, never did a knight do more for a maiden,\u201d said the princess, in\nturn bowing low. She saw that his right arm hung in a sling.\n\n\u201cI will now fly with you to my father\u2019s castle, where my mother, the\nqueen, and your faithful nurse await you,\u201d said the prince.\n\nSeeing the wonder on the sweet face of the princess, the prince said:\n\u201cOnce, when I was a boy, I saved a young gray owl from a fierce eagle;\nand the gray owl\u2019s father was so grateful that he gave me the power to\nchange into a gray owl, at will.\u201d\n\nThen the prince said something which sounded like--\n\n \u201cGray owl, gray owl,\n I would be\n A strong gray owl,\n Like to thee.\u201d\n\nAnd he turned into a great, soft-feathered gray owl. It could not have\nbeen just those words,--because Katrina tried to use them so that she\nmight turn into an owl herself, long afterward, just for fun.\n\nThe prince, now the gray owl, spread out one of his soft wings and took\nthe princess under it; then he gathered the roll of tapestry under the\nother wing, and flew away, over the moat, toward his father\u2019s castle.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cWhat about the gray squirrel?\u201d asked Ben, excitedly flourishing a\nhalf-eaten camel.\n\n * * * * *\n\nOn the flight to the home of the prince--said Miss Ruth--Katrina told\nthe prince about the gray squirrel, whose little heart she could feel\nall the time beating against hers. \u201cI have him with me, under my\nscarf,\u201d she said. \u201cHe is afraid of you, I think,\u201d she added, so low\nthat the squirrel could not hear.\n\n\u201cThe gray owls will do anything for me,\u201d said the prince in a loud\nvoice. \u201cI will tell the greatest gray owl, the king of the forest, that\nfrom this time forth the owls and the squirrels must live peaceably\ntogether.\u201d\n\nHearing this, the squirrel took courage and put his head out from\nthe folds of Katrina\u2019s blue scarf. \u201cThank you, Gray Owl,\u201d he said\ngratefully. Then he slipped away, for they were near the home of the\nelf, and he was anxious to have his front teeth and his broken paw\nmended.\n\nIt happened that the neighbouring king, who had been for many years\naway at war, grew alarmed when his son, Prince Edward, was wounded; and\nso the king came hurrying home the very night of the day that Princess\nKatrina was rescued from the dungeon. When this good king heard the\nstory of her imprisonment, he decided to set forth the next morning to\npunish her wicked uncle, Wulfred, whom he had never liked, but with\nwhom he had lived in peace, up to this time.\n\nThat day, at noon, the false king made his way to the East Tower and\nlifted up the trap-door of the dungeon. \u201cKatrina! are you ready to\nmarry King Rupert?\u201d he shouted down into the darkness.\n\nNo voice answered. The uncle called again in a louder voice. Still\nno answer came. He peered down into the blackness by the light of a\nlong torch he had brought, but he could see nothing except the bed of\nleaves, the rude bench and the chair.\n\n\u201cShe lies dead under the leaves,\u201d the uncle whispered to himself with\nchattering teeth. A bat flew against his face. Shaking with fear, he\nlet the trap-door fall and hurried away, back through the winding,\ncobwebby passages, to the state rooms of the palace.\n\nBut there more fears awaited him. His three wicked counsellors rushed\nup and drew him to the front window, crying: \u201cSee!\u201d \u201cA foe is marching\nupon us!\u201d \u201cA great and mighty army!\u201d\n\nThe false king saw in the distance an army of hundreds of men, all in\nglistening armour, with waving plumes and gleaming shields, line after\nline stretching far into the distance. At the head of the army, upon a\nmagnificent black war-horse, rode the neighbouring king, clad in a suit\nof mail, with a glittering helmet on his head, surmounted by a flowing\nwhite plume. Behind the king, each upon a beautiful white horse, rode\nPrince Edward and Princess Katrina; and upon the shoulder of the\nprincess perched a large gray squirrel.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cThen what happened?\u201d questioned Betty, breathlessly.\n\nMiss Ruth, glancing at the clock, saw that the hands pointed closely to\nfive, so she told the rest of the story very fast:\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe wicked uncle was a coward before danger. When he found that the\nprincess was with this great army, he made no resistance, but at once\nordered the white flag of surrender to be flung out from the tower, for\nhe knew that the powerful neighbouring king would not fail to avenge\nKatrina\u2019s wrongs.\n\nThe conquering king made the wicked uncle a prisoner, and had him\nput into the same dungeon where Katrina had been imprisoned. Prince\nEdward and Princess Katrina were married soon after, and ruled\nhappily for many, many years. Behind their thrones hung the splendid\nscarlet-and-gold tapestry upon which the princess had worked during\nthose dreary days in the dungeon. When the wicked uncle was an old man,\ngrown thin and white-haired, Katrina had him set free from prison, and\nhe spent his last days at the court, playing with a feeble, old gray\nsquirrel.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cIs that all?\u201d sighed Betty, when Miss Ruth stopped talking.\n\n\u201cThank you ever so much,\u201d said Elsa, as she sat looking into the fire:\n\u201cI like Prince Gray Owl,\u201d she added soberly.\n\n\u201cI think Katrina was the best, though, because she had the poor old\nuncle pardoned,\u201d said tender-hearted Alice.\n\n\u201cWhat about the owls and the squirrels?\u201d asked Ben, who was still\neating ginger cookies.\n\n\u201cO, the owls and the squirrels lived happily together ever after in the\nwoods around, even \u2018as far as the lands of the wicked King Rupert, two\ndays\u2019 journey beyond the sunset,\u2019\u201d said Miss Ruth.\n\n\u201cI wish there was some more about them!\u201d exclaimed Betty.\n\n\u201cThere is more about the owls and the squirrels all the time, in the\nwoods,\u201d said Miss Ruth. \u201cHow would you like some Friday afternoon,\ninstead of having our meeting in the house, to walk out to the\nConvalescent Home and then come back through the woods?\u201d\n\nEach and every member of the Club agreed that this would be a splendid\nway to have a club meeting. \u201cWe could take home the sewing that we\nwould do at the meeting,\u201d suggested Betty, \u201cand bring it all finished\nto the next meeting, so as not to lose time dressing the dolls.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have done well this afternoon, girls,\u201d said Miss Ruth, beginning\nto gather up the dolls and their dresses; \u201cand Betty\u2019s idea is a good\none. Each of you ask at home if she may go on the walk, and perhaps we\ncan have it next Friday.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen we can all see the Convalescings,\u201d said Ben eagerly. \u201cThey are\nnice little children, and I like to see them getting well.\u201d\n\n\u201cFive o\u2019clock and five minutes after!\u201d cried Elsa, springing up. \u201cI\nmust go, or grandmother will not like it.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you have to mind--even five minutes?\u201d asked Betty, in surprise.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered Elsa, hurriedly putting on her long black cloak. \u201cUncle\nNed tells me to do just what grandmother says.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho is your Uncle Ned?\u201d inquired Betty, who was taking a few last\nstitches in the doll\u2019s dress.\n\n\u201cUncle Ned? He is the nicest and the dearest and the best man in all\nthe world,\u201d said Elsa, her violet-gray eyes growing eloquent with\nfeeling. \u201cHe is nicer even than Prince Gray Owl, and I miss him all\nthe time. Good-bye.\u201d And Elsa ran away with her wide black felt hat\nhanging from her arm, and with something very much like tears shining\nin her eyes.\n\nBetty had sewed rapidly, and now she held up a second doll\u2019s dress,\nfinished.\n\n\u201cGood, Betty!\u201d said Miss Ruth. \u201cLet me count how many we have\ndone,--your two, Elsa and Alice each one, and two of mine, six in all,\nout of the twenty-four; it will take us just three meetings more to\nfinish the eighteen dresses that are left.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen we can do some paper dolls, and rag dolls,\u201d said Alice, clapping\nher hands softly.\n\n\u201cMaybe I could help about the paper dolls;\u201d Ben made the suggestion\nwith a rather careless air. \u201cI could paint dresses, because I know\nwhat looks pretty. When I grow up to be a man I am going to earn a lot\nof money and buy pretty dresses for Alice, and I\u2019m going to get her\na black lace one and a yellowy brown one trimmed with fur,\u201d he said,\nslowly.\n\nMiss Ruth nodded encouragingly as she met Ben\u2019s earnest blue eyes.\n\n\u201cI will give you some of the pretty dresses, Betty,\u201d said Alice\nunselfishly, feeling perfectly sure that Ben would do whatever he\npromised.\n\nBetty almost said, \u201cI have prettier dresses now than you have,\u201d but she\nstopped just in time and said instead: \u201cI will give you a blue velvet\ndress, like Princess Katrina\u2019s.\u201d\n\nTo-day, Alice\u2019s blue sailor-suit looked more worn and even shorter\nthan before, and Ben\u2019s sturdy little figure seemed almost bursting out\nthrough his tight jacket. But both Alice and Ben were too happy-natured\nto care much about clothes. He helped her on with her shabby blue coat\nmost affectionately. The twins were very fond of one another, although\nBen, being a boy, did not think so much about this as Alice did, for\nshe openly and eagerly showed her love for him.\n\nIt was after quarter past five o\u2019clock when Elsa Danforth, waiting in\nthe bay-window of the dining-room for her bread-and-milk supper, saw\nBetty and Alice and Ben come out of the Warren house. \u201cThey have had\nall this much longer good time!\u201d Elsa said to herself. Life seemed\nespecially lonely to her just then. Her grandmother had reproved her\nfor being late, as well as for running home without her hat on.\n\nElsa was just a simple and loving little girl, who tried very hard\nnot to be an unhappy one, although she knew she was living without\nmany things which other little girls had in their homes and with their\nmothers. She was lonelier than ever that night, when bedtime came: and\nthis is how it happened.\n\nMrs. Danforth had hired a pew at the largest church in Berkeley, and\nhad given money generously whenever asked to help any good cause. It\nhad come time for the ladies of the church to make their yearly gift\nof clothing and toys to the Convalescent Home. And Mrs. Everett, the\nhead of the committee, called upon Mrs. Danforth for some money, that\nafternoon.\n\n\u201cIt seems too bad to spend money for playthings when so much is needed\nfor clothing,\u201d said Mrs. Everett, as she folded the crisp ten-dollar\nbill which Mrs. Danforth handed her. \u201cHas your grandchild any old toys\nwhich might do for the children?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am sure she has,\u201d replied Mrs. Danforth, remembering a large boxful\nof half-worn toys in the garret,--toys which Elsa had said she was\ntired of.\n\n\u201cI could take them in my carriage now,\u201d said Mrs. Everett. She was a\nlarge-hearted woman, much interested in the Convalescent Home and\neager to help it.\n\nMrs. Danforth rang for her maid. \u201cCummings,\u201d she said to the very prim\nand proper looking woman in starched white cap and black dress who\nappeared instantly, \u201cbring down that boxful of Miss Elsa\u2019s old toys\nfrom the garret. I am going to give them to a children\u2019s home.\u201d\n\nAs Cummings went noiselessly out of the room, Mrs. Danforth asked of\nher caller: \u201cDo you happen to know a poor family by the name of Colt\nor Holt who live just outside the town?\u201d The proud-faced woman bent\nforward to disentangle the gold chain of her eye-glasses from the jet\nornaments of her waist.\n\n\u201cYes, I know the Holts,\u201d said Mrs. Everett. \u201cThey are poor but very\nself-respecting people.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey have a market-garden, I believe?\u201d said Mrs. Danforth, still\nstruggling with the chain.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied Mrs. Everett, \u201cand they raise excellent lettuce and\nradishes; I can safely recommend their garden products to you. May I\nhelp you with that chain, Mrs. Danforth?\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you, I have it free now,\u201d said Mrs. Danforth, leaning back and\nchanging the subject.\n\nWhen Cummings came noiselessly in again, with a large pasteboard box,\nalmost full of tin soldiers, picture-books and such playthings, she\nsuggested very respectfully. \u201cMiss Elsa has the lower drawer of her\nbureau full of toys, ma\u2019am.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you sure Miss Elsa does not play with them, Cummings?\u201d\n\nThe gray-haired woman shook her head primly: \u201cOh, no, ma\u2019am; she never\ntouches them,\u201d--which was the truth, so far as Cummings knew.\n\n\u201cVery well; bring them also,\u201d said Mrs. Danforth.\n\nAs a result, some battered dolls\u2019 furniture, two or three boxes of\ngames, and one small china doll were added to the collection in the\npasteboard box. Cummings took the now-filled box out to Mrs. Everett\u2019s\ncarriage, and the kind-hearted woman drove away, happy in having\nsecured both money and playthings for the Convalescent Home.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen Elsa was ready for bed that night, she opened the lower drawer\nof the white bureau to take out Bettina. Her hand fell upon heaped-up\nruffled and embroidered garments.\n\nShe turned on the electric light. There, in place of the odd assortment\nof playthings under which she had kept Bettina hidden, was a pile of\nwhite underclothing.\n\nSomething seemed almost to stop Elsa\u2019s heart from beating as she opened\none bureau drawer after another, and even hunted under the bureau,\nwithout finding her beloved doll. Suddenly she remembered hearing her\ngrandmother say, that evening, that she had given away some old toys to\nthe Convalescent Home children, and her own answer: \u201cI am glad you did,\ngrandmother.\u201d Bettina must have been among them.\n\nSobbing bitterly, yet without making any sound, Elsa turned off the\nlight and crept into bed. She felt so lonely and wretched that she\ncould not go to sleep. After awhile, she climbed out of bed and stood\nin front of the row of dolls on the white couch between the windows.\nShe chose the smallest of these dolls, the one which was most like\nBettina, held her for a moment, then kissed her, put her down and crept\nback to bed. Much as she missed Bettina, she could not bear to take\nanother doll in her place. Again the child fell to sobbing in an agony\nof loneliness.\n\nShe heard the great clock in the hall chime nine; a moment after,\nCummings closed the door of her own room. When the chimes rang out the\nhalf-hour, Mrs. Danforth\u2019s steps came up the polished front stairs,\npassed Elsa\u2019s door, and Elsa heard her grandmother\u2019s door close.\nSoon the house was quiet, save for the sound of heavy breathing from\nCummings\u2019s room. Cummings could be noiseless by day but not by night.\n\nElsa felt that she could not stay in bed another moment. She sprang out\nand went again to the row of dolls. Looking out of the window, she saw\na shadow pass across the thin lace curtains of the Warrens\u2019 library\nwindows,--a shadow which she knew must be Miss Ruth\u2019s.\n\nA desperate hope of comfort flashed into Elsa\u2019s mind. Without a\nmoment\u2019s delay, she slipped her little bare feet into her white,\nfur-lined bedroom shoes, put on the thick, long, white bathrobe\nwhich hung over a chair, and softly opened her door. Then with a\nquick-beating heart but without any thought of fear, she crept down\nthe stairs, took a great fur cape of her grandmother\u2019s from the hall,\nundid the front door latch, left the door ajar, and ran down the steps,\nin the faint moonlight, and across the dry grass of the lawn to the\nWarrens\u2019 house.\n\nRuth Warren had just put out the lights in the library and was\nfastening back the curtains when she saw the strange little\nfigure speeding toward her house. \u201cFairy or elf or child,--who\nis it, I wonder?\u201d she said to herself. There was something so\ndistressful-looking in the little hurrying figure that she did not wait\nfor the bell to ring.\n\n\u201cWhy, Elsa dear, what is the trouble?\u201d she asked, drawing the child\ninto the hall.\n\nElsa clung to Miss Ruth, sobbing in heart-broken fashion.\n\n\u201cHas anything happened to your grandmother?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, O, no,--not that--I\u2019ve lost--\u201d but sobs drowned the words.\n\n\u201cHave your cry out, dear, and then tell me about it.\u201d Miss Ruth led\nElsa into the library, drew a chair in front of the fireplace where the\ncoals were yet glowing brightly, unfastened the heavy fur cape and took\nthe slender little white-gowned figure into her arms.\n\nThe comfort of being told to cry all she wanted to, and of having kind\narms around her soon quieted Elsa\u2019s sobs.\n\nWith only a little break in her voice, now and then, she told the story\nof her loss, feeling, with a child\u2019s sure intuition, that Miss Ruth\nunderstood. \u201cIt is--so hard,\u201d she said with a final sigh, hiding her\nface against the friendly shoulder; \u201cI have had Bettina ever since\nnurse went away.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know it is hard, dear,\u201d Miss Ruth softly stroked the yellow hair.\n\u201cWhat shall we do?\u201d\n\nThat \u201cwe\u201d was so comforting.\n\n\u201cI--I s\u2019pose I must get along without her,\u201d said Elsa, sitting upright.\nThe quivering lips and tear-dimmed violet-gray eyes told the grief in\nher heart, but her bravery was conquering now.\n\n\u201cHow old are you, Elsa?\u201d asked Miss Ruth.\n\n\u201cAlmost twelve.\u201d\n\nMiss Ruth wisely waited.\n\nThere was a tender apology in Elsa\u2019s voice when she spoke again:\n\u201cGrandmother didn\u2019t know about Bettina. She doesn\u2019t know how lonesome I\nam.\u201d\n\nThen Elsa turned and looked eagerly into Miss Ruth\u2019s face: \u201cIs your\nroom over the library?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, right over this room.\u201d\n\nElsa slipped off from Miss Ruth\u2019s lap to the arm of the chair: \u201cI--I\nthink I could go back now and go to sleep--without Bettina--if you\nwould just leave one curtain up a little wee bit so as I could know\nyou--you thought about me--once in awhile,\u201d she said slowly. \u201cI--I\nshouldn\u2019t feel so lonely then,--\u2019cause from where my bed is I can look\nright out to the window where there is a tall green vase--I thought\nmaybe it was your room.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will leave that curtain up a little way every night, Elsa, and I\nwill put a rose in that vase to-night, especially for you, so that you\ncan see the shadow on the curtain,\u201d said Miss Ruth, rising.\n\n\u201cO, will you?\u201d The silvery voice was eloquent with gratitude. As Elsa\nraised her head she suddenly felt very tired and sleepy. Indeed, the\nchild was almost worn out.\n\n\u201cNow, Elsa, I am going to bring you a glass of milk and then go home\nwith you,\u201d said Miss Ruth. \u201cJust think how alarmed your grandmother\nwould be if she should miss you.\u201d\n\n\u201cO, I know she hasn\u2019t missed me,\u201d exclaimed Elsa. \u201cShe never thinks\nabout me, I am sure, after I go to bed.\u201d And Miss Ruth left the child\nsitting up with shining eyes and a bright red spot on each cheek.\n\nElsa was drinking the milk just as the clock struck ten. Quite as if\nher grandmother had told her to come home at exactly ten o\u2019clock,\nshe slipped down from the chair, pulled the great fur cape over her\nshoulders, and waited in the hall, a brave little figure with a flushed\nface, while Miss Ruth put on her red golf cape.\n\nMiss Ruth fastened the long fur cape securely around Elsa,--for the\nnight air was chilling cold,--opened the front door, and, before the\nchild realized it, took her up, a soft, furry bundle and a heavy\none,--and ran with her across the strip of lawn. The door of the\nDanforth house was ajar.\n\n\u201cHush, be very quiet, dear, or we shall wake your grandmother,\u201d she\nsaid, dropping the furry bundle on the top step of the Danforth veranda\nand kissing the warm, sleepy face. \u201cLock the door safely, and go\nstraight to bed and to sleep.\u201d\n\nBut Elsa stopped long enough to whisper into Miss Ruth\u2019s ear: \u201cThank\nyou ever and ever so much.\u201d\n\nAlmost as soon as Elsa had put down the latch, left the fur cape in\nthe hall and crept up-stairs to bed, she saw a light in Miss Ruth\u2019s\nroom and one window shade raised just a little. Even while her eyes\nwere fixed upon the shadow of a rose against the curtain, she fell fast\nasleep and dreamed that her Uncle Ned came in the shape of a great gray\nowl, and rescued her out of a white-walled dungeon.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nWHAT THE WOODS GAVE\n\n The world is so full of a number of things,\n I am sure we should all be as happy as kings.\n\n --_Robert Louis Stevenson._\n\n\n\u201cI WISH we could walk out to the Convalescent Home this afternoon,\u201d\nwere Betty\u2019s first words when the three girls reached Miss Ruth\u2019s house\nthe next Friday, all very much out of breath from their haste. \u201cI am\ntired, school has been so dull and stupid,\u201d said Betty, \u201cand my head\naches. Please can we go?\u201d Betty, from at first not wanting to go to the\nConvalescent Home, now wanted very much to go, for, since then, Alice\nhad been telling her more about it.\n\n\u201cWould you like to take the walk this afternoon, Elsa?\u201d Miss Ruth\ninquired. \u201cIs your grandmother willing for you to go?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, Miss Ruth,\u201d replied Elsa; \u201cI asked grandmother about it this\nnoon, and she said if you thought it was all right, I might go any\ntime.\u201d\n\nMiss Ruth turned next to Alice: \u201cDoes it suit you, Alice?\u201d\n\nAlice also was eager for the visit, so Miss Ruth decided that there\ncould be no better time. The three girls were tired and fagged from\ntheir school, and fresh air would do them more good than staying\nindoors. The afternoon was sunshiny, the ground bare of snow, and\noutdoors looked very tempting. And it was, moreover, the day after\nThanksgiving, when children do not always feel at their best.\n\n\u201cWe will take a lunch with us,--unless you would rather have it now,\u201d\nsuggested Miss Ruth. As no one seemed to be hungry now, the lunch plan\nmet with general favour.\n\n\u201cExcuse me then,\u201d said Miss Ruth, \u201cand I will have Sarah put something\nin a box for us.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I will run home and get my thick coat,\u201d said Betty, who had worn\nonly a light jacket. \u201cIt may be cold coming back, and such a tender\nlittle plant as I am mustn\u2019t take cold.\u201d In fact, however, Betty wanted\nto tell her mother where she was going, as she did not have permission\nfor this particular day, as Elsa had.\n\nSarah Judd sat in the tidy kitchen knitting a white stocking, her\nneedles keeping time with her bobbing curls, her black cat on the\ntable by her elbow. At Ruth Warren\u2019s words: \u201cI want a lunch for my\nlittle people, Sarah,\u201d the woman snapped out: \u201cI declare for it, I\u2019m\nglad you are goin\u2019 to do it yourself. I\u2019m tired of waitin\u2019 on a pack of\nchildren that make so many crumbs--\u201d\n\n\u201cNow, Sarah, you know you like having the children come here,\u201d\ninterrupted Miss Ruth. \u201cWe are going for a walk to-day, as it happens.\nIs there bread enough for sandwiches?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes;\u201d Sarah made her needles go very fast.\n\n\u201cAnd cookies enough for four children?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes.\u201d Then Sarah, who could not make her needles go any faster,\njumped up with stiff quickness, exclaiming: \u201cLand sakes! let me do\nit. I know what children like; you go \u2019way an\u2019 I\u2019ll surprise you and\nthem, too,\u201d--which was exactly what the mistress of the house had been\nwaiting for Sarah to say.\n\nShe ran up-stairs to tell her Aunt Virginia good-bye. When she came\ninto the library again, she found that Betty had returned and that the\nthree girls were standing around the centre-table where the dolls were,\ntrying to decide which they should dress next.\n\n\u201cGirls, Aunt Virginia wants to see you, because she has heard so much\nabout the Club,\u201d said Miss Ruth.\n\n\u201cYou haven\u2019t told her the name, have you?\u201d Betty asked anxiously, as\nthey followed Miss Ruth up-stairs.\n\n\u201cO, no! I just call it \u2018the Club\u2019 when I speak of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s the way I do,\u201d Betty said, encouragingly, running on ahead.\n\nMiss Virginia Warren was accustomed to take extremely good care of\nherself. To-day she was sitting in a large easy chair with soft\ncushions all around her and a dark blue afghan over her knees. She\nwas about sixty years old, a large, rather heavy-looking woman, very\npale because she did not like fresh air in her room and never went\nout-of-doors in cold weather; and indeed, she took as little exercise\nas possible all times of the year, because she lived in constant fear\nof bringing on heart trouble. Her face, though white, was very fair,\nand her brown eyes--in colour and in a quick way she had of raising\nthem--were like Ruth Warren\u2019s, but there the likeness ended, for the\naunt\u2019s eyes had a wilful expression; her mouth also had a selfish droop\nat the corners.\n\nMiss Virginia was dressed in a light blue wrapper, much trimmed with\nwhite lace. She shook hands with each of the three girls,--she had\nlarge, handsome hands, but without much life in them,--then she looked\nthe girls over as if they were a row of dolls.\n\n\u201cThey seem like bright little children,\u201d she said slowly, turning to\nRuth Warren, her voice sounding as if she lifted a weight with her\nchest at each breath; \u201cbut they look so well and strong and so full of\nlife,\u201d--here Betty stopped twisting herself,--\u201cso full of life, Ruth,\u201d\nwent on the slow voice, \u201cthat I should think they would tire you all\nout.\u201d\n\nMiss Virginia, who had leaned forward slightly while she spoke, sank\nback among her pillows. \u201cThey may go now,\u201d she said, with a wave of her\nlarge, white hand in the direction of the embarrassed children; \u201cI am\ntired already,\u201d she repeated, \u201cand you know almost anything brings on\nheart trouble.\u201d\n\nRuth Warren had heard this remark hundreds of times in the three\nyears since she had offered a home to this aunt who was alone in the\nworld; but she was unfailingly kind to the fanciful woman. \u201cYes, Aunt\nVirginia, you must be careful,\u201d she said, motioning for the children to\ngo down-stairs.\n\n\u201cRemember, Aunt Virginia, Sarah will come to you instantly any moment\nyou ring for her,\u201d said Ruth Warren, stopping to arrange her aunt\u2019s\npillows more comfortably, and kissing her on the forehead. But the\nslow yet vigorous voice followed her out of the door: \u201cI am growing so\nfeeble, Ruth, that I soon must have a regular nurse to stay with me,\nespecially when you are out.\u201d\n\nThe three girls were unusually quiet when Ruth Warren joined them, for\nher aunt had made them feel as if they were very troublesome.\n\n\u201cWhat shall we do about the dolls\u2019 dresses, our work to-day?\u201d the Club\npresident asked cheerfully.\n\n\u201cWe might each make two at home,\u201d Betty found voice to say, for the\nClub: \u201cAlice might take hers now, and Elsa and I can call for ours.\u201d\n\nSo Alice chose two pink-and-white gingham dresses, rolled them into a\nlittle bundle and put them into the pocket of her blue coat, while Elsa\nand Betty looked on, embarrassed and quiet, even now.\n\nBut when Miss Ruth had put on the brown fur-trimmed coat and hat which\nmatched her brown dress, and the three girls were once out in the open\nair, the shadow cast upon their spirits by Miss Virginia vanished\nentirely. Each one begged to carry the straw hand-bag containing the\nlunch, and they finally agreed to carry it by turns, beginning with\nElsa, the oldest.\n\n\u201cYou have to pass my house to go to the Convalescent Home, and there\nare dogs out that way,\u201d suggested Alice, running on ahead and looking\nback at the others.\n\n\u201cI will take a stick,\u201d said Elsa.\n\n\u201cI will take my feet,\u201d exclaimed Betty.\n\n\u201cWe can stop at my house and ask Ben to go with us,\u201d Alice said. \u201cHe\nhad to hurry home from school to do errands for mamma, but I think he\nwill have them finished now. He knows all the dogs, and they all know\nhim.\u201d\n\nA few moments\u2019 walk took the Club into Berkeley Avenue, a long,\nwooded road curving ahead. Soon the surroundings grew more and more\ncountry-like. The road ran past wide farm-fields and comfortable homes\nwith lazy cows standing in the barn-yards and busy hens scratching in\nthe deserted gardens. Along the roadside, tall oak and chestnut trees\nmet in noble arches; all around was the faint rustle of dried leaves\nand the soft swaying of bending branches.\n\n\u201cHow far is it to where we are going?\u201d asked Betty, impatiently,\nturning to Alice.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a half-mile from my house,\u201d answered Alice, \u201cand we are almost\nto my house. It\u2019s that little one with a lot of windows.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have come more than a half-mile,\u201d said Miss Ruth, \u201cso it must be\nBetty\u2019s turn to carry the straw bag.\u201d\n\nBetty took the bag, and darted along the road, here and there, to the\ngreat risk of the lunch.\n\nThey were soon in front of the small wooden house, well back from the\nroad, and having a great many windows full of flowers. Ben, with his\nshirt-sleeves rolled up, was splitting kindling-wood at the side of the\nhouse. He came running down to meet them.\n\n\u201cGoing to the Convalescing Home? Yes, I can go, too,\u201d he said, pulling\ndown his shirt-sleeves. \u201cI\u2019ve done the errands, and was splitting\nkindlings just for fun.\u201d\n\n\u201cWon\u2019t you please come into my house, Miss Ruth?\u201d asked Alice, shyly.\n\u201cMamma said she wanted the Club to meet here sometime. She would like\nto see you now, I know.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe will come, sometime, Alice; thank you,\u201d replied Miss Ruth, \u201cbut not\nto-day. We have to be back home before dark.\u201d\n\nSo Alice ran in to speak to her mother and to leave the dolls\u2019\ndresses, just as Ben came hurrying out, buttoning his tight little blue\njacket.\n\n\u201cI might hitch up Jerry to the delivery wagon and take you that way,\u201d\nsuggested Ben.\n\n\u201cNo, walking is more fun,\u201d said Betty, who always knew exactly what she\nwanted to do. A moment later Alice ran toward them, waving good-bye to\nthe young-looking woman who stood in the doorway. Betty flourished the\nlunch-bag wildly in the air, while Miss Ruth and Elsa waved friendly\ngreetings and Ben shouted farewells.\n\n\u201cWhat a splendid place to live in, Alice, with the woods so near,\u201d\nsaid Elsa. \u201cI love to walk in the woods and go hunting into bushes,\nand discover things.\u201d Elsa looked with eager eyes at the clumps of\nscrub-oak and low bushes ahead, beyond the stone wall.\n\n\u201cThere are snakes there sometimes, in warm weather,\u201d said timid Alice.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m not afraid of snakes,\u201d Elsa said.\n\n\u201cI love \u2019em,--the cunning little ones,\u201d cried Betty; which was true,\nfor Betty loved almost everything that was alive.\n\n\u201cI will tell you a very short story about a friend of mine,\u201d said Miss\nRuth. The children fell into line at once, Betty and Elsa on the\nright, Ben and Alice on the left.\n\n\u201cI was in a small country town one summer with this friend,\u201d Miss Ruth\nbegan, \u201cand some one asked her to take a Sunday-school class of boys\nwho were full of mischief and fun. For awhile, that first Sunday,\neverything went well; then, just as my friend was explaining the\nlesson to the boys at one side, she felt something drop into her lap,\nand turning, she saw a little green snake. Those boys looked at her,\nexpecting at least that she would scream. The snake wriggled and tried\nto escape, but the boy who had brought him was too quick, and grasped\nthe snake; and he was so surprised when the teacher said: \u2018That isn\u2019t\nthe way to hold him. Don\u2019t you see you are making him uncomfortable?\u2019\nSo she took hold of him.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe boy or the snake?\u201d asked Ben, quick as a flash.\n\n\u201cThe snake,\u201d said Miss Ruth, answering the laugh in Ben\u2019s eyes. \u201cAnd\nshe held him--the snake, I mean--for ten or fifteen minutes, talking\nabout him until those boys thought she was the nicest teacher they had\never had.\u201d\n\n\u201cCould you have done that, Miss Ruth?\u201d asked Betty.\n\nBut just then a large black and white hound bounded from the porch of a\nhouse they were passing and ran with great leaps toward them, baying in\na deep voice.\n\n\u201cTinker! Tinker!\u201d called Ben, darting forward. Alice drew around to the\nother side of Miss Ruth, while Elsa and even Betty stepped a little\nbehind.\n\n\u201cTinker!\u201d exclaimed Ben again, in a steady tone. \u201cCome here! Don\u2019t you\nbark at my Black Lace Lady!\u201d\n\nThe great hound, on hearing Ben\u2019s voice, had stopped short. Now,\nwith eyes cast down, he walked meekly to Ben, who put out his hand\nand stroked the long, soft ears, saying: \u201cBad old Tinker, aren\u2019t you\nashamed of yourself?\u201d\n\nAs Alice had said, Ben was friends with all the dogs on the road. The\nhound, after walking a few steps with Ben\u2019s hand on his head, turned\nand went toward his home.\n\n\u201cI wasn\u2019t a bit afraid,\u201d said Betty, coming forward again.\n\nBen gave a low whistle to express his thoughts. The others were\npolitely silent.\n\n\u201cWhat was it you called Miss Ruth, Ben?\u201d Betty asked quickly.\n\n\u201cBlack Lace Lady,\u201d Ben answered, \u201cbecause she had on a black lace\ndress the first time I ever saw her, and it was pretty.\u201d\n\n\u201cBen always names people,\u201d said Alice. \u201cHe calls me Peggy most of the\ntime.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is your name for me, Ben?\u201d asked Betty, dancing on ahead.\n\n\u201cYou?\u201d Ben looked at her brown curls and bright eyes for a half moment\nand then said: \u201cI am going to call you the Glad Girl.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s nice,\u201d Betty said, with an extra swing of the lunch-bag.\n\u201cMother calls me Sunshine sometimes--and sometimes the Tornado. What\u2019s\nyour name for Elsa?\u201d\n\nBen thought a moment: \u201cI haven\u2019t any name for Elsa yet: I am saving\nthat up.\u201d Then he gazed at Miss Ruth anxiously: \u201cIsn\u2019t it Alice\u2019s turn\nto carry that straw bag?\u201d Alice had found time to explain to him about\nthe lunch. \u201cWe can take shorter turns now, \u2019cause I can carry it, too.\u201d\n\nSo the bag was given into Alice\u2019s keeping.\n\n\u201cTell us about the place where we are going, Miss Ruth, please?\u201d asked\nElsa, who was enjoying the woods walk so much that she had kept quiet\nmost of the way.\n\n\u201cTo begin with,\u201d replied Miss Ruth, \u201cthere is a large hospital in the\ncity, especially for children; but large as it is, there are always\nmore sick children to be taken into it than there is room for. When the\nchildren in the hospital are getting well, they are brought out here to\nthe Convalescent Home where they can be cared for before going to their\nown homes,--which are sometimes very poor homes. And the life out here,\nwith the sunshine and the fresh air and good care, makes the children\never and ever so much stronger. There are about seventy or eighty\nchildren here all the time.\u201d\n\n\u201cPoor little children,\u201d said Elsa. Betty was walking along quietly now,\nand Ben had taken Alice\u2019s blue-mittened hand in his.\n\n\u201cYes, poor little children,\u201d Miss Ruth repeated. \u201cThe happy part of it\nall is, though, that the children are growing stronger. But just think\nhow they have to go without the playing and running about you all can\nhave. Once a little girl, seven years old, whom I saw out here, and who\ncouldn\u2019t walk, said: \u2018I used to play when I was young.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s the house now,\u201d exclaimed Alice, as they came within sight of\na large red-brick building with many red chimneys, situated quite far\nback from the highway.\n\nJust where the road turned toward the comfortable-looking red house\nstood a tall, wooden sign with the words:\n\n CONVALESCENT HOME\n OF THE CHILDREN\u2019S HOSPITAL\n VISITORS ALWAYS WELCOME\n\n\u201cDoesn\u2019t that sound pleasant?\u201d said Betty, reading it aloud. \u201cIt makes\nyou feel as though they really want you to come.\u201d\n\nMiss Ruth had been here many times before, so she sent a message to the\nhead-nurse by the maid who opened the front door: \u201cTell Miss Hartwell\nthat we would like to see her when she is at liberty, and that I have\ntaken my young friends out to the playroom. How many children have you\nhere this week?\u201d\n\n\u201cAbout seventy-five, Miss Warren,\u201d replied the maid, conducting the\nlittle party through the large, airy hall with its light yellow-green\nwalls and dark wood finish, and along a wide passageway to the playroom.\n\nThe three girls went on in silence, except that Elsa said to Miss Ruth:\n\u201cWhat a lovely, clean place it is!\u201d\n\nSoon they found themselves in a large room--which seemed almost like\noutdoors, it was so light and pleasant--and in the midst of a great\nmany children, most of whom were upon one crutch or two crutches, or\nhad bandages upon their feet, arms, or even their whole bodies.\n\n\u201cThere are over forty children here in the playroom,\u201d said the\nwhite-capped nurse who had stepped forward to answer Miss Ruth\u2019s\ngreeting. \u201cThe stronger children have been out-of-doors in the fresh\nair;--but see, they are coming in now,\u201d she added. \u201cMiss Hartwell has\nthem come in half an hour before their supper time.\u201d\n\nSliding glass doors led from the playroom upon a wide, unroofed piazza.\nAnd now, through the open doorway, a tall, slender woman led the long\nline of children, who limped or pushed themselves along on go-carts;\nonly a few, even, of these stronger children could walk in the\nstraight, free fashion in which ordinary boys and girls walk, when they\nhave full use of their limbs.\n\n\u201cHow happy they all look,\u201d said Elsa; and indeed, the children\u2019s faces,\nthough in many cases thin and pathetic-looking, were sweet, patient and\nsunshiny.\n\n\u201cThey always look just the same, every time I come here,\u201d Alice said;\nthen she ran off to speak with a little girl whom she remembered. Ben\nwas already in a corner, surrounded by a group of boys.\n\nWhile Miss Ruth went on talking with the head-nurse, Betty and Elsa\nforgot their shyness,--which was easy, because the children came\ncrowding around them, with lively interest. To Betty, who was used to\nher own baby brother, the most natural thing to do seemed to be to\nsit down on the floor and play with the smallest ones. Elsa, heeding\nthe \u201cGo walk! Go walk!\u201d of two little girls, wandered away with one\nholding fast to each hand. When the little girls grew tired, as they\ndid quickly, Elsa came back to Miss Ruth\u2019s side, with shining, eloquent\ngray eyes: \u201cThey are so friendly, the dear little things,\u201d she said to\nMiss Ruth, then walked slowly away, with two other girls, to a group of\nchildren who were strapped down to go-carts, and flat upon their backs.\n\nA mite of five years, with round blue eyes and a pale, patient face,\nheld out both hands toward Elsa\u2019s sunshiny yellow hair, saying \u201cPitty,\nO, pitty!\u201d Just beyond, a little boy was turning his head toward the\nwindow. \u201cWhat are you looking at?\u201d Elsa asked, as she drew near.\n\n\u201cAt the sky; it\u2019s nice up there,\u201d the boy answered contentedly.\n\nBy his side, on the next go-cart, a small girl was singing to herself a\nnursery-verse Elsa knew; so she stopped and joined in the singing:\n\n \u201cCome, little leaves,\u201d said the wind one day,\n \u201cCome over the meadow with me and play;\n Put on your dresses of red and gold,\n For winter is come and the days grow cold.\u201d\n\nElsa\u2019s baby companions, tired of walking, dropped down in little\npatient heaps upon the floor, saying in soft voices: \u201cSing more! More\nsong!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d\n\nMiss Ruth turned at Elsa\u2019s exclamation and saw her kneeling by the side\nof a child of about seven years, who was hugging an old, battered china\ndoll. The child was strapped to a frame which held her body straight,\nbecause her back was not like other children\u2019s. \u201cLet me hold your dolly\na moment,\u201d Elsa was saying, although Ruth Warren could not hear the\nwords.\n\n\u201cNo! No! Dirl take dolly \u2019way!\u201d cried the little girl, who had a ruddy\nface and dark, sparkling eyes.\n\nMiss Ruth, still talking with the head-nurse, watched Elsa, unheeded by\nher.\n\n\u201cWhere did you get the dolly?\u201d Elsa asked, longing to take her old\ndoll into her arms, for she had instantly known her own Bettina.\n\n\u201cLady dave her to me,\u201d said the child.\n\n\u201cWhat is the dolly\u2019s name?\u201d asked Elsa.\n\n\u201cDolly.\u201d The child looked up solemnly.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t you want to have a name for her?\u201d Elsa asked, after a half\nmoment of waiting.\n\n\u201cVhat?\u201d asked the child, clasping her tiny hands the tighter around the\ndoll.\n\n\u201cName her Bettina,\u201d said Elsa, softly.\n\n\u201c\u2019Tina,\u201d repeated the little girl. \u201cDat\u2019s dood name. Dat\u2019s nursey\u2019s\nname.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere is nursey?\u201d Elsa sprang up from her knees and looked around the\nroom at the nurses. All the faces were strange to her. \u201cWhere is she?\u201d\nElsa asked again, almost in tears.\n\n\u201cDon \u2019way,\u201d said the wee little girl. And, leaving her staring with two\nvery bright eyes at the doll, Elsa went back to Miss Ruth\u2019s side and\ntook hold of her hand tightly.\n\n\u201cYou ought to be here some day when new children come,\u201d said the\nhead-nurse kindly, noticing Elsa\u2019s sober face, \u201cand see how those who\nhave been here longest crowd around and tell the new children about the\nnice things they do here. It makes the new children feel happy and at\nhome, immediately, so that they are hardly ever homesick. Sometimes\nafter the children are well, they don\u2019t want to go home. One little\ngirl used to run and hide every time we spoke of her going home.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t wonder,\u201d Elsa said quickly. \u201cIt\u2019s so pleasant here for them.\u201d\n\n\u201cWould you like to see where almost all the children sleep?\u201d asked the\nhead-nurse, now that Elsa\u2019s face had brightened.\n\n\u201cYes, indeed,\u201d Elsa said. Then Miss Ruth called the other members of\nthe Club, and they followed Miss Hartwell into one after another of\nthe three rooms, or \u201cshacks,\u201d which reached out, like arms, from the\nplayroom; and Miss Hartwell showed them how the windows and even the\ndoors could be moved so as to let plenty of fresh air into the shacks;\nshe said that the children never complained of feeling cold, for they\nwere bundled up in flannel clothing and hoods at night. Some of the\nchildren limped along, following the visitors from one shack into the\nnext, and listening, nodded their heads with great interest while Miss\nHartwell made the explanation.\n\n\u201cYou would enjoy coming here sometime on a kindergarten afternoon,\u201d\ncontinued the head-nurse. \u201cWe have kindergarten teaching three times\na week--Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday afternoon--and no baby is\ntoo small and no child too helpless, to take some part, real or\nmake-believe, in the pretty plays.\u201d\n\nImmediately, one little boy, who had heard the word \u201ckindergarten\u201d held\nup a piece of cardboard which had outlined upon it a yellow carrot with\na bright green top. And they all praised it.\n\n\u201cNow I will show you the dining-room,\u201d said Miss Hartwell, leading the\nway back through the long passage and the pleasant hall. And, then,\nif Elsa had dared, she would have questioned about the nurse named\nBettina; but Elsa was a shy little girl, and before she found courage\nfor the question, they were in the large, many-windowed dining-room\nwith its tall, handsome plants and wide fireplace, and Miss Hartwell\nwas showing them the pretty dishes with red, green, and blue figures,\nfor the children\u2019s use. The room was filled with low tables surrounded\nby low chairs, and on the tables were plates piled with buttered bread\nand crackers, while in front of each place was a large cupful of milk\nand a dish of apple-sauce.\n\n\u201cThe children have supper very early on winter afternoons,\u201d Miss\nHartwell said. She had hardly spoken these words when the long\nprocession of children began coming into the dining-room,--the\nstronger ones first, sometimes leading or helping the weaker ones, then\nthose who could not walk, pushing themselves along on their go-carts.\nLast of all came the nurses with the youngest and weakest children.\n\nThe visitors drew somewhat to one side and watched the children as they\ntook their places or were drawn up to the tables.\n\nAt a signal from the head-nurse after each little white bib was tied\ninto place, the children began singing in thin, sweet voices:\n\n \u201cThank Him, thank Him,\n All ye little children;\n Thank Him, thank Him,\n God is love.\u201d\n\nElsa\u2019s and Betty\u2019s eyes filled with tears; the children\u2019s grace touched\nAlice\u2019s and Ben\u2019s hearts into tenderness, too, although the twins had\nheard it before; then they all dried their eyes, smiling through joyful\ntears, as the children began to eat their supper.\n\n\u201cSometimes we have gingerbread for supper,\u201d said a sweet-faced child\nwho was lying on a go-cart near the visitors, and whom one of the\nnurses was feeding.\n\n\u201cTum aden,\u201d cried the bright-eyed little girl who, as the visitors\nturned to go, was hugging an old china doll, and patiently waiting her\nturn to be fed.\n\n\u201cYou cunning baby!\u201d said Elsa, stooping to kiss the battered doll, once\nher own.\n\nSo half-laughing, half-crying, the children passed out, their hearts\noverflowing with a kind of painful pleasure.\n\nThey kept unusually quiet for the first few moments as they walked\naway. Elsa was the first one to speak. \u201cI want to come again,\u201d she said\nin a wistful voice. It had been hard for her to leave her precious old\ndoll behind; and besides, the children interested her greatly.\n\n\u201cSo do I,\u201d Betty joined in quickly. \u201cIt makes me feel queer, but I like\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cI love to come,\u201d said Alice. \u201cSometimes we take things out to the\nchildren; and you\u2019d be s\u2019prised the way they give up to each other.\nMamma says they are the most unselfishest children she ever saw.\u201d\n\nBen was trotting along ahead, jumping every now and then into the air.\nSuddenly he stopped and said in a serious voice: \u201cI am glad my two\nlegs are whole! My,--but it\u2019s hard for those boys, though.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s just as hard for the girls,\u201d exclaimed Betty.\n\n\u201cNo,--because boys need to race around more than girls; it keeps them\nfrom exploding,\u201d declared Ben, taking an extra high jump.\n\n\u201cI know a short way through the woods,\u201d he added, stopping where a\nfoot-path led from the left-hand side of the road. \u201cIt comes out just\nbeyond our house; it\u2019s pretty, too, and I can take you to a fine place\nto eat the lunch.\u201d Ben was growing hungry.\n\nMiss Ruth had kept the lunch-bag, insisting that it was her turn to\ncarry it now. They all agreed to follow Ben\u2019s suggestion; and indeed it\nwas delightful to be walking along under broad-spreading trees through\nwhose branches the late afternoon sunlight struck golden lances. There\nwas an almost perfect stillness in the woods, except for the occasional\ncalling of crows overhead among the tree-tops or the Jay! Jay! of that\nhandsome robber, the blue-jay.\n\n\u201cHow does the Convalescent Home have money enough to take care of all\nthose children?\u201d asked Elsa, sliding along, on the smooth carpet of\npine-needles, toward Miss Ruth.\n\n\u201cThe managers, the ladies who have charge of the Home, give money and\ntheir friends give money, to provide the clothing--shoes and stockings\nand nightgowns and little flannel dresses and everything,--besides\npaying the nurses\u2019 wages and for the medicines. It takes a great deal\nof money; and ever so many more children could be brought here and\ncured if there were more money to provide care and clothing for them.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps my grandmother will give something,\u201d Elsa said hesitatingly.\n\u201cO, I know,\u201d she added, her face brightening, \u201cUncle Ned will help. I\nwill ask him.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am glad we are going to give the children some dolls; they didn\u2019t\nhave many,\u201d said Betty, rustling on ahead through the piled-up dry\nleaves.\n\n\u201cWe might earn some money--our Club, I mean,\u201d suggested Alice.\n\n\u201cWe will give them all the dolls and playthings we can for Christmas,\u201d\nsaid Elsa, putting her arm around Alice; \u201cthen, when we start a new\nclub, we can maybe have it an Easter Club, and see how much money we\ncan earn for those poor little children.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlice and I had our names printed in the Convalescing Home report last\nyear,\u201d Ben called back over his shoulder; he was leading the way. \u201cIt\nsaid this: \u2018From Ben and Alice, a music-box;\u2019 we gave them one we had,\u201d\nhe explained.\n\n\u201cWill the dolls we give and the name of our Club be printed in the\nreport, Miss Ruth?\u201d asked Betty excitedly.\n\n\u201cYes, that is the custom,\u201d answered Miss Ruth.\n\n\u201cBut then everybody would know the name,\u201d objected Betty, walking\nslowly on.\n\n\u201cNever mind,\u201d Alice said, putting her arm into Betty\u2019s. \u201cWe can name\nthe Club over again after Christmas.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd we wouldn\u2019t want to call an Easter Club by the same name as a\nChristmas Club,\u201d said Elsa.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the name of the Club, anyway?\u201d Ben turned to ask. He was\nmarching on ahead, but not losing anything that was said. \u201cAlice told\nme I couldn\u2019t know it till I belonged, but I belong now.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, you belong now, after having this afternoon\u2019s meeting with us,\u201d\nsaid Miss Ruth. \u201cTell him the name, Alice.\u201d\n\nSo Alice ran ahead, put her arm around Ben\u2019s neck, and whispered the\nname into his ear,--although there was no need of secrecy, since they\nall were members.\n\n\u201cChristmas Makers\u2019 Club!\u201d Ben said critically. \u201cThat sounds pretty\nimportant, as though you thought you were going to make Christmas.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut we are,\u201d cried Elsa; \u201cwe are going to help make it for the\nconvalescent children.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd for ourselves, too,\u201d put in Betty, who had many plans in her busy\nbrain.\n\n\u201cAren\u2019t you going to help make it for anybody, Ben?\u201d asked Miss Ruth.\n\n\u201cO,--yes,\u201d replied Ben, with the air of one who did not tell all of his\nsecrets.\n\n\u201cHe can make the beautifulest things,\u201d said Alice, ever ready to\npraise her brother.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll make a few tops and some kites for those little chaps,\u201d Ben said\nmodestly, slowing his steps in order to walk with the others, for here\nthe wood-path widened. \u201cI used to think I would be a carpenter when I\ngrow up, but I\u2019ve changed my mind.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you want to do, Ben?\u201d asked Miss Ruth, looking at the\nlively-faced boy whose head came almost to her shoulder.\n\nBen was a steady-minded, faithful lad, but he had a great imagination.\n\u201cI am going to do the way they do in fairy stories,\u201d he said; \u201cI am\ngoing to get an old witch to help, and go to an island where there is\na hidden treasure and come back and spend it. And I shall have a pony\nand a guinea pig and a garden of my own, and then I shall make the King\na great many presents, and marry the Princess and have plenty of people\nto amuse me and read to me, and I shall go to bed when I choose and eat\nall the candy I want and have turkey every day, and I shall conquer all\nthe world,--all except the Americans,--and my mother will be Queen--\u201d\nHere Ben stopped for want of breath rather than for want of imagination.\n\n\u201cThat is enough to take away one\u2019s breath, Ben,\u201d remarked Miss Ruth.\n\u201cWhat do you want to be, Alice? You must all tell.\u201d\n\n\u201cI want to be a nurse and take care of the convalescent children,\u201d\nAlice said shyly.\n\n\u201cYou will be a princess if you are my sister,\u201d exclaimed Ben.\n\n\u201cWhat about you, Betty?\u201d Miss Ruth asked next.\n\n\u201cMe! I want to be good and beautiful and sensible,\u201d said Betty, very\nslowly, for her; \u201cand, of course, I want a houseful of horses and a\nhouseful of dogs.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd you, Elsa?\u201d\n\nElsa was all ready for Miss Ruth\u2019s question: \u201cI am going to be the\nmother of five children and make them very, very happy,\u201d she said with\na most radiant expression on her flower-like face.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s stop here and build a bower to eat the lunch in,\u201d exclaimed\nBetty, for all at once they came to a turn in the path and an open\nspace, carpeted with soft, reddish-brown pine-needles, and surrounded\nby tall, straight tree trunks.\n\n\u201cWalk on a minute more,\u201d urged Ben; \u201cI know a lots better place.\u201d\n\nSoon another turn in the path brought them within sight of a hut, which\nthe dense trees had hidden,--a low, wooden cabin, built of logs with\nthe bark left on. In front of the hut was a wooden platform with a long\nseat, and above the seat, one wide window of many small panes of glass.\nIt was a place to attract and charm any child.\n\nWith shouts of excitement, Betty, Elsa, and Alice, followed by Ben,\nleaped to the platform and the girls pressed their faces against the\nwindow, full of curiosity to see the inside of the hut.\n\n\u201cNobody lives here,\u201d explained Ben, turning to Miss Ruth, who was only\na moment behind the others. \u201cSome boys\u2019 father had the hut built for\nthem two-three years ago, but they have grown up and got tired of it.\nThey let me have the key,\u201d he added, proudly taking it from his pocket\nand fitting it into the door.\n\n\u201cI have been here before with Ben, but not very often,\u201d said Alice,\nstanding aside with her brother to let the others go into the hut first.\n\nInside, the delighted children saw a room about as large as a\ngood-sized pantry, and in this room a round table, three stools, a\nchair, and a tiny, rather rusty stove; opening from this room was a\nsmaller one, with two cot-beds. The whole place was clean and in order,\nfor Ben had taken great delight not only in having the key but in\ncaring for the hut.\n\nThere was a sweet, dry odour of pine-wood about the place, and the\nafternoon sun had made the large room quite warm. \u201cWe must surely have\nour lunch here,\u201d said Miss Ruth, \u201cthough we must be quick about it, for\nthe sunlight will soon be gone.\u201d\n\n\u201cJust seats enough to go around,\u201d said Ben; \u201cthree stools for the\ngirls, a chair for Miss Ruth--excuse me, Miss Ruth, I ought to have\nsaid you first,--and I\u2019ll get the wooden box that I keep in the bushes\nfor rubbish.\u201d\n\nMiss Ruth quickly spread a white napkin over the little table and took\nout the lunch,--first a great many ginger cookies, and these were\ncarefully laid at one side; buttered thin biscuit next, three apiece,\nwith slices of cold turkey laid in between, and lastly, some nuts and\nraisins.\n\nFour pairs of hands reached out without delay, and in a surprisingly\nshort time, sandwiches and cookies, nuts and raisins, every one of\nthem, had vanished. And how good everything tasted, there in the snug,\nwarm little hut, with the fragrant odour of the pines coming in through\nthe open door.\n\n\u201cI wish, if we have the Easter Club, we could buy this hut and have our\nmeetings here,\u201d said Elsa. The longer she stayed in the hut, the better\nshe liked it.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s near my house,\u201d Alice said; \u201cyou can see our chimneys from the\ndoor.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd we could furnish the hut with a lot of things,--dishes and\npictures,\u201d cried Betty. \u201cAnd we could use the little room for a\nstoreroom!\u201d\n\nElsa had been thinking of other pleasures, so she said: \u201cWe could stay\nhere and enjoy the birds and the trees and the wild flowers, in the\nspring.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you think we could buy or hire the hut, Ben?\u201d asked Miss Ruth; for\nit certainly was a delightful place.\n\n\u201cYes, I think maybe I could manage it for you,\u201d replied Ben, carefully\nbrushing all the crumbs of food into the wooden box on which he had\nsat during the lunch.\n\n\u201cO, I just saw the cunningest gray squirrel!\u201d exclaimed Elsa, running\nto the doorway, hoping for another glimpse of the little creature.\n\n\u201cYou can see plenty of gray squirrels and chipmunks round here, \u2019most\nany time,\u201d said Ben, following her. \u201cAnd a man told me that last year a\npair of screech-owls built their nest and raised their family in that\nold hollow tree there.\u201d\n\nElsa listened with closest attention.\n\n\u201cThis is a fine place to get acquainted with birds and animals,\u201d Ben\nsaid, encouragingly. \u201cBut you never can get acquainted with them till\nyou learn to be quiet, like them, and to walk through the woods without\nmaking twigs snap every step you take.\u201d\n\nBen put the box of crumbs among the alder bushes at the side of the\nhut. \u201cMr. Gray Squirrel and his family will have those crumbs almost\nbefore we are out of sight,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cWe must start for home,\u201d called Miss Ruth, coming out from the hut\nwith Alice and Betty.\n\nWhile Ben locked the door, the others stood for a moment watching the\nbrilliant red sunset light in the western sky. The deep baying of a\nhound sounded through the quiet woods. Alice drew a little nearer to\nBen.\n\n\u201cYou are all safe, Peggy,\u201d he said, patting her hand, his thoughts busy\nwith other things. \u201cIf I were a bird way up in the top boughs of those\ntall trees, you would look like grasshoppers down here,\u201d he said, with\nhis face turned to the sky.\n\n\u201cAnd you would look like the teentiest, tontiest little bird,\u201d replied\nBetty quickly.\n\n\u201cI should hear what the wind was saying, \u2019way up there,\u201d Ben went on;\n\u201cwe can\u2019t hear such things down on the ground, \u2019cause people make so\nmuch noise talking. You have to keep still to learn things,\u201d added Ben\nwith a wise air and a serious face. Then he led the way along the path\nagain, singing to himself softly, in a musical voice:\n\n \u201cThere was an old man of Dumbree,\n Who taught little owls to drink tea;\n For he said, \u2018To eat mice is not proper or nice,\u2019\n That amiable man of Dumbree.\u201d\n\nSoon the very tall trees grew fewer in number and the woods more\nopen; and the path now ran between old stumps, tufts of blueberry\nbushes, clumps of alders, and wisps of coarse yellow-brown grass,\nleft unweakened by the frost. A few moments later, they came out upon\nBerkeley Avenue, at a point where Ben and Alice would have to turn\nback toward their home.\n\n\u201cThank you, very much, Ben, for bringing us through such an\ninteresting, pleasant way,\u201d said Miss Ruth; \u201cand we shall all remember\nthe hut.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd the convalescent children,\u201d cried Elsa.\n\n\u201cAnd the Easter Club we are going to have,\u201d put in Betty. \u201cDon\u2019t you\ntell the name of our Club, Ben!\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no, no!\u201d Ben called back,--as if a boy ever did tell secrets.\n\n\u201cMamma wants the Club to meet at our house sometime soon,\u201d Alice said\nin farewell, as she and Ben trotted off together.\n\nBen waved his scrap of a blue cap as he cried: \u201cGood-bye, good-bye,\nBlack Lace Lady! Good-bye, Glad Girl! Good-bye, Elsa!\u201d\n\n\u201cHave you thought of a name for Elsa yet?\u201d called out Betty, waving the\nnow empty lunch-bag over her head frantically.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s telling!\u201d Ben answered teasingly. He had thought, but he was\ngoing to keep it to himself for awhile.\n\nMiss Ruth, Betty, and Elsa, had not gone far on their homeward way\nwhen Mrs. Danforth overtook them, in a closed coup\u00e9 with a driver\nin livery, who stopped the gray horse beside the group in the\nroad. Mrs. Danforth had very often, lately, driven out on Berkeley\nAvenue, and several times in passing the Holts\u2019 house she had seen a\nstooping-shouldered man, whom she supposed to be Mr. Holt, going to or\ncoming from the long shed, the place where, probably, she thought, the\nmarket garden supplies were kept. The garden window frames showed just\nbehind the house.\n\n\u201cWhere are the others of your Club?\u201d she asked, as she let down the\ncoup\u00e9 window. She had expected to meet all of the Club together.\n\n\u201cO, we came back through the woods, grandmother,\u201d explained Elsa; \u201cyou\nmust have met Ben and Alice just now.\u201d\n\nThen Mrs. Danforth remembered that she had met a boy and a girl only a\nshort distance back, but she had not noticed them especially.\n\n\u201cI can take one of you home with me,\u201d she said, looking from Miss Ruth\nto Elsa and then to Betty, and pulling her handsome sable furs closer\nup around her neck as the cool air came into the coup\u00e9.\n\n\u201cThank you, Mrs. Danforth, but I enjoy walking,\u201d replied Ruth Warren,\nwho was entirely willing to give up the drive to one of the children.\n\nElsa\u2019s face looked as if she also would rather walk; but Betty\u2019s brown\neyes were dancing with anticipation. She loved horses heartily, and\nnext to going over the Danforth house she had wanted to ride behind\nthat splendid gray steed. So she said, when Mrs. Danforth\u2019s eyes rested\nupon her: \u201cI should just love to ride with you,\u201d and accordingly,\nElsa\u2019s grandmother drove off with Betty behind the spirited horse.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cDid you know I found a little girl out at the Convalescent Home\nwho--who had Bettina?\u201d Elsa said to Miss Ruth, as they walked along\ntogether over the hard, frozen road.\n\n\u201cWas it the little girl with the bright dark eyes, whom I saw you with?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, that\u2019s the one. Did you hear what she said?\u201d Elsa asked.\n\n\u201cI didn\u2019t hear what either you or the little girl said, because I was\ntalking with Miss Hartwell; but I saw that you were greatly interested\nabout something: and it was your own doll Bettina. Were you glad?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt--it was exciting to--to see Bettina,\u201d Elsa said, swallowing a lump\nin her throat, \u201cand then when--when I asked the little girl to--let\nme name the doll--I wanted her to be called Bettina--the little\ngirl said that her nurse\u2019s name was Bettina, but she had gone away.\nDo you suppose it could be my old Bettina,--Bettina March?\u201d Elsa\nasked, looking anxiously into Miss Ruth\u2019s face, half in hope, half in\nuncertainty.\n\n\u201cYou did not think to inquire of Miss Hartwell?\u201d questioned Miss Ruth.\n\n\u201cI--I thought, but I didn\u2019t quite dare to,\u201d Elsa replied desolately.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t think too much about the matter, Elsa, because it might be\nBettina Smith or Bettina anybody; but I will find out for you,\u201d said\nMiss Ruth, thinking how plucky Elsa had been about the doll.\n\n\u201cO, thank you, Miss Ruth,\u201d Elsa said very gratefully and in a much\nrelieved tone.\n\n\u201cDoesn\u2019t your old nurse write to you?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d Elsa answered slowly. \u201cGrandmother said it was better for me to\nlearn to get along without Bettina--so--so I suppose that\u2019s the reason\nshe doesn\u2019t write to me.\u201d\n\nRuth Warren did not ask any further questions. But she felt that she\nknew better than ever why Elsa was such a pale-faced child and why\nthere was so often a shadow of something sad in her eyes.\n\n\u201cDo you think I ought to tell grandmother about--about my going over\nto your house the other night?\u201d Elsa asked suddenly, as the question\ncame into her mind for almost the hundredth time.\n\n\u201cMight not your grandmother\u2019s feelings be hurt because you went to\nsomebody else instead of going to her, with your--your trouble?\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps,\u201d Elsa answered, in a doubtful tone, though.\n\n\u201cIf she were to ask you about it, you would of course tell her. But\nwhen telling a thing unnecessarily means the possibility of hurting\nsomebody\u2019s feelings, then even little girls can help make the world\nhappier by keeping things to themselves. Are you willing, Elsa, to have\nme tell your grandmother, or anybody else, if ever the time comes when\nit seems best?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, Miss Ruth,\u201d cried Elsa, feeling as if a great weight had rolled\nfrom her heart. \u201cOf course grandmother didn\u2019t know how much I loved\nthat doll. She didn\u2019t even know I had her.\u201d\n\nAfter this talk, Elsa felt that she and Miss Ruth were to be good\nfriends for always.\n\n * * * * *\n\nBetty White spent the first few moments of the drive in watching\nthe strong, easy pulling of the gray horse. Then she turned to Mrs.\nDanforth with a question which greatly interested her and which she\nthought there could never be a better time to ask.\n\nNow Betty was the frankest of little girls; so she spoke out very\nbluntly: \u201cWhy do you make Elsa mind so--so hard?\u201d\n\nMrs. Danforth, being greatly amazed, was surprised into saying \u201cWhat?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t you let Elsa decide things sometimes for herself?\u201d Betty\u2019s\nbrown eyes met the surprised look in Mrs. Danforth\u2019s blue eyes very\nfearlessly. \u201cMother lets me decide things--she says it is good for me\nto have re-responsibleness.\u201d Betty stumbled a little over the long\nword, but she kept on: \u201cSo if mother tells me I better come home from\nanywhere about five o\u2019clock, and if I want to stay a little longer, and\nthey want me to, I just stay, and then I tell her afterward, and if she\ndoesn\u2019t like it, we talk it over.\u201d\n\nBetty leaned back against the soft cushions in comfort. This matter was\noff her mind!\n\nMrs. Danforth did not give any reply.\n\n\u201cI--I think the other way makes children afraid of you,\u201d Betty added\nbravely.\n\nStill Mrs. Danforth kept her eyes straight ahead, upon the coachman\u2019s\nbroad shoulders. Presently she asked: \u201cWas that the Holt children\u2019s\nfather in front of their house, Elizabeth?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe didn\u2019t come back past the Holts\u2019 house,\u201d Betty replied, \u201cbut\nthat couldn\u2019t have been Alice\u2019s and Ben\u2019s father. It must have been\nthe hired man. Mr. Holt is a teacher, and he is way out in the West\nsomewhere, because he isn\u2019t very well. They miss him dreadfully.\u201d\n\n\u201cNonsense!\u201d exclaimed Mrs. Danforth. And Betty felt like a naughty\nchild, though she could not have told why.\n\nBetty\u2019s mother was just turning toward her home, when Mrs. Danforth\u2019s\ncoup\u00e9 stopped, and Betty flew out like a small whirlwind.\n\nMrs. Danforth lowered the coup\u00e9 window and leaning forward, said:\n\u201cMrs. White, I wish my little Elsa were as rosy and strong as your\nElizabeth.\u201d She always spoke Betty\u2019s full name,--Elizabeth.\n\nMrs. White noticed the unusually gentle expression upon the proud face.\nShe had wanted a good opportunity to speak to Mrs. Danforth about Elsa;\nso, with the same frankness which Betty had shown, she said: \u201cThere is\nno use in trying to bring children up without love, Mrs. Danforth. You\ncannot make strong, happy, useful men and women without it.\u201d\n\nMrs. Danforth did not seem offended; though her eyes gleamed proudly\nfrom under her heavy brows, and a slight colour rose on her cheeks.\nHer voice was rather hoarse as she said to Mrs. White, with a cold\nsmile: \u201cYour daughter Elizabeth is very much like you.\u201d Then she bowed\ngood-bye, and ordered the coachman to drive on.\n\n\u201cYou forgot to thank Mrs. Danforth for the drive, Betty,\u201d said Mrs.\nWhite, as they walked up the steps together.\n\n\u201cSo I did, mother. That is too bad,\u201d Betty answered, penitently,\nslipping her hand into her mother\u2019s arm. \u201cBut Mrs. Danforth kind of\nstiffens me up and makes me forget things. Aren\u2019t grandmothers ever as\nnice as mothers? I don\u2019t know, because I haven\u2019t any grandmothers.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, Betty, they are often better, or at least children think so. But\nthere are a great many different kinds of mothers and grandmothers.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know I\u2019ve got the best kind of mother!\u201d exclaimed Betty joyfully.\n\nThat evening, after Elsa had shaken hands, said good night, and gone up\nto her white room, Mrs. Danforth, alone in her luxurious library, sat\nquiet for a long time, thinking deeply about many things, especially\nabout the real purpose which had brought her to live in Berkeley.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nTHE CLUB GOES VISITING\n\n By sports like these are all their cares beguiled.\n\n --_Oliver Goldsmith._\n\n\n\u201cI DON\u2019T know but I shall have to ask you not to let the children come\nto their Club this afternoon. I don\u2019t like the noise, and you know\nalmost anything brings on heart trouble,\u201d Miss Virginia Warren said,\nwhen she came down to the library the next Friday morning, followed by\nher niece, carrying two shawls. She spent an hour down-stairs daily,\nafter the rooms had been made excessively warm.\n\n\u201cBut, Aunt Virginia, you always stay in your room after three o\u2019clock,\nand it is so far from the library that you could hardly hear any\nnoise. I will keep the doors shut, though. I should be sorry indeed to\ndisappoint the children,\u201d Ruth Warren replied, quite troubled by her\naunt\u2019s words.\n\n\u201cWell, of course the children are of more importance than my feelings,\u201d\nsaid Miss Virginia with a sigh. \u201cBut even though I don\u2019t hear their\nnoise, knowing they are there, and that I may hear them any minute,\ngives me cold turns every now and then.\u201d She shivered, as if at the\nmere thought. \u201cPut that thick shawl over me quickly, Ruth.\u201d\n\nThe doctor had many times told Ruth Warren that there was nothing\nreally the matter with her aunt except a strong imagination and a\nconstant fear of illness; he had advised her, too, not to give in\ntoo much to her aunt\u2019s notions. So now Ruth said: \u201cI am sorry, Aunt\nVirginia, that the children\u2019s coming disturbs you. I will ask Sarah\nto stay in the room with you this afternoon so that you will not feel\nnervous.\u201d\n\n\u201cNervous! I am never nervous,\u201d replied Miss Virginia, waving her large\nwhite hands excitedly. \u201cBut I shall have to have a regular nurse, so\nthat there will be somebody with me all the time.\u201d Then she wept a\nlittle, and felt faint, and had to be revived with spirits of ammonia.\n\nFortunately, however, she was spared further excitement on account of\nthe children\u2019s coming that day. For just before three o\u2019clock, Ben\nHolt drove up to the house with a large, loose-jointed brown horse and\na double-seated sleigh, jumped out, rang the door-bell, and asked for\nMiss Ruth. He was sitting on a tall carved chair in the hall when Ruth\nWarren came down, at Sarah\u2019s summons.\n\n\u201cI stayed at home from school this afternoon,\u201d said Ben, springing to\nhis feet and looking as if his sturdy body would burst out from the\ntight little blue jacket. \u201cAlice has hurt her ankle, and she wants the\nClub to meet at our house, and so does my mother, and will you come?\nI\u2019ve brought Jerry and the double-seated sleigh. See?\u201d And Ben drew\naside the lace curtain of the hall window to display his steed and\nchariot.\n\n\u201cYes, I will go with pleasure,\u201d Ruth Warren answered, after one swift,\namused glance at the big-boned horse and the sleigh.\n\n\u201cThen I\u2019ll just wait here till the other children come, if you please,\u201d\nBen said, unbuttoning his jacket and drawing a long breath.\n\n\u201cWill your horse stand?\u201d asked Ruth Warren, wondering if Ben meant to\ninclude her as one of the children.\n\n\u201cO, yes, he\u2019s glad enough to have a chance to stand,\u201d the boy said with\na twinkle of humour.\n\nRuth Warren went up-stairs to tell her aunt of the change of plan.\n\n\u201cYou are not going off with a crowd of children in that old sleigh,\nRuth, are you? Some of your friends will be sure to see you,\u201d objected\nMiss Virginia, in great and sudden distress.\n\n\u201cOnly three children, Aunt Virginia; and what if my friends do see me?\u201d\n\n\u201cBut it looks so queer--the sleigh, I mean,--like a country grocery\nsled, with an extra seat put in.\u201d Miss Virginia grew quite excited.\n\n\u201cI believe it is called a pung,\u201d said Ruth; \u201cnever mind, Aunt Virginia,\nnobody whom I care for will like me any the less for going in it.\nGood-bye,--there come Betty and Elsa now, and you can watch us start,\u201d\nshe added, for her aunt\u2019s chair was always drawn close to the front\nwindow. \u201cYou will have a quiet house all to yourself this afternoon.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt will be too quiet, I am afraid,\u201d sighed Miss Virginia. \u201cI do like\nto hear a little something going on, here all alone as I am, though not\nchildren\u2019s voices.\u201d\n\nMiss Virginia Warren did not mean to be selfish, but she had never\nlearned that there is something sweeter in life than taking anxious\ncare of one\u2019s health and thinking about one\u2019s self.\n\n * * * * *\n\nBen had seen Betty and Elsa on their way home from school and told\nthem; so they were there all ready to start when Miss Ruth came\ndown-stairs in her long, black, fur-lined coat.\n\nMrs. Danforth had surprised Elsa that noon by saying: \u201cElsa, when\nyou are with your little Club, and all of you want to do anything\ntogether, like going to the Convalescent Home, you may do it without\ncoming to ask me; and you may stay a little later than five o\u2019clock\nif coming away earlier would spoil your good time.\u201d Elsa felt very\ngrown-up, with this new freedom, and yet the first use she made of it\nwas to run home to tell her grandmother that the Club was to meet at\nAlice\u2019s! It happened, however, that Mrs. Danforth was out driving; and\nthen Elsa felt more than ever grateful to her grandmother, because,\nas she explained to Miss Ruth, \u201cIf grandmother hadn\u2019t said I could do\nanything the Club wanted to, I couldn\u2019t have gone to Alice\u2019s, because\ngrandmother wasn\u2019t at home to ask.\u201d\n\nBetty listened intently, but wisely kept still. She was dancing around\nin great impatience for the start; she had on a long gray fur boa of\nher mother\u2019s, and as there had been no one to remind Elsa to wear\nsomething extra warm, Miss Ruth bundled her into the dark red golf cape.\n\nSoon the little party set forth,--to Miss Virginia\u2019s horror, though\nshe waved her hand feebly in return to the merry farewells from Miss\nRuth and Elsa on the back seat of the pung, and from Betty perched up\nbeside the blue-coated driver of the loose-jointed horse.\n\nBen began clucking his steed into a faster gait.\n\n\u201cWhat a good, steady horse you have, Ben,\u201d said Miss Ruth; and indeed\nthe horse was pulling well on the road toward home.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a good thing to have a horse that will stand and that people\naren\u2019t afraid of,\u201d Ben said loyally. \u201cI can do anything with this\nhorse. G\u2019long, Jerry!\u201d\n\nThe old horse, as if to justify the praise, went briskly. The sleighing\nwas smooth, for there had been two or three snow-storms the past week.\nIt was a rather sharp and wintry afternoon, cloudy, with every once in\nawhile a flurry of snow in large, star-shaped flakes.\n\n\u201cSee how well Nature has tucked her children in, since we walked out\nhere a week ago,\u201d said Miss Ruth, as the sleigh, with merrily jingling\nbells, slid along the quieter part of Berkeley Avenue, where now masses\nof soft snow lined the roadside. \u201cAnd there will soon be a thicker\nblanket put on, to keep them warm and safe until spring.\u201d\n\n\u201cThink of the hut, all covered with snow,\u201d Elsa said. \u201cHow pretty it\nmust look.\u201d\n\n\u201cWouldn\u2019t it be fun if we could sleigh-ride over to the Convalescent\nHome and see the children again,\u201d exclaimed Betty, remembering the last\nFriday afternoon and their visit.\n\n\u201cBut what about Alice waiting at home for us?\u201d Miss Ruth asked quickly.\n\n\u201cO, I forgot,\u201d Betty cried.\n\n\u201cI expect she\u2019s wondering where we are,\u201d exclaimed Ben. \u201cG\u2019long, Jerry!\u201d\n\nBut Jerry did not need urging now, for a moment later Ben turned\ninto the driveway which led to the rambling house with a piazza in\nfront, out upon which looked many long, narrow windows, filled with\nbright-flowering plants, chiefly scarlet geraniums,--a cozy, cheerful\nhome indeed.\n\nMrs. Holt was already at the front door,--a young woman in a plain\ndark blue dress with dainty lace collar and cuffs, and so slender and\ngraceful that she looked more like an older sister of Ben\u2019s than his\nmother. Quite a warm colour bloomed on her pretty face as she shook\nhands with Miss Ruth, whom Ben introduced by saying \u201cThis is the Black\nLace Lady.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am very happy to meet you, Miss Warren. Betty White I already know.\nAnd this is Elsa Danforth? Come in, please. Alice has been growing\nvery impatient for your arrival,\u201d Mrs. Holt said, with a gentle and\nwell-bred hospitality.\n\nThe front door opened directly into a quite large hall, evidently the\nliving-room. There was a glowing fire in the old-fashioned fireplace\nopposite the door, a low bookcase on one side of the fireplace and\na piano on the other; the stairs were at one end of the room, and\nfolding-doors opened into the dining-room at the opposite end. On a\nchintz-covered lounge close to the front windows sat Alice in a blue\nwrapper the colour of her eyes, and with one foot stretched out,\ncovered with an afghan. Her face flushed with pleasure: \u201cO, I am so\nglad you all came,\u201d she said, as they drew around her. \u201cI fell on some\nice, coming home from school yesterday, and twisted my ankle a little,\nthe doctor said, so I couldn\u2019t come to the Club, and so we invited you\nhere. What shall we do?\u201d she asked, leaning back against the gay chintz\npillows and looking like a large, sweet-faced doll with softly dimpled\ncheeks.\n\n\u201cI brought some of the dolls\u2019 dresses--there are yet eight more to\nmake,\u201d Miss Ruth said, taking a package from the deep pocket of her\nfur-lined coat. \u201cWe can sew on those for one thing to do.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have made my last week\u2019s two dresses,\u201d cried Alice, pulling them in\nvery rumpled condition from under a sofa pillow, while Elsa and Betty\ndived into their coat pockets, each bringing out two dresses, all\nfinished.\n\n\u201cGood!\u201d said Miss Ruth, taking off her coat and hat, at Mrs. Holt\u2019s\nbidding. \u201cPerhaps we can each do two to-day--though these are for the\nlargest dolls.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will gladly help you sew,\u201d Mrs. Holt said. \u201cAlice has told me that\nthe dolls are to be given away at Christmas: that is all I know about\nit,\u201d she added, smiling in a motherly, understanding way. She had a\npretty, rather sad face and a very tender look in her blue eyes. It\nwas a great grief to her to be parted from her husband, and there was\nanother grief which lay further back in her heart.\n\nEven in the few moments of their talking together, Ruth Warren had\ndecided that Mrs. Holt was a very charming woman, and just the kind of\na mother Ben and Alice might be expected to have.\n\nElsa and Betty had drawn their chairs very near to Alice and were\ntelling her all that had happened in school that morning, when Ben\ncame in from having put the horse into the barn, and walked up to his\nmother\u2019s side with \u201cWhat shall we do?\u201d\n\n\u201cO, I know what to do,\u201d he exclaimed, answering his own question. \u201cWe\nwill have a show.\u201d\n\n\u201cGoody!\u201d cried Betty, hearing his last words.\n\nMrs. Holt entered at once into the plan. \u201cMiss Warren and Alice and I\nwill be audience. You can manage your show with Betty and Elsa to help,\nI think.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what about the dolls\u2019 dresses?\u201d Elsa asked, eager as she was for\nthe \u201cshow.\u201d\n\n\u201cBless the dear child!\u201d said Mrs. Holt, putting her arm around the\nslight, black-gowned figure. \u201cMiss Warren and I will sew fast enough to\ndo your share and Betty\u2019s.\u201d She gazed intently into Elsa\u2019s face as if\nshe would like to question the child about something.\n\n\u201cO, thank you,\u201d Elsa said, gratefully. \u201cWhy, that picture is just like\none my grandmother has in her room,\u201d she exclaimed, catching sight of\nan oil-painting of a large, gable-windowed house.\n\nAs Ruth Warren saw Mrs. Holt\u2019s face grow crimson and then suddenly very\npale, some faint, puzzling resemblance flashed through her mind and was\ngone as quickly.\n\nBefore Mrs. Holt had any time to answer, Ben ran toward her and laid\nhis hand coaxingly upon her shoulder: \u201cNow, mother of mine, I have\nbrought the \u2018show\u2019 things down from the garret, and the pink gauze\ncurtain; and please can we use the red light?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, my boy. What shows are you going to have?\u201d Mrs. Holt\u2019s voice was\nnot quite steady, but she had regained her composure.\n\n\u201cYou will see in just a little while, mother of mine,\u201d said Ben, with\nthe air of one who speaks to an over-eager child.\n\nThen, while Mrs. Holt explained to Miss Ruth and Elsa that the pink\ncheese-cloth curtain was used to make the show-figures look more\nbeautiful, and that the red light, which made them even more beautiful,\nwas brought out only on great occasions like birthdays or holidays,\nElsa forgot all about the oil-painting; and very soon after, Ben called\nher to join Betty and him in the parlour, which opened off the hall,\nat the foot of the stairs. \u201cTurn your backs, please,\u201d cried Ben; \u201cyou\nmustn\u2019t see what is going to happen.\u201d\n\n\u201cBen is such a manly little fellow,\u201d said Miss Ruth, rising to change\nher position.\n\nQuick tears sprang into Mrs. Holt\u2019s blue eyes. \u201cHe tries to take care\nof me,\u201d she replied, with a little tremble in her voice; \u201cmy dear\nlittle boy,\u201d she added, half under her breath. \u201cHe is a great help in\nthe gardening we do, winter and summer, although I have a good man to\ntake the principal care. But I am sorry to have the children away from\ntheir father. We hope it will not be very long before he can come back\nto us, or we go to him.\u201d\n\n\u201cMr. Holt is a teacher, I believe,\u201d said Ruth Warren, who found herself\ngrowing much interested in the Holt family.\n\n\u201cYes, out in Colorado; he had to go there for his health, and that is\nwhy we are here,\u201d was the reply, given with quiet dignity.\n\nRuth Warren liked Mrs. Holt all the better because she did not attempt\nto make any apology for keeping a market-garden, or to explain their\npoverty, which was evident from the shabby furniture and plain clothing.\n\n\u201cI wish they would begin,\u201d sighed Alice, who was feeling rather left\nout of things and who had all this time kept her eyes turned away from\nthe stairs, where mysterious preparations were going on.\n\n\u201cYou may turn \u2019round now,\u201d called out Ben, starting the red light. So\nthe audience faced expectantly toward the stage which was formed by the\nwide landing four steps up the stairway.\n\nBen, jerking back the pink curtain, announced in a deep, dramatic tone:\n\u201cPriscilla, the Puritan Maiden.\u201d\n\nBeside a real spinning-wheel sat Elsa with a white cap over her golden\nhair and a white kerchief across her shoulders,--a demure little\nPuritan maiden, her face very rosy under the red light.\n\nThe applause from the audience was hearty and prolonged. Alice clapped\nlouder than any one else. But after the curtain was drawn forward, she\nslipped her hand into her mother\u2019s and said wistfully, \u201cI do wish my\nfoot was well so I could be in the shows.\u201d\n\n\u201cThink of the little Convalescent children, my darling,\u201d said Mrs. Holt\nin a low tone, replacing the afghan which Alice had restlessly pushed\naway. \u201cThink how some of them keep still all the time.\u201d\n\nA moment later Alice\u2019s face dimpled with smiles as Ben drew aside the\ncurtain and said in his stage voice: \u201cLittle Red Riding-hood.\u201d\n\nIt was Betty in a short red cape and a tightly drawn red hood. With the\nred light falling upon her round cheeks and her laughing eyes, she\nlooked indeed like a little maid from the fields.\n\n\u201cDoesn\u2019t the Glad Girl make a splendid Red Riding-hood?\u201d cried Ben,\nturning a somersault on the hearth-rug. \u201cAnd wouldn\u2019t the wolf have a\nfine time eating her up!\u201d he added, capering back to draw the curtain.\n\nRed Riding-hood herself announced the next show, \u201cGeorge Washington,\u201d\nwho was no other than Ben, standing on a large book covered with white\ncloth to represent a block of ice, and wearing a cock-hat and an old\nmilitary coat which came down to his heels--a brave-faced Father of his\nCountry.\n\n\u201cYou forgot to say \u2018Crossing the Delaware,\u2019 Betty,\u201d exclaimed the\nshow-figure, leaning forward on his very thick sword made out of the\nfire-tongs covered with brown paper.\n\n\u201cOf course they would know that,\u201d Betty replied; and the audience\nagreed that they would have known it without being told.\n\n\u201cJust one more,\u201d cried Ben, stepping from off the block of ice to help\nBetty draw the curtain. \u201cThis one\u2019s going to take a very long time to\nget ready, and you must guess the name of it. May I whisper to the\nBlack Lace Lady, mother?\u201d\n\nMrs. Holt nodded permission, and Ben whispered something into Miss\nRuth\u2019s ear, to which she must have agreed, for he carried her heavy\ncoat into the parlour, where Betty and Elsa were, and shut the door.\n\nIt took so long for them to arrange this last show that Mrs. Holt\nand Miss Ruth finished making the first of the dolls\u2019 dresses, and\nMrs. Holt was sewing upon the second one for Alice, when Betty called\n\u201cReady!\u201d and pulled back the curtain to disclose a marvellous sight.\n\nThere stood Elsa, behind a wall of sofa pillows, her hair floating\ndown over the light blue silk scarf which covered her shoulders and\nher slender figure draped in a dark blue velvet table-cover, while on\nher shoulder perched a stuffed gray squirrel. On the step below the\npillow-wall knelt Ben, wearing Miss Ruth\u2019s long coat with the gray fur\nlining side out, his head and arms covered with Betty\u2019s gray boa. This\nstrange-looking figure was pulling with his teeth at a sofa pillow in\nthe supposed wall, and repeating, in a muffled voice: \u201cKeep a good\nheart! Keep a good heart!\u201d\n\n\u201cPrincess Katrina and the Gray Owl!\u201d Alice cried out, the moment her\neyes fell upon this group. \u201cHow lovely, how lovely!\u201d she said over and\nover again, clapping her hands. Mrs. Holt and Ruth Warren joined in\nthe applause, laughing until the tears came into their eyes, for Ben\nwas such a ridiculously funny figure, although so well made up.\n\nElsa kept still as long as she could; then the stuffed gray squirrel\nfell from her shoulder, and Ben, springing to catch it, knocked down\nthe wall of pillows, and the show was over.\n\n\u201cHow did you _ever_ happen to think of it?\u201d Alice asked, when the\nflushed and happy actors stood around the lounge, taking off their\ncostumes.\n\n\u201cElsa thought of it,\u201d cried Betty, who was holding the stuffed squirrel\ntenderly.\n\n\u201cBetty made me take the princess part, though I wanted her to,\u201d said\nElsa.\n\n\u201cBecause she has yellow hair, like the princess,\u201d put in Ben. \u201cBetty\ndressed us, and didn\u2019t she do well? Your coat was just the thing,\u201d he\nadded, turning as Miss Ruth rose to help him out of it. \u201cMy! it\u2019s hot.\u201d\n\n\u201cDid you know what it was, Mrs. Holt?\u201d Elsa inquired, coming to Mrs.\nHolt\u2019s side.\n\n\u201cYes, dear, for Alice has told the story to Ben and me, twice.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo your children tell you stories?\u201d Elsa asked, with wide-open,\nsurprised eyes.\n\n\u201cSometimes, Elsa,\u201d Mrs. Holt replied. \u201cI sit by the fire the last part\nof the afternoon, usually, and the children lie on pillows in front of\nthe fire; and if I am too tired to tell them a story, they tell me one.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd do they have shows often?\u201d Elsa questioned eagerly. This was\nalmost like a storybook, this account of the happy home-life.\n\n\u201cYes; they keep a boxful of costumes and that pink curtain on purpose\nfor shows. They get up all sorts of plays, too,\u201d Mrs. Holt went on to\nsay, seeing the keen interest in Elsa\u2019s face. \u201cLast summer they played\nsnake until it got on my imagination so that I hardly dared step on the\nfloor for fear of putting my foot on that snake.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt wasn\u2019t really a snake, though,\u201d said Betty, who had turned to\nlisten.\n\n\u201cNo, only a make-believe one,\u201d Mrs. Holt replied laughingly; \u201cbut they\nmade it seem real.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, mother of mine,\u201d said Ben very earnestly, \u201cyou know I only got\nPeggy to play that so as to teach her not to be afraid of snakes.\u201d\n\n\u201cGirls!\u201d exclaimed Ruth Warren, \u201cit is quarter of five o\u2019clock, and\nsnowing fast. We must begin to get ready to go home.\u201d She realized\nthat it would take considerable time.\n\n\u201cMamma, dear, I wish Elsa and Betty could stay here all night,\u201d cried\nAlice. Betty had stayed before, once.\n\n\u201cThey could perfectly well, Alice,\u201d replied Mrs. Holt cordially, \u201cif\nElsa\u2019s grandmother and Betty\u2019s mother were willing.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s telephone and ask,\u201d suggested Ben.\n\n\u201cI think my mother will let me stay,\u201d Betty said quickly, standing\non tip-toe in her excitement, \u201cbecause it\u2019s Friday and no school\nto-morrow. May I telephone now?\u201d\n\nIn a few moments Betty came back from the side-hall: \u201cYes, mother says\nI can stay, if Mrs. Holt is sure I won\u2019t be a bother. Aren\u2019t you going\nto telephone about staying?\u201d she asked, turning to Elsa, who had been\nsilent all this time, although her eyes showed how much she wanted to\nstay.\n\n\u201cI--I don\u2019t believe grandmother would let me,\u201d Elsa replied, making a\nbrave effort to keep a steady face.\n\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t you ask her for Elsa, mamma?\u201d inquired Alice. \u201cDo, mother of\nmine,\u201d urged Ben.\n\nMrs. Holt\u2019s face flushed, then grew pale, and a look of pride came\nover it. \u201cI cannot do that, children, much as I would like to have Elsa\nremain.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will ask Mrs. Danforth,\u201d Ruth Warren said quickly, going to the\ntelephone. Presently she returned to the impatient group and said in a\ncheerful tone:\n\n\u201cElsa\u2019s grandmother wants her to come home. She asks me to say to you,\nElsa, that you will not be sorry you came.\u201d\n\nBut even this last part of the message could not keep Elsa from turning\nquickly away, toward the window, to hide her feelings.\n\n\u201cI will go and harness Jerry,\u201d said Ben, hurrying out of the room. The\nothers talked very fast for a few moments.\n\n\u201cI wish you could stay all night, Miss Ruth,\u201d Alice said more\nhospitably than thoughtfully, when Miss Ruth was putting on her coat.\n\n\u201cThere is no use in my thinking of it,\u201d Miss Ruth answered quickly: \u201cmy\nAunt Virginia would never give her consent.\u201d\n\nIt was so funny to think of grown-up Miss Ruth having to mind that\nElsa, feeling comforted, came away from the window and began to get\nready for the drive home.\n\n\u201cI hope Alice\u2019s ankle will be well before the next meeting,\u201d said Miss\nRuth, when they were at last ready to start.\n\n\u201cIt will be quite well in a week, unless she is careless, or takes\ncold,\u201d Mrs. Holt replied. \u201cI am sure she is most grateful to the Club,\nas I am, for your coming here.\u201d\n\nBen, who had driven Jerry up to the front door and come in to warm his\nhands, carelessly picked up a sofa pillow in passing, and shied it at\nAlice. \u201cThat\u2019s just to show Peggy that she must keep quiet, no matter\nwhat happens,\u201d he said in answer to his mother\u2019s reproving: \u201cWhy, Ben!\u201d\n\nBetty had sprung to Alice\u2019s defence, and for a moment she and Ben had a\nlively pulling contest over the pillow. Elsa looked on in surprise; not\nhaving any brothers or sisters, she was not used to that kind of fun\nand hardly knew what to make of it.\n\nSuddenly Betty dropped her corner of the pillow. \u201cExcuse me,\u201d she said\nto Mrs. Holt; \u201cI forgot. Ben threw that pillow at Alice just the way\nMax throws one at me sometimes, and I have to defend myself.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou will have a lively time to-night, Mrs. Holt,\u201d Ruth Warren said,\nwith a sober face and smiling eyes.\n\n\u201cChildren must be children,\u201d Mrs. Holt replied with an answering smile.\n\u201cIt is better for Alice to have things a little lively than to lie here\nand feel lonely. But I think that she and Betty will be studying over\nto-day\u2019s lessons after supper.\u201d\n\n\u201cO, mamma! with my lame ankle!\u201d protested Alice. And Betty\u2019s face fell\na little.\n\n\u201cYes, dear, you must study awhile; it will not hurt your ankle. You say\nthat Betty is always ahead of you in your classes, so she can be the\nteacher.\u201d Mrs. Holt said this partly to cheer Betty and partly so that\nElsa would not go away thinking that the visit she was missing would be\nall pleasure.\n\n\u201cWe haven\u2019t any more dolls\u2019 dresses to make, Miss Ruth,\u201d Alice said,\nhanding to her a pile of neatly folded little light-coloured garments.\n\u201cWhat shall we do next?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will have something ready at the next meeting, Alice,--something\nthat perhaps Ben can help upon,\u201d replied Ruth Warren, kissing Alice\ngood-bye, and thinking that it would be hard to find two more lovable\nand companionable children than Alice and Ben, or a happier, more\nsatisfying home-life than theirs.\n\n\u201cJust think, only two weeks more of school,\u201d cried Betty. \u201cMaybe the\nClub can meet twice a week in vacation?\u201d Betty looked at Miss Ruth\nquestioningly.\n\n\u201cO, I wish it could!\u201d Alice clasped her chubby hands together\nbeseechingly.\n\nRuth Warren shook her head, but with that kind look in her eyes which\nalways made any refusal seem less hard. \u201cOnce a week is enough for us\nreally to enjoy it,\u201d she said, \u201cdon\u2019t you think so, Betty dear?\u201d\n\n\u201cI suppose so,\u201d Betty admitted with her usual candour; \u201conly I don\u2019t\never have half so good a time anywhere else.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome, Elsa, we must start,\u201d Miss Ruth said, adding, as she shook hands\nwith Mrs. Holt: \u201cI should like to call upon you some day soon.\u201d\n\n\u201cI should be delighted to have you call,\u201d replied Mrs. Holt, warmly. \u201cI\nhave made only a few acquaintances in Berkeley during the year I have\nlived here. Betty\u2019s mother has been very kind about coming to see me.\nChildren often bring together people who might not otherwise meet,\u201d\nshe added, smoothing back Betty\u2019s rumpled hair in a gentle, motherly\nfashion.\n\n\u201cWe will show you the market-garden when you come again,\u201d Ben said with\nan air of pride. \u201cIt\u2019s a very interesting place.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, you might enjoy that, Miss Warren,\u201d said Mrs. Holt with a gentle\ndignity. \u201cWe have a large winter-garden, back of the house, and this\nyear, in addition to vegetables, we are raising hyacinths and such\nthings, and later, we are going to try raising mushrooms.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat sounds most delightful,\u201d said Miss Ruth heartily; \u201cI am sure I\nshall enjoy seeing it all.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps you would like to come, also,\u201d Mrs. Holt said, rather timidly\nit seemed, turning to Elsa.\n\n\u201cO, yes, I should,\u201d cried Elsa eagerly. \u201cI think you are very kind\nto little girls, and,\u201d she added shyly, trying to be very polite,\n\u201cyou--you have beautiful flowers.\u201d\n\n\u201cChildren and flowers--I\u2019ve never had enough of them yet,\u201d exclaimed\nMrs. Holt, stooping suddenly to kiss Elsa\u2019s upturned face.\n\nIt was snowing hard. Ben tucked Miss Ruth and Elsa into the back seat\nand then mounted to the front seat. Mrs. Holt, Alice, and Betty waved\ngood-bye from the front windows, Miss Ruth and Elsa waved back as long\nas they could see the house; and the gay, pleasant meeting was over.\n\nElsa was always so happy in being with Miss Ruth that once the pang\nof leaving had vanished, she settled down with a contented sigh. It\nwas a beautiful time to be out-of-doors. Now that the snow was falling\nin thick soft flakes, the chill had gone out of the air. The tall\nevergreen trees drooped under their heavy white cloaks. In the west\nthere was a faint rosy tinge from the light of the setting sun. Now and\nthen a loud-cawing crow flew overhead, and once, by the roadside, they\nsaw a hungry blue-jay flirt the snow off from a tall brown weed and\nbegin to pick out and eat the seeds.\n\nThe three talked awhile of the sights and sounds around them. Then Ben\nturned his entire attention to Jerry, who needed constant urging for\nthis journey away from home, at the end of the day.\n\n\u201cI asked Miss Hartwell a day or two ago about the nurse Bettina; and\nher name is Bettina March,\u201d Miss Ruth said, unexpectedly.\n\n\u201cO my Bettina!\u201d cried Elsa, with a little gasp. \u201cAnd is she coming\nback?\u201d\n\n\u201cPossibly,\u201d Miss Ruth replied. \u201cShe was at the Convalescent Home only\nabout six weeks, and went away because she was not very well; but if\nshe is better, she is coming back about Christmas-time.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I shall see her,--grandmother will surely let me see her; but it\nwon\u2019t be for three whole weeks!\u201d The little thrill of disappointment in\nElsa\u2019s voice told Ruth Warren better than words could have told, how\ndearly Elsa loved her old nurse.\n\n\u201cOf course she may not come back at all, Elsa,\u201d Ruth Warren felt\nobliged to say.\n\nTo this Elsa made no reply; but she asked, in a rather choked voice:\n\u201cDid you find out where Bettina is now?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, Elsa,\u201d Miss Ruth answered gently. She felt very sorry for Elsa\u2019s\ndisappointment, but she did not wish in any way to interfere with Mrs.\nDanforth\u2019s plan for the child.\n\nBen, perched upon the front seat, was beginning to look as if he had\non a white fur coat. They were just driving along Washington Avenue,\napproaching the Warren house, when Elsa exclaimed rapturously: \u201cUncle\nNed! O, there is my Uncle Ned!\u201d\n\nA tall, broad-shouldered man, who was strolling by in leisurely\nfashion, looked up and then stepped quickly toward the sleigh as Ben\nstopped his horse in front of the Warrens\u2019 house. Elsa was out in a\nflash, and the tall man was bending over, soothing the child who clung\nto him so passionately.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cSOOTHING THE CHILD WHO CLUNG TO HIM SO PASSIONATELY.\u201d]\n\n\u201cUncle Ned! When did you come?\u201d Elsa asked between laughter and tears.\n\n\u201cLess than an hour ago. I reached the house only a few moments before\nyour grandmother was telephoning about you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am so glad, now, that I came home,\u201d cried the child, still clinging\nto him as if she could hardly believe her happiness in really having\nhim here.\n\nBen had meanwhile jumped out and was gallantly helping Miss Ruth from\nthe sleigh. Elsa was far too excited to think of introductions.\n\n\u201cThis is your friend, Miss Ruth, Elsa?\u201d asked the tall uncle, taking\noff his hat.\n\n\u201cYes--excuse me--this is Miss Ruth, our Club--our Christmas Makers\u2019\nClub--\u201d cried Elsa, telling the name before she thought.\n\n\u201cMiss Ruth looks more like a tall young lady than a Club,--even a\nChristmas Makers\u2019 Club,\u201d said Elsa\u2019s uncle gravely.\n\n\u201cUncle Ned! I mean that she runs the Club,\u201d cried Elsa in half\ndistressed, half-laughing tone.\n\n\u201cYes, I run the Club,\u201d said Ruth Warren quickly. The arc-light\noverhead shone brightly. The snow was on her long eyelashes and her\nface was flushed with the fresh air.\n\n\u201cI am grateful to you if my little niece has caught her red cheeks from\nthe running,\u201d was the instant reply.\n\n\u201cHere is another member of the Club,\u201d Ruth Warren said, turning to Ben,\n\u201cBen Holt, the only boy in the Club.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnother red-cheeked member! I quite approve of this Club,\u201d said the\ntall uncle, who had dark gray eyes, somewhat like Elsa\u2019s. \u201cDoes the\nClub drive you, or do you drive the Club, sir?\u201d he asked, in his quick\nway of speaking.\n\n\u201cSometimes one, sometimes the other, sir,\u201d Ben replied merrily. \u201cI am\nthe only one that takes them driving, though, because I have such a\nsafe, steady horse.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe looks like a good safe horse, Ben,\u201d said Elsa\u2019s uncle, gravely and\npolitely.\n\nBen climbed back into the sleigh and began turning Jerry. \u201cGood-bye!\nPerhaps you\u2019ll come to the Club sometimes, as long as you are Elsa\u2019s\nuncle,\u201d he called out in friendly fashion; \u201cit meets Friday afternoons.\nGood-bye, Black Lace Lady! Good-bye, Elsa!\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you,\u201d the tall uncle called out, for Jerry, headed toward home,\nstarted off in a hurry; \u201cI am afraid I shall not be here until another\nmeeting.\u201d\n\nThe boy and the angular horse vanished amid the thick-falling snow.\n\n\u201cHow long are you going to stay, Uncle Ned?\u201d asked Elsa, in a most\nanxious voice.\n\n\u201cOnly over night, Sweetheart,\u201d he answered quickly, \u201cbut we mustn\u2019t let\nthat spoil our visit. What is the name of this wonderful Club?\u201d\n\n\u201cDidn\u2019t you hear me say it?\u201d Elsa asked.\n\nBut Uncle Ned had forgotten.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a secret,\u201d said Elsa; \u201cyou can\u2019t know it unless you belong.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is a very exclusive Club, you see, Mr. Danforth,\u201d said Miss Ruth,\nturning toward the walk which led from the pavement to her home.\n\n\u201cThat makes me want to join all the more,\u201d came the laughing answer.\n\n\u201cI can tell you just this much, Uncle Ned,\u201d cried Elsa, unfastening\nMiss Ruth\u2019s golf cape, \u201cwe are making things for Christmas.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd does Miss Ruth live here in the house next to your grandmother\u2019s?\u201d\nasked the tall uncle, taking the cape from Elsa.\n\n\u201cYes; she lives all alone with her aunt, just the way I live all alone\nwith grandmother,\u201d Elsa said, a little sadly.\n\n\u201cYou ought to be very good friends,\u201d said the uncle, soberly, for he\nhad noticed the change in Elsa\u2019s tone.\n\n\u201cWe are,\u201d replied Ruth Warren convincingly.\n\n\u201cYes, we are,\u201d echoed Elsa in a happy voice now.\n\n\u201cLet me go ahead on your path and make some tracks for you, the snow\nis so deep,\u201d suggested Mr. Danforth, quickly stepping forward. So Ruth\nWarren followed in his footsteps, and Elsa brought up in the rear.\n\nAt the door, Elsa\u2019s uncle put out his hand and said in a grateful\nvoice: \u201cMy little niece has written me about you, Miss Warren, and I\nwant to thank you for all that you are doing to make her happy.\u201d\n\n\u201cElsa and her friends give me a great deal of pleasure,\u201d said Miss Ruth\nin turn, with an unmistakable ring of sincerity in her voice.\n\n\u201cWill the Club meet here next Friday?\u201d asked Elsa eagerly.\n\n\u201cYes, next Friday; and we shall have something new to work upon,\u201d Miss\nRuth replied.\n\n\u201cWill you give Miss Ruth her cape, Uncle Ned?\u201d asked Elsa. \u201cShe let me\ntake it for our sleigh-ride. I wonder what the new thing is going to\nbe,\u201d she added, with lively interest.\n\nBut Miss Ruth only smiled and said: \u201cWait and see!\u201d\n\nAs Elsa\u2019s Uncle Ned took off his hat in farewell, Ruth Warren saw that\nhis hair was quite gray and that his face had the careworn look of a\nvery busy man. Elsa herself seemed like another girl since her uncle\nhad come.\n\nMiss Virginia Warren had left the shade up, at her front window, and\nhad seen Ruth\u2019s meeting with the tall man whom Elsa Danforth had\ngreeted so affectionately.\n\n\u201cThere, Ruth!\u201d said Miss Virginia when her niece came into her room; \u201cI\nwas sure something would happen! What could that young gentleman have\nthought of your being in that dreadful old sleigh?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was Elsa\u2019s uncle, and he is not so very young, Aunt Virginia; I am\nsure he is forty, and his hair is gray,\u201d replied Ruth Warren. \u201cI don\u2019t\nbelieve he was thinking of me at all; he seemed so rejoiced that Elsa\u2019s\ncheeks were red instead of white that I don\u2019t believe he thought about\nanything or anybody else.\u201d\n\nBut Miss Virginia was not to be pacified: \u201cYou do such strange things,\nRuth, for a young woman of your social position, and thirty years old,\ntoo,\u201d she sighed; \u201cgoing off in that pung, was it, you called it? with\na lot of children, and to a market-gardener\u2019s home.\u201d\n\nRuth Warren, leaving the first part of her aunt\u2019s remark without\nanswer, made haste to say: \u201cMrs. Holt is in every sense a lady, and I\nshall call upon her at the very first opportunity.\u201d\n\nMiss Virginia dropped the subject, and said in a more kindly tone: \u201cI\nreally hope the Club will come here next week; I begin to think, as\nSarah does, that it is rather pleasant to hear their young voices in\nthis quiet old house. We missed them this afternoon.\u201d\n\nIn this change of mind on the part of Miss Virginia, Ruth Warren\nrecognized Sarah Judd\u2019s influence; for behind an iron exterior, this\ntrusty old serving-woman had a heart of gold.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nA LITTLE OLD LADY\u2019S DOLL\n\n Something the heart must have to cherish.\n\n --_Henry W. Longfellow._\n\n\nTHE next Monday afternoon Elsa and Alice went home from school with\nBetty to talk over a plan which Elsa had said, with a very mysterious\nair, that she wanted to tell them about. Finding that the baby was not\nin the nursery, Betty took her friends to this delightful room, with\nthe flowering geraniums and the little strawberry-birds and the row of\ndolls, the gay pillows of the window-seat, and the Kate Greenaway paper.\n\n\u201cI should think you would stay here all the time, Betty,\u201d exclaimed\nElsa, curling herself into a little heap on the rug, and leaning back\nagainst the bed; her eyes began roaming around the \u201cpicture-book room,\u201d\nas she called it to herself.\n\n\u201cI do stay here half of the time,--all night,\u201d Betty answered quickly.\n\u201cThat\u2019s half the time when you have to go to bed at eight o\u2019clock! Now\ntell us about your secret.\u201d Betty sat down near the door, to guard the\napproach, and Alice drew a small rocking-chair close to the shelf of\nplants, so that she could watch the lively little strawberry-birds.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s this,\u201d said Elsa; \u201cwhen my Uncle Ned was here, last Friday, he\nasked me ever and ever so much about the Club, and I told him about\nour dressing dolls for the Convalescent Home children, and about how\nmuch they needed money; and he thought it would be nice if we could\nearn some money,--no matter if it was just a little,--and surprise Miss\nRuth, and have it to give to the Convalescent Home with the dolls on\nChristmas Day.\u201d Elsa\u2019s eyes were shining with interest.\n\n\u201cI know how I can earn some,\u201d cried Betty. \u201cWhen I especially\nwant to earn money, mother gives me five cents a day for emptying\nwaste-baskets; and I will ask father to let me black his boots. How\nmany days are there before Christmas,--let me see, just fourteen, and\nthe waste-baskets would give me seventy cents, surely. What are you\ngoing to do, Elsa, to earn money?\u201d\n\n\u201cUncle Ned said he would give me fifty cents a week if I would write a\nfour-page letter to him twice a week.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will be a dollar,\u201d said Betty, a little envious at Elsa\u2019s being\nable to earn more than she. \u201cWhat will you do, Alice?\u201d\n\n\u201cMamma sometimes pays me for washing the dishes. If I do them twice a\nday, she will give me five cents, I think, each day.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will be seventy cents more,\u201d Betty said encouragingly, \u201cand two\ndollars and forty cents in all.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019m sure Ben can earn some, shovelling snow and running errands,\u201d\ncried Alice eagerly.\n\n\u201cI wish grandmother would let me wash dishes or black boots,\u201d sighed\nElsa. \u201cWork hurts people\u2019s hands, she says.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut we will have at least three dollars, if Ben earns some, too,\u201d\nBetty said quickly, thinking how tiresome it must be to have to be\ncareful all the time about keeping one\u2019s hands soft and white. \u201cWon\u2019t\nMiss Ruth be surprised, though!\u201d she added joyfully.\n\nElsa clasped her slender little hands around her knees: \u201cI know a\nlovely surprise the Club is going to have;\u201d her violet-gray eyes danced\nwith pleasure.\n\n\u201cO, what is it?\u201d cried both the other girls.\n\n\u201cI mustn\u2019t tell; Uncle Ned told me not to. You see, he asked me\nwhat I wanted most for Christmas, and at first I said some little\nstrawberry-birds like Betty\u2019s, and then we talked it over, and he said\nhe couldn\u2019t get them very well in cold weather, and perhaps grandmother\nwouldn\u2019t like them, so we decided on something even nicer,--something\nthe whole Club will like.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think it\u2019s mean to tell just a little bit, and not tell the rest,\u201d\ndeclared Betty.\n\n\u201cBut I should think you\u2019d like to know you are going to have something,\nanyway,\u201d said peacemaker Alice. \u201cWill Miss Ruth like it, too?\u201d\n\n\u201cI think so; I am sure she will,\u201d Elsa answered, joyfully.\n\nSeeing the cloud on Betty\u2019s face, Alice spoke up quickly: \u201cDon\u2019t you\nthink we ought to decide to-day on something to give Miss Ruth for\nChristmas,--maybe something from all of us?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I\u2019ve been thinking about that,\u201d exclaimed Betty, diverted by the\nsuggestion. \u201cMother said she would help us decide.\u201d And Betty ran out\ninto the hall, calling \u201cMother! Mother, dear!\u201d\n\nPresently Mrs. White came into the nursery. Being an affectionate\nand thoughtful woman, she felt that it was wise not in any way to\ndiscourage the generous impulses of the little girls. \u201cHow will this\nplan suit you?\u201d she asked, after they had talked the matter over for\na few moments: \u201cEach one of you bring to me the amount of money she\ncan perfectly well afford to give for a present, and no one shall know\nhow much the others give; then all of you go with me some day after\nvacation begins, and we will choose the present.\u201d\n\nThis plan suited the girls perfectly.\n\n\u201cAnd it makes another surprise,\u201d cried Elsa in great delight. \u201cWe have\nso many now that I am almost getting them mixed up.\u201d\n\nMrs. White\u2019s motherly heart was rejoiced at Elsa\u2019s brighter, happier\nface. \u201cThe Club and the being with other children are doing her a world\nof good,\u201d she said to herself wisely.\n\n * * * * *\n\nAt noon on Friday, Betty White ran in to see Miss Ruth, solely for the\npurpose of talking about the Club meeting. \u201cElsa and I were saying at\nrecess this morning,\u201d she began breathlessly, \u201cthat we thought you had\nforgotten all about the story of the old lady\u2019s doll that you were\ngoing to tell us. Will you tell it this afternoon? You can be thinking\nit up.\u201d\n\nTo this Miss Ruth agreed.\n\nBetty had in one hand a fancy-striped paper bag, full of chocolate\ncandy. She held it toward Miss Ruth: \u201cTake some, please. O, take more\nthan one piece! Mother had a birthday yesterday and she gave each of us\nchildren two dollars. She hid the money in different places \u2019round the\nhouse, and we had to hunt for it; it was such fun.\n\n\u201cI like mother\u2019s birthdays, \u2019cause she always gives us something,\u201d\nBetty rattled on, in her usual lively fashion. \u201cLast year she baked\nsome new silver dollars into a cottage pudding: it looked so heavy that\nnone of us would take any at first, except Max, but when he bit into a\ndollar and showed it to us, we all took some in a hurry.\n\n\u201cHave some more candy, please,\u201d urged Betty, generously, holding forth\nthe striped bag again. \u201cI bought a lot,--twenty-five cents\u2019 worth out\nof my two dollars,--so I could have some candy to eat in school. I\nnever get found out. Don\u2019t ever tell, will you?\u201d\n\n\u201cDo I ever tell?\u201d asked Miss Ruth.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d Betty said, with an approving nod, \u201cI don\u2019t believe you ever do.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t you think it would be more honourable, however, Betty, since\ncandy-eating is not allowed in school, for you not to take the candy\nthere?\u201d Ruth Warren asked, looking intently into Betty\u2019s face.\n\nBetty lowered her eyes, but did not make any answer.\n\n\u201cLeave the candy here,\u201d suggested Ruth Warren, \u201cand have it for the\nClub meeting.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll--right, I will,\u201d came the rather reluctant but courageous consent.\n\n\u201cWell, it\u2019s \u2019most school-time and I must go,\u201d cried Betty in her wonted\nhappy manner, a half-moment later. \u201cThank you for keeping the candy.\u201d\nShe took a last piece by way of reward to herself, and hurried off to\nschool.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThere was no Alice with Betty and Elsa when they arrived, soon after\nthree o\u2019clock. \u201cShe wasn\u2019t at school this morning, but Ben has gone\nhome to see if she can come,\u201d Betty explained at once.\n\n\u201cMrs. Holt has just now telephoned me,\u201d Ruth Warren said, \u201cand she\ntells me that Alice has a feverish cold, so she cannot come to the\nClub.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe might go out there,\u201d Betty suggested.\n\n\u201cBut we are not invited,\u201d Ruth Warren replied merrily. \u201cIf Alice has a\nfeverish cold, naturally enough her mother would not invite us there.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is too bad,\u201d cried Elsa. \u201cAlice will be so disappointed.\u201d Both she\nand Betty looked quite downcast, for they were very fond of Alice.\n\n\u201cCan we have the story just the same, or shall we wait?\u201d Betty inquired\nanxiously.\n\n\u201cWe will have the story,\u201d replied Miss Ruth, \u201cbecause I shall go out\nto see Alice to-morrow, and if she would like, I will tell it to her\nthere.\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease begin now, then,\u201d urged Betty.\n\n\u201cBut first I want to show you what I have for the Club to work upon,\u201d\nsaid Miss Ruth, beginning to undo the wrappings of a large, flat\npasteboard box which stood upon the table.\n\n\u201cO, goody!\u201d cried Betty, who had been eying the box with lively\ncuriosity.\n\n\u201cPaper dolls!\u201d exclaimed Elsa, clasping her hands in rapturous delight,\nas the box-cover came off.\n\n\u201cWhat beauties!\u201d Betty said, dancing a quick-step in her excitement.\n\nThere were twelve sets of dolls, all fully dressed, and with extra\ncostumes, ready to be painted.\n\n\u201cAll those dresses,--all the hats, too, to be painted,\u201d said Elsa, in\ngreat glee.\n\n\u201cWhat fun! What fun!\u201d cried Betty, whirling around like a lively top,\nwhile Miss Ruth took from the box a large tin case of water-colour\npaints and several brushes, and placed them upon some sheets of\nblotting-paper which already covered the polished mahogany table.\n\nBetty had just been out to the kitchen for some water,--at Miss Ruth\u2019s\nsuggestion and to grim-faced Sarah\u2019s great delight,--and she was\nfilling the paint saucers when she glanced up at the sound of loud\nsleigh-bells and cried out: \u201cWhy! there is Alice!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt can\u2019t be Alice!\u201d said Elsa, following Betty to the window.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s the Holts\u2019 hired man, grinning from ear to ear, and Alice with\nhim,\u201d insisted Betty. \u201cShe has just jumped out of the sleigh.\u201d\n\nThe bell rang, and in a surprisingly short time Sarah appeared at the\nlibrary door, trying hard not to burst out laughing; for behind her\ncame Ben, very red in the face, dressed in a brown sailor-suit of\nAlice\u2019s, and looking so sheepish and so comical that Miss Ruth joined\nin the general laugh, and Sarah went off chuckling, with her white\napron up to her face.\n\n\u201cPeggy felt so bad because she couldn\u2019t come that I put on one of her\nold dresses over my own clothes, just for fun, to make her laugh,\u201d said\nBen, hanging his head, but marching bravely into the room.\n\n\u201cI shouldn\u2019t think you\u2019d want to wear girls\u2019 clothes and come to a\ngirls\u2019 Club,\u201d said Betty teasingly.\n\n\u201cGirls are all right, most of the time,\u201d Ben answered. \u201cThey\u2019re too\nafraid of their clothes to be as nice as boys, all the time. This is\nawful tight; mother said she knew something would happen to it;\u201d he was\nstill very red in the face.\n\nSomething had happened already, for one of the sleeves had partly\nripped from the blouse waist. Noticing this, Ruth Warren noticed also\na tumultuous movement under the blouse, suggestive of sobs. But Ben\u2019s\nsmiling, ruddy face showed no signs of grief. A half-moment later,\na tiny, furry head with bright bead-like eyes, looked out above the\nblouse collar.\n\nIn her usual tone Miss Ruth said: \u201cI see you have brought one of your\npets with you, Ben.\u201d\n\nBen made a quick movement, but not quick enough to prevent a gray\nsquirrel from springing out of his attempted grasp, upon the\nwindow-sill.\n\nElsa jumped, and Betty cried: \u201cBen Holt! How mean of you! Poor little\nsquirrel!\u201d\n\nThe squirrel\u2019s heart was thumping wildly under the soft fur of his\nchest, and his breath came in quick gasps as he turned his head\nrapidly from side to side, searching a chance to escape.\n\n\u201cIs he your tame squirrel, Ben?\u201d Ruth Warren inquired.\n\n\u201cNot exactly; you see we\u2019ve been feeding him from the dining-room\nwindow, so he\u2019s quite tame,\u201d explained Ben, \u201cand--and I caught him on\nthe wood-pile, with some nuts, and brought him along to see if the\ngirls would be frightened.\u201d\n\n\u201cO, that is it,\u201d was all Ruth Warren said, but Ben\u2019s face grew redder\nthan ever.\n\nMaking a sudden leap, the squirrel landed on top of the tall bookcase.\nFrom here he gave another leap to the top of a window, and began\nscolding loudly.\n\n\u201cI will bring some walnuts, Ben, so that you can capture this\nfrightened little creature and take him home,\u201d Miss Ruth said, going to\nthe pantry.\n\n\u201cNow aren\u2019t you sorry, Ben?\u201d teased Betty.\n\nThe relish of the joke was indeed gone for Ben, but he faced the music\nbravely, for, though often heedless, he was no coward. When Miss Ruth\ncame back with the walnuts, he asked the girls to keep quiet, and in\na few moments coaxed Mr. Squirrel down from the window-top to the\nmantel, where he sat with his bushy tail curled up over his back,\nturning a nut-meat round and round in his paws as he ate it, listening\nand watching intently.\n\nIt was hard for Betty and Elsa to keep from laughing, and even Miss\nRuth had difficulty in keeping her face sober, for Ben in his sister\u2019s\nshort-skirted dress, which hardly came to his knees,--leaving an\nextra long pair of thin legs which ended in good-sized feet,--was an\nexceedingly droll sight. A giggle from Betty at the critical moment\nsent the squirrel flying to the curtain-top again; but greedy hunger\nconquered fear, and growing venturesome again, the squirrel came by\ncautious degrees down to the window-sill. While he sat there, filling\nhis cheek pouches with the cracked walnuts, Ben, who had been close at\nhand all the while, deftly captured him and tucked him away securely\ninto the blouse waist.\n\n\u201cNow, if one of you girls will unfasten this old dress skirt, I\u2019ll drop\nit off,\u201d Ben said meekly, after struggling to unbutton the skirt with\none hand while holding the squirrel fast with the other. \u201cI can\u2019t go\nthrough the streets with a skirt on,\u201d he added, shamefacedly.\n\nMiss Ruth unfastened the waist-band buttons, the skirt dropped to the\nfloor, and Ben stood there in the middle of the room, looking even\nfunnier than ever in his dark blue knickerbockers and the brown blouse\nwaist. Miss Ruth mercifully and quickly helped him into the old blue\nreefer jacket, which was so tight now that he could not button it at\nall.\n\n\u201cI should be glad to have you come back to the Club meeting, after you\nhave taken the squirrel home, Ben,\u201d Miss Ruth said, with the double\npurpose of making sure that the squirrel reached his headquarters and\nof giving Ben a share in the meeting if he really wanted to come back.\n\u201cWill you ask Alice if she would like some of the paper dolls to paint,\nand if she would, you could take them to her,\u201d she added.\n\n\u201cYes, I will come back,\u201d Ben answered, with a brightening face. \u201cI\u2019d\nlike to--anyway--and Peggy would be disappointed not to know all about\nthe meeting.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am going to tell the Club a story I promised them. It is only about\na little old lady\u2019s doll; but if you would like to hear it, I will wait\ntill you come.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, ma\u2019am, I should like to hear it, thank you,\u201d replied Ben most\nhumbly.\n\n\u201cAlice said you like dolls, Ben,\u201d cried Betty mischievously.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t care,--I do like dolls sometimes. I ducked a boy into the\nfrog-pond once--\u201d began Ben; but he stopped and burst out laughing, for\nMiss Ruth had given him a queer look, and now she was saying: \u201cIt seems\nto me we have heard about that before, Ben.\u201d\n\n\u201cHurry, Ben,\u201d exclaimed Elsa, impatient for the story. \u201cHurry home and\nhurry back again.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps I can find our hired man on the road with Jerry,\u201d called out\nBen, as he left the room, \u201cand then I\u2019d go flying home and back quicker\nthan a flash.\u201d\n\n\u201cOr a squirrel,\u201d added Miss Ruth. \u201cBe careful of the squirrel, Ben.\u201d\n\nBoth Elsa and Betty wanted some advice about the colours of paints\nto use first, so the time did not seem very long to them before Ben\nreturned,--a most penitent-faced boy now, and in his own clothes.\n\nBen walked straight up to Miss Ruth, made his best bow, and said in a\nmanly way, though very fast: \u201cMother says I must beg your pardon for\nbringing the squirrel. I am sorry I did it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think you frightened the squirrel more than you did the girls,\nBen,\u201d Miss Ruth replied, feeling that the boy had already done\nsufficient penance for his attempted fun.\n\nBen drew a long breath of relief. \u201cI had a ride both ways,\u201d he said,\nquite cheerfully. \u201cMay I paint, too?\u201d he inquired, turning to look at\nthe tempting array upon the table, and also at the plateful of thin\nsandwiches which Miss Ruth had wisely provided to go with Betty\u2019s candy.\n\n\u201cYes, indeed,\u201d Miss Ruth answered. \u201cHow would you like to paint the\nshoes on the dolls? Take some sandwiches, children.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will black their boots for them,\u201d cried Ben merrily, as he helped\nhimself to a chicken sandwich and a paint-brush.\n\n\u201cBetty brought the candy,\u201d said Miss Ruth, for Ben, somehow, was ready\nfor a piece in a flash. Then Betty bravely made the explanation.\n\n\u201cPeggy says she will do all the painting you want her to. She can\u2019t\nhardly wait for it.\u201d Ben suddenly remembered the message.\n\n\u201cWe can\u2019t hardly wait for that story! Please, _please_, begin!\u201d\nentreated Betty.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThis is a true story, children,--said Ruth Warren, going toward the\nhearth, where a bright wood-fire burned steadily, and wheeling a deep,\ncomfortable chair half around so that she might watch the children at\ntheir work:--The winter that I was eleven years old, my father had\nto go to California. My mother went with him, and as it would have\nbeen a rather long, hard journey for a child, they left me with my\ngrandmother, who lived in a roomy, old-fashioned house just on the\nborder of a large town. I was not very well that winter, and the doctor\nhad said I must not go to school, but must be out-of-doors all that\nI could. I remember this half made up to me for having my father and\nmother go away--or I tried to think it did.\n\nAbout three minutes\u2019 walk from my grandmother\u2019s, Miss Ph\u0153be Dean,\na little old lady who had been a school-teacher in her younger\ndays, lived all alone in a snug, small story-and-a-half house. Miss\nDean owned the house, but she was rather poor and not very strong.\nGrandmother used to send broths and jellies and things of that kind to\nher, every few days, and as I had no school lessons to take my time,\ngrandmother generally sent the things by me.\n\nMiss Dean was very friendly. She had all sorts of quaint, interesting\ncuriosities in her house, for her father had been around the world\nseveral times as captain of his own ship and had brought home many\ntreasures; sometimes she would open an old carved chest and show me\nwonderful pictures and beautiful embroideries. Before long, she and I\nwere such good friends that I went to see her almost every day, whether\nor not grandmother had anything to send.\n\nThe bedroom which I slept in at my grandmother\u2019s had a dormer window\nfacing toward Miss Dean\u2019s house; and Miss Dean told me that she used\nto watch for my light every night at my bedtime. Grandmother had made\nMiss Dean promise that if she ever was ill at night, and wanted help,\nshe would put two candles side by side in her front window. One night,\nafter grandmother had put out my light and tucked me into bed, I looked\ntoward Miss Dean\u2019s house, thinking that she was thinking about me; and\nI felt sure that I saw two candles in her front window. There were a\nfew flakes of snow falling, and the lights looked rather dim, but I was\nsure they were there, and meant that Miss Dean was ill.\n\nI called down to grandmother. She came up-stairs to look, and then\nwe both looked, but now neither one of us could see any light.\nGrandmother said: \u201cYou imagined you saw the two candles, Ruth.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, grandmother,\u201d I insisted. \u201cI am sure I saw them.\u201d\n\nGrandmother laughed and called me a foolish little girl; but, to\ncomfort me, said she would sit near the window down-stairs and look\nout every now and then toward Miss Dean\u2019s house. I kept my eyes on her\nwindow, by propping myself up in bed, with the pillows, until by and by\nI grew too sleepy to keep my eyes open,--especially as I did not see\nthe candles again.\n\nThe next morning there was deep snow over everything. And because\ngrandmother\u2019s house was on the border of the town, the streets were not\ncleared of snow until noonday. I kept thinking and talking about Miss\nDean so much that about eleven o\u2019clock grandmother said: \u201cPut on your\nrubber boots, Ruth, and go over to see her, if you want to.\u201d\n\nIn about a minute I had on those rubber boots and my thick red coat,\nand was wading in the snow, quite to my knees, toward the little white\nhouse. It took me so long that two or three times I almost gave it up,\nbecause I was used to running over in such a short time. But I kept\non, and finally came to Miss Dean\u2019s green-and-white gate. There were no\nfoot-tracks in the front yard, and the snow was so deep that I could\nhardly find the door-steps. When I did find them, I began pounding on\nthe front door--Miss Dean did not have any door-bell--and very soon I\nsaw her all bundled up in a shawl, looking out of the window to see who\nit was, before she unlocked the door.\n\nPoor little old lady! She led me into the sitting-room, where she slept\nin the winter. \u201cI shall have to go back to bed, dear,\u201d she said in her\nsweet way; \u201cI have had a dreadful pain in my head ever since yesterday\nafternoon.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you did put the two candles at the window last night?\u201d I asked\neagerly.\n\n\u201cYes, dear, for a little while,\u201d she said in a weak voice as she sank\nback against her pillows. \u201cBut when I saw that it was snowing, I took\nthe candles away so as not to disturb your grandmother, for I thought\nthe hired man and his wife might be gone down town, and she would have\nno one to send over.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs there anything I can do for you?\u201d I asked, for she had closed her\neyes as if she were suffering. Half-frightened by her white face, I\nlooked away from the bed; and there in a little rocking-chair what did\nI see but a black-eyed doll, dressed in a long, clean white flannel\nnightgown and with a red shawl pinned around her.\n\n\u201cYou might get some hot water from the tea-kettle on the kitchen\nstove,\u201d said Miss Dean, without opening her eyes, \u201cand put a\nteaspoonful of peppermint essence out of that bottle on the table into\na half glass of water. That might make me feel better.\u201d\n\nI hurried out to the kitchen and brought back the hot mixture. Miss\nDean took it all, then settled down again among the pillows; but she\ndid not look so pale now. \u201cI shall soon feel better,\u201d she said in her\npretty, patient way.\n\nSo I waited, seating myself opposite that doll. It had a china head\nwith such black hair, big black eyes and a round face, very white\nexcept the bright red cheeks and lips. It was a pretty, lovable doll,\nand I knew it must be a very old one.\n\n\u201cYou are looking at my doll, Ruth,\u201d Miss Dean said suddenly; and\nturning, I found her eyes fixed upon my face.\n\n\u201cIs it your doll?\u201d I cried.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she said softly. She had large brown eyes and a delicate\nface; her eyes seemed larger than ever now, because her face was so\nwhite.\n\n[Illustration: \u201c\u2018WHAT DID I SEE BUT A BLACK-EYED DOLL.\u2019\u201d]\n\n\u201cIt is my doll,\u201d Miss Dean repeated. \u201cWould you like to hold her?\u201d\n\nI had been longing to take that quaint, white-nightgowned doll into my\narms. So I jumped up quickly and brought her back with me to the chair\nby the bed. Probably my face showed how I loved that old china doll on\nthe spot. Anyway, after Miss Dean had watched me holding it a little\nwhile, she said: \u201cThat peppermint makes my head feel better. I will\ntell you about the doll.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is her name?\u201d I asked.\n\n\u201cSusie,\u201d Miss Dean said, \u201cand I have had her ever since I was five\nyears old. The way I happen to keep her out now is this: You see, when\nI was younger, I used to teach children, year after year, different\nones, of course. I used to think that maybe if I married and had a\nlittle daughter of my own, I would name her Susie,--my mother\u2019s name\nwas Susan. But I grew older, and I didn\u2019t marry, and then, after a\ntime, I had to give up school-teaching. My father and my mother had\ndied, and I missed the children more and more.\n\n\u201cOne day when it was very stormy and I was dreadfully, desperately\nlonely, without a human being around, I went to the old trunk under the\neaves, where I had put my dolls away when I was fourteen years old, and\nI took Susie out for just that day. And having that doll with me made\nme feel so much happier that, afterward, every once in awhile, when I\ngrew lonely, I would take her out again. I made some new dresses and\nnightgowns for her, because it didn\u2019t seem quite fair not to treat her\nwell when she gave me so much pleasure.\n\n\u201cThen, two or three years ago,\u201d--Miss Dean went on; and her large\nbrown eyes began to grow very bright now,--\u201cI put Susie into that\nlittle rocking-chair one snowy night when I went to bed; and it was\nso pleasant to wake up in the morning and find her there that I began\nto have her out every night. By day I always put her into the bureau\ndrawer, because I thought if people saw her, they wouldn\u2019t understand.\nI should have put her away this morning when you came, only I was\nsuffering so, I forgot her.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I understand,\u201d I said very quickly. \u201cI am sure that if I lived\nalone, I should do just the same.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo should I. Wasn\u2019t Miss Dean dear?\u201d said Elsa, pushing back her\ncloudy golden hair as Miss Ruth stopped a moment to put a bit of fallen\nwood again into the fire.\n\n\u201cWhy didn\u2019t she have more than one doll?\u201d Betty asked, thoughtfully,\nsplashing her brush into the water.\n\n\u201cBecause one is enough,\u201d said Elsa instantly.\n\n\u201cEverybody likes one best,\u201d explained Ben, with the wisdom of ten and a\nhalf years.\n\n * * * * *\n\nAfter Miss Dean had told me about Susie,--continued Ruth Warren,\nleaning comfortably back into her chair again,--she asked me if I\nwould like to see Susie\u2019s dresses. I said yes, of course, and she told\nme to open the lower drawer of the bureau. Such a quantity of pretty\nthings as I found! I dressed and undressed Susie to my heart\u2019s content,\nputting on first a plaid silk gown, then a checked blue-and-white\ngingham and a funny little Red Riding-hood suit; and finally I put\nSusie back into her white nightgown, for I felt that Miss Dean would\nprobably rather choose her dress for the day. And very soon I said I\nmust go.\n\n\u201cCan\u2019t you stop and have a little bit of dinner--a kind of lunch--with\nme?\u201d Miss Dean asked. \u201cIf you will put some biscuits into the oven to\nwarm, and make some tea, I will dress myself, and we can have that with\nsome cold ham and jelly.\u201d\n\nI said I could stay,--for I knew grandmother wouldn\u2019t mind. So Miss\nDean told me where the biscuit and tea were, and by the time I had them\nready, she came out into the kitchen, dressed in a gray flannel wrapper\nwith light blue trimmings. She made me think of a doll, she was so\nsmall and so dainty;--she was one of the daintiest people I have ever\nknown, with white, beautifully shaped hands and soft, silky hair--\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cShe makes me think of Elsa,\u201d said Betty, with a little sigh, half of\nenvy, half of appreciation.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t interrupt, _please_, Betty,\u201d Elsa entreated, unmindful of what\nBetty had said.\n\n * * * * *\n\nEverything about Miss Dean\u2019s house was as dainty as Miss Dean\nherself--resumed the story-teller;--and everything in the house seemed\nsmall, like herself,--tables, chairs, lamps, vases, kitchen stove, even\nthe dishes we ate out of. We had a good luncheon, I remember, and Miss\nDean kept me interested, as she always did, with stories of what had\nhappened long ago. After we finished eating, she leaned her head back\nagainst her chair in a tired way--she sat at the table in a little\nrocking-chair--and she said in a wistful voice: \u201cI have been thinking\nabout my poor hens. Not a bit of corn or water have they had since\nyesterday, and I don\u2019t dare go out to feed them because my head is so\ndizzy that I am afraid of falling.\u201d\n\n\u201cO, let me feed them,\u201d I begged instantly.\n\n\u201cBut they will be afraid of you,\u201d she said; \u201cthey are used to seeing my\nclothes.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can dress up in your clothes,\u201d I said. \u201cO, do let me, please!\u201d\n\nMiss Dean liked a little fun, and she did want her hens fed. So she\nshowed me where she kept her \u201cchicken clothes\u201d--as she called them,--a\nshort brown skirt and a square plaid shawl that she wore over her head\nand shoulders. The skirt was long for me and the shawl made my head\ndreadfully hot. But we both laughed over it, and Miss Dean said she\nwas glad to know how she looked. Then she told me not to flop my arms\naround, because that would frighten the hens. So, with a pail of water\nand two quarts of corn, I made my way to the hen-house, which was just\nbeyond a little shed. By the time I arrived, I had forgotten not to\nflop my arms, and the hens grew rather excited and lively, but they\nwere too hungry and thirsty to care much who fed them. After that, I\nhunted around and found over a dozen white eggs, some of them quite\nwarm, I remember. I tripped upon the brown skirt, going back, and let\none egg fall out of the corn measure.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cThe dolls\u2019 shoes are all blacked,\u201d exclaimed Ben, rising suddenly and\nstretching himself, boy-fashion. \u201cMay I take a sofa pillow and lie down\nin front of the fire?\u201d he asked, coming toward Miss Ruth.\n\n\u201cMake yourself comfortable, Ben,\u201d she answered readily; which Ben\naccordingly did.\n\n\u201cExcuse my interrupting,\u201d he said, in a low tone; \u201cand please go on.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nMiss Dean told me that breaking the egg did not matter,--that she\noften broke more than one, though I knew she said this just to make me\nfeel better. \u201cI have brought something out for you,\u201d she said, after\nI had taken off the brown skirt and the stifling plaid shawl, and she\nwas counting the eggs. I saw on the kitchen table a black-and-gold\nlacquered box, neither large nor small. It looked so interesting that I\nwanted to open it at once, but Miss Dean began talking about the hens.\n\nI happened to see by the kitchen clock that it was almost three\no\u2019clock, and I knew that I ought to be going, for, though I sometimes\nstayed to lunch with Miss Dean, grandmother always said for me to come\nhome immediately.\n\nYou may imagine how much I wanted to see what was in that beautiful\nlacquered box; but I said that I must go home. I hurried into the\nbedroom for my coat and Miss Dean followed me. I saw that she had\ndressed Susie in the blue-and-white gingham frock while I had been out\nfeeding the hens.\n\n\u201cI will come over to-morrow,\u201d I said, as Miss Dean helped me on with my\ncoat. She noticed me looking at Susie,--although I was not thinking of\nthe doll just then.\n\n\u201cDo you mind, dear, not telling any one about Susie?\u201d Miss Dean asked\nin a timid voice.\n\n\u201cI will not tell anybody at all,\u201d I remember I said, slowly, as I went,\nslowly also, out of the front door, hoping that Miss Dean would call me\nback to give me that box.\n\n\u201cHave you light enough for your painting, girls?\u201d Miss Ruth stopped to\nask. The daylight had suddenly begun to disappear.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s stop now; I have done three sets,\u201d said Betty, dropping her\npaint-brush.\n\n\u201cI have finished two.\u201d Elsa straightened back her shoulders and\nstretched her arms.\n\nMiss Ruth reached over to the couch and pulled two cushions down upon\nthe hearth-rug. \u201cYou have both done splendidly, and so has Ben. Sit\nhere and rest yourselves now,\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t waste any time from the story, please,\u201d Betty said in a loud\nwhisper as she seated herself, Turk-fashion, on the large square\ncushion and leaned her head against Miss Ruth\u2019s knees.\n\n\u201cDidn\u2019t Miss Dean give you the box, or even show it to you that day?\u201d\ninquired Ben, who was lying flat upon his stomach, looking into the\nfire.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d replied Miss Ruth, \u201cnot that day.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think she was mean to forget it,\u201d said out-spoken Betty.\n\n\u201cWait till we\u2019ve heard the end of the story,\u201d exclaimed Elsa, who had\ncurled up on her cushion against the heavy brass stand which held the\nfire-tongs and shovel.\n\n\u201cDo you know the end of it?\u201d Betty asked quickly.\n\n\u201cNo,--only I know anybody so nice as Miss Dean will be the same at the\nend,\u201d Elsa said, with a very earnest expression in her eyes.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll bet I know what was in that box,\u201d cried Ben, from his position on\nthe centre of the rug.\n\n\u201cWhat?\u201d asked Betty.\n\n\u201cHens\u2019 eggs to hatch,\u201d Ben replied confidently.\n\n\u201cThe idea!\u201d exclaimed Betty. \u201cJust as if Miss Dean would have given a\ngirl hens\u2019 eggs for a present! Now keep still, Ben.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe can have only a bit more of the story to-day, because it is almost\nfive o\u2019clock,\u201d said Miss Ruth, putting her hand softly over Betty\u2019s\nmouth, which began to frame an objecting \u201cO!\u201d Then she continued:\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen I came home from Miss Dean\u2019s, grandmother felt dreadfully to think\nthat the little old lady had been ill there all alone by herself. \u201cI\nmust send her some nourishing things to eat,\u201d said grandmother; \u201cI\nwould have Barker go now\u201d--he was the hired man--\u201cbut he is off hauling\nwood, and Jenny\u201d--that was his wife--\u201chas a bad cold.\u201d\n\nI said \u201cO, grandmother, let me go!\u201d For I was wondering, harder than\never, what was in the lacquered box. But grandmother said, \u201cNo, child,\nyou have been out enough to-day in this bad walking. You may go over,\nthough, early in the morning.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe clock pealed out five as Miss Ruth stopped with these words.\n\n\u201cJust a little more,\u201d urged Betty.\n\n\u201cThis will be a good place to begin again,\u201d said Miss Ruth; \u201cwe will\nhave the rest of the story at the next Club meeting, if you like.\u201d\n\n\u201cI want it now,\u201d insisted Betty; \u201cI can stay.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I can\u2019t,\u201d said Ben, \u201conly about a minute longer. I will think the\nfirst part over, going home, to tell Alice.\u201d\n\n\u201cI hope she can come to the next meeting,\u201d said Elsa, with a loyal\nthought for her little friend.\n\n\u201cYou must tell her, Ben, that we have missed her a great deal,\u201d Miss\nRuth said.\n\n\u201cAnd give her the Club\u2019s love,\u201d added Elsa.\n\n\u201cI like to have you do that,\u201d said Betty, who had given up teasing and\nsuddenly grown very quiet as Miss Ruth passed her hand slowly over the\nrumpled brown hair.\n\nElsa looked on, from her seat against the tall brass fire-stand. She\nwas too loving-natured to be jealous, but she would have dearly liked\nto be in Betty\u2019s place, there against Miss Ruth\u2019s knees. Still, Elsa\nwas very happy. Miss Ruth\u2019s dark red dress was so warm-looking in\nthe firelight, and the room seemed so pleasant; it was restful and\ndelightful just to be there. Elsa felt this keenly, although she would\nnot have been able to put it into words.\n\n\u201cDo you know what fire-sparks are?\u201d asked Ben, who was leaning on\nhis elbows with his chin in his hands, and looking straight into the\nglowing fire. \u201cSparks are the sunbeams that got shut up in the wood\nwhile the tree was growing, and now they are going up the chimney and\nback into the air again.\u201d\n\nSarah Judd, passing the library door to light the hall lamp, looked\nin for a moment, unnoticed by the Club. \u201cIt do seem good to see them\nchildren stretched out in front of the fire and havin\u2019 such a good\ntime,\u201d she said to herself, with one of the unexpectedly cracking-like\nsmiles upon her grim face.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe day after this meeting of the Club Miss Virginia Warren took a cold\nfrom having her room overheated. \u201cI am really worried about myself,\u201d\nshe said after her niece had spent most of the day trying to make her\ncomfortable.\n\n\u201cBut the doctor says it is only a cold, and that your heart is in no\ndanger,\u201d said Ruth Warren; \u201cto be sure, a cold is uncomfortable enough\nto make one wretched,\u201d she added. \u201cLet me open that farther window; a\nlittle fresh air will make you feel better.\u201d\n\n\u201cO, no, no!\u201d cried Miss Virginia, drawing her thick white shawl closer\naround herself at the thought. \u201cDon\u2019t excite me so, Ruth. There\u2019s no\ntelling what may happen. My heart seems very feeble,\u201d she went on,\nafter trying for a half-moment to count the pulse-beats in her own\nwrist. \u201cI am more and more certain that I must have a nurse to watch my\npulse and look out every moment for draughts. Yes, I really must ask\nyou now to see about a nurse,\u201d added Miss Virginia, clasping one large\nhand over the other wrist to keep track of her heart-beats.\n\nRuth Warren consulted the doctor.\n\n\u201cYour aunt doesn\u2019t need a nurse any more than you or I need one,\u201d he\nsaid, gruffly. \u201cBetter have one, though, and I will order her to open\nthe windows every hour of the day. We will give your aunt a little\ntraining, and it may do her good.\u201d\n\nAs a result of this conversation, and of a plan which she found she\ncould carry out, Ruth Warren called a few days later at Mrs. Danforth\u2019s.\n\n\u201cMrs. Danforth isn\u2019t very well to-day, miss, and she asks will you come\nup to her room, please,\u201d said Cummings; so Ruth Warren followed the\nstiff-backed maid up the polished stairs. From the top of the stairs\nshe saw, just ahead, a room all furnished in white, which she knew must\nbe Elsa\u2019s. \u201cWhat an unpretty room for a child!\u201d she said to herself.\n\nMrs. Danforth had on a beautiful white dressing-gown with long lace\nruffles hanging from the sleeves, and she was leaning back in a blue\nvelvet chair. \u201cShe does not look so ill as unhappy,\u201d Ruth Warren\nthought to herself.\n\nNot wishing to take any more time than was necessary, Ruth Warren began\nat once to give the reason for her call:\n\n\u201cElsa has told me, Mrs. Danforth, of a nurse she once had by the name\nof Bettina March. Curiously enough, I find that this same Bettina\nMarch has quite lately been employed at the Convalescent Home here in\nBerkeley. She was very much liked, but she was not strong, and went\naway, hoping to return. She is not yet able to take up the work, and\nshe is anxious to find some occupation which will give her, for a time,\nless active duties.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, and what of it?\u201d inquired Mrs. Danforth coldly, fixing her\neyes upon her visitor\u2019s face. She and Miss Ruth had exchanged calls\nformally; that was all the acquaintance they had, save a chance\nmeeting, now and then.\n\n\u201cI should not have intruded upon you with a personal matter, Mrs.\nDanforth, except for good reason,\u201d Ruth Warren said quietly. \u201cMy Aunt\nVirginia, who, as you know, lives with me, feels the need of having\na nurse; it will be an easy position and one which Bettina March can\neasily fill, as my aunt is by no means very ill. I came to ask if you\nhave any objection to my engaging Bettina March?\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it that you wish to inquire of me in regard to Bettina March\u2019s\ncharacter?\u201d demanded Mrs. Danforth. \u201cI know nothing against her.\u201d\n\nNow Mrs. Danforth was accustomed to have people a little afraid of her.\nShe was rather surprised, therefore, to find that Ruth Warren did not\nshow any embarrassment, but went on, in a quite simple and perfectly\nself-possessed manner, to say: \u201cIt is not that, Mrs. Danforth. The\nhead-nurse at the Convalescent Home has satisfied me entirely with\nregard to the woman\u2019s character. It is only on Elsa\u2019s account that I\nhave come to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy should I object to your employing Bettina March on Elsa\u2019s\naccount?\u201d Mrs. Danforth made things as hard as she could for Ruth\nWarren.\n\n\u201cBecause my house is next to yours, and Elsa has told me that you were\nunwilling to have her keep up any acquaintance with her old nurse,\u201d\nRuth Warren replied, in the same even-toned voice.\n\nMrs. Danforth felt now obliged to explain. \u201cBettina March was nurse to\nElsa\u2019s mother during her last illness, and after the mother died stayed\non with Elsa until her father died. I felt that the child was growing\ntoo dependent on the woman. Elsa is almost entirely without relatives.\nHer mother was an only child, and her father had only one brother,\nMr. Ned Danforth. If he should marry, or if I should die, Elsa would\nbe quite alone in the world and she would need to be self-reliant. I\ndid not think she was a child who would talk over my affairs,\u201d Mrs.\nDanforth remarked haughtily.\n\nRuth Warren could not let Elsa stand in a false light before her\ngrandmother\u2019s eyes. Therefore she suddenly decided to tell the story\nof the child\u2019s grief over the giving away of her doll.\n\nThe coldness of Mrs. Danforth\u2019s blue eyes gave way, little by little,\nto a softer expression as Ruth Warren described Elsa\u2019s visit to her,\nthat late evening.\n\n\u201cSo she was brave enough to go out of the house alone at night, and she\nkept the loss of the doll from me for fear it would hurt my feelings,\u201d\nsaid Mrs. Danforth half to herself, toying with a silver paper-cutter\nthe while. \u201cOf course I did not know that the child cared anything\nabout the doll.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is what Elsa said,\u201d returned Ruth Warren, quite eagerly now. Then\nshe went on in a lower tone: \u201cElsa seems to me a keenly sensitive,\nthoughtful and affectionate-natured little girl, but very much\nrepressed. As I have observed her--her shyness and her pale face--I\ncannot help thinking that what she needs more than anything else is to\nhave some love shown her, and to feel free to show her own affection.\u201d\nRuth Warren rose to go, feeling that perhaps she had said too much.\n\n\u201cWait a moment,\u201d said Mrs. Danforth, not unkindly. \u201cYou mean to tell\nme that I am too severe with the child?\u201d She remembered, with an\nuncomfortable feeling, that Mrs. White had said much the same thing.\n\n\u201cNot too severe in the matter of discipline, but--\u201d Ruth Warren left\nthe sentence unfinished.\n\n\u201cOn the whole, I thank you, Miss Warren,\u201d said Mrs. Danforth slowly.\n\u201cI am sure you have Elsa\u2019s best interest at heart. I am grateful to\nyou for taking charge of the little Club. It has made me feel safe\nin regard to her. Do you think that the Holt children are perfectly\nsuitable companions for Elsa, in every way?\u201d she asked suddenly.\n\n\u201cThey are perfectly suitable companions for any children, I am\nsure,\u201d Ruth Warren said warmly. \u201cThey are charming little children,\nwell-trained and gentle-mannered. The boy is mischievous, but he is\nperhaps all the more likeable for his liveliness, and he is very manly\nwith his mother and his little sister. I have seen the mother several\ntimes, and I have never met a more attractive or charming woman,--or a\nbraver woman.\u201d\n\nA quick flush reddened Mrs. Danforth\u2019s face, then died away as suddenly\nas it came. Reaching out a trembling hand, she rang for her maid, who\nappeared as if she had risen out of the blue velvet carpeted floor.\n\n\u201cCummings, some water,\u201d said Mrs. Danforth, with an evident effort.\nThen she leaned back against her chair and closed her eyes.\n\nRuth Warren had started to leave the room, but fearing lest Mrs.\nDanforth should faint, she stood waiting for Cummings to return.\n\nAs she waited, she noticed, half unconsciously at first, then with\na quick start of interest, an oil-painting hanging upon the softly\ntinted wall, back of Mrs. Danforth\u2019s chair,--an oil-painting of a\nlarge, gable-windowed house, exactly like the one at Mrs. Holt\u2019s. Ruth\nWarren remembered it particularly because of one small red-leaved maple\ntree at the left-hand corner of the picture; and she also remembered\nElsa\u2019s exclamation over Mrs. Holt\u2019s picture. She looked again at Mrs.\nDanforth\u2019s white, set face, and a haunting resemblance flashed through\nher mind, leaving her fairly bewildered.\n\nJust then Cummings came in with a glass of water. Mrs. Danforth opened\nher eyes, drank the water, and appeared instantly better. \u201cI have these\ndizzy attacks once in a while, Miss Warren,\u201d she said in her usual\nstately manner, \u201cbut they pass off quickly. I am sorry this happened\nwhile you were here. Thank you for coming. I am sure you will find\nBettina March a very useful woman.\u201d\n\nThen Ruth Warren, turning many things over in her mind, went home,\nleaving Mrs. Danforth to her pride and loneliness.\n\nIt had chanced that, coming from a drive by way of Berkeley Avenue the\nday before, and having Elsa with her, Mrs. Danforth had met a young,\nfair-haired, plainly dressed woman walking along slowly between a boy\nand a girl who looked very much alike, although the boy was the taller.\n\nMrs. Holt had been to the shops that afternoon with her children, and\nin the basket which Ben was carrying so carefully, were the precious\nChristmas remembrances they had bought for the dear father out in\nColorado. Mrs. Holt\u2019s face was unusually sad, for this would be the\nfirst Christmas that she had ever been parted from her husband, and\nshe felt the separation more and more keenly as the days drew near to\nChristmas.\n\nElsa had leaned forward and waved eagerly behind the closed window\nof the coup\u00e9. The twins had smilingly waved their hands in turn. The\ntired-looking, sad-faced mother, in bowing to Elsa, had given a sudden,\nstartled look at Mrs. Danforth.\n\nThe encounter had been over in a half-moment, for the strong gray horse\nwas going swiftly toward home.\n\n\u201cIt is Alice and Ben and their mother, grandmother,\u201d Elsa had cried\nexcitedly. \u201cDon\u2019t you remember about \u2018Sweet Alice and Ben Bolt?\u2019 Only\ntheir name is Holt.\u201d\n\nFearing that her grandmother\u2019s silence meant reproof, Elsa had looked\naround. Mrs. Danforth was sitting very white-faced and rigid, against\nthe coup\u00e9 cushions. She did not speak again during the drive.\n\nThis was the first time that Mrs. Danforth and Mrs. Holt had met, face\nto face, in Berkeley; and it was the memory of this meeting, which Mrs.\nDanforth could not put out of her mind, that kept her in her own room\nthe next day. Through shutting out love from her life, Mrs. Danforth\nhad burnt her heart almost to ashes.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nTHE BOY IN THE CLUB\n\n You hear that boy laughing? You think he\u2019s all fun?\n But the angels laugh, too, at the good he has done.\n\n --_Oliver Wendell Holmes._\n\n\nBEN HOLT, driving slowly along the main business street of Berkeley,\nFriday morning, about half-past nine o\u2019clock, stopped his horse as he\nsaw the tall figure and met the gray eyes of Elsa Danforth\u2019s uncle.\n\n\u201cGood morning, sir,\u201d the boy said, jumping from the sleigh with a\nsudden inspiration. \u201cI would like to ask your advice, sir,\u201d he added,\ndiffidently.\n\nMr. Danforth had instantly recognized the boy of the Club. \u201cWell, Ben,\nmy boy; what is it about?\u201d he asked in his quick way of speaking.\n\nBen\u2019s usually cheerful face was very sober and earnest. Mr. Danforth\nnoticed on the seat of the sleigh a queer-shaped bundle covered with\nwhat looked suspiciously like a blue-and-white flannel night-shirt.\n\n\u201cWhat do you want my advice about? Christmas presents?\u201d the tall man\nasked kindly, seeing that the boy found some difficulty in making his\nrequest.\n\n\u201cNo, sir, it isn\u2019t Christmas presents,\u201d Ben replied sadly, taking a\nfew steps forward and putting his arm around Jerry\u2019s long nose. \u201cI am\ngoing to run away, sir; but I had promised to give five of the little\nConvalescings a sleigh-ride this morning, at eleven o\u2019clock, and I\u2019ve\nbeen trying to find some safe fellow--man,\u201d said Ben, correcting\nhimself,--\u201cwho will take them for me, somebody the head-nurse will\ntrust. Do you suppose you could do it?\u201d The boy looked up with such a\nwistful expression that Mr. Danforth felt quite touched, although he\nfelt also, that Ben was looking him over very carefully and trying to\ndecide whether the head-nurse would approve of him. \u201cYou could leave\nJerry at my house when you come home; it\u2019s not a very long ways to walk\nback to Elsa\u2019s. Of course I--I couldn\u2019t tell mother of mine that--that\nI was going to run away.\u201d Ben\u2019s face showed that he was very miserable.\n\n\u201cLet me get into the sleigh with you and we will talk it over,\u201d Mr.\nDanforth said, stepping in quickly. Ben sprang in at the other side and\npushed the blue-and-white flannel bundle to the floor, under the seat.\n\n\u201cNow, first of all, tell me why you are going to run away?\u201d Mr.\nDanforth inquired in such a friendly, sympathetic tone that Ben could\nnot help opening his heart at once.\n\n\u201cI want to earn a lot of money, sir. You see, my father\u2019s away\nteaching, and he isn\u2019t very well, so he can\u2019t send us much money. And\nmother--mother has to buy so many things, she was counting on her\nfingers last night,--coal, and things to eat, and clothes, and pay the\nhired man, and pay the rent, and she just gets all the fingers paid\noff and she has to begin again. She spent her last money yesterday\nfor coal, and she won\u2019t have any more till the first of January, and\nI can\u2019t stand it, sir; I\u2019ve got to earn some money to help her.\u201d Ben\nturned aside with a sound very much like a sob, but which of course\nmust not be heard from a boy who was going to run away. Bravely facing\nahead again after a moment he added: \u201cI want to earn a lot of money, so\nthat mother won\u2019t have to work so hard and so that we can go and live\nwith father.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you help your mother any now?\u201d Mr. Danforth inquired in the same\nquick, sympathetic voice.\n\n\u201cYes, sir, a little; I feed and take care of the hens and I do errands\nand shovel snow and help with the market-garden, and I talk over things\nwith mother, and I take the Convalescings out driving pleasant Saturday\nmornings and vacations.\u201d Ben named everything he could think of, for\nhe wanted to prove that he was a capable and trusty boy. He looked up,\nanxiously: \u201cMaybe, as you live in the city, you could tell me where to\nbegin work?\u201d\n\n\u201cWho will do all those things for your mother if you run away, Ben?\u201d\ncame the next question.\n\n\u201cWhy--she can hire a boy with the money I send,\u201d Ben answered,\nmiserably.\n\n\u201cI wouldn\u2019t run away just yet, Ben, if I were you,\u201d said Mr. Danforth\nvery gravely. \u201cYour mother might get used to that other boy. Boys\nwho run away always want to come back home, and once in awhile their\nfathers and mothers won\u2019t let them come back, but send them off to some\ninstitution. Think it over awhile, Ben. It\u2019s queer, but you are the\nvery boy I wanted to see this morning.\u201d\n\nBen turned questioningly toward his companion. There was a keen, clear\nsparkle in Mr. Danforth\u2019s gray eyes, and good-humoured lines around his\nfirm mouth.\n\n\u201cWhat do you say to our spending a part of the morning at that\nwonderful hut near your house, which Elsa has told me about? We can\ntalk some more of your running away, and I want your advice about a\nChristmas surprise for the Club.\u201d\n\nSeeing the hesitation which yet remained in Ben\u2019s earnest blue eyes,\nMr. Danforth continued: \u201cNow, Ben, I have given you my advice, and it\u2019s\nonly fair that you should give me yours. I think I shall want to hire\nyou and your horse some day next week, and I will pay you fifty cents\nan hour, and for this morning\u2019s time, too.\u201d\n\n\u201cJerry\u2019s a fine horse to work, because he\u2019s so steady, sir,\u201d replied\nBen, yielding by slow degrees. \u201cBut the Convalescings expect me at\neleven o\u2019clock.\u201d\n\nJerry had turned, unheeded by Ben, into Berkeley Avenue and was jogging\nquite spiritedly in the direction of home.\n\n\u201cIt is not ten o\u2019clock yet,\u201d said Mr. Danforth, taking out his watch.\n\u201cYou can help me an hour and then keep your engagement with the\nchildren. I wouldn\u2019t have you disappoint them.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right, sir,\u201d Ben said, more cheerfully than he had yet spoken,\nalthough his face sobered again immediately as he added: \u201cI\u2019ll leave my\nbundle in the hut, then it will be ready any time I decide to start.\nOf course, I\u2019d lots rather earn some money and stay at home. But it\u2019s\nsorrowful-like, sir, to see your mother needing money so much.\u201d Again\nBen turned aside his face, and when Mr. Danforth kindly looked the\nother way, the boy drew his red-mittened hand across his eyes.\n\nAny one who had been near the log-hut in the tall pine woods not far\nfrom Ben\u2019s home that morning, would have seen a broad-shouldered man\nin a heavy winter overcoat and a slip of a boy in a tight blue reefer\njacket sitting in the warm sunshine on the sheltered platform of the\nhut, very earnestly talking together and advising one another, while\nold Jerry, blanketed carefully, stood near by without being hitched,\nand overhead, dusky crows and gleaming bluejays chattered vigorously, a\ngray chickadee or a downy woodpecker occasionally putting in a word.\n\nMr. Ned Danforth had surprised and delighted his niece Elsa almost\nbeyond bounds by appearing in Berkeley the evening before, and\nannouncing that he should stay at least until Christmas, a whole week.\n\nAfter his father, Judge Danforth, had died, and after the death of\nElsa\u2019s father a few months later, Mr. Ned Danforth had agreed with\nhis stepmother that it was wise for her to close her New York home,\nand also that Berkeley was a good place for motherless and fatherless\nElsa to live in. Some day, when his little niece should become a young\nlady, Mr. Danforth hoped to have her live with him. He had missed the\nchild greatly, indeed, out of his New York life, and his flying visit\nto Berkeley of a few weeks ago--the first time he had seen Elsa since\nSeptember--had caused him to wonder whether she was wholly happy in her\nlife alone with Mrs. Danforth, although the child made no complaint.\n\nIt was particularly to set his mind at rest upon this point that he\nhad told Elsa he would pay her fifty cents a week if she would write a\nfour-page letter to him twice a week; for he felt that in these letters\nshe would probably tell him freely just what he wanted to know. Before\nthis, Elsa had written him once a week, and always a short letter,\nsaying that grandmother was well and she was well; that school was\npleasant because she liked her school-girl friends; that Berkeley was\na pretty place and the weather was growing colder; that she missed him\never and ever so much, and was his affectionate little niece, Elsa.\n\nBut the first long letter he received had run thus:\n\n \u201cDEAREST UNCLE NED:--\n\n \u201cGrandmother is well and so am I. O, I am so glad you came\n to see me. Please come again soon. School is most over and\n I am sorry for I shall miss seeing my little girl friends.\n Grandmother does not like to have little girls come to see\n me. She lets me go to the Club though. Miss Ruth is lovely.\n I take a red rose to her most every day and she puts it in\n to a tall green glass vase in her window so I see it when I\n go to bed and it doesent make me feel so lonesum. I shall be\n sorry when school closes because it will seem lonesummer to\n eat breakfast and supper alone. It is a very nice nayborhood.\n Miss Ruth is busy most of the time taking care of her poor sick\n aunt who doesent like children I guess because she told us to\n go right away children one day she had asked the club to go up\n stairs to see her. Betty White has the beautifulest nursery to\n sleep in you ever saw it makes me think of very interesting\n picture book or a Jacobs coat of many colors. Bettys mother\n lets her decide things. I wish grandmother would let me. I wish\n grandmother would let me have some pink or blue paper on my\n room. It is all so white. I feels if I slept out doors in snow.\n\n \u201cI am reading David Copperfield. I think it is a very good and\n interesting book and it is so real and true. I like Agnes W.\n better than any caracter and I think D. C. is sorry he fell in\n love with Dora and I wish he had more courage when he is with\n Urriah H and tell U. H. that he is a sneak and coward and give\n him a blow or two. I like Mr. Peggotty and Ham and Peggotty\n and Aunt Bettesy Trotwood and I also like Mr. Dick and all two\n gether it is a fine book. Will you tell me the name of a book\n to read next because when school closes I will have to read to\n keep from being lonesum like September when I first came. This\n is four pages and I wish you would come to see your poor lonesum\n\n \u201cELSA.\n\n \u201cP. S. dont forget about the hut.\n\n \u201cP. S. David was so crushed and frightened when he was little\n and had no good times. I think he hasent got over it yet.\u201d\n\nMr. Danforth had decided from this and just such another long letter,\nthat his little niece was leading a lonely and repressed life with\nher grandmother, and that it was this fact which was making the child\npale-faced and hollow-eyed, rather than the school-life, as Mrs.\nDanforth had suggested. So when the head of the banking-house to which\nhe belonged decided to establish a branch office in the large city\nnear Berkeley, Mr. Danforth at once agreed to take charge of it. What\nwere New York clubs and big dinners in comparison with the welfare and\nhappiness of one little pathetic, gray-eyed, \u201clonesum\u201d girl?\n\nAnd this was the reason of Mr. Ned Danforth\u2019s being in Berkeley,\nalthough he had not as yet told Elsa that he would soon come to stay\npermanently.\n\nThursday had been the last day of the school term, and this Friday\nwould be the last meeting of the Club before Christmas. Ben and Alice\nhad called for Betty at half-past two o\u2019clock. Mrs. White had with\ndifficulty kept them and Betty from starting for Ruth Warren\u2019s before\nthree o\u2019clock.\n\nThe moment Elsa, watching from the hall window, saw the little group\nleave Betty\u2019s house, she sped like an arrow to join them, having been\nready for the last half-hour.\n\nIt was a merry, excited group of four children who ran up the front\nsteps of the Warren house very promptly at three o\u2019clock on the\nafternoon of December 18. Elsa had forgotten all about being sorry that\nschool had closed, now that Uncle Ned had come; Ben had forgotten all\nabout his intense desire to run away from home; Alice had forgotten\nall about the cold which had kept her from the last Club meeting,\nand Betty, on her part, had forgotten pretty nearly all that she had\nlearned in school the last term; indeed, she had almost forgotten that\nthere ever was any school.\n\nThe open fire was burning brightly; the five unfinished sets of paper\ndolls, the paints and the brushes were ready on the table; and Miss\nRuth, in her golden-brown, fur-trimmed gown, welcomed the Club with a\nfeeling of real pleasure in having all these lively children coming to\nher house. She was heartily glad her Aunt Virginia had decided that\nshe liked the children\u2019s noise, for Ben came in with an unmistakable\n\u201cWhoop!\u201d and cried out, \u201cNo more school!\u201d and the other children began\ntalking rapidly.\n\n\u201cMay I bring my Christmas presents and keep them here?\u201d questioned\nBetty. \u201cMax and Janet find every single thing I hide away.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy Uncle Ned has come to stay till Christmas,\u201d exclaimed Elsa; \u201che\u2019s\ngone to the city this afternoon, or maybe I shouldn\u2019t have wanted to\ncome even to the Club!\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve brought back the two sets of paper dolls you sent for me to\npaint,\u201d piped in Alice. \u201cAnd Ben\u2019s brought something to show you.\u201d\n\nThereupon Ben opened the box he had in his hand, and blushing with\npride, showed the Club ten tops he had carved, carefully and well,\npainted with bright colours. \u201cThey are for the Convalescings,\u201d he\nexplained when the girls gave him a chance to speak; \u201cand I think I\u2019ll\nhave time to make a few more.\u201d\n\n\u201cMamma is making some of the beautifulest rag dolls,\u201d exclaimed Alice\nenthusiastically.\n\n\u201cWe must finish painting the paper dolls this afternoon,\u201d cried Betty,\n\u201cfor just think, Christmas comes a week from to-day.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan we take the dolls out to the Convalescent Home, Miss Ruth?\u201d Elsa\nasked, with shining eyes.\n\n\u201cYes, we can all go there Christmas morning. I have arranged that with\nMiss Hartwell. With the dolls Mrs. Holt is making, and ours, we shall\nhave enough to give a doll to every little girl there; and with Ben\u2019s\ntops and some tin soldiers which I am going to provide for the boys,\nwe shall have something for every boy.\u201d\n\n\u201cO, goody!\u201d exclaimed Betty, while Elsa and Alice clapped their hands,\nand Ben turned a somersault on the hearth-rug.\n\n\u201cNow please finish the story, Miss Ruth,\u201d said Betty. \u201cYou left off\nwhere Ruth\u2019s grandmother--I mean your grandmother--was going to let you\ngo to see the little old lady the next morning.\u201d\n\nBetty, Alice, and Elsa immediately drew their chairs up to the table,\nand chose their paint-brushes, ready to begin on the paper dolls. But\nBen remained standing before the fireplace, and, after putting one\nhand in his pocket to make sure he had not lost the two silver quarter\ndollars he had earned that morning, he clasped his hands behind him.\nBen was dreadfully hungry, for he had been outdoors all the morning,\nand even the good dinner he had eaten since then had left his appetite\nunsatisfied. He forgot that Miss Ruth always had something for the Club\nto eat, so he looked very steadily at her and asked frankly: \u201cPlease,\nBlack Lace Lady, have you got any crackers or cookies? I\u2019m hungry as\ntwo bears, and I\u2019d a good deal rather ask right out for something to\neat than hint for it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, Ben Holt!\u201d gasped Alice, whose cheeks turned a very deep pink\nin a moment. She came and laid her chubby hand on Ruth Warren\u2019s arm:\n\u201cExcuse him, please, Miss Ruth. He knows better.\u201d Alice felt dreadfully\nashamed of Ben.\n\nRuth Warren stroked Alice\u2019s hand affectionately: \u201cNever mind, dear. I\nought to know better than to keep a hungry boy waiting for something to\neat. Sarah has made some plum buns for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe same as we had for our first meeting!\u201d cried Betty, tossing her\nhair out of her eyes.\n\n\u201cYes, because Peggy brought some to me,\u201d Ben said. \u201cHere they are now,\u201d\nhe exclaimed, looking up engagingly into Sarah Judd\u2019s face as she came\nthrough the library doorway, in her stiffest starched white apron,\ncarrying a very large plate piled high with crisp plum buns.\n\n\u201cThank you, ma\u2019am,\u201d Ben said with a polite bow. Stepping forward, he\ntook the plate from Sarah, and passed it first to Miss Ruth, then to\nthe girls.\n\nSarah stood still, watching anxiously. \u201cThey are pretty crumby,\u201d she\nsaid, looking from the plate to the floor, \u201cand--\u201d but as she caught\nMiss Ruth\u2019s eye, she stopped; then, drawing a long breath like a sigh,\nshe said heroically: \u201cNever mind the crumbs, little folks; I\u2019m a-goin\u2019\nto sweep to-morrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think you are very, very good to the Club, Sarah,\u201d said Betty.\n\n\u201cThank you, oh, thank you,\u201d cried Elsa, with thoughtful courtesy, while\nlittle Alice smiled and looked more than ever like a dimple-faced doll.\n\nSarah\u2019s curls were bobbing excitedly as she went out of the room,\nsaying under her breath: \u201cThe cunnin\u2019 little dears!\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease, _please_, the story now,\u201d entreated Betty.\n\n\u201cGuess I won\u2019t paint to-day,\u201d Ben announced. \u201cMay I lie down by the\nfire again?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,--take a cushion and take some buns, Ben,\u201d Ruth Warren answered,\nmoving her chair aside.\n\n\u201cLet me do that,\u201d said Ben, springing instantly to help.\n\n\u201cThank you,\u201d returned Miss Ruth. Then, seating herself, she said: \u201cNow\nI will go on with the story.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nBy nine o\u2019clock the next morning, I was teasing my grandmother to let\nme start for Miss Dean\u2019s. But it was almost eleven before Jenny, the\ncook, had the broth and little cakes and jelly in a basket for me to\ncarry to Miss Dean. I remember hurrying so fast over the uneven, snowy\nstreet that I spilled some of the broth.\n\nMiss Dean saw me coming and opened the front door the moment I set foot\non the top step. She was dressed in a soft gray cloth gown and she\nlooked ever so much better than she had the day before, in fact her\ncheeks were quite pink and her eyes sparkled as she said: \u201cI thought\nthat as I had been ill and you were coming again to see me, we would\nhave a party; and I have invited Susie to the party.\u201d\n\nThe bedroom--or the sitting-room as it really was except in\nwinter--looked very cozy. Miss Dean had spread a bright-coloured silk\npatchwork quilt over the bed, and there in the little rocking-chair,\nnear by, sat Susie in a white muslin dress looped up with tiny pink\nrosebuds over a blue satin skirt.\n\n\u201cThat is Susie\u2019s ball costume,\u201d Miss Dean said; \u201cI didn\u2019t show it to\nyou yesterday because I felt it might be wrong to let you know that I\napproved of balls and dancing; but I decided to-day that it wouldn\u2019t do\nany harm. My mother didn\u2019t like to have me learn to dance, but I don\u2019t\nsee anything wrong in Susie\u2019s going to parties and balls, just to look\non, anyway.\u201d\n\nMy eyes had travelled from Susie to the black-and-gold lacquered box,\nwhich now stood upon the low table by the side of Susie\u2019s chair. I\nthink Miss Dean must have seen me looking at it, for in a moment she\nsaid:\n\n\u201cI felt so bad to think I forgot to give you that box yesterday. That\nis one reason I am having the party to-day. Take it now, to please a\nlittle old lady.\u201d As she handed it to me, I remember she said, \u201cMy, how\nyour eyes dance, child!\u201d\n\nI opened the box, and found inside two smaller black-and-gold lacquered\nboxes that just fitted the space. The first one I opened had in it a\nbeautiful coral necklace--\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cThe one you have on now?\u201d cried Betty, dropping her paint-brush and\ncoming to Miss Ruth\u2019s side.\n\n\u201cYes, the very one,\u201d Miss Ruth answered. \u201cYou have quick eyes, Betty.\u201d\n\nElsa and the twins crowded around to look at the exquisitely cut,\npinkish-red coral necklace.\n\n\u201cWhat was in the other box?\u201d Betty asked. \u201cIt seems to me I can\u2019t wait\nto hear!\u201d\n\n\u201cThe other box proved to be a dainty work-box with an ivory thimble,\nivory-handled scissors and an ivory-covered needle-book. As I told you,\nMiss Dean\u2019s father had been a sea-captain, and he had brought these\nthings from a foreign country.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave you kept the boxes, Miss Ruth?\u201d Elsa asked shyly.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied Miss Ruth: \u201cI have the large box and the two smaller\nboxes.\u201d\n\n\u201cO, do show them to us, please,\u201d Betty entreated. The others waited\nwith greatest interest.\n\n\u201cI thought you might like to see them, so I brought them down.\u201d Ruth\nWarren rose and took from a drawer of her writing-desk a richly\nlacquered box; and the girls, with Ben, spent the next few moments in\nexamining and admiring the big box, the smaller boxes, and the dainty\nivory articles.\n\n\u201cI brought down something else to show you,\u201d Miss Ruth said. \u201cCan you\nguess what?\u201d\n\n\u201cA stuffed Arctic owl,\u201d suggested Ben, taking a fresh supply of plum\nbuns while he was up.\n\n\u201cO, Ben! Can\u2019t you think of anything but birds and horses and hens\u2019\neggs!\u201d cried Betty.\n\n\u201cYes,--I think of the poor little Convalescings,\u201d said Ben\nself-defensively.\n\n\u201cI know, I know!\u201d exclaimed Elsa, almost breathlessly. \u201cIt is Susie!\u201d\n\n\u201cElsa has guessed right. It is Susie,--the little old lady\u2019s doll,\u201d\nsaid Miss Ruth, going to the tall mahogany bookcase which wholly filled\none side of the room. The children followed her and watched with\nclosest attention while she took from a lower shelf a large white box.\nUnrolling the stout white-paper covering, she opened the box-cover,\ntook out the old-fashioned doll, and held her up before the children\u2019s\neyes.\n\nBetty was the first to speak. \u201cWhat a queer old thing,\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cO, she has on the ball dress,\u201d cried Alice, timidly touching one of\nthe tiny pink rosebuds which looped up the muslin dress over the blue\nsilk petticoat.\n\n\u201cYou dear doll!\u201d said Elsa softly.\n\n\u201cShe _is_ kind of quaint and pretty,\u201d Betty said, after a good second\nlook.\n\nBen gave a low whistle, but said nothing. He thought the doll was a\nbeauty. The tiny pink rosebuds had won his heart.\n\nSusie was a china-headed doll, with stiff, unjointed arms. Her black\nhair, parted and drawn down over her ears, her very black eyes, bright\nred cheeks and rounded mouth gave her an old-time appearance both\nquaint and attractive.\n\n\u201cHow well you have kept her,\u201d exclaimed Betty. Her own dolls had all\nsuffered some misfortune, such as broken arms or hairless heads.\n\n\u201cI did not have Susie until I was sixteen years old,\u201d Miss Ruth said,\n\u201cand then I was too old to play with her.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo girls have to stop playing with dolls when they are sixteen years\nold?\u201d Elsa inquired anxiously.\n\n\u201cO no,\u201d Miss Ruth replied; \u201cbut girls of sixteen are usually too busy\nwith study and other things to have time for dolls.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow did you happen to get the old doll?\u201d Ben asked. He did not mean to\nbe disrespectful; it was only a boy\u2019s way of speaking.\n\n\u201cThat comes at the end of the story,\u201d Miss Ruth answered. \u201cAre you\nready for me to go on?\u201d\n\nEverybody said, \u201cYes,\u201d and Elsa added: \u201cI will put Susie in a\nrocking-chair and we can look at her and that will make the story seem\nmore real than ever.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is just the way Miss Dean used to have her,\u201d said Miss Ruth, as\nElsa placed the doll in a small rocking-chair upon a cushion and drew\nthe chair toward the table.\n\n\u201cI remember,\u201d Elsa answered.\n\nOnce more the girls took up their paint-brushes and went to work,\nwhile Ben stretched himself again upon the hearth-rug in his favourite\nposition; and then the story-teller began again:\n\n * * * * *\n\nMiss Dean had been making ready for our party all the morning, I think,\nbecause we had so many things to eat. She seemed not to want to use\nanything which grandmother had sent. First, we had hot biscuit and\nlittle meat-balls; then we had chocolate frosted cake, currant-jelly\ntarts and plum preserves, with hot chocolate to drink.\n\n\u201cMay we have Susie at the table with us?\u201d I asked just as we were\nsitting down; so Miss Dean sat Susie on the dictionary in the tallest\nchair, and she put food on a plate for Susie, just as she did for me.\nWhen I wasn\u2019t looking, Miss Dean slipped the food off to a plate on a\nside table, and then put more food in front of the doll, urging her in\nsuch a pretty way to eat more. I never shall forget how young and happy\nMiss Dean looked that day at the table, with such a kind, motherly\nexpression in her large brown eyes.\n\nWe were just eating some preserved ginger and drinking the last of\nour chocolate, and Miss Dean was saying: \u201cI am sure Susie would enjoy\ncompany very much indeed if she had more of it,\u201d when there came a\nknock at the front door and my grandmother walked into the room. She\nand Miss Dean were such near neighbours and good friends that when\neither one called upon the other, she did not wait at the door, but\nwalked in.\n\nMiss Dean rose, greeted my grandmother, and then looked at me in such\na timid, appealing manner that I knew she was thinking of Susie and\nwondering what my grandmother would think of the doll being there.\n\nGrandmother sat down very straight in her chair, I remember, and looked\naround in her pleasant way. Her eyesight wasn\u2019t very good. Probably,\ntoo, she didn\u2019t remember how my own dolls looked. For very soon she\nsaid: \u201cI see that Ruth brought her doll to have luncheon with you,\nPh\u0153be,\u201d--grandmother always called Miss Dean by her first name.\n\nI held my breath till Miss Dean answered: \u201cThat isn\u2019t Ruth\u2019s doll--yet;\nbut it is one I am going to give her.\u201d\n\nIf grandmother had been looking in my direction, I am sure she would\nhave seen me jump at the thought that Susie was to be mine.\n\n\u201cHow kind of you, Ph\u0153be,\u201d grandmother said. \u201cI hope Ruth has thanked\nyou properly.\u201d\n\nMiss Dean turned toward me with a helpless expression, just as\ngrandmother added: \u201cIsn\u2019t it strange how children always like to make\ncompany of their dolls and make believe they can eat?\u201d\n\n\u201cI wanted to have Susie at the table,\u201d I said eagerly, half ready to\ncry, because I felt so sorry for Miss Dean.\n\n\u201cSo you have named the doll Susie,\u201d grandmother said.\n\nMiss Dean turned to me again with that distressed look in her brown\neyes.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d I said, \u201cthat was Miss Dean\u2019s name for her, but I like it.\u201d And\nafter that, grandmother began talking about something else. Her visit\nwas short. When she went, she said: \u201cCome home soon, Ruth, or you will\nbe tiring Miss Ph\u0153be, and don\u2019t forget to thank her prettily for the\ndoll.\u201d\n\nAfter closing the door behind grandmother, Miss Dean all of a sudden\ndropped into a chair. \u201cI was going to give the doll to you, anyway,\nRuth,\u201d she said, hardly above a whisper. The pink colour had all gone\nout of her face.\n\n\u201cO no!\u201d I said,--the way children do when they want a thing very much\nand know they ought not to take it.\n\n\u201cBut I have told your grandmother that I was going to give the doll to\nyou.\u201d Miss Dean\u2019s voice trembled now, and the next moment I saw her\nbrown eyes fill with tears.\n\n\u201cI have ever so many dolls,\u201d I cried, naming over six or seven, \u201cand\nreally, Miss Dean, I would rather have Susie here, because it will be\nall the nicer when I come to see you.\u201d I remember thinking so just\nthen, because Miss Dean was unhappy about it.\n\n\u201cWhat will your grandmother think of me? what will she think of me?\u201d\nMiss Dean spoke with a real sob in her voice.\n\nThen I knew more surely than before that I must not take Susie away.\nI petted Miss Dean and talked and talked until she dried her eyes and\nasked me if I didn\u2019t want to try Susie\u2019s dresses on again, so that I\nwould be used to her ways, as long as she was truly going to be mine\nsome day.\n\nI remember that about as fast as Miss Dean began to feel better I began\nto feel worse. While she put away the food and the dishes in that\nclean, dainty kitchen, I played with the doll, dressing and undressing\nher; and when I finally pinned the little red shawl over the white\nnightgown, I am sure two or three of my tears fell upon Susie. Then I\nknew it was time for me to be going home.\n\n\u201cAre you perfectly sure you don\u2019t want to take Susie?\u201d Miss Dean asked\nme at the door.\n\n\u201cI want you to have her more!\u201d I called back. I could not say another\nword, so I started and ran for home, hugging the black-and-gold\nlacquered box under my arm: I had entirely forgotten to show that to\ngrandmother while she was there.\n\nGrandmother was so interested in the box that she seemed to forget all\nabout the doll. But I went to see Miss Dean and Susie almost every\nday. I had a queer feeling about that doll,--she was mine and yet she\nwasn\u2019t. Perhaps I actually enjoyed her more that way. Once in awhile I\nfound Miss Dean making new dresses for Susie; and then she always said:\n\u201cI want your doll to have a lot of pretty clothes to wear.\u201d\n\nIt happened that my father and mother came home from California\nunexpectedly and sent for me to join them, and I was hurried off\nwithout time even to say good-bye to Miss Dean and Susie. It must have\nbeen two months after that when I received a letter from Miss Dean.\nShe wrote about her spring chickens and her garden, chiefly, but at\nthe end of the letter she said, \u201cSusie misses you very much. She grows\nprettier every day.\u201d\n\nWhen I read this letter to my mother, she asked: \u201cWho is Susie? Some\nlittle girl who lives with Miss Dean?\u201d\n\n\u201cO no,\u201d I said, \u201cSusie is a doll, and she is going to be mine some day.\u201d\n\nMother didn\u2019t ask any more questions. She only said \u201cOh!\u201d in a funny\nway.\n\nAfter that, little by little, I forgot about the doll. Grandmother came\nto live with us, so I didn\u2019t visit her again. But when I was sixteen\nyears old, and had given up playing with dolls, a big bundle came to me\nby express one day, and in it was Susie dressed in a brown travelling\nsuit. All her other clothes were in the bundle. Miss Dean had died, and\nhad left directions to have the bundle sent to me. With it was a note\nwhich Miss Dean had written.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cHave you kept the note?\u201d Betty asked curiously. The three girls had\nfinished all the painting and had quietly drawn around the fire, during\nthe last few moments.\n\n\u201cYes; here it is.\u201d From a yellowed envelope on her desk, Ruth Warren\ndrew forth a small sheet of paper and read:\n\n \u201cDEAR LITTLE RUTH:--\n\n \u201cWhen this reaches you, Susie will go with it. She has really\n been yours ever since that day of our party, and I thank you\n gratefully for letting me keep her. I have loved her dearly.\n Some of us poor lonely old folks are not much more than\n grown-up children. I know you will have a happy time playing\n with her, and when you are ready to give her away, I hope it\n will be to some little girl who will love her as fondly as you\n and I love her.\n\n \u201cYour affectionate friend,\n \u201cPH\u0152BE DEAN.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat a dear story!\u201d sighed Elsa. \u201cAnd how much the poor little old\nlady must have cared for Susie.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have kept all her dresses?\u201d inquired Betty, eying the doll with\nnew interest.\n\n\u201cYes. When the doll first came, I dressed her in the ball gown, because\nthat was what she had on when Miss Dean really gave her to me. Since\nthen I have thought very little about her. Perhaps I shall keep her and\nhave her for company when I grow old, just as Miss Dean had her. Or\nperhaps we might dress her in a newer fashion and give her to one of\nthe Convalescent children.\u201d\n\n\u201cO no! no!\u201d objected the girls as with one voice. \u201cShe is\ndifferent:--they will like other dolls just as much,\u201d little Alice\nadded.\n\n\u201cShe is best in her own old-fashioned dresses,\u201d Elsa said thoughtfully,\n\u201cbecause she has such a dear old-fashioned face.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd then Miss Dean wanted you to give her to the little girl who would\nlove her the most,\u201d Betty remarked.\n\n\u201cI wonder who that would be?\u201d Elsa said wistfully, as if she were\nthinking out loud.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m not the one,\u201d exclaimed Ben, jingling his silver quarter-dollars.\n\n\u201cOf course you are not,\u201d cried Betty. \u201cYou are only the boy in the\nClub.\u201d\n\nBetty and Ben were so constantly on the border of friendly warfare that\nRuth Warren thought it better to change the subject. \u201cChildren,\u201d she\nsaid quickly, beginning to gather the envelopes of paper dolls into a\npile, \u201cwe have just time enough left to name these dolls. There are\ntwelve of them, and each of you may choose three names. I will write\nthe names on the envelopes. We will let Ben choose his names first.\nWill you begin, Ben?\u201d\n\nBen looked very hard into the fire for a moment.\n\n\u201cHurry up, Ben,\u201d Alice said, giving him a sisterly poke with her foot.\n\n\u201cAll right, Peggy,\u201d he said, holding the toe of her shoe\naffectionately. \u201cI\u2019m ready. Katrina for the princess in the Gray Owl\nstory, Alice for my mother and for Peggy, and Ruth for you;\u201d he turned\ntoward Miss Ruth with one of his comical little bows.\n\nThe girls clapped their hands and Ruth Warren bowed in return to Ben as\nshe said: \u201cNow, Alice next. We will go from the youngest on.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will name my three Love and Hope and Thankful.\u201d Alice spoke in a low\ntone and moved a little nearer to Ben.\n\nBut the Club was listening so closely that every one heard. \u201cWhat funny\nnames!\u201d was Betty\u2019s comment, as Miss Ruth wrote them down.\n\n\u201cMamma has told me stories about old, old ladies she knew of with those\nnames,\u201d Alice explained.\n\n\u201cAre they all right names?\u201d she asked anxiously, turning her large blue\neyes upon Ruth Warren.\n\n\u201cYes, dear, they are good, old-fashioned names, and they go well with\nthe old lady and the old doll we have just been talking about. What are\nyour names, Betty?\u201d\n\n\u201cRose and Rosamond and Julia,\u201d Betty answered quickly, her mind being\nall made up.\n\n\u201cGood.\u201d Ruth Warren had these down in a half-moment. \u201cAnd now Elsa?\u201d\n\nElsa named her list with a little pause between each name: \u201cPh\u0153be,--for\nMiss Dean. Agnes,--for the Agnes in \u2018David Copperfield\u2019\u201d--Elsa\u2019s first\ngrown-up book had made a great impression upon her: \u201cRuth,--for you.\u201d\nThe child looked very lovingly from under her long dark lashes at Miss\nRuth.\n\n\u201cBut we have one Ruth. Ben chose that,\u201d objected Betty half jealously.\n\n\u201cNever mind. We can have two of the same name,\u201d insisted Elsa\nspiritedly, although her face coloured sensitively from having all eyes\nturned upon her.\n\n\u201cNone of the Convalescent children will have two paper dolls,\u201d said\npeaceable Alice.\n\n\u201cI\u2019d like to have all the dolls named Ruth,\u201d Ben said gallantly.\n\nAs Ben did not mind Elsa\u2019s having chosen the same name that he had,\nBetty did not make any further objection.\n\n\u201cPlease, Miss Ruth, ma\u2019am, Mrs. Danforth to see you,\u201d Sarah Judd\nannounced at the library door. \u201cShe said she wanted to come right in\nhere.\u201d\n\nThe children, not quite realizing, in the half dusk of the afternoon\nlight, that Mrs. Danforth was close behind Sarah, did not rise until\nMiss Ruth stepped back from the doorway with her visitor. Accordingly,\nMrs. Danforth had a momentary glimpse of them on the hearth-rug,--Betty\ncurled up on a cushion, Elsa leaning in her old position against the\nbrass fire-stand, Alice and Ben seated side by side upon a large,\nlow, old-fashioned ottoman in the centre of the rug. The ruddy flames\nlighted up their faces vividly.\n\nA moment later, the children were standing,--all except little Alice,\none of whose feet had gone to sleep so that she had to kneel upon the\nottoman.\n\nSarah Judd, unnoticed, looked on from the shadow of the doorway at the\ntall, stately woman in rich sable furs and heavy silk cloak.\n\n\u201cI took the liberty of asking your maid to allow me to come where the\nchildren were,\u201d Mrs. Danforth said in a beautiful but cold voice. \u201cI\nwanted to see the Club that Elsa talks about so much.\u201d\n\n\u201cPray be seated, Mrs. Danforth; we are delighted to see you,\u201d said Ruth\nWarren, turning to stir the fire into a yet brighter glow. \u201cWe like\nfirelight better than any other light,\u201d she added. \u201cSit down, children.\u201d\n\nMrs. Danforth had seated herself very quickly, as her eyes fell upon\nAlice and Ben.\n\nBetty curled up again on the cushion. Elsa drew a little way back from\nthe fireside into the shadow and sat upright upon a chair. Alice, as if\nspellbound by something in Mrs. Danforth\u2019s face, remained kneeling upon\nthe ottoman, and Ben stood by his sister\u2019s side with his left hand upon\nher shoulder.\n\nThe twins made a striking picture there on the hearth-rug in the full\nlight of the blazing fire,--Alice, fair-haired, delicate-featured,\nwith great soft blue eyes and broad white forehead; Ben with the same\ncolouring of hair and complexion, with boyish, earnest face, frank,\nhandsome blue eyes, slender figure and well-shaped shoulders.\n\n\u201cSo, Elsa, these are your friends, Alice and Ben?\u201d Mrs. Danforth asked\nin a slightly unsteady voice now, loosening her furs as she spoke. She\nlooked very white; and Ruth Warren remembered that Mrs. Danforth had\nbeen ill in her room a few days before.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cTHE TWINS MADE A STRIKING PICTURE.\u201d]\n\n\u201cYes, grandmother,\u201d Elsa\u2019s voice answered out of the half-shadow where\nshe was sitting.\n\nThe twins nodded their heads. Alice shyly, and Ben quite gravely. \u201cAre\nyou Elsa\u2019s grandmother?\u201d he inquired, fixing his blue eyes upon Mrs.\nDanforth.\n\nShe merely bowed her head, and asked in the same rather unsteady voice:\n\u201cYour last name is what?\u201d\n\n\u201cHolt, ma\u2019am,--Alice and Benjamin Franklin Holt,\u201d the boy answered in\nhis clear, musical voice.\n\nRuth Warren, seated somewhat back from the fireside and closely\nobserving the picture-like group upon the rug, could not help thinking\nthat it looked as if Alice were kneeling before Mrs. Danforth for\nforgiveness and Ben were standing by her side as her champion.\n\n\u201cHow long have you lived here in Berkeley?\u201d Mrs. Danforth\u2019s eyes were\nfixed intently upon Ben. She could not bear to look at Alice because of\nthe child\u2019s resemblance to a long-ago little Alice.\n\n\u201cSince the first of last July, ma\u2019am,\u201d Ben replied, manfully meeting\nthe almost stern look in the blue eyes bent upon him.\n\n\u201cAnd where did you live before you came here?\u201d asked Mrs. Danforth\nsharply.\n\n\u201cGrandmother is almost rude to ask so many questions,\u201d thought Elsa in\nher shadowy corner. Betty was listening with round, wide-open brown\neyes. Ruth Warren watched Mrs. Danforth\u2019s face now.\n\n\u201cWe lived out in New York State. Father was teaching in a college\nthere,\u201d Ben explained pleasantly: \u201chis health wasn\u2019t very good, though,\nso he brought us here and stayed a little while, and then he had to go\nto Colorado, for the doctor said so. We raise lettuce and things to\nsell, so that father can stay away till he gets better.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat does your mother do?\u201d Mrs. Danforth asked in a strangely\ntrembling voice.\n\n\u201cMother? My mother? Oh, she helps with the garden when she is well\nenough, and she makes some of my clothes and Alice\u2019s dresses and keeps\n\u2019count of all the eggs I sell and--\u201d he stopped short.\n\nMrs. Danforth had risen suddenly. Looking toward Elsa, she said: \u201cI\nwant you to come home with me now, Elsa. It is five o\u2019clock and the\nseamstress has some new frocks to try on to you before she goes.\u201d\n\nSarah Judd vanished from the hall.\n\nAs if she were weak, Mrs. Danforth steadied herself by the back of the\nchair, and then turned for another look at the blue-eyed boy before the\nfire.\n\nWith a very genuine desire to be a little gentleman,--as his mother\nalways told him to be,--Ben did the very best thing in the world which\nhe could have done. Stepping forward, though still with his hand upon\nhis sister\u2019s shoulder, he looked up into Mrs. Danforth\u2019s face and said\nmost respectfully: \u201cI think you are a very nice grandmother. I wish\nAlice and I had a grandmother.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you have no grandmother?\u201d she asked slowly, with that strange\ntremble in her voice again, and clasping her hands tight together\nbehind the long sable boa.\n\n\u201cWe had one, my father\u2019s mother,\u201d Ben answered soberly, still with\nhis eyes fixed upon her face, \u201cbut that grandmother has gone away to\nheaven. We don\u2019t know about our other grandmother. Mother says she will\ntell us about her sometime.\u201d\n\nMrs. Danforth made a motion almost as if she would take the little\nfellow into her arms. Then she turned abruptly, not trusting herself to\nstay another moment.\n\nSuddenly, as she turned, it no longer seemed hard for her to begin to\ncarry out the purpose which had brought her to Berkeley, for Ben had\nwalked straight into her heart, and she knew that she could no longer\nshut love out from her life.\n\nElsa followed her grandmother out of the room without a word except to\nsay good-bye to the Club.\n\nRuth Warren found the children in silence when she came back from\nseeing her guest to the door. She felt that they were wondering, just\nas she was, whether Mrs. Danforth intended to take Elsa away from the\nClub, and whether it was because the twins\u2019 mother worked sometimes in\nthe market-garden.\n\nIt was just the right opportunity for Ruth Warren to put to the\nchildren a question which she had in her mind. She began by telling\nthem about Elsa\u2019s loss of her doll, but without speaking of Elsa\u2019s\nnight visit.\n\n\u201cPoor Elsa,\u201d exclaimed Betty, whose generous heart was quickly touched.\n\n\u201cHer dearest doll,\u201d sighed Alice, pityingly.\n\nBen, seated on the ottoman again beside his sister, put his arm close\naround her.\n\n\u201cIf Susie were to be given to any one of you three girls, which would\nyou rather should have her?\u201d Miss Ruth asked.\n\nBetty and Alice looked at one another.\n\nBen gave Alice a hug and said: \u201cI vote for Elsa\u2019s having the\ndoll,--though you didn\u2019t ask me!\u201d he added, hanging his head.\n\nFrom looking at one another, Betty and Alice had turned to look at\nSusie, who sat on the cushion in the chair by the table, just where\nElsa had placed her.\n\nBetty was the first to speak: \u201cIf Elsa had Susie, I know she would let\nus play with her.\u201d\n\nThen Alice, generously swallowing her own disappointment, said: \u201cBetty\nhas Max and Janet, and I have Ben, so I--I think Elsa better have\nSusie.\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause she has only her grandmother to live with,\u201d put in Betty.\n\n\u201cWe all agree then,\u201d said Miss Ruth, \u201cthat Elsa shall be the one to\nhave the little old lady\u2019s doll. We will keep it a secret,\u201d she added,\nlooking from one to another of the now bright faces. \u201cWe will give the\ndoll to her at Christmas, with a note saying it is from all of us.\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause she has only a grandmother,\u201d insisted Betty, forgetting Elsa\u2019s\nUncle Ned.\n\nJust then they heard the door-bell ring, and a moment later, to\ntheir great surprise, Elsa came running into the library, her gray\neyes sparkling with delight, her hair in a golden confusion over her\nshoulders.\n\n\u201cThe seamstress wasn\u2019t quite ready and grandmother said I might come\nback, and she wants me to invite you all to a Christmas-tree at our\nhouse on Christmas afternoon, and she wants Alice and Ben\u2019s mother to\ncome--and Betty\u2019s mother--and she says if you will all come--it will be\nthe best Christmas in her whole life!\u201d Elsa stopped breathlessly, her\nslender figure quivering with excitement and joy.\n\n\u201cA Christmas-tree! What fun, what fun!\u201d cried Betty, jumping up and\nbeginning to dance around the room.\n\n\u201cHurrah!\u201d exclaimed Ben, giving Alice an extra hug.\n\n\u201cMay we help get it ready, Elsa?\u201d Betty asked eagerly. In her own home\npreparing the Christmas-tree was one of the great events of the year.\n\n\u201cYes, yes, I am sure so!\u201d cried Elsa, who in her transport of\nhappiness was ready to promise anything.\n\nThen they all laughed heartily when little Alice said slowly, as if\nthe fact had just dawned over her mind: \u201cThe Club is going to have a\nChristmas-tree at Elsa\u2019s grandmother\u2019s!\u201d\n\n\u201cBless the blue-eyed baby,\u201d said Betty; and Ruth Warren, stooping to\nkiss the child\u2019s serious upturned face, wondered if Christmas day would\nbring some great change into the lives of Alice and Ben.\n\n\u201cDo you think your mother will come to the Christmas-tree, Alice?\u201d Elsa\nasked. \u201cGrandmother said particularly that I was to tell you she wants\nyour mother to come.\u201d\n\nBen answered for his sister: \u201cShe will come, I think, if Peggy and I\nask her to. What a splendid grandmother you have, Elsa!\u201d he cried,\nstarting into a sort of war-dance around the room. \u201cI\u2019m going to make a\nChristmas present for her.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is it?\u201d asked Betty, curious instantly.\n\nBut Ben was heedless of the question. \u201cIs she very rich?\u201d he inquired,\nlooking at Elsa.\n\n\u201cYes, I think so,\u201d replied Elsa.\n\n\u201cThen I\u2019ll do it,\u201d he exclaimed, ending his dance with a somersault\nupon the hearth-rug.\n\n\u201cWhat is it?\u201d again asked Betty.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s telling,\u201d Ben answered.\n\n\u201cIt will be something nice,\u201d said Alice, out of her perfect faith in\nher brother.\n\nBetty, not at all disturbed by Ben\u2019s refusal to tell, went on\nblissfully: \u201cThen our next meeting of the Club will be the\nChristmas-tree at Elsa\u2019s, and we are all going out to the Convalescent\nHome with the presents Christmas morning! Don\u2019t you think we could have\njust a little meeting here next Thursday afternoon, Miss Ruth, to talk\nthings over?\u201d\n\nRuth Warren yielded to the entreaty in four pairs of eyes: \u201cYes, you\nmay come at three o\u2019clock for an hour\u2019s meeting, if you like, and we\nwill have all the things ready to take to the Convalescent Home the\nnext morning.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will bring Jerry, Christmas morning, Jerry and the double-seated\nsleigh, to carry you and the presents out there,\u201d offered Ben.\n\n\u201cIf any of you have any presents that you want to hang on the\nChristmas-tree for any of the rest of you,\u201d said Elsa, diffidently, yet\nfeeling that it was something which ought to be said, \u201cyou could bring\nthem to my house and I am sure grandmother would take care of them for\nyou.\u201d Elsa\u2019s few moment\u2019s talk with her grandmother had made her feel\nthat she could promise anything in her grandmother\u2019s name for Christmas\nday.\n\n * * * * *\n\nRuth Warren seated herself in front of the fire for a moment\u2019s thought,\nafter this lively meeting of the Club. She was greatly puzzled by Mrs.\nDanforth\u2019s excited manner and her unexpected invitation for Christmas\nafternoon; and she was deeply interested to see how a little happiness\nhad changed Elsa almost instantly into a light-hearted child like Betty\nand Alice. She had decided not to tell Elsa, beforehand, that Bettina\nMarch was coming to be with her Aunt Virginia, as the day of the\nnurse\u2019s arrival was uncertain, although it would probably be Christmas\nday.\n\nHer thinking was interrupted by the appearance of Sarah Judd, who came\nto take away the plate, which had been entirely emptied of plum buns.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t wonder you\u2019re all tuckered out,\u201d said Sarah severely, finding\nher young mistress sitting quietly in front of the fire; \u201csuch lively\nchildren, chatterin\u2019 like magpies,--cunnin\u2019 little things, though, they\nbe,\u201d she added with one of her sudden changes of tone.\n\nSarah brushed the crumbs from the table into the plate. Then, because\nshe was so interested in the subject that she could not keep silent\nabout it another moment, she said: \u201cBeggin\u2019 your pardon, Miss Ruth, but\ndid you notice how like Mrs. Danforth\u2019s that little twin girl\u2019s eyes\nand forehead are,--a sight more than her own grandchild\u2019s?\u201d\n\n\u201cSarah, you are just imagining that,\u201d replied Ruth Warren. \u201cYou could\nonly have seen them together for a moment.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat was long enough,\u201d said Sarah, who did not think it necessary to\nexplain that she had stood in the hall for several moments. \u201cFolks\ncan\u2019t very often fool me on looks.\u201d Sarah nodded her head and set the\ncurls to bobbing as she repeated, \u201cFolks can\u2019t very often fool me on\nlooks. The little girl is a sight like the old lady Danforth, but the\nboy is the very living image of her!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nGRAY OWL, SANTA CLAUS\n\n \u201cSing, Christmas bells!\n Sing to all men,--the bond, the free,\n The rich, the poor, the high, the low,\n The little child that sports in glee,\n The aged folk that tottering go,--\n Proclaim the morn\n That Christ is born\n That saveth them and saveth me!\u201d\n\n \u201cBlessed are they who still dream and wonder and believe.\u201d\n\n\nCHRISTMAS! Everything told it. The feeling of it was in the air. The\nsnow which lay lightly and deeply upon ground and trees, the icicles\nwhich hung in long glittering pendants, the clear, bright blue sky,\nthe brisk, lively, sunshiny cold,--all told of Christmas. The air was\nthe Christmas air, stirring the heart-beats. The sounds were Christmas\nsounds,--the merry calling out of Christmas greetings, the glad ringing\nof the church bells.\n\nThe Christmas Makers\u2019 Club was all ready to enjoy Christmas day to\nthe utmost. Mysterious packages for the Christmas-tree had arrived\nat Mrs. Danforth\u2019s house all day Thursday and had been taken charge\nof by Cummings, the maid, who seemed suddenly to have forgotten\nher stiffness and to have become more like other people. The Club\nhad held an important business meeting at Miss Ruth Warren\u2019s house\nThursday afternoon and had made everything ready for the visit to the\nConvalescent Home on Christmas morning. The twenty-four dolls which the\nClub had dressed and the twelve rag dolls of Mrs. Holt\u2019s making--which\neven Betty, who had scorned rag dolls, declared were full prettier\nthan the others--had been carefully placed in a large, flat basket.\nThe paper dolls and the tin soldiers were in boxes by themselves, and\nthe twelve tops which Ben had made were also ready to be given to the\nConvalescent children.\n\nElsa Danforth had told the Club that her Uncle Ned was very anxious to\ngo to the Convalescent Home with them, and it had been decided that\nthere would be plenty of room for him, also, in Ben\u2019s large double\nsleigh, as he could sit on the front seat with Ben and little Alice,\nwhile Miss Ruth, Betty and Elsa occupied the back seat.\n\nBest of all, at this business meeting, the children had delivered to\ntheir Club president, Miss Ruth, the united sum of five dollars and\nsixty cents which they had earned, in the past two weeks, to give to\nthe managers of the Convalescent Home. There was one dollar and forty\ncents from Betty White, who had earned five cents a day for emptying\nwaste paper baskets in her own home and for blacking her father\u2019s\nshoes--never were shoes better blacked, Mr. White declared, boastfully;\nthere were two dollars from Elsa, whose Uncle Ned had paid her just\nas he promised he would for writing two letters each week, although\nhe had been in Berkeley the past week, and who had also paid her a\ndollar for copying a long piece of writing for him; there were seventy\ncents from little Alice, earned by washing dishes for her mother; and,\nlastly, Ben, who had entered heartily in this plan for earning money,\nhad given a dollar and a half as his share, earned by shovelling snow\nand doing errands for the neighbours. After considerable thinking, Ben\nhad decided to give to his mother the whole amount of the three dollars\nand a half which Mr. Danforth had paid him for seven hours\u2019 help; and\non Christmas morning Mrs. Holt had been deeply touched by the gift of\nmoney from her devoted little son.\n\nBetty\u2019s dollar and forty cents, Elsa\u2019s two dollars, Alice\u2019s seventy\ncents, and Ben\u2019s dollar and a half, made the good round sum of five\ndollars and sixty cents which the Club had earned for the Convalescent\nHome; and when the boy of the Club had handed the full amount in silver\nto the president, the Club members had felt well repaid for all their\nwork by seeing her great surprise and delight.\n\n\u201cNothing which you could have done would have pleased me more than\nthis, children,\u201d Miss Ruth said warmly. \u201cI know that the money will be\na most welcome gift to the Convalescent Home and be ever so much help.\u201d\n\n\u201cWill the Club have its name printed?\u201d Betty inquired anxiously.\n\n\u201cYes, I am sure the managers of the Home will want to mention the name\nof the Club and the gift in their annual report,\u201d Miss Ruth answered.\n\n\u201cHow will it sound, please?\u201d Alice asked.\n\n\u201cSomething like this: \u2018From the Christmas Makers\u2019 Club of Berkeley,\n$5.60; also dolls, tops, and toys.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps it will interest other children to do things for the little\nConvalescings,\u201d Ben suggested.\n\n\u201cWe are going to earn some more money for them when we have our Easter\nClub,\u201d Elsa said delightedly; \u201cwe must truly have that Easter Club!\u201d\n\n\u201cWon\u2019t it be fun to see the little children at the Convalescent Home\nto-morrow morning when we give them all the things we have for them?\u201d\nBetty cried out, enthusiastically, as the Club ended its important\nbusiness meeting on Thursday afternoon, impatient for the next day to\ncome.\n\nAnd so on this bright morning of the glad Christmas day, Ben drove\naround to Washington Avenue at the appointed hour. He had washed the\nsleigh and brushed Jerry until both fairly shone, and had given the old\nhorse some extra oats. Alice was perched up beside her brother on the\nfront seat, looking the picture of rosy-cheeked happiness.\n\nFirst of all, Ben stopped at the Danforth house, to call for Elsa and\nher uncle. Meanwhile, Betty, who had been watching for the arrival of\nthe sleigh, came running out from her own home, with her brown hair and\nher blue capes flying, to wish the twins a \u201cMerry Christmas!\u201d first;\nso she jumped into the back seat of the sleigh without waiting to be\ncalled for. Mr. Danforth helped Elsa into the back seat, and then\nwalked the short distance to the Warren house, for Miss Ruth was the\nonly one now remaining to join the party.\n\nBut at Miss Ruth\u2019s house a great disappointment awaited the Club, and\nall on account of Miss Virginia Warren.\n\nMiss Virginia\u2019s cold was better, but her nervousness had greatly\nincreased. She had never in her life had a trained nurse, and much as\nshe wanted one to take care of her and wait upon her, she felt that\nit might prove so exciting as to have a very bad effect upon her,\nespecially at first. It had been arranged that Bettina March should\narrive at noon on Christmas day; and Ruth Warren would be back from\nthe Convalescent Home an hour before that time. But Miss Virginia had\ndecided that she could not possibly stay alone that morning, nor have\nanybody except her niece, not even Sarah Judd, stay with her.\n\nFrom breakfast time on, Miss Virginia grew more and more uneasy. At\nlast, just before it was time for Ruth to put on her coat and be ready\nto start with the Club, Miss Virginia began crying and wringing her\nlarge white hands.\n\n\u201cI am sorry, Ruth, to have you give up going to the Convalescent Home\nwith the children,\u201d Aunt Virginia said, tearfully, \u201cbut I don\u2019t feel\nwell enough to have you leave me. You know we are all supposed to be\nhappier by making Christmas happier for somebody else, so I am sure\nyou will be glad to stay with me.\u201d Miss Virginia looked up at her niece\nwith a very helpless and resigned expression. Her tears had ceased, but\nshe kept on wringing her hands in a limp way.\n\nRuth Warren was keenly disappointed. She knew that her aunt could\nstay alone for an hour perfectly well; but she could not go with any\npleasure now, after her aunt had asked her to stay at home.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen the merry sleighful stopped in front of the house, Ruth Warren\nherself answered the ring at the front door in order not to delay the\nparty. Mr. Danforth had told Ben that he would call for Miss Warren and\nbring out the basket and boxes, so that Ben might stay in the sleigh\nand hold Jerry, who, Ben said, might feel extra lively on Christmas\nmorning and run away with his precious load!\n\nAccordingly, when Ruth Warren opened the door, there stood before her\nElsa\u2019s tall, broad-shouldered uncle with clear gray eyes, steady in an\nopen, moustached face, who looked squarely at her while he said with\nalmost a boy\u2019s earnestness: \u201cMerry Christmas, Miss Warren! Your Club\nis at the door. Are you and the Christmas presents ready to start for\nthe Convalescents\u2019 Home?\u201d\n\n\u201cHere are the basket and boxes, Mr. Danforth,\u201d she said, for she had\nthem close by the door. Leaving him to bring them, she threw her red\ncape over her shoulders and ran down the steps to the curb-stone to\ntell the Club that she could not go with them on account of her Aunt\nVirginia.\n\nA prolonged wail of grief went up from the Club.\n\n\u201cWe can\u2019t go without you!\u201d cried Elsa, her violet-gray eyes filling\nwith tears.\n\n\u201cPlease, _please_ come,\u201d entreated Betty, jumping out of the sleigh. \u201cI\nwill go and ask your aunt to let you.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut it is I who decide it, not my aunt,\u201d Ruth Warren said. \u201cYou will\nhave Mr. Danforth with you, and the head-nurse expects you, and you are\nonly to stay a short time. You will get along just as well without me.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut we want you!\u201d wailed the Club. \u201cIt won\u2019t be any fun without you;\u201d\nand they would not be consoled.\n\n\u201cPlease do come, Black Lace Lady!\u201d urged Ben in his most persuasive\ntone, while Alice, leaning far over the edge of the sleigh at the great\nrisk of falling out, echoed \u201cPlease\u201d most pleadingly.\n\n[Illustration: \u201c\u2018BUT WE WANT YOU!\u2019 WAILED THE CLUB.\u201d]\n\nIt was hard indeed to resist their urgent begging, but Miss Ruth said\nsteadily: \u201cIt will soon be over, and after all, children, your having\nthought of the presents for the Convalescent children means far more\nthan the giving of the presents.\u201d\n\nStill the Club refused consolation. \u201cWe just won\u2019t go without you,\u201d\nsaid Betty passionately, kicking the snow with the toe of her rubber.\n\u201cI will not get back into the sleigh.\u201d\n\nBy this time Mr. Danforth, who realized what was going on, had the\nbasket and boxes packed under the sleigh seats.\n\n\u201cBut I want you to go, children,\u201d Ruth Warren was urging.\n\n\u201cThe Club must do as its president wishes,\u201d Mr. Danforth said quickly,\nnow that everything was ready. \u201cAll clubs do that,--or at least they\nought to. You must honour your president by carrying out her wishes.\u201d\nWith this, he settled the question by lifting Betty into the back seat\nof the sleigh, jumping in after her, and saying to Ben: \u201cStart along,\nsir, or we shall be late to our appointment. Do you think Jerry can\ntake us out there in fifteen minutes?\u201d\n\nThis settled it. Ben said, \u201cG\u2019long, Jerry!\u201d The well-brushed horse\nstarted off briskly, the reluctant children looking backward as long as\nthey could to see Miss Ruth standing there on the curb-stone.\n\nThe thoughts which those disappointed children had, even on Christmas\nmorning, about Miss Virginia were not very pleasant thoughts. How\nmuch of Miss Virginia\u2019s feelings on that same morning were due to\nnervousness, and how much to a desire not to have her beloved niece\ndrive out again in that old, country-like pung no one yet knows. It is\ntrue, however, that Miss Virginia said when Ruth came back up-stairs:\n\u201cI am wholly surprised that such a distinguished-looking gentleman as\nMr. Danforth could be willing to go off in that sleigh and with that\ncrowd of children.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nElsa\u2019s Uncle Ned tried his best to cheer the spirits of the Club.\nHe told funny stories, he praised Ben\u2019s horse, he gave them\nmysterious hints of what would take place at the Christmas-tree that\nafternoon--although he did not actually tell them a thing--and\nfinally, by the time they were opposite the Holt\u2019s sunny,\nflowery-windowed house, he had succeeded somewhat in making the\nchildren forget their disappointment.\n\nThen it was that Mr. Danforth himself grew suddenly grave and\nthoughtful as he asked Ben to stop for a moment while he delivered a\nmessage from Mrs. Danforth to Mrs. Holt.\n\nThis did not seem anything very important, and the children waited more\npatiently than the horse did, in front of his home.\n\nBut the message must have been one which affected Mrs. Holt greatly;\nfor when Ben and Alice looked, as they always did when they drove away,\nto see their mother wave to them from the window, she was not there.\nCould they have seen her at that moment, they would have been amazed\nto see her leaning against the mantel with her hands over her face,\nweeping softly at the message which Mr. Danforth had brought.\n\nThey would have been still more amazed could they have been at the\nfront door of their own home a few moments later, when Mrs. Danforth\u2019s\ncoup\u00e9, drawn by the spirited gray horse, drove up to that door and Mrs.\nDanforth herself dismounted.\n\nMost amazed of all would they have been when their mother opened the\ndoor, to hear her exclaim, \u201cMother!\u201d and throw her arms around Mrs.\nDanforth, and to hear the tall, white-faced woman crying, \u201cMy daughter,\nmy daughter!\u201d as the fair-haired younger woman led her into the house\nand shut the door.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe rest of the short distance to the Convalescent Home was spent\nchiefly in talking about Miss Ruth and the Club\u2019s plans for the future.\n\u201cAre we going to have a meeting next week?\u201d Elsa inquired of Betty, who\nknew Miss Ruth best.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know, I\u2019m sure,\u201d was Betty\u2019s discouraging answer. \u201cMother said\nMiss Ruth told her she was going away after New Year\u2019s for a visit,\nsomewhere.\u201d\n\nFresh gloom settled over the Club at this. Mr. Danforth was in despair\nwith having such unhappy children upon his hands. But Ben came to his\nrescue, for a gray squirrel whisking along the stone wall suggested\nsomething to Ben\u2019s mind. Turning around, he told Mr. Danforth about\ncarrying the squirrel to the Club meeting one day. \u201cIt didn\u2019t frighten\nMiss Ruth a bit,\u201d Ben ended earnestly; \u201cshe\u2019s got grit, the way I like\nto have a girl.\u201d\n\nFrom talking about the squirrel Ben went on to tell Mr. Danforth of\nthe screech-owl family which had lived in the hollow tree near there\nlast spring. \u201cI think maybe they will come back here again,\u201d he said\nhopefully, \u201cand maybe we can see them from the hut.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat hut?\u201d asked Mr. Danforth very innocent-like, although he and Ben\nhad been to the hut together more than once now.\n\nBen gave a chuckle which he turned into a \u201cG\u2019long, Jerry!\u201d and Elsa\ncried, \u201cWhy, Uncle Ned, you know all about the hut! I have told you.\u201d\n\nA moment later they passed the hospitable sign:\n\n CONVALESCENT HOME\n OF THE CHILDREN\u2019S HOSPITAL\n VISITORS ALWAYS WELCOME\n\nand the sleigh-bells jingled merrily up the avenue to the wide-winged\nred brick building.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe kind face of the head-nurse fairly shone with happiness when she\nsaw the basketful of dolls and all the boxes. \u201cI have just told the\nchildren that you were coming,\u201d she said, \u201cand one little boy is sure\nhe heard the reindeers driving to the house. I think he is looking\nfor you to come down the chimney,--though you could never get so many\nthings as these down even our big chimney, at once! After you have\ngiven them the presents, they are going to sing for you the carol they\nhave learned for their Christmas-tree, on Holy Innocents\u2019 Day. We will\ngo right out to the playroom, so as not to keep you or them waiting a\nmoment.\u201d\n\nThe children visitors all knew the way to the playroom now. Ben and\nAlice went first, with the big basket of dolls between them, followed\nby the head-nurse and Betty, Elsa and her uncle, each carrying a box,\nMr. Danforth\u2019s the largest of all, for Ben had brought out from under\nthe front seat of the sleigh, a square box which the other members of\nthe Club had not seen before.\n\nThe sunny playroom was decked with Christmas greens, and the little\nconvalescents had a holiday air, for each girl wore a bright red\nribbon on her hair and each boy either a bright red necktie or a bit\nof red ribbon in his buttonhole. There were, just as before, many,\nmany bandaged limbs and bodies, and many children on crutches or lying\nin go-carts; there were the same happy patient expressions on the\nchildren\u2019s faces, only to-day, their faces were lighted up with the\nexcitement of Christmas and with eager interest in the presents they\nwere to receive.\n\nThe nurses, the Club, and Mr. Danforth, all helped quickly to\ndistribute the gifts, and it was not long before every little girl in\nthe room was hugging a new doll and every little boy was admiring a new\ntop, or a tin soldier large enough to stand alone; and then there was\nanother present for each one of the children; for out of Mr. Danforth\u2019s\nbox came dozens of gray squirrel-shaped boxes filled with simple\ncandy,--until the great playroom looked as if a forestful of tiny, tame\ngray squirrels had been let loose there.\n\nIt was a wholly new experience to Mr. Ned Danforth to see all these\nlittle patient, crippled human beings. Like many busy men in the world,\nhe had been in the habit of signing his name to a check and sending it\nto this or that hospital or charitable institution which he was asked\nto help. But this was the first time in his life that he had ever\nstepped inside such a place as the Convalescent Home; and at first it\nseemed to him that he could not bear the sight, that almost forty years\nold as he was, he would have to run away like a schoolboy, because the\nsight of those convalescent children made him feel so sad. But he could\nnot run away; he was there in charge of the Christmas Makers\u2019 Club.\nSo all he could do to relieve his feelings was to put his hand into\nhis pocket where he always kept a great many five-cent and ten-cent\npieces,--being a generous-natured man,--and begin giving these pieces\nof money to the children.\n\nSo he started to walk very fast through the playroom, dropping into the\nhands or the laps of the children five-cent pieces, ten-cent pieces,\npennies, silver quarter-dollars, even half-dollars, here and there,\nright and left, as long as they lasted. And the nurses, in great\nfear lest the little children put the money into their mouths and\nswallow it, followed closely after him, taking the money away from the\nsurprised children, who were so used to being obedient that they gave\nit up without any fuss, and kind-hearted Uncle Ned did not know what\nwas happening behind him.\n\nBen and Alice, Betty and Elsa were all too much occupied to notice,\neither. Ben was surrounded by a group of his own particular little\nfriends, the boys whom he took out driving; Alice and Betty were\ncoaxing shy little girls to talk about their new dolls, and Elsa had\nfound out the black-eyed child in whose arms she had seen her own old\nchina doll, Bettina, on her first visit here.\n\nThe child\u2019s frame was strapped to a board, just as Elsa had seen\nit before; but she called out cheerily: \u201cI am all better! See my\nnew dolly!\u201d On the floor by her side lay the old doll, so battered\nand changed that only one who had loved her as Elsa had would have\nrecognized her.\n\nElsa picked up the old doll tenderly, saying to herself: \u201cI will hold\nher till the little girl remembers and wants her.\u201d \u201cWhat is your new\ndoll\u2019s name?\u201d she asked the child.\n\n\u201c\u2019Tina.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is the old doll\u2019s name?\u201d Elsa held the battered doll out in plain\nsight.\n\n\u201c\u2019Tina,\u201d said the little girl, reaching out for the old doll and\nblissfully clasping the old and the new together in her arms.\n\n\u201cAnd what is your own name, dear?\u201d asked Elsa, for the dark-eyed child\ninterested her greatly.\n\n\u201cIona,\u201d the soft voice answered very distinctly.\n\n\u201cCome, come, Elsa! It is time to start,\u201d her Uncle Ned said, hurrying\nup to her and trying to be very gruff. His face was quite red under its\ntanned colour, and he was biting the ends of his moustache savagely.\n\nBut just then, at a signal from the head-nurse, the children began to\nsing their Christmas carol:\n\n \u201cOnce in royal David\u2019s city\n Stood a lowly cattle shed,\n Where a mother laid her baby,\n In a manger for his bed;\n Mary was that mother mild,\n Jesus Christ her little child.\n\n \u201cFor he is our childhood\u2019s pattern;\n Day by day like us he grew;\n He was little, weak, and helpless,\n Tears and smiles like us he knew;\n And he feeleth for our sadness,\n And he shareth in our gladness.\n\n \u201cAnd our eyes at last shall see him,\n Through his own redeeming love;\n For that child so dear and gentle\n Is our Lord in heaven above,\n And he leads his children on\n To the place where he is gone.\u201d\n\nThen, because they were such frail little children that they could not\nlearn much or readily, they sang as the other part of their Christmas\nservice, their daily grace:\n\n \u201cThank Him, thank Him,\n All ye little children,\n Thank Him, thank Him,\n God is love.\u201d\n\nThe plaintive child faces, some of them white as snow-drops, the\ndelicate, sweet voices singing the Christmas hymn and the simple grace,\nproved too much for Uncle Ned\u2019s tender heart. \u201cWe must go, we must\ngo this minute!\u201d he exclaimed hurriedly calling the Club together and\nfairly driving them out of the room, before him.\n\nElsa looked back long enough to say good-bye to the dark-eyed child\nof her fancy, and the little one called cheerily: \u201cDood-bye. I am all\nbetter! Tum aden.\u201d\n\nThe head-nurse followed the retreating man and the hurrying children\nalong the passageway toward the front door with a very understanding\nlook on her face.\n\n\u201cHave we stayed too long?\u201d Elsa inquired anxiously, stopping behind the\nothers and lifting her serious eyes to Miss Hartwell\u2019s face.\n\n\u201cNo, dear; there are still a few moments left of the time I had set for\nyour little Club to stay.\u201d\n\nElsa did not tell this to the other children or to her uncle. Already,\nhowever, she had learned what her uncle did not yet know, but what he\nlearned later: that while the first visit to the Convalescent Home\nis saddening, each time after that the place grows more and more\ninteresting and less sad to visit.\n\nAt the door Mr. Ned Danforth turned and shook hands briskly with the\nhead-nurse.\n\n\u201cSplendid place here!\u201d he said, again very gruffly. \u201cNoble work\nyou are doing! Thank you for your kindness to us.\u201d Then he thrust a\nlarge-sized bill into her hand, saying in a desperate sort of way, \u201cUse\nit to do something more for those children!\u201d\n\nAnd Ben suddenly remembered the small white box containing five dollars\nand sixty cents which he had in his pocket. He pulled it forth and\nhanded it to Miss Hartwell with a profound bow: \u201cIt is some money that\nthe Christmas Makers\u2019 Club--that\u2019s us--have earned all ourselves to\nhelp the little Convalescings.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you, thank you, all of you,\u201d said Miss Hartwell, looking from\none to another of the bright-faced children. \u201cI am sure you cannot\nrealize how much help you have given to the children here and to the\nHome.\u201d\n\nToo delighted for words, the Club members smiled back at Miss Hartwell.\n\nShe hesitated about speaking of Miss Ruth Warren, for Mr. Danforth\nhad told her, when they first came, of the Club\u2019s tearful tendencies.\nIt was not until the children were going through the doorway that she\nsaid: \u201cYou are as heartily sorry as I am, I know, because Miss Warren\ncould not come with you; but we shall look forward to other visits\nfrom your Club when the longer days of spring are here.\u201d\n\nThe faces of the children showed their mingled grief and anticipation\nexpressively; they were speechless, however, on the subject of Miss\nRuth.\n\n\u201cMay I take some of the little chaps out sleigh-riding to-morrow\nmorning?\u201d asked Ben, a heartful of sympathy shining in his boyish face.\n\n\u201cYes, Ben; and you don\u2019t know how those little lads look forward to\ntheir drives with you. We shall have to call you the Charioteer of the\nConvalescent Home,\u201d said Miss Hartwell.\n\nThen, as the door closed behind them, Mr. Danforth speedily bundled the\nClub into the sleigh for the homeward drive.\n\nWhen they turned into Berkeley Avenue, Elsa thought she caught a sight,\nfar ahead, of her grandmother\u2019s gray horse; but she decided it could\nnot have been, because her grandmother almost never went driving in the\nmorning, and she surely would not be away from home when there was so\nmuch to see about in regard to the Christmas-tree. Even Elsa herself\ndid not know what all the surprises were to be, although she knew that\nmany wonderful things were going to happen that Christmas afternoon.\n\nThat afternoon, the surprises came so fast and so astonishingly that\nthe heads of the Christmas Makers\u2019 Club and of all concerned fairly\nwhirled with excitement.\n\nTo begin with, Ben and Alice thought it strange indeed that Mrs.\nDanforth\u2019s gray horse and handsome double-seated sleigh were sent to\ntake their mother and them to the Christmas party.\n\n\u201cWhy couldn\u2019t we go with Jerry just as well?\u201d Ben asked loyally. \u201cI\ncould cover him all up with his blanket and hitch him in front of\nElsa\u2019s grandmother\u2019s house.\u201d\n\nBut Mrs. Holt only smiled for answer. The children had found their\nmother very bright-eyed, on their return, and she had been more than\nusually tender with them, but had told them nothing as yet.\n\n\u201cDo you think Elsa\u2019s grandmother will let us drive home, or will we\nhave to walk?\u201d Alice asked gravely.\n\n\u201cI think she will have us drive home,\u201d said Mrs. Holt, turning aside\nto hide the happy tears that would spring into her eyes. She had\ndressed Alice in her prettiest white dress,--a soft muslin with dainty\nlace-trimmed ruffles,--and Ben wore for the first time a new dark blue\nblouse suit; for Mrs. Holt was anxious to have her children look their\nbest that afternoon.\n\n\u201cMrs. Danforth would like to see you all in the library, ma\u2019am,\u201d said\nCummings, who opened the door. The twins wondered very much why their\nmother\u2019s hands trembled so. It could not be because she was afraid of\nthat straight-backed maid-servant who took their wraps and who smiled\nat them quite pleasantly. Elsa was nowhere to be seen, which surprised\nthem.\n\nIn the centre of the library stood Mrs. Danforth, not quite so erect as\nusual, and with one hand on a chair, to support herself. She bowed her\nhead and her figure swayed slightly when Mrs. Holt entered the room,\nwith Ben just ahead of her on the right and Alice on the left.\n\n\u201cMother,--here are my children, Alice and Ben,\u201d Mrs. Holt said in\na low voice which sounded as if there were tears behind it, \u201cand,\nchildren dear,\u201d--she pressed them gently forward,--\u201cthis is your own\ngrandmother.\u201d\n\nMrs. Danforth knelt down suddenly and put her arms around both of the\nmystified children, looking first into one and then the other of the\namazed, blue-eyed faces. She tried to speak, but something choked her.\n\n\u201cLet me tell them, mother,\u201d said Mrs. Holt, helping her to rise and\nleading her to a chair. \u201cI have always promised them I would tell them,\nsome day, about their grandmother.\u201d Kneeling down, herself, now, by\nthe side of the chair, and drawing the children into her embrace, Mrs.\nHolt said in the same tear-sounding voice and very slowly: \u201cListen,\nchildren: when I was hardly more than a grown-up girl, I ran away from\nmy home and married your father against my mother\u2019s wishes, for he\nwas a poor man, and he, too, was hardly old enough to be married. And\nbecause I was a disobedient daughter, my mother punished me by not\nwanting to see me for a long, long time. That time is ended now and--\u201d\nMrs. Holt hid her face and her tears against her own little daughter\u2019s\nshoulder.\n\nThen Mrs. Danforth found her voice and said: \u201cDear children, your\ngrandmother has been a sorry, sad woman all these years that she tried\nto punish her daughter, but she is happy--very happy now--to have her\ndaughter back again and her own grandchildren.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you our grandmother?\u201d Alice asked shyly, staring with wide-open\nblue eyes at the gray-haired lady who said such interesting things and\nseemed so sorry.\n\n\u201cYes, darling,\u201d was the grandmotherly answer. \u201cAnd you look just as\nyour mother looked when she was a little girl.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are really and truly my grandmother?\u201d asked Ben in a delighted\ntone, although he could not stop thinking how surprising it was that\nhis mother had ever been a little girl, and had been punished.\n\n\u201cYes. Are you going to love me?\u201d Mrs. Danforth was astonished at\nherself for asking.\n\nFor particular answer, Ben threw his arms around her neck. \u201cIt\u2019s going\nto be real easy for me to love you,\u201d he said happily. Then he drew back\nand looked at her, seriously, before he announced: \u201cI think I shall\ncall you Grandmother Gray.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a very good name, my boy,\u201d she said, smiling through the\njoyful tears that had sprung into her eyes at the feeling of his loving\nyoung arms around her neck; and her glasses fell off her nose like any\ngrandmother\u2019s.\n\n\u201cIs Elsa our cousin now?\u201d asked Ben, who was always of an inquiring\nturn of mind.\n\n\u201cNo, my dear,\u201d replied his grandmother, brushing back his hair with\nher richly jewelled hand; \u201cand I will tell you why. After your own\ngrandfather died and after your mother went away, I married a widower,\nJudge Danforth, who had two sons. One of those sons was Elsa\u2019s father\nand the other is her Uncle Ned, whom you know. After Judge Danforth\ndied, and Elsa\u2019s father also, I moved to Berkeley, because I knew that\nyour mother was here, and I could not live any longer without seeing\nher and my grandchildren. Elsa is no real relation to me at all.\u201d\n\nAlice, who was holding her mother\u2019s hand closely in hers while all\nthese wonderful things were going on, looked wholly puzzled; but Ben\nthrust his hands into the pockets of his new trousers,--jingled the\ntwo silver quarters he had earned by helping Mr. Danforth an hour that\nmorning, after the drive,--and said thoughtfully: \u201cThen Elsa hasn\u2019t you\nfor a real grandmother. Does she know it?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied Mrs. Danforth; \u201cI told her after she came from the\nConvalescent Home this morning.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am all the gladder she is going to have Susie!\u201d cried Alice; then\nshe quickly clapped her rounded hand over her mouth.\n\nBut Ben had more questions to ask, so he did not notice that Alice had\ntold. \u201cAre you very rich, Grandmother Gray?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she answered, rather surprised that the boy should ask this.\n\n\u201cWill you give Peggy--I mean Alice--some pretty dresses, same as Elsa\nand Betty have?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, my boy, Alice shall have everything she wants and so shall you.\u201d\n\nAlice put her chubby hands together softly, in almost unbelieving joy,\nand Ben said radiantly: \u201cWhat I want most of all is that mother of mine\nneed not work hard any more.\u201d\n\nA look of great sorrow passed over Mrs. Danforth\u2019s face, and Mrs. Holt\nwhispered to Ben: \u201cHush, my darling.\u201d\n\nThe front door-bell ringing, told of the arrival of other guests. \u201cWe\nmust call Elsa in for a moment,\u201d said Mrs. Danforth, rising. Her eyes\nwere soft now, with that look of tears in them. Stepping to the library\ndoor, she said gently, \u201cElsa!\u201d And Elsa, who had been waiting in the\nreception-room across the hall, came into the library just as Ruth\nWarren and Betty and a quiet little woman--whom Cummings instantly\nrecognized--entered the hall door and were asked by Cummings to go\nup-stairs and leave their wraps.\n\nElsa was dressed in a dainty white silk gown with a full, many-ruffled\nskirt. She looked very pale as she stepped into the library and stood,\na lone, sensitive-faced child, opposite the happy group of grandmother,\nmother, and two children.\n\nIt was Elsa, strangely enough, who spoke first. Turning to Alice, she\nsaid slowly: \u201cYou--you and Ben have a grandmother now and I haven\u2019t\nany. Shall I have to go away,\u201d she asked, lifting her pathetic eyes to\nMrs. Danforth\u2019s face, \u201cand be a poor little girl?\u201d She had just begun\nto think of this question.\n\n\u201cYou need never go away unless you wish to, Elsa,\u201d Mrs. Danforth said\nquickly. \u201cAnd you will not be a poor little girl, for, as your Uncle\nNed and I have agreed that I should tell you to-day, you are a very\nrich little girl, with a great deal of money that is all your own.\u201d\n\n\u201cO, how glad I am!\u201d cried Elsa, some of the sorrowful look dying out\nof her eyes; \u201cfor now I can do everything I want to, to help the\nConvalescent children.\u201d\n\nThere was something so touching and so winning in the little orphan\ngirl, standing there with her face full of unselfish joy at the thought\nof what she could do for others less fortunate than herself, that Mrs.\nDanforth suddenly humbled herself before this little child.\n\n\u201cElsa,\u201d she said, stepping forward, \u201cI have not been as kind and loving\nto you as I might have been. But the love which springs up in my heart\nfor my own grandchildren makes me realize how much I also love the\nlittle girl who has brightened my home and been so brave and obedient.\u201d\nShe held out her arms. Elsa came forward gladly, and Mrs. Danforth\nkissed her with warm affection,--apparently quite forgetting that she\nhad ever thought this a foolish custom. And Elsa felt that she loved\nher grandmother-that-was a great deal more dearly now that she wasn\u2019t\nreally her grandmother. Then Alice put her soft arms around Elsa\u2019s\nneck, and Mrs. Holt said kindly: \u201cI shall have to call you my little\nniece, Elsa.\u201d\n\nBen spoke up then: \u201cDo you remember I\u2019ve never told you my name for\nyou, Elsa? I\u2019ve changed it now. It used to be Sad Girl, that\u2019s why I\ndidn\u2019t tell you before; but now it\u2019s going to be \u2018Princess.\u2019\u201d Dropping\na shy kiss on Elsa\u2019s golden hair, Ben ran off in answer to a muffled\nsummons.\n\nAt that same moment Cummings pulled back the heavy green velvet\nporti\u00e8res which separated the library from the drawing-room, and the\nglory of the Christmas-tree burst upon the children\u2019s sight.\n\nThe tree, reaching nearly to the ceiling, stood at the farther end\nof the long drawing-room, its graceful branches fairly drooping with\ntreasures. There were packages of every shape and description; there\nwere long icicles, moving, swaying balls of silver and gold, scarlet\nand blue, glowing and sparkling in the mellow radiance of many wax\ncandles; and there was a beautiful white Christmas angel at the very\ntop of the tree. A warm, spicy odour of balsam fir filled the air, and\na splendid, roaring fire in the great fireplace cast a ruddy light over\nthe beautiful furnishings of the drawing-room.\n\nElsa, puzzled and excited by the events of the day, ran forward to\ngreet Miss Ruth with a feeling as of seeking shelter. \u201cDo you know that\ngrandmother isn\u2019t my grandmother really, but is Alice\u2019s and Ben\u2019s?\u201d she\nsaid in a low tone, slipping her hand into Miss Ruth\u2019s.\n\nRuth Warren, who had on the black lace gown with the little old lady\u2019s\ncoral beads around her neck, gazed in surprise at Elsa for a half\nmoment. Then it was all so simple that she wondered why she had not\nthought of Mrs. Danforth\u2019s possibly having been twice married. \u201cWe\nknow now why both your grandmother--I mean Mrs. Danforth--and Mrs. Holt\nhave the paintings alike,\u201d said Miss Ruth.\n\n\u201cYes, I remember--the picture of the house where grandmother used to\nlive,\u201d cried Elsa.\n\nBut one could not stop very long to think about any one thing, with\nthat Christmas-tree in the room.\n\n\u201cI wish my Uncle Ned could be here,\u201d Elsa exclaimed, as she swung\naround into sight of the tree. \u201cHe had to go to the city this noon.\nPerhaps he will come back before the tree is over. He said he would if\nhe could.\u201d\n\nWhile Betty and Alice were gazing delightedly at the gorgeous tree,\nMiss Ruth asked Elsa, in a low voice, to go across the hall into the\nreception-room to find a Christmas surprise which was waiting for her\nthere. And soon Elsa came back with shining, happy eyes, leading by the\nhand a short, comely-faced woman whose brown hair was slightly streaked\nwith gray. \u201cThis is Bettina March, my dear, dear Bettina,\u201d said Elsa,\nintroducing the shy, modest little woman to the group of her friends;\nbut Bettina, although she greeted them all in a musical voice, with\na slight German accent, had eyes only for her beloved former charge,\nElsa.\n\n\u201cWhere is Ben?\u201d asked Ruth Warren, in part to turn attention from the\nshrinking stranger, who was half-laughing, half-crying with joy, and\nin part because she was wondering who would take the presents from the\ntree.\n\nThen an amazing thing happened. With a long hoo-oo-t! a great gray owl\nhopped, sidling fashion, from the library doorway into the full sight\nof the astonished Christmas party, flapping his wings awkwardly as he\nmade his way across the room to the Christmas-tree. And close behind\nhim scampered a very large gray squirrel.\n\nA shout went up from the children.\n\n\u201cGray Owl Santa Claus!\u201d cried Betty, whirling round and round till she\nlooked like a red balloon in her holly-red dress.\n\nAlice, half-frightened, drew away from the Gray Owl toward the\nSquirrel. \u201cBen is the Squirrel,\u201d she exclaimed, for nothing could\ndeceive her with regard to her twin brother.\n\n\u201cKeep a good heart!\u201d the Gray Owl called out in a quick, muffled voice,\nclose to Elsa\u2019s ear.\n\n\u201cO, Uncle Ned, Uncle Ned!\u201d she cried delightedly. \u201cYou came back to be\na Gray Owl Santa Claus! What a dear, funny uncle you are.\u201d\n\nThen the Gray Owl, with sudden, awkward movements, began taking the\npresents off from the tree and handing them to the Gray Squirrel, who\nclasped his paws around them and carried them to the persons whose\nnames the Owl had called in a deep, muffled voice.\n\nAnd then it was that the Club had a chance to see the marvellous\ncostumes of the queer Santa Claus and his helper. The Gray Owl\u2019s\nbody-covering was of soft gray wool material which lay in ridges\nlike downy feathers; the wings, which were held to his arms by long\nsleeves of gray gauze, were made of closely placed long gray feathers\nand quills, and his head was covered by a gray owl mask, with tufted\nears and yellow eyes having thin black slits. The squirrel had on\na most cleverly made coat of soft gray wool shaded to purest white\non the breast; a bristly, broom-like tail dragged behind him, and a\npointed-nosed mask with sharp little ears, was drawn close over his\nhead.\n\nBy this time every one had received many presents, and a great opening\nof packages had begun. The Club members had thought of most interesting\nremembrances for one another. Elsa and Betty had together given Alice\na beautiful doll that could talk, a blue-eyed waxen beauty with\nfringed eyelashes that opened and shut, rose-leaf cheeks and silky\nflaxen curls; and the two girls had given to Ben a locomotive with an\nelectric battery,--a bewitching package which he stopped long enough\nto open with his deft gray squirrel paws, and to cry out about, in his\nunsquirrel-like voice: \u201cOh, my, how jolly!\u201d Alice and Ben had together\ngiven to Betty and to Elsa each a beautiful white hyacinth. Elsa had\nfrom Betty a trunkful of dresses for her best doll, and Betty from Elsa\na dainty silver watch. From Miss Ruth, Ben had a box of tools, and each\nof the girls a gold thimble.\n\nStill the Gray Owl kept on taking presents from the tree, the Squirrel\njumped around with packages, and the fun went on. Nobody was forgotten.\nThere were presents for Bettina, who ran away soon to Miss Virginia,\nafter a last loving look at Elsa; there were presents for Miss Ruth and\nMrs. Holt, for Mrs. Danforth and for Mrs. White, who came in somewhat\nlate to have a look at her neighbour\u2019s Christmas-tree. There were\npresents for Mr. Danforth, who tucked them away in some mysterious\nmake-believe Gray Owl tree-hollow; for Cummings, and for Sarah Judd,\nwho came by special invitation of the Club, and who smiled until her\nface seemed in danger of cracking apart, as she received first a bright\nscarlet geranium from Ben and Alice, then a pretty white apron from\nBetty, and a handsomely illustrated book from Elsa.\n\nWhen the Squirrel, taking a square package, ran with little leaping\nsteps to Mrs. Danforth and began making a speech, everybody stopped\ntalking to listen.\n\n\u201cGrandmother Gray,\u201d he said, \u201cwhen you invited the Club to have a\nChristmas-tree at your house, I had an idea that you must be very rich,\nand I thought you must need a good safe place to keep your money in, so\nI made this for you.\u201d\n\nMrs. Danforth, with trembling fingers, like any surprised grandmother,\nunwrapped the package to find a box, neatly jointed together, with the\nlower part just large enough to put bills in laid out flat, and the\nupper part divided into five places,--one, each, for pennies, five-cent\npieces, ten-cent pieces, quarters and half-dollars, as Ben, looking on,\nexplained. The box was stained a rich, dark red colour, and had a tiny\npadlock and key.\n\n\u201cNonsense!\u201d said the grandmother in greatest delight. \u201cDid you make\nthis, Ben?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, grandmother; I used to think I would be a carpenter,\u201d replied\nBen, as she took his two gray kid-gloved little hands into hers for a\nmoment. \u201cI think now, though, that I shall be a bird-man.\u201d\n\nThen, just like any fond, indulgent grandmother, Mrs. Danforth smiled\nand said: \u201cYou shall be whatever you want to be, my boy.\u201d And Mrs. Holt\nlooked with motherly pride upon her bright-eyed, happy-faced son.\n\nWhile the box was being passed around and admired and the Squirrel was\nexplaining it, the Gray Owl hopped in his funny sidelong fashion, with\nawkward, flopping wings, to Alice--who was not afraid of him now--and\nasked her to give to Elsa a long white box marked: \u201cFrom the Christmas\nMakers\u2019 Club.\u201d\n\n\u201cSusie! Susie! You dear old doll,\u201d Elsa cried, drawing a long,\nsobbing breath of delight. They all turned at her exclamation and saw\nher clasping to her breast an old-fashioned china doll in a white\nball dress looped up with morsels of pink rosebuds over a blue silk\npetticoat.\n\nBut there was no time even to explain to Elsa why the Club had given\nher the old-fashioned doll, for another exciting event claimed their\nattention immediately. The Gray Owl and the Squirrel together took a\nheavy, flat package to Miss Ruth, who had already received so many\nremembrances that she was far from having thoughts of anything more.\nThe Club watched breathlessly. This was the present which Mrs. White\nhad helped them choose.\n\nFrom under many white-paper wrappings appeared at last a beautiful Fra\nAngelico trumpeter angel, soft, rich, scarlet-and-gold in colouring, in\na handsome gilt frame. With the picture came a card, on which Betty had\nwritten with great carefulness: \u201cAn angel to blow you a greeting from\nyour affectionate Christmas Makers\u2019 Club.\u201d And to this card all the\nmembers of the Club had signed their names.\n\nHardly had Miss Ruth had time to thank the Club, when the Gray Owl\nhanded to Elsa a long, white business-like looking envelope addressed\nto \u201cMiss Ruth Warren, President of the Christmas Makers\u2019 Club.\u201d The\nexcitement of Elsa\u2019s manner made the others look on again with keenest\ninterest.\n\nWhat was their delight and rapture to have Miss Ruth read a legal\npaper, presenting to the Club, from Elsa Danforth, the gift, for the\nexclusive use of the Club, of a log-hut on a certain piece of wood\nproperty on Berkeley Avenue.\n\n\u201cThe hut! The hut! All our own!\u201d cried Betty, whirling around again\nlike a lively red balloon. And then they all began talking at once and\nvery fast about furnishing the hut, of keeping some dolls and dishes\nthere, even of having a fireplace built so they could use the hut for\nmeetings in cold weather!\n\nElsa, whose thought this gift of the hut had been--although her Uncle\nNed had carried it out, with Ben\u2019s help--stood enjoying to the full the\nhappiness of the Club, when suddenly, with a long, low hoo-oo-t! the\nGray Owl, flapping his wings, landed in front of her. Bowing low, he\nsaid: \u201cPrincess, the Gray Owl begs that you will allow him to live with\nyou here, in Berkeley, from this time forth.\u201d\n\n\u201cUncle Ned! Do you really mean it?\u201d she begged, lifting her flower-like\nface and beseeching gray eyes to his.\n\n\u201cYes, the Gray Owl really means it. He will not be a cross Gray Owl,\nthough, so keep a good heart, Princess,\u201d he answered, making believe\nhe thought she did not want him to live with her, for he had seen\ntears start under her long eyelashes. Then, because he knew that many\nexciting things had happened to his little niece that day, he drew her\ntoward him and held her under the shelter of his soft gray wings.\n\nOf all the surprises that Christmas had brought to Elsa, this last one\nwas the best. It was far more than the knowledge that she had a great\ndeal of money even though she was happy in the thought that she could\nhelp the convalescent children with that money; it was more than the\ngreat satisfaction of having Bettina March come back into her life,\nmore than the gift of the little old lady\u2019s doll and all the many\nother Christmas presents put together:--more than all these; for she\nloved her Uncle Ned better than she loved anybody else in the whole\nwide world. And she drew back within the shelter of the wide wings in\nsupreme content.\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\n\n\nBOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE\n\n\nTHE LITTLE COLONEL BOOKS\n\n(Trade Mark)\n\n_By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON_\n\nEach, 1 vol. large, 12mo, cloth decorative, per vol. $1.50\n\n\nThe Little Colonel Stories.\n\n (Trade Mark)\n\nIllustrated.\n\nBeing three \u201cLittle Colonel\u201d stories in the Cosy Corner Series, \u201cThe\nLittle Colonel,\u201d \u201cTwo Little Knights of Kentucky,\u201d and \u201cThe Giant\nScissors,\u201d put into a single volume.\n\n\nThe Little Colonel\u2019s House Party.\n\n (Trade Mark)\n\nIllustrated by Louis Meynell.\n\n\nThe Little Colonel\u2019s Holidays.\n\n (Trade Mark)\n\nIllustrated by L. J. Bridgman.\n\n\nThe Little Colonel\u2019s Hero.\n\n (Trade Mark)\n\nIllustrated by E. B. Barry.\n\n\nThe Little Colonel at Boarding School.\n\n (Trade Mark)\n\nIllustrated by E. B. Barry.\n\n\nThe Little Colonel in Arizona.\n\n (Trade Mark)\n\nIllustrated by E. B. Barry.\n\n\nThe Little Colonel\u2019s Christmas Vacation.\n\n (Trade Mark)\n\nIllustrated by E. B. Barry.\n\n\nThe Little Colonel, Maid of Honour.\n\n (Trade Mark)\n\nIllustrated by E. B. Barry.\n\nSince the time of \u201cLittle Women,\u201d no juvenile heroine has been better\nbeloved of her child readers than Mrs. Johnston\u2019s \u201cLittle Colonel.\u201d\n\n\nThe Little Colonel.\n\n (Trade Mark)\n\n\nTwo Little Knights of Kentucky.\n\n\nThe Giant Scissors.\n\n\nBig Brother.\n\nSpecial Holiday Editions\n\nEach one volume, cloth decorative, small quarto, $1.25.\n\nNew plates, handsomely illustrated, with eight full-page drawings in\ncolor.\n\n\u201cThe books are as satisfactory to the small girls, who find them\nadorable, as for the mothers and librarians, who delight in their\ninfluence.\u201d--_Christian Register._\n\n These four volumes, boxed as a four-volume set $5.00\n\n\n =In the Desert of Waiting=: THE LEGEND OF CAMELBACK MOUNTAIN.\n\n\n =The Three Weavers=: A FAIRY TALE FOR FATHERS AND MOTHERS AS\n WELL AS FOR THEIR DAUGHTERS.\n\n\nKeeping Tryst.\n\n\nThe Legend of the Bleeding Heart.\n\n Each one volume, tall 16mo, cloth decorative $0.50\n Paper boards .35\n\nThere has been a constant demand for publication in separate form of\nthese four stories, which were originally included in four of the\n\u201cLittle Colonel\u201d books.\n\n\n =Joel: A Boy of Galilee.= By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON.\n Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman.\n\n New illustrated edition, uniform with the Little Colonel Books,\n 1 vol., large 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50\n\n\nA story of the time of Christ, which is one of the author\u2019s best-known\nbooks.\n\n\n =Asa Holmes=; OR, AT THE CROSS-ROADS. A sketch of Country\n Life and Country Humor. By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON. With a\n frontispiece by Ernest Fosbery.\n\n Large 16mo, cloth, gilt top $1.00\n\n\u201c\u2018Asa Holmes; or, At the Cross-Roads\u2019 is the most delightful, most\nsympathetic and wholesome book that has been published in a long\nwhile.\u201d--_Boston Times._\n\n\n =The Rival Campers=; OR, THE ADVENTURES OF HENRY BURNS. By RUEL\n PERLEY SMITH.\n\n Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50\n\nHere is a book which will grip and enthuse every boy reader. It is\nthe story of a party of typical American lads, courageous, alert, and\nathletic, who spend a summer camping on an island off the Maine coast.\n\n\u201cThe best boys\u2019 book since \u2018Tom Sawyer.\u2019\u201d--_San Francisco Examiner._\n\n\n =The Rival Campers Afloat=; OR, THE PRIZE YACHT VIKING. By RUEL\n PERLEY SMITH.\n\n Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50\n\nThis book is a continuation of the adventures of \u201cThe Rival Campers\u201d on\ntheir prize yacht _Viking_. An accidental collision results in a series\nof exciting adventures, culminating in a mysterious chase, the loss\nof their prize yacht, and its recapture by means of their old yacht,\n_Surprise_.\n\n\n =The Rival Campers Ashore.= By RUEL PERLEY SMITH, author of\n \u201cThe Rival Campers,\u201d \u201cThe Rival Campers Afloat,\u201d etc.\n\n Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50\n\n\u201cThe Rival Campers Ashore\u201d deals with the adventures of the campers and\ntheir friends in and around the town of Benton. Mr. Smith introduces\na new character,--a girl,--who shows them the way to an old mill,\naround which the mystery of the story revolves. The girl is an\nadmirable acquisition, proving as daring and resourceful as the campers\nthemselves.\n\n\n =The Young Section-Hand=; OR, THE ADVENTURES OF ALLAN WEST. By\n BURTON E. STEVENSON, author of \u201cThe Marathon Mystery,\u201d etc.\n Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated by L. J. Bridgman\n $1.50\n\nMr. Stevenson\u2019s hero is a manly lad of sixteen, who is given a chance\nas a section-hand on a big Western railroad, and whose experiences are\nas real as they are thrilling.\n\n\n =The Young Train Dispatcher.= By BURTON E. STEVENSON, author of\n \u201cThe Young Section-hand,\u201d etc.\n\n Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50\n\nThe young hero has many chances to prove his manliness and courage in\nthe exciting adventures which befall him in the discharge of his duty.\n\n\n =Captain Jack Lorimer.= By WINN STANDISH.\n\n Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated by A. B. Shute $1.50\n\nJack is a fine example of the all-around American high-school boy.\nHe has the sturdy qualities boys admire, and his fondness for clean,\nhonest sport of all kinds will strike a chord of sympathy among\nathletic youths.\n\n\n =Jack Lorimer\u2019s Champions=; or, Sports on Land and Lake. By\n WINN STANDISH, author of \u201cCaptain Jack Lorimer,\u201d etc.\n\n Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50\n\nAll boys and girls who take an interest in school athletics will wish\nto read of the exploits of the Millvale High School students, under the\nleadership of Captain Jack Lorimer.\n\nCaptain Jack\u2019s Champions play quite as good ball as do some of the\nteams on the large leagues, and they put all opponents to good hard\nwork in other summer sports.\n\nJack Lorimer and his friends stand out as the finest examples of\nall-round American high school boys and girls.\n\n\n =Beautiful Joe\u2019s Paradise=; OR, THE ISLAND OF BROTHERLY LOVE.\n A sequel to \u201cBeautiful Joe.\u201d By MARSHALL SAUNDERS, author of\n \u201cBeautiful Joe.\u201d\n\n One vol., library 12mo, cloth, illustrated $1.50\n\n\u201cThis book revives the spirit of \u2018Beautiful Joe\u2019 capitally. It is\nfairly riotous with fun, and as a whole is about as unusual as anything\nin the animal book line that has seen the light. It is a book for\njuveniles--old and young.\u201d--_Philadelphia Item._\n\n\n =\u2019Tilda Jane.= By MARSHALL SAUNDERS.\n\n One vol., 12mo, fully illustrated, cloth decorative, $1.50\n\n\u201cIt is one of those exquisitely simple and truthful books that win\nand charm the reader, and I did not put it down until I had finished\nit--honest! And I am sure that every one, young or old, who reads will\nbe proud and happy to make the acquaintance of the delicious waif.\n\n\u201cI cannot think of any better book for children than this. I commend it\nunreservedly.\u201d--_Cyrus Townsend Brady._\n\n\n =The Story of the Graveleys.= By MARSHALL SAUNDERS, author of\n \u201cBeautiful Joe\u2019s Paradise,\u201d \u201c\u2019Tilda Jane,\u201d etc.\n\n Library 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated by E. B. Barry $1.50\n\nHere we have the haps and mishaps, the trials and triumphs, of a\ndelightful New England family, of whose devotion and sturdiness it will\ndo the reader good to hear.\n\n\n =Born to the Blue.= By FLORENCE KIMBALL RUSSEL.\n\n 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.25\n\nThe atmosphere of army life on the plains breathes on every page of\nthis delightful tale. The boy is the son of a captain of U. S. cavalry\nstationed at a frontier post in the days when our regulars earned the\ngratitude of a nation.\n\n\n =In West Point Gray.= By FLORENCE KIMBALL RUSSEL.\n\n 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.25\n\nWest Point forms the background for the second volume in this series,\nand gives us the adventures of Jack as a cadet. Here the training of\nhis childhood days in the frontier army post stands him in good stead;\nand he quickly becomes the central figure of the West Point life.\n\n\n =The Sandman; His Farm Stories.= By WILLIAM J. HOPKINS. With\n fifty illustrations by Ada Clendenin Williamson.\n\n Large 12mo, decorative cover $1.50\n\n\u201cAn amusing, original book, written for the benefit of very small\nchildren. It should be one of the most popular of the year\u2019s books for\nreading to small children.\u201d--_Buffalo Express._\n\n\n =The Sandman: More Farm Stories.= By WILLIAM J. HOPKINS.\n\n Large 12mo, decorative cover, fully illustrated $1.50\n\nMr. Hopkins\u2019s first essay at bedtime stories met with such approval\nthat this second book of \u201cSandman\u201d tales was issued for scores of eager\nchildren. Life on the farm, and out-of-doors, is portrayed in his\ninimitable manner.\n\n\n =The Sandman: His Ship Stories.= By WILLIAM J. HOPKINS, author\n of \u201cThe Sandman: His Farm Stories,\u201d etc.\n\n Large 12mo, decorative cover, fully illustrated $1.50\n\n\u201cMothers and fathers and kind elder sisters who put the little ones\nto bed, and rack their brains for stories, will find this book a\ntreasure.\u201d--_Cleveland Leader._\n\n\u201cChildren call for these stories over and over again.\u201d--_Chicago\nEvening Post._\n\n\n =Pussy-Cat Town.= By MARION AMES TAGGART.\n\n Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in\n colors $1.00\n\n\u201cPussy-Cat Town\u201d is a most unusual delightful cat story. Ban-Ban, a\npure Maltese who belonged to Rob, Kiku-san, Lois\u2019s beautiful snow-white\npet, and their neighbors Bedelia the tortoise-shell, Madame Laura the\nwidow, Wutz Butz the warrior, and wise old Tommy Traddles, were really\nand truly cats.\n\n\n =The Roses of Saint Elizabeth.= By JANE SCOTT WOODRUFF, author\n of \u201cThe Little Christmas Shoe.\u201d\n\n Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in\n colors by Adelaide Everhart $1.00\n\nThis is a charming little story of a child whose father was caretaker\nof the great castle of the Wartburg, where Saint Elizabeth once had her\nhome.\n\n\n =Gabriel and the Hour Book.= By EVALEEN STEIN.\n\n Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in\n colors by Adelaide Everhart $1.00\n\nGabriel was a loving, patient, little French lad, who assisted the\nmonks in the long ago days, when all the books were written and\nilluminated by hand, in the monasteries.\n\n\n =The Enchanted Automobile.= Translated from the French by MARY\n J. SAFFORD.\n\n Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in\n colors by Edna M. Sawyer $1.00\n\nThe enchanted automobile was sent by the fairy godmother of a lazy,\ndiscontented little prince and princess to take them to fairyland,\nwhere they might visit their storybook favorites.\n\n\n =The Red Feathers.= By THEODORE ROBERTS, author of \u201cBrothers of\n Peril,\u201d etc.\n\nCloth decorative, illustrated $1.50\n\n\u201cThe Red Feathers\u201d tells of the remarkable adventures of an Indian boy\nwho lived in the Stone Age, many years ago, when the world was young,\nand when fairies and magicians did wonderful things for their friends\nand enemies.\n\n\n =The Wreck of the Ocean Queen.= By JAMES OTIS, author of \u201cLarry\n Hudson\u2019s Ambition,\u201d etc.\n\nCloth decorative, illustrated $1.50\n\nThis story takes its readers on a sea voyage around the world; gives\nthem a trip on a treasure ship; an exciting experience in a terrific\ngale; and finally a shipwreck, with a mutineering crew determined to\ntake the treasure to complicate matters.\n\nBut only the mutineers will come to serious harm, and after the reader\nhas known the thrilling excitement of lack of food and water, of\nattacks by night and day, and of a hand-to-hand fight, he is rescued\nand brought safely home again,--to realize that it\u2019s only a story, but\na stirring and realistic one.\n\n\n =Little White Indians.= By FANNIE E. OSTRANDER.\n\nCloth decorative, illustrated $1.25\n\nThe \u201cLittle White Indians\u201d were two families of children who \u201cplayed\nIndian\u201d all one long summer vacation. They built wigwams and made\ncamps; they went hunting and fought fierce battles on the war-trail.\n\nA bright, interesting story which will appeal strongly to the\n\u201cmake-believe\u201d instinct in children, and will give them a healthy,\nactive interest in \u201cthe simple life.\u201d\n\n\nCOSY CORNER SERIES\n\n It is the intention of the publishers that this series shall\n contain only the very highest and purest literature,--stories\n that shall not only appeal to the children themselves, but be\n appreciated by all those who feel with them in their joys and\n sorrows.\n\n The numerous illustrations in each book are by well-known\n artists, and each volume has a separate attractive cover design.\n\nEach 1 vol., 16mo, cloth $0.50\n\n\n_By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON_\n\n\n=The Little Colonel.= (Trade Mark.)\n\nThe scene of this story is laid in Kentucky. Its heroine is a small\ngirl, who is known as the Little Colonel, on account of her fancied\nresemblance to an old-school Southern gentleman, whose fine estate and\nold family are famous in the region.\n\n\nThe Giant Scissors.\n\nThis is the story of Joyce and of her adventures in France. Joyce is a\ngreat friend of the Little Colonel, and in later volumes shares with\nher the delightful experiences of the \u201cHouse Party\u201d and the \u201cHolidays.\u201d\n\n\nTwo Little Knights of Kentucky.\n\nWHO WERE THE LITTLE COLONEL\u2019S NEIGHBORS.\n\nIn this volume the Little Colonel returns to us like an old friend, but\nwith added grace and charm. She is not, however, the central figure of\nthe story, that place being taken by the \u201ctwo little knights.\u201d\n\n\nMildred\u2019s Inheritance.\n\nA delightful little story of a lonely English girl who comes to America\nand is befriended by a sympathetic American family who are attracted by\nher beautiful speaking voice. By means of this one gift she is enabled\nto help a school-girl who has temporarily lost the use of her eyes, and\nthus finally her life becomes a busy, happy one.\n\n\nCicely and Other Stories for Girls.\n\nThe readers of Mrs. Johnston\u2019s charming juveniles will be glad to learn\nof the issue of this volume for young people.\n\n\nAunt \u2019Liza\u2019s Hero and Other Stories.\n\nA collection of six bright little stories, which will appeal to all\nboys and most girls.\n\n\nBig Brother.\n\nA story of two boys. The devotion and care of Steven, himself a small\nboy, for his baby brother, is the theme of the simple tale.\n\n\nOle Mammy\u2019s Torment.\n\n\u201cOle Mammy\u2019s Torment\u201d has been fitly called \u201ca classic of Southern\nlife.\u201d It relates the haps and mishaps of a small negro lad, and tells\nhow he was led by love and kindness to a knowledge of the right.\n\n\nThe Story of Dago.\n\nIn this story Mrs. Johnston relates the story of Dago, a pet monkey,\nowned jointly by two brothers. Dago tells his own story, and the\naccount of his haps and mishaps is both interesting and amusing.\n\n\nThe Quilt That Jack Built.\n\nA pleasant little story of a boy\u2019s labor of love, and how it changed\nthe course of his life many years after it was accomplished.\n\n\nFlip\u2019s Islands of Providence.\n\nA story of a boy\u2019s life battle, his early defeat, and his final\ntriumph, well worth the reading.\n\n\n_By EDITH ROBINSON_\n\n\nA Little Puritan\u2019s First Christmas.\n\nA Story of Colonial times in Boston, telling how Christmas was invented\nby Betty Sewall, a typical child of the Puritans, aided by her brother\nSam.\n\n\nA Little Daughter of Liberty.\n\nThe author introduces this story as follows:\n\n\u201cOne ride is memorable in the early history of the American Revolution,\nthe well-known ride of Paul Revere. Equally deserving of commendation\nis another ride,--the ride of Anthony Severn,--which was no less\nhistoric in its action or memorable in its consequences.\u201d\n\n\nA Loyal Little Maid.\n\nA delightful and interesting story of Revolutionary days, in which the\nchild heroine, Betsey Schuyler, renders important services to George\nWashington.\n\n\nA Little Puritan Rebel.\n\nThis is an historical tale of a real girl, during the time when the\ngallant Sir Harry Vane was governor of Massachusetts.\n\n\nA Little Puritan Pioneer.\n\nThe scene of this story is laid in the Puritan settlement at\nCharlestown.\n\n\nA Little Puritan Bound Girl.\n\nA story of Boston in Puritan days, which is of great interest to\nyouthful readers.\n\n\nA Little Puritan Cavalier.\n\nThe story of a \u201cLittle Puritan Cavalier\u201d who tried with all his boyish\nenthusiasm to emulate the spirit and ideals of the dead Crusaders.\n\n\nA Puritan Knight Errant.\n\nThe story tells of a young lad in Colonial times who endeavored to\ncarry out the high ideals of the knights of olden days.\n\n\n_By OUIDA_ (_Louise de la Ram\u00e9e_)\n\n\n=A Dog of Flanders=: A CHRISTMAS STORY.\n\nToo well and favorably known to require description.\n\n\nThe Nurnberg Stove.\n\nThis beautiful story has never before been published at a popular price.\n\n\n_By FRANCES MARGARET FOX_\n\n\nThe Little Giant\u2019s Neighbours.\n\nA charming nature story of a \u201clittle giant\u201d whose neighbours were the\ncreatures of the field and garden.\n\n\nFarmer Brown and the Birds.\n\nA little story which teaches children that the birds are man\u2019s best\nfriends.\n\n\nBetty of Old Mackinaw.\n\nA charming story of child-life, appealing especially to the little\nreaders who like stories of \u201creal people.\u201d\n\n\nBrother Billy.\n\nThe story of Betty\u2019s brother, and some further adventures of Betty\nherself.\n\n\nMother Nature\u2019s Little Ones.\n\nCurious little sketches describing the early lifetime, or \u201cchildhood,\u201d\nof the little creatures out-of-doors.\n\n\nHow Christmas Came to the Mulvaneys.\n\nA bright, lifelike little story of a family of poor children, with an\nunlimited capacity for fun and mischief. The wonderful never-to-be\nforgotten Christmas that came to them is the climax of a series of\nexciting incidents.\n\n\n_By MISS MULOCK_\n\n\nThe Little Lame Prince.\n\nA delightful story of a little boy who has many adventures by means of\nthe magic gifts of his fairy godmother.\n\n\nAdventures of a Brownie.\n\nThe story of a household elf who torments the cook and gardener, but is\na constant joy and delight to the children who love and trust him.\n\n\nHis Little Mother.\n\nMiss Mulock\u2019s short stories for children are a constant source of\ndelight to them, and \u201cHis Little Mother,\u201d in this new and attractive\ndress, will be welcomed by hosts of youthful readers.\n\n\nLittle Sunshine\u2019s Holiday.\n\nAn attractive story of a summer outing. \u201cLittle Sunshine\u201d is another\nof those beautiful child-characters for which Miss Mulock is so justly\nfamous.\n\n\n_By MARSHALL SAUNDERS_\n\n\nFor His Country.\n\nA sweet and graceful story of a little boy who loved his country;\nwritten with that charm which has endeared Miss Saunders to hosts of\nreaders.\n\n\nNita, the Story of an Irish Setter.\n\nIn this touching little book, Miss Saunders shows how dear to her heart\nare all of God\u2019s dumb creatures.\n\n\nAlpatok, the Story of an Eskimo Dog.\n\nAlpatok, an Eskimo dog from the far north, was stolen from his master\nand left to starve in a strange city, but was befriended and cared for,\nuntil he was able to return to his owner. Miss Saunders\u2019s story is\nbased on truth, and the pictures in the book of \u201cAlpatok\u201d are based on\na photograph of the real Eskimo dog who had such a strange experience.\n\n\n_By WILL ALLEN DROMGOOLE_\n\n\nThe Farrier\u2019s Dog and His Fellow.\n\nThis story, written by the gifted young Southern woman, will appeal to\nall that is best in the natures of the many admirers of her graceful\nand piquant style.\n\n\nThe Fortunes of the Fellow.\n\nThose who read and enjoyed the pathos and charm of \u201cThe Farrier\u2019s Dog\nand His Fellow\u201d will welcome the further account of the adventures of\nBaydaw and the Fellow at the home of the kindly smith.\n\n\nThe Best of Friends.\n\nThis continues the experiences of the Farrier\u2019s dog and his Fellow,\nwritten in Miss Dromgoole\u2019s well-known charming style.\n\n\nDown in Dixie.\n\nA fascinating story for boys and girls, of a family of Alabama children\nwho move to Florida and grow up in the South.\n\n\n_By MARIAN W. WILDMAN_\n\n\nLoyalty Island.\n\nAn account of the adventures of four children and their pet dog on\nan island, and how they cleared their brother from the suspicion of\ndishonesty.\n\n\nTheodore and Theodora.\n\nThis is a story of the exploits and mishaps of two mischievous twins,\nand continues the adventures of the interesting group of children in\n\u201cLoyalty Island.\u201d\n\n\n_By CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS_\n\n\nThe Cruise of the Yacht Dido.\n\nThe story of two boys who turned their yacht into a fishing boat to\nearn money to pay for a college course, and of their adventures while\nexploring in search of hidden treasure.\n\n\nThe Young Acadian.\n\nThe story of a young lad of Acadia who rescued a little English girl\nfrom the hands of savages.\n\n\nThe Lord of the Air.\n\nTHE STORY OF THE EAGLE\n\n\nThe King of the Mamozekel.\n\nTHE STORY OF THE MOOSE\n\n\nThe Watchers of the Camp-fire.\n\nTHE STORY OF THE PANTHER\n\n\nThe Haunter of the Pine Gloom.\n\nTHE STORY OF THE LYNX\n\n\nThe Return to the Trails.\n\nTHE STORY OF THE BEAR\n\n\nThe Little People of the Sycamore.\n\nTHE STORY OF THE RACCOON\n\n\n_By OTHER AUTHORS_\n\n\nThe Great Scoop.\n\n_By MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL_\n\nA capital tale of newspaper life in a big city, and of a bright,\nenterprising, likable youngster employed thereon.\n\n\nJohn Whopper.\n\nThe late Bishop Clark\u2019s popular story of the boy who fell through the\nearth and came out in China, with a new introduction by Bishop Potter.\n\n\nThe Dole Twins.\n\n_By KATE UPSON CLARK_\n\nThe adventures of two little people who tried to earn money to buy\ncrutches for a lame aunt. An excellent description of child-life about\n1812, which will greatly interest and amuse the children of to-day,\nwhose life is widely different.\n\n\nLarry Hudson\u2019s Ambition.\n\n_By JAMES OTIS_, author of \u201cToby Tyler,\u201d etc.\n\nLarry Hudson is a typical American boy, whose hard work and enterprise\ngain him his ambition,--an education and a start in the world.\n\n\nThe Little Christmas Shoe.\n\n_By JANE P. SCOTT WOODRUFF_\n\nA touching story of Yule-tide.\n\n\nWee Dorothy.\n\n_By LAURA UPDEGRAFF_\n\nA story of two orphan children, the tender devotion of the eldest,\na boy, for his sister being its theme and setting. With a bit of\nsadness at the beginning, the story is otherwise bright and sunny, and\naltogether wholesome in every way.\n\n\n =The King of the Golden River=: A LEGEND OF STIRIA. _By JOHN\n RUSKIN_\n\nWritten fifty years or more ago, and not originally intended for\npublication, this little fairy-tale soon became known and made a place\nfor itself.\n\n\nA Child\u2019s Garden of Verses.\n\n_By R. L. STEVENSON_\n\nMr. Stevenson\u2019s little volume is too well known to need description. It\nwill be heartily welcomed in this new and attractive edition.\n\n\nTHE LITTLE COUSIN SERIES\n\nThe most delightful and interesting accounts possible of child-life in\nother lands, filled with quaint sayings, doings, and adventures.\n\nEach one vol., 12mo, decorative cover, cloth, with six or more\nfull-page illustrations in color.\n\n Price per volume $0.60\n\n\n_By MARY HAZELTON WADE_ (_unless otherwise indicated_)\n\n =Our Little African Cousin=\n\n =Our Little Alaskan Cousin=\n By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet\n\n =Our Little Arabian Cousin=\n By Blanche McManus\n\n =Our Little Armenian Cousin=\n\n =Our Little Brown Cousin=\n\n =Our Little Canadian Cousin=\n By Elizabeth R. Macdonald\n\n =Our Little Chinese Cousin=\n By Isaac Taylor Headland\n\n =Our Little Cuban Cousin=\n\n =Our Little Dutch Cousin=\n By Blanche McManus\n\n =Our Little English Cousin=\n By Blanche McManus\n\n =Our Little Eskimo Cousin=\n\n =Our Little French Cousin=\n By Blanche McManus\n\n =Our Little German Cousin=\n\n =Our Little Hawaiian Cousin=\n\n =Our Little Hindu Cousin=\n By Blanche McManus\n\n =Our Little Indian Cousin=\n\n =Our Little Irish Cousin=\n\n =Our Little Italian Cousin=\n\n =Our Little Japanese Cousin=\n\n =Our Little Jewish Cousin=\n\n =Our Little Korean Cousin=\n By H. Lee M. Pike\n\n =Our Little Mexican Cousin=\n By Edward C. Butler\n\n =Our Little Norwegian Cousin=\n\n =Our Little Panama Cousin=\n By H. Lee M. Pike\n\n =Our Little Philippine Cousin=\n\n =Our Little Porto Rican Cousin=\n\n =Our Little Russian Cousin=\n\n =Our Little Scotch Cousin=\n By Blanche McManus\n\n =Our Little Siamese Cousin=\n\n =Our Little Spanish Cousin=\n By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet\n\n =Our Little Swedish Cousin=\n By Claire M. Coburn\n\n =Our Little Swiss Cousin=\n\n =Our Little Turkish Cousin=\n\n\nTHE GOLDENROD LIBRARY\n\nThe Goldenrod Library contains stories which appeal alike both to\nchildren and to their parents and guardians.\n\nEach volume is well illustrated from drawings by competent artists,\nwhich, together with their handsomely decorated uniform binding,\nshowing the goldenrod, usually considered the emblem of America, is a\nfeature of their manufacture.\n\n Each one volume, small 12mo, illustrated $0.35\n\n\nLIST OF TITLES\n\n =Aunt Nabby\u2019s Children.= By Frances Hodges White.\n =Child\u2019s Dream of a Star, The.= By Charles Dickens.\n =Flight of Rosy Dawn, The.= By Pauline Bradford Mackie.\n =Findelkind.= By Ouida.\n =Fairy of the Rhone, The.= By A. Comyns Carr.\n =Gatty and I.= By Frances E. Crompton.\n =Helena\u2019s Wonderworld.= By Frances Hodges White.\n =Jerry\u2019s Reward.= By Evelyn Snead Barnett.\n =La Belle Nivernaise.= By Alphonse Daudet.\n =Little King Davie.= By Nellie Hellis.\n =Little Peterkin Vandike.= By Charles Stuart Pratt.\n =Little Professor, The.= By Ida Horton Cash.\n =Peggy\u2019s Trial.= By Mary Knight Potter.\n =Prince Yellowtop.= By Kate Whiting Patch.\n =Provence Rose, A.= By Ouida.\n =Seventh Daughter, A.= By Grace Wickham Curran.\n =Sleeping Beauty, The.= By Martha Baker Dunn.\n =Small, Small Child, A.= By E. Livingston Prescott.\n =Susanne.= By Frances J. Delano.\n =Water People, The.= By Charles Lee Sleight.\n =Young Archer, The.= By Charles E. Brimblecom.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s Notes\n\nObvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations\nin hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other\nspelling and punctuation remains unchanged.\n\nItalics are represented thus _italic_, bold is represented\nthus =bold=.","title":"The Christmas Makers' Club","tradition":"folklore-oral-tradition","translated_text":null,"word_count":59178}