Edith A. Sawyer

“ Almost as soon as Elsa had put down the latch, left the fur cape in the hall and crept up-stairs to bed, she saw a light in Miss Ruth’s room and one window shade raised just a little. Even while her eyes were fixed upon the shadow of a rose against the curtain, she fell fast asleep and dreamed that her Uncle Ned came in the shape of a great gray owl, and rescued her out of a white-walled dungeon. ”

“ But when telling a thing unnecessarily means the possibility of hurting somebody’s feelings, then even little girls can help make the world happier by keeping things to themselves. Are you willing, Elsa, to have me tell your grandmother, or anybody else, if ever the time comes when it seems best?”
“Yes, Miss Ruth,” cried Elsa, feeling as if a great weight had rolled from her heart. “Of course grandmother didn’t know how much I loved that doll. ”

“ That night Princess Katrina was dreadfully afraid. A wild storm of wind and rain shook the tower and made her candle-light flicker. Once when something gray brushed against the window she shrieked aloud; but, watching, she saw that the gray object stopped on a branch of the great oak-tree outside the window, and that it was a large, [Pg 54] soft owl, as tall as a man. The owl sat there a long time, staring at the candle-light with blinking yellow eyes that had tiny black spots at their centre, and the princess was comforted by the sense of companionship. ”

“ For the far-away king wanted gold more than he did land.
Early one September morning Katrina’s uncle came to the sunshiny bower where she sat alone, embroidering a beautiful scarlet-and-gold tapestry. The princess made a beautiful picture, there in the sunshine, with her soft hair shining like spun gold, her clear blue eyes, and her fair cheeks tinged with rose colour. She looked a royal princess indeed, in her blue velvet gown, with a long scarf of light blue gauze floating over her shoulders. ”

“ Indeed, Elsa loved Betty’s room quite as much as Betty herself did.
Alice had never been in the room before. “O, what dear, lovely birds!” she exclaimed, clasping her dimpled hands and looking up with round, surprised [Pg 6] eyes at the three mites of birds, brown with red spots, red eyes and red beaks, and legs so thin and needle-like as to seem scarcely strong enough to support even the tiny bodies.
“They are the dearest things,” said Betty enthusiastically. “Uncle John brought them to me from India. I am glad there are three of them, because if one dies there will be two left.” ”

“ Sarah Judd was the only servant in the Warren household, and she had lived in the family a long time. Whenever Ruth Warren said anything to her about having a younger woman to help, Sarah always shook her head until the corkscrew side-curls fairly bobbed up and down and answered: “No, madam: if you have anybody else come to work for you, I go!” As old Sarah understood perfectly the ways and wishes of Miss Virginia Warren, Ruth’s aunt, Ruth kept the cross-spoken servant, who was in reality a kind-hearted woman. ”

“ Katrina could only press so near the window as to see a gray figure outside.
“Your friend, the Gray Owl,” said the low voice. “We must not talk much, for fear some one hear us. But keep a good heart.”
Each day of that third week the princess worked a little while with the shining gold silk upon the tapestry; it was so dark in the dungeon that she could not see, even at noonday, to use the scarlet silk. She felt very faint, because she had only one meal a day, of bread and water, and she gave some of the bread to her daily visitor, the squirrel, who grew very thin without his usual nuts. ”

“ Danforth isn’t very well to-day, miss, and she asks will you come up to her room, please,” said Cummings; so Ruth Warren followed the stiff-backed maid up the polished stairs. From the top of the stairs she saw, just ahead, a room all furnished in white, which she knew must be Elsa’s. “What an unpretty room for a child!” she said to herself.
Mrs. Danforth had on a beautiful white dressing-gown with long lace ruffles hanging from the sleeves, and she was leaning back in a blue velvet chair. “She does not look so ill as unhappy,” Ruth Warren thought to herself. ”

“ Mrs. Danforth had seated herself very quickly, as her eyes fell upon Alice and Ben.
Betty curled up again on the cushion. Elsa drew a little way back from the fireside into the shadow and sat upright upon a chair. Alice, as if spellbound by something in Mrs. Danforth’s face, remained kneeling upon the ottoman, and Ben stood by his sister’s side with his left hand upon her shoulder.
The twins made a striking picture there on the hearth-rug in the full light of the blazing fire,—Alice, fair-haired, delicate-featured, with great soft blue eyes and broad white forehead ”

“ Elsa often felt very lonely, especially eating by herself. But she never complained; she never thought herself very large or important, and she was quite used to obeying her grandmother. Uncle Ned had said for her to do exactly as her grandmother wanted her to do; and if Uncle Ned had said this, it must be all right.
“Who are the children in your Club, Elsa, beside Elizabeth White?” asked Mrs. Danforth that evening. She and Elsa were sitting in the luxurious library. The chairs were upholstered in dark green velvet, the books on the tables and in the bookcases had rich bindings. ”

“ I have loved her dearly. Some of us poor lonely old folks are not much more than grown-up children. I know you will have a happy time playing with her, and when you are ready to give her away, I hope it will be to some little girl who will love her as fondly as you and I love her.
“Your affectionate friend,
“Phœbe Dean.”
“What a dear story!” sighed Elsa. “And how much the poor little old lady must have cared for Susie.”
“You have kept all her dresses?” inquired Betty, eying the doll with new interest. ”

“ Elsa was the first one to speak. “I want to come again,” she said in a wistful voice. It had been hard for her to leave her precious old doll behind; and besides, the children interested her greatly.
“So do I,” Betty joined in quickly. “It makes me feel queer, but I like it.”
“I love to come,” said Alice. “Sometimes we take things out to the children; and you’d be s’prised the way they give up to each other. Mamma says they are the most unselfishest children she ever saw.”
Ben was trotting along ahead, jumping every now and then into the air. ”

“ It was hard for Betty and Elsa to keep from laughing, and even Miss Ruth had difficulty in keeping her face sober, for Ben in his sister’s short-skirted dress, which hardly came to his knees,—leaving an extra long pair of thin legs which ended in good-sized feet,—was an exceedingly droll sight. A giggle from Betty at the critical moment sent the squirrel flying to the curtain-top again; but greedy hunger conquered fear, and growing venturesome again, the squirrel came by cautious degrees down to the window-sill. ”

“ I should just love to go, though,” she added, with a long sigh.
“Wouldn’t it be a good plan for our club to make things to give those little children?” asked Betty, growing more interested the more she thought about the children.
“The very thing!” said Miss Ruth. “Miss Hartwell, who is at the head of the Convalescent Home, told me only yesterday that about fifty children are there now. Of course the playthings wear out, and when the children go back to their homes, cured, they want to take with them the toys they have grown fond of. But what have you named your club?” ”

“ God is love.”
Elsa’s and Betty’s eyes filled with tears; the children’s grace touched Alice’s and Ben’s hearts into tenderness, too, although the twins had heard it before; then they all dried their eyes, smiling through joyful tears, as the children began to eat their supper. ”

“ Elsa’s eyes were shining with interest.
“I know how I can earn some,” cried Betty. “When I especially want to earn money, mother gives me five cents a day for emptying waste-baskets; and I will ask father to let me black his boots. How many days are there before Christmas,—let me see, just fourteen, and the waste-baskets would give me seventy cents, surely. What are you going to do, Elsa, to earn money?”
“Uncle Ned said he would give me fifty cents a week if I would write a four-page letter to him twice a week.” ”

“ Yes, ma’am, thank you, I’d like to come sometimes.” Ben edged over to the sofa. The two gray cats jumped down when he began stroking them, and rubbed against his legs.
“Ben loves animals,” said Alice, with shining eyes.
“Alice told us you like to play dolls,” said Betty teasingly.
“I do, sometimes, when there isn’t anything better to do,” said Ben. He gave a funny side-glance at Miss Ruth out of his twinkling eyes as he added, straightening up his fine, sturdy little figure: “I ducked a boy in the frog-pond once for trying to tease me about dolls.” ”

“ Then she stopped; she could not bear to say that her grandmother had told her not to bring children home with her to play.
“I tell you what let’s do,” Alice exclaimed, before Betty could say anything. “Let’s start some kind of a club, and have it meet Friday afternoons. We might have it a Christmas Club.”
“Only grown-up people have clubs,” objected Betty instantly; she was still thinking of what fun it would be to go all over the Danforth house.
“We could have a club, though we are children,” said Elsa eagerly. “I am almost twelve years old.” ”

“ Ben answered, miserably.
“I wouldn’t run away just yet, Ben, if I were you,” said Mr. Danforth very gravely. “Your mother might get used to that other boy. Boys who run away always want to come back home, and once in awhile their fathers and mothers won’t let them come back, but send them off to some institution. Think it over awhile, Ben. It’s queer, but you are the very boy I wanted to see this morning.” ”

“ I am sure we should all be as happy as kings. —Robert Louis Stevenson.
“I WISH we could walk out to the Convalescent Home this afternoon,” were Betty’s first words when the three girls reached Miss Ruth’s house the next Friday, all very much out of breath from their haste. “I am tired, school has been so dull and stupid,” said Betty, “and my head aches. Please can we go?” Betty, from at first not wanting to go to the Convalescent Home, now wanted very much to go, for, since then, Alice had been telling her more about it.
“Would you like to take the walk this afternoon, Elsa?” ”

“ Elsa asked. “Grandmother said particularly that I was to tell you she wants your mother to come.”
Ben answered for his sister: “She will come, I think, if Peggy and I ask her to. What a splendid grandmother you have, Elsa!” he cried, starting into a sort of war-dance around the room. “I’m going to make a Christmas present for her.”
“What is it?” asked Betty, curious instantly.
But Ben was heedless of the question. “Is she very rich?” he inquired, looking at Elsa.
“Yes, I think so,” replied Elsa.
“Then I’ll do it,” he exclaimed, ending his dance with a somersault upon the hearth-rug. ”

“ Betty says her mother especially likes to have her play with Alice.”
“I must speak to Mrs. White about it, to make sure,” said Mrs. Danforth, and Elsa’s face coloured sensitively, for she felt that her grandmother thought she was not telling the truth.
“Bedtime now, Elsa,” said Mrs. Danforth, the next moment. “Put away your book. And try to remember people’s names. It is something a lady always does.” ”

“ Betty asked, thoughtfully, splashing her brush into the water.
“Because one is enough,” said Elsa instantly.
“Everybody likes one best,” explained Ben, with the wisdom of ten and a half years.
After Miss Dean had told me about Susie,—continued Ruth Warren, leaning comfortably back into her chair again,—she asked me if I would like to see Susie’s dresses. I said yes, of course, and she told me to open the lower drawer of the bureau. Such a quantity of pretty things as I found! ”

“ For some reason which Elsa did not try to explain to herself, she kept Bettina from the sight of her grandmother and especially from Cummings, the middle-aged woman who attended to Mrs. Danforth’s wardrobe and in what time there was left, made dresses for Elsa. Every morning when Elsa woke, the first thing she did, after pressing many loving kisses upon Bettina’s worn face, was to put her away under the pile of playthings in the lower drawer of the bureau. ”

“ Betty’s brown eyes [Pg 2] danced like her feet, and so did the capes to her long blue coat and the wavy brown hair tied back with a bow of wide white ribbon.
“Isn’t there something we can do?” asked Alice Holt, the youngest and smallest of the three, hurrying to keep up with the others.
“Play dolls or play school is all I can think of,” said Betty. “O Elsa, we might go to your house and play with you!” she added, turning to Elsa. Betty had wanted to have a good look at the great house where Elsa Danforth lived with her grandmother. ”

“ Here Ben stopped for want of breath rather than for want of imagination.
“That is enough to take away one’s breath, Ben,” remarked Miss Ruth. “What do you want to be, Alice? You must all tell.”
“I want to be a nurse and take care of the convalescent children,” Alice said shyly.
“You will be a princess if you are my sister,” exclaimed Ben.
“What about you, Betty?” Miss Ruth asked next.
“Me! I want to be good and beautiful and sensible,” said Betty, very slowly, for her; “and, of course, I want a houseful of horses and a houseful of dogs.”
“And you, Elsa?” ”

“ Ben is different from other boys,” Alice explained, turning to Miss Ruth. “I think he would like to come to the Club sometimes.”
“We don’t want boys in our Club,” objected Betty, rising and walking around the room.
“But Ben isn’t like other boys,” said Elsa from her corner with the cats.
“Ben could often help us,” said Miss Ruth encouragingly; “there will be ever so much that a boy can do, especially toward Christmas-time.”
“Ben can sew, too,” said loyal Alice. She loved her twin brother heartily and wanted to have him in all her good times. ”

“ At last, just before it was time for Ruth to put on her coat and be ready to start with the Club, Miss Virginia began crying and wringing her large white hands.
“I am sorry, Ruth, to have you give up going to the Convalescent Home with the children,” Aunt Virginia said, tearfully, “but I don’t feel well enough to have you leave me. You know we are all supposed to be happier by making Christmas [Pg 243] happier for somebody else, so I am sure you will be glad to stay with me.” Miss Virginia looked up at her niece with a very helpless and resigned expression. ”

“ Miss Ruth replied; “but girls of sixteen are usually too busy with study and other things to have time for dolls.”
“How did you happen to get the old doll?” Ben asked. He did not mean to be disrespectful; it was only a boy’s way of speaking.
“That comes at the end of the story,” Miss Ruth answered. “Are you ready for me to go on?”
Everybody said, “Yes,” and Elsa added: “I will put Susie in a rocking-chair and we can look at her and that will make the story seem more real than ever.” ”

“ She had never in her life had a trained nurse, and much as she wanted one to take care of her and wait upon her, she felt that it might prove so exciting as to have a very bad effect upon her, especially at first. It had been arranged that Bettina March should arrive at noon on Christmas day; and Ruth Warren would be back from the Convalescent Home an hour before that time. But Miss Virginia had decided that she could not possibly stay alone that morning, nor have anybody except her niece, not even Sarah Judd, stay with her. ”

“ The afternoon was sunshiny, the ground bare of snow, and outdoors looked very tempting. And it was, moreover, the day after Thanksgiving, when children do not always feel at their best.
“We will take a lunch with us,—unless you would rather have it now,” suggested Miss Ruth. As no one seemed to be hungry now, the lunch plan met with general favour.
“Excuse me then,” said Miss Ruth, “and I will have Sarah put something in a box for us.”
“And I will run home and get my thick coat,” said Betty, who had worn only a light jacket. ”