Katherine Keene Galt

“ Rosanna whispered finally.
"There is no hope," said Claire. "She seems to get worse all the time. She scarcely knows daddy now, and doesn't seem to care whether he comes to see her or not. For a long time she wanted to see him."
"Did she know what the matter was?" asked Rosanna.
"No, not that we know, only she is so sad, when she is herself, that daddy thinks she knows."
"Oh, I do feel sure that she will get well!" said Rosanna.
Claire sadly shook her head.
"There is no hope," she repeated. "We have had doctor after doctor, all the big specialists, and they can't do a thing. ”

“ If the strange girl did not wish to be friendly, why had she brought herself and her jade green eyes and her queer ring into their happy circle?
The meeting progressed quietly. The strange new element cast a spell over the happy group. It was not as though they were depressed; it was rather as though they were waiting for something to happen, as though it was time for the curtain to go up on a new and exciting play.
The girls, all a little restless by nature, smiled, shifted in their seats and occasionally touched each other with friendly, caressing hands. ”

“ I wish you would try to see, my dear, that you are a lucky, very lucky young person, and act accordingly."
"Lucky?" said Claire bitterly. "You call me lucky? Oh, it is not your fault, daddy! I am as sorry for you as I am for myself, but it is so funny to hear you use that word."
"Well, I call myself lucky," said Colonel Maslin, staring at the flowers that decorated the table.
"Do you? Why?" demanded Claire, her lip curling. She too stared at the flowers. She would not look at her father.
"I have your dear mother and I have you," he said after a long pause. ”

“ But you cannot live principally on cold boiled ham, olives and shredded wheat day in and out, you cannot leave a comfy, homey sort of home even for the luxury of a modern apartment without a pang of homesickness hitting you sooner or later, and Mabel was pierced with it. And you can't have good reason for tears three times in one morning without losing a little of your courage, at least for the time being. Mabel thought of the jolly party motoring along the level roads, all laughing over the sallies of the older Morrisson boy. ”

“ When Mabel finally reached the room, she was told that Miss Gere was out but that she might wait at her desk. The desk was a small, disorderly table littered with papers swarming over, around and under a battered typewriter. She sat down and looked about. Young men, unattractive, harried looking young men with steely eyes hurried in, dropped down before tables just like Miss Gere's, pounded furiously on typewriters, or consulted earnestly with a tall, thin man in shirt sleeves, who glared ferociously at their papers from the safe shadow of his green eye-shade. ”

“ It doesn't seem to be working out right. Of course I shall go on with it, because I really owe it to myself, but it isn't half the fun I thought it was going to be."
"I knew it," said Elise Hargrave gently. "It is a most dreadful thing to be torn from the home nest, and when one hops out by one's self and waves that not so strong wing one must of a necessity wish to be back."
"Why don't you give up and go home?" said Rosanna. "You would be doing the wise thing."
"No, I can't," said Mabel. "I suppose some day when I am famous, I will perhaps take mother and Frank to live with me." ”

“ There was a lucky girl even if she was silly and conceited. She believed in herself and had gone off alone to fight the world, with all her banners flying. Yet there was that loyalty law cropping up again. What if Mabel could write as splendidly as she said, wasn't her place really at home with her mother and brother? Claire was sure the Brewsters were not rich, and in that case Mrs. Brewster certainly needed help. Loyalty; always loyalty! A new and disturbing thought flashed over Claire. Perhaps she owed her own mother some loyalty too, even though she was away in a sanitarium. ”

“ Rosanna, as she spoke, little dreamed that there was writing on every wall, in every cloud, that poor Claire saw and read with a feeling of hopeless horror.
Leaning close to his handsome daughter in the big luxurious limousine, Colonel Maslin was saying to her, "Well, Bird o' Paradise, how do you like your new friends? Are they as friendly and fascinating as Kentucky girls are supposed to be?"
"You met them," said Claire evenly. "What do you think?"
"A mere man isn't supposed to think," laughed Colonel Maslin. "They seem delightful to me, so pretty and dainty and girlish. ”

“ She walked up the street thinking of Jesse; Jesse who had been so utterly scorned.
How splendid he seemed now! How generous and friendly and loyal! And when you really looked at him, he was not homely. He had freckles, of course, and his nose was snub, and his hair seemed to be all cowlicks: but the teeth that his wide grin disclosed were dazzling white, his blue eyes simply crackled they were so full of twinkles, and his hand, despite the grime, was warm and friendly. Mabel felt her heart lift a little. It looked as though she had one friend after all. ”

“ How is mother?"
"If you are going to behave yourself now, dear, I will go and see," said Colonel Maslin. He kissed her and hurried off. Claire, feeling strangely weak but so happy, turned to Rosanna.
"She knew us!" she said. "She knew us both, and now, even if she dies, I will always have that to remember."
"She will not die!" Rosanna declared for the hundredth time.
"There are worse cases than your mother's," said the nurse comfortingly. "If she stands the shock, she will be all right, and I am sure she will. Don't you worry or think she is not going to be well. ”

“ She laughed and nodded as she left the girls and hurried on to the Times-Leader office.
"She means it; she actually means it!" said Rosanna in a hushed voice.
"Of course she means it!" laughed Claire. "Isn't she funny? I never saw a girl so conceited in my life. And really she isn't bright at all. She is just an ordinary girl with ordinary gifts. I think she is usually quite stupid when she talks, but perhaps that is because she is so awfully conceited that it bores you." ”

“ I can't help thinking, girls, that the case of little Mabel is just an instance of the far-reaching effects of a kindly act. I don't know which girl first thought of that circulating baby, but that doesn't matter. Little Mabel, just one of dozens of tiny tots in the asylum, was destined to grow up merely one of many in the cold white dormitories, tended by faithful attendants and nurses too busy and full of care to love or mother their charges. Now, through the action of the Scouts, she has a tender mother and a proud and loving father, and will no doubt grow up to be a fine woman. ”

“ Mabel looked at Mrs. Horton with round, astonished eyes.
"Why, Captain, I can't do it," she said. "My mother wouldn't allow it at all. Why, she simply wouldn't! She is always preaching generosity and unselfishness."
"I don't believe she will notice what you are doing," said the Captain. "If she does, you can explain it to her. Otherwise say nothing at all. This is a Scout order, remember, and I expect you to do it with all your heart. We want to work this out. It will be very interesting to learn just how much pleasure one can get from absolute selfishness. ”

“ As soon as you can get packed, Rosanna, you may come down to the Seelbach with me. I know Claire will have a lot to do to get ready for her mother. I notice whenever any of our family goes away and gets ready to come back, it is a signal for a mad bout of housecleaning. Everything the poor innocent absentee has or owns is torn up and hung out on the line, and beaten and dusted, and sent to the cleaners. And then all the chairs are set in new places so you don't dare come in in the dark and throw yourself down on your favorite divan, because it isn't there. ”

“ But luck was with Mabel when the big car rolled noiselessly up to the curb before her home, for her mother was standing at the window, and her brother and three other boys were having a last confab before separating for the night. Mabel crossed the sidewalk and went up the steps in her most stately manner. She did not notice the boys at all.
"Well," said her mother as she entered the house, "did you get a ride home? How do you like the Maslin girl?
"She is a rare soul," said Mabel. Then descending to earth, "I wish you could see the rooms they live in. You never did see such lovely things. ”

“ Somehow nobody's shoulder feels the same as a mother's. My mother died when I was a baby, but I know it, just the same."
Tears started to Colonel Maslin's eyes as he listened to the brave, uncomplaining little girl.
"You are quite right, my dear," he said. "And I pray that your doctor will give Claire's mother back to her. If she is cured, it will be your gift. Not one of the specialists we have had ever discovered the piece of bone pressing on her brain."
"She will be well," declared Rosanna. ”

“ So she commenced, while all the society ladies in Louisville looked on and said, "Dear me, isn't it wonderful what a girl can accomplish if she will only leave home, and live for herself?" And the pickle was so sour that it made Mabel shudder with cold and she shuddered herself awake, to find all the bed-clothes on the floor. ”

“ Maslin had been taken. Rosanna will never to the end of her days be able to look at certain magazines without a shudder. The two girls sat or walked restlessly around the bare waiting-room, turned over the pages of the periodicals on the prim table, or gazed silently out of the window where they could see the usually impassive and unmoved Chang pacing restlessly up and down beside the limousine. ”

“ Mabel, almost too surprised to reply, managed to mumble that she supposed her mother had been pretty busy bringing up her brother Frank and herself.
"Well, I suppose she feels that she is really free now," said the lady with a smile, "since you are starting out for yourself. Although," she added, "I think your mother is very brave to let you start out of the nest so soon. You seem such a young girl to be off by yourself. Of course it is not at all my affair, but I should think that you would hate to be away from such a talented mother as yours." ”

“ A big car was crawling along the curb, and from the limousine Claire Maslin and Rosanna Horton called her name again. The car stopped and in response to a word from his young mistress the Chinaman stepped down and opened the door.
"Let us take you home," said Claire in her deep, drawling voice. Mabel entered and seated herself, smiling.
"I have just been down making arrangements to begin my newspaper career," she said. "I think every young writer should spend a certain time on newspaper work. It is such good practice, and one learns so much about Life." ”

“ Claire brought her a gorgeous embroidered kimono, a good-bye present from Mrs. Maslin. Just the loveliest thing to wear to the dressing-room, thought Rosanna, revelling in its deep color and beautiful handwork. The girls worked swiftly, and before Uncle Bob returned for dinner everything was ready, even to Rosanna's coat and hat and gloves and little change purse. She had put on her plain pongee traveling dress, fine cotton stockings that exactly matched her brown oxfords with their sensible low heels, and looked every inch a well-dressed traveler. ”

“ His shoulders shook with sobs.
Rosanna looked up with a smile as Claire entered, but Claire did not return it. She closed the door carefully, almost as though she thought it might break, then leaning against it, stood looking into space.
"What did he say?" asked Rosanna.
"Nothing; that is, I didn't speak to him," said Claire. Then with a rush, "Rosanna, I can't invite you to the seashore after all. I shall not go. I shall stay with dad. He is down there with mother's picture in his hand, crying. I never saw him cry, Rosanna. It's awful! He is always so brave. I never saw him cry. ”

“ When Miss Hannibal and Miss Jones sauntered away, Mabel lost no time in making good her own escape. She crossed over to Third Street where the beautiful houses with their look of reserve and wealth always catered to her love of luxury. Ahead were three girls in Girl Scout uniforms. She recognized them at once: Rosanna Horton with her black docked hair, Claire Maslin's long swinging red braid and Elise Hargrave's bobbing curls. At first Mabel decided to walk slowly and avoid them but she changed her mind and caught up with them.
"Do you still like the work you are doing?" ”

“ Well, there was once a girl, a Girl Scout, who was very troubled and unhappy. And she had a perfectly horrid disposition and every time she went into a tantrum or had the blues she excused herself by thinking that because her dear mother was thought to be insane, she was going to be so too, and she never tried to control herself. She wouldn't make friends, and 'most hated other girls because she thought they were so much luckier than she was. Oh, Rosanna, she treated her darling daddy just awfully. She feels so ashamed when she thinks of it. ”

“ Mabel thought of Frank working on his gym suit because she wouldn't mend it for him, but she thought most of her mother giving up her dinner to sit at home and wait for the laundress. Her mother was too kind to make the poor colored woman come again for her money. Mrs. Brewster knew that she needed it.
Mabel, sitting with unwonted primness and silence at the Horton table, thought harder and harder and could not enjoy herself. And Mrs. Horton, the little Scout Captain, saw and smiled to herself a sly, quiet smile that scarcely disturbed her dimples. ”

“ When Mabel's chance finally came, when the Captain had given her permission to speak, and she rose from her chair and faced the roomful of girls, she found that her heart was beating heavily and her breath coming fast. But she did not hesitate.
"I reckon the first thing to tell you about my experiment in living for myself alone is that it will not work. I don't believe that anyone in the world can actually live as selfishly as I tried to. A girl needs her mother every minute, and she needs whatever else she has in the line of a family. ”

“ You can be just as smart over home as you can here. You don't seem to think of mother at all. You don't care how she feels. She would skin me if she knew I was saying this to you, but I'll say you are the most selfish girl I ever knew and that's the truth! Well, go ahead! We don't care; we can rustle along without you!" He started for the stairs and flung this over his shoulder: "But I bet you will be sorry some day!"
He hurried out of sight as a shrill whistle sounded from the street where the Morrisson boys fretted in the waiting car.
Mabel picked up the box and carried it into the kitchen. ”

“ So for the first trip I am going to start across the Atlantic, cut nearly straight across the continent, come home by Japan and Honolulu, and you are all going with me!"
"But how about school?" wailed Rosanna.
"Oh, bother school!" said Uncle Bob, with an uncomfortable glance at Rosanna's grandmother. "What's school to us? We are going a-jaunting whether school keeps or not!" He laughed. "We will be off and away as soon as ever we can." ”